Random in Death (in Death, #58)

The 58th installment in J. D. Robb's In Death series is set in the summer of 2061 in New York City, a near-future world featuring automated food dispensers, handheld communication devices called 'links, and pressure syringes. Lieutenant Eve Dallas leads the Homicide division of the New York City Police and Security Department (NYPSD), aided by her partner Detective Delia Peabody, her billionaire husband and civilian consultant Roarke, and a network of recurring colleagues.

The story opens at Club Rock It, where 16-year-old Jenna Harbough attends an under-21 concert by the rock band Avenue A. Jenna is an aspiring songwriter carrying a demo disc she hopes to give to lead guitarist Jake Kincade, her idol. During the final song before the band's break, she feels a sharp jab in her left arm and spots a stranger grinning at her. She brushes it off, but within minutes she grows dizzy and nauseated. Her skin turns bluish, and she stumbles into the alley behind the club, where Jake finds her on his break. She tells him someone jabbed her, then collapses. He catches her and attempts CPR, but she dies in his arms. Jake's girlfriend, Nadine Furst, an investigative reporter and friend of Eve's, calls Dallas.

Eve and Roarke arrive quickly. Eve examines Jenna's body, noting the inflamed needle mark and the demo disc in her purse. She interviews Jake and Nadine, and the alley security footage confirms their accounts. Peabody interviews the teenagers inside the club while Detective McNab from the Electronic Detectives Division (EDD), the unit handling digital evidence and surveillance, collects security feeds. Captain Feeney, Eve's mentor and head of EDD, interviews the band members. Sweepers find scuff marks and fibers on the men's restroom window frame, indicating the suspect escaped through the window to avoid the door cameras.

Eve and Roarke notify Jenna's parents, Shane and Julia Harbough. Julia, a doctor, confirms Jenna had a needle phobia and never used drugs. The next morning, Chief Medical Examiner Morris confirms the injection contained a lethal cocktail: pure heroin, ketamine, Rohypnol (a date-rape drug), traces of potassium chloride (once used in lethal injections), and a needle coated with syphilis-causing bacteria. An additional compound accelerated absorption. Eve and Peabody recognize the Rohypnol and bacteria as a sexually vindictive signature rather than functional components of the kill.

Eve interviews Jenna's friends Chelsea and Leelee, who recall a male figure walking off the dance floor after the jab. Chelsea describes him as a "dooser" (a combination of "dick" and "loser") in black baggies. A search of Jenna's bedroom reveals notebooks filled with lyrics but nothing connecting to the killer.

The following night, 17-year-old Arlie Dillon is murdered at an outdoor Battle of the Bands in Memorial Park. She feels a sting in her arm, assumes it is a wasp, and collapses within minutes despite her friend Nikki's CPR attempts. Eve finds no connection between the two victims beyond age and gender. The autopsy confirms the identical formula and method.

NYPSD psychiatrist Dr. Charlotte Mira profiles the killer as an involuntary celibate: a misogynistic, emotionally stunted male, likely between 15 and 22, with Mira's instincts placing him closer to the victims' age range. He possesses superior intelligence in chemistry. The Rohypnol and bacteria represent sexual revenge against girls who ignore him; the potassium chloride represents execution for their "crime" of refusing him attention. Eve theorizes he chose high-profile venues to generate media coverage and recognition. Commander Whitney gives Eve 48 hours to identify the suspect before federal investigators take over. The narrative periodically shifts to the killer's point of view, revealing his planning and rationalizations.

EDD identifies the suspect on the club's security footage: a figure approximately five-six with brown hair who entered by hiding behind taller boys and never exited through either door. The lab's fiber expert, Harvo, identifies the restroom fibers as cheap synthetic fabric, and a partial shoe print yields the brand: Kick It Zoomers, an inexpensive shoe in men's size six to seven.

On the third night, the killer attacks 16-year-old Kiki Rosenburg at a movie theater. A large bruise on her arm, combined with two layers of fabric, prevents the full dose from entering her system. She screams, startling the killer into panicked flight. Kiki survives. At the hospital, she describes the attacker's startled "WTF eyes," and her friend David notes his pristine trench coat and cheap shoes. Eve deduces that his brown hair is a wig.

Mira warns that the failed attack will push the killer to escalate: He will attempt to incapacitate, rape, and kill his next victim. Eve attends Jenna's memorial, where Jake tells the family that Avenue A wants to produce Jenna's demo and establish a scholarship in her name. Eve interviews Kiki at home. Kiki describes the attacker as a "type": short, pasty, brilliant but invisible, dressed as if someone else picks his clothes.

A clerk at a discount chain recalls selling the suspect's cheap shoes and noticing his incongruous outfit: a pressed button-down and expensive tasseled loafers. Eve traces the loafers to Allisandra Charro, a personal shopper who confirms the buyer: Francis Bryce. Francis is the son of Dr. Nolan Bryce, who heads a pharmaceutical company's research lab. Roarke helps Eve match a police sketch artist's composite against private school yearbook photos, and Francis's picture aligns. Eve obtains warrants for arrest and search.

At the Bryce residence, Francis has already left. In his basement, behind security locks Roarke bypasses, the team discovers a laboratory containing heroin-refining equipment, controlled substances taken from his father's company, and sealed containers potentially holding bacteria. Feeney leads the digital evidence recovery. Roarke cracks Francis's computers, revealing logs of the murders documented as "projects" with notes expressing satisfaction. McNab breaks into a tablet containing a journal whose final entry reveals Francis's destination: Coney Island, where he plans to incapacitate a girl with a homemade date-rape drug, rape her, and kill her with the lethal injection.

Eve's team flies to Coney Island by helicopter. Francis has already targeted Delaney Brooke, a classmate who once declined his invitation for coffee. He injects her with his "Compliance" formula, a homemade incapacitating drug, and lures her into the Tunnel of Terror, a dark amusement ride, where he begins assaulting her. Eve orders the ride's lights on and charges down the tracks. Roarke reaches Del first and carries her out. Eve pursues Francis through the emergency exit and tackles him. The lethal syringe is recovered from his pocket.

At NYPSD headquarters, Francis's arrogance overwhelms any self-preservation. He fires his lawyer and turns on his father with vicious contempt, revealing he planned to kill the man for his inheritance. Dr. Bryce, devastated, gives Eve parental permission to continue the interview without counsel. Alone with Eve and Peabody, Francis confesses to both murders and the attack on Kiki, describing the killings as "amazing" and "orgasmic." He insists women are "weak" and "conniving" and boasts he will be free in two years. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Cher Reo, observing from behind the glass, prepares to push for trial as an adult and three consecutive life sentences off-planet.

Eve visits the victims' families and Del to deliver the news in person. With the case closed, she and Roarke fly to their private island and step into the quiet together.