DON’T know, knowing what you NEED to know and then defining the relationship between all three of them. That’s what always being right is.”
Kane pondered that. “I see. And you think that there might be something that you need to know about me?”
“Hey, if they’re going to give you a weapon and tell me that I’ve got to run around in the dark with you, then yeah, there might be a few things that I’d like to know about.”
“Such as?”
“I think that there was a lot more to the DC story than what was in the file. I’d like to know what that more is.”
“Would you?”
“I would.”
“That works both ways. I’d like to know why you were retired off of the Mercy Killings.”
Thorne finished his meal and slid the tray away.
“Show you mine and you’ll show me yours, is that what you’re getting at?” he asked.
“If you’ll remove any and all sexual connotations from that observation, then yes, that’s exactly what I’m getting at.”
Thorne sniffed and shrugged. “All right, why not?”
“You first.”
“Why do I have to go first?”
“Age before beauty.”
Thorne snorted. “First, you tell me what you know about the Mercy Killings so far,” he said.
“Mercy killings,” Kane sat up a little straighter. “Biggest case in the Bureau, biggest case in the country and maybe the biggest case in the history of murder. There are more people working on it than anything else. Single killer, been operating five years or so. He has over a hundred kills that we know of, from all over the United States.
“The size of his Kill Zone is one thing that makes him unusual. He has confirmed kills in over twenty different states. Once in awhile the victims are forced to write MERCY on whatever’s near, hence the name the Mercy Killer, but he doesn’t do that every time. He takes the tongues of his victims. He last struck in Georgia, about two weeks ago, a clerk at a copy store. That’s what I know. Not much gossip gets out from the brain trust running the case. They’re keeping it tight even among law enforcement. Case is a media carnival. There’s already been two cable movies made about him, a mini-series, a bunch of books and who knows what else. The Mercy Killer is bigger than Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper and the DC snipers all rolled into one. That’s what I know.”
“He is the biggest, bar none,” Thorne cracked his knuckles with relish. “The Shaquille O’Neal of serial killers.
“Around the campfire they call him Kevorkian, or at least we did in the beginning,” Thorne continued. “We eventually got official memos not to refer to the killer as Kevorkian ever, not even informally in communication with each other, and some guys got letters of censure for doing so, yours truly being one of them. Fuck it, Kevorkian is a much better tag for him than the Mercy Killer, that’s what I always thought.
“When it comes to the killing, he varies his MO. Sometimes he stabs, sometimes he strangles, he’s done just about everything you can imagine and then some when it comes to murder. Taking the tongue is his signature. That never changes. We’ve never recovered any of the tongues, ever. The other thing that makes him unusual is his range of victims.
“His taste in vics is wide and varied, many different professions, though he does seem to favor salesmen and postal workers more than most, in addition to a few local cops. But his choice of victims transcends race, sex, age, just about everything, which I don’t have to tell you is rare, very rare.
“His timeline for killing has no real rhythm to it; he’ll take out five in one week and then go a month without doing anything. We don’t know how he selects his victims and more importantly, we can’t figure out why or what he’s trying to accomplish by killing them and taking their tongues. Nobody can quite figure out the WHAT or the WHY of this case, hell, we haven’t even had a lot of success with WHERE. He crisscrosses the
Kane pondered that. “I see. And you think that there might be something that you need to know about me?”
“Hey, if they’re going to give you a weapon and tell me that I’ve got to run around in the dark with you, then yeah, there might be a few things that I’d like to know about.”
“Such as?”
“I think that there was a lot more to the DC story than what was in the file. I’d like to know what that more is.”
“Would you?”
“I would.”
“That works both ways. I’d like to know why you were retired off of the Mercy Killings.”
Thorne finished his meal and slid the tray away.
“Show you mine and you’ll show me yours, is that what you’re getting at?” he asked.
“If you’ll remove any and all sexual connotations from that observation, then yes, that’s exactly what I’m getting at.”
Thorne sniffed and shrugged. “All right, why not?”
“You first.”
“Why do I have to go first?”
“Age before beauty.”
Thorne snorted. “First, you tell me what you know about the Mercy Killings so far,” he said.
“Mercy killings,” Kane sat up a little straighter. “Biggest case in the Bureau, biggest case in the country and maybe the biggest case in the history of murder. There are more people working on it than anything else. Single killer, been operating five years or so. He has over a hundred kills that we know of, from all over the United States.
“The size of his Kill Zone is one thing that makes him unusual. He has confirmed kills in over twenty different states. Once in awhile the victims are forced to write MERCY on whatever’s near, hence the name the Mercy Killer, but he doesn’t do that every time. He takes the tongues of his victims. He last struck in Georgia, about two weeks ago, a clerk at a copy store. That’s what I know. Not much gossip gets out from the brain trust running the case. They’re keeping it tight even among law enforcement. Case is a media carnival. There’s already been two cable movies made about him, a mini-series, a bunch of books and who knows what else. The Mercy Killer is bigger than Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper and the DC snipers all rolled into one. That’s what I know.”
“He is the biggest, bar none,” Thorne cracked his knuckles with relish. “The Shaquille O’Neal of serial killers.
“Around the campfire they call him Kevorkian, or at least we did in the beginning,” Thorne continued. “We eventually got official memos not to refer to the killer as Kevorkian ever, not even informally in communication with each other, and some guys got letters of censure for doing so, yours truly being one of them. Fuck it, Kevorkian is a much better tag for him than the Mercy Killer, that’s what I always thought.
“When it comes to the killing, he varies his MO. Sometimes he stabs, sometimes he strangles, he’s done just about everything you can imagine and then some when it comes to murder. Taking the tongue is his signature. That never changes. We’ve never recovered any of the tongues, ever. The other thing that makes him unusual is his range of victims.
“His taste in vics is wide and varied, many different professions, though he does seem to favor salesmen and postal workers more than most, in addition to a few local cops. But his choice of victims transcends race, sex, age, just about everything, which I don’t have to tell you is rare, very rare.
“His timeline for killing has no real rhythm to it; he’ll take out five in one week and then go a month without doing anything. We don’t know how he selects his victims and more importantly, we can’t figure out why or what he’s trying to accomplish by killing them and taking their tongues. Nobody can quite figure out the WHAT or the WHY of this case, hell, we haven’t even had a lot of success with WHERE. He crisscrosses the
Similar Books
