Steven James - Opening Moves

“Maybe. I don’t know. But it wasn’t just Dahmer’s apartment-it was the alley that was significant in his eventual arrest. It wasn’t Gein’s house, but the same hardware store where Gein shot and killed his final victim-the scene that led the police to his home. So we’re looking at the locations that eventually led to these two guys’ apprehension, not just at their crimes.”

Thorne nodded. “Good.”

“So here’s what I’m thinking. If we could postulate other killers that our guy might want to draw attention to-or pay homage to, or whatever-we could stake out the locations that were significant to their arrest. Try to get one step ahead of this guy.”

Nods around the table.

“But,” Ellen said, “we’d be looking for someone on the same level of depravity as Dahmer or Gein? From Wisconsin? That should be a short list. There can’t be too many other killers from the state with that kind of grisly reputation.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Radar offered.

I gave assignments to everyone else.

Thompson would delve deeper into the pastiche idea, see what other connections the victims and missing persons in this crime spree-or this set of crime sprees-might have that paralleled Dahmer’s or Gein’s life or their crimes. This included looking into the possibility that Ralph and I had talked about yesterday, that the homicide near Cincinnati might have some sort of connection to Dahmer’s first murder in Bath, Ohio.

Ellen and Ralph would keep pursuing the victimology research.

Corsica announced that she would continue focusing on the receipts and compare Griffin’s catalog subscription list to our suspect list. Also, she’d see if there was anything else Hendrich might have bought from or sold to Griffin to try to establish if someone had been setting him up from the start.

Gabriele and Lyrie would visit the hospital, interview Colleen, and try to find out who else besides Griffin might have known about the cuffs. Earlier interviews with Vincent hadn’t produced any names.

Thorne was going to keep looking for a way to reach Heather Isle and focus on leads related to Hendrich’s homicide.

I decided to examine the Oswald case. Ted and James weren’t cannibals, weren’t as infamous as Dahmer or Gein, but their case was certainly bizarre, and had been highly publicized when they were arrested back in 1994. Certainly, with the cuffs, the Heather Isle book, and the unsuccessful pleas of Dahmer and Ted regarding diminished responsibility for their crimes because of extenuating circumstances, it seemed that the Oswalds were at least tangentially connected to this investigation.

We ended the briefing at 10:54 a.m., with everyone heading off to work on their respective projects. I’d seen the chaplain visiting Colleen at the hospital yesterday and now, on my way to my desk, I asked him how she was. “Okay,” he told me. “I think she’s more concerned about what’s going to happen to her husband than she is about being attacked…in the manner she was.” It was selfless and courageous of her, but I’d gotten a similar feeling when Radar and I visited her room on Monday.

I rolled out my chair and took a seat at my desk.

On the note that Dr. Werjonic had left for me, he’d requested that I call him between 11:00 and 11:05, which seemed quirkily specific, but it just might have been that he liked things to be prompt and precise.

First, I put a call through to Detective Browning, the man whom Ralph and I had spoken with at the Waukesha Sheriff’s Department, to get the Oswald case files delivered here to HQ. I had the sense he wouldn’t be too happy about it, but right now worrying about hurting the guy’s feelings was not at the top of my priority list.

No answer.

I left a message explaining what we needed.

As I was hanging up, I saw the receptionist directing someone toward my desk.

I recognized him immediately from the grad office brochure about the current lecture series.

Dr. Calvin Werjonic.

The visiting professor had decided not to wait for my call but had come to see me in person.

Tall. Slim. Distinguished. Dressed in a conservative dun-colored suit, he carried a tan London Fog trench coat draped over one arm and greeted me with a genteel smile and an outstretched hand. “Calvin Werjonic. And you must be Detective Bowers.” His English accent was rich and sonorous. His eyes, studious and precise, taking everything in.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

After a firm handshake, he gestured toward the papers on my desk. “I admit my handwriting isn’t…well, I’d say what it used to be, but it’s always been rather…tried.” He pulled out an actual, real-life pocket watch and checked the time. “Well, shall we chat here, or is there a better place to discuss your case?”

“Um, honestly, I’m thrilled you would offer to help, but-”

He flagged a finger in the air to stop me. “Most assuredly, I don’t expect you to tell me anything about the case that’s not already public knowledge. Taking that into account, I’ll offer what help I can. And you have no obligation to accept any of my observations or implement anything I might suggest. So, then, here? Or is there another, more suitable place?”

“Let’s step into the conference room.”

His eyes were on the maps on which I’d stuck the thumbtacks for the scenes of the crimes. “Interesting…” he mumbled. “And can we take this with us?”

“Sure.”

I wheeled the board with the maps as I led Dr. Werjonic to the room with the empty Daily Donuts box on the table. “Doughnuts,” he mused when we arrived. “Isn’t that a bit of a cliche? Here in America?”

“Actually,” I said, defending my country, albeit lamely, “they were cherry turnovers.”

“I see.”

“Officer Thompson’s favorite.”

“Of course.”

Not really sure if that helped.

He took a seat. “Well then, let’s get started.”

“Just so we’re clear, you’re offering to help me with the case I’m currently working on, and-”

“To be sure: the one involving the mutilation of Colleen Hayes, the abduction of Adele Westin, and the murder of Bruce Hendrich. And possibly the connection to two homicides in two other states.”

I blinked. “How did you…?”

“Come, come. The soil samples from the murder in Champaign that matched only two counties of southeast Wisconsin-there was a report on the news. That, and the anthropophagic behavior.”

“That wasn’t made public.”

“True.” He smiled. “But thank you for confirming it.”

Okay, now that was just plain sneaky. “But how did you know last night that I was the one on this case anyway? That information wasn’t released until the newspapers came out this morning.”

“Based on your grades and your request for the photocopied notes-which, I must say, is quite admirable-I can tell this program is a priority for you. The graduate assistant who requested I leave the notes for you mentioned the request came via a dispatcher, so I realized you were calling it in from the field. After a quick review of your attendance records, I noted that there has been a high correlation between your absences and high-profile homicide investigations in the city over the last six months.”

“You teach in Vancouver. How do you possibly know about our homicide investigations here in Milwaukee?”

“I stay current.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. “So”-I tracked with his train of thought-“from there it was simple enough to infer my involvement in this current case, the most high-profile one in months.”

He smiled. “Timing and location, Detective. It always cracks down to timing and location.”