The sheriff and Ethan’s photos hung side by side, the best leads we had.

I knew what I had to do next, but I dreaded it. The moment the FBI arrived, I’d have to turn over what I’d found so they could look over that security footage. Asking Mags now was too risky. It was an active case, and if she found anything, it would raise too many questions that could reflect on her reputation. I wasn’t willing to do that to her.

Instead, I’d wait.

“I don’t see it,” Len said suddenly.

“That sounds like the margarita talking,” I teased, but Lenny scowled back at me.

“I only had two. Mal was the one who left tipsy.”

“For that, we are lucky, or she may have never agreed to let you come back with me,” I answered.

Len chuckled. “Thank you. For letting her come along. It was nice to feel normal, even if just for an hour.”

I pulled a chair from the dining room table to sit next to her. “What are you trying to see?”

“How it all connects. How do you know it could be them?” she asked.

“I’m building the profile piece by piece. That’s what all of this is,” I said, motioning to the wall.

“How?” she repeated.

“I’ll show you,” I said, taking her hand and helping her up.

I walked her over to the start of the wall, where we hung the photos of the victims.

“What are the two things investigators found to be common amongst them?” I asked.

I sound like such a teacher. Maybe the academy had become a bigger part of me than I thought. 

“The pub,” Len guessed.

“And?”

She stared at the photos of each victim before shaking her head.

“There’s nothing else connecting them,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

She glanced back to the board, following my line of thought, noticing the purposeful way I’d arranged everything.

“The rings,” she answered, glancing to me for approval.

I nodded. “Those two connections give us a lot more information than it may seem. The pub tells us the unsub has a hunting ground, a place where they feel comfortable enough to stalk their victims and pick them out. It will be someone who frequents the pub; it also tells us the likelihood of it being a tourist is much lower.”

“So it’s someone who lives here year round and is familiar with the town,” Len said, nodding along.

“Exactly, although that still leaves a whole pool of people, so we need more,” I said. “That’s where the ring comes in. It’s their MO, a piece of every single killing. The ring tells us about the demographic of the victims but also about the unsub.”

“How?” Lenny asked.