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Detective Michael Reese had been with the Mississippi State Police for twenty-three years. He had worked homicide most of those years, and could say retirement looked better with each passing year. When his cell phone rang at 3:30 a.m., he instantly knew it wasn’t good.
“Reese.”
“Detective, patrol found the body of a man at the Louisiana Mississippi state line. The body is in pretty bad shape, sir.”
He let out a ragged breath. Being this close to the state line, he knew the FBI would more than likely become involved. “I’m heading out now.”
After a quick shower, he donned a pair of jeans, shirt, and boots. Nothing fashionable, but comfortable. As he exited the bedroom, the smell of coffee reached him. When he entered the kitchen, he gave his wife a kiss and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Nonsense. I knew you would need a cup of coffee to wake up. I even fixed your favorite breakfast - egg and bacon on a bagel.”
“What would I do without you?”
“Go broke from picking up fast food and coffee.”
He laughed at that remark. “That’s probably true. I don’t know when I’ll be back home.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m going back to bed. Be careful.”
Kissing her one more time, he headed out to see what the early morning hours brought.
***
BY THE TIME HE ARRIVED at the scene, red and blue flashing lights lit up the dark sky. Reese saw the news vans pulling in behind him and groaned. How had they managed to catch wind of this already? He didn’t give it a second thought as he got closer to the crime scene.
A young officer managed the sign in sheet, while forensic techs worked the scene. “Officer, how is it going so far?” Reese asked, almost afraid of the response.
“All right, sir. It’s bad, though. Officer Caulfield discovered the body of a naked man at the rest stop that wasn’t there half an hour ago. One look at the body, and you could tell the man had been tortured.”
Reese walked over to observe the body and grimaced. The victim was bludgeoned so badly that they would have to wait for fingerprint results.
Being this close to the Louisiana state line, he suspected they had located the missing prison guard. If so, this also meant that they had an escaped convict and his partner in crime somewhere in this state, perhaps still in the area.
***
ONCE BACK AT THE PRECINCT Reese located the Warden’s number to inform him that he may have located the missing prison guard, even though he did not have confirmation.
Next he called Sheriff Hamilton. “Sheriff, sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but a body was found at a rest stop near the Louisiana/Mississippi state border, just inside of Mississippi.”
“Have you identified the body?”
“It’s in bad shape. We have to wait for fingerprint confirmation. I have a gut feeling it’s the handiwork of your man, though.”
“I’m on my way. I’ll let the FBI agent working the case know.”
“FBI is already involved then?”
“Yes. When he escaped, they offered their assistance. And we desperately need their resources to capture David Thorguson. Again.”
***
JORDAN CALLED AGENT O’Riordan after hanging up with Reese. “I know you and your team are still getting situated at the hotel, but a body has been found at the Mississippi state line that might be the missing guard. From what I understand, the body is in bad shape and it will take fingerprint confirmation to ID the body.”
“I’ll start that way now. Do you need a ride?”
“I can drive myself. That way you are free to do what you need to do.”
“I’ll see you at the crime scene then.”
***
DEAN ALBRIGHT HAD BEEN an investigative reporter for well over twenty years. He knew he was on to something as soon as he saw both Sheriff Hamilton and Special Agent O’Riordan arrive. Dean suspected that O’Riordan didn’t like him, but he wasn’t here to make any friends. Hell, no cop liked it when reporters showed up at a crime scene.
Earlier, Dean had put out feelers all over the surrounding states, in case a mutilated body turned up. He knew David Thorguson wouldn’t be able to control himself now that he had escaped.
Dean quickly called out, “Agent O’Riordan, a moment please? Do you think this is the missing prison guard? Is that why you and Sheriff Hamilton are here?”
***
O’RIORDAN’S SKIN CRAWLED when he saw Dean Albright. He’d never had a good relationship with the media and Albright was one of the worst. O'Riordan had never found anything ethical in Albright's conduct. “No comment.”
O’Riordan caught up with Sheriff Hamilton, and asked, “How are you feeling this morning?”
“I’m fine. I’m hoping for a quick confirmation on the body, so I can let his wife know. I don’t want her to find out about this on the morning news. Even though they aren’t supposed to release any names, that won’t stop them from speculating.”
“I just ran into Albright. That man gives me the creeps.”
The responding officer was standing outside the bathroom and still collecting himself from the discovery. O’Riordan headed his way, and asked, “I take it you found the body?”
“Yes sir. They didn’t even try to hide it. It was right by the park bench. Looked as if the body simply rolled out of the vehicle and they took off.”
O’Riordan watched as a plain clothed detective walked over to where he and Sheriff Hamilton stood. “Sheriff Hamilton? I almost didn’t recognize you.”
She laughed as she rubbed her protruding stomach. “I’ve put on a few pounds since those press conferences regarding Thorguson. Detective Reese, this is Special Agent O’Riordan with the BAU. He is heading up the task force in search of David Thorguson.”
The two men shook hands. “Agent O’Riordan.”
“Detective Reese, it’s nice to meet you. I only wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Same here.”
They stood in somber silence as they waited for forensics to finish gathering evidence. A crime scene tech bagged the corpse’s hands, in case there was any evidence under the fingernails.
The coroner stood back up and informed them, “The man has been dead less than twelve hours. Bruising is evident on the wrists and ankles. Stab wounds and burn marks were also noted. He was tortured unmercifully. Ligature marks were found on the neck, indicating possible strangulation. However, no petechial hemorrhage was noted. Until the autopsy, the exact cause of death is unknown. With so much brutality done to the body, any one of the horrors could have caused his actual death.”
***
ALEX HAMILTON WAS SURPRISED how fast this last year had gone by. What started out as a sabbatical for him to interview David Thorguson, had turned into a life altering experience. At first, he thought he would miss profiling, but talking with David opened his eyes. David was the epitome of true evil and Alex believed he had been born evil. Alex wanted to continue his study on serial killers and the possibility that they were wired differently than everyone else.
Morning light poured into the conference room window as Alex reviewed the files O’Riordan had handed him. A rush of adrenaline built as he perused the documents and photos. He was happy with his new life and didn’t realize how much he’d missed profiling. But was he ready to return to this line of work? In the past, the FBI had requested he return, but he wasn’t certain he wanted to do this on a daily basis again.
O’Riordan asked, “Has anyone kept in touch with David Thorguson? Did he have an obsessive fan who wrote to him on a consistent basis? Perhaps someone wanted to emulate him or even worshipped him?”
“I was his ONLY visitor. David received very little mail,” Alex replied. “I think most people were afraid to talk to him because of who he was. And what he did.”
Alex recalled their past conversations. Thorguson bragged about how he’d kept the cops guessing. He enjoyed making himself sound superior to those around him. “David is a narcissist to the extreme and would have bragged about having a fan.”
This was déjà vu. The conference room once again looked like a war room and Alex noticed that O’Riordan had already undone his tie and rolled up his shirtsleeves. As he finished reviewing the files, O’Riordan’s hand-picked task force walked into the room for the meeting.
O’Riordan stood at the head of the table and made introductions, “Good afternoon everyone. I am FBI Special Agent Jackson O’Riordan and this is the all hands briefing for the capture of escaped convict David Thorguson task force.” Waving his hand towards Alex, “I am sure you all know Alex Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton worked for the FBI in the past as a top profiler, and has interviewed Thorguson personally.” Next, O’Riordan looked at the agent seated to his right, “Agent Kyle Manning will you please stand.” As Manning stood, O’Riordan introduced him, “Agent Manning will be second in command.”
O’Riordan walked over to the television that had previously been brought into the room and played one of the interviews between Alex and Thorguson first. “I wanted all of you to witness first hand just what you are up against.”
After they had watched the interview and DVD, O’Riordan addressed the task force. “As you can tell, this is one psychopath we don’t want free. Thorguson is a highly organized killer. He considers himself to be of superior intellect and extremely cunning. Do not put anything past him.”
Sheriff Hamilton stood up and addressed the team. “I won’t sugar coat this and say we will capture these two quickly.”
O’Riordan nodded his head in agreement, and stated, “This will be a tiring task; you will work harder than ever before. Their capture will likely take weeks. Maybe even months. Forget about sleep and seeing your families. Our main focus is to capture these two individuals. I don’t care how they are brought in. Dead or alive.”
Alex looked at each man and woman and stated, “Tempers will be short, and morale low. Keep reminding yourself that it might be someone you know who is tortured and killed next. One guard has already been murdered and we want to prevent the body count from rising. No other case is more important to you than this one.”
Sheriff Hamilton reminded the team, “This case is all over the news. The press is putting an extreme amount of pressure on us, wanting comments from those involved in the search. Please refer them to community relations; your only comment will be ‘No Comment’. Due to all the publicity, the tip line is getting inundated with calls. All leads generated from these calls must be looked into, no matter how ridiculous the caller may sound.”
O’Riordan added, “The FBI will air a prime time special Friday night asking for the public’s help. Thorguson’s mug shots and any possible disguises he may wear will be featured during the show. Sheriff Hamilton will have several of her own people helping man the tip lines that night, along with some volunteers who assisted during the first search.”
Sheriff Hamilton handed out files to each person, “You will be divided up in twelve hour shifts. You will eat, drink, and sleep this case, until these two are brought in. No exceptions.”
O’Riordan stressed. “These two had at least a four hour head start. A national alert has been issued to every town, county, and state law enforcement agencies with no hits yet. Thorguson has no other friends or family to turn to, that we know of. He has no reason to stay in or near Hope. We must figure out where they may be headed, and fast. Agent Manning will be in charge of the task force in Mississippi. All meetings will be teleconferenced. This is a team effort. No one task force is more important than the other.”
Alex watched as everyone listened intently, and understood the seriousness of every word O’Riordan had to say. Alex didn’t envy O’Riordan’s job. It wasn’t long ago that he was the one lecturing groups of FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel on a killer’s profile. So it was interesting to watch this from the other side.
***
O’RIORDAN GAVE INSTRUCTIONS to Agent Manning, “Check VICAP for any and all cases involving the sexual orifices being glued shut. Double check to see if I missed anything in the past. Once you compile your list we will compare notes.” He continued, “We have learned from the coroner that the body found was the guard. The unsubs tortured and killed the guard before using super glue on his penis. I’ve been looking at a possible serial killer using this as a signature. If this is in fact the killer’s signature, it may help us to get into his mind, or at least where he has been. It doesn’t appear that he strikes the same area twice, which could prove helpful to us.”
Agent Manning’s curiosity was piqued. “I’ll run it right now.”
Nodding his head, O’Riordan reinforced his suspicions, “If I’m correct, and this is a serial killer, then we will have to send out a request asking all law enforcement agencies about murders involving super glue used in sexual orifices.”
“Don’t worry, sir, I know what to look for.”
As he walked out the door, O’Riordan stated, “It doesn’t matter what the time is, please call me with the results.”
“Yes sir.”
***
SEVERAL HOURS AFTER the meeting had disbursed, Manning rushed into the conference room with an armful of papers. “O’Riordan, I found several more hits to super glue being used.”
“Thanks Manning. I’ll look over them now. Before leaving for Mississippi, double check that your help is not needed here.”
O'Riordan sat down and opened his file containing the cases matching his requests from VICAP to compare to Agent Manning’s results. He was so immersed in the files, he lost track of time. But the information that had been uncovered was almost as bad as what Thorguson had been doing.
This monster had been killing for well over ten years, with his MO barely changing over the years. No sexual penetration had been noted. The main change in the killings was that he refined his technique. The attacks had become more violent over the years; he was more adventurous in his torture techniques. For now, O’Riordan will stay in Hope until the sadistic duo struck again. He knew from experience that until these two were caught his home would be various hotel rooms, the exact location unknown even to him.