Find Her Alive (Detective Josie Quinn #8) - Lisa Regan Page 0,58
his activities; and being able to stage the remains, again, without getting caught. We also believe he has at least some college education. Make no mistake, this guy is smart. He’s probably got a higher than average IQ. He can likely function just fine in society, but he is a loner. Other people may grate on him.”
“Why?” Noah asked.
“Because he’s got an inflated sense of self,” Josie remarked.
Drake nodded. “Exactly.”
“What makes you think that?” Mettner asked her.
Josie said, “Because he felt the need to contact the press. It wasn’t enough for him to kill. He wanted people to understand how smart he is, how clever, how sophisticated. He wanted people to see that he was getting away with it.”
“That’s what our profiler believed,” Drake said.
Gretchen said, “The messages he sent to members of the press show he wanted to control his own story, especially the way he wanted to be known as the Bone Artist and not the Boneyard Killer.”
“Thinking of himself as some kind of artist definitely tracks with the inflated sense of self,” Mettner agreed.
Noah asked, “Who in the press did he contact?”
Drake answered, “A handful of anchors from most of the network morning shows.”
“The position Trinity holds now,” Gretchen said. “Or used to hold.”
“Right,” Drake said. He fished through the pages of the file again until he came up with a large color photograph. He slid it across the table so they could all view it. Black, block letters filled a piece of copy paper, the writing just like on the packaging Trinity had received and the notes the killer had left at the steel mill and junkyard. Gretchen shifted her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose and read it out loud:
Ladies and Gentleman: This is the murderer you call the Boneyard Killer. It’s true I have done evil things. The devil inside me has grown strong. Not even I can stop him now. The police can’t stop him. They have never caught me. They won’t catch me. No one is smart enough to stop what is happening. Now the devil has grown bored. He wants a new game. I invite you to play. If you signal me on air, you can save a life. The next victim is ready. Will you save?
Yours in life and death,
The Bone Artist
Mettner gave a low whistle. “Is this guy trying to tell us he’s batshit crazy?”
“Hardly,” Drake said. “These guys like to make themselves out to be out of control or overcome by some otherworldly force because, like Detective Palmer said, they’re trying to control the narrative. By saying all the heinous things they did are the result of some monster or evil, they seem more sympathetic or even innocent. ‘It wasn’t me, it was the devil.’ H.H. Holmes, a serial killer out of Chicago in the 1890s said he had the devil in him—just like this guy. Dennis Rader, the BTK killer in Kansas said there was a monster in him. It’s all meant to manipulate their own image. These killers know exactly what they’re doing, and they enjoy it.”
“He’s gotten away with it for years and now he wants to play a game?” Noah remarked.
Josie said, “Because he thinks he’s smarter than anyone else. He gets satisfaction out of this. He’s outwitted the police all this time. They’re not worthy opponents. Contacting the press, playing his ‘game’ is another way for him to flaunt what he sees as his high intelligence.”
Drake nodded. “That’s right. Except that no one played his game. The members of the press who received this letter turned them over to the FBI immediately.”
Gretchen pointed at the top of the letter where someone—presumably an FBI agent—had handwritten Received by male anchor at CBS on April 3, 2014. She said, “You didn’t think you could save the victim? By having one of these anchors pretend to play his game?”
Drake sighed. “Engaging this guy like that, with him holding all the cards and making all the rules, was deemed too risky by both the bureau and the networks. No one on the task force really believed he would let a victim go. That was confirmed five days later when the remains of Robert Ingram were found. He never had any intention of letting Ingram go. In fact, we believe that Ingram was already dead when he sent those letters.”
Mettner raised a brow. “What was the signal, anyway? He never even said.”
“Exactly,” Drake agreed. “It was just a stunt to try to engage the press. The