Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

S kylar walked into the station and directly to the conference room. She set the food on a credenza on one side of the room, pulled down the tactical screen, and laid out her notes. As people entered the room, she greeted them with a smile.

Chief Malloy and Lieutenant Hollings were first.

"Damn. Whatever that is smells a whole lot better than what I was going to offer to order for lunch," said the chief.

"Travis didn't want anyone to go hungry." She flashed her ring. "There are certain perks that come with being the fiancée of a celebrated chef."

All the others that had been on her list of recommended officers filed in, including the head of forensics. Skylar glanced at the chief.

"I thought your list was well thought out, and the lieutenant didn't think we needed to make any changes."

"Okay, then if everyone could grab something to eat, we'll get started. I promise I'll save the most gruesome pictures for last. Our unsub has now killed six women that we know of… maybe more."

"Why do you say that?" asked one of the attendees, before popping a bite-size piece of food into his mouth.

"Because the first kill was too clean," she started.

"Skylar is right. She sent me her list of the six kills she's certain are his. I agree with her list. The murders are too clean to be his first ones. Unsubs learn as they go. He's gone to a lot of trouble to make these murders look random and separate. But they're not. As far as I know, Skylar is the only one who's spotted the pattern. Once I looked at the vics this morning in light of her theory, however, it was easy to see. The guy is smart and has a working knowledge of forensics, although with all the procedural crime shows these days that doesn't mean much."

"What tipped you off?" Hollings asked Skylar.

"To be honest, I've been reviewing open murders, looking for a way to prove myself," she explained. "It wasn't until I realized that all of the vics seemed to be posed in one way or another that it all started making sense. There are several Italian baroque painters who were suspected of murdering their models and then painting the grisly scene. Known as the Omicidio Cerchio by certain followers, it's only been recently that scholars figured out what they had done."

"What's a bunch of dead Italian painters got to do with murders here in New Orleans?" asked Baptiste Guerin, a detective gold shield from another precinct.

"That's enough Guerin. You're only here because Gautier wanted you here."

"No, it's fine, Chief. I wanted Detective Guerin here because he's good and doesn't like me. I figure he'll be the one guy who questions everything, and that means we're less likely to miss something. It'll make our case stronger when we arrest this bastard. And we will get him."

There were nodding heads and sounds of ascent all around. Skylar hid the smile that had begun to form when even Guerin nodded, stood up, and got some food.

"As I was saying, this group of artists literally got away with murder. There was an exhibition of their paintings in New York City last year. I happened to catch it while I was there with some friends. I think that's where the killer got his ideas. If you look at the series of ten paintings," she put them up on the screen, each one a thumbnail in a grid-style layout, "you can see that each of our six murders are eerily reminiscent of those scenes, including that of Jenny Braddock's last night. It wasn't until the fourth murder that I connected the paintings to the murders. Then I was able to go back, and cherry pick the other four. When I found Jenny last night, she fit another of the paintings."

"Not to be an ass," said Guerin, "although I'm beginning to think that's my role in this taskforce, but why do we have a patrol officer from Dispatch here?"

"I thought that an interesting choice as well, but I decided to let Gautier run with it," said Hollings.

"Simple. Robyn has heard most of these calls as they come into Dispatch and can get us information more quickly than if we simply go over the reports from the day before. If we include her, she'll know what we're looking for, can highlight anything that seems to fit and call us in before anyone else goes out."

"Smart," said the chief. "Before we go any further, I don't want anyone to stay on the task force who doesn't want to be here. Chasing down a serial killer can get dangerous. He's already targeted Skylar and for those who don't know, Jenny Braddock looked an awful lot like Skylar. We think the killer knows Skylar is aware of him and was sending her a message last night. So, I need a show of hands. Who's in?"

Skylar was thrilled as one by one, every person in the room raised their hand, including Hollings.

"That's it then, Gautier. You've got your taskforce. Anything you need, you tell the lieutenant and he'll get it to me."

"If we could, Chief, I wonder if there's a conference room or a spare bullpen or even a place in the basement—somewhere we can set up that only we have access to. A place to set up a murder board."

"I think we can do better than a basement. I have a private conference room right outside my office. It's about the same size as this one. How about you set up there? I'll let my staff know they are to be available for anything you need. I want this bastard caught."

Skylar looked around the room at her team. Granted, she wouldn't be the one who got credited for leading it, but the Chief of Detectives and her lieutenant knew she had, and that she'd been the one to spot the pattern.

She looked back at the chief. "I think we are all agreed on that."

Skylar then laid out the unique way in which each woman had been killed and staged. As much as he could, the killer had tried to emulate the victim, the method, and the scene of each painting.

"Going back to this Omicidio Cerchio of yours," said Guerin. "Do you think he'll stop at ten? The ones you've linked together seem pretty perfect, which is why the connection was missed. Do you think there are others he botched up? If so, where are they?"

"Let me take that one, Skylar," said Tom. "This is Louisiana. The best place to get rid of a body is a swamp. Between animal, fish, and insect predation, not to mention what the black water does to bodies in general, it makes it very hard to even determine Cause of Death, much less when they were dumped. And that's if we find them at all. So if he's done more than these five, we'll probably never know."

Skylar put the pictures of the victims in their staged scene next to the paintings on the screen. All eyes were riveted to the photos by the time she put up Jenny's.

"Damn," someone whispered.

"As you can see, the killer tried to match his victim to the one in the painting as closely as he could, down to the same color of clothing. They're modernized, but still."

"They're too close to be coincidental," said Guerin. "You did good Gautier."

"That leaves four paintings unmatched. I'm hoping we can study those that remain and get an idea of where he'll try to stage the next one."

"Are the paintings in chronological order? Is the killer following that?" asked Robyn.

"Good question, Robyn. Yes. There's a distinct possibility that the killer had planned for me to be the sixth victim. I had an incident the night before last. My fiancé happened to show up and was able to distract him before the killer could get the jump on me. I think in his frustration at not getting the target he wanted—me—he went after Jenny as a substitute."

"Why?" asked Guerin. "I mean I get why he substituted Jenny for you. The resemblance was uncanny."

"The paintings were done in a specific order, and he has followed that order. So for him, the victim had to be a blonde, and the body had to be staged like Jenny's was."

"So that mean's we've got two brunettes, a redhead, and another blonde."

"Yes," said Skylar. "If he follows the pattern and he wants me for his final blonde, we've got four more victims—a brunette, the redhead, then me, and then a final brunette."

"How about each of you head back to your normal assignments and try to clear anything outstanding on your desk. I'll push through the paperwork to get you temporarily assigned to the task force. My admin will get everything set up for you," said the Chief of Ds. "Gautier and Hollings, I need you to hang back. The rest of you can get on with your day."

People grabbed up the last of the food and filed out of the room. When the last of them had left, Hollings shut the door behind them. Shit! What now?

"Detective Skylar Gautier, it is the considered opinion of both your lieutenant and myself that as you were the one who discovered this serial killer and have amassed an impressive amount of information—good presentation by the way—that you are the logical person to head up this task force."

Relief and pride washed over her. "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."

"I don't know if the lieutenant made you aware, but he added your name to a list of detectives to be considered for gold shield in this next round of promotions."

Skylar whirled on Hollings. "You did?"

"I did indeed. You've shown yourself to be dedicated, and your work has been exemplary. I seriously doubt we would have caught Warren Kramer's killer if it weren't for you. I know you said it was a team effort, but I also know who led that team and worked with the DA's office to get the conviction. You've closed every assignment given to you plus three cold cases that I know of. You deserve to be advanced, and the department is better and stronger with you in it."

"In light of all that," said the chief, reaching into his jacket pocket, "I am promoting you to Detective Gold Shield effective immediately. Human resources will have some paperwork for you to sign, but if you like you can do that in the morning or take off a little early and do it today."

"My fiancé is picking me up this afternoon, so I'll do it in the morning."

The chief handed her the new shield. "Congratulations, Detective. I second the lieutenant's sentiment that the department is proud to have you with us."

"Thank you, sir."

"All right then, Detective, go clean up the last of your paperwork. What you don't get finished, drop in my in basket and I'll get it reassigned. I want you focused on catching this bastard."

"Yes, sir," she said, heading down to the bullpen.

When she pushed through the doors, her fellow detectives were waiting for her, and cheered. There was a massive cake sitting on her desk.

"Not as good as something Travis Nichols would make, but we only found out about it a couple of hours ago. Way to go, Gautier. You deserve this."

"Thanks, everybody. I appreciate it."

She served cake to everyone and put the leftovers on the table by the copier. She sat at her desk and got down to finishing all of her outstanding paperwork, making notes on any open cases. After a couple of hours, she took a break and called Travis.

"Hey, I know we said six, but can you make it seven? I've got a couple of things I want to get done. I've been assigned to the task force." She lowered her voice, "In fact, I'm going to lead it and they promoted me to a gold shield."

"Of course, they promoted you and gave you the task force. I had no doubt they would promote you quickly, but the brass has now seen what you can do, and what I saw of your presentation was brilliant. As long as you aren't leaving the building, I'm okay with seven. Do you want to go out and celebrate?"

"Would you be disappointed if I said I just wanted to go home with you?"

"Not disappointed at all. I'll see you at seven. Anything you have a taste for?"

"Surprise me."

"Done."

Skylar finished up her paperwork and was getting ready to tidy her desk when her phone rang with an interdepartmental call. "Gautier."

"Skylar, it's Tom. I'm going to have a report on our vics ready to go in the morning. I've had my people working on it all day."

"Did someone send out an email about my heading up the task force?"

He laughed. "I don't think so. I just figured you were the logical choice and as I watched the lieutenant and the chief it was pretty obvious. Then the email came in about your promotion. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks."

"Anyway," he continued, "I wanted to give you a heads up. We took a look at those paintings and the crime scenes. It's spooky how similar they are. I don't know if you know, but my minor was in forensic psychology. This guy is messed up, but what worries me is the next location, and we've only got about ten days until he strikes again.

Jenny was a little before his normal eleven-day pattern, but I think he saw it as an opportunity to strike at you. He most likely had everything already set up. He also probably planned to hold and torture you longer than he did Jenny. Jenny was a warning, specifically meant for you."

"I agree. As perverse as it sounds, I take it as a compliment that he's concerned enough about me that I made him break his pattern. Will you be able to give us some psychological insights into what makes him tick?"

"A few broad strokes. But here's the real kicker. All of the painters in the Omicidio Cerchio were homosexual. I don't know if our guy is or not, but I can tell you I fully expected to find signs of sexual torture or at least rape. There was nothing."

"What are you saying?" asked Skylar.

"I'm saying that all of our findings on the six victims show the same thing. He may have tortured them, may have brutally murdered all of them, may have taken elaborate pains to pose them in the style of some baroque paintings, but not one of them was raped."