to press for more information than they were willing to give. “Jackass,” he thought, thinking back on the exchange. He’d returned to his office long enough to get a fresh cup of coffee and allow a few minutes for all those invited to the investigative review meeting to make their way to the conference room. Sitting at his desk, a notepad resting before him, Angelo organized his thoughts and jotted down details he wanted to discuss with the group. Leaning back in the leather chair, he looked at the pictures arrayed on the wall, his father in uniform, medals decorating his left breast. Another of his wife and two children taken when they were much younger, but it still filled his large chest with pride when he recognized how blessed he had been. He understood that nothing was more important than family and he took his oath to protect all families within his jurisdiction as a sacred covenant. Once he was confident that everyone was assembled, he checked to make sure the picture taken from the Criddle home was in his shirt pocket, picked up his coffee mug, the notepad, and headed to the meeting.
Entering the room, a respectful silence replaced what was, a few moments ago, a circus atmosphere. Approximately 20 people were scattered around the long table that extended down the center of the room. Most stood, but a few were seated around the table, pens at the ready. Some were easily recognizable as troopers, uniforms with hats, but many were dressed much more casual, the support staff and forensics people. This was his extended family, the men and women that he loved to serve with, he knew within his heart that he would take a bullet for any of them, and they for him, if circumstances dictated. The Sheriff’s Department was a close knit, cohesive unit that had fused together as one over the past 10 years of his leadership, they knew he expected the best from each of them and wouldn’t tolerate bullshit of any kind. He both demanded and gave respect and praise when it was worthy. The members of the department anxiously awaited his direction.
“Thank ya’ll for coming,” he began. “We are going to take some time today to review both the cases that have fallen into our laps over the past couple of weeks involving these single ladies,” he said, pointing to the pictures of Thelma Riddle and Katherine Criddle that were thumb tacked up on a rollaway display. “I’d like to begin with what I know you are all thinking, Riddle and Criddle. Is this a joke or a random occurrence? Is he selecting his victims based on some strange last name comparison? You’ll note I said individual rather than group, I believe this to be the work of one man based on the evidence that I’ve seen. Anyone think otherwise?” he asked the group. No one offered an alternative theory. “Good, so back to the names, any thoughts?”
“Sheriff, we did some checking yesterday afternoon on the backgrounds of both of the victims. There is absolutely nothing that links them. They don’t know each other, never met, don’t attend the same church, don’t shop at the same stores, have different circle of friends. There was nothing we could find, at least to date, other than the fact that they live within a few miles of each other and that could just be random as well,” one of the investigators offered.
“Good. I’ve done some thinking on this myself and I think we need to consider a couple more things. Both women were single, had no steady boyfriends, no children, no pets, owned their own homes, we shouldn’t overlook the obvious just because they didn’t know one another. Does anyone else have any ideas on how he selected these two women? Did he just go to the phonebook and randomly pick these locations or did he pick the women first?” the Sheriff stood, waiting for a reply.
An answer came by way of the smallest person present, “I believe he must have a criteria that he’s sticking to. First, he picks a house based on the entry. Is it dark and secluded, does it have fairly easy access from the back without any other homes close by? Then once that satisfies him he does his homework on the victim. For what he wants to do he has to have lots of time, doesn’t want to be interrupted. I mean, for God’s sake, he sat down and ate a bowl of cereal in the woman’s kitchen while she slept in the next room. So no kids, no pets, no boyfriends, no unexpected surprises, no pesky neighbors and he’s smart, real smart. He knows dogs too. He ran us around in circles for the better part of two hours yesterday trying to get old Otis to lose his scent, and he finally succeeded, but we estimate that he parked the car within a three-mile radius, probably in an alley somewhere. We have plans to go do some interviews this afternoon with some of the late night establishments in that northwest quadrant. If that’s okay with you Sheriff?' Officer Guest requested.
He liked her eagerness. “Yup, do what ya gotta do. I think, Natalie here, is right. The only way I see the two names as a common denominator is, if in fact, these are total pranks done by somebody with a sick sense of humor. I’d like the public to believe that for now. But as far as we are concerned we are going to move ahead with the assumption that there is something more sinister at work here. Officer Guest mentioned the photo, has everyone seen it?” Several of the officers indicated that they had not, so Angelo passed it around. “Much like the first photo, same camera it’s been confirmed, less of his face visible this time around, but the portion showing is much more detailed due to the better lighting. He was careful to demonstrate for us what he was up to. I expect that’s some power trip or some kind of a taunt directed at us. Note the black face paint, possible ex-military or survivalist, somebody check that angle. Any more thoughts on how or why he’s choosing these victims?” No one spoke up.
“Okay let’s move on. We heard from Ms. Criddle this morning and she confirmed there was nothing missing from the home and nothing in her bedroom appeared to be moved and no underwear tampered with. This is different from the first. You will recall that he actually put her intimates on and took the picture with the victim in the adjacent bed. This changed with Katherine, however, we know that he entered the victim's bedroom here, as well, due to the dog evidence. Why risk that, if it’s not to deliver the same shock value as he did with the first event?” again the Sheriff looked about for any takers on the question.
A senior deputy with a graying handlebar mustache and thick sideburns offered a thought, “It’s a power trip right? Perhaps he likes to feel like he can do whatever he wants to while in their homes but doesn’t have the balls to carry it any further, other than just being there, seeing them and taking these pictures.” As an afterthought he continued, “Hell, maybe that’s what he was doing by the side of her bed, maybe he was taking more pictures.” Proud of what he’d contributed, he reached up, stroked the mustache and smiled at his associates.
“That’s a good thought,” Natalie said, giving the mustached deputy thumbs up. “Why go to all this trouble without some sort of trophy? He doesn’t take anything, maybe that’s because what he takes he’s already brought with him.”
“I’m apt to agree with both of these officers,” 'The Wolf' declared retrieving the picture after it had made the rounds. “He certainly won’t be having these developed in the local Fotomart or online, so he must have a color printer and computer that will do the work for him. Breland, will you do some checking today with the computer suppliers in town and see if anyone has recently purchased what they’d need to make this happen? Something concerns me with what my buddy at the back said there a minute ago. He said, ‘he doesn’t have the courage to carry it any further’, that’s what really bothers me about this case. If he’s a serial, and I believe our perp is, we have to assume that his behavior will escalate. It’s just a matter of how fast, where, when, and in what magnitude. When you can answer these questions for me I’d like to talk with you all further.”
The meeting lasted another 90 minutes with ideas and suggestions bantered about. The forensics people had not had much time yet to review what they had, but they were able to collect a number of fiber samples from the site that looked like they didn’t belong there. There were no prints, other than those of Katie, and the dishes had been washed clean. They were able to determine that he had used some kind of plastic sheets to move the furniture, as small trace samples had been pressed into the carpet, but the sheets themselves must have been brought and taken by the perpetrator. They agreed with Officer Guest, he was bright and knew what he was doing, very little evidence and he’d done this before and not just once but many times. Too slick and too well practiced to do what he was able to do without the owner having a clue.
“Okay, let’s wrap this up ladies and gentlemen; we’ve got lots to work on. I want you to focus on a few things that we’ve highlighted today. First, we need to figure out how he’s getting access without any signs of forced entry. Both victims think they locked their doors, but this is Georgia so we can’t be sure, but let’s assume that they did, so he’s getting keys somewhere. Maybe he works at a hardware store and is making duplicates or something. Breland or Arnold, check with the victims to see if either one has had new keys made in the past year. Secondly, I want to know this psycho’s agenda, any ideas I want them brought to me right away. Now people we have more than this case to deal with but I want everyone to be vigilant and let’s follow this one through. Does anyone have anything further before we break for the day? I’ll be heading this one up myself so address any issues to myself or Arlene at the desk.”
A hand shot up at the back, Ricky Dean, the most senior of the forensic department stepped forward, making it easier to address the large man. Ricky was not a big man himself, only about five and a half feet tall, receding hairline, full mustache but in excellent shape for being almost 60. He was one of those guys that knew a little bit about everything and could fix anything he put his mind to. Whenever anything broke down at the Sheriff’s Office,