The Forensics Of The Origami Murders

Chapter 3

I arrived early the next morning, well in time for the compulsory staff meeting. As a new victim had turned up, everyone involved in the Origami Killer case were obliged to meet and exchange information to make sure the whole team was up to date. In addition, the FBI agent was to present the killer's profile. I was to present the lab results. Normally that's Jane's job but Gabs wanted me to have a go at it, as it would be valuable experience. The meeting was about to start, and the brief room was quickly filling up with people. Jane, Gabs, Ira, the Captain, Blake and the other officers, that FBI guy...

Captain Perry commenced the meeting precisely at 9 am by wishing everyone welcome and gave a brief overview of the order of presenters. I was last. Blake was the first to speak. With an orotund voice, the middle-aged lieutenant presented an outline of the findings and subsequent investigation at the latest crime scene the day before. An early-bird pedestrian had discovered the body of Jeremy Bowles, aged 12, on a desolated area north of the city center around 6 am. The child had been reported missing five days prior. The crime scene appeared to be no different from previous ones. Victim had been lying on his back, covered with mud, and close to a railroad track with an orchid on his chest and an origami figure in his hand. No witnesses had stepped forward.

Next up was the FBI agent. He was dressed in a plain grey suit, blue shirt and a black tie. I noticed traces of mud at the bottom of his trousers, most likely from yesterday's crime scene investigation. He pressed a couple of buttons on the rims of the augmented reality glasses, and within a few seconds, the projector sparked to life, showcasing a slideshow. The agent placed the hi-tech gadget, the lenses displaying the words data sending, on top of the projector. With a soft-spoken, modulated voice and a thick Boston accent, he presented himself as agent Norman Jayden from the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C., here to present a psychological profile on the Origami Killer as well as his mode of operations. As he started talking, he paced back and forth in front of the crowd.

"The killer is white, aged between 30 and 45. They don't act on impulse, but plans their crimes in a very meticulous fashion. They don't have anything personal against their victims which is why they cover them in mud, to make them anonymous."

"Why does he kill them if he's got nothing against them?" Ash broke in, the interruption earning an approving smirk from Lt. Blake.

"For them, the victims are more of an image, a symbol," the agent patiently explained. "That's probably why they give them an origami figure and an orchid, as gifts to apologize for what they've done to them."

"Very interesting." Blake's tone and body language however, indicated it was anything but. "And where does all that get us?"

"The best way to track a predator is to be familiar with its behavior. By building a profile of the killer - or killers, we can better understand what kind of person or persons we're looking for." Jayden clicked to the next slide, headlined Modus Operandi, which earned a sarcastic snort from Blake.

"That might be true in novels but there are children's life at stake here."

As if we already didn't know.

The comment went ignored and Jayden continued; "One detail attracted my attention. The interval between the time when a victim disappears and the time when the body is found ranges from three to five days, but the rainfall is always at six inches, give or take 10%."

"What on earth does that mean?" Perry inquired.

Jayden went on to clarify. "All the victims were drowned in rainwater. The killer kills only in the fall, when there's plenty of rain. It could be that they put them in some sorts of well or tank that is open to the sky and that fills up with rainwater."