'And they rape them first.'
'Yes. It's murder with sex associated. But these aren't sex murders.'
'I'm sorry. I'm lost. My fault. Not yours.'
'Sex isn't the motivating force. Sex isn't the whole or even the
primary reason they have for attacking these women. The opportunity for
rape is there. bo they take it. Going to kill the women anyway. They
aren't adding to their legal risks by raping them first. Sex is
secondary. They aren't killing out of some psychosexual impulse.'
Shaking his head, Preduski said, 'I don't see how you can say that.
You've never met them. What evidence do you have that their motives
aren't basically sexual?'
'Circumstantial,' Enderby said. 'For instance, the way they mutilate
the corpses.'
'What about it?'
'Have you studied the mutilations carefully?'
'I had no choice.'
'All right. Found any sign of anal mutilation?'
'No.'
'Mutilation of the genitalia?'
'No.'
'Mutilation of the breasts?'
'In some cases he's cut open the abdomen and chest cavity.
utilation of the breasts alone?'
'When he opens the chest-'
'I mean has he ever cut off a woman's nipples, or perhaps her entire
breasts, as jack the Ripper did?'
A look of loathing came over his face. 'No.
'Has he ever mutilated the mouth of a victim?'
'The mouth?'
'Has he ever cut off the lips?'
'No. Never.'
'Has he ever cut out a tongue?'
T i 'God, no! Andy, do we have to go on like this? It's morbid.
And I don't see where it's leading.'
'If they were maniacal sex killers with a desire to cut their victims,'
Enderby said, 'they'd have disfigured one of those areas.'
'Anus, breasts, genitalia or mouth?'
'Unquestionably. At least one of them. Probably all of them.
But they didn't So the mutilation is an afterthought. Not a sexual
compulsion. Window dressing.'
Preduski closed his eyes, pressed his fingertips to them, as if he were
trying to suppress unpleasant images. 'Window dressing? I'm afraid I
don't understand.'
'To impress us.'
'The police?'
'Yes. And the newspapers.'
Preduski went to the window where he had drawn the knife. He wiped away
the film of moisture and stared at the snow sheeting through the glow
around the street lamp. 'Why would he want to impress us?'
