“Sedatives?” Michael asked.

“Nothing has been conclusive so far,” Jim said. “But we’re rushing the tox screen on Manners and should have results by the end of the day. My guess is it’ll be a common sedative, but the dosage he uses is particularly potent leading to an immediate loss of consciousness. Possibly fentanyl, which acts quickly and in high dosages can be deadly. Unfortunately, not all victims were given broad tox screens. We’re covering every base with Manners.”

“Does that mean he has a medical background?” Matt asked.

When Jim didn’t answer, Catherine said, “No—he could learn what he needs on the internet. But how does he get close enough that these people don’t consider him a threat? Remember—Anne Banks was running through the park with her infant when she was killed.”

“Why March 3?” Kara asked.

Silence fell.

“Well,” Catherine said, “that’s the million-dollar question. The date is significant to him, and the number three. I keep coming back to March 3. Violence done to him or to someone close to him—someone very close, like a parent or sibling. But this is important—he would have exhibited sociopathic signs as a teenager.”

“Isn’t that a contradiction?” Jim asked. “If he’s a sociopath, would he have that close of a connection to anyone, even as a teen?”

“Yes—sociopaths are not purely those who don’t feel normal emotions. Sometimes, they feel too much emotion, and they shut everything down in order to function. I don’t think that’s this killer—he’s too methodical. But that doesn’t mean he can’t feel for someone he bonded with as a young child.”

“If three’s important to him,” Matt said, “why does he slice each victim exactly four times?”

“Four?” Catherine hesitated. “Oh—I see. I’m looking at only the three horizontal marks, none of which were necessary to achieve death. The vertical cut on each victim is the cause of death—the other three are his personal signature, for lack of a better word. That’s the three. The initial cut is to kill. But all this shows that he has complete control—slice the victim down the middle to ensure that they die, then three cuts across the body. Three is key. Three events, three people, three cuts. But I don’t know why.”

Catherine flipped through papers. “As I said to you before, Matt, if you have the time and resources to pursue it, it would help to dig deeper on all the victims. But the first victim is personally important to the killer. I’m pleased you found so much information about Anne Banks so quickly.”

“You lit a fire under my ass,” Matt said.

“Hardly necessary since you don’t sleep,” Catherine replied. It was phrased as a compliment but sounded like a slight.

Matt decided to ignore it. He asked, “Is the Triple Killer disciplined enough to wait that long to enact revenge?”

“Revenge—why do you say that?” Catherine asked.

“Because that’s what it feels like. Revenge, punishment for a perceived crime. Justice not done.”

“First—yes, he could wait a long time to enact revenge, especially if the trigger occurred when he was a child or young adult. Second, you may be right and this is revenge, but then I would think the victims themselves would be more connected—something we would have already seen, beyond occupation. Likely, it’s more the victims are surrogates for someone he wants to kill, but can’t. Someone who did him wrong, in his mind.”