‘I know,’ I said. ‘But I looked into the other relative I mentioned, and he had an arrest record, one of which was drug related. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels here, trying to figure out who is the better fit. Is there anything else you can share with me? I promise I won’t tell anyone.’

‘Hmmm,’ Beccah said. ‘I suppose I could tell you a bit more about the profile and what the FBI believe his motives to be. I’m not sure I can divulge much evidence but maybe I can round out your understanding of him further.’

‘I’ll take anything you can give me.’

‘Okay,’ she began, ‘first of all, we believe TSK to be a mission-oriented killer. Do you know what that means?’

‘I’m a bit new to the world of serial killers,’ I said, ‘but I’ve seen that in passing in some of my research.’

‘Basically, it means that he justifies his murders as a solution to a problem. He sees them as a necessary means to an end, to remove a certain type of person from the world who he views as harmful to society. It can relate to a lot of different groups of people, like the homeless population or prostitutes, maybe someone that is just plain different from the killer by race or sexual orientation. Anything that the killer sees as a detriment to society. And they can’t stop because they feel as though they are providing a necessary service. In the case of TSK, we believe his rage is centered around women and cleansing them of, what he deems, their evil deeds. He seeks control and power over them, hoping to wash away what he judges to be their mortal sins.’

I was simultaneously fascinated and disgusted by this mentality. How could I be related to someone who felt this way about women? ‘Is there something that leads you to believe that? Besides the fact that it’s young women he’s abducting and murdering in such a repetitive pattern?’

‘Well,’ Beccah replied, ‘he rigorously cleaned the bodies before dumping them. Now, this could partially be related to eliminating evidence but we believe it goes beyond that and connects more to ritual and a desire to cleanse them of their sins.’

‘Wow,’ I said, his personality coming to life as she spoke. I felt like he was closer to me, the hairs on the back of my neck rising. I quickly looked over at the door, just to make sure it was locked.

‘I actually interviewed the two victims recently who escaped his abduction attempt.’

‘You did?’ I said, intrigued. ‘How are they? What were they like?’ I hoped desperately that they’d moved on to find happiness so I could cross their names off the list of people whose lives had been ruined by my murderous relative.