AFTER THE NEWS REGARDING the Barstow serial killer had gone national, the police hotline received over two thousand tips by mid-afternoon. Sightings of the Mad Barstow Killer (MBK) had been reported from Alaska to Zaire.
‘Det. Moore,’ a young volunteer complained bitterly, ‘it’s ridiculous!’
She, with twenty-five other civic-minded citizens, had volunteered to answer the tip line. It didn’t take a genius to figure out some of the people calling were nut jobs with nothing better to do than to make other people’s lives miserable.
‘I know,’ Moore said sympathetically. ‘But let’s carry on ... If nothing else the bastard might call and boast. They always do, you know. They always do!’
The BAU agents arrived back at the station after fielding their bosses’ request for updates. Phelps summone
