5: THE CASE

HANNA AWOKE IN her chair. Claire sat across from her, shading her eyes from the bright ceiling lights. Hanna removed her headband and walked over to help her.

“Careful,” she said, holding Claire’s arm to prevent her from falling. “Coming back to the real world can be disorienting for first-timers.”

“I’m okay,” Claire said, pressing her palms into her eyes and yawning. “I’m just sleepy. This really zaps the energy out of you.”

“You’ll recover. It’s like waking up in the morning. You’re groggy at first, but you push through and get on with your day.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Russell said, “Charles and the others are waiting for you in the conference room.”

Hanna nodded. “Thanks, Russell.”

When they entered the conference room, Charles, Howard, and two other men sat at the table. One of them wore a red name tag with Finn written in black marker. He slouched in his chair, letting his lanky arms dangle to his sides. The man sitting next to him was taller, with glasses that were slightly too big for his face. Arthur was in the corner setting up his camera.

“Welcome, ladies,” Charles said, standing up. “I hope the training is going well.”

“Very well,” Hanna said. “Claire is a fast learner.”

“I expect nothing less of her. She’s one of our best. Please, come in. I want to introduce you to a few people. You’ve already met Howard and Arthur.”

They both waved.

“And here we have Agent Finn Dooley. He just so happened to be the crime scene investigator for all three homicides before we determined the crimes were related. It only made sense to bring him onto our team for the Eileen Warner case.”

Finn stood up to shake her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s not every day I get out of the office. I’m always up for a field trip.”

Charles turned to the man next to him. “And this is Agent Lenny Carver.”

Lenny waved two of his fingers in what seemed to be a salute. “Morning, Ms. Li. We look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” Hanna said, sitting across from Charles.

Claire sat beside her, across from Howard.

With everyone together at the table, Finn slid three manila folders over to Hanna. “These are the case files for the three murders. Charles said you might want to take a look.”

“It’s important to have a good understanding of the murders,” Charles said. “It might help you recognize a memory while you’re in there.”

Hanna opened the first folder. On top of the pile was a photo of the crime scene. It was a kitchen. Pools of deep crimson blood covered the tile floor and long red smears scaled the walls.

“That was a messy one,” Charles said. “They don’t get much worse than that.”

“You’re telling me,” Finn said. “I barely held my lunch in that day. It happened in Roxbury. The victim was Anthony Higgs. He had a two-year-old daughter. We found the poor girl sitting right in the middle of that mess. God bless her soul. The victim was stabbed eighty-eight times with a kitchen knife. The high number of penetrations indicates a crime motivated by anger. To put it mildly, she was upset when she killed him.”

Hanna placed the photo aside and flipped to another showing the body covered in stab wounds.

“We found Eileen Warner’s hair,” Charles said. “With that, we were able to place her at the scene of the crime. It’s strong evidence against her, but Ms. Warner deals in prostitution, and our victim was a frequent customer. There’s a chance her hair could have migrated to the victim’s house through his clothes, so the hair alone is not enough to link her to the crime. We also considered the victim’s girlfriend as a suspect. Stabbings like these are often a result of domestic dispute.”

“But that trail led nowhere,” Howard said. “His girlfriend had a solid alibi. She was working a temporary job in Maine, driving down only occasionally to visit. She punched into work that day. She wouldn’t have had time to drive down.”

Hanna looked up from the folder. “Maine is only a few hours drive. She could have done it.”

“It’s unlikely,” Charles said, “but it is possible. It’s one of the reasons we need more evidence.”

Hanna flipped open the second folder. There was another photo of the crime scene on top, this one with far less blood.

“The second victim was Cameron Shultz in Dorchester,” Finn said. “One day, he didn’t show up for work, and his coworkers got worried. An officer went to check on his house and found him dead at the kitchen table. He had two daughters. One was thirteen, the other fifteen. They were both at school when it happened. Similar to the first murder, the victim was stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife. Fifty-four times to be exact. The first one pierced his heart and killed him immediately. The rest were just for fun, I guess.”

“He was eating breakfast at the time,” Charles said. “He still had the fork in his hand when they found him. There were no signs of struggle. No signs he fought back. She must have snuck up on him. The back door was kicked in. That’s where she must have entered.”

“Was he married?” Hanna asked. “Where was his wife?”

Charles pointed to a photo of a woman. “She was our prime suspect for a while, but there wasn’t enough evidence. She was working a double shift that day, and there was nothing to link her to the crime.”

“That’s when we found another sample of Eileen Warner’s hair,” Howard said. “It turns out Cameron Schultz was also one of her customers. Now, we had two connected murders, and Eileen Warner was the link. Both crimes had an excessive amount of stabbing, and the two victims were very similar. Two young fathers with loving families. Both around the same age. There was a consistent method of attack and a preferred victim profile. All the signs of a serial killer were starting to form.”

“But we don’t classify a serial crime unless there are at least three connected incidents,” Charles said. “Two isn’t enough to establish a pattern.”

“Which brings us the third murder,” Howard said.

Hanna grabbed the third folder and opened it. “Similar to the others, I presume.”

“That’s right,” Finn said, leaning back in his chair. “It fit the pattern like a square peg in a square hole. It was in an apartment building in Mattapan. The tenants on the floor below had complained about a strange brown sludge seeping through their ceiling. The maintenance guy went up to investigate and discovered the body. The victim was Tucker Wright. Father of two. He had an eight-year-old son and an eleven-year-old daughter. They were at his ex-wife’s house at the time of the murder. His body had sixty-one stab wounds. There were no signs of a break in, but the door was unlocked. The maintenance guy didn’t need his key. He just walked right in.”

Charles pointed to a photo of a young woman. “Like I said before, crimes like these are usually related to some sort of domestic dispute. Mr. Wright’s girlfriend was a likely suspect, but her mother and sister both said she was with them at the time of the murder. And that’s when we found…”

“Eileen Warner’s hair,” Hanna said, without looking up from the photo.

Howard clapped his hands together. “Bingo. I guess Ms. Warner’s business was thriving. Three clients. Three murders. What are the chances of that being coincidence?”

“Pretty low,” Charles said. “One murder? Sure, that kind of thing happens all the time. Two murders? It’s a little strange, but not enough to raise a red flag. But three murders, all pointing back to the same woman with similar patterns and matching DNA? Now, we have a case.”

“And a pretty solid one, if you ask me,” Howard said.

Charles nodded. “It’s a strong case against her, but from a legal standpoint, there is still reasonable doubt. Coincidence seems unlikely, but it is possible, and there’s a chance a jury could see it that way too. That’s why we’ve come to you. We need definitive proof, and Claire says you can get it for us.”

“I’ll try my hardest,” Hanna said. “Do you have any more information about Ms. Warner herself? The more I know, the better.”

“Yes, of course,” Charles said. “You’ll have a chance to speak with her in person when she arrives, but we can go over her profile right now. What exactly would you like to know?”

“Is there anything from her past that might be useful? Anything that would affect her emotionally, or alter her state of mind?”

“She had a poor relationship with her father. He died when she was young, but according to child services, it was probably for the best. She had bruises all over her body when they took her in.”

“It falls in line with the profile of her victims,” Howard said, scratching his nose. “She targets fathers.”

Hanna pulled out a photo of Eileen Warner to study her face. “And her mother? What happened to her?”

“She died after giving birth,” Charles said. “From what I understand, Eileen wasn’t born under normal circumstances. Her mother caught an infection and died a few days after Eileen was born.”

Hanna shook her head. “So, she grew up with no mother and an abusive father.”

“Her upbringing has certainly affected her life,” Howard said. “She’s been taken into custody multiple times in the past. Mostly for prostitution and possession of drugs.”

“She’s also been clinically diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder,” Claire said.

“What are the symptoms?” Hanna asked.

“Self-destructive behavior. Lack of moral sense. Abandonment issues. Unstable relationships. They’ll often have bouts of depression or anxiety or…” Claire paused when she noticed the worried look on Hanna’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve never dealt with such a fragile mind. You came to me because I’m an expert, but to be honest, I have no idea what we’re going to find in there.”

“You specialize in phobias. That must give you some experience with the unknown. That Dracula seemed pretty dangerous.”

“Which is why we don’t work with kids anymore. A child’s mind is too unpredictable. I imagine Eileen Warner’s will be worse.”

“That’s what science is all about,” Charles said. “Pushing the limits. Learning what does and doesn’t work. Exploring the unknown. There will be challenges, sure, but I believe you can overcome them. That’s why we came to you, and that’s why we’re funding your company. Core Tech Computing is at the forefront of this technology. All you need is a little push off the deep end. After that, you can either sink to the bottom or learn how to swim.” He paused, studying her face. “I think you’ll swim just fine.”

“And I’ll be there with you,” Claire said, patting her shoulder. “If you sink, we’ll sink together.”

Hanna raised her brow. “I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.”

“It makes it better, hun.”

“Is there anything else you need to know?” Howard asked, standing up to stretch his legs. “If we’re done, I have some paperwork to finish.”

Hanna shook her head, standing up as well. “I would like to ask Eileen Warner a few more questions when she arrives, but for now, I’m all set.”

“Good,” Charles said. “We’ll take a short lunch break and then get back to work.”

They all pushed away from the table to stretch their legs. Arthur retreated to his camera, while Howard sifted through a box of files.

Charles held the conference room door open for Hanna and Claire, and walked alongside them as they made their way to the lab. “How is the training going? Will you be ready tomorrow?”

“Claire did well in the simulation,” Hanna said, “but I would like to get her into a real person’s mind. I’ll call one of my clients to see if he can help.”

“Very well. You have the rest of the afternoon. Make good use of the time.”

Charles peeled off, leaving Claire and Hanna to walk alone. They entered the lab, where Russell was clacking away on his keyboard. “How did it go in there?” he asked.

“It went well,” Hanna said. “Now I have a better idea of what we’re dealing with. We’re in for quite a ride, Russell.”

“You know I’m always up for a thrill.”

“Is that why you sit at the computer while I do all the dangerous work?”

“It’s dangerous out here too, you know. Haven’t you heard of carpal tunnel? I mean, look.” He raised his hand and bent his wrist from side to side. “It’s fine now, but my hand is destined to fall off eventually. That’s what carpal tunnel is, right? Your hands fall off?”

“You’re an idiot, Russell,” Hanna said, walking past him to pick up her phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“Dennis. We need to show Claire a real person’s mind.”

“Dennis? Today’s his anniversary, isn’t it?”

Hanna shrugged. “It is, but we have no other option. We won’t keep him for long.”

Claire’s stomach rumbled. “While you have your phone handy, let’s order some food. I’m starving.”

Russell’s eyes lit up. “This woman has her priorities straight. Food first. Then you can call Dennis. Let’s get Chinese.”