Echoes of Resilience

15

"Taylor, you're not going to believe this." Officer Jacobs turns her computer screen towards her partner. "I had them run Shepherd's DNA against any cold or open cases and we can connect him to four other murders, all out of state. We're looking at a traveling serial."

"Shit. All raped, beaten, and cut. All necks broken post mortem, just like Rose. Is Shepherd's DNA the only one found on these bodies?"

"Yes. So far it seems like the only one he had a partner on was Rose, and from what he told us that was more because of opportunity. He seems to prefer working alone. I had them run the second set of DNA found on Rose and we can connect them to a murder in Louisiana from over a decade ago." She sighs and rubs her temple before turning to look at Officer Taylor. "We know that when Shepherd met Meredith he was in Boston for a medical conference, I think we should talk to Richard Webber, see if Derek was away at medical conferences in these areas when the murders occurred."

"Agreed. Natalia Turner's murder happened after he already abducted Meredith, we know from talking to her that there were a few times that he didn't show up for days at a time and other than the weekend he and Addison were trying to fix their marriage, we have no clue of his whereabouts. Now if we put this all in a timeline we can see that Rose wasn't his first victim, but actually his third. Maci Peters in Nevada was the first, followed by Ava Tyler in Rhode Island, then we have Rose in Seattle, Mia Blake in Florida, Meredith who he abducted from Boston, and finally Natalia Turner in Oregon." Officer Taylor flipped through all the girls' files. "Other than Rose, they were all blonde with blue eyes, thin between 20-28 years old, and ranging at about 5'6 in height. Just like Meredith."

"Fuck, let's head to the hospital and find out if he was using medical conferences as a cover to search for victims. Maci Jackson was killed three years ago so he's been at this for awhile." The two officers gathered their belongings and headed towards Seattle Grace. They immediately made their way to the Chief's office and knocked.

"Hello Officers, how can I help you?" Richard asked as he opened the door, motioning the two to enter before sitting back down at his desk.

"We need a list of medical conferences that Derek Shepherd attended in the last three years. During our investigation we've been able to connect him to four out of state murders, the first being three years ago in Nevada. Specifically we're looking at these dates and locations, but honestly, there could be more victims out there that he just didn't leave DNA on." Officer Jacobs hands Webber the list of dates where the bodies with DNA were found and watches his eyebrows furrow.

"Are you telling me that I had a serial killer operating on people's brains?"

"Yes, and also Derek confessed to killing your scrub nurse Rose, but he had a partner on that one. He won't give up who the partner is, but based on what he told us we suspect that they also work at the hospital. Did anyone ever have complaints about Rose?" Officer Taylor asks carefully, watching Richard for a reaction.

"No, I never heard anyone speak ill of Rose. She was very well liked. Unfortunately, I am able to confirm that I sent Derek to conferences in all of these locations at the time these women were killed. My assistant Patricia can print out a list of all conferences he was sent to in the past three years. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"No, thank you Dr. Webber that will be all for now." Officer Jacobs said while reaching forward to shake his hand while her partner went to Patrica for the list. They both made their way out of the hospital while Officer Taylor looked over the list. "What's our next move?"

"We should tell Addison and Meredith, and honestly this is something I would rather not break to them over the phone. Then we go back to the station and start looking for unsolved cases that occurred when Shepherd was away at conferences and look for any similarities to the cases we have DNA for." Officer Taylor sighs as she takes out her phone to call Addison to make sure it's okay for them to head over there, once she has the okay she tells her partner to head there.