will be featured on
America's Most Wanted
, and we're bringing in truck-loads of volunteers to help man the hotline. He's also listed on the FBI's Web site of America's most wanted — FBI agents will pass along any leads generated there.
“Yes, the work will be long, tedious, and grueling. Yes, morale will be low and tempers high. But we will do this, people. Beckett was once a police officer. He used his shield to lure young women away from their cars and kill them. He has attacked fellow officers, he has brutally murdered two prison guards. There is no case more personal and more important than this one.”
Lieutenant Houlihan shifted back a step, allowing his words to penetrate. When the officers began to lean forward, waiting for the next word, the plan that would catch this particular son of a bitch, he continued.
“Historically Beckett has operated in four states. Those other states have organized smaller task force teams, and they will coordinate their efforts with ours. From New York we have Lieutenant Richardson — please stand. From Vermont is Lieutenant Chajet, and from Connecticut is Lieutenant Berttelli. If you receive calls from these men or their officers, do everything in your power to assist them. They will be happy to return the favor.
“Most of the crossjurisdiction investigation will be coordinated through VICAP [Violent Criminal Apprehension Program]. This system is run by the FBI and is designed to collect, collate, and analyze all parts of the investigation through computer and communications technology. If Beckett strikes in another state, the computer will recognize the MO entered by that state into the system and notify them to contact us. You guys don't have to understand it. Your supervisors have been trained in the system and they will assist you. The big trick is, should you come up with a lead, don't sit on it. Bring it to your supervisor immediately. Speed matters.
“In addition to VICAP, the FBI is providing profiling support. Here with us today is Special Agent Quincy, who you just saw on film interviewing Jim Beckett. He's going to tell us what to look for. Agent.”
Lieutenant Houlihan stepped away from the podium. No one stirred. Police briefings could be rowdy affairs, punctuated by gallows humor and good-natured ribbing. Not this morning. Every officer sat quietly, feet flat on the floor, eyes forward. The seriousness of the matter was etched into every face and the fresh lines creasing each forehead.
Special Agent Quincy stepped up to the podium. He could identify with the officers staring back at him; he'd served as a homicide detective in Chicago and then with the NYPD before getting his doctorate in criminology and joining the Investigative Support Unit at Quantico. Now he worked over one hundred cases at a time, traveling two hundred days a year to profile unsubs, advise local law enforcement agencies on how to catch the unsub, and aid with interrogation of the caught unsub. It was stressful work. One wrong piece of advice and the investigation could head in the wrong direction, costing lives. It was hard work, logging eighty hours a week and thousands of miles. Even when he was back in Quantico, he was shut up in a windowless office sixty feet belowground. Ten times deeper than the dead, they said.
It took its toll on everyone's life. First his wife had complained about the travel. Then she'd complained about his hours. Then one Saturday, when he'd made a point of being home, she'd accidentally sliced off her finger while chopping carrots. She'd walked into the living room, carrying her index finger and appearing one step away from fainting. Quincy had looked at her bloodied hand and severed digit, and he'd thought of the Dahmer crime scene, the Vampire Killer, Kemper's victims, and he'd heard himself say, heaven help him, “It's only a scratch, dear.”
The divorce papers had arrived last week.
But Quincy still couldn't give up his work. Jim Beckett had been wrong
America's Most Wanted
, and we're bringing in truck-loads of volunteers to help man the hotline. He's also listed on the FBI's Web site of America's most wanted — FBI agents will pass along any leads generated there.
“Yes, the work will be long, tedious, and grueling. Yes, morale will be low and tempers high. But we will do this, people. Beckett was once a police officer. He used his shield to lure young women away from their cars and kill them. He has attacked fellow officers, he has brutally murdered two prison guards. There is no case more personal and more important than this one.”
Lieutenant Houlihan shifted back a step, allowing his words to penetrate. When the officers began to lean forward, waiting for the next word, the plan that would catch this particular son of a bitch, he continued.
“Historically Beckett has operated in four states. Those other states have organized smaller task force teams, and they will coordinate their efforts with ours. From New York we have Lieutenant Richardson — please stand. From Vermont is Lieutenant Chajet, and from Connecticut is Lieutenant Berttelli. If you receive calls from these men or their officers, do everything in your power to assist them. They will be happy to return the favor.
“Most of the crossjurisdiction investigation will be coordinated through VICAP [Violent Criminal Apprehension Program]. This system is run by the FBI and is designed to collect, collate, and analyze all parts of the investigation through computer and communications technology. If Beckett strikes in another state, the computer will recognize the MO entered by that state into the system and notify them to contact us. You guys don't have to understand it. Your supervisors have been trained in the system and they will assist you. The big trick is, should you come up with a lead, don't sit on it. Bring it to your supervisor immediately. Speed matters.
“In addition to VICAP, the FBI is providing profiling support. Here with us today is Special Agent Quincy, who you just saw on film interviewing Jim Beckett. He's going to tell us what to look for. Agent.”
Lieutenant Houlihan stepped away from the podium. No one stirred. Police briefings could be rowdy affairs, punctuated by gallows humor and good-natured ribbing. Not this morning. Every officer sat quietly, feet flat on the floor, eyes forward. The seriousness of the matter was etched into every face and the fresh lines creasing each forehead.
Special Agent Quincy stepped up to the podium. He could identify with the officers staring back at him; he'd served as a homicide detective in Chicago and then with the NYPD before getting his doctorate in criminology and joining the Investigative Support Unit at Quantico. Now he worked over one hundred cases at a time, traveling two hundred days a year to profile unsubs, advise local law enforcement agencies on how to catch the unsub, and aid with interrogation of the caught unsub. It was stressful work. One wrong piece of advice and the investigation could head in the wrong direction, costing lives. It was hard work, logging eighty hours a week and thousands of miles. Even when he was back in Quantico, he was shut up in a windowless office sixty feet belowground. Ten times deeper than the dead, they said.
It took its toll on everyone's life. First his wife had complained about the travel. Then she'd complained about his hours. Then one Saturday, when he'd made a point of being home, she'd accidentally sliced off her finger while chopping carrots. She'd walked into the living room, carrying her index finger and appearing one step away from fainting. Quincy had looked at her bloodied hand and severed digit, and he'd thought of the Dahmer crime scene, the Vampire Killer, Kemper's victims, and he'd heard himself say, heaven help him, “It's only a scratch, dear.”
The divorce papers had arrived last week.
But Quincy still couldn't give up his work. Jim Beckett had been wrong
Similar Books
