“By all accounts, Ling was a quiet person who kept to herself. Didn’t date, had a small circle of friends in the Neurosciences Department and rarely socialized. Her roommates say she spent most of her time studying or in her lab. She just went back to running recently as a New Year’s resolution to exercise more.”

“And they said she was brilliant,” Gonzo added sadly. “They’re coming in shortly to identify her.”

“I want to find this guy,” Sam said, “and stop him before he can do this again. He keeps getting away with it, which has made him brazen. We warned women to stay away from the park, and he knows we’re watching, but he does it again. He knows we can’t tie the DNA to him, so he’s careless. He wants us to know it’s him every time—and he wants us to know he’s gotten away with it—again.”

“He’ll keep doing it until we stop him,” Gonzo said.

“Hold that thought.” Sam turned to head back the way she’d come with Archie, stopping at the captain’s office. “Come with me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Malone said. “Whatever you say, ma’am.”

They arrived at the chief’s suite.

“He’s still with Agent Hill,” Helen said. “Should I interrupt them?”

“Yes, please,” Sam said.

“She’s in charge around here,” Malone added.

Helen’s wide-eyed gaze darted between them, as if she was unsure what was going on. “Chief, Captain Malone and Lieutenant Holland are here and need to see you right away.” She put down the phone. “He said to go on in.”

“Thanks, Helen,” Sam said as she followed the captain into the chief’s office.

“What’s up?” Farnsworth asked Malone.

“Ask her. She’s the one who ordered me to attend this meeting.”

Avery huffed out a laugh. “That sounds about right.”

“We have two dead women and four sexual assaults. We haven’t got the DNA back from the most recent victim, but we believe it’s going to match the other three. Our guy isn’t in the system, which of course he knows. He’s getting ballsy. He’s getting away with it, so he’ll keep doing it until we stop him. We have no witnesses, no usable film and not a single lead as to who this guy is. I’d like to try FDS to see if we can get a familial link to lead us to a suspect.”

Chapter Twenty

Farnsworth shook his head. “It’s not allowed here, as you know.”

“I want to request a special exception. This is the type of case that’s solved by this technology.”

“I understand, but the city council, mayor and U.S. Attorney have been united in their opposition to it.”

“I’d like to formally appeal to them for an exception in this case. How do I go about doing that?”