“As far as we can tell, he used a rope to strangle them jointly but couldn’t really do a decent job with the two of them together, since they were tied up with the same rope around their necks. He then used a garrote and sliced into their necks.”
“Definitely overkill.”
“I think he wanted to be thorough,” she noted thoughtfully. “Make sure they were really dead.”
“Well, that’s thorough all right, but there has to be more to it than that.”
“I’m on it. You just need to rest and to let this one go.”
“Yeah, like I’ll letthatgo,” he noted, his tone bitter.
“If not, then lean into it,” she suggested, “and come up with something useful.” And, with that, she hung up.
He stared down at the phone. “Like I can just do that either,” he snapped. No point in getting angry at her though. He was angry at himself for his inability to do just what she mentioned. Wouldn’t it be nice to think that he could just turn around and decide to become a “gifted” person, who could get into the headof a killer, instead of being an unwilling eyewitness to their victims’ deaths for a change?
It seemed like he only ever connected with the victims. He knew in the back of his mind that probably something was there for him to work with, but the fact remained that a small part of him still saw himself as a victim too and was determined to never be one again.
Whether that was why he connected with other victims, he didn’t know, or maybe it was because of that determination that Simon was reaching out to help other victims. Again they probably needed a shrink to handle this, but any shrink who knew what Simon was doing and going through would have a whole lot to say, and none of it would be what Simon nor the shrink really needed or wanted to hear. Simon wouldn’t let himself be medicated either, and too much of the medical and mental health community was all about drugging you up and drugging you down, until you didn’t know if you were coming or going. Not Simon’s style at all.
His world had to function somehow, and it wouldn’t function if he were on drugs. No way could he be making the decisions he needed to make on a day-to-day basis if he were under any chemical influence. Plus, the damn drugs were scary as shit. If you got off them cold turkey, it led to more depression and suicides—theverydrugs given to depressed people who were suicidal. Simon shook his head at the insanity of it all. More patients needed to realize this before swallowing just anything a doctor gave them.
Besides, giving up control was something Simon was never very good at. As a matter of fact, it was something that he would never allow to happen, no matter who the hell told him differently.
Chapter 2
As soon asKate got back to the office, she brought up a map of the jogging area. These were readily available; apparently it was all part of some popular runner’s circuit. So much of the park itself was developed, but the larger portion was still wild and full of walking and jogging trails.
What she needed to do was connect with the husband of the other victim—Agnew, per Jenna’s mom—and see whether the two women had a regular running route that they could count on, one that changed on a regular basis, or one that they chose randomly as they ran. If it changed, that was a different story. If it was the same, day in and day out, all Kate needed to do was find somebody who frequented that area, since other runners would have seen the two women on a regular basis.
Also, Kate needed to follow up with Agnew about that third party to the wives’ runs and confirm what had happened there.
Of course, even a permanent running schedule over the years didn’t mean somebody who knew them had killed them. Somebody could have followed them or was on the running path too. There could be any number of options. As Kate sat down, studying the pathway, she looked over at Rodney. “I want to walk the running path.”
“You mean, you want torunthe running path?”
“Actually that’s not a bad idea either. I wouldn’t mind seeing what time frame we’re talking about.”
He looked over at her. “What good would that do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I need to go for a run either way, and I want to check it out, and that sounds like the best idea yet.”
He shrugged. “You go for it. I hate running.”
“Maybe so, but you still do it.”
“Yep, I do it to keep fit, but it’s not something I’d choose to do for fun.”
She laughed. “Well, that’s exactly what our victims did,” she noted, “so I want to take a look at it.”
He smiled, then nodded. “Have at it.”
She took that to mean she was going alone. Well, that was fine with her. “I think I’ll head over there now.” She looked at her watch. “The day is almost over anyway.”
He frowned. “You’ll go for a run now? It’s really hot out there.”
“It might be hot, but it’s also a good way to see the area.”
He shrugged. “As I said before, go for it.”