Page 104 of The Truth You Told

Raisa clicked into the reader’s review of that book.

Now this is what I’ve been searching for, the review started.An incredible deep dive, focusing in on that moment. That moment that someone becomes a monster.

EXCERPT FROMTHE ORIGIN OF A SERIAL KILLER

There’s no denying the world is fascinated by serial killers. But despite that, there’s still so much we don’t know about these monsters that have captured our attention.

Twin studies have shown that psychopathic traits are 60 percent inheritable. That means that nature (DNA, that is) is heavily weighted in whether someone could be diagnosed as a psychopath.

But not all serial killers are psychopaths and not all psychopaths are killers, let alone serial killers.

Does that mean nurture then comes into play, the person primed for violence but not necessarily destined for it?

That could be true in some cases. When children are abused, they sometimes are unable to create successful and productive coping mechanisms, which then leads to violent outbursts. As children, the tantrums can be written off, but the cycle is reinforced until adulthood, where the only way they can deal with anger, disappointment, and shame is to lash out and hurt someone else.

That all holds up until anyone looks at the backgrounds of some of the country’s most famous serial killers. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Dennis Rader all had healthy childhoods with supportive family members and yet still they went on to kill.

A 2005 report from the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime emphasized that agents agree there is “no single identifiable cause of factor that leads to the development of a serial killer.Rather there are a multitude of factors that contribute to their development. The most significant factor is the serial killer’s personal decision in choosing to pursue their crimes.”

The section “Causality and Serial Murder,” however, ends with the bullet point that FBI agents agree more research is needed to identify the pathways of development that produce a serial killer.

Because even the best minds in the world still cannot pinpoint how a serial killer is created.

While the call for more research is admirable, the struggle is that the ethical constraints put into place—wisely—for everyone’s protection tie the hands of the very scientists who could make forward progress with the field.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Raisa

Now

Nature, nurture, or life-altering trauma.

“All the kids,” Raisa said softly. “All the kids we keep coming back to.”

“The one thing that bound them together,” Kilkenny said, easily following along. “Life-altering childhood trauma.”

Raisa clicked into the description for the book itself. “Dr. Harold Pall is the author. Does that name ring any bells?”

Kilkenny shook his head and then made a face after he pulled up the message the social workers’ office had sent over, the one that had the list of names of the people Conrad had met with on his interview day. “Not on here, either.”

“It could be a pen name,” Raisa said. “If they were trying to hide their identity, it would be easy to do. They didn’t have to pass any peer reviews to publish this.”

“But that doesn’t help us now,” Kilkenny pointed out, and Raisa sighed.

All their promising leads kept coming up blank, and Raisa was tired of it. Tired of it and also terrified for Kate, as abrasive as she might havebeen. Had she found their second killer yet? Was she still alive, or were they about to have yet another dead woman on their hands?

Her phone rang in her hand, and she nearly dropped it. A shaky laugh escaped as she answered. “What did you find?”

“I’ve got all the hidden messages,” Delaney said. “That was genius-level work on your part, but my computer is an even match for you.”

Raisa didn’t want the praise. “What do they say?”

“I’m going to email you the list,” Delaney said. “But there were some ones I found more interesting than others. Including in the letters that probably weren’t written by Conrad.”

“How do you know about those?” Raisa asked, immediately suspicious.

“I mean, how many times do I have to tell you I’m good with—”

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