Rubber Duckies

Christian Allister

As Caleb heads to his desk, Aaron turns to me. "What do you think, Christian? Any gut feelings about this guy?"

I hesitate, then say, "He's driven by a deep-seated need for control and validation. The mutilations are about power, but also about sending a message. He wants to be seen, recognized, feared."

It would seem random if we hadn't made the connection to the same hometown. But not the same school. Three of them went to a private school two towns over. So obviously, this isn't an old grudge dated back to school ages, especially given the age gap in the victims that would put them in different grades too.

"No kills have been reported in town," I groan. "What do we know about the town?"

"Small. Very small. Five hundred is the population. In the past three years, nothing of any real interest has made the news. Very religious town," Elise responds, scrolling through the data on her tablet.