"Is he on his way?" an agent asked, intrigued by Larry's words about the Glass family's son-in-law.
For a criminal profiler to single someone out without much evidence was obviously risky, but considering all the analysis and the scenarios likely unfolding, there was a clear answer right under their noses.
"Yes, analyzing his route, he made several stops that were too long—enough to give him time to return."
"The main beneficiary in this case of family annihilation is Christopher. That's why I focused so much on the analysis delivered by the investigators, and we found out that the Glass family owns four properties. When you add up all the deposits and the highly valuable jewel worth millions, the total is massive." Jack, with hard data in hand, knew Larry's stance was right in this case.
That's why he looked at Larry and, after thinking it through, handed him the route Christopher had taken.
The total distance from the port to the city is about 252.7 kilometers. If you're familiar with road conditions, you can make it home in three hours—plenty of time to commit the crime. But does it make sense?
Larry suddenly lifted his head. "What could be intolerable for a man? Could it be that the child isn't his? Infidelity is a major trigger—many partner-related murders happen for that very reason."
"As soon as he arrives at the department and we compare his DNA with the samples found at the scene, we can narrow the focus on him. Also, we found a ring of bite marks on Alicia's outer ear, and there were two deeper spots where blood was visible, so we have many more ways to identify the killer."
Larry paused after saying this and continued, "With this new evidence, we've traced the morphology of the incisors and extracted DNA. Lip and cheek samples were also taken from the five remaining victims, and another DNA sample was found. Whether or not they match, we don't know yet. Preliminary results indicate that there were no matches in the police database, but we'll be able to compare once we have suspects here."
Jack couldn't help but smile and gave Larry a pat on the shoulder. "With evidence like this, why didn't you mention it earlier?"
Larry paused as he spun the handle of a scalpel between his fingers, looked at Jack, and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Aren't you trying to make me look good in front of the team?"
Jack laughed even harder. It was rare for Larry to make a joke. He glanced meaningfully at Larry and the others, turned, and started discussing matters with the agents.
"Contact the company. Everyone must be on standby—we need to talk to a lot of Christopher's colleagues."
Markus, the field agent who would lead the operation, stood up. "Now that we've got everything, can we get started?"
Larry knew this crime shouldn't be too complex to figure out, especially because the evidence pointed to certain people.
He had plenty of bullets; they just needed to find the right person whose DNA matched the samples that, so far, didn't match any family member.
"Don't you want to do fieldwork, Larry?"
"Honestly, I don't want to steal your spotlight. I know you love catching criminals who pretend to be angels—you're good at it." What Larry wanted least right now was to spend hours in a car hunting suspects. This wasn't Florida, where he didn't fully trust the judgment of the agents. This was the FBI—a place where the best of the best come together to catch criminals.
Unfortunately, that limited his desire to hunt killers, especially with someone like Jack breathing down his neck. And cases as complex as this one were beyond his ability to solve alone in a short time frame.
"Have you known each other for long?" Max approached Larry and asked in a low voice.
But Jack, who was nearby, answered, "Larry started as a student aiming to become a detective, but when he realized the mistakes or blind spots that forensic investigators had, he decided to become one himself—and also studied to become a criminal profiler."
"Incredible."
"It really is. When others were just starting their studies, Larry was solving murders with the FBI—that's when I met him."
Larry, standing nearby, just smiled and said, "The boss knew that if he didn't give me the job, I'd be an annoying private detective."
"That's also true."
"Gentlemen, we now have the official appraisal of the Glass family's jewels obtained as evidence."
Everyone working turned to see the investigator who arrived with a folder full of an exhaustive investigation previously ordered by Larry.
Jack said this was an inheritance from the Glass family ancestors and had been hidden in the old house's basement. They discovered it while cleaning up.
"How much are those jewels worth now?"
"Priceless."
Everyone was stunned. They hadn't realized the most valuable possession of the Glass family was right there!
As he spoke, Jack handed Larry a printed A4 paper. It described a pair of hairpins inlaid with gold, pearls, and precious stones—double butterflies, detailed patterns, Fabergé eggs, and a pair of gold-plated brooches set with pearls.
"Could this be what's missing from the master bedroom drawer?"
After hearing Larry's words, Jack thought for a moment. "I don't know, but we need to move fast now."
"All right, let's begin."
Larry joked with Max too. They walked out of the room.
"What are you going to do?"
"Rest. Call me when the suspects arrive."
"Yeah, I'll need you later."
…
Over the course of a single day, the five suspects who had romantic relationships with Alicia were interrogated one by one. Ron was also investigated—after all, he had died in the most tragic way.
However, the five individuals had very different opinions about Alicia.
There was no consistency in their descriptions of her personality, behavior, or habits. This confused the investigators and even made them suspect they weren't talking about the same person.
To compare, Jack personally met with several of Alicia's coworkers and friends. They all said different things, but the unanimous assessment was...
Alicia was temperamental. She could be happy one second and upset the next.
So, to keep the peace, they all ended their relationships with her.
Then came scandals, fights, or extremely heated arguments. But after a few days, Alicia would return with a different attitude and apologize.
Being such a beautiful woman from such a good family, people around her were more understanding.
After hearing all this throughout the morning, Jack was nearly at his breaking point.
Helpless, sometime after one in the afternoon, Jack asked Larry to go to the investigation room to analyze the interrogations.
"This is fascinating." Larry was intrigued by what he had discovered and said, "If they're not lying, then this Alicia must have multiple personalities."
"How many?"
"Three of them—all living inside Alicia." Larry was now much more intrigued by whatever had happened in this woman's life before she was murdered.