“My department will be easy—we have personnel files readily available. I’ll call the Sheriff’s department. They’ll pull their own,” Andy said.

“This is our first real big break. Anything you need, let me know.”

“Thanks, Matt.”

Matt ended the call.

Andy had checked everyone last night, and now they had narrowed down the potential targets. They were going to throw a wrench in this killer’s plans—he knew it. They were now in the driver’s seat, forcing the killer to react.

With that goal firmly in mind, he crafted an email to everyone involved—the two police chiefs, plus Maddox, Knolls, and every member of his team—including Kara. She was from Liberty Lake, she knew the area and could help keep an eye on Andy.

“Where’s Jim and Michael?” he asked when he was done, surprised they weren’t here.

“Mr. Esteban is at the Spokane lab—he left here at six and will update you when he has something. He and Mr. Jordan ran some cultures, I believe, that needed time to cultivate and should be ready this morning. Agent Harris came in at six-ten, said he would be eating elsewhere and back in an hour.”

“What’s wrong with the hotel’s continental breakfast?” Matt asked.

Ryder wrinkled his nose and Matt grinned.

“I for one am fine with the cheap eats. I’ll text Harris and have him pick me up—send me part of the list, whatever Maddox and Knolls can’t cover.”

“Yes, sir.”

Matt sighed. He decided changing Ryder Kim’s formal behavior wasn’t going to happen overnight.

Matt went downstairs. Since it was the weekend, the hotel had added more food to the breakfast options; he had a Belgian waffle with his eggs and both sausage and bacon. Nothing wrong with that, as far as he was concerned. So what if the bacon was overcooked? It was edible and tasted like bacon.

He sat in the corner, texted Harris, then read Catherine’s memo more carefully. He highlighted the key points.

Nurses Kwan and Manners are surrogates for Banks.

Banks was the real target; the others are a mere diversion for the police. Likely he would have considered how the police would take time to investigate each crime and he knows the other victims would distract law enforcement away from figuring out his true motive.

He’s killing Banks again, each time he kills a nurse. But he also understands that because there is no connection between him and his surrogate victims, their murders will divert resources and misdirect the investigation.

Rebecca Thomas, the murdered vice principal in Portland, is a substitute for the killer’s real target, John Marston. Why she’s a female I can only guess—he may simply have wanted someone in authority at a high school and she was convenient. Again, Thomas was a diversion, as will be the victim he has targeted for today, unless your team can stop him.

A pattern is emerging here—even if complicated. It reveals the killer’s sociopathic, yet logical, thinking. Anne Banks was the first target, the first of three. John Marston was the second of three. That gives us the last—the third of three—a cop, as the specific target.