Allison Brennan - Killing Fear

“Most serial killers kill to live out a fantasy. They gain satisfaction in either the hunt or the kill or both. They relive that fantasy as long as they can. When the memory or souvenirs from the kill no longer gives them the physical and emotional satisfaction as the act itself did, they kill again. They are constantly perfecting their crime, making the fantasy better, more complete, in their minds.

“This is why Glenn changed his M.O. almost immediately.”

“The bleach,” Will said. “We guessed he did that because he’d left evidence behind at the first crime scene.”

“Exactly. He knew it as soon as he left. He has finely developed instincts, which is why he’s been so elusive since his escape.

“Theodore Glenn is not a textbook serial killer,” Vigo continued. “But if you’ve studied them as long as I have, you understand that they rarely fit into a set mold. Glenn, for example, displayed only one of the early symptoms of serial killers-we know he killed one or more animals. But I read the testimony of Sherry Jeffries several times. Glenn didn’t receive any sexual, physical, or emotional satisfaction in killing his sister’s cat. All the pleasure he received was in his sister’s reaction. If there wasn’t an audience, he’d never have killed the animal.”

Hans Vigo let that sink in. Will had always sensed Glenn’s core need to emotionally hurt others, but hearing his thoughts validated made Glenn more of a monster, more real.

Will said, “And the phone call to Robin. It was to hear her reaction.”

“Bingo. In fact, he called for two reasons. To hear her fear-to live vicariously off her heightened emotions-and to relive his crimes. He wanted to make sure that Robin McKenna knew exactly why he had killed those women, he wanted to make sure she hurt-to attempt to cast blame on her. That she ‘chose’ the victims by her own actions-and inactions.”

“It’s always been about Robin,” Will said.

Vigo nodded. “I believe he was obsessed with her from the very beginning, something triggered it. Possibly her perceived inaccessibility-she didn’t date him, unlike the others. Or something about her appearance. It could be one of a thousand things, but something triggered his obsession and that is why he began to kill those around her, to watch her reaction. While in prison, his obsession grew and consumed him.

“First, Glenn is seeking revenge, as he announced he would in court. People conspired to deny him freedom. To take away his ability to do what he wants. They must be punished. His sister first, because she was easy. She scared easily. He could torment her, but because he’s being cautious, he took care of her quickly. Still, he couldn’t resist picking up the neighbor’s cat and scaring Sherry Jeffries with it prior to killing her. It was spontaneous-he had no way of knowing there’d be a cat nearby when he came to her house.”

“He saw the opportunity and seized it,” Will said.

“Glenn is one of the smartest killers I’ve come up against, but he’s a narcissist and that’s the Achilles’ heel of many of them. He knows he’s smart, he doesn’t believe he’ll ever be caught.”

Vigo tapped the large stack of files. “Look at the way he killed his victims. He had a physical relationship with them. Consensual. He was attractive to women, charismatic. Nonthreatening. A regular. One of the boys. None of them saw anything but what he wanted them to see.”

Except Robin.

Vigo seemed to read Will’s mind, looked right at him, but instead of mentioning Robin, he said, “He killed Bethany Coleman by restraining her in her own bed. Cutting into her skin. Not because he received any pleasure from the cutting-he can’t feel that-but because he saw the reaction on her face. He felt her reaction.

“I know this sounds like splitting hairs, but you have to understand why he does what he does. You touched upon this in your reports, Hooper, and during the trial,” Vigo said. “Theodore Glenn is incapable of feeling any real emotion, at least not the normal human emotions you and I feel. He has to watch other people to see how emotion works, how he’s supposed to feel in the same circumstances. I suspect when we dig further into his background we will learn that he was a voyeur as a young teen. That he didn’t receive the same sexual pleasure from sex as he saw others receive. He learned the right responses by watching others. His parents, maybe. Certainly his sister and her boyfriend.”

“That’s just gross,” Carina interjected.

“For most of us, it’s unheard of. We don’t want to witness the sexual relations of other people, especially people we know. But Glenn had to somehow learn how he was supposed to react. I went through his background as carefully as I could on paper. And everything we know about him is that he grew up in a normal, average, upper middle class home. Two parents who have been in a seemingly happy marriage for more than forty years. They did not severely discipline the children. No child abuse, no sexual abuse, no emotional abuse. If anything, the Glenns were too conciliatory toward their children. But spoiled children do not routinely grow up to be serial killers.

“Glenn was an overachiever. In school, in work, in play. He did everything to the extreme. And something happened that triggered his killing urge. Not because he received any pleasure in the act of killing. Because he didn’t. Look how he positioned the bodies where someone could find them. See them. He wanted their reaction. The horror. The fear. The pain. That is what he thrived on. And that is what I think was missed seven years ago.

“Theodore Glenn was either still in the room when the body was discovered, or he was around when friends and family of the victim were told about the murder. He had to be. He didn’t kill for the pleasure of killing. He killed to hurt the survivors.”

Will clenched his fists. The evidence pointed to Glenn killing Anna Clark-notwithstanding his claims to Trinity that he hadn’t. What if after watching Will and Robin in the bar, he left, got into Robin’s apartment, was surprised by Anna and killed her? Then waited for Robin to come home. Had he been there when she found Anna?

“Right, Detective?”

Everyone was staring at Will. He didn’t know what the Fed had said, but he nodded anyway.

“So all that is in the past-yet time didn’t stop seven years ago when he was incarcerated,” Vigo said.

Carina said, “But our witness saw him leaving Brandi’s house. Her body wasn’t discovered until the next day by the police. Glenn wasn’t in the house then.”

“That’s an excellent observation, and it proves my point.”

“Which was?” Will asked, rubbing his temple.

“He wanted to see the reaction of someone specific when told of Brandi’s death.”

Will had already told Chief Causey. Now he needed to clue in the Fed. “I have recently learned that Glenn had been following Robin McKenna. Stalking her, at the time of the murders.”

“That makes sense. I said earlier that he was obsessed with her, which prompted his call to her yesterday. While in prison he likely fantasized about her. Based on his conversation, she was the focal point of his killing spree seven years ago. Everyone who died had a relationship with her-friends and colleagues. He wanted to hurt Robin McKenna, see how she would react.”

“She was also the key witness against him during the trial.”

“So his feelings are even more complex. He’s obsessed with her on one level, and he blames her on another. He likely blames her for his obsession, though he wouldn’t recognize it for what it is. Glenn probably doesn’t understand why she’s on his mind, why he’s fixated on her, and he would blame her for that as well.”