The coroner walked to one of the drawers, pulled the latch, and the drawer popped open a bit. When he slid the drawer open, a long slab came rolling out smoothly. The first victim, Gloria Larsen according to the report, lay before them, her skin slightly blued from the chill of the storage compartment.

Same thing here, the coroner said. Hastily stabbed all about the abdomen. I do believe it took her longer to die. The lower cut just below the stomach would have been painful, but would not have bled as much.

Rachel counted the stab marks and nodded. And she was stabbed less than the second victim. She turned to Jack and said, Which means the killer grew more confident with the second body.

What she thought after this, but did not speak out loud, was that the confidence he displayed on the second body meant there was a very good chance there was going to be a third. And probably a fourth and fifth and beyond if they werent able to catch him.

Again, she briefly thought of the man looking at her through thick glassesa man named Alex Lynch. A man that had haunted her dreams three months after the case had been closed. A man that had done the sort of unspeakable things shed only read about in case studies during her time in Quantico.

She closed her eyes against the thought of notorious mass murderer Alex Lynch and shook the thought away.

The report I have says she likely dragged herself across the kitchen floor, Jack said. There was blood smeared on the tile. We saw the same thing at the Masters housea smear of blood across the grass from where she had presumably tried crawling to the stairs. Do you think theres any chance the killer is doing it on purpose? Stabbing them in a way he knows isnt killing them right away?

I doubt it, the coroner answered. Again, the sloppy way in which the stabbing was conducted makes me think he was just letting himself go wild. I dont believe the areas in which these women were stabbed was pre-mediated.

Rachel understood what he meant and actually thought he was right. She did find it peculiar, though, that the stabbing had been contained to the stomach. Why not the chest? Why not the back? Why not slitting their throats?

As Rachel considered all of this, her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was not a number she recognized, but began with a Baltimore area code.

This is Agent Gift, she answered.

Hey there. Its Sergeant Owen. Sorry to bother you, but Lucinda Masters sister has gone from blowing up the husbands phone to now calling the station. They patched her through to me and shes being very insistent. I thought it might help with the case if you spoke to her. What do you think?