False Accusations by Jacobson, Alan (great novels of all time .txt) 📕

was back on task—and headed into the living room to look at the lamps’ electrical cords. “Based on your knowledge of the neighborhood and your discussions with the neighbors, do you think the UNSUB made conscious efforts to avoid detection? That’s Unknown Subject—”

“No shit. I know what an UNSUB is.” Burden grabbed hold of the paisley patterned velour couch and pulled it away from the long living room wall. “To answer your question, I’d say absolutely he did. No one heard anything. No signs of a struggle, no evidence of a forceful breakin.”

“So whatever method he used to gain entry, it was smart—and effective.”

“Judging by the results, it appears so.”

Burden followed an electrical cord along the length of the wall to a clock on the side table. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m trying to build the offender profile.”

“And?”

“And I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I have something intelligent to say.”

“So that could be...never?”

Vail swung to face Burden. “Ooh. Good one. I think I’m gonna like you.” Then she walked into the kitchen where multiple appliances stared back at her. “Any marks on the wrist?”

Burden followed her in and shifted the blender aside. “Restraints were used, if that’s what you’re getting at. Figured it was part of the torture ritual.”

Just torture? More like sexual torture. But Vail absorbed that fact, and assumption, without comment. After a moment’s thought, she said, “First thoughts here...but it looks like we’re looking for a sexual sadist.”

“So,” Burden said, “that would be the first intelligent thing you’ve said?”

Boy, this guy’s good. He’s definitely got game. “Yeah,” Vail said. “That’d be it.”

“And you’re saying he’s a sexual sadist because of the torture?”

“Because of the sexual torture. The scumbag’s inflicting physical or emotional pain—to elicit a response from the victim. It’s a response he finds sexually gratifying. Now you can have torture without sexual gratification, but a sexual sadist, by definition, has to have a living victim. Make sense?”

Burden’s face was contorted. “So he did this to her while she was alive?” He shivered, as if he had bitten into a lemon rind. “Honestly, none of this shit ‘makes sense’ to me.”

I know how you feel. “The husband,” Vail said. “You said he’s an attorney. I assume he’s got no criminal record.”

“I’m sure there’s some crude joke here about lawyers, but no, Mr. Anderson’s got a clean sheet. Like I said, we’ve got an APB out on him.”

“I’m trying to eliminate him as a suspect.”

Burden pushed the toaster back in place, then gave a final look around the townhouse. “Looks like all plugs and appliances are intact. Which means he probably brought the electrical cord with him.”

“So,” Vail said, “he’s either killed before or he intends to kill again. He might also be keeping the tool as a reminder, kind of like a trophy. A way for him to relive the murder.”

“I thought a trophy was something of the victim’s, like a lock of hair or a photo.”

“It can be anything,” Vail said. “Something that has psychological significance to the offender that allows him to relive the kill. I’m not saying this electrical cord is a trophy, but it could function for him like one. Or it could be that it’s a tool in his murder kit.”

Burden sat down heavy in a soft overstuffed living room chair while Vail walked over to the bay windows. The fog was lifting a bit. She could now see more of the Golden Gate’s tower.

“You think this UNSUB will kill again?”

Vail watched the fog roll by. It moved swiftly, tumbling and swirling, like time-lapse photography.

“Unless there’s something else you want to see here, we should get over to the morgue.”

She pulled herself away from the window. “Drive me around the neighborhood a bit so I can get a feel for the area.”

“One thing’ll be obvious,” Burden said as he pushed out of the deep chair. “This isn’t the kind of place you’d expect something like this to happen.”

Vail chuckled. “Thing is, Burden, this shit can happen anywhere. Anytime. To anyone.” Vail glanced back at the bedroom. “Even, unfortunately, to old ladies.”

• • •

Read the rest of Inmate 1577...available wherever eBooks are sold. For more information on Alan Jacobson’s Karen Vail series, visit www.KarenVail.com.

THE NOVELS OF ALAN JACOBSON

Alan Jacobson has established a reputation as one of the most insightful suspense and thriller writers of our time. His exhaustive research, coupled with years of unprecedented access to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, bring realism and unique characters to his pages. Following are his current, and coming, releases.

False Accusations

Dr. Phillip Madison has everything: wealth, power, and an impeccable reputation. But in the pre-dawn hours of a quiet California suburb, the revered orthopedic surgeon is charged with double homicide—a cold blooded hit-and-run that has left an innocent young couple dead. Blood evidence has brought the police to his door. An eyewitness has placed him at the crime scene...and Madison has no alibi. With his family torn apart, his career forever damaged, no way to prove his innocence and facing life in prison, Madison hires an investigator to find the person who has engineered the case against him. False Accusations is a psychological thriller that instantly became a National Bestseller and launched Alan Jacobson’s career, a novel that spurred CNN to call him, “One of the brightest stars in the publishing industry.” Learn more about False Accusations.

The Hunted

How well do you know the one you love? Lauren Chambers’ husband Michael disappears while on a ski trip—but as she searches for him, she discovers Michael’s hidden past involving the FBI, international assassins—and government secrets that some will go to great lengths to keep hidden. As The Hunted hurtles toward a conclusion mined with turn-on-a-dime twists, no one is who he appears to be and nothing is as it seems. The Hunted introduces the dynamic Department of Defense covert operative Hector DeSantos and FBI Director Douglas Knox, characters who return in Velocity, Hard Target, and future Alan