The Penitent One (Boston Crime Thriller Book 3), Brian Shea [best non fiction books of all time .TXT] 📗

"Well..." Gray had become the group’s go-to on the killer’s psyche. "There are several indications in the Bible that the left is the side for evil. The analysis team pulled together several passages that seem to fit the rationale in why a killer would be using the left hand to leave his mark." Gray rattled off three different passages, then provided the group with the religious significance of the markings on the victims’ left hands, citing several more biblical references to support the assertion, referencing verses from Matthew Chapter 25. "He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil.’" Gray’s summation was that judgment was passed for those who stood on Christ’s left, and salvation was reserved for those on his right. BAU asserted the killings were done as a passing of final judgment, and thus the moniker “The Penitent One” was born.

The victims didn’t fit a specific pattern, which was why the FBI had difficulty tracking him. The three Boston victims had no apparent connection. A cop, a rapist, and a priest. It sounded like the start of a really bad joke.

“Why the religious markings? Why the cross?" Mainelli said aloud, apparently not making the connection.

Gray took the floor and, turning to the group, said, "It's been theorized that our doer, our unsub, The Penitent One or TPO, was most likely raised Catholic. From all indications, and from the actions he's taken coupled with the significance of leaving behind a religious marker, his teachings had to have been intense, to say the least."

Kelly thought about his own upbringing in the Roman Catholic Church in South Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. He knew families who were extremely devout and followed the doctrine and teachings of the church to a T. Accepting the FBI’s assessment was a challenge for him. Why commit one of the most cardinal sins—murder? It just seemed off.

"If he was raised in the religion, it seems backward that he would use it as a means to convey some type of message," Kelly said.

"Well, maybe it has a negative connotation in his mind,” Gray offered. “This is what the profilers believe. The TPO’s religious upbringing was in the strictest of fashions, and more likely than not, religion was presented in a punitive form, making it difficult for us to relate. They further theorized that as he grew older, a deep-rooted resentment resurfaced in the form of an insatiable rage.

“A love-hate relationship. The TPO is conflicted. He was raised to believe in the teachings of God, especially under the Roman Catholic discipline, but he was physically punished by the same hand who had taught him. The markings seem to be both a statement of his devotion and his hatred for those who instilled it."

"Great," Barnes muttered. "We’ve got a religious fanatic who kills people at will. A ghost managing to elude capture from both local authorities and the federal government for at least, what...fifteen years?"

"Fifteen years is a long time," Mainelli blurted out. "We're going against a killer who has managed to maintain his anonymity for more than a decade. Not a single photograph or piece of DNA linking him to any case. You basically have nothing on him.”

He was blunt to a fault. Kelly noted Mainelli was more alert today, a change from his recent norm. His sleep situation must have improved overnight, a sign that the man would be a more useful member of the group today.

"It’s true, he's been a ghost," Gray said. "Trust me—since this case was handed off to me a few years back, I've spent countless hours going over the old files, looking at connections, trying to find the pieces that fit…only to come up empty-handed every time. And you're right. As of right now, we have no photographic evidence. He's been impeccably meticulous, leaving no evidence behind. The only thing connecting the cases right now is the mark on the left hand. The one saving grace is we’ve managed to keep that aspect from the public. Right now, it’s our only link."

Kelly understood the significance of that. Holding back that evidence in the countless murders that had happened in the time since TPO had first come on the radar must've been a monumental task for the FBI. They had to make sure their slim hope of identifying him didn't dissipate into the ether. Had they released the information about a cross-like mark on the victims’ left hands, the killer would surely catch wind of it. They would run the risk of him changing his calling card and therefore being nearly impossible to connect to future cases.

Historically, some killers continued their pattern even after it was identified by the media. The compulsion, an internal drive mechanism forcing them to leave their calling card or token, was innate and extremely hard to change.

"It'd be nice if one of those surveillance cameras would have picked something up," Mainelli said. His voice was loud, almost a shout.

"Well, I wasn't holding out hope," Kelly said. “Nothing came up on the department intel camera set up at Church Street.”

The BPD Intelligence and Analysis Unit had worked hard in recent years to bring the criminal intelligence division into the digital age by setting up a network of surveillance cameras at many of the city’s major intersecting street corners. The cameras were monitored in real time as a way to spotlight crime as it happened and had been used with much success in proactive enforcement and police resource allocation.

The recording devices, working on overdrive all times of the day and night, enabled investigators to backtrack in time and retrieve usable footage from quality cameras. Even though the network was comprehensive, it was costly and therefore not set up everywhere in the city. The intersection at Church and Adams, located three hundred feet from the church’s front doors, was