Tolerance Book III

Chapter Thirty-Nine: New Possibility

It took three hours for Adam to finally leave his friend alone in their room after Jay assured him it was in order for him to go out in search of a McDonalds' burger. The hotel fare did not satisfy Adams' appetite. Finally alone and grateful the meds he had taken with a cheese sandwich had sent his headache back to a dull ache the young Detective opened the file folder he had been given prior to leaving headquarters and retrieved the stack of photos of the Victims. Mouse had, as requested, provided every image he could track down. Jay placed the A4 sized photographs out on the two beds then eyed them carefully, seeking a common denominator. His theory about Billings doing something to each Victim prior to their glory demise was the only logical conclusion if the man did in fact have a signature. Parker had explained in detail what a signature meant to the Killer and Jay understood in this case it might not be so obvious. From Ted Bundy to John Wayne Gacy a signature was a compulsion that could not be over ridden. Gacy kept items belonging to his Victims in plain sight. A testament to both his arrogance and his obsession. The photographs now spread out before him depicted the lives of the Victims. It saddened Jay to see the smiling features with no knowledge of what their cruel fate would be. From family barbeques to Bar Mitzvahs to concerts each person was captured forever living in good times. Perhaps down the line the memories of those shared times would bring some comfort to their families and friends. He sure hoped so. Twelve people, so far, had been cruelly snatched from their loved ones. Jay dreaded to think how many more would be taken before Billings was stopped. It greatly concerned him that they still had no solid evidence to bring the man in yet he knew the man was their quarry. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Looking again at the images he sought an elusive common denominator. Different genders, ages and occupations meant they had little in common. Even their personalities, derived from interviews with families, friends and acquaintances, were differing. One woman was a devout Catholic spending her time off work doing charitable endeavours while on the opposite spectrum one man was given to spending his weekly wages in strip joints. Another man worked around the clock in his steel mill business while one of the first Victims a woman seemed to have engaged in fraudulent claims to fund her lifestyle so she avoided the necessity for employment. From pious to industrious to lazy Jay noted thoughtfully that the full spectrum of the human condition was encapsulated by the wide ranging Victims. That realization however did not grant any helpful impetus in the case.
Sinking down onto his bed with a heavy sigh he decided he wasn't going to glean anything helpful from further inspection of the photos. Reaching out to begin to pick them up to store them back in their folder his eye caught a glimpse of a mark on a womans' inside wrist. He hadn't noticed it before because it was mainly hidden by the long sleeve of her blouse. Quickly standing with the photo in hand he strode over to the table by the window and retrieved the magnifying glass he had brought from headquarters.
Placing the image under the glare of the lamp he raised the glass to his eye and closely examined the mark. It was clearly a tattoo! Turning he headed back over to the beds and eyed the various images, concentrating only on those where the Victims' arms were visible. Finding seven he checked each one and shook his head. How had he missed it?! They all had a small black tattoo of a short stemmed rose on the inside of their wrists. True it was only visible under the magnified glass but still he should have noticed it earlier he chided himself. He had only seen a portion of the stem on the first image. He was considering contacting Mouse to source more photos when the door opened without warning and a glaring Adam returned.

"You said you were going to rest," the newcomer accused as he closed the door and eyed the photo strewn beds.
"Didn't say when," Jay pointed out flatly, he was not going to have an argument.
"Damn it! You look like hell."
"Ease up on the compliments, I might get a big head," the auburn haired man instructed as he began to collect the photos.
"So what did you find?" Adam asked as he opted to forego a heated discussion since in the long run it would be fruitless, his friend looked worse now than be had when they left headquarters.
"At least seven of the Victims have the same rose tattoo on the inside of their wrists ....,"
"How the hell was that missed?!" Adam demanded.
"Not much left of the Victims to examine."
"Guess not. So what about the others?"
"Not sure. I can't tell from the photos I have. I'll get Mouse to search for more ....,"
"Tomorrow," Adam declared cutting in, he was going to be in enough trouble big time with Voight already he was not going to allow his friend return to work, officially, that night, "and before you argue you don't want my death on your conscience."
"Schucks Sarge is a pussycat."
"Yeah, yeah. Remind me of that tomorrow when I'm licking my wounds," Adam rolled his eyes in exasperation.