Girl, 11 by Amy Clarke (grave mercy TXT) 📗

corner of the video. After a few seconds, she paused it again and pointed to where a van was driving. “See here, on video number four, there’s a dark-colored van at 8:35:21 driving in front of the Super America station, going north on Lyndale.”

Elle squinted at the screen. “Is it Graham? I can’t see his face at all.”

Ayaan shook her head. “Not sure. The windshield is tinted, and there was a glare our techs couldn’t edit out.”

Elle clicked back on the progress bar under the video and paused. “He’s not reckless, that’s for sure. If he’s got a kidnapped girl in the car, it shows a lot of discipline to drive the same speed as the other cars around him, to not draw attention even in such a high-stress scenario.”

“You’re right, but still, it seems pretty dangerous,” Ayaan said, looking at Elle. “I suppose in his mind, it might be worth the risk of being pulled over for driving without plates rather than the bigger risk of getting caught on camera or by a witness who could track down the plate number.”

Elle stared at the image of the van. “He probably only drove a couple miles in that vehicle, during rush-hour traffic on a weekday morning when he knew he wasn’t likely to be pulled over for such a minor offense. Not if he’s a white man, anyway.”

Ayaan smiled wryly, nodding. “It shows a level of criminal sophistication, which matches with how seamlessly he pulled off the kidnapping. It’s unlikely to be his first time doing this. Maybe Graham hasn’t been as aboveboard the past four years as his record would suggest.”

“Do we know whether he has access to a van like that?” Elle asked.

“No, but odds are it’s stolen anyway. I’ve been looking into his alibi. He’s got another job, besides working for Dave Jordan. Washing windows for some office cleaning company. They said he was working yesterday until two p.m. Backed up the dad’s story.” Ayaan met Elle’s gaze. “I’m going to have to do some more chasing up for this alibi, but could you see what you can find using your normal investigative methods this afternoon? We can meet up tomorrow and compare notes. I’ll let you know if anything changes in the meantime.”

“Sure. Yeah, of course. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She didn’t want to go home, where she’d have to talk about the case with Martín, but she didn’t have much choice. Elle pushed down the rising swell of panic in her gut as she stood and left the office. Right now, a little girl was depending on her. She couldn’t afford to fall apart.

16

Justice Delayed podcast

January 2, 2020

Transcript: Season 5, Episode 4

[SOUND BREAK: A clock ticking.]

Elle voice-over:

Dr. Sage works at Mitchell University, a local college in Minneapolis that has one of the top forensic psychology degrees in the state. This interview took place in December 2019, prior to the first episode launching, and obviously well before the revelation about the potential identities of the burnt bodies we have uncovered in this episode. I’m sure Dr. Sage would have much to say about this new information, but while we wait for possible DNA matches to be made, I think it’s important we still focus on TCK himself. The more information we have about him—who he is, what made him do what he did—the more chance we have of finding him.

Elle:

Doctor, you studied the TCK cases a few years after he went dormant, correct? Sometime in the early 2000s?

Dr. Sage:

Yes, that’s correct. I’m one of the psychiatrists who spoke with the FBI about the profile they had put together for him, before they all stopped investigating the case.

Elle:

Okay, could I ask your expert opinion on what can be interpreted from his killing process? For the sake of background, my husband is a medical examiner, and just candidly, he disagreed with the assessment of the ME who examined Katrina Connelly. Whereas the official report states that TCK likely killed her in a fit of rage because she was fighting back, my husband theorized that TCK killed her in that manner because she wasn’t dying from the poison, and in order for him to be fulfilled by her murder, she had to die on the day he designated for her—the seventh day.

Dr. Sage:

It’s possible. Based on everything I have seen of the Countdown Killer’s work, it is clear he operates on a strict timeline with inflexible criteria for his murders. He is immensely detailed, and it’s quite possible he has some sort of compulsive disorder, although I would be remiss if I didn’t say that likely had nothing to do with why he murdered. The vast majority of people with a compulsive disorder live successful, full lives and cause no more harm to those around them than someone without one. But based on his obsession with the numbers three, seven, and twenty-one, it seems plausible that those numbers trigger him to kill. If that’s the case, they likely have a root in some sort of trauma for him.

Elle:

Wait, trauma for the killer?

Dr. Sage:

Yes, that’s most likely the case.

Elle:

But . . . isn’t that—couldn’t some people interpret that as an offensive excuse? A lot of people go through traumatic experiences as kids. If everyone with a violent childhood used that as an excuse to slaughter innocent people, there’d be a lot more murders to investigate.

Dr. Sage:

That’s true, and you’re right; it’s not an excuse. But it is a fact. Most of us don’t like to think about the people who commit horrific acts of violence as former victims themselves, yet the reality is most of them are. The extensive research on serial killers has shown that almost all of them have instances of severe abuse and neglect in their childhoods. It is important context to be aware of when examining a killer’s motives and trying to figure out what kind of person they may be. However, I will say this. There’s this FBI behavioral analyst, Jim Clemente, who