Evelyn shook T.J.’s hand, then, ignoring Jack’s frown, asked him, “Who’s your suspect?”
Before he could reply, Tomas sighed. “Not Wiggins again.”
“Yeah, Wiggins. Are you honestly going to tell me he’s not a suspect?”
“Of course he’s a suspect,” Tomas snapped. “But you already questioned him with that CARD agent. You’re not going back. Not now. Not unless we have some new evidence.”
Evelyn’s head moved back and forth between them. With only three hours to review the case evidence and create a profile, she hadn’t had time to look at any suspects—and it was BAU practice not to, until the profile was complete. Knowing the suspects beforehand could taint the profile. She’d hoped to investigate the most promising suspects next.
“Who’s Wiggins? How does he match the profile?”
The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place it until Tomas clarified, “Walter Wiggins.”
And then a hazy memory of a young man with light brown hair flopping over his forehead and big ears flashed through her mind. “Wasn’t he a teenager eighteen years ago?”
“He’d have been twenty then,” Jack said.
“That’s a little young. How does he match the profile?”
“He’s a weenie wagger,” Jack spat.
Surprised, Evelyn asked, “He exposed himself? To children?”
Jack released a disgusted sigh. “Probably. But he was convicted of child molestation.”
Queasiness rolled in her gut. She’d known this would be part of the investigation. She’d expected it. She’d even profiled it. These days, the majority of nonparental abductions were by sexual offenders. But somehow, talking about a potential suspect with a specific criminal history made her feel sick.
Don’t think about Cassie, she warned herself. But it was too late.
She’d realized for years that Cassie was probably dead. But she’d tried so hard not to imagine what had come before that, after she’d been abducted.
The cops were staring at her expectantly, so Evelyn said, “Tell me about his conviction.”
“It was after he finished college,” Tomas said. “He’d moved out to DC for some lobbyist job. According to the trial notes, he volunteered at his local church, babysat all the neighbors’ kids and was generally well liked until he was arrested for child molestation.”
“And then he came back here?”
“Yeah. Apparently his neighbors in DC started taking baseball bats to his car windows on a regular basis, so Wiggins thought he’d be safer in Rose Bay. He moved back in with his parents, and he’s lived there ever since. Well, just his dad now. His mom died last year and his dad’s in bad health himself. There’s been a lot of pressure over the years to run Walter out of town.”
“They should’ve done it,” Jack said. “Everyone would have been better off.”
Tomas frowned. “Walter’s parents always maintained his innocence.”
“But you said he was convicted, right?” Evelyn asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Tomas replied. “His parents couldn’t stand to believe it, but I read all the trial notes. There’s no question Wiggins was guilty, and he went to jail. Not as long as he should have, if you ask me, but then, I’d lock these guys up for life. Anyway, that’s why the CARD team wanted to talk to him—he’s on the registered sex offender list.”
“Is he a preferential molester?” If he was, it meant he had a specific age and gender he targeted, instead of preying on any easy target.
“He is,” Jack said. “His victims in DC were girls between six and twelve. The sick bastard.”
Cassie’s age. “What does he do now? Something that gives him time to stalk potential victims?”
“Something with computers,” Jack said, looking at Tomas, who shrugged. “I think he works from home, contract stuff.”
“So, no scheduled hours at an office, where he’d be missed,” Evelyn concluded. “Girlfriend?”
Jack snorted. “Hell, no. Far as I know, he’s never had one.”
“Who’s got the notes from today’s interview with Wiggins?”
“The FBI agent,” Jack said. “But we should just go back there. Hell, you can come if you want to. Let me do the talking, though. I can get under this guy’s skin.”
Evelyn shook her head. “No. If he’s a strong suspect, we need to monitor him carefully. If we make him too nervous, if he feels like we’re paying him special attention and he does have Brittany, he might kill her.”
“If she’s still alive,” T.J. contributed softly.
“If she’s still alive,” Evelyn agreed. “But we have to proceed as if she is.”
“Well, what if we don’t do anything and that gives Wiggins time to kill her?” Jack argued.
Tomas and T.J. turned to look at her.
Tension knotted in her neck. “Where was this guy eighteen years ago?”
“College,” Jack replied. “About an hour north of here. He spent his summers there, taking extra classes so he could graduate early. But he came home on weekends often enough. After he moved back home and word got out about what happened in DC, people started wondering if he could’ve snuck in and out of the towns back then. Only one of those original abductions was in Rose Bay...”
Jack broke off, because of course she knew that. Only Cassie had been taken here. The other girls were from small towns up the coast.
Jack cleared his throat and continued. “Once a molester, always a molester, right?”
Evelyn felt her shoulders slump and forced herself to stand straighter. “Not necessarily, but once a pedophile...”
“Always a pedophile,” Jack finished. “See?” He looked at Tomas. “We’ve got to act on this before it’s too late!”
“Was he ever investigated in connection with the original abductions?” Evelyn asked.
“He was,” T.J. answered. “Once he moved back here from DC. I was part of the force then and we pulled the Nursery Rhyme Killer as a cold case to revisit. It was...what?” He glanced at Jack, creases forming around his eyes. “Nine years ago?”
“He was arrested nine years ago?” Evelyn asked.
“No. He was arrested when he was twenty-five. But he finally got sick of the harassment nine years ago and came back here.”
“Like we wanted him,” Jack put in.
“So? Did you find any connection to the Nursery Rhyme cases?”
T.J. shook his head. “Jack and I were part of the team working on it, but we couldn’t come up with anything.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not guilty,” Jack insisted. “I have a bad feeling about this guy.”
So did she. But experience told her he was far from the only sex offender in the area who preyed on children. And it didn’t mean he was the Nursery Rhyme Killer.
“I’ll go through the interview notes and come up with a strategy for you,” she promised Tomas. “I’d like to do that with any promising suspects you have.”
Jack leaned forward and opened his mouth, but Tomas silenced him with a long, hard look. “Okay, but hurry. And start with Wiggins, if you think he’s probable. Brittany’s been missing for...” He checked his watch. “Almost