Chapter 29

Laverne warily eyed the small group seated inside Jo's office. "Hello."

"Hello." Jo met her at the door. "Come on in."

The woman hesitated. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing. We need help," Nash said.

"Help?"

"We think we have a pretty good idea who has been targeting Carrie. We're almost certain this person is planning another attack, and we thought it might be useful to build a profile, to know who we're dealing with." Jo made her way around the desk. "You have experience in profiling."

"Ah." Laverne squared her shoulders. "You thought you would consult a pro."

"Like I said, we're hoping to get a clearer picture about what kind of person we're dealing with." Jo filled her in on what they'd found. "The bottom line is we think this woman believes Carrie killed her pet rabbit, and she's doing society a favor by stopping her."

"As the famous criminal profiler, John Douglas once said, ‘What plus why equals who,'" Laverne said. "If we can figure out what and why, we can get to the who."

"Similar to motive and opportunity," Jo said. "This woman has both."

"Not to mention she's getting sloppy and leaving clues behind," Nash said. "Honestly, I'm not sure why we need to have a profile. This could be a waste of time."

"Maybe," Jo said. "But it doesn't hurt to have all the information we can ahead of time."

"I would be honored." Laverne reached for the notepad on the corner of the desk. "Fire away."

"The suspect is a creature of habit. She's been very vocal about accusing Carrie of killing her rabbit. She seems to be tech savvy."

The group threw out a few more clues, the fact she knew how to detonate an explosive, her level of fitness, seeming to not only harass Carrie but also track her.

Laverne scribbled a few notes and leaned back in the chair. "Have you checked out her house?"

"No."

"You should."

"Because you can tell a lot about a person by where they live," Jo said.

"Exactly."

"I'll start working on it." Jo pulled up the local appraiser's website and tracked down Mareis's address. It wasn't hard. In fact, it seemed a little too easy. She copied and pasted the address in a new search bar and hit enter. "She lives over in Smithville."

Laverne tilted her head, eyeing the sheet of paper. "I have a preliminary profile."

"Which is?"

"You're dealing with a disorganized offender versus an organized offender," Laverne said.

"A disorganized offender," Jo repeated.

"They did very little planning or preparation. There was no attempt to hide or eliminate evidence." Laverne continued. "Had they been an organized offender, they would not have left their tracking devices or an exercise device, both of which can be traced by law enforcement, behind."

"Although the person scratched off part of the tracking device's serial number," Jo pointed out.

"A disorganized offender would be someone who was committing crimes of passion," Nash said.

Laverne thought about it. "Could be. Disorganized offenders are typically loners who don't fit in well with society. They live near their targeted area."

"Which matches everything we know about this woman," Carrie said.

Laverne started to say something and abruptly stopped.

"What is it?" Jo prompted.

"Based on what you've told me, they could have the martyr complex."

"Self-sacrifice for the greater good or what they perceive to be a noble cause," Jo said.

"Exactly. Those types will stop at nothing to complete what they consider as being their mission or destiny in life."

Jo and Nash exchanged an uneasy glance. If what Laverne said was true, Mareis Inman wasn't going to stop. If anything, she would ramp up her terror tactics by doing whatever she felt was necessary to stop Carrie from opening the rehabilitation center.

Jo voiced her concerns. "In her mind, Mareis believes Carrie is going to harm or kill innocent animals, pets, and she's made it her goal to stop her by whatever means necessary."

"When she wrote ‘die' on the inside of my work trailer, she was telling me what was going to happen to me," Carrie whispered.

"It could be," Laverne agreed. "Again. I'm not a renowned criminal expert. I'm just giving you my opinion."

"Thank you, Laverne." Carrie gave her a quick hug. "I appreciate your input." She turned to Jo. "Should we drive by this woman's house?"

"It probably wouldn't hurt." Jo suggested they take the work truck this time, on the off chance the woman had noticed their SUV parked near the trail earlier.

With a plan in place, Carrie, Jo, and Nash grabbed the keys and climbed in. Smithville was a short drive, opposite the direction of Divine.

With Nash behind the wheel, Jo rode shotgun. Carrie sat on the other side. The address was on the opposite end of town, in a quiet subdivision where the houses were all similar in size and shape.

They cruised past the woman's place, a gray-ish blue ranch with white shutters and a small covered front porch. A detached one-stall garage was to the left. From the street, Jo noticed a fenced-in backyard with a gate near the corner.

"This looks like every other house on the block," Carrie said.

"Cozy and charming. Who would ever suspect a potentially disturbed woman lives behind those walls?" Jo asked.

"I still don't understand how she could believe I killed Cheddar. I love animals. Why would I open a sanctuary and rehabilitation for them if I didn't want to help them?"

"Money." Jo rubbed her fingers and thumb together. "This woman is convinced you're only in it for the money."

Carrie briefly closed her eyes. "I'm a sitting duck."

"Maybe not. I still believe our best plan of action is for us to be ready for her."

"But how?"

Jo rubbed her chin. "How active are you on your social media site?"

"I post almost every day, even if it's a meme or a picture of a cute, cuddly animal."

"Mareis follows your posts," Jo said.

"Apparently."

"And she acted when she noticed the story about the new business."

"Within hours," Carrie said.

"So…we force her into action." An idea began taking shape in Jo's mind. A plan to lure Carrie's stalker back to her property.

"I have the perfect person and pet in mind. Let's head home."