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Chapter 48 – Pond, Part 15
Larry looked in the direction of Max's voice. He knew what Max was referring to, but he didn't need that information to determine a few things that could be found from the fingerprints.
Indeed, on the fingernails of the female victim, there were extremely intricate butterfly designs—each one different, realistic, and very beautiful.
"It's amazing that a manicurist could achieve such a high level of painting!"
Max's words only reinforced Larry's thoughts about the victim's identity.
Although he didn't know much about the subject, these ten beautiful butterflies were so realistic that they were definitely not something an ordinary manicurist could pull off.
"The possibility that the victim was a prostitute is wrong…" Larry thought about it, and judging by the victim's appearance, she might have even been Ron's girlfriend. But jumping to those conclusions wouldn't lead anywhere good.
After completing the external examination of the body, Dean took care of clipping the deceased's nails for further analysis.
Larry picked up the scalpel and began the dissection, just to verify a few details, solidify the case, and confirm whether this victim was identical to the others, both externally and internally.
Dean watched from the side, his eyes growing increasingly bright. He was impressed by the speed of Larry's hands and his mastery of anatomy. When he was first notified that he could request Larry as a training instructor, even though he had heard of his skills, he hadn't been entirely convinced.
After all, Larry worked at the Miami Metropolitan Police Department, not the FBI. They also weren't too far apart in age.
And being the top student in his class, Dean had never been impressed by anyone before—not even his teachers. He believed that everything he saw could be done with enough practice, effort, and study.
But after seeing Larry's movements today, he was convinced. His knife work was flawless—swift and precise. Dean felt it had been the right decision to try his luck at this police department.
At that moment, Larry had already removed the sternum from the deceased. There were no new findings in the internal organs of the unidentified female corpse, except for some blood pooling caused by a contusion on the body's surface.
The autopsy was completed after more than three hours. After cleaning up, they returned to the office and had a casual dinner.
"Max, I want you to find Ángel and have him look into missing persons reports. He should focus on the same day we estimated Ron disappeared. It's possible this victim was murdered on the same day and in the same place."
After saying that, Larry began taking off his work uniform.
"Both murdered in the same place?" Max was a little surprised.
"That's right. The difference is that this one was committed by the real killer—the one with this modus operandi—while Ron's case was done by a beginner." Larry had reviewed the murder cases where the Ice Killer had used his signature method.
All the unchanged female victims were drugged, they were young, and then taken to a location where they were dismembered to death.
The theory was that the killer would hang his victims upside down, blindfolded, and then cut their jugulars. With their blood, he would paint the walls of a hotel room.
This time, he might be able to find the place where these victims—whether prostitutes or not—were dismembered and track the killer.
He might also find traces of the amateur killer. If a case was closed without connecting it to the Ice Killer, it would make things easier to follow up.
"Any more questions?" Larry looked at Max for a few seconds before turning away and saying, "We'll get to the bottom of everything. Don't worry too much—you're just a forensic specialist, after all."
"Yes, I understand…"
…
Outside the autopsy room, Dean approached Max and asked, "Is he also working as a criminal profiler?"
"Only on the most complex cases, but this one seems by far the most complicated he's been involved in since joining the department." Max was certain this murder case was the strangest of all those he had investigated.
"Is it because of Larry?"
"What does our instructor have to do with it?" Max asked curiously.
"Haven't you thought about it? Larry Luk—genius forensic scientist and criminal profiler who worked alongside the FBI solving cases far more complex than you can imagine. It wouldn't be surprising if a killer wanted to test Larry's skills. It wouldn't be the first time a murderer played games with a profiler."
"That's terrifying."
"I don't know much about the case, but I don't rule it out." Killers who have managed to evade police searches often develop a fascination with the thrill of danger.
They all want to be the center of attention, to be seen by the world, and to take their killer 'art' to the next level. Of course, this section is reserved only for those who see it as art—not necessity.
There are many reasons why someone decides to kill, but those who view it as necessary and full of extinction are the most dangerous.
Pride…
Pleasure…
Arrogance…
All those emotions are their weaknesses. They would see a murder like the one of the still-unidentified girl as a mockery.
Larry was certain he would catch the killer soon. He was also sure that someone like the Ice Killer didn't care if the amateur he trained to attract police attention got arrested.
This killer believed his modus operandi was perfect, but Larry knew the way he killed was connected to a similar case. Unfortunately, he didn't have the resources to investigate all past case data.
The information from solved cases years ago was stored on paper, and finding one in particular was nearly impossible. But Larry, who studied cases in his free time, treated them like comic books.
It was only a matter of time before he had the Ice Killer's profile in his hands. In the meantime, he would catch the killers closest to him while building the Ice Killer's criminal profile.
"The Ice Truck Killer…"
That was the name Larry had arrived at after seeing an ice truck parked near the building where Ron and that girl had been murdered.
Security cameras showed a man taking a laundry cart to that ice truck, and then, hours later, returning to the building with the same cart.
The time it took for the killer to dismember the woman's body was about three hours—he must be an expert in some surgical specialty.
In any case, Ron must have been in the freezer by then. His killer, in this case Tara, probably didn't have the courage to cut up his body after draining it of blood.
But this—this Ice Truck guy—didn't seem to care, because he knew his debut to the world was near. His art, his methods, and his presence would soon begin to terrify people.
This was, in any case, a highly complex killer.