feeding. Luc Sante gave her a professional nod and a beaming smile. Copperwaite bit his own lower lip, and Richard dropped his gaze, as if pretending no interest in her whatsoever.
Just as it should be, she thought before plunking down her valise at her feet and a small notebook on the table.
“Good, Dr. Coran,” said Boulte. “Glad you could join us. I've informed Dr. Coran that we wish to share all we have with the citywide task force, including but not limited to the information Dr. Coran unearthed regarding the tongues, and the meaning of the words found on those brands. We may proceed now, gentlemen and ladies.”
“I would first like to make a call to Dr. Raehael,” Jessica interrupted. “I have put him to work on creating some slides from the wounds. They may be helpful here.”
'Time being a factor, I took the liberty. Here are your slides,” replied Boulte, who with an upturned finger signaled someone in the dark rear of the room to bring up slide number one. Instantly, the murmurs and scattered discussions among the assembled police authorities fell to a dying hush as everyone stared at the seared flesh and lettering found on the fourth victim's tongue, the best impression they had been able to get. The words, large on the screen behind Jessica and the panel, reading Mihi beata mater held an eerie quality about them in their grand scale.
The room fell silent, seeing for the first time the words of the Crucifier. No one had anything to say, not a single question regarding the tongue brandings. So Jessica, after asking Dr. Luc Sante to explain the meaning of the words to everyone, moved straight into her profiling of the killer or killers.
“The suspect or suspects will most likely be white, a man or men who live in the Bow Bells district, and most certainly London, and if he does not have a Messiah complex, it will be just as twisted or just as closely linked with one.” She stopped to let this sink in. The response from the audience was one of whispered heckling, as if what she said must be obvious to all present. Some brave fellow finally said, “Really now?”
Another asked, “Is that an absolute certainty?” The tone alone ridiculed.
“The killer may have developed some interest in St. Michael, patron saint of the exorcists, and so as you can imagine, he likely spends a great deal of time on religious matters. Still, he may exhibit an emotional age of late teens to early twenties. He likely lives or works within close proximity to the crime scene, or in this case the dump sites. He may have recently acquired some knowledge or a psychological jolt to his system, some shocking news, as in the death of a close family member, the breakup of a long-standing relationship, perhaps a divorce or loss of income.” She unconsciously stopped and eyed Richard. Then she hurried on, adding, “He may be a spontaneous person with a quick temper. He may take great pride in his vehicle.” She read her own notes and paused, not sure she herself believed this one. The typical profile may not apply here, she reminded herself. “Might brag about his van or truck to others, might even joke about how many bodies it can carry. Having left the scene in disarray, we believe him to be a youthful offender, inexperienced at killing. He is known to have been in the Victoria Gardens Embankment-York-front area between three and four in the morning of the first discovered body. Now since the fourth killing, characteristics the killer may be displaying are: a change in eating and drinking habits, and personal hygiene. Inappropriate or obsessive interest in the crimes. The killer may frequently initiate discussion about one or more of the victims and the crimes. Anyone acting like a different person, and anyone who may have suddenly left the area.” Finished, Jessica asked for questions from the floor. She received many. Some seemed oddly repetitious, and she found herself having to repeat herself. She pushed on. “The crucifixion deaths, Sharpe and I surmise”- Jessica paused to stare out at the detectives and beat cops from all over the city-”may have all to do with the coming millennium! As if the year 2000 were not enough, now we face 2001, and together, we'd like everyone to explore this possibility.”
“Explore it how?” came another British-accented question from the group.
“Yes, how do you mean that. Doctor?” came the confusion.
A deep breath and she replied, “Primarily, we're asking that you be attuned to it.”
“How do you mean, precisely, 'attuned to it'?” came back an instant response from the seats.
Damn but some of their questions seem of the idiot fringe, she nastily thought, then calmly said, “Read up on the coming 'true' millennium, the actual, honest to goodness one: 2001. Any deaths by cult members, any suicides relative to a cult practice and the beliefs associated with this notion we are at last on doomsday's doorstep. And don't forget anything to do with St. Michael or a St. Michael's cult you may stumble over.”
“I see,” replied the last questioner. “Like your Hale-Bhopal thing in America?”
“Hale-Bhopp,” she gently corrected.
Stuart Copperwaite cleared his throat and helped Jessica out. “There's enough evidence to imply that our man, or men, are engaged in some sort of bizarre ritual surrounding the events that took the life of Christ. In the year of Our Lord's two thousandth birthday, 2001.. well, gentlemen and ladies, figure it out.”
“So, it's as we thought before we got outside help,” Chief Inspector Boulte said rather caustically and clumsily.
“Except that now we 'ave four victims of crucifixion murders, instead of three,” said a female inspector from the floor. Another woman chimed in with, “We've got ourselves another freaking Jesus freak, that's sure.”
“Agreed, our killer has a Messiah complex,” Sharpe softly added.
“Not just any old Jesus freak,” suggested Copperwaite.
“A far more dangerous one this time around,” cautioned Jessica. “One who indeed acts on his fantasy, and as we all know, religious fantasy-even in the hands of the supposed knowledgeable 'authorities' such as the Inquisition, this sort of perversion of religious beliefs can be absolute in its madness. We can't worry ourselves with a motive that only the killer comprehends.”
“So what do we do now?” asked a heavyset detective, between moments of working a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the next.
“Yes, you want us to be on the lookout for hippies and skinheads or just what?” came the questions from the floor.
Jessica gently urged, “Be in tune with the killer as much as possible.”
“And precisely how do we do that, mum… ahhh, Doctor?” asked another in an aggrieved tone. “What do you think of this, Sharpe?”
Jessica held a hand up to Sharpe before he could answer, and said, “You have to climb into his head. Be him.”
Sharpe said, “Dr. Coran has made extreme strides ahead in the investigation, helping us out tremendously in a short matter of days. We expect to follow up on the leads she has provided.”
Boulte put a prompt end to Jessica's question and answer period when he called upon Father Jerrard Luc Sante to take the podium to discuss the killer and his profile from Luc Sante's point of view. Jessica picked up her paltry notes and the forensic reports she had yet to complete and made her way to her seat. She herself felt great interest in what Jerrard Luc Sante might add to the picture. Luc Sante clambered to his feet with a cane in his hand, which he used for pointing at the slide still displayed on the wall behind him. He repeated the words, “Mihi beata mater,” jabbing each word with the end of his black cane. “It's a grave morning to you all, lads, gentlemen, ladies of the law,” began Luc Sante, his eyes giving away that powerful light of energy that Jessica believed marked him as a passionate individual. “I pity you your profession. What you must deal with on a daily basis. You are the vanguard, the army set against evil in this age. Now, today, we must explore this possibility that Dr. Coran has spoken of, this cult slant to the crime. Cults and cultism, I fear, are all too real. Throughout the Bible and throughout history, cults have thrived among us as freely as disease and domesticated dogs, and the more dangerous the cult is can be judged by how often and to what degree the cult threatens the life of its own followers or members of society at large.”
He allowed this to sink in. His intonation, his rich, redolent voice, filled the room. Once more Jessica felt a strong affinity with the wise old one.
“Many interesting human traits are put to the test at a time like this, at and around the turn of the ordinary century, but this… None of us knows of anyone who has been 'stressed' by a coming millennia-twice if you will, given the millennium readiness first made for the year 2000, and now for 2001. Still, we already know that millennia mania and cruel phobias surrounding this portentous time are rising out of control, beyond anything we've seen before.”
Luc Sante had the undivided attention of every man and woman in the room as he discussed the possibilities in some detail. “The killer or killers may be fixated on the coming of year 2001.” He separated each word for emphasis. “And the possibility the killer or killers are trying to hurry along Christ's Second Coming is hardly out of
