The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 184 Skynet is still sparse and not leaking out

But the case that Tifa mentioned was just the first one of them.

She didn't explain much, but simply let Eric flip through the documents while she picked up a bell pepper from the large plate of roasted vegetable stew with a fork and ate it silently.

He rested one hand on his chin and just looked at Eric.

No matter when, in Tifa's eyes, Eric is always most charming when he is focused, and it is always the time when she thinks he is the most handsome.

His posture was relaxed but not lazy; his back was straight, slightly leaning forward, and his eyes scanned the dense text and data on the document with sharp focus.

The light clearly illuminated the pages and his focused face.

His thick, dark brown eyebrows furrowed slightly as he pondered, forming a shallow crease between his brows. This did not diminish his handsomeness; instead, it added a sense of calm and strength.
"This guy's threshold for criminal pleasure is rising."

Eric remained silent and continued flipping through the pages. When he came across the second case, which was also a family annihilation case, he looked up at Tifado.

The second case was essentially no different from the first, but it was much more brutal.

Because the second case involved a family of three.

The deaths of the female and male homeowners were similar to those in the first case: both were found with their hands and feet bound by ropes, fully clothed, lying face down in the bedroom with bags over their heads, and the cause of death was the same: strangulation marks on their necks.

However, in the first case, the method was swift and decisive, with only one ligature mark on the neck, indicating that the murderer strangled the victim in one breath.

But in the second case, things changed. Two more ligature marks appeared on the victim's neck, changing from shallow to deep, indicating that the killer repeatedly tightened the ligature and then loosened it again until the victim died.

Tifa nodded and said, "So this is one of the characteristics of a typical serial case."

Eric nodded; he already had some knowledge of criminal psychology and understood what Tifa meant.

Generally, serial crimes exhibit this characteristic because the perpetrator's excitement threshold gradually increases after committing the crime.

Therefore, once a murderer becomes skilled, if they want to continue to obtain the pleasure they desire, their methods will inevitably become increasingly cruel, and they may even come up with new tricks.

This was evident in the second case, where the killer's target was also a teenage girl, and the method was similarly upgraded.

In the first case, the killer strangled his target to death while keeping him fully clothed. But in the second case, the killer stripped the victim of all his clothes, strangled him three times, and finally strangled him to death on the fourth time.

The method changed so drastically in the second case, which means the murderer is definitely a very ruthless type. As long as he continues to commit crimes, the nature of the cases will only become more and more cruel.

"Where is this case from?" Eric asked, flipping through the pages.

According to the FBI's responsibilities, most cases like these involve federal agencies proactively seeking assistance from the FBI.

“Boston,” Tifa said between bites.

Eric asked, "So you're going over there yourself too?"

Boston, located in Massachusetts, is the state's capital and largest city, and one of the most important cities in the northeastern United States.

The Freedom Trail, a historic landmark; Harvard University, a top-tier university; Fenway Park, a baseball mecca; and Boston Common, one of the oldest parks in the United States, are all located there.

“Yes, it should be over.” Tifa noticed a hint of apology on Eric’s face.
"I'm sorry, darling, since you're here, I should stay with you."

Eric shook his head and laughed, "It's more like I'm the one keeping you company. It's my fault for upsetting you."

Tifa's heart skipped a beat; she understood something. Her smile widened, and Eric patted the documents in his hand, continuing:
“I took a day off specifically, so I’ll go wherever you go, and we can stroll around there together.”

However, as he spoke, Eric remembered Bill's invitation, as it seemed that his hometown and daughter were all there.

"I've made a new friend, I think he's over there. I'll introduce you to him later."

"Okay." Tifa's face showed some longing for the future. No matter how smart she was, she was still just a woman in love and wanted to be with her man.

Eric could tell that Tifa was very happy, and his eyes softened a little. He then patted the documents in his hand and said, "But before that, we have to solve the case."

Tifa composed herself and nodded seriously.

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But now was not the time to talk about the case, so the two put it aside and enjoyed their time together, savoring their dinner.

Then, like a couple deeply in love, they cleaned up the dishes together.

Finally, the two sat together on the soft sofa, staring at the TV, with an opened bottle of red wine on the coffee table in front of them.

The baseball game was still playing on TV, but a sound rang out, drowning out the TV's audio.

"The location has not changed, the method of binding is the same, only the modus operandi has been upgraded."

Tifa nestled herself into Eric's broad embrace from behind, swirling a glass of red wine in her hand as she whispered.

"The fact that the location of the main target did not change indicates that the killer has a strong obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Restricting the victim's movements and torturing and appreciating the victim's suffering demonstrates that the perpetrator enjoys controlling others or something to assert their power.

The fact that the victim was a carefully selected target and a minor indicates that he has a distorted and pathological sexual orientation.

Listening to Tifa's analysis, Eric flipped through the case files he had already read once and agreed with her analysis. In fact, his analysis was no different from Tifa's.

Because all the analysis is based on facts, it's not that we just do random, haphazard analysis.

Back in the 1950s, a bomber in New York was planting bombs and causing multiple serious injuries while also writing provocative letters to the police and newspapers.

Spanning sixteen years, the police, having exhausted all other options, eventually sought help from a criminal psychiatrist.

Based on the information obtained by the police, this criminal psychiatrist began to attempt a psychological analysis of the bomber, drawing eleven conclusions and even boldly predicting what the bomber would be wearing when he was arrested.

This was a very novel approach for the police at the time, but it was based on this analysis that the police were ultimately able to apprehend the criminals.

What's most astonishing is that this criminal perfectly matched every single one of the criminal psychiatrist's analyses, down to his clothing.

Therefore, criminal psychology, which uses criminal behavior to depict their psychological characteristics and provides assistance for investigation and interrogation, has long been an indispensable part of modern criminal investigation.

Eric's gaze lingered on the first case, and he continued, "There were no signs of fighting or struggle at the first crime scene. I assume the killer was white, someone the victim's family knew, or someone whose profession would naturally earn the homeowner's trust."

He possessed the power to easily suppress other men; based on this, I believe the killer was roughly between twenty-five and thirty-five years old, and over 1.8 meters tall.

Tifa nodded, agreeing with Eric's analysis. This age group was the peak of human physical development, with both physical strength and bone density at their best. She squeezed in comfortably, this being her favorite moment.

This is one of the main reasons why she likes Eric. Eric is not only handsome, but also has a mind that perfectly matches hers in terms of spirit and thinking.

Besides this, Eric could also give her a very strong and sufficient sense of satisfaction, which meant that even their souls were perfectly matched.

Instantly shifting to the most comfortable position, Tifa continued, "In the first case, the killer left semen stains, but in the second case, there were no semen stains, only chemical residue. This indicates that the killer pays attention to the news and crime cases."

The scene was cleaned spotlessly, indicating the killer's meticulous attention to personal hygiene. Given his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, his clothing must have been impeccably tailored, with impeccable cleanliness and attention to detail.

Tifa was analyzing the situation, unaware that her remarkably perfect figure posed a challenge for Eric.

Eric took a deep breath and continued listening to Tifa speak.

“I learned something from my teacher.” Tifa paused.

"What did you learn?" Eric asked curiously.

“Murder cases like this are often accompanied by gunshot,” Tifa said, taking a sip of red wine.

"This case did not involve the insertion of sexual organs, but rather falls under the category of paraphilia, a type of sexual psychological disorder. This indicates that the perpetrator lacked sexual ability, a fatal defect that even hospitals could not treat."

Eric continued, "So the killer couldn't give normal women enough satisfaction, and his sexual orientation slowly became distorted. Eventually, this distortion led him to focus his attention on weak and underage girls."

“Yes.” Tifa nodded, then turned and exchanged a glance with Eric, their eyes conveying an absolute sense of tacit understanding.

Through their words and actions, the image of the murderer became more concrete.

White, between twenty-five and thirty-five years old.

Single and living alone.

He is physically strong and about 1.8 meters tall.

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder pay close attention to personal hygiene, and their clothing is always neat, clean, and tidy.

They are people the victim knows, members of the victim's network, or have a profession that can lower the homeowner's guard and cause them to miss the best opportunity to resist.

Insufficient sexual performance may have been due to seeking treatment from a urologist or for sexual dysfunction.

But that's far from enough. However, once you've reached this stage in profiling, subsequent profiling will only become smoother.

Eric wrapped his arms around Tifa, opened the file in his hand, and stretched it out for her to see the photos of the scene.

Tifa understood what he meant. Looking at the photos, she saw Eric gesturing to the hands of each victim, his fingertips lightly touching the knot of two ropes tied together in the photos.

"Hmm?" A thought struck her.

"You know how to tie this knot?"

Her analysis of the killer's profession was that the killer had a job that could make the homeowner lower their guard, combined with the fact that the ropes were all the same in material and appearance.

She felt that the murderer's profession was closely related to his family and personal daily life, and that he even occasionally needed to be tied up with rope.

In other words, based on the analysis of occupational relevance, the murderer's professional background strongly points to the two fields of domestic service and logistics transportation, which can make homeowners lower their guard.

While rope binding is not considered a core skill in the domestic service industry, its use is significantly more frequent than that of the general population in daily operations such as securing equipment and organizing miscellaneous items.

The logistics and express delivery industry directly requires its employees to be proficient in cargo packaging techniques, especially efficient and secure bundling methods. This is not only a basic requirement for the job, but also a key operational standard to ensure transportation safety.

Seemingly able to read Tifa's thoughts, Eric calmly said, his head hovering above Tifa's:
"know."

Coincidentally, Eric actually knew what kind of knot this was.

Because Weston is a fishing enthusiast, when he took leave, he planned to go fishing for bigmouth bass at Castaic Lake during his break.

So he had gone fishing with Weston before and had seen Weston use this knot.

“This is a fisherman’s knot,” Eric explained.

Also known as the fisherman's knot, it is widely used in multi-rope tying and is especially common in fishing and outdoor adventure because of its simple construction and low learning curve.

This type of knot can not only withstand strong tensile forces, but also ensures that the connection is tight and secure, and is not easy to loosen.

Its application is extremely flexible; it can effectively connect ropes of the same thickness or ropes with significantly different diameters, demonstrating its strong practicality.

Tifa took a breath, placed the wine glass on the coffee table in front of her, and said with a hint of excitement, "So you think the murderer had a hobby of fishing?"

Eric nudged Tifa's head with his chin and said, "It's possible. For example, if I hadn't gone fishing with my colleagues, I wouldn't know how to tie this knot either."

Now, the killer's image becomes more concrete.

He is either a member of a victim network, or, in addition to his physical appearance and hospital treatment, a single profile, he also has a hobby of fishing.

If this is the case, based on these profiling analyses, the police should be able to quickly identify the murderer, because by combining the relationship networks of the two victims and making cross-comparisons, they can catch the murderer who knows both families.

Either the killer's profession is in domestic service or logistics, two fields that can lower the homeowner's guard.

This is a bit complicated, but it also allows the police to specifically investigate the information of these two victims, specifically by looking at the information that both of them had used domestic services or logistics transportation services.

By combining this with the profiling analysis of the perpetrator, the police can still quickly identify the killer.

Tifa felt that the situation in the case had become clear, and the murderer, who had been hiding in the darkness, seemed to have been illuminated by the sunlight and appeared before her eyes.

The most difficult part of investigating a case is the beginning and the investigative approach. Once you have a clear investigative approach, everything will go very smoothly.

Thinking of this, Tifa grabbed the document from Eric's hand, threw it on the coffee table in front of her, turned around and straddled Eric, cupping Eric's handsome face in her hands and speaking earnestly.

"Honey, it's so wonderful that you're here with me right now!"

"That's all?" Eric just smiled, then picked up the startled Tifa and carried her deeper into the room.

"Guys, look at the scoreboard! The Cubs are pulling their nails again! Two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, veteran Hayward sends the Brewers home with a walk-off single that goes through the infield."

The television was still broadcasting passionately, while Eric had already hooked the bedroom door shut with his foot.

(End of this chapter)