Bishop and Vanessa: Crime Scene Photos
Jun. 1st, 2011 05:49 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsBishop and Vanessa look over crime scene photos, speculate about the killer, then get frustrated and drink instead.
Vanessa had the crime scene photos of the previous murders spread out on the floor of the X-Factor Investigations office nook. They were out of sight of anyone who might wander into the office and a paper screen was stretched across the opening to the small cubby hole of space where a few bean bag chairs and a futon lived for more casual lounging. The metamorph held a generic linoleum knife in her hand, which according to the various reports was what their killer used as a weapon. "There seems to be more people in their twenties than other age groups, but not enough to seem like a primary target. They could just be dumber so the killer can get closer to them more easily than others."
"Or the rate of mutant births could be increasing." Bishop said dismissively as he paced over the photos, looking down at them from various angles, occasionally blocking his view of certain photos or groups of them with his hand. "A professional killer would have preferred a combat knife. Someone trying to confuse the evidence would use a different knife every time if they were compulsive about using a blade. A non-compulsive professional would use a throw-away pistol since they seem to make sure the victim is alone and isolated..." He rambled for a moment aloud so Vanessa could interrupt if she wanted to build on any ideas.
"Not necessarily. If the point is to get close when you kill them a pistol won't do you any good. Once you hit a certain point a knife is a more effective and harder to counter weapon. A combat knife isn't necessarily the best tool for the job, and a professional may have preferences but ultimately uses what is most effective." Sometimes Vanessa thought Bishop had a little too much cop brain and too little killer brain. "I did wetwork as a mercenary and I did a lot of different things to accomplish that. It always depended on the circumstances of the kill. The question is," she rolled the handle of the blade in her hand, "why this weapon? There's easy access to it. It's sold at a hardware store so the likelihood of it pinging anyone's radar or of anyone remembering the person who purchased it would be low. It wouldn't require ID to get."
"This isn't a contract killer." Bishop asserted a bit gruffly. He hadn't had a partner in a long time and he softened. "It easy access but why the repeat? Patterning is a compulsion or a preference and a person that starts killing develops their preference. This doesn't have any variation so they're already an experienced killer, but we don't have any similar cases, or they're compulsive."
"You're trying to profile too much," Vanessa insisted. She held up the photo of Michael Finney's throat. "Look at that. He's the first in the series we can find. The femoral cut is pretty clean, but this one isn't. You've got a shallow, messier cut on the carotid than you do on anyone else. First victim and the killer likely had to look him in the face to do it. I think they go for the femoral first to drop them, then go for the carotid. It's not a contract killer because it's too sloppy. It draws too much attention. But it's almost...apathetic. There is no style here. This looks like a job, but it doesn't look like a pro because of where these hits are going down. You don't take someone out in public like that if you want to be sure they're going to die even if you're going for major arteries like that."
Bishop grunted in response to the correction about his profiling. "Who wouldn't have access to guns and would be afraid to purchase a standard knife? Illegal immigrant?" He asked himself aloud for Vanessa's sake.
"Anyone with a record would ping too quickly if they bought one from a legit shop. Anyone who wasn't very familiar with the criminal world wouldn't know where to get anything illegally. It could be someone new to the game. So maybe it's not about fear," Vanessa considered. "Maybe it's just convenience. A combat knife you can't just get anywhere. A lot of the knives you can buy in Chinatown aren't very big or they aren't very easy to hide on you. This" she looked at the knife in her hand again, "you can hide, you can buy it anywhere, you can ditch it and get a new one. What specific advantage do you get with a linoleum knife aside from convenience and disposability? Maybe it's a money thing."
"Does our killer dispose of it?" Bishop wondered aloud, pacing a bit more agitatedly around the pictures. Having a person contradict him while he was thinking was helpful, but it raised his blood pressure.
Vanessa's eyes landed on the photo of the infant victim of as Bishop paced. Her jaw clenched as she stared at it. There was a line you did not cross for Vanessa, and kids were it. You wanted to slaughter adults and she would consider you might be mentally unwell, have legit emotional damage or some sort of uncontrollable compulsion. Once you went after a kid you just needed to die. No attempts at prison rehabilitation. No trial. No life in prison. Just death. That's all you were good enough for at that point.
She forced her eyes to avert and they landed on the leg wound of Michael Finney again. Something occurred to her. "The carotid is the second being cut. How many people can slice open a femoral this low down?" Vanessa started to search through the photos and arrange just the pictures of the lacerations on the thighs. "The femoral is really easy to get really high up on the thigh but it's buried in muscle and tissue lower down where everyone gets cut. What is the linoleum knife really is the best weapon for the job? No one is going to stand still while you slice them open and the coroners say the knife was pulled posterior after it was initially stabbed into the flesh. They're being attacked from behind. Maybe this is the only weapon they could think of to make sure their mark couldn't get away with a nick."
Chewing on her lip, Vanessa looked up at Bishop. "They know exactly what they're doing. They've got enough experience or training to make sure they don't lose their mark. The cops aren't just looking for some schmuck who has insider info on genetic status and a grudge. It's the sort of thing I would have done on my first wet work job to make sure it got done."
Bishop shrugged. "We're missing something." He admitted begrudgingly as he sat on the futon. "I don't feel comfortable with any idea we have about the suspect."
Vanessa flopped back in her bean bag chair. "I don't like it. I'll check in with the guys and see if they've heard of the M.O. before. If it's a professional someone's probably heard of them unless they've never used this kill method before. It's worth a try. Seems too smart and too planned to be a first timer just getting their hands wet."
"Worth a try." Bishop gave her, pouring two glasses of Maker's Mark into a pair of tumblers he had at hand in their cubby hole. "All we're going to do right now is bicker." He offered Vanessa a glass.
Taking the glass, Vanessa actually blew him a kiss which was followed by a grin. "But I always stop bickering when you give me good liquor, Papa Bear." With a wink she took a sip. A contented sigh and visible relaxation quickly followed.
Vanessa had the crime scene photos of the previous murders spread out on the floor of the X-Factor Investigations office nook. They were out of sight of anyone who might wander into the office and a paper screen was stretched across the opening to the small cubby hole of space where a few bean bag chairs and a futon lived for more casual lounging. The metamorph held a generic linoleum knife in her hand, which according to the various reports was what their killer used as a weapon. "There seems to be more people in their twenties than other age groups, but not enough to seem like a primary target. They could just be dumber so the killer can get closer to them more easily than others."
"Or the rate of mutant births could be increasing." Bishop said dismissively as he paced over the photos, looking down at them from various angles, occasionally blocking his view of certain photos or groups of them with his hand. "A professional killer would have preferred a combat knife. Someone trying to confuse the evidence would use a different knife every time if they were compulsive about using a blade. A non-compulsive professional would use a throw-away pistol since they seem to make sure the victim is alone and isolated..." He rambled for a moment aloud so Vanessa could interrupt if she wanted to build on any ideas.
"Not necessarily. If the point is to get close when you kill them a pistol won't do you any good. Once you hit a certain point a knife is a more effective and harder to counter weapon. A combat knife isn't necessarily the best tool for the job, and a professional may have preferences but ultimately uses what is most effective." Sometimes Vanessa thought Bishop had a little too much cop brain and too little killer brain. "I did wetwork as a mercenary and I did a lot of different things to accomplish that. It always depended on the circumstances of the kill. The question is," she rolled the handle of the blade in her hand, "why this weapon? There's easy access to it. It's sold at a hardware store so the likelihood of it pinging anyone's radar or of anyone remembering the person who purchased it would be low. It wouldn't require ID to get."
"This isn't a contract killer." Bishop asserted a bit gruffly. He hadn't had a partner in a long time and he softened. "It easy access but why the repeat? Patterning is a compulsion or a preference and a person that starts killing develops their preference. This doesn't have any variation so they're already an experienced killer, but we don't have any similar cases, or they're compulsive."
"You're trying to profile too much," Vanessa insisted. She held up the photo of Michael Finney's throat. "Look at that. He's the first in the series we can find. The femoral cut is pretty clean, but this one isn't. You've got a shallow, messier cut on the carotid than you do on anyone else. First victim and the killer likely had to look him in the face to do it. I think they go for the femoral first to drop them, then go for the carotid. It's not a contract killer because it's too sloppy. It draws too much attention. But it's almost...apathetic. There is no style here. This looks like a job, but it doesn't look like a pro because of where these hits are going down. You don't take someone out in public like that if you want to be sure they're going to die even if you're going for major arteries like that."
Bishop grunted in response to the correction about his profiling. "Who wouldn't have access to guns and would be afraid to purchase a standard knife? Illegal immigrant?" He asked himself aloud for Vanessa's sake.
"Anyone with a record would ping too quickly if they bought one from a legit shop. Anyone who wasn't very familiar with the criminal world wouldn't know where to get anything illegally. It could be someone new to the game. So maybe it's not about fear," Vanessa considered. "Maybe it's just convenience. A combat knife you can't just get anywhere. A lot of the knives you can buy in Chinatown aren't very big or they aren't very easy to hide on you. This" she looked at the knife in her hand again, "you can hide, you can buy it anywhere, you can ditch it and get a new one. What specific advantage do you get with a linoleum knife aside from convenience and disposability? Maybe it's a money thing."
"Does our killer dispose of it?" Bishop wondered aloud, pacing a bit more agitatedly around the pictures. Having a person contradict him while he was thinking was helpful, but it raised his blood pressure.
Vanessa's eyes landed on the photo of the infant victim of as Bishop paced. Her jaw clenched as she stared at it. There was a line you did not cross for Vanessa, and kids were it. You wanted to slaughter adults and she would consider you might be mentally unwell, have legit emotional damage or some sort of uncontrollable compulsion. Once you went after a kid you just needed to die. No attempts at prison rehabilitation. No trial. No life in prison. Just death. That's all you were good enough for at that point.
She forced her eyes to avert and they landed on the leg wound of Michael Finney again. Something occurred to her. "The carotid is the second being cut. How many people can slice open a femoral this low down?" Vanessa started to search through the photos and arrange just the pictures of the lacerations on the thighs. "The femoral is really easy to get really high up on the thigh but it's buried in muscle and tissue lower down where everyone gets cut. What is the linoleum knife really is the best weapon for the job? No one is going to stand still while you slice them open and the coroners say the knife was pulled posterior after it was initially stabbed into the flesh. They're being attacked from behind. Maybe this is the only weapon they could think of to make sure their mark couldn't get away with a nick."
Chewing on her lip, Vanessa looked up at Bishop. "They know exactly what they're doing. They've got enough experience or training to make sure they don't lose their mark. The cops aren't just looking for some schmuck who has insider info on genetic status and a grudge. It's the sort of thing I would have done on my first wet work job to make sure it got done."
Bishop shrugged. "We're missing something." He admitted begrudgingly as he sat on the futon. "I don't feel comfortable with any idea we have about the suspect."
Vanessa flopped back in her bean bag chair. "I don't like it. I'll check in with the guys and see if they've heard of the M.O. before. If it's a professional someone's probably heard of them unless they've never used this kill method before. It's worth a try. Seems too smart and too planned to be a first timer just getting their hands wet."
"Worth a try." Bishop gave her, pouring two glasses of Maker's Mark into a pair of tumblers he had at hand in their cubby hole. "All we're going to do right now is bicker." He offered Vanessa a glass.
Taking the glass, Vanessa actually blew him a kiss which was followed by a grin. "But I always stop bickering when you give me good liquor, Papa Bear." With a wink she took a sip. A contented sigh and visible relaxation quickly followed.
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