Ryder swapped out the photos of Banks for Marston. Matt explained their theory that John Marston was the specific target, and that the vice principal in Portland and the most recent victim were, essentially, distractions.

“We believe that the killer not only knew Marston, but that they may have had a run-in at some point. A witness said that a former employee had attacked him at school one day, but Marston didn’t file charges because the employee had recently lost his wife. While that may not be connected to our killer, we can’t discount it as possible, and Deputy Chief Maddox is working with the superintendent to find out the employee’s identity.”

Ryder swapped out Marston’s photos with the photos of the first two cops who were killed. “Based on the pattern,” Matt said, “the Triple Killer kills first a nurse, then a principal, then a cop. Since we now believe that Banks and Marston—both living in Spokane at the same time—were specifically targeted, we think that the cop who is next on this guy’s list is also from this area.”

A cop in the front of the room said, “But we’re all from Liberty Lake. Why isn’t every cop in Spokane listening to this?”

“Good question. Maddox sent out a memo to all Spokane cops to be cautious, and Chief Packard instituted the partner ride-along for the duration of this investigation. But where the killer leaves the victims is the key. In Portland, for example, the murdered cop lived in the suburbs, but he was killed in Portland. In Missoula, the cop lived in the county, not the city, but the killer killed him just inside the city limits. They were substitutes for the person the Triple Killer intends to kill. This tells me the location is important to him. He brought Victoria Manners from Spokane to Liberty Lake. Ogdenburg lived there, so he killed him in his own home. The cop—or retired cop—he’s targeting either lives in Liberty Lake or works in Liberty Lake. That’s why we asked your retired officers to come down today. You might hold the key to identifying this murderer and bringing him to justice.”

Matt nodded to Ryder, who brought up the two primary suspects. “I need to stress that these two men are wanted for questioning only. The FBI is tracking them down now. Both were parties to a lawsuit after a pileup on I-90 in Liberty Lake on March 3, eighteen years ago, took the lives of nine people. Zachary Hamilton lost his wife. She died in the hospital, and he felt that Anne Banks prioritized other patients over his wife, resulting in his wife succumbing to her injuries. The autopsy indicated that no medical intervention could have saved her life, but as we know, grief can twist people’s emotions.

“McCafferty was sixteen and lost his entire family in the wreck. His case is a lot more complicated because he sued multiple parties. The profiler working the case feels that McCafferty best fits the personality for our killer because of what happened and his age. He was trapped in the car with his dead family, and based on the lawsuit, Dr. Jones believes that an ambulance chaser convinced McCafferty or his guardian—we don’t yet have that information—that others were to blame for the accident. We’ve distributed packets on each man and victim. Look at them carefully. Really think about if you know them. Even if you just saw them once or twice. We know that the killer stalks his victims, knows their routine. Very likely you could have spotted him, though you may have not recognized him. Hamilton has a record. McCafferty does not.”