In the early days, he’d only spoken with Frank in person, usually in this basement. But in later years, they’d both had burner phones. Frank had hidden his behind a loose brick in his basement. Jack had gone there the day after he heard about Frank’s passing, sneaking in after midnight, and taking the phone so no one could find it. He’d given it to his grandson, Tyler. It felt right to carry on the tradition this way for Frank. His own phone was in his locked safe in this room, where only he knew the combination.

All the same, he’d needed to update his methods. The Neilsen box would no longer work. Women would be on guard now. But he’d encouraged his grandson to follow in the footsteps of his most useful hobby. Technology. Tyler had started his career as a cable engineer six months ago. It was the perfect ruse to continue installing Jack’s precious cameras. Tyler had been successful in installing not one, but three cameras in Emmy and Allie’s apartment.

He watched as the women discussed their plans for that night with his arm around his grandson next to him. When Tyler was twelve and was caught stealing panties from houses in the neighborhood, the whole family had been shocked and disappointed. But not him. He’d been excited and intrigued. Had his own desires filtered down the line? Jack had shown Tyler that his desires were not wrong, not something to be suppressed, but something to be nourished. When he’d shown him one of the live feeds, he’d recognized the hunger on Tyler’s face, the excitement that trembled through his fingers. And now that Frank was gone, Tyler would continue for them.

Jack rose and walked over to his work desk with wires and knobs littering the surface. Picking up the letter that Frank had mailed him right before he died, he traced his wrinkled fingertips across the shaky black ink that was etched into the page by Frank’s own hand.

Here’s the key. You know what to do.

It’d been a year since they’d found 24 & 25 in the cabin. All the hubbub had died down, the papers had moved onto other crimes, other murders. Soon it would be time to use the key. He’d come up with a new process, something the police would never be able to connect to The Tri-State Killer. And why would they? The Tri-State Killer was dead. Emmy and Allie were the ones, he and Tyler had decided. They had watched them both go on dates with various men over the past three months; they were clearly not chaste or demure. Definitely not obedient. He and Tyler would soon show them how to repent. It would be their final life lesson.

He turned to Tyler and smiled. ‘Let’s get started.’

Acknowledgements

From Steph and Nicole: