“B: Victimology. That you have. Age of the victims, occupation, background, habits, family structure, where were they last seen. C: Forensic Information. Cause of death, wounds—are they pre- or postmortem, sexual acts, autopsy report, lab reports. You have everything on two vics except the labs and the official report of autopsy on the Warwick woman. Right?”

Both detectives nodded. Sheriff Dixon sat stone-faced at the head of the table, taking it all in.

“D: Your preliminary police reports. And E: Photographs of the vics, of the crime scene and/or the dump scene.”

“We’ve got photos,” Hicks said.

“Let’s get them up on the wall, now, and I want a long table situated under the photos where we can organize copies of all the paperwork.”

While Hicks went to the large cork bulletin board and began to make room for the photographs, Vince moved to an empty section of chalkboard and wrote 2. Decision Process Models. Homicide type & Style, Primary Intent, Victim Risk, Offender Risk, Escalation, Time for Crime, Location Factors.

“You’ve already seen escalation in terms of risk to your offender,” he said. “The first victim—first two victims—were dumped in remote locations. The Lisa Warwick scene was staged and in a location right in town, where he ran a much greater risk of being seen. What purpose did that risk serve him?”

“The bigger the risk, the bigger the rush,” Mendez said.

“Publicity,” Hicks offered.

“Generates greater fear in the community,” Dixon said. “It’s about power. He can do anything he wants. We can’t stop him.”

“All of the above,” Vince said. “Have you seen any escalation in the violence of the murders?”

“Julie Paulson and Lisa Warwick both died as a result of ligature strangulation,” Mendez said. “They had both been tortured. They were both cut up. Eyes and mouths glued shut. The second body was too badly decomposed to get an accurate picture.”

“Prior to the Julie Paulson murder, was there any pattern of sexual assaults in the area?”

“Nothing related,” Dixon said. “We had six reported rapes in the county in the past year. All solved.”

“Congratulations,” Vince said. “Let’s see what we can do to get your murder clearance rate up to that standard. With regards to the sexual assaults, what about the year before last, and the year before that?”

“The year before was about the same. Before that was before my time here.”

“My question is, is this guy homegrown or did he drop here from somewhere else? Most serial killers start smaller than murder. Fetishism, window peeping, assault, rape. They work their way up over time. On the other hand, though,” he conceded, “some just nurse the violent fantasies over the years until they have to act on them to release the pressure.”

“We’re looking at known offenders,” Dixon said.

The door to the conference room opened and a uniformed deputy stepped in.