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like I
expected.”
    “You told me and Michelle not to talk to anyone about
it, but I figured it was okay to talk to each other.”
    “Speak freely,” said Ryan sensing Tom had something he
wanted to say.
    “We both have extensive backgrounds in behavioral
science with serial killers. Nothing down there fits Arrington’s profile
evaluation we received from Quantico. Serial killers tend to escalate with
their violence and frequency of attacks. Arrington seems to have deescalated,
and he sticks to a concrete schedule.”
    “Deescalated?” asked Ryan. “He killed three people in 15
seconds. How is that deescalating?”
    “I have no doubt he was going to kill the victim, but
there were no indications he was going to brutalize and torture her,” continued
Tom. “My point is, the crime scene here is a polar opposite from the Syracuse
murder. As far as the violence we witnessed, I believe it was solely a reaction
to our presence.”
    “Is it really that a big a deal if his methods have
changed?” asked Ryan. “We all watched him nearly cut her head off. Some of the
details of the environment may seem odd, but there’s no denying he’s our guy.”
     “I wouldn’t think twice about it if it wasn’t such a
radical change, Boss. Take away the fact Quantico pointed us in this direction,
and I’d bet this farm we’re looking at two different killers.”
     “Also,” interrupted Michelle, “No serial killer since
record keeping began has ever clearly marked the grave of a victim. Many have
left hints and even taunted police to find where they’ve hidden the bodies, but
none have ever marked the burial site with a cross and the victim’s name. That
shows an uncharacteristic degree of remorse. There were absolutely no signs of
remorse or guilt in Syracuse. If a murderer is going to display those types of
emotions, it’s usually with the first victim.  Everything about this crime
scene screams different M.O. and different guy.”
    “Listen,” said Ryan, “Nothing about what we’re doing
here can be categorized or compared with previous cases. We’ve entered a
strange new territory, and I need you to start thinking outside the box. Dump all
your conventional wisdom about how these four killers are supposed to act.”
    “Dump our conventional wisdom?” asked Tom, perplexed.
“With the lack of credible information we have on these guys, what are we
supposed to use? A crystal ball?”
    “That’s enough, Tom,” replied Ryan, sternly. “I can
assure you the information I’m passing to you is credible. It may not be as
much as you’d like, but it’s all we have. You guys need to stand fast while I
go talk to the guys in the black coveralls.”
    “Of course,” said Tom relenting.
    Ryan walked away from the team and headed for the front
door of the farmhouse. He wanted to end the questions coming from his own team
without having to order them to back off. He hated having to dodge their
legitimate concerns. Michelle was the first to voice her opinion about Ryan’s
demeanor.
    “What’s wrong with him?” asked Michelle. “You know we’re
right, Tom.”
    “I’m not sure what’s wrong. He did seem to dismiss our
observations rather quickly. That’s not like him.”
    “He has his reasons,” injected Dallas quickly. “He’ll
let us know when we need to know.”
    “I think I just figured out who’s the teacher’s pet,”
said Michelle with a smirk.
    “All that and a sense of humor, too. Weird that you’re
still single, huh?” replied Dallas. “Whatever reason he has for being elusive
is probably because he just lost two agents. I think you’d be a little off,
too.”
    “All the more reason not to be elusive, wouldn’t you
think?” said Michelle.
    “Look,” said Tom, attempting to keep the peace. “He was
just as surprised as we were down in the basement. Dallas is right. He’s never
lost anyone in the line. We need to give him a little space to sort things out.
And Michelle, Ryan sorts