Metro PD in Washington could have handled the notification, but Amanda wasn’t delegating this responsibility. The bodies were uncovered in Prince William County and similar to the Archer case. She wanted to gauge Karl’s reaction to the news firsthand.
“Smart move by Connie, stashing her ID in her sock—assuming that’s what happened,” Amanda said to Trent as he got them on the highway to DC.
He looked over at her in the passenger seat. “This will sound morbid, but Connie must have seen her and her daughter’s future. She tucked it away, so if the worst happened, at least they’d be identified.”
“I can’t even imagine what they suffered. But with what you’re saying, it would imply Connie and her daughter spent time with the killer.”
“It’s just sinking in for me now, but that would have been the case for Jill and Charlotte Archer. With Roy out from under suspicion, he last saw his family on Tuesday. Time of their deaths was pegged as Friday.”
“So the killer held them for three days before he killed them.” A past theory seemed to gain more credibility. “Okay, so we’re looking for a man who preys on vulnerable women. Not firmed up with Connie yet, but she had bruising. We’ll be able to build a timeline once we’ve spoken with the husband, but let’s run with this theory for now: the killer abducts mothers and daughters from abusive families.”
Trent nodded. “And let’s say most of their injuries date back before their abductions. Does this guy view himself as a savior? He takes them in and makes them feel loved and needed, then kills them? Is he trying to make a family for himself? And, if so, what changes the status quo?”
“Good question. And then when he buries them, he does so with evidence of affection? Not regret, as we first thought? But why these two women and children, aside from our assumption they both hail from abusive households? And why children, Trent? That takes a certain kind of evil.”
“I agree.”
“The killer targeting these women and children, is it personal for him? Was he affected by domestic violence? And is there a connection between the families, besides their killer?” She rushed to add the latter, before he countered with sarcasm. It was also painfully obvious this stage of investigation raised a lot of questions without answers to go with them.
“Hard to see one yet. They live an hour apart.”
“Doesn’t mean they always have.” She twisted the onboard computer so it faced her. “Let me take a quick look at their backgrounds.” She did just that. “There is no crossover in previous towns.”
“Then there’s another connection.”
“The only thing they might have in common is their killer. But did the women and children run into him at a place he regularly frequents?”
“Could have. We’ll ask Karl Riggs if he knows the Archers though.”
“Of course.”
“You mentioned a place the killer regularly frequents. What if that is Prince Park? He seems to have some draw to it, or so burying his victims there would indicate.”
“Possible.” She was trying to reconcile how the Riggs from Washington ended up in the park. Did something bring Connie to the county, or even Prince Park specifically?
“I’d say most likely. Serial killers often gravitate to a certain area.”
“Right. So what is it about Prince Park for this one?” A rhetorical question they had no hope of answering without more information. It didn’t leave her without hypotheticals though. “Did he go as a child? Did he go as an adult…?” She stopped there, tossing that around in her mind. There were many activities that would hold appeal to an adult male offered at Prince Park. There was also the children’s playground. It felt like there was something about that, lurking just at the edge of her brain, but it wasn’t coming into focus.
“After the K-9 unit has finished, and the park’s open again, we might want to have officers posted there in case he returns,” Trent said, his mind apparently thinking along the same lines as hers. “Might be where he met the women and their daughters.”
“Agreed on both counts. I’ll run it past Graves. I’m sure she’ll agree.”
“And just thinking out loud here, but if the killer had affection for his victims, he might revisit their graves.”
“Suppose it’s possible, but if so—even if not—he is probably aware by this point that we’ve found them and are looking for more.”
“So where does that leave us? He’s not necessarily going to stop killing, just pick a different place to get rid of them.”
Amanda hated how Trent’s logical statement put the killer further out of reach. “And he might not be too happy about that.”
“Just wonderful. Another killer who harbors a vendetta against us.”
“I say let him come for us. It would save us the trouble of hunting.” She smirked at him. Possibly putting on a tad more bravado than she really felt.
“Ah, no thanks.” He returned the smile but turned serious quickly. “I’d like to know how he overlooked the ID in Connie’s sock. Did he hurry the burial for the Riggs?”
“They were killed weeks before the Archers. Maybe his first set of victims?” She’d wish for that, and that there wouldn’t be more bodies for them to find. “He could have killed them, then panicked. Due to that he didn’t take time to look them over.”
“Sloppy on his part, good for us.”
She picked up on where his mind had gone. “Well, he did leave us with trace—the hairs and fibers in the Archer case.”
“Likely more with the Riggs.”
Amanda drew out her phone. Before tapping the contact for Graves, she said to Trent, “On another note, it might be time to ask the FBI to look in ViCap now that we know the Riggs are from DC. They could find related cases in other states.”
“See what Graves says to that, but it makes sense to me we’d have them take a look.”
She nodded and placed the call to Graves. The sergeant answered on the second ring, and Amanda ran through the latest information and put forth their requests. She sure hoped they’d catch this killer before any more people had to die.