The Professor by Cathy Perkins Read Free Book Online

a tone that added “idiot” and Robbins bristled.
    “They’ve got a point,” Mick said. “It’s irrational, but most students trust other students. But the profile makes the killer older. He wouldn’t fit in as well with a college crowd.”
    “That college crowd looked ready to accept you tonight,” Frank drawled.
    Mick stifled the mental flash of Meg Connelly. “Up yours, Meyers,” he said. “They wanted you to be their daddy.”
    “I don’t think that’s what they had in mind for you.” Frank’s eyebrows rose suggestively.
    The other detectives were looking at them expectantly, the earlier tension forgotten.
    “Oh, yeah,” Frank continued. “Old Blue Eyes could’ve had his pick of places to stay tonight.”
    “Whatever,” Mick said. He was too tired for the ribbing he routinely received from other cops. “I don’t think a student could improvise the way our killer does. Or plan so meticulously.”
    Ward propped her chin on her fist. “Isn’t that a direct contradiction?”
    “The first two assaults were planned. Without knowing Geiger would be at the mall that morning, how could he plan the abduction? If he was following her and saw an opportunity, then he’d have to improvise. There’s too much outside his control.”
    Mick rubbed at the grit in his eyes, trying to think things through. “I wonder if there’s some decompensation. Once the killer started, he can’t stop, but he’s also started thinking he’s invincible. To get the same satisfaction, he has to get deeper into his fantasies.”
    “You mean, take bigger risks.”
    “And because he thinks he won’t get caught, he’ll go after the next victim more quickly.”
    Ward’s hand smacked the table. “You’re saying he could already have the next one picked out?”
    “Probably. You gotta remember, the stalk is an important part of his fantasy. But if he strikes sooner, he won’t have as much time to plan beforehand. Maybe he’ll make mistakes.”
    “And that’s when he gets caught,” Andersen said with satisfaction.
    “In the meanwhile, this is the worst kind of killer. He’s careful and organized.” Frank paused. “He’s white, early thirties, neatly groomed. He doesn’t stand out in the victims’ neighborhoods.”
    “Someone who fits in there,” Jordan said thoughtfully.
    “If it was just the apartments, I’d wonder if he was a maintenance guy,” Robbins said. “But that doesn’t fit with the mall.”
    “What about a security guard?” Ward suggested.
    “What about a teacher?”
    Everyone turned to Jordan. He blushed, but met their gaze.
    “Why do you say that?” asked Mick.
    “Students trust teachers. The age fits the profile better and they’re around schools.”
    “One school,” Ward objected.
    “Not necessarily,” Mick said. “They go to conferences and stuff. Andersen, is anybody teaching at more than one school? Or transferred recently?”
    “I’ll check.” Andersen scribbled in his notebook.
    “The academic world, especially if the killer is a researcher, would appeal to a meticulous personality like an obsessive/compulsive,” Frank said. “But if he’s a professor, it’s probably not at the victims’ colleges.”
    Andersen groaned. “Do you have any idea how many schools there are in the Upstate?”
    “A woman isn’t going to let a teacher she doesn’t know into her home any sooner than she would another stranger,” Ward said.
    “That’s right,” Robbins agreed. “And I still think it’s too far for him to drive down here and stalk Geiger, if it’s some guy who’s teaching up in Greenville. He’s supposed to be in class. He can’t cut like a kid can.”
    “Besides, he knew how to cover his tracks with those e-mails,” Andersen said. “Computer geeks are mostly kids.”
    Ward raised her eyebrow at Mick. “Did you get anything on the latest e-mails?”
    “Same as the others. Our computer guys ran trace programs. Like the ones the feds use to go after hackers,”