took a seat near the front of the room and heard Morales ask the harried young man bringing in more coffee, “Where’s McGuire?”
“Sorry, Captain,” the auburn-haired man responded over his shoulder as he tried to get to the back table with both the pots he carried intact. “I haven’t seen him.”
“I’m here.” Nate strode into the front of the room, looking as if he’d gotten very little sleep. Certainly he hadn’t shaved that morning. Given Morales’s jaundiced expression, the captain was none too pleased with his tardiness or with his appearance.
But McGuire seemed all business as he handed out case files to everyone in the room. If he was surprised to see her there, he didn’t show it. His gaze lingered on her for just an instant before he addressed the group at large. “If everyone will take their seats, we’ll get started.” There was a scuffling of feet and scraping of chairs while he waited.
“Roland Parker. Sherman Tull. Pat Christiansen.” The sound of those names, his terse tone, quieted the room as nothing else could. “Three of ours. All targeted by what’s likely to be the same unknown subject. At this point all we know is that our UNSUB is selecting detectives, active and retired, from the Philadelphia Police Department. They were approached when they were out alone, and it’s possible they recognized their killer.”
A murmur swept through the group. Risa’s interest sharpened. She knew only what she’d discovered while on the scene yesterday. McGuire had dropped her off at home before returning to the station house once they were done with the scene. Any information that had been uncovered since that time would be as new to her as it was to the rest of the task force. As would any details the detective had neglected to mention.
“If we’re correct that the attacker was a stranger to the victims, they likely didn’t perceive him, or her, as a threat. I can’t think of any other way someone would get the drop on three different competent members of the department.”
“Any chance these are dump sites? Secondary scenes?” a voice called out from the back of the room.
“ME’s not done with the most recent body. But there was nothing to indicate that for the first two victims. Each was burned alive at the crime scene.”
A chill skated up Risa’s arms at the blunt pronouncement. And the room went suddenly silent.
“The offender is deliberately targeting plainclothes cops and making it easy for us to identify the victims. He wants us to know what he’s done and to whom. We may be dealing with someone with a vendetta against detectives in general, or someone with a personal reason to single these men out.” For an instant Nate’s gaze met Risa’s. “We don’t believe he’ll stop at three, so we’re going to try and find him before there’s a fourth. The top sheet inside your folders is your assignments. Shroot, Finnigan, and Alberts—you’ll be following up on the victims’ case files trying to discover a connection there. We haven’t found anything so far on the first two victims, but you’ll add Christiansen to the mix and see if anything pops.
“Edwards, you and Tomey will look for links in their personal lives. Go way back. Schools they attended, neighborhoods they grew up in, families, friends, church . . . find us an intersection.”
“There may not even be an intersection,” one of the men muttered, flipping through the folder. “Any crazy can get our names off the department website. Or by calling the station houses.”
“Except that Parker was retired,” Nate reminded him. “Eighteen months ago. Maybe the murders are random, but I think it’s more likely there’s some sort of connection. We just need to find it. Brandau and Recker will take Christiansen’s family and neighbors, and cross-reference with those of the first two victims. Hoy and Mendall trace his steps his final day. I want to know everywhere he went. Everyone he talked to. Get the security tapes from any place he might have passed by.” He took a quick look at his watch. “That’s enough for now. My cell number is in the folder. Call if you get anything. Otherwise we’ll meet back here tomorrow morning.”
Chairs scraped as the detectives began to rise. They sank into their seats again as Captain Morales went to Nate’s side to speak for the first time. “This case is top priority.” The room went as still as a tomb. “Everyone on the force wants to get this