I shook my head and forced a polite smile.
'Let's begin.' Coursey cleared his throat, preparing for lecture mode. 'There have been several terminal occurrences over the past ten --'
I had to interrupt. 'Terminal occurrences?'
'Murders.'
Jesus.
'As I was saying, there have been several terminal occurrences over the past ten years in the United States that may have possible connections to the Jane Doe found here two days ago.'
Dailey jumped in. 'Serial or recreational killers usually have distinct patterns and modus operandi that make it possible, with the help of Vicky --'
'Vicky?' I asked.
'The ViCAT computer.'
'Ah.'
'That make it possible, with Vicky's help, to find links between victims.'
'You mean terminal occurrences,' I corrected.
'Exactly.'
I sipped my coffee, and noted with annoyance that it was very good.
'You read through our report on why we believe the perp is organized rather than unorganized, correct?'
'Absolutely.' I recalled dropping it in the garbage on the way to my car.
'Here's another report, a list of related crimes that Vicky has linked with the pattern established by our RK here.'
'RK?'
'Recreational Killer.'
'Ah.'
I wondered if there was a special branch of the FBI whose sole function was to make up acronyms.
'Vicky has also listed probability percentile rankings.'
Dailey nodded smartly, as if waiting for a cookie or a pat on the head. They must have taken my silence for deep thought, because they waited patiently for me to say something before they went on.
'Mmm,' I said.
They went on.
'There are seven possible connections on this list.'
'We'll give them to you in ascending order of probability.'
'First, on May first in 1976 in Hackensack, New Jersey, there was a double shotgun homicide where the suspect was unknown.'
I wouldn't be baited.
'What's the connection, you're thinking?' Dailey asked.
Actually, I was thinking that once, when I was younger, I had actually considered joining the FBI. We're all entitled to moments of stupidity, I suppose.
'The connection is that after the murders, the bodies were mutilated,' Coursey said.
'With a fork,' Dailey added.
'Six point three percent probability it's the same guy.' Coursey nodded smartly. I think they practiced nodding smartly in the mirror.
I rubbed my eyes, getting some eyeliner on my fingers. For what I paid for eyeliner, it shouldn't come off that easily.
'Gentlemen, I have a lot of work to do. If you'll just leave the paperwork, I'll go over it as soon as I can.'
'Your captain assured us that you'd give us your full cooperation, Lieutenant.'
'And I intend to, Agent Dailey.'
'I'm Coursey.'
'I intend to, Agent Coursey. But my captain also expects me to have all of my reports done on time. I have a backlog of six cases I still haven't transferred, and there were two more shooting deaths in my district last night that need to be attended to.'
'Were those shotgun deaths?' Coursey raised his eyebrows.
'No. Now thanks for your help, but right now I've got other things to do.'
I stood up. Dailey and Coursey did their looking at each other thing, and then got to their feet as well.
'I just hope we treat you with greater courtesy when the jurisdiction for this case is turned over to us.' Dailey
