'It's possible that you're describing a mission-oriented serial killer.'
As agreed in their first meeting, the taskforce had decided to consult a forensic psychiatrist. Jardine had arranged the appointment, and because the doctor was very busy and they were pressed for time, they'd agreed to meet on his turf, the university campus at which he taught part-time.
Jill shifted a little in the lecture-theatre chair and focused upon the doctor's words.
'You see, there are several types of multiple murderers,' the psychiatrist continued, instructing them as he might his forensic science and psychology students. 'Australia uses the American FBI system developed in the eighties to classify homicides by patterns and motives.
'Most mass murderers are sexually motivated, but I don't see a lot of evidence for this in these cases. Rather, your perp might consider they are ridding the world of evil – hence the "mission-oriented" label. The aim here is for power, control. Sometimes they see themselves as God. Of course, the motive could still be revenge, as you've speculated, but the killer may also see their acts as benefiting society in some way.'
Jill coughed quietly. No-one needed her opinion on that point right now.
'Given that the murders have been committed in such a short time period,' said the doctor, 'it could be the case that this is a spree killer, someone who is on a non-stop rampage, with little cool-down time between murders. Do you have any evidence that this person could have struck at any other time or place?'
'No,' answered Jardine. 'As far as we're aware, this is it, although we're in the process of checking past homicides across the country.'
'Although it's a rather arbitrary distinction,' the doctor continued, 'a serial killer differs from a spree killer in the amount of cooling down time they have between hits. The serial killer might wait weeks or months before killing again, and can function well between kills in an ordinary life. The spree killer, on the other hand, is in a frenzy, spending all of their waking hours planning and enacting the next death.'
'Does it really matter what we call this son-of-a-bitch?' Elvis was perched on the edge of a desk in the auditorium. Jill had spent a couple of moments wondering whether this was in order to be positioned at a greater height than the rest of them – a power play – or because his belly couldn't fit under the desks permanently attached to the chairs. Watching him move a little as he spoke, she suspected the latter.
'Well, you're right to some extent,' the psychiatrist re-sponded. 'Labelling your chap as a serial or spree killer is not terribly important.' Jill saw Elvis smirk. 'However, finding the right motivation for these acts is essential, in my view, for hunting him down.
'As it's your task to catch this fellow, I'll run through a list of the motivations for multiple murders, and together we'll consider the appropriate taxonomy.'
The tall, slim, greying man moved to the whiteboard at the front of the room.
'Before you begin, Professor Mendelssohn' – Scotty was crammed into one of the little desks, and he'd actually raised his hand like a schoolboy – 'it's just that you keep saying "fellow" and "chap", and we're not positive it is a bloke doing this.'
Jill had so far only told Scotty about the distinctive cigarette butts she found in the park next to Crabbe's home, the type Mercy smoked. She wanted a chance to better understand what Mercy was up to before she sicked the dogs onto her. She didn't want to believe that Mercy could be responsible for the killing. It was more than that, though – howcould she be responsible? The violence was so extreme, and Mercy just did not seem physically large enough.
'Quite right, young man,' said Professor Mendelssohn, 'we must keep an open mind. There have been female serial killers, although they are, of course, much rarer than their male counterparts. And so, keeping that in mind, we'll consider motivation.'
Up at the whiteboard, now in full lecturer mode, the psychiatrist listed the major motivations for multiple murder and gave an example of each. Jill noted them down on her lecture pad, watching Scotty and Harris do the same. Elvis gave a derisive snort in her direction when she started scribbling quickly. Her notes were always sought after in the academy; she tried to include the doctor's comments and his written words. She noted down:
Possible motivations:
Power: Killing to satisfy the need for control and dominance. Can include thrill killings and sexually motivated killing (the most common). Might be playing God, or obsessed with military might or justice. Includes the mission-oriented killer who kills for a cause, like ridding the world of evil, saving humanity. Although they might see themselves as altruistic, underneath they're serving their own purposes. E.g. taking back control over others because they have little in the rest of their lives; trying to deny a part of themselves that they identify with their victims (taking control over their own intolerable urges).
Revenge: The killer is trying to get even with people who've hurt him/her. Sometimes their victims may not have hurt them directly, but they've associated them with someone who has. They blame the victims for all the problems they've had in life.
Loyalty: Killing is seen as a necessity. E.g. cult members who kill when directed to by their leader; father killing his children after killing their mother so they don't have to suffer the pain of her death.
Profit: Killing for gain, sometimes for money, but most often to eliminate witnesses to crime.
Terror: A way of silencing others and creating terror amongst a group from which the victims are drawn.
'That's really helpful, Professor Mendelssohn,' said Jill when he turned to face them again. She meant it. She'd been to lectures on this topic, of course, but to have these motivations spelled out while they were working through the case was opening her mind to fresh thinking.
'As you know,' she continued, 'we have evidence that all of the deceased were involved in paedophilia, and were possibly part of an organised network of pederasts. We have been thinking of this as probably a revenge thing: one of the child victims grown up and getting payback. It sounds like you think this could be more motivated by power than revenge?'
'Please understand that your hypothesis may still be correct. Profiling a killer is not an exact science,' said the professor. 'Indeed, the ferocity of the bashing of the face in the most recent killing displays a great deal of hate, and the killer might indeed have been a victim of these men in the past.' He paused and read his notes. 'The knife attack upon this last victim also represents some escalation from the previous murders, and stabbing could be considered a form of penetration. There may well be a sexual motive.
'However,' he continued, 'one might have expected to see some genital mutilation or possibly amputation if our killer had been sexually abused by these men. Sometimes, there's a deliberate attempt to take out the eyes, for what they have seen. Still,' he said, 'I would not discount either position, given the pattern at the present time.'
The professor began packing his briefcase.
'Right, well, we've lined up a couple of interviews with past victims,' Jardine told the group. Professor Mendelssohn was standing, obviously ready to go.
'I apologise for having to leave so soon. As I explained earlier, a lecture, you see,' he said.
'Thank you for your time, Professor. It's been invaluable.' Jardine shook the older man's hand. 'We will be in touch again soon.' The others were standing now too.
'Thank you, and good luck. I would be pleased to assist in any way I can as more information becomes available.'
When they left the lecture room, a mist of rain hung in the air. The taskforce agreed to meet back at Central, and they headed back to their vehicles. Jill watched a few young students slope across the quadrangle, shoulders hunched in the damp.
She jogged to her car.