1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 195 He might be an electrician?
Theodore's expression turned serious:
"Live burning has an irreversible psychological effect on arsonists."

"When buildings are burned, they provide visual stimulation to arsonists."

"But the stimulation he received from live incineration was more complex."

“Arsonists would repeatedly recall the scenes of the victims’ struggles and savor the pleasure of burning living people.”

"The arsonist will soon find that he can no longer derive pleasure from ordinary arson."

"Burning buildings has become tasteless."

"He has to repeat this more complex and intense stimulation repeatedly in order to experience pleasure again."

"The unique feedback of human combustion cannot be replaced by building fires."

After a pause, Theodore continued:

"This arson will not only fail to alleviate the arsonist's withdrawal symptoms, but will also worsen his condition."

"The arsonist will soon strike again, and the intervals between his attacks will become shorter and shorter, and he will become more and more reckless, until he finds the right way to mitigate the damage."

Bernie looked at Theodore:
"what way?"

"Keep pouring gasoline on them and then set them on fire?"

Theodore nodded and explained:

"When burning buildings, arsonists indirectly derive pleasure from watching the cries of the crowd, the firefighters' efforts to extinguish the fire, and even from media reports and people's discussions about the fire."

"Whether it's the chaotic reaction of the crowd or the direction of media discussions, the main focus is on the power of the fire, rather than submission to the arsonist."

"During live burning, the struggles and screams of the person being burned are a specific response to the personal sadistic act."

"This gives arsonists a sense of control over life and death."

"Live burning elevates arsonists from servants of fire to gods of life."

Bernie asked Theodore:

"So we only have five days at most?"

"If the arsonist isn't caught within five days, will he set fire again?"

Theodore shook his head:

"Given the arsonist's current condition, it's unlikely he can survive for another five days."

Bernie turned his head:

"In other words, the arsonist could set a fire at any time?"

Theodore thought for a moment and said:

"The arsonist has a certain degree of self-control; at least he won't start a second fire today."

"He is most likely to start a second fire in 2-3 days."

"Then his cooling-off period will become shorter and shorter, and the scale of his crimes will become larger and larger. Until he burns the living again."

This is terrible news.

This means they have a maximum of 3 days.

If the arsonist cannot be caught within three days, he will commit the crime again.

Silence fell over the carriage.

When the two returned to the apartment, it was almost four in the morning.

Fortunately, they had already been trained by the Felton West Precinct homicide squad, so staying up for a night or two like this was nothing to them.

…………

At 10 a.m., Theodore and Bernie arrived at the Fourth Precinct and ran into Detective O'Malley.

Detective O'Malley told everyone that Terence Kwan was in the hospital and that his son, Sean Kwan, was in respiratory failure and was being treated.

Two hours earlier, Detective O'Malley contacted patrol officers near Terence Cowan's home, asking them to help communicate with Cowan and hopefully get him to come to the station to cooperate with the investigation.

The patrol officers knocked on the door, waking Terence Cowan, who then discovered that Sean Cowan was lying motionless in his hospital bed, his face turning blue.

Terence Cowan panicked immediately.

He wanted to take his son to the hospital, but he was too weak to lift Sean Cowan after several attempts.

Two patrol officers helped take the person to the hospital in a patrol car.

Theodore then inquired about the list.

Detective O'Malley shook his head:

"The list has been compiled, and we are currently investigating the information of each person on the list."

"It will probably take some time before we receive it."

Having a list alone is useless.

The list only contains names.

The important thing is to investigate the people on the list.

Bernie recalled Theodore's analysis and asked Detective O'Malley how long it would take.

Detective O'Malley estimated:
"It will take at least 2-3 days."

Bernie said in a deep voice:
"The arsonist may not give us much time."

Detective O'Malley stopped in front of the conference room:

"why?"

Bernie didn't answer, but looked at Theodore.

Theodore succinctly summarized it:
"Because arsonists will be unable to resist setting fires."

"And the time intervals will get shorter each time."

Detective O'Malley was somewhat taken aback.

The three men entered the conference room and met Billy Hawke and the bald firefighter.

The two men were hunched over the conference table, writing furiously.

There were two notebooks in front of Billy Hawke, one of which was Theodore's notebook for recording cases.

He is now comparing his learning progress with Theodore's notes and attempting to profile the criminals.

Bernie leaned over for a look, patted Billy Hawke on the shoulder, gave him a thumbs-up, and praised his courage.

The bald firefighter sat opposite Billy Hawke, trying to understand Theodore's summary of the fire incident.

He plans to refine those summaries and translate them into simpler, more understandable language for promotion at Fire Station No. 13.

Theodore scrutinized the bald firefighter intently.

The bald firefighter's skills were impeccable, and he was considering whether to extend an invitation.

He recalled his previous failed invitation and decided to wait a little longer, or let Bernie go and invite him.

Billy Hawke steered the conversation back to the case itself, asking Theodore about the next steps in the investigation.

Detective O'Malley also raised his own questions:

Why did the arsonist burn Evelyn Shaw to death?

"He has always been very cautious."

"Without Evelyn Shaw, his secret might never have been discovered."

Why did the arsonist choose her?

"She was just a nurse who was widowed and raising a seven-year-old child."

He thought about Evelyn Shaw's relationship with Alan Brennan, and the manner of their deaths, and an absurd idea came to him:

"Is it because she had an affair with a firefighter?"

Theodore suspected that Detective O'Malley was joking.

He stared at Detective O'Malley for a moment, then shook his head and said seriously:

“Arsonists derive pleasure from the various reactions of the victims as they are burned while they are being burned.”

“They would meticulously record every reaction of the victims as they were burned, and some would even take photos to remember them later.” “But when the arsonist burned the first victim, he prioritized burning the head, thus destroying the victim’s ability to speak.”

"The experience of recalling the victim's screams and wails will be greatly diminished."

Detective O'Malley and the bald firefighter both looked up and stared at Theodore.

Billy Hawke proposed one possibility:
"The place where Evelyn Shaw was burned to death was near an apartment building, and perhaps the arsonists thought that making Evelyn Shaw's voice would attract attention."

Theodore looked at Billy Hawke:
“The arsonist could have easily taken the victim, number 1, away after hitting him, to a safe and undisturbed environment, and then burned him alive.”

"But the arsonist did not choose to do so."

"His original plan was to burn the first victim to death at the crime scene."

Bernie's uncertain verse:
"The arsonist wasn't focused on the pleasure of burning a living person; his main goal was to burn Evelyn Shaw to death?"

He turned to look at Detective O'Malley.

If his guess is correct, then the question returns to the one Detective O'Malley raised at the beginning.

why?
Why did the arsonist choose Evelyn Shaw?

Detective O'Malley also looked up:
“We investigated Evelyn Shaw, and Evelyn Shaw’s interpersonal relationships are very simple.”

He flipped through his notebook, found the patient list, and the pages containing the long list of suspects provided by Evelyn Shaw, and displayed them upright for everyone to see:
"These people just want to sleep with her; even if they are rejected, it's not to the point of killing her."

"It's still the cruel method of pouring gasoline on it and then setting it on fire."

Theodore waited until they finished speaking before he spoke:
"If the arsonist simply wanted to kill the first victim, he could have chosen a more direct, efficient, quick, and discreet method."

"Buying a gun or a knife is a better option for killing than fire."

The bald firefighter also offered his own conjecture:
“You said that the arsonist was a repeat offender who had committed arson multiple times and was familiar with fire.”

Theodore looked at the bald firefighter with some surprise:
"The burning of the first victim may indeed have been the first time the arsonist had carried out live burning."

"Flames can severely damage a corpse, making it difficult to identify."

"The arsonist chose to burn the body alive, thus stripping the first victim of his identity."

"The arsonist chose to start burning the first victim's head, thus robbing the first victim of his voice."

He looked at Bernie and Billy Hawke:

"In this case, the arsonist's choice of flame itself is a distinctive feature."

"Their choice to start burning from the head is the second identifying feature."

"These two identifying marks tell us that the arsonist harbored extreme hatred towards the first victim."

"The arsonist used flames to deprive the first victim of his voice and identity."

Bernie was somewhat surprised:

"He's silencing them?!"

Theodore has determined that Bernie is currently at the peak of his intellectual activity:
"The initial reason the arsonist planned to kill the first victim was to silence him."

“The stripping of identity may be another reason why arsonists choose to use fire as a tool.”

Detective O'Malley raised an objection:
“But we investigated Evelyn Shaw, and she was not involved in any gangs or other trouble.”

"She has no secrets to hide."

Theodore glanced at him but did not directly refute him.

He began by talking about the deprivation of identity:
“The typical characteristics of the first victim were female, single mother, and nurse.”

"The arsonist wanted to strip away at least one of these three identities."

At this point, Theodore paused, giving everyone ample time to react.

But it was of no use.

Even Bernie was having trouble keeping up with his train of thought, let alone the others.

Billy Hawke's mind was already full of identifying marks and common methods, one moment thinking of arsonists, the next of Walter Jenkins, the mountain killer he had seen before.

The bald firefighter remained silent, simply burying himself in taking notes.

Detective O'Malley was frowning, deep in thought, trying to understand.

Then he quickly gave up.

He decided to stop making things difficult for himself.

Theodore summarized the case of Evelyn Shaw's burning to death late on April 30, 1961:

"The arsonist was an excitable, vengeful, and covert arsonist."

He then spoke of the second case:

"The arsonist killed the second victim that night and quickly dumped his body in the Anacasta River."

"They did not choose to cremate the second victim."

"This is a typical example of functional body disposal."

"The arsonist's handling of the second victim was more about efficiency than ritual."

"This shows that the arsonist plays an important role in the family and society, and needs to return to normal life quickly. He cannot disappear for a long time or behave abnormally."

By this point, even Bernie couldn't understand anything anymore.

Theodore thought for a moment and put it another way:
"The arsonist did not live alone, and he had a legitimate job."

“When the first victim was burned to death, it was already midnight. If he had chosen to slowly dispose of the second victim’s body, it might have taken until dawn the next day.”

"This will disrupt their normal work during the day."

"Disappearing for an entire night can also cause family members to worry or become suspicious."

"Therefore, the arsonist must quickly dispose of the body and return to a normal life."

Now everyone understood.

Theodore continued:

"In last night's fire, the arsonist chose to disguise it as an accidental fire caused by a short circuit."

"This was a choice he made while experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms, and it should be confirmed that this was a routine choice he made when committing crimes in the past."

Detective O'Malley interrupted his analysis and raised a question:
"How did you confirm that last night's fire was caused by arson?"

Bernie answered for Theodore.

He explained the analysis on Theodore Road.

Detective O'Malley nodded and buried himself in his writing.

He didn't understand.

But it doesn't matter. In summary, it all boils down to this: Theodore guessed.

Given Theodore's consistently accurate predictions in the past, Detective O'Malley assumed his guess was correct.

The bald firefighter hesitated for a moment, but ultimately remained silent.

He wondered if such speculation was too hasty.

But considering that I didn't understand the first few paragraphs, I decided to give up.

Theodore looked at the crowd:
"The arsonist's camouflage methods, according to our technical advisors, did not appear to be sophisticated."

"But for ordinary people, this kind of disguise is very difficult to do, or even think of."

"The arsonist's real job was probably an electrician."

Everyone looked up and met Theodore's gaze.

Detective O'Malley reacted the fastest, immediately standing up:
“I will contact the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) right now to retrieve the list of all registered electricians in the Northeast region.”

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is the core electrical workers' union covering America and Canada, primarily responsible for organizing electricians, upholding industry standards, and advocating for workers' rights.

The history of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is very long, dating back to 1892.

The history of the modern electric power industry can only be traced back to 1879 at the earliest.

(End of this chapter)