Zelras answered quickly. “A team took her. Kidnapping gangs are very common in the slave trade, especially in Eastern Europe. They’re experienced and very efficient at the abductions, and they’re connected into a pipeline. There’s usually a buyer before they take a woman like Mrs. Connolly. She would be high risk but very high reward. What makes this kind of abduction attractive is that there’s no ransom exchange. The Connolly abduction fits our profile.”

Someone asked, “Could a buyer request a specific woman? Is that a possibility?”

Zelras nodded. “If the money is right, yes, absolutely. The price might go into the six figures. We’re working that angle.”

Most of the remainder of the long meeting was taken up with discussion about Mrs. Connolly and whether we could find her quickly. The consensus was no. One detail was particularly perplexing: Why would the UNSUBS kidnap the victim in such a public place? Profit / ransom seemed the logical possibility, but there had been no ransom note. Had somebody specifically asked for Mrs. Elizabeth Connolly? If so—who? What was special about her? And why the mall? Surely there were easier abduction locations.

As we talked about her, a photograph of Mrs. Connolly and her three daughters remained on the screen at the front of the conference room. The four of them looked so close-knit and happy. It was scary, sad. I found myself thinking about being with Jannie on our front porch the night before.

Someone asked, “These women who’ve been abducted, have any of them been found?”

“Not one,” said Agent Zelras. “Our fear is that they’re dead. That the kidnappers—or whoever the kidnappers deliver them to—consider them disposable.”

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I RETURNED TO my orientation classes that day after the lunch break, and just in time for another of SSA Horowitz’s awful jokes. He held up a clipboard for us to see his material. “The official list of David Koresh’s theme songs. ‘You Light Up My Life,’ ‘I’m Burning Up,’ ‘Great Balls of Fire.’ My personal favorite: ‘Burning Down the House.’ Love the Talking Heads.” Dr. Horowitz seemed to know that his jokes were bad, but black humor works with police officers, and his deadpan delivery was decent. Plus, he knew who had recorded “Burning Down the House.”

We had an hour session on “Management of Integrated Cases,” followed by “Law Enforcement Communication,” then “Dynamics of the Pattern Killer.” In the last course we were told that serial killers change, that they are “dynamic.” In other words, they get smarter and better at killing. Only the “ritual characteristics” remain the same. I didn’t bother to take notes.