“Given that the victim is already unconscious,” D.D. murmured, “I’m not convinced we’re looking for a physically imposing subject at all. With size generally comes a feeling of power, right? Whereas, this approach—stealth, ambush, drugging, then immediate suffocation, followed by a highly ritualistic, postmortem main event—sounds to me like a guy trying to avoid any chance of confrontation. Someone not confident at all, maybe even a smaller, weaker male who’s intimidated by real women; hence, his fantasy involves dead ones. Is there a chance the victims never even woke up? Never even knew what was happening to them?”

“There’s a chance.” Neil shrugged. “Ben determined COD based on the presence of petechial hemorrhages in the eyes and upper chest area. Interestingly enough, to learn more about the killer’s asphyxiation technique, he’d generally map the bruising in the chest and abdominal area, an analysis that’s complicated given the skin removal in exactly those areas.”

“Meaning maybe he removed skin from the torso to help cover his tracks.”

Phil grimaced, shook his head. “I think we’re giving the guy too much credit. This kind of suffocation, hell, he basically climbed on board and crushed his victims, yes? That doesn’t sound too sophisticated. In fact, seems like a guy looking for expedience, a no-fuss, no-muss murder, if you think about it.”

“He enters the home,” Alex filled in now. “Sneaks his way upstairs. Chloroforms his victims while they’re still asleep in order to eliminate any chance of a struggle. Then he suffocates them, knee to diaphragm. You’re right. It does seem . . . expedient. The quickest way to kill, at which point, he slows down, takes his time, lingering over each body for probably a matter of hours. Interesting.”

“Why compression asphyxiation?” D.D. asked. “That’s pretty unusual, especially adult to adult. I mean, why not just press a pillow over their faces, the more classic approach?”

Phil and Neil both shook their heads. Alex, however, had an answer.

“He sits astride the bodies, remember? We have the imprints of his shins on both sides of their hips. That position is not just how he mutilates them; it’s how he kills them, too.”

“A position that’s obviously very dominating.” D.D. glanced at Neil. “And yet still no sign of sexual assault?”

He shook his head. “Ben says no. Postmortem mutilation yes, sexual assault no.”

“Any more information on the knife?” Alex asked.

“Nah, but you should see the pile of blades Ben has accrued for comparison. It’s gonna take a bit.”

“I thought about a hunter,” D.D. announced. “The autopsy report on Christine Ryan categorized the ribbons of skin as being expertly cut. Only people I can think of who have a lot of experience skinning is hunters. So last night, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to skin game, you know, rabbits, squirrels, deer, elk.”