I think I met a serial killer

Tuesday, May 1. I might have been brutally murdered that day. Or I might have just gone to a gas station.


One of the less glamorous parts of my job as an adjuster is the so called "locus work" for an auto accident. Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't mind doing it. I actually like doing it. I get to be out of the office, driving around the Seattle area, seeing things that I haven't seen before. Even on days when the weather sucks, I'd still rather be doing that than sitting at my desk in the office. But the reason I say that it's less glamorous is because I sometimes feel kind of silly walking down the side of a road taking pictures of an intersection. If I saw a guy dressed in "business casual" literally taking pictures of pavement, I'd laugh. I laugh at myself really, when I'm doing it.

So Tuesday was one such day. I had to take some pictures of a locus that, according to the telephone loss report, was "WA-169 between Black Diamond and Enumclaw." That's an eight mile stretch of road. Nobody could narrow it down further, but it wasn't such a big deal. WA-169 is fairly desolate in that area, and I figured I could find it fairly easily. And I did.

I'll try to explain the layout of the road, although if you could see the Locus Diagram that I did yesterday and posted the file, you'd understand exactly, because it was pretty damn well done. WA-169 is a standard two lane road, one lane of travel in each direction. There is a fairly wide shoulder on either lane, which is about 12 feet wide. Shoulder driving is allowed, because it's a little bit hilly there (foothills of the Cascades you see). I parked my car in the north bound shoulder, and proceeded to start taking pictures. I walked toward the accident scene in the south bound shoulder to capture pics from one point of view, with the intention of walking back in the north bound shoulder to get pics from the other point of view.

So there I am, walking in the south bound shoulder of WA-169. It's downhill, so I'm walking at a brisker than normal pace. I've got my camera in my right hand, snapping pics every several feet. Traffic is driving past me, at a level which I'd describe as "moderate".... there was a car every five to ten seconds or so it seemed like. It was about 1:30PM, fairly good weather. Nice day. I hear this truck coming up behind me, and I hear it slow down quickly. The truck, which is an old suburban with dark tinted windows, is braking hard as it passes me. The driver pulls the suburban over onto the shoulder about 40 feet in front of me. I see the guy poke his head out the window and hear him saying something, but I couldn't make out what he was asking with the traffic noise.

He kept the suburban parked as I continued to walk toward it. As I neared the vehicle, I moved toward the road a little bit, thinking to myself that, like a cop, I should probably keep some distance from the guy's door. As I move in front of his window he says, in a very polite voice, "Didja run outta gas or something?"

The guy was a small man. He wore glasses, and had a buzz cut that looked like it was grown out about a month too long. He had a very round face and an expression that just made you feel a little bit uneasy. If you had to cast a child molester in a movie, this guy would at least go to the final cut. But regardless of how he looked, it was a very nice gesture to stop and ask if I needed help.

This is exactly what I replied:"Oh no, nothing like that. I work for an insurance company..... we had an accident out here a while back and I was just taking some pictures. I 'pre-shate-cha stopping though."

The man didn't say anything. He just halfway rolled his eyes and literally drove away. I don't think that he ever responded to my reply other than maybe like a half-audible "yeah".... and I'm not even sure he said that. He got incredibly flustered looking and drove off.

I've heard cops and ex-cops talk about getting a "hinky" feeling in situations like that, or getting chills when they think back about it. But honestly, neither one of those happened to me. I just stood there for a minute thinking "wow, that was strange." I crossed the street, took my pictures from the other shoulder, and drove home.

I am a good bit bigger than this fellow was, and I'm sure that I could've overpowered him if the situation came to that. But who knows? Part of me wonders what would've happened if I'd actually been out of gas, and hopped in the car with him. One thing is for sure, he was completely flustered when I indicated that I didn't need a ride from him. Maybe he was angry that I just walked up to his card and didn't really pick up my pace while he waited. But as I mentioned, I was already walking down hill, already walking at a brisk pace, and didn't think it'd be a good idea to just RUN up to the guy's window. So maybe that set him off. I don't know. But what I do know is that he was very willing to give me a ride, and was then very, at best, irritated, when he couldn't do it.

He drove off down WA-169 toward Enumclaw and I doubt our paths will ever cross again. But still I wonder, what would have happened?