‘What sort of links are you talking about when you say you managed to establish a link between two victims but not the rest?’

‘Two of the victims lived in South Central LA just a few blocks from each other, but the others were scattered all over town. Two other victims, number four and number six,’ Hunter pointed to the photographs on the board, ‘went to the same high school, but not at the same time. The links seemed more coincidental than a breakthrough. Nothing concrete.’

‘Did he follow a certain time interval between kills?’

‘Random again,’ Hunter said. ‘They go from a few days between the third and fourth victims to months, and on this last case, over a year.’

‘How about body locations?’ Garcia asked.

‘There’s a map over there; I’ll show you.’ Hunter unfolded a large map of Los Angeles with seven red dots the size of a dime scattered around it, a number next to each one.

‘These are the locations and sequence in which each body was found.’

Garcia took his time going over the marks. The first body had been found in Santa Clarita, the second one in downtown Los Angeles with the other five spread all over the map. Garcia admitted that at first glance they looked pretty random.

‘Again, we’ve tried everything, different sequences and patterns. We even brought in a mathematician and a cartographer. The problem is that when you look at random points on a piece of paper for long enough, it’s like looking at clouds in the sky, sooner or later you start seeing shapes and images, nothing real, nothing that could lead us anywhere, just your mind playing tricks on you. The only solid conclusion is that the bodies were found in and around Los Angeles. This is his burial ground.’ Hunter sat behind his desk while Garcia continued studying the map.

‘He’s gotta have a pattern, they all do.’

Hunter leaned back on his chair. ‘You’re right, they usually do, but as I’ve said, this guy is different. He’s never killed two victims in the same manner, he tries new things, different things – it’s like he’s experimenting.’ Hunter paused for a few seconds to rub his eyes. ‘Killing another human being isn’t an easy task, no matter how experienced someone is, ninety-five percent of the time the killer is more nervous than the victim. Some killers like to stick with the same MO simply because it’s worked before and they feel comfortable with it. Some move in a progression and the MO may change from crime to crime. Sometimes the offender may find that his particular course of action wasn’t very effective, wasn’t what he was looking for. Maybe too noisy, too messy, too hard to control or whatever. The killer then learns to adapt and tries new methods to see if they work better for him. Eventually he’ll find an MO that he’s comfortable with.’

‘And he’ll stick with it?’ Garcia commented.

‘Most of the time yes, but not necessarily,’ Hunter said, shaking his head.

Garcia looked puzzled.

‘Serial killers are usually after satisfaction… a sick kind of satisfaction, but satisfaction nonetheless. It could be sexual fulfillment, a sense of power, a God feeling, but that’s only half of the satisfaction.’

‘The kill itself?’ Garcia’s voice took on a grave tone.

‘Correct. It’s like taking drugs. When you first start, you only need a little hit to achieve the high you want, but soon, if you carry on, that little hit won’t be enough and you’ll go for more, you start chasing the high. In the case of a killer, the murders become more violent, the victims have to suffer more so the killer can get the satisfaction he needs, but again, just like drugs, there’s usually a steady progression.’

Garcia shifted his stare back to the photographs. ‘What’s the progression here? They all look just as violent, just as monstrous.’

Hunter’s agreement came with a nod.

‘It’s like he jumped straight into the deep end. Which leads us to believe that his progression of violence came earlier on in his life,’ Garcia concluded.

‘Correct again. You catch on quick, but you can read all that on the case files.’ Hunter tilted his head towards the two large piles of paper on his desk.

‘None of these were fast kills either.’ Garcia’s attention was back on the corkboard.

‘That’s right. This guy likes to take his time with his victims. He likes to watch them suffer, he wants to savor their pain. He’s getting his satisfaction. This killer doesn’t rush, he doesn’t panic and that’s his greatest advantage over us.’

‘When people panic, they make mistakes, they leave things behind,’ Garcia commented.

‘Exactly.’

‘But not our guy?’

‘Not so far.’

‘How about this symbol, what do we know about it?’ Garcia asked pointing to a picture of the carving on the neck of one of the victims.

‘Here comes confusion.’ Hunter’s lips tightened. ‘We brought in a symbologist when the first victim was found.’

‘And what did he have to say?’

‘The symbol seemed to be a return to the original design of the double-crucifix, also known as the double-cross or the cross of Lorraine.’

‘Original?’ Garcia shook his head.

‘The double-crucifix in its original version consisted of a vertical line crossed by two smaller horizontal bars evenly spaced and of the same length. The lower bar used to be as close to the bottom of the vertical line as the upper was to the top.’

‘Why do you say used to?’

‘Through the years, its design morphed. The lower bar became longer than the upper one, and both crossbars are now nearer the top of the vertical line.’

Garcia turned to analyze the photographs for a few seconds. ‘So this is the old version?’

Hunter nodded. ‘Its origin is thought to date back to pagan times. At least that’s where history believes it was first used. Back then it was also known as the double-edged sword.’

‘Yeah, history aside, what does it mean?’ Garcia made a hand gesture urging Hunter to move on.

‘Psychologically speaking, it’s believed to represent someone with a double life. The double-edged sword cuts both ways, right? That’s exactly it, duality, good and evil, white and black all in one. Someone who has two totally opposite sides.’

‘You mean someone that could be a normal law-abiding citizen during the day and a psychotic killer at night?’

‘Exactly. This person could be a community leader, a politician, even a priest doing good deeds today; tomorrow he could be slashing someone’s throat.’

‘But that’s the textbook definition of schizophrenia.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ Hunter corrected Garcia. ‘That’s a mistake most people make. Contrary to popular belief, people with schizophrenia do not have split personalities. Schizophrenics suffer from problems with their thought processes. These lead to hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, and unusual speech or behavior. They usually aren’t dangerous people either. What you’re thinking of is dissociative identity disorder, also known as DID. People with DID display multiple distinct identities or personalities.’

‘Thank you, professor Hunter,’ Garcia said, putting on a silly child’s voice.

‘But I don’t believe our killer suffers from DID.’

‘And why not?’ Garcia asked intrigued.

‘DID sufferers have no control of when one personality takes over the previous one. Our killer is fully aware of what he’s doing. It pleases him. He ain’t struggling with himself.’

That thought silenced Garcia for a few seconds. ‘How about a religious meaning? It looks like a religious symbol to me.’

‘Well, that’s where it gets even more complicated,’ Hunter replied massaging his closed eyes for an instant. ‘There are two main theories according to scholars. One is that the double-crucifix was the first-ever symbol of the anti-Christ.’

‘What? I thought that was supposed to be an inverted cross.’

‘That’s the symbol as we know it today. It’s believed the double-crucifix was first used by some of the early prophets when they prophesied about the end of time, when an evil being would come to end the world.’