“That’s ridiculous, right?I mean, serial killers— Most murder victims are killed by people they know.The odds of a serial killer—” He tried to repeat the phraseare extremely low, but this time, it wouldn’t come.
“Talk me through it.”
“Well, the first point seems to be that no one can establish a connection between Brennon and the killer.”
“Unless it was Kazen, or Ammon, or hell, I don’t know, Lucy.”
“Right.Those would be possibilities, except none of them have a scar on their arm.And why bring his body here?It can’t be just to dump him, Jem.Because when we came around asking questions, someone tried to kill us.That means there’s someone here, in the area, with something to hide, and that brings us back to the first point: what’s the connection?”
“Maybe they hired someone to do it.Do you know how freaky Craigslist can get?”
Tean chose to ignore that last part.“I suppose that’s a possibility, just like it’s a possibility that the attack on Daniel was some kind of copycat killer.”
“Or they didn’t have to hire them,” Jem said.“It could have been a relative.A new boyfriend.”
“But nothing the police have sussed out.”
“Okay.What’s the next part?”
“Why strangle them?”
“Well, the whole point is to kill them, right?”
“Right.”
Jem stopped near the wall of the gully, where shards of rock littered the ground.He pushed back weeds, cast around, and then let out a small sound of triumph.The second bullet had gotten caught at the base of a thistle.He leaned closer to examine it, but when he spoke, he continued their conversation from before.“It makes sense with the hookup aspect.Some guys like to be choked.It starts off as play.And then, before you know it, boom.”
“Except that’s not how it works,” Tean said.“Choking someone to death takes longer than most people think.It’s hard, and it takes a lot of physical strength, and unless you know what you’re doing, your victim isn’t going to black out quickly.They’re going to fight back.Like Daniel did.”
“And like Brennon.”Jem braced his hands on his knees and stood.“He was going to get away.That’s why the killer stabbed him.”
“That’s what makes it so confusing.If you’re a killer for hire, and you have a knife, why go to those lengths?Why initiate sex?Why choke them and then stab them?Why not be waiting in the trees with a gun and—” He copied Jem’s word from a moment before.“Boom.”
“Yeah,” Jem said after a moment.“Why wouldn’t you do that?”
“Exactly.”
“But why choke him?I thought serial killers wanted to, I don’t know, peel people’s skin off.”
“I don’t know.I don’t know a lot about serial killers.But I do know that for many of them, the killing isn’t a choice.No, that’s not the right way to say it.Of course theychooseto do it.But it’s a…compulsion.And it satisfies something inside them.They’re not all sex killers, of course, but even the ones who aren’t are trying to meet some kind of need.”
“Jesus.Like scratching an itch?”
“That’s a good comparison, actually, because when theycan’tscratch that itch, they feel more pressure.More need.And even when they can, the relief is only temporary.”
“Like a mosquito bite.It’s actually worse after you scratch it.”
“For many of them, from what I understand.”Tean stopped.“Jem, I’m not an expert on any of this.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”But Jem frowned.“That’s why he went after Daniel.”
Tean hesitated.“I think so.”
“He didn’t get to scratch his itch with Brennon because Brennon started to get away, and he stabbed him.But he didn’t want to stab him.He wanted to choke him.He did choke him, I guess, but Brennon fucked up his fun.”
Tean nodded.
“So, he was looking for somebody else.That’s why he fell for it when Daniel started messaging him: he was feeling more pressure.”