Tolerance Book III

Chapter Thirty-One: Profiling

HS Headquarters

Two days later Jay sat in the small office beside Parkers which had been allocated to the Unit ostensibly but ultimately to the Detective. Murphy had taken it upon himself to clear out the storage room to give the young Detective a space where he could work in relative quiet away from the bustling open plan office where people were coming and going all the time making concentration a difficult task. He had observed the quiet man the day before, obviously wrestling with a headache, yet forging his way through files amidst the various distractions and decided to take action. The Assistant Director had sought Voights' advice before offering up the new makeshift office. The Sergeant had advised that it would be better received if the space was offered to the Unit rather than his youngest Detective solely knowing the ex-Sniper would balk at what he perceived as preferential treatment.

Jay rubbed his eyes as he closed the last file. He had gone over all the Victims' files more than once hoping to find the one thing that drew the UnSub to them yet no clues had been surrendered up. He eyed the whiteboard Parker had brought in earlier with a shrug saying he might find it useful. Now standing he walked over and picked up a marker ready to note some salient points. The door opening caused him to pause.

"How is it going?" the Psychologist asked as he entered closing the door behind him.
"Haven't been able to find anything."
"What have you learnt?" Parker gestured to the stack of files on the small desk.
"There doesn't seem to be any pattern to the age of the Victims apart from each one is older than the next. The UnSub kills one person then the next Victim may be two or five years older, there's no pattern."
"What else?"
"The files haven't told me anything else," Jay reluctantly repeated.
"Never mind that. What do you know about the UnSub?"
"The person is extremely organized ....,"
"Despite the messy nature of the incidents," Parker cut in with a nod of agreement then urged, "go on"
"The person isn't tied to a job ....,"
"Because?"
"The explosions all took place on different days at different times," the Detective explained his reasoning, "and the fact each Victim was the sole casualty means the UnSub clearly did his or her homework."
"Surveillance would be time consuming," Parker acknowledged.
"The main problem we have though is motive," Jay pointed out with a heavy sigh as he eyed the blank whiteboard speculatively, "each Victim has a different background. There's no common denominator yet something is drawing the UnSub to them."
"Could they just be chosen randomly?" Parker suggested what was a Law Enforcement Officers' worst nightmare.
"Anything is possible."
"But you don't think so?" Parker pressed.
"No I don't. There is a motive. We just haven't found it."

Canteen

Meanwhile Murphy, Voight and Al had gone in search of fresh coffee and some semblance of privacy hence they sat at a formica table deposited in the furthest corner of the large canteen.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Murphy asked as soon as the trio were seated with their drinks.
"You have any idea why Thompson fought to have Jay on this case?" Voight asked as he tentatively checked the temperature of his coffee.
"No," the Assistant Director replied with a frown, they had already discussed this.
"Don't you think it's odd HS is handling this investigation when there haven't been any high profile Victims across the country despite the threats?" Al checked.
"Sure," Murphy shrugged, "but Thompson is known for looking for glory and ....,"
"You're saying we're here to give him headlines?" Voight asked in disgust.
"I honestly wouldn't put it past him."
"So you don't think there's something else going on with Halstead?" Voight pressed, he was determined to protect the young Detective.
"Unfortunately I don't know," Murphy conceded with a grimace as he too had suspicions, before he added softly, "I've made discreet inquiries trying to find out if Thompson is in fact acting on his own accord or if someone else is pulling the strings ...,"
"And?"
"So far I've only met dead ends."
"Damn," Al cursed, it was obvious the Assistant Director didn't actually trust his boss, irrespective of disliking him, and that did not bode well for the investigation or more importantly Jay.
"I've had to thread carefully," the New Yorker explained then focused on the Sergeant, "he does have contacts in high places as we all know but I sincerely hope you weren't bluffing about your own contacts."
"I don't bluff," Voight commented succinctly, iliciting a nod of agreement from the moustached Detective beside him.
"Guess that's something to be grateful for," Murphy eyed his zero Coca Cola disdainfully, dieting was going to be the death of him!