Cody McFadyen - Shadow Man

"We know they're not perfect," James says. "They have an immediate weakness--showing off and wanting to taunt us. That's higher risk and creates the possibility of them screwing up at some point."

"Right. What else?"

"At least one of them is technically proficient." This is from Leo. "I mean, it's not rocket science these days, editing video. But there is a learning curve, the way they did it. Not something your average computer user is going to know right off the bat."

"We think they're based in LA, right?" Callie says. I shrug. "We're going on that premise. But it's something we suspect, not something we know. We do know their victim type. They told us--they're planning to go after other women like Annie." I turn to Leo.

"What did they call her in the letter?"

"A modern-day whore of the information superhighway."

"What about that? What kind of numbers are we talking about?"

Leo grimaces at the question. "Thousands, if you take the U.S. as a whole. Maybe close to a thousand even if you narrow it to just California. But that's not the only problem. Think of it this way: Every girl with a site is potentially an independent contractor. While some are sponsored under the umbrella of a single company, a lot of them are like your friend. They design, maintain, and operate their own Web sites. It's a business of one, with a single employee. And there's no chamber of commerce for this type of business. There are lists of these types of sites in various places, but there isn't any one single consortium."

I think on this bit of bad news. Something occurs to me. "Fair enough, but what if we take it from this view: Instead of looking at everyone in that industry, let's look for the places where the killers could have found Annie. You say there are lists of these types of sites, right?"

He nods.

"It's unlikely that she's on every one of those. We look for the ones she does appear on, then we narrow the field to just the other women on those particular lists."

Now he is shaking his head again, but not in agreement. "It's not that simple. What if they found her by using a search engine? And if they did, what word or phrase did they use? Also, most site operators like her put up their own 'feeder sites.' Small, free sites with sample photos and a link to their primary site. Kind of a 'sample the goods and if you like it, come into the store.' They could also have found one of those sites."

"Not to mention the fact that they could have found her through you, Smoky." Callie sounds reluctant as she says this. I give her a look of agreement. Followed by a sigh of discouragement.

"So the Web end of it leads us nowhere?"

"Not nowhere," Leo says. "The one place to look is her subscriber list. The people who paid to see her 'members only' area."

My ears perk up at this. Alan is nodding. "Right, right," he says.

"That's how they got all those perps in the kiddie-porn sting, yeah?"

Leo smiles at him. "Yep. There are a lot of laws and oversight when it comes to credit-card processing. Fairly precise records are kept. Best of all, most processors have a built-in address check. Where the address given at sign-up has to match the address of the cardholder they have on record."

"Do we know how many subscribers she had?"

"Not yet. It won't be hard to find out. We'll need to get a warrant, but most of those companies are easy to work with. I wouldn't expect any trouble."

"I want you to work on that when we get back," I tell him. "Alan can walk you through the warrant end of things. Get the list and start combing through it. I also want her computer scrutinized. Look for anything-- anything --that might be a clue. Maybe she noticed something off, made a note to herself . . ."

"Right. I'll also get her e-mail. Depending on who her provider is, they should still have copies of anything recent that's not already sitting on her computer."

"Good."

"There's something else," Jenny says. "They went to a lot of trouble to make us think there was only one of them."

"Maybe they were hoping to confuse us with it later, somehow," I say. "I don't know. I haven't worked that one out yet." I shake my head.

"Bottom line is, we have something to run with. The prints." I turn to Callie. "Where do we stand on that?"

"I'm going to enter the prints into AFIS when we're done here and get the guys back in LA to run it. It can scan through a million prints in a minute or two, so just a few hours."

This, more than anything, excites everyone. It could be that simple. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System is a formidable tool. If we're lucky, we'll find our guy, quick.

"Let's get onto that right away."

"What did you and James figure out about them, Smoky?" Callie asks.

"Yeah, let's hear it," Alan rumbles. Both of them stare at me, waiting. I knew they'd ask; they always do. I rode the dark choo-choo train, I saw the monsters, at least one of them. Callie and Alan want to know: What did you see?

"This is all just based on feelings and surmise," I say. Alan waves his hand at me, a dismissive gesture. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You always give us that same, lame disclaimer. Just tell us."

I smile at him and lean back, looking up at the ceiling. I close my eyes and gather it all in. Snuggle up against it, catch the scent.

"They're a little bit of an amalgam. I don't have them separated out yet. They are . . . smart. Very smart. Not just faking smart. I'm thinking at least one of them has a higher education." I glance at James. "Possibly medical school." He nods in agreement. "They're deliberate. Planners. Precise. They spent hours studying up on forensics so they could make sure to leave nothing behind. This is a very, very important part of it for them. Jack the Ripper was one of the most famous serial killers of all time. Why? For one thing, he never got caught. They're following in his footsteps, in this and other ways, mimicking him. He taunted the cops, so they're taunting us. His victims were prostitutes, so they're going after what is--to them--a modern-day equivalent. There will be other parallels."

"Narcissism is a problem for them," James interjects. I nod. "Yeah."

Charlie frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Think of it this way: When you drive a car, do you have to think about it?" I ask.

"No. I just drive."

"Right. But for Jack Jr. and friend, driving isn't enough. They need to admire how good their driving is. How perfect and artful it is. That type of narcissism, where they admire what they do as they're doing it . . ." I shrug. "If you take the time to watch yourself drive, you don't have both eyes on the road."

"Hence the fingerprints on the bed," James says. "That's not a small fuckup. We're not talking hair or fibers. We're talking about five prints. Too busy watching themselves be clever."

"Gotcha," Charlie replies.

"You know, when I said they were an amalgam, that's not entirely true." I purse my lips, considering. "There is a Jack Jr. I think that's a single identity. It's just too important to share." I look at James. "You agree?"

"Yeah."

"So what does that make the other guy?" Alan asks.

"I'm not sure. Maybe a student?" I shake my head. "I can't see it clearly. Not yet. I do think that Jack Jr., whichever one he is, is dominant."

"That's consistent with past 'double teams,' " Callie says.

"Yep. So, they are smart, precise, and narcissistic. But one of the things that makes them so dangerous is their willingness to commit. They don't have a problem with decisive action. That's bad for us, because it means they don't make things too complicated. They keep it clean and simple. Knock on the door, bust in, close the door, take control. A, B, C, D. That isn't a natural ability as a general rule. It's possible one or both of them has a background in the military or law enforcement. Something that would train them in the unhesitating subduing of another human being."