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women.”
    “I don’t think our guy is like other serial killers.”
    “Sure wouldn’t be much fun if we had a textbook case, now
would it?”
    The frustration in Shawn’s voice infected Lionel’s thoughts.
“Six murders, ten weeks,” Lionel said. “We need some help.”
    “The feds sent over their profile already. Their team is
coming in next Monday to assist on the case.”
    “I don’t mean a profile on the killer, and I definitely don’t
mean the case is ripped out of our hands. I mean, we need some help. This guy
just left us a message on six bodies. We may want this to be the end, but there’s
something else going on here. He’s not close to finishing.”
    “We have a profile from the feds and we have a task force. The
only help we need is for this guy to make a mistake. Maybe there’s something to
the letter being done postmortem. After the body is processed and Perry does
the autopsy—”
    “We’re going to have the same answers we always do,” Lionel said.
“This guy doesn’t make mistakes. He’s methodical and clean. He uses a common serrated
kitchen knife to carve up the victims. He chokes them at some point, but cause
of death isn’t asphyxiation. They die from blood loss after extreme torture. No
rape or signs of sexual assault. Then he washes the victim to get rid of any
trace evidence, and dumps her in a public place for quick discovery.”
    “Thanks for reminding me of how helpless I feel against this
guy,” Shawn said.
    Lionel ignored him. “Perry’s going to say the same things he
always does. This body isn’t different from the rest, other than the letter
being carved postmortem, which could be worthless to us.”
    “Then what kind of help do you want?”
    “I want to call in a private on this one, before the feds
take over in nine days.”
    “You’re not thinking—”
    “Emily’s a good kid.”
    “She’s not a cop. I admit, she’s been great on the cases she’s
helped other detectives with, but those have been small time. Theft, missing
persons.” Shawn stopped walking when they reached Lionel’s car. “This is a
serial killer. Do you really want to get her and Cassie involved in this?”
    Lionel didn’t want either one of them anywhere near the
investigation, but Emily could assist in a way no other person could. She knew
things that any other person looking at a crime scene couldn’t know. She could pick
up on things by standing in close proximity to someone or something. In all his
years of knowing Emily, he had seen it happen enough to know it was more than
coincidence, yet he couldn’t explain it. While he might not understand it, he
needed to use it as long as Emily wanted to help.
    “A fresh pair of eyes couldn’t hurt,” he told Shawn, who
knew nothing of Emily’s extraordinary detective skills. “Emily’s smart, she’s
good at what she does, and I’m calling her.”
    “It might be a mistake to get her involved. She’s never
helped out on a case like this.”
    “I just want her and Cassie to take a look at the files.
Maybe they’ll see something we haven’t. Besides, Cassie took all those criminology
and behavioral classes. As far as I’m concerned, between those classes and her
time on the force, Cassie’s just as good as the feds and she doesn’t have her
own agenda.”
    “You may be right. Cassie would be in homicide working this
case with us if she were still a cop.” Shawn shrugged. “It’s your call, so do
what you need to. The feds will be here soon enough, demoting us to answering
the tip line. We should try everything we can while we still have a case to
work.”
    “Let’s get an ID on this one as soon as possible. Maybe he
got sloppy and this girl is connected to another victim or to the killer.”
    “Fingerprints, dental impressions, serial numbers off any
implants.” Shawn scribbled in his notepad as he spoke.
    “Also check missing person reports on Asian women in their early
twenties,” Lionel added. “He’s never