Indiscretion: Callie Douglas - Book Four

Chapter Six

I spread the crime scene photos out on the dining room table, each of the seven victims in their own pile. Looking at the victims again, I noticed first the shocked look of their eyes. Their eyes were slightly blank, in line with the use of a strong benzodiazepine. In each case, they looked like they had woken from a deep sleep too early, and as if they were still out of it.

I read the report again. Each of the victims were similar in looks, each of the victims reported that he called them "Mama". All of the victims reported smelling gasoline on his hands. In all cases, he wore a mask and latex gloves. Many of the victims reported that his hands were white under the gloves.

I wrote down what we knew about the assailant. White male, between 5'10" and 6'2" tall, deep voice, stutter on the letters "t" and "m". I also wrote down assumptions. Works in an area where there is gasoline. Were there any similarities regarding where the victims purchased their gasoline?

All the victims were called "Mama". All the victims looked the same. All the victims had their words cut off. I wrote my assumptions. Mother is white, about 5'5", has brown, straight hair about chin length, and weighs about 170 pounds.

Then I delved into assumptions based on the assailant's behaviour. The mother is domineering and is always telling the assailant what to do, a fact that he doesn't like but feels powerless to stop, as shown by the fact that he tries to suffocate the victims whenever they talk. He feels powerless in the relationship. His mother is a strong character, assertive to the point of being aggressive. The assailant feels weak in comparison, powerless, and the assailant finds the rape – and especially the ability to make the victims cry – to be empowering in a way that he never feels at home. Instead of him crying, it's the victims who are crying, and that makes the assailant feel good. I also hypothesized that the assailant still lived at home and was, in fact, not allowed to move out. I estimated that the assailant was in his mid-twenties, resentful of his mother's continuing demands. I also hypothesized that the mother was disabled or had some other reason why her son was unable to move out, and the son was resentful of this fact as well.

I heard Michael wake up and stretch in the living room, then get up and pad through to the kitchen. He stopped in the dining room on the way and looked at the crime scene photos. "Gruesome", he said. "Are you profiling a new case?"

"I am. It's a serial rapist. He's attacked seven victims in the past year."

"All of them have similar features."

"Yes, they do. And he called them all 'Mama', so that's giving me some fodder to work with."

"Did he use a condom?"

"He did, although we were able to pick up some pubic hair off two victims and clothing fibers off four more."

"I don't know how you can do this type of work. You're a doctor, for crying out loud. What do you know about profiling?"

"Apparently the police force believes that I know quite a lot. I've already been involved in three cases where I have provided profiles, and my profiles were instrumental in solving the cases."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get your back up. I'm actually quite proud of you. I just can't see how a psychiatrist could be of help to an investigation."

I put each of the files back in the accordion folder with my pad of paper, and put the folder in my bag for the next day. I yawned. "Time for me to head to bed. It'll be a full day tomorrow, and I need my beauty sleep."

"I was hoping we could talk."

"I'm sorry, Michael, but I need to get to bed. Unlike you, I work for a living."