Read Breaking Bad for Free Online Page B

it. “The cuts are deep and premortem.” Stevie shivered. “Bastard likes to watch them bleed.”
    “What is the symbol?”
    “The mark of Cain.”
    “I didn’t think there was a specific mark.”
    “There isn’t, but if you research the term, this particular symbol pops up fairly regularly in underworld and fantasy cultures. The killer is using it as his calling card. It’s also Spoltori’s underground dungeon symbol, that’s how I made the initial connection. Then I dug deeper and discovered he’s Mayor Dyer’s war chest manager and connected each of his vics as being married to a heavy campaign contributor of the mayor’s.” She cocked a brow at Jack. “As you can see, a little more than a hunch.”
    “That’s good police work connecting the symbol, Detective.”
    “Thanks.”
    “So let’s delve into what makes our killer tick.”
    Stevie nodded. “Spoltori was born Raymond Justin Arnold, an only child. Both parents deceased, murder-suicide when he was five.” Stevie pointed to a picture of two women to the far right of the board, but with lines connecting them to Spoltori, one in her early twenties and the other her forties. “His paternal aunt took him in. Ten years later, her daughter Jessica was kidnapped, tortured, and killed.” Stevie shivered. “I think she was his first kill.”
    “Why do you think that?”
    “It makes progressive sense.” Stevie moved to the lap top on the desk. Bending over she clicked through a few pages in her docs, then clicked on a link to an article in the
Baltimore Sun
. “It says here that Jessica Chambers disappeared on her way home from work, and the next day she was found naked, tortured, raped, and dead on the front porch of her house.” Stevie scrolled through the rest of the article. “But they made an arrest. Jerome Sikes, a coworker she had dated. He’s doing a life sentence.” She shook her head. “My gut is screaming they convicted the wrong guy. It was Spoltori.”
    “Jessica doesn’t fit the MO of our three.”
    “That’s because he either didn’t intend to kill Jessica or, if he did, because it was his inaugural kill and he was just beginning to perfect it.” She pointed to the article. “The foundation is there: kidnap, torture, rape, body laid out for public admiration.”
    Jack typed something into his iPhone. “I just told Deavers to locate the detectives who worked the case in Baltimore. We’ll follow up with BPD tomorrow. How old was Spoltori when the cousin was killed?”
    “Sixteen. He emancipated himself a year later, moved from Baltimore to Chicago and managed to scholarship himself through Northwestern, where he completely reinvented himself. From Chicago he moved to Denver, then to Oakland two years ago.”
    Jack looked pointedly at her. “Before we go further on Spoltori’s profile, did you check with the PDs in his former places of residence for any missing persons or unsolved murders that could be linked to him?”
    “Yes, and while there were no murders in Baltimore or Chicago, there were several assaults at Northwestern that began with his enrollment and ended when he graduated.” Stevie brought those images up on her computer. “But they weren’t coeds, they were middle-aged wives of faculty. Our three victims are middle-aged wives of high-profile campaign contributors.”
    Jack moved in close behind her. Stevie stood stock-still, afraid of touching him. When he leaned past her and grasped the mouse and slowly rolled his index finger back and forth scrolling through the pictures, she squeezed her eyes shut. Carefully she inhaled, then ever so slowly exhaled.
    “And Denver?” he asked, moving back, his right hand brushing against her right elbow as he did.
    “One,” she rasped, sliding sideways and away from him. “I think after he killed his cousin it took him some time to settle down. Once he had, he started trolling in Chicago. Each subsequent attack was more advanced than the previous. When the heat