Killer would find a way. There was always someone who turned the other way in the grocery store or in the playground just long enough for him to slip in and snatch the child.
He was invisible, a chameleon. He blended in so well with the surroundings that no one thought he seemed out of place. His normalcy was his gift. He was able to stalk, to kidnap, to kill and dispose of the bodies, all without being noticed.
It had always been Baldwin’s experience that the more normal the unsub seemed on the outside, the more twisted their pathology. The Clockwork Killer was proving to be just that sort of man.
And they were convinced that this was the work of a man. The violence done to the bodies was the key: no physical rape, but the thrust of the knife through the chest was a clear substitute for penetration.
The team had spent the day on the street, interviewing the multitude of possibles their compatriots at Fairfax County Homicide dredged up. They talked to the usual suspects, the local sex offenders topping the list. Alibis were checked, probation officers interviewed, neighbors notified and questioned. The day had grown warm, and they were all cranky by the time Baldwin and Charlotte had reached the home of the creepiest man Baldwin had met in a long time.
His name was Harold Arlen.
Even now, four hours later, in a perfectly comfortable, air-conditioned room, Baldwin broke out in a sweat at the thought of Arlen.
The Clockwork Killer may have had the mundane ability to fit in on his side, but Baldwin had a unique talent for ferreting out the truth. He wasn’t psychic-far from it. He just had a knack for seeing past the words being spoken, into the soul of the suspect he was interviewing. He could see when something was out of place. His boss called him the human lie detector. Baldwin didn’t know if that was the case, but as he went back through the files, he couldn’t help but feel like there was a problem with Harold Arlen. He was a serial offender, yes, but there was more. Something about him had seemed off.
Baldwin had done the interview himself, and it felt…smooth. Arlen was perfectly under control. Politely disinterested. He had all the right answers, every date and time covered. His alibi was perfectly intact. But Arlen’s eyes had lightened a bit when he caught a glimpse of the girls’ pictures, the pupils contracting, lips thinning, the corners turning up ever so slightly. Baldwin had gotten that chill, the sense that something is wrong that precedes a phone call bearing bad news.
Baldwin flipped through the man’s record again, familiarizing himself with all the details.
Over the past decade, Harold Arlen had been repeatedly accused of taking indecent liberties with a minor, and indecent exposure. He was, at his most basic, a tally wagger. Got his rocks off exposing himself to little girls. He used to drive by their bus stops, window down, and ask if they’d like to see his new puppy. When they approached the window, he exposed himself.
His most recent bust was back in 1998, after he was caught with a little girl in the front seat of his car with her hand on his penis. The judge wasn’t lenient; because this was the fifth time Arlen had been charged with indecent exposure, and since it had proceeded to what the courts referred to as lascivious intent, Arlen was sentenced to three years in prison and mandatory chemical castration. By all accounts, he was a model prisoner, and had come out of the joint a new man. He registered with the sex offender database, showed up on time for his appointments to get his Depo-Provera shots, accepted that his neighbors sometimes egged his house without complaint. When Halloween rolled around, he turned off all his lights and wouldn’t answer the door. All the things he was supposed to do.
Harold Arlen. He fit the profile perfectly-a suspect who was so into showing off for little girls rarely stopped, even if he couldn’t function normally.
They had other suspects, men who fit parts of the profile. They wouldn’t stop pursuing those angles, but for now…
He knocked his knuckles on the wooden table for luck, then handed the file to Charlotte with a sideways glance. “Take a closer look at this,” he said.
She popped it open and began reading without meeting his eyes.
He pushed his chair back and stretched, running his hands through his hair. Everyone took the sign. Geroux started shuffling the files into a neat stack, Sparrow yawned without covering her mouth, Butler closed his laptop. Charlotte alone didn’t move. She had been coy this afternoon, only speaking when spoken to, focused too hard on her work, which he took as a good sign. Maybe she’d taken stock of the situation and realized it wasn’t such a grand idea to be screwing her boss.
She still had her eyes on the file when she finally spoke. “Did you see his current occupation? He’s a photographer at Sears. He’s not supposed to be having contact with kids, but I’ll bet he is. If it’s him, there’s a chance that he’s been stalking his victims through his job. We should have the Homicide guys run through the list of victims and see if any of them had photographs made in the past six months.”
“That’s a good thought. So you concur?”
“All of his previous jobs involved children of some kind. And he’s a good-looking guy-he wouldn’t stand out.” She chewed on her lip for a moment, and Baldwin felt a pang deep in his stomach. “Yes, I concur. I think Mr. Arlen is worth having another conversation with.”
“Not to mention the chemical castration. That would explain why none of the girls had been raped. We always knew he was using the knife as a substitute.”
“We need to give him a second glance.” She handed the file back to Baldwin with a curt nod.
“Then let’s go meet with Goldman and the Fairfax County Homicide team. Let him know we want to take a closer look. At the very least they can get a tail on Arlen, see if he’s doing anything that raises eyebrows.”
Their role in the case was tricky. Normally, it wasn’t their job to identify suspects-just to give the local police an idea of the kind of person to look for. But the pressure was on, and it was all hands on deck.
The phone began to ring just as he finished, and his heart sank. Too late. They were too late.
Charlotte answered without giving it a chance to ring twice. She listened intently.
“What is it?” Baldwin asked, but she just shook her head and motioned him away. The four of them stood stock-still, waiting for her to hang up.
After an endless amount of time, she did. Her face was pale, her amber eyes clouded with anger.
“The Great Falls Police just got a call. Another girl is missing, name is Kaylie Fields.”
Their collective breath let out. Geroux sat back at the table with a grimace. The rest of the team stayed standing, ready, expectant.
“From where?” Baldwin asked.
“Her parents took her and her brother to a nursery to buy some plants for their garden. Right in the middle of downtown Great Falls. She turned a corner and was gone. Of course, there are no cameras at the nursery. He picked his spot well.”
“And we’re sure it’s him?”
“The description of the girl matches. Ten years old, small boned, blond hair. The timing is too perfect. It’s him, all right.”
Baldwin felt his heart rate rise a fraction.
“We need to make a move on this Arlen guy, quickly,” Geroux said.
“Keep looking at everyone, Geroux. We can’t put all our eggs in one basket. But, Sparrow?”
“Yeah, boss?”
“While Geroux finishes these files, you see what you can find out about Arlen. Track his every move. I want all the details of this guy’s history, credit reports, who he talks to, what kind of soap he’s using. He may be using online accounts-you can go work your magic there, too. He started killing five weeks ago. What made him start? If Arlen is our guy, was there something in his recent past that stands out as a good stressor? Talk to Sears-see if he’s been disciplined lately. Look at his close relatives, his exes, anyone and anything that you can find.”
Sparrow smiled at him, careful not to let her teeth show. The front two were crossed a bit, and it gave her fits. He thought it gave her an air of mystery, but she hated the perceived flaw.
“Butler, I’d like you to start cross-referencing the databases. See what you can dig up. There was a three- year lag time between Arlen’s release from prison and the start of these murders. Check through ViCAP and see what other crimes have been committed in this area, and throw in Maryland and West Virginia too, just to be safe.”
“Checking for an escalation pattern, Doc?”
