Triptych

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, child death, child sexual abuse, addiction, substance use, and physical abuse.

Will Trent is brushing his dog when the doorbell rings. Angie is standing there, still dressed for her work in Vice. Will explains that he is taking care of the dog because she belongs to his neighbor, who was recently taken away in an ambulance. Angie asks Will when Michael Ormewood was transferred to Homicide; Will says that the transfer occurred six months ago. The narrative reveals that before moving to Homicide, Michael worked in Vice for 10 years, until Angie told him that if he did not transfer, she would report him for abuse of sex workers. Ever since Cynthia’s tongue was cut out, the working theory is that she was specifically targeted because she was Michael’s neighbor. Aleesha Monroe’s killer used an expensive condom with spermicide, so the current thinking holds that the killer probably brought these items with him to prevent his DNA from being analyzed.

Now, Angie says that Michael likes to make sure everyone knows that he is a war veteran. She states that he likes to be in control and describes him as an outlier and a chameleon who quietly watches how others behave and then mimics them to blend in.