“Excuse me.” Gray stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the body. No one was allowed on his scene unless authorized, and he’d never met this woman. “This is an active crime scene. What’s your role in this investigation?”
She faced him, still shielding her eyes, and then lifted the pair of sunglasses and slid them on her face. “There, that’s better.” She reached into her back pocket and removed a business card. “I’m Dr. Mia Perez. I’m an associate professor of psychology at Northeastern.”
An associate professor? She looked as if she was only in her twenties. He glanced to the top of the embankment. “Who the hell let you in here?”
She set her jaw firmly but spared a tight smile. “The officers know me. I’ve done some work for the Boston P.D. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“What kind of work?”
“Criminal profiling. I’ve provided some insight on cold cases that has led to convictions.”
Gray squinted at the simple business card with disinterest before handing it back to her. “With all due respect, none of that answers my original question. What’s your role in this investigation?”
Her mouth twitched. “In my experience, when someone says ‘with all due respect,’ they actually mean the opposite.” She nodded curtly at the business card. “Keep it. I have plenty of them. And as to your question, I was asked to be here.”
Gray’s eyes narrowed. “By whom?”
“Me, sir.” Officer Langley stepped forward, bobbing his head nervously. “She was working with Lieutenant Mathieson last summer on the Valentine case, and I heard this was a young woman, so...” He stood dumbly in place.
“So what, Officer?” Gray knew he didn’t have to do much to appear physically imposing, and now he just pulled up to his full height, rested his hands at his sides and waited for the explanation. “You thought this woman might be one of Valentine’s victims? He hasn’t killed in nearly a year.”
“About ten months,” said Mia. “Serial killers often take breaks in between killings. Officer Langley called me to the scene because this vic fit the profile, and because I might be helpful if this was Valentine’s scene.”
Valentine. Blame the media for the stupid moniker. A little over a year ago, bodies began to pile up in Boston. Three bodies and one missing person later, a reporter started calling the perp Valentine because an anonymous source let slip that a single killer was suspected, and that this killer left flowers at the scenes. What the reporter couldn’t know was how apt the name truly was, because the police hadn’t disclosed that Valentine had removed the heart from each of his victims. A vile souvenir, no doubt.
Officially, Valentine was a bogeyman, a figment of that reporter’s imagination. “Do we think this is the work of a single killer? It’s too soon to tell,” said the chief at a press conference when the Valentine article came out. No one at the Boston P.D. was prepared to utter the words serial killer, and a year later, no one had. Serial killers didn’t just generate hysteria in the public—they attracted the FBI, and Gray needed federal involvement in his cases like he needed another homicide file on his desk. When his predecessor retired, Gray inherited the Valentine file and the sleepless nights that came with it. All of his worrying amounted to squat, because once the chief denied Valentine’s existence, Valentine stopped killing.
“Like that fairy in Peter Pan,” an officer quipped one day. “He dies if you don’t believe in him.”
Someone should have named him Tinker Bell.
“Valentine doesn’t exist. Not officially.” Gray kept his side to her and spoke to Officer Langley instead. “And we bring profilers on board only after CSU has had the chance to process the scene.”
“That’s not always the best idea, Lieutenant.”
He spun to face her, and Mia continued. “I’ve pointed out evidence that CSU has missed on more than one occasion. Once CSU leaves the scene, this evidence can’t be used in court because the chain of custody has been broken.” She shrugged. “That’s why it’s better if I see the scene while it’s being processed rather than later.”
Gray bristled. No one told him what best practices were. “Now, wait a damn—”
“I made a mistake,” said Officer Langley. “I shouldn’t have invited her without your knowledge. Lieutenant Mathieson would have...” He shook his head. “But I should have run it by you first.”
“Lieutenant Mathieson is retired. Valentine is my case now.” He glanced at Mia, who was watching him intently. “We’ll talk about this privately, Langley. Later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Her mouth was pulled into a tight straight line. “I haven’t caught your name, Lieutenant.”
“Gray Bartlett.” It came out as more of a growl. He pointed to her travel mug. “What’s that? Coffee? It’s not allowed at the scene.”
“Sorry, I got the call while I was out and I came right away,” she said, setting the mug on the lowest step. “It’s monkey-picked oolong. Do you drink tea, Lieutenant?”
Gray rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. This all had to be some kind of bad dream. That, or someone was pranking him. “No, I don’t drink tea.”
“I drink it for the antioxidants, though I load it with sugar.” She smiled. “That probably defeats the purpose, wouldn’t you think?”
He was certain he didn’t have any opinion whatsoever about the interplay of sugar and antioxidants in her monkey tea. “What, exactly, have you been working on with regards to the Valentine case, Ms. Perez?”
“It’s ‘Doctor,’” she said, “and I’ve been working on a profile of Valentine—assuming he exists.” The corner of her mouth quirked at the little jab. Cute. “Mostly I’ve had to rely on police files, but there’s nothing like seeing a scene firsthand.” She brushed her hands together, apparently eager to begin work. “Don’t worry, this isn’t costing taxpayers a dime. I volunteer my time with the department. It complements my academic research.”
“Dr. Perez has consulted with me on some of her academic work,” Dr. McCarthy said. “Fascinating.”
“Oh?” Gray’s interest was only mildly piqued.
“I’m researching biological origins for psychopathy,” she said. “Other researchers have examined brain scans of psychopathic criminals and found an abnormal structure that may correlate with criminal activity.” She paused, and then a smile, slow as honey, spread across her lips. “I see I’m boring you, Lieutenant.”
She was awfully perky for this hour of the morning. Maybe there was something to that weird tea of hers. “You lost me at biological origins. And I don’t see what brain abnormalities have to do with homicide.”
“So you were listening.” She squared off with him and began talking animatedly. “It’s the old ‘nature versus nurture’ debate. How is it that so many people can experience bad childhoods, but only some of them will engage in criminal activity as a result?”
“Not all criminals come from broken homes. Some serial killers came from loving families.”
“Exactly.” Her hands moved when she spoke, her body lit with passion. “Just like not all psychopaths become criminals. I’m trying to understand why we behave the way we do. Wouldn’t it be interesting to isolate a brain structure that predisposes a person to criminal activity? Then we might begin to truly understand the criminal mind. It doesn’t stop there. We may be able to identify physical characteristics of the brain that influence other behaviors, as well.”
He made a valiant effort