“When you talk to the original detective in Portland,” Catherine said, “ask him to review all witness statements. Someone might have reported something that didn’t seem relevant at the time. Anne Banks is, I believe, the key to finding this killer.”

“After six years it’ll be nearly impossible to get any actionable information from a witness,” Matt said,

“Agreed, but the information could be hidden in the notes. I’m throwing ideas out there—but the detective will help you. I spoke to him three years ago and he was helpful then as well.”

“You think the killer personally knew Anne Banks. That she knew him, maybe recognized him.”

“Either directly or indirectly, he knew her and had a very specific—and very personal—reason for killing her. It wasn’t random. Something set him off. He had to have stalked her for some time to know her schedule, when she would be running, how to get her alone. Matt—find out where Anne Banks worked and lived before she was married. My instincts tell me she was a nurse—not just any nurse, but a trauma nurse, just like victim seven Victoria Manners, just like victim Sophia Kwan, the nurse in Missoula. I know you’re short-staffed, but we need to go back further than the original investigations.”

“Are you talking ten years? Twenty years?”

“When I initially got the case three years ago, I asked both the Portland and Missoula police departments to go back five to seven years on each victim. I received information haphazardly over the years, and some of the information is incomplete. Because this wasn’t an official FBI investigation, I had no authority to push for more. But now? We go back to the victims’ childhoods if we have to. To wait three years between his kills, that takes discipline and unusual patience. Yet in a sense he’s escalating. He grabbed Manners on the second, killed her shortly after midnight. This shows he was anticipating the kill and couldn’t wait until later in the day. Your next victim will be dead before the sun comes up tomorrow.”

Matt had been thinking the same thing, but he was focused more on Catherine’s tone.

“You have more, don’t you?”

“I’m not going to jump to conclusions, Matt. The last time I rushed a profile, someone died. I don’t have to remind you of that again, do I?”

Her voice was sharp, and Matt winced. “I’ll run the backgrounds, Catherine. But we’re on the clock here. If he’s picking his victims by their profession, then a teacher is likely to die in sixteen hours.”

“Don’t put that pressure on me.”

“I’m not. But give me one more thing—wait.” He scribbled on a notepad, glanced at his own notes, then said, “The way the previous victims were all left in the city when several lived in the suburbs. Why transport them elsewhere? Shouldn’t it be easier to kill them more remotely, like Manners? Less chance of being spotted?”

Catherine was silent for a moment. He heard her typing, and then quiet, then more typing. “Yes—it does seem odd, particularly in the case of Manners and the sixth victim—Deputy Boyd in Missoula. Manners lived alone, it would have made sense to have killed her at her home. Boyd was married, and he lived in a remote area east of the city, well outside the city limits. According to the original police report, his personal car was found abandoned on the road off the highway leading to his property. That means the killer must have another vehicle, either his own or one he stole to transport the victim to the city to kill him. In fact, based on the map of the area I just pulled up, the killer took him just inside the Missoula city limits.”