I tapped my finger on the steering wheel. “We need the Sunday School list with all the teacher assistants.”
Haven smiled for the first time that evening. “I actually talked to Mrs. Mabel about that, when you were washing dishes with my mom. Mrs. Mabel asked her niece to email it to me. The list should be in my inbox by the time we get to the inn.”
“Good. Did she ask why?”
“No, but I told her it dealt with all the victims. I was trying to learn more about them.”
I considered more of my training.
There was a Wooing Phase between the serial killer and victim-to-be. Once he identified the prey, he had to win over the person’s confidence. Like a fisherman, the killer lured their catch into the trap.
I gripped the steering wheel hard. “We need to know if Vernon or anybody else helped our victims a lot during that month, especially when it comes to Sunday School.”
“I can call my mother tonight and ask about Ariana.” Haven shook her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t ask before. It was just so much new information.”
“It’s impossible to have all the right questions in the right moment, especially with a chilling case like this.” I turned us onto Main Street. “I was thinking about the trolling phase of a serial killer and how that could relate to Vernon. For some reason, Jack the Ripper came to my mind.”
“He would hunt prostitutes on the lower end of London.” She nodded. “He led them to the women’s chosen secluded place, away from prying eyes. In a way, the women picked where they would die.” She frowned. “You think Vernon let the little girls pick?”
“Maybe not where they would die, but other things.”
“Their dresses, food—”
“Every time Dr. Ross examined the girls, she said that they always ate well as if our Unsub cared for them deeply.”
“Like a big brother?”
“Possibly.”
“Don’t forget about the communion. He gave the girls wine and bread before he suffocated them.”
“Would Vernon have access to the church’s items for communion?”
“Easily. Pastor kids and grandkids play all over that church. They know every secret pocket. They have the keys to locks or can get them fast.”
The Capture Phase was the next step of a serial killer. It was when he set the trap for his victims.
The light turned green.
I drove us forward. “Vernon became their friends during Sunday School classes. Maybe he saw them again during the week. He was their friend.”
Haven’s voice went shaky. “Their big brother.”
“So, on the day it was time to kidnap them—”
“They walked right up to him.” Haven widened her eyes. “He could have stopped Felicia Drake while she headed home from church.”
I pretended to be Vernon. “Hey, Felica. Let me show you something. Or. . .do you want to come with me to see this?”
“Or even, your mother told me to come get you.”
“And she went because it was Vernon. She knew him for a long time. He was one of the good teenagers in her church. There would be no reason to mistrust him.”
Haven shook her head. “My parents and I had a code. If anyone ever came up to my school—relative or family friend—I wasn’t to leave with them unless they said Apple pie with vanilla ice cream. It was my favorite thing to eat. Even my grandmother had to tell me that one time when she picked me up. Once my uncle forgot to say it. I stayed right in that principal office until he called my father from the principal’s phone, got the code, and told it to me.”
“That was a good plan.” I bobbed my head. “I’ll remember that for my future kids. Every family should have a code. We never know what predator could be lurking as a family member or friend around us.”
“Karen Brookes would have been easy for Vernon to grab. The ballet school is close to the Miller’s house. Not even a ten-minute walk. Standing by the water fountain, he could have whispered for her to come over.”
“Then, she went and maybe he pulled her into the bathroom. There’s a back entrance too.”
“She might’ve walked right out the back door with him just from him telling her, ‘Hey, let me show you something.’”
“Simple and with no need of a weapon or rope. Kids usually trust kids.”
“Ariana went to the bathroom during Sunday School. Vernon possibly helped that class during that month. Might have known which stall she would be in.”
“He could have told her which one to go in.” I pretended to be Vernon again. “Ariana, do you know about the secret compartments? I’ll show you. Go into the second stall. It will be fun.”
“She could’ve walked right through the opening and down into the basement with him. Simply curious of what Vernon had to show her.”
“Emma Tucker’s older sister babysat Emma while her mother was on a date. Vernon and the sister might have gone to high school together. We should talk to the sister and see if she was friends with him.”
“She might’ve been on the phone that day complaining about how she had to stay home and watch her sister. And Vernon seized the opportunity to come over and grab Emma.” Haven put her gaze on me. “Shelly Darby was taken in the movie theater. We have to find out who was the brother’s friends that were with them. Was it Vernon?”
“He could have been.” I nodded. “We have to place him at each of the places. At least three and we can get that warrant.”
“Last, we have Melody at Fanny’s restaurant.”
A prior conversation came to my head. It was on Haven’s first day. We stood in front of Mrs. Mabel, asking if we could look around the church.
“Pastor Miller is gone. He picked up his grandson Vernon and took him on over to Fanny’s.” Mrs. Mabel beamed. “He’s a good boy. He started as a bus boy over there.”
Haven got to that thought too. “Didn’t Mrs. Mabel say that Vernon worked at Fanny’s restaurant?”
“She sure did.”
“We’ll have to check, if he worked there the night Melody went missing.”
“It would be easy. We have all of that information at the office.” I made a note to call in and ask someone to look it up. “If Vernon was there, then we need two more places where he showed up near our victims.”
“Melody was taken from the table as her parents argued.”
“Maybe, Vernon told her not to worry and come with him.”
“Young and scared, she walked off. Perhaps, he had a cookie or something sweet.”
I frowned. “Perhaps.”
This case is going to hurt. I need to take a long vacation after this.
I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and focused on my training.
The fifth phase was the Murder. The actual death and the emotional high for these psychopaths. In these seconds, some killers reported spontaneous orgasms during the death, signifying their moment of triumph.
Did Vernon get sexual relief from the suffocation? Or was it a form of emotional connection that he could not find in reality?
“Those paintings.” I drove us into St. Mary’s Inn. “That could be Vernon’s totem.”