“No, sir. Nothing we’ve been able to discover.”
“And what do you want from me?”
“What you were able to provide us before-a psychiatric profile of the criminal. They were of great help, doctor.”
“Oh yes,” Morgenthau nodded. “Rape and bombing. But they are sufficiently popular pastimes so that there is a large history available, many similar cases. So it is possible to analyze and detect a pattern. You understand? Make a fairly reasonable guess as to motivation,
“No, sir. I don’t believe it does.”
“So…the literature on the subject is not extensive. I tried my hand at a short monograph but I do not believe you read it.”
“No, doctor, I didn’t.”
“No wonder,” Morgenthau giggled. “It was published in an obscure German psychiatric journal. So then, I cannot, regretfully, provide you with a psychiatric profile of the mass murderer.”
“Well, listen,” Delaney said desperately, “can you give me
Dr. Morgenthau shook his head angrily. “Sane. Insane. Those are legal terms. They have absolutely no meaning in the world of mental health. Well, I will try…My limited research leads me to believe mass murderers are generally one of three very broad, indefinite types. But I warn you, motivations frequently overlap. With multiple killers, we are dealing with individuals; as I told you, there are no definitive patterns I can discern. Well, then…the three main types…One: biological. Those cases in which mass murder is triggered by a physical defect, although the killer may have been psychologically predisposed. As an example, that rifleman up in the Texas tower who killed- how many people? I understand he had a brain tumor and had been trained as a skilled marksman and killer in the military service. Two: psychological. Here the environment in general is not at fault, but the specific pressures- usually familial or sexual-on the individual are of such an extreme nature that killing, over and over again, is the only release. Bluebeard might be such a case, or Jack the Ripper, or that young man in New Jersey-what was his name?”
“Unruh.”
“Yes, Unruh. And then the third cause: sociological. This might be when the killer, in a different environment, might live out his days without violence. But his surroundings are so oppressive that his only recourse is fighting back, by killing, against a world he never made, a world that grinds him down to something less than human. This sociological motivation involves not only the residents of ghettoes, the brutalized minorities. There was a case a few years ago-again in New Jersey, I believe-where a ‘solid citizen,’ a middle-aged, middle-class gentleman who worked for a bank or insurance company-something like that-and passed the collection-”
The fifteen minutes Dr. Morgenthau had allotted Delaney had long since passed. But the doctor kept talking, as Delaney knew he would. It was hard to stop a man riding his hobby.
“-and passed the collection plate at his church every Sunday,” Morgenthau was saying. “And then one day this fine, mild, upstanding citizen kills his wife, children, and his mother. Mark that-his mother! And then he takes off.”
“I remember that case,” Delaney nodded.
“Have they caught him yet?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Well, anyway, Captain, in the investigation, according to newspaper reports, it was discovered this pillar of the community was living in a much larger house than he could afford; it was heavily mortgaged and he was deeply in debt: insurance, cars, clothes, furniture, his children’s education-all the social pressures to consider. A sociological motivation here, obviously, but as I told you, mass killers do not fit into neat classifications. What of the man’s personality, background, childhood, his crimes considered as a part of the nation’s or the world’s social history? Charles Manson, for instance. What I am trying to prove to you is that despite these three quite loose classifications, each case of mass murder is specific and different from the others. Men who kill children and the man who killed all those nurses in Chicago and Panzram all seem to have had a similar childhood: physical abuse and body contact at an early age. Sexual pleasure at an infantile level. And yet, of the three I just mentioned, one kills children, one kills young women, and one kills young boys-or buggers them. So where is the pattern? Well, there is a superficial one perhaps. Most mass murders tend to be quiet, conservative, neat. They attract no attention until their rampage. Often they wear the same suit or the same cut and color suit for days on end.” Delaney had been taking notes furiously in his pocket notebook. Now he looked up, eyes gleaming.
“That’s interesting, doctor. But Manson wasn’t like that.”
“Exactly!” Morgenthau cried triumphantly. “That’s just what I’ve been telling you: in this field it is dangerous to generalize. Here is something else interesting…Wertham says mass murderers are not passionless; they only appear to be so. But-and this is what is significant-he says that when their orgy of killing is finished, they once again become apparently passionless and are able to describe their most blood-curdling acts in chilling detail, without regret and without remorse. You know, Captain, my field has its own jargon, just as yours does. And the-the-what do you call it? — the lingo changes frequently, just like slang. Five or ten years ago we spoke of ‘CPFs.’ These were ‘Constitutional Psychopathic Inferiors.’ Apparently normal, functioning effectively in society, the CPI’s feel no guilt, apparently are born without conscience, have no remorse, and cannot understand what the fuss is all about when the law objects to them holding a child’s hand over a gas flame, throwing a puppy out of a ten-story window, or giving apples studded with razor blades and broken glass to a Halloween trick-or-treat visitor. Most mass murders are CPI’s, I would guess. Was that lecture of any help to you, Captain?”
“A very great help,” Delaney said gravely. “You’ve made a number of things clear. But doctor…well, the fault is mine, I suppose, in asking you about ‘motives.’ You spoke mostly about causes. But what about
Dr. Morgenthau stared at him a moment, then laughed shortly. His exhilaration was wearing off, his body seemed to be shrinking as he slumped down into his swivel chair. “Now I know why they call you ‘Iron Balls,’” he said. “Oh yes, I know your nickname. During our first-ah-cooperation-I believe it was that Chelsea rapist-I made certain inquiries about you. You interested me.”
“Did I?”
“You still do. The nickname is a good one for you, Captain.”
“Is it?”
“Oh yes. You are surprisingly intelligent and perceptive for a man in your position. You are remarkably well- read, and you ask the right questions. But do you know what you are, Captain Edward X. Delaney? I mean beneath the intelligence, perception, patience, understanding. Do you know what you are, really?”
“What am I?”
“You are a cop.”
“Yes,” Delaney agreed readily. “That’s what I am all right: a cop.” The doctor was drifting away from him; he better finish it up fast.
“Iron balls,” Dr. Morgenthau muttered. “Iron soul.”
“Yes,” Delaney nodded. “Let’s get back to this problem of motives. How does the killer justify to himself what he is doing?”
“Highly irrational,” Morgenthau said in a slurred voice.
“Highly. Most fascinating. They all have elaborate rationalizations. It allows them to do what they do. It absolves them. It makes no sense to so-called ‘normal’ men, but it relieves the killer of guilt. What they are doing is
“Such as?”
“What? Well, now we are getting into metaphysics, are we not? Have some ideas. Do a monograph some day. Captain, will you excuse…”
He started to lift himself from his chair, but Delaney held out an arm, the palm of his hand turned downward.
