‘Okay, looks like there’s only a few active options that cross state lines. The Bus Stop Strangler, all the victims were women in their forties and were last seen exiting the bus at their usual stops near their homes. Bodies were found strangled with an extension cord, naked and bound in their bathtubs, and all the mirrors in the houses were covered.’ I cringed, that horrible image trying to burrow its way into my brain. I quickly moved on to the next on the list. ‘Then there’s The Smiley Face Killer, a group of detectives came up with a theory that a number of young white men who were assumed to have accidentally drowned across the US, were actually the work of a serial killer or killers, because of smiley face graffiti discovered near where all the bodies were found. And they all had GHB in their systems. That one could be drug-related I guess, and we know my mom was connected to that world. The last victim was found in 2017.’

‘Maybe,’ Travis replied with a shrug. ‘I’ve seen that one talked about a few times on the news, but no one can ever seem to agree whether they’re all truly connected. Who else on the list has potential?’

‘Well, then we have The Paradise Stalker, who kills women who vacation alone. Not only does he leave a “Wish you were here” postcard on the bed with a poem about why and how he chose the victim, but he also sends a matching copy of those postcards to the families of the victims.’ An icy chill spread through me.

‘That’s so messed up,’ Travis replied with a disgusted look on his face. ‘Remind me never to let Andie go on one of her impulsive road trips without me ever again.’

‘Yeah, I can’t believe I haven’t heard about that one. But damn, that is so creepy. I’ve never really been one to travel alone, not like Andie, but it’s definitely off the table now. Looks like they’ve found bodies in Florida, California and Hawaii.’

‘Are there any others it could be?’

‘The only other one that’s coming up as active is The Tri-State Killer. But there’s a note that he’s been dormant since 2012. Since then, no other bodies have been found that fit his method. I remember hearing about him on the news, but not for a long time. It’s marked “dead or dormant” but still falls in the active category because he’s never been caught. Probably not him since it seems like they were working on a killer who’s still murdering, right?’ I asked, turning toward Travis.

‘It seemed like it, but I guess you never know. They didn’t give us too many details.’

‘Yeah, that’s true. Ugh, I wonder who it is.’