“Why shoot Jessica Lopez, then?” Connor asked. “If he can’t handle the violence?”

“I should have said brutality,” Larkin corrected. “Depravity. I do believe Ricky has the capacity to be violent—in fact, we saw that today. But it’s violence from a distance. He shot her. He wasn’t up close and personal with a blunt object, like what transpired with Andrew.”

Connor leaned back, the chair creaking as he adjusted his weight. He rolled a fountain pen back and forth across the desktop, never breaking eye contact with Larkin. He was anything but happy when he asked, “You say those three women and Andrew Gorman are all connected to the same perp?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Those names Ricky gave you, of the women,” Connor continued. “They’re all stage names—you’re aware of that, right?”

“More likely street names,” Larkin corrected.

“My point is,” Connor growled, “I understand the mask connection—I see it—but why go after three, if not more, who knows, sex workers, then take out a gay college boy? Maybe Ricky did help in the killings, since one hardly matches the majority.”

Larkin shook his head. “It’s all one and the same man. I believe who Andrew was is the clue to identifying the perpetrator. He beat to death at least four people, perhaps more, as you’ve said. We don’t yet know if there’re more photographs hidden in Ricky’s apartment. But the perpetrator is still out there. And if you let Ricky hang for this, you’ll be feeding right into his desires while the real monster gets away with it.” He leaned forward in his chair to say, “The psychology of place is key in this case. That apartment building, those parks. I just need a moment to… to figure it out.”

Connor opened his mouth, but Doyle, opening the portfolio bag leaning against his own chair, said, “We have an additional avenue that still needs to be considered.” He tugged the sketch pad free, flipped the pages, and showed Connor the composite sketch of Andrew Gorman’s unknown love interest. “Ms. Lopez assisted me. This man was sexually, if not romantically, involved with Andrew at the time of his death, yet never came forward in the initial missing person report.”

Connor’s brows rose in renewed interest.

“And according to Ms. Lopez, this man’s schooling would have made him familiar with welding.”

“Andrew’s death mask was cast-iron,” Larkin added.

“I didn’t forget,” Connor said.

Doyle said, “This sketch is what he looked like in 1998, but I can age him. We can get both versions submitted to the Local4Locals app, see if he’s still in the greater New York area and is willing to talk.”