Page 45 of No Quarter

“Who was the victim?” Valerie asked. She could see the emotion in Doctor Whitmore’s eyes.

“Melanie Adler,” he said. “I identified the body for the police. She was due to be discharged tomorrow.”

Valerie shook her head. It thudded dully. “If only I’d gotten up ten minutes earlier. I’d have caught him before he did it.”

“It’s not your fault, Valerie,” Will said.

“Are you certain that it’s a man, Val?” Charlie asked.

“Yes,” said Valerie. “But I didn’t get a good look at him. I’m certain he’s entering the building through a window in the basement. We need to up security here to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“If he’s entering the building, but all employees are accounted for,” Will mused. “It could be an ex-patient.”

“I’m leaning that way,” said Valerie. “Charlie, get forensics to check that window in the basement. Maybe we’ll get lucky with a fingerprint or DNA.”

“Doctor Whitmore, any luck getting the Board to let us access your patient records?” Valerie asked.

“As a matter of fact,” he said with enthusiasm. “I received an email during the night from one of the board members putting it in writing that you should have complete access. Your boss, Jackson Weller, seems to have been very persuasive.”

“Probably threatened to have the whole place evacuated and shut down,” Charlie joked.

“I don’t think he was far off it,” Doctor Whitmore said. “In any case, you now have complete access to our files. The only issue is that most of our records aren’t digitized.”

Valerie let out a loud groan. “You’re kidding?”

“No,” Doctor Whitmore said, mournfully. “I’ve been telling them for years that we should scan all the files, so they are more readily searchable. But they say this is an unnecessary expense. I’m afraid the Board can be quite tight fisted when it comes to money.”

“How many patients have been here, Doctor Whitmore?”

“Thousands over the years, Doctor Cooper.”

“That’s going to be a nightmare to search through,” Charlie said, sighing. “We’ll need more feet on the ground, some extra agents.

“We need to somehow whittle down the search criteria so we can move faster. But I’m not sure how yet. We don’t really have a profile,” Valerie explained.

Valerie then noticed a look on Will’s face. His brow was furrowed, and he was tapping his temple with his index finger. This was always what he did when he was deep in thought.

“Will, do you have something?” Valerie asked.

“I think I might,” he said. “We’re always talking about escalation as a key motivator in most serial killer profiles. They start slowly, testing themselves, satisfying their murderous urges little by little. Pushing the envelope each time.”

Valerie saw that Doctor Whitmore was enthralled by his colleague’s skills at evaluating the human mind. He looked like a child, wide-eyed and enthusiastic for the wisdom of a mythical hero.

“First, they fantasize,” Will continued. “They bully if they can get away with it. Or they exhibit violence to other children. Then, they torture and kill animals. Finally, as adults, they eventually fantasize about killing people in the same way to fulfill a deep psychotic urge.

“But we know that it’s rare for killers to kill and then go dormant for long periods. Once the escalation of killing begins, the urge overwhelms them, and they keep going until they slip up. If we’re noticing the murders, it’s probable that these are among his first victims. That means our killer is at the start of his killing spree. And if he’s at the start, and his kills are all related to this facility, it’s highly probable that he’s only escalating now because of opportunity.”

A light bulb went off in Valerie’s mind. “You mean, the killer is more than likely someone who has been recently released from here?”

“Precisely,” Will said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “He wouldn’t have had the same opportunity to kill both outside and inside the facility.”

“But how long would it take for a patient to be released, and then to escalate enough to start killing?” Doctor Whitmore asked, keenly.

“Research varies,” Valerie said. “But we’re probably looking at a two-year window at most. Statistically, it’s most likely to be someone who was released more recently. We should focusfirst on everyone released within two months before Agatha was murdered, then if they don’t pan out, move back through the records.”

“Doctor Whitmore,” Charlie asked. “Do you know of anyone who was released in that time frame who had a previous history of violence toward animals? They’re most likely in their twenties to early thirties.”

“And they would likely have been thinking about killingbeforethey were released,” Valerie continued. “So, there would have been a marked change in their behavior weeks before their release.”

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