I'll Be Gone in the Dark

McNamara describes several suspects in the decades-long GSK investigation. Jim Walther is one such suspect, intercepted by police in Danville, California in February 1979. The police initially suspected Walther because his physical profile matched that of the GSK’s. However, Walther is eliminated as a suspect when a saliva test reveals him to be a secretor, not a non-secretor (a person whose bodily fluids do not contain traces of blood). Decades later, Holes seeks to re-open the investigation into Walther, as he believes that “suspect eliminations based on secretor status were unreliable” (263). Holes is unable to locate Walther, who has effectively disappeared.

Another suspect is Ron Greer, a man found by police shortly after one of the GSK’s Sacramento assaults. Greer is cleared because he appears to have an alibi. Some 30 years later, detective Ken Clark decides to re-investigate Greer and takes him in for questioning. After some hesitation, Greer provides the police with a DNA sample, which does not match the DNA profile of the GSK.

McNamara receives a tip by email suggesting the killer may have requested a copy of Detective Larry Crompton’s book about the GSK from his local library. McNamara searches sex offender databases in the counties of the few libraries which own copies of the book and finds an individual who matches the GSK’s profile and life history. Believing she has finally found the killer, McNamara sends the suspect’s information to Detective Larry Pool. A DNA check, which comes back negative, crushes McNamara’s hopes. 

McNamara and her husband, Patton Oswalt, have dinner to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary. McNamara is growing increasingly disappointed over her failure to discover the identity of the GSK. Oswalt seeks to cheer her up, telling her that the moral of the film Rocky is to never give up, no matter how dire things may seem. McNamara remarks that after she discovers the GSK’s identity, she believes she’ll never feel the need to “feverishly search…[for an unknown serial killer] ever again” (274). Oswalt gives McNamara her anniversary gift: a series of watercolor paintings depicting McNamara fighting serial killers, including the GSK. 

Holes continues to investigate Walther. Walther’s biography seems to match many details of the GSK’s crimes, including the fact that Walther’s family lives in the Sacramento area, and an apartment complex owned by Walther’s mother borders one of the assault sites. Further, Walther’s job with a railroad company requires him to travel through Davis and Modesto around the same time the GSK commits assaults in both cities. In 1997, police arrested Walther for domestic violence; he threatened to cut up his wife. However, Holes is unable to locate Walther now, and even the suspect’s daughter has not heard from him since 2007, when she learned he was homeless in Sacramento. Holes asks Sacramento police whether they have encountered any homeless people in Sacramento who match Walther’s profile. The police report that they have only spoken with Walther’s brother, who is living in a car. However, Holes knows that the suspect’s brother is a property owner. The police revisit the homeless man, who admits to being Walther and provides them with a DNA sample. The sample does not match the GSK’s DNA profile, meaning that Walther is innocent. Holes describes Walther as the GSK’s “shadow” as his life seems to so eerily match GSK’s (280).

McNamara meets with detective Ken Clark, who shows her the site of the 1978 murder of Katie and Brian Maggiore. Clark believes GSK committed the murder because the perpetrator’s “prowling and break-ins” match the pattern of behavior associated with the GSK (281). Furthermore, after police release a sketch of the suspect’s face, the GSK’s crimes in Sacramento cease—leading some to speculate that the drawing was an accurate portrayal of the GSK.