28- The Profile.

Mazurka awoke several hours later to the sun filtering through the opening in his drapes. Taking a moment to get his bearings, he closed the file on his lap and set it next to the open bottle of water on the end table.

"After eight already," he groaned as he lowered the recliner, stood and stretched.

He had barely managed to get through the first page of the report when he fell asleep, but that had been more than enough for him to understand the situation Quayleigh had lived through. He wanted to dig deeper but knew obtaining sealed records would require a court order and that required more than just a faint hunch that her background would give him more insight into her, possibly not related connection, to possibly not a serial killer.

In reality, if Dylan was the killer as Harlowe suspected, then his connection to him could also be deeply scrutinized. With that in mind, he checked his phone and was pleasantly surprised to find no missed phone calls or urgent messages.

"Maybe he took a night off after all," he mused as he headed into his bathroom.

When he emerged, freshly shaved and showered, all the necessary morning routine complete, he sat on the edge of his bed, towel wrapped taut to his waist, when he heard the familiar chime notification of a sent text.

"Let me guess, bring coffee, with no please, no thanks, not even a hey, how'd you sleep? I know you aren't supposed to be in until ten, but could you come in early? I could use a coffee," he groaned as he retrieved his phone. Sure enough, all it said was exactly as he expected, his screen reading like a song on repeat, 'bring coffee', 'Sure, see you soon.', 'bring coffee', 'Sure, see you soon.', 'Bring coffee'. 'Sure, see you soon,' he replied, not wanting to disrupt the harmony of their text-based communication. When it came to Harlowe, Yechiel could guarantee one thing, if it was important, he would call.

Falling back onto his bed, Yechiel stared at his ceiling fan, before lifting his phone, and flicking through his pictures, until he found the one of the photos of Quayleigh.

"This sucks! Why do you have to be connected to this case? And why did you have to tell me the truth! Dylan was such an asshole back in school, so of course he'd be lucky enough to find two women who ended up loving him. I only hope you don't end up like Francesca."

Setting down his phone, he finished drying off and got changed. Gathering everything he needed, he went into work.

"How'd the task force meeting go?" Mazurka questioned Harlowe, handing him a coffee before sitting down at his desk.

"Same as always. No one had anything new to add. I told them about your possible lead and research is on it. Folsten, once again, reiterated that we were still missing previous victims and fully expects that sometime today, another one is going to show up."

"Nothing yet though?"

"Nothing yet. Which could be good or bad depending on which way you're leaning."

"What's the consensus?" Mazurka questioned as he leaned back in his chair opening his coffee.

"Well, the optimistic ones concluded that the group killing wasn't an escalation but a crime of opportunity and that it will buy us time. The more experienced concurred that it was probably a crime of opportunity but concluded that when he kills again, he would escalate to multiples and not go back to single targets. The profilers think this is a man in his late thirties or early forties, and despite the routine nature of the pattern, he's an unhinged practitioner. They think he's selecting his targets based on their actions. Something they are doing or saying is what causes him to go after them. He probably feels as though he's been wronged or slighted in some way. They view his use of magic to invoke death to be cowardly behavior and apparently that means he lacks confidence, is a loner, considered unattractive, been unable to hold a steady job or works at a job that no one else wants to do. Dirty work, low pay. That sort of thing. He may feel ignored or underappreciated for the work he does, and that maybe that's what's triggering him to kill his victims."

"But wouldn't invoking fear mean that he wants to be seen as a threat?"

"It could," a woman said as she stood in the doorway, a sly smile lingering on her lips, the soft wave of her blond hair draped over her shoulder, and the navy-blue suit she was wearing, flattered her figure, despite giving her an upstanding business appearance. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's fine, come on in. This is Hayden Folsten, and this is my partner, Yechiel Mazurka."

"Pleasure," she replied offering him her hand. "I know we've been working together for a while, but this is the first chance I've had to formally introduce myself."

"Like wise. Harlowe was just filling me in on the profile your team has come up with."

"That's why I'm here. This is the copy of the profile and timeline you asked for," she remarked handing the file she was holding off to Harlowe.

"Speaking of your timeline, I have a few questions for you," Mazurka said as he pulled over a chair for her.

"I'll answer what I can," she remarked as she sat down.

"Harlowe informed me that you think we're missing the first victim."

"Yes. Most likely even more, but at least one. Our unsub appears to always kill in threes, taking a break between each cluster. Presumably to either resupply the components necessary for his magic or to select his next victims. Or both. Until we know for certain how he's selecting his victims or what spell he's using, there's really no way to be certain. Can you answer a question in return?"

"Shoot."

"Who gave you the idea that this could be a multi-generational ritual?"

Mazurka gave her a knowing smile as he tapped at the top of his desk for a moment while shaking his head, "I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to reveal my source."

"Any chance you could reach out to your source and ask them to talk to my team?"

"I could, but I doubt they'd be willing. Why do you want to talk to them?"

"Basically, we don't have a practitioner on staff to discuss this subject with. Magic being used to kill just isn't something we've ever come across. A serial killer using magic is unstudied territory and any insight we can gain from a trusted source would be invaluable to refining our profile. The more accurate it is, the better chance we have of finding and stopping this unsub."

"I see your point. I'll reach out and see if they're willing to sit down with you."

"I'd really appreciate it. Right now, we have so little to go on. We can't even determine what type of ritual is being used since all of the autopsy reports have come back clean for residual magics."

"We think the killer maybe using some sort of death magic. I've set up to meet with a member of the MET in a couple of hours. You're welcome to tag along," Harlowe informed them.

"That was fast. Must have been one hell of a favor you cashed in," Mazurka remarked causing Harlowe to nod and purse his lips.

"You need to stop getting coffee at that diner. This, tastes worse than usual!" Harlowe complained in a clear attempt to alter the direction of the conversation despite taking a swig immediately after.

"I appreciate the opportunity and will be taking you up on it, Harlowe. If you don't have any more questions for me…"

"Actually, I have one more," Mazurka interrupted Folsten before she had a chance to get up. "What are the chances that a killer, like this, would establish a pattern so quickly?"

Folsten lowered her head and rubbed at her chin, "Everything we know about serial killers, states that it isn't possible. Most killers show signs of psycho or sociopathic behaviors early on. Often directing their tendencies towards animals. Torturing and killing small wild animals, showing fascination with roadkill or rotting carcasses. That may lead to going after strays, and most times that leads to familial pets. At this point we know some people exhibiting these behaviors never go on to become killers. They grow out of these tendencies, get help, or their focus goes into other outlets, hobbies, sports, hunting, but they will never turn into killers. In rare cases, the tendencies stop all together, for no apparent reason, and in the rarest of cases, it lingers, continues, and escalates to the point where they move against other humans. From there, they tend to refine their methods. If they aren't caught, they will go through phases from discovering their preferred technique of killing, hunting grounds, disposal methods. Victim selection is a large part of this ritual. It's exceedingly rare for a serial killer to select their targets at random. In this case, just as bizarre is the overwhelming size of his hunting ground. We would expect to see a trail if they were moving to a new location, but this unsub seems to see this entire city as his territory. If not for the amount of distance between each kill, I would have assumed he was a transient, but the way he moves around in such a sporadic fashion, possibly even moving the bodies, he has to have access to a vehicle of some type."

"Why not public transit?"

"That makes moving the bodies impossible. We tested the theory that he could be using rentals, but the logistics didn't make any sense. I had my guys looking into it anyways, and after cross checking rental manifests of the companies around the city, the ones who had locations closet to bus and train stations near the areas where we know the bodies weren't moved, we came up with nothing. No multiple rentals under the same name, and no rentals under our victim's names."

"Have you checked with moving companies?" Harlowe asked as he looked up from the file he was reading.

"Horton's working on that now, but there aren't very many in the city and most aren't in accessible areas. If the unsub is using a vehicle, it's most likely their own or a close family member's."

"Could there be more than one? Could our suspect have someone helping them?" Mazurka questioned.

"While it's possible, based on what we know so far, it's unlikely. When killers work together, there's usually an underlying sexual nature to the dynamic. One tends to be dominant and the other submissive, and the victims will show signs of sexual abuse, torture, and restraint. They are often strangled and buried. There tends to be a twisted reverence shown to the remains, usually by the submissive partner, even if the partner isn't a woman. All the victims in this case, so far, show no signs of sexual assault or even curiosity. These bodies aren't treated with any amount of care. Even when they're moved, they're just dumped in places where they can be more visible. That behavior alone is perplexing and highly unusual. Even when killers spiral, they won't go out of their way to move bodies to more visible locations, with the exception of the artisan killer. They specifically move the bodies to be seen and pose or display them with the intent of delivering a message. This unsub doesn't fit into that category though. He shows no sign of an ulterior motive or being driven by a higher purpose or the need to explain his actions. There have been no messages at the dumpsites or on the bodies, and if he is communicating with someone in the media, they haven't come forward yet. We've also had our cyber team scouring the internet for anyone taking credit for the murders, and they've come up with nothing, aside from a laundry list of fans, dubbing him the 'Nightmare killer.' Something we highly suggest you do not publicize."

"Not that it's catchy or anything, but why?"

"By giving him a name, you're showing him recognition for his work. It could easily cause him to escalate. He already appears to be growing bolder. Taking on five people at once is no easy task, especially considering that the way he kills comes across as someone with no confidence, perhaps even cowardly. I'm still hoping this last event was a fluke. It may have even happened because he felt threated and was defending himself, making him exceedingly more dangerous.

"One last thing to note that is also unusual about this unsub, he doesn't appear to be taking trophies. It's almost as if our unsub is treating this as a job. He doesn't even have a standard dump site. He just kills, and leaves, or kills, moves the body so it can be found, and leaves."

"So, nothing about this guy really even fits into the standard mold of a typical serial killer except that he has a distinct way of killing and he has an established pattern of when he kills," Harlowe complained as he closed the file and sat back in his chair.

"Doesn't that make him sound more like a hit man?" Mazurka questioned causing both Harlowe and Folsten to stare at him as a tense air filled the room with silence.