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about that first file—it was my cousin’s.
     
    *.*.*
     
    He told me to look at them anyway I wanted to and went back to the conference room. I couldn’t look at Jackie’s file, not now and maybe not ever. I considered that, wondering if that made any sense. If finding Jackie’s killer was what this was all about—shouldn’t I make it a point to understand what happened to her?
    I pulled up one of the swivel chairs and sat at the table with my back to the file cabinets. It allowed me to watch the entry way for anyone coming in.
    The front door opened and I heard the church bells chiming. It was Colleen. She hung her coat and came into the office area. “Hi Scott, how are you this morning?”
    “Good morning Colleen. I’m doing okay.” She looked at the folders. “Mike wanted me to study the previous crimes, so I’m just starting to look at them.” She didn’t immediately respond, but put her hand to her neck. She looked like she was about to choke.
    She stared again at the stack of folders. “Scott, I’m not sure I’ll ever be comfortable with what they do here. I’ve typed up some reports, and it gives me the willies when I think about what happened to these women.” She didn’t wait for any response, and headed to her reception desk.
    I guess I got my answer to how women feel about these killings. I opened my notebook and the bottom folder. I wrote down the victim’s name, date and town. When I had all of this information listed for all of the cases, I arranged the folders in date sequence. I opened the top folder and looked at the contents.
    There were several typed sheets listing the details of the crime. I read the report and then looked at the crime scene photos. This murder was a sixty-eight year old woman, who was attacked in Keene, New Hampshire. The first picture showed the bedroom taken from the hall. The woman was nude on the bed with her hands tied to the bedposts. I flipped quickly to the next picture.
    It was a shot taken from the foot of the bed. Pantyhose were tied around her neck. The next picture was a close up taken from the side of the bed showing her head and upper body. I had never seen a picture of a dead person before. I reached for my coffee. I took some deep breaths to control my reaction. I need to get through this.
    I tried to ignore the other pictures anticipating what they were going to show. I read the crime scene report next. I was glad I was alone so no one could see my anxiety. I knew I had many to look at and decided for Jackie’s sake I needed to go through them.
    An aspect in the crime scene report forced me back to the pictures. One of the pictures showed the rope tied from the head post to the victim’s wrist. Another picture showed the bite marks on her body. Her mouth was taped shut with electrical tape. The body was left posed with knees raised. There were also several photos of objects out of their normal location, possibly used to molest her. I didn’t study any of those remaining shots, but looked at all of them.
    The next item in this first file was the detailed autopsy report. I took my time reading the report and learned some new facts. The report indicated she was alive for up to two hours before being strangled. When the tape was removed from around her mouth, nylon panties were found stuffed in her mouth.
    The remaining content of the file consisted of interview reports by the different officers on the scene, covering residents in the apartment building and the neighborhood. I noticed some differences in the content based on the towns where the murders were committed. However, they all covered the crimes in a similar manner. I could see a common pattern in the killings and the signature of the killer.
    I was pleased with myself as I had managed to get through some folders without feeling like I was going to get sick. I also made several notes in my notebook about each of the cases for future reference. Another aspect I noted was there was no semen