“But that would mean it wasn’t personal. It could have been any one of you who stepped outside,” said Euzent. “I admit I’m not one hundred percent convinced Denny’s attack was personal, but the killer left the rest of you alone, so I will continue to give weight to that theory.

“If each case was personal, our killer has a lot of specific cops on his hit list. Why is that?”

“They did him wrong at some point in time,” suggested Henry. “He’s taken offense and wants to pay them back.”

Euzent nodded. “What else? Has he been arrested numerous times? Special Agent Weldon shakes things up a bit here. His background is totally different than the other victims, so I think we should focus on the regular law enforcement officers for the moment. Possibly he’s managed to have negative experiences with all these officers . . . perhaps he wasn’t arrested but had a bad time somewhere else.”

Mason felt lost. It seemed Euzent raised more questions than he answered. “What do the masks mean?” he asked, deciding to throw one of his own questions into the mix.

Euzent twisted his lips. “I have a couple of ideas on the masks. It could be a number of things. Halloween is right around the corner. Maybe he’s leading up to something big that night.”

Mutters filled the room and Mason felt everyone’s stress level rise. They didn’t want more deaths or a buildup to a climax of some sort.

“Do we need to prepare for something to happen on Halloween?” Nora sounded stunned. “Kids and families are out everywhere . . . there are events downtown . . . free candy everywhere.” She ran a hand over her forehead. “Christ. What could happen?”

Euzent held up his hands. “Slow down. I’m not saying there will be a domestic terrorism event on Halloween. His behavior doesn’t lead me to believe that at all. He’s focused on law enforcement. He’s chosen a very narrow field of targets. We don’t need to set the city on alert . . . outside of the usual ‘Check your candy’ and ‘Trick-or-treat where you know your neighbors’ warnings given every year. But there’s a possibility Halloween means something to him along with the focus on law enforcement.”

Nora relaxed a fraction.

“The masks could be symbolic for him in some way. I suspect they make him feel powerful,” continued Euzent. “Or they could be a way for him to try to mislead us . . . they’re childish. Is he trying to appear younger than he seems?”

“Like Micah Zuch’s age?” asked Ava.

“He’s of the age I’d expect to be interested in those masks,” said Mason. “Not an adult.”

“Plenty of adults love those movies,” countered Henry. “Perhaps the movies were hot when they were growing up or the movie symbolizes the first time they went to a horror movie and felt independent. Their parents probably hated the movies . . . even more reason to idolize them.”

“Or they enjoyed the acts of violence on-screen?” Ava asked. “Acts a person might secretly crave to act out?”

“That’s the key,” said Euzent. “It’s not a crime to have deranged fantasies. Making the choice to act upon them to the harm of others is what makes the crime.”

“So they’re nuts,” said a voice from the back.

“Not nuts,” corrected Euzent. “This person clearly understands right and wrong. He is going to great pains to avoid getting caught and cleaning up every shred of evidence to keep us from finding them.”

“Trying to clean up,” clarified Mason.

“Yes. He’ll trip up somewhere,” said Euzent. “It may have happened last night. That killing didn’t go as planned and someone saw him for the first time. We might find our case-breaking lead in last night’s scene once all the evidence has been studied.”

Mason shifted in his chair. Evidence analysis could take forever.

The killer had to be stopped before he targeted his next cop.

23

Nora pulled Ava aside after Euzent’s briefing. “Micah Zuch’s mother is here.”

“Shoot. We still need to find out how he knows so many facts about these murders,” said Ava. “What’s his mother say?”

“She wants her baby out of jail.”

“He’s not in jail,” countered Ava. “He’s had a cheeseburger, four packages of cookies, and enough soda to float a boat. I’m out of change from keeping him full of sugar.”

Nora grinned. “I know. I told her we’re still interviewing him and put her in a room with a fresh cup of coffee and a good-looking officer to chat with. She seems content for now.”

“Does she know why Micah is here?”

“Doesn’t seem to and didn’t really ask. She came in ranting like she was Norma Rae or Erin Brockovich, but she didn’t know what to complain about other than her baby was in the big bad police station. She comes across as a bit scatterbrained.”

“Let’s go talk to her,” said Ava. “Maybe she knows why Micah has information only our killer should have.”

“When’s Zander coming back?” asked Nora as they headed downstairs.

Ava glanced at the time on her phone and frowned. Zander had promised to return after reviewing records back at the FBI office. “Let me call him. I’m surprised he’s not here yet.”

Her call went to voice mail and she left a message. She didn’t think she’d ever left Zander a message before; he’d always answered her calls. She shot off a text asking for his ETA.