1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 277 Unless He's Going Mad

After Theodore finished taking notes, he organized his thoughts and summarized the crime scene analysis:

"This is a situational crime, but not simply an unorganized crime."

"The perpetrator acted on impulse during the escalation of the conflict, but possessed a certain degree of control and on-site adaptability."

"The crime stemmed from a sudden conflict, rather than being premeditated."

"There were clear signs of a struggle at the scene, and the perpetrator exhibited highly emotional behavior."

"These are all typical characteristics of organized crime."

"But the perpetrator in this case also showed clear signs of organization."

"The murderer adopted a sequence of first controlling the victim and then committing the crime."

"After initially taking control of the situation with firearms, instead of immediately engaging in killing, the victim was bound to enhance control of the situation."

"The killer then proceeded with a planned sequence of killings."

He glanced at the three men who were writing furiously, then at Sheriff Hawkins, whose hands were empty, and shook his head:

"In a criminal investigation, distinguishing whether the criminal behavior is organized, unorganized, or a combination of organized and unorganized crimes is the core foundation for profiling the personality of criminals."

"This classification is crucial, directly providing strategic direction for the investigation."

"If a wrong judgment is made at this step, the subsequent investigation direction guided by the criminal's personality profile will also be completely wrong."

Billy Hawke and Bernie were writing furiously.

Martin Joseph Cronin looked somewhat bewildered.

He felt he couldn't quite understand what Theodore was saying.

He was also writing furiously, but in addition to recording what Theodore had said, he was also recording the many questions that arose as a result. These questions even outnumbered the content Theodore had presented.

Sheriff Hawkins hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

These things didn't seem to have much to do with the case, and he hesitated whether he should remind Theodore to get back to the case.

Theodore continues:
“The crime scenes of organized criminals usually show obvious planning and control. The killers generally do not use items at the crime scene as tools, but prepare them in advance and bring them in from outside.”

"His intelligence level is above average, he has a job, his social skills are normal, and he may be married or have a partner."

"In the eyes of others, he may be a 'normal person,' or even very charming."

"Perpetrators often meticulously plan their crimes to evade capture and closely monitor media reports and law enforcement investigations after the incident. They may even proactively participate in the investigation or return to the scene to provide clues to law enforcement agencies in order to mislead the investigation."

"Organized criminals often re-offend due to stress."

He looked at Bernie and the other two:
"Terrence Cowan (the arsonist) and John Doe (the dockside corpse case) both belong to this type."

“Victims of organized crime are often specific types, carefully selected by the perpetrators.”

"Therefore, when investigating organized crime, we should start by investigating the victim's circle of acquaintances and social circles, looking for people who have planning ability, can gain the victim's trust, and whose behavior is abnormal after the crime."

Martin Joseph Cronin was somewhat excited.

He had a lot of questions, but he couldn't think of any answers yet, nor could he fully understand what Theodore was saying.

He could understand and accept far less than Bernie and Billy Hawke, and perhaps even less than Sheriff Hawkins.

But he could vaguely sense that what Theodore was saying was more like a summary of a pattern.

If we consider a case investigation as a problem, Theodore offers a universal solution, a universal formula.

Once you learn this formula, you can get the answer simply by applying it to the case.

This reminded him of the article Theodore wrote in the Enforcement Gazette.

He now understands somewhat why the comparison between the budget and labor costs at the end of the article is so disparate.

One uses an aimless, exhaustive search method to solve problems, while the other has a universal formula that allows them to get the answer simply by plugging it in. It would be strange if the difference wasn't significant.

Martin Joseph Cronin's only two questions now are:
How can we fully understand and master this universal formula?

And is this universal formula really universal?
Theodore had no idea what Martin Joseph Cronin was thinking, but he felt that Cronin kept glancing at him, and that his gaze seemed to be getting stranger and stranger.

This puzzled him.

He stopped staring at Sheriff Hawkins:
"The crime scenes of unorganized criminals are usually impulsive and chaotic, random, and often involve excessive killing."

"The perpetrator will usually use whatever is available at the scene to commit the crime."

“After committing a crime, the perpetrator rarely disposes of the body or the crime scene.”

"Disorganized criminals are mostly of low intelligence and may be unemployed or engaged in unskilled jobs, such as porters, dockworkers, or dishwashing workers, which rely on physical labor for wages."

"Disorganized criminals generally have poor social skills, live alone, and may have a history of mental illness."

"Most of their crimes are committed on impulse, with little regard for the consequences."

"Therefore, when investigating organized crime, geographical profiling should be prioritized, and a search should be conducted in the vicinity of the crime scene to look for locals with criminal records, a history of mental illness, or strange behavior."

After a pause, Theodore continued:

“Mixed crimes are the most common and also the most complex type.”

"The crime scene usually exhibits both organized and unorganized elements."

"The causes could be organized criminals collapsing under pressure, or unorganized criminals evolving through learning."

"It needs to be analyzed based on the specific facts of the case."

"The motives of hybrid criminals are usually closely related to strong personal emotions, such as anger, jealousy, and revenge."

He steered the conversation back to the case itself:

"Mixed crimes are mainly divided into two types of manifestations."

"One type is where the crime shows signs of being planned, but is carried out out of control due to anger or accident, resulting in excessive killing and chaos at the scene."

"Another type is where the crime itself is sudden, but the perpetrator quickly takes control of the situation, turning the sudden crime into a planned one."

"Like this case."

"Investigating mixed crimes generally requires a thorough investigation of the victim's life and finding people with whom they have strong emotional entanglements."

"In this case, the killer had completely taken control of the situation after tying up the two adult victims, but the order of killing he planned started with the third victim, who posed the least threat to him."

“Strangling a child in front of their parents is a typical punitive act.”

"The killer's purpose was to inflict maximum psychological torment on the two adult victims."

"This points to a deep personal grudge, rather than random killing."

"The fact that the murderer asked victim number 2 to tie victim number 1 up by hand shows that he had a strong desire for control and an intention to humiliate him."

"The binding of victim number 2 was carried out by the murderer himself, who had strong hostility towards victim number 2 and a need to ensure that victim could not resist."

"The latter may stem from the identity of the second victim itself."

"He was a strong adult male who had previously engaged in a violent physical altercation with the perpetrator and had not been at a disadvantage for a short period of time." "The perpetrator had to ensure that the victim, number 2, was completely under his control and could no longer resist, interfere with, or even threaten him."

"In fact, the best approach is to kill the second victim immediately."

"But the killer had a higher psychological need; he needed the second victim to witness the death of his own child."

"After the killing, the perpetrator extensively destroyed the scene."

"The room was ransacked, but there was no arson or excessive destruction of the body. This suggests that the killer's purpose may have been to find something, create the illusion of a burglary to disrupt the investigation, or it could have been an outlet for anger and frustration."

Sheriff Hawkins looked hesitant, even somewhat nervous.

He felt that Theodore was not describing a murderer, but a psychopath.

According to Theodore's analysis, this kind of perversion is happening in Lone Pine Town!

In Sheriff Hawkins's memory, such perverts usually only appeared in big cities, and his only connection with them was hearing stories about them on the radio.

Several classic criminal images flashed through Sheriff Hawkins' mind.

Theodore looked at Sheriff Hawkins, who seemed hesitant to speak.

Sheriff Hawkins patted his pockets, but didn't ask any questions, only managing a polite smile.

He now has great faith in Theodore.

Theodore's analysis sounded very reasonable and well-founded.

Although he couldn't understand it, he could tell from the reactions of the other three agents that they were highly professional.

Besides, this is an FBI agent from DC!
He is someone who can write articles and publish them in national, professional journals like the "Law Enforcement Gazette"!

Sheriff Hawkins did not fully understand the nature of the Law Enforcement Gazette, assuming it was a nationally published monthly magazine like a regular newspaper, except that the Law Enforcement Gazette focused on the specialized field of criminal investigation.

Theodore briefly reviewed the analysis of the crime scene, and after confirming that nothing had been overlooked, he began to release the profile:
"Based on the above analysis, my profile of the murderer is as follows."

"The perpetrator was a male, aged between 25 and 40 at the time of the crime. He was physically strong and energetic, and was able to hold his own against the victim, number 2, in a physical altercation."

"He was a resident of Gusong Town and was acquainted with the deceased's family. They had a close relationship, but were not close relatives."

"The murderer had extensive experience in using packing wire to pack and bind items, and his binding technique was highly skilled."

"This level of proficiency should come from daily work, not from criminal experience."

"The killer was not a professional hitman."

"The murderer had poor emotional control and was impulsive, but not reckless. In his daily life, he gave people the impression of being decisive and efficient, without being hesitant or indecisive."

"He is very organized and methodical in his work. When faced with unexpected events, he does not panic or become clueless, but can quickly calm down, think of solutions, and execute them without hesitation."

"It gives people a sense of calm and reliability."

"The murderer may have encountered things in his life that were beyond his control and irreversible, which made him feel powerless."

"He was deeply tormented by this sense of powerlessness, and therefore, when committing crimes, he would subconsciously put the victims of his punishment, namely the two adult victims, into this sense of powerlessness."

He specifically reminded everyone:
"The murderer did not take his anger out on the victim's family or 'empathize' with the victim, but rather attributed some kind of predicament he encountered to the victim."

"He believes that all three victims are guilty, or even that the victims' families caused him to fall into this predicament."

"The murderer may not have noticed this before, but only discovered it after entering the victim's home."

Theodore looked at Sheriff Hawkins:

"The ranger's son went missing a month before the incident, right?"

Sheriff Hawkins nodded, then shook his head repeatedly:
"Danny did disappear in June, but it could not possibly have been Luke who did it."

His words were somewhat incoherent, and he hurriedly explained:

"Danny's disappearance could not possibly be related to John's family."

"Luke could not possibly be the one who killed John."

“They had a very good relationship, and John was the most active in searching for Danny after he went missing.”

"After several searches, most people had assumed that Danny had been attacked by a wild animal and was probably dead."

"Besides Luke, only John still insists that Danny might still be alive and keeps going into the mountains to help search for him."

Later, Luke Morrow also gave up, and he also accepted that his son Danny Morrow was dead.

Cartwright provided Luke Morrow with significant support and care during that period.

They often invited Luke Morrow to their homes for dinner, and John Cartwright frequently accompanied Luke Morrow for drinks.

He even considered accompanying Luke Morrow into the mountains, worried that Morrow might do something rash or lose focus and have an accident.

Theodore listened quietly, his expression calm.

This performance made Sheriff Hawkins somewhat uneasy.

His voice rose slightly, and he swung his arms dramatically:

“Luke is a forest ranger. He often goes up the mountain and rarely stays in town. He is often away for several days or even more than ten days at a time.”

“When he came up the mountain, Danny was either with me or at John’s house. He practically grew up with me and at John’s house.”

John treats him like his own child, and Billy will always buy Danny a copy of anything he has.

What reason would John have to kill Danny?

Theodore calmly shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

As if encouraged, Sheriff Hawkins continued:

"And Danny and Luke aren't native to Lone Pine; they moved here twelve years ago."

"Danny was often bullied at school because he was an outsider."

"The children in town don't want to play with him."

"Only Billy always played with him and even helped him fight."

“Once, Danny was taken to the hill behind the school by some kids. They forced Danny to take off his clothes, climb up a tree, and then jump down.”

"When Billy went to look for him, Danny was jumping down from a tree and broke his leg."

"He grabbed a rock and rushed over, fighting with the children and nearly killing one of them."

"I'll handle this."

"How could John possibly lay a hand on Danny?"

He realized he had gotten too excited, lowered his arm, and softened his tone:

“Luke was always grateful for the support and encouragement from John’s family. How could he have been so cruel as to kill them all?”

"Unless he's gone mad."

(End of this chapter)