Uh, yes? Because if they behave well, then word spreads and people know they can trust the ransom. If they kill the hostage each time, then no one pays. It's no

Uh, yes? Because if they behave well, then word spreads and people know they can trust the ransom. If they kill the hostage each time, then no one pays. It's not like they make more money if they defect. Yeah, they could try to ransom again, but a: the success rate might be lower since right after ransom people are likely to have made a backup and b: word spreads that paying just results in more extortion, leading to less payments.