"Enzo! I found a small pattern I don't know how it helps, but I think we can use this" Chiara barely looked up as Enzo entered her house. She had left the door open for him as she didn't want to distract herself much from research.
"Okay, sit down. You can drink that" she pointed to a black can.
"What is it? Chin....8? I can't pronounce..." he asked confused," Uh, never mind I don't drink canned things. I brought coffee anyway" he sighed," So, what did you find?"
He looked at the table that was overrun with papers and files, which although messy were in piles that were clearly sorted. The board had several sticky notes on it which seemed to be color-coordinated, but he couldn't for the life of him figure it out.
"Okay, so ... I figured out a kind of MO," she said with pride, "groups".
"No... none of the victims have similarities. How can they be part of a group?" he asked.
"Look at this killing in Rome. Three women and four men," she said handing him a set of files," these killings happened over the span of a month along with others."
"Okay? And? They are all from separate ages and social classes" he said, pushing his glasses up.
"Yes. But, they were all alcoholics... or recovering alcoholics in different stages of their recovery. What does that mean?" she asked.
"That alcoholism is a disease?" he asked.
"No dumbass... they were in AA," she smirked, "not a formal one but an informal one. Perhaps they met through friends, or they met through other AA meetings and widened from there, but they did make a group and it was working- Kore infiltrated this group. Look at the causes of death" she said pointing out at the pink sticky notes. He stayed silent knowing she had more to stay.
"So one of the women had been stabbed in the stomach. She was pregnant by an affair. One man had his limbs cut off after he killed a person in a DUI situation. So she killed them in the manner they sinned with. Get it?"
"Like she has some sort of God complex?" he asked, and she shrugged.
"That's not as important as what I'm going to say. These murders have a few isolated murders in between that threw the police off of her trail. I will look into them later. For now, this shows that she likes to kill groups, AA groups, friend groups, tourist groups..." she shrugged," So ask Salvatore to permit me to go through all the new murders and you and I can search for any groups."
"Sounds like a solid plan," he frowned, "Um... I'll go talk to Salvadore in the morning"
"No, talk now," she instructed," call and talk. It's noon now! What are you doing till tomorrow?"
"I have work too" he rolled his eyes. This surprised her as she didn't realize that he had another job as well.
"Oh really? What do you do?" she asked.
"I am a professor but I currently take private tuition and have taken a sabbatical," telling her about his job, he tossed the files into a corner carelessly, "you would know if you were more thorough with whom you work with"
The last jab annoyed her, but she stayed silent," I'll go visit Salvadore myself." she sighed," Thanks for coming over... you can leave"
Shaking her head, she decided nothing could stop her from visiting Salvatore anyway. So that was what she did. She drove up to his house after calling up a few of her connections who confirmed that he was in the office.
Salvatore sighed, looking at the stacks of paperwork he had on his table. They were to be sent over to Chiara. Much to his surprise, the girl himself walked in, holding the permit he had given her in the beginning.
"You know people make appointments to come to meet me right?" he asked.
"Yeah, they must not have had a sense of urgency," she said," sorry sir but I needed something and Enzo refused to do it. Plus I need to clarify something with you. Can I sit?"
"Well... you came in on your own I don't see the point of stopping you now," He said as she on his chair," do you want water?" he asked.
"No, thank you," she said, exhaling loudly.
"Okay, to the point then... What do you need?" he asked.
"Access to all deaths across Palermo, even confidential ones," She said," Look, I found a pattern. She kills people in groups" Chiara began to explain all that she had deduced. Showing him the proof she had.
"So you think that she is currently in a group too?" Salvatore asked," Very well then you can have the records"
"Thank you," she smiled," one more thing is, why did you process the crime scene before I could?" she asked," It's not like you found anything"
"How did you know we didn't find anything?" he asked leaning his face on his chin.
"She's not stupid enough to leave marks, Sir..." Chiara chuckled," if she was, she would've been in Rome. Now, if you have enough proof that I'm competent, can I have her mug shot?" she asked.
"Well... It's not like I have a choice anymore...so yes, you can" he said," It'll be sent to you soon. I uh, have some more files for you to see. Go scan them in private."
"Okay, I will... So I can leave?" she asked," I want to go catch the autopsy and then start my work. Oh, I want a group by the way"
"A group?" he asked.
"Yes, like a mini task force. Five officers...one from Rome who is familiar with the case, one from the Palermo task force, and the rest from anywhere in Italy who stick out to you" She said seriously and was received with a chuckle.
"Why not all from Palermo?" he asked.
"Different perspectives," she shrugged," anyway, I must leave. Do tell me if there are any updates"
She walked out of his office, leaving him wondering if he actually had to collect a taskforce.