were speaking to an ignorant and petulant child.
'That's a rather extreme supposition. People don't kil to get good grades.
They kil because of severe psychological problems.'
You mean he's crazy?'
'Not legal y, no. At least, there's no way I could know that without testing him. But even if he's innocent, and please remember that he very wel may be, I stil wouldn't turn my back on him. He's got a lot of problems.'
'You act like we're planning on lynching him or something,' Detective Volario said with a sneer. He was holding a large volume titled A Criminal History of Mankind. 'You read al these books, Professor?'
'No other reason to have them,' Professor Locke replied.
'I guess it's no wonder that you attracted one of these monsters to you then.' The professor ignored him. 'Do you have any other questions, Detectives?'
'Just one more. Did you do any experiments to test out his theory, that he had some kind of serial kil er virus?'
'No. If he had come to me with a more apodictic theory I would have given it more credibility, but what he was proposing was just plain ludicrous.'
'Apodictic? What does that mean? I dropped out of col ege, Professor. You're going to have to speak a little more simplistic for me.'
Professor Locke crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.
'It means demonstrably true.'
'Yet he claimed to be the living proof of the theory?'
'But at the time I didn't know he was talking about himself. I assumed it was just general speculation.'
Detective Montgomery stepped closer to the professor until his breath was in the man's face.
'That's funny, Professor, because al the students we spoke to said it was quite clear that he was referring to himself when he spoke about this virus theory.
Even you said he took it al very personal. So you didn't bother to do any research at al to see if maybe he was suffering from some curable il ness?
You didn't bother to contact the police or even a psychiatrist or a virologist? I mean, you're a prominent criminologist, a psychologist, a former FBI profiler who's worked on dozens of cases. If you had cal ed us up and told us you had a student in your class that you suspected might be a kil er we would have taken it seriously.'
'But how the hel could I have known for sure?'
'It was your job to know. That's how you made your living when you were with the FBI, right? Tel ing al us ignorant locals how to spot kil ers? Yet, you let one sit right in front of you every day without saying a peep to anyone and without trying to get him any help. You just let him get sicker and sicker until he eventual y murdered someone?'
'You don't know that it was him.'
'But you do. Don't you? I can see it al over your face. You know it was him. You know you fucked up. And right now you're probably thinking of how this fuckup is going to affect your reputation and your career.
Detective Volario stepped up beside his partner. 'My partner's right. You fucked up big time. If I was you, I'd do everything I could to help us catch this guy and restore your reputation before this gets out. `Kil er Student of Noted FBI Profiler.'
That's a headline you don't want.'
'I've got an apodictic theory, Professor. I believe this student of yours is going to kil a lot more people.'
Detective Volario picked up a book from the shelves. The title on the spine was the same as the title of the course,
Abnormal Psychiatry: Serial Kil ers and Why They Do It.
'Is this your book? It has your name on it. You wrote this, right?'
'Yes, I wrote it.'
'Wow. I bet this is real y going to fuck up your sales.'
The professor opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out but a helpless squeak. The detectives scowled contemptuously and shook their heads in disgust before turning their backs on him and walking out the door, dropping their cards on his desk as they exited. The detectives had just left when the phone rang. Professor Locke didn't recognize the voice immediately.
'Professor Locke?'
'Yes, and who am I speaking to?'
'It's true! My theory is true!'
'Who is this, please?'
'It's me, Joseph. Joseph Miles. Your student? Remember I had a theory that serial kil ers suffer from a transmittable disease like lycanthropy?'
'Do you realize that you are the prime suspect in a murder, Joseph? The police are looking for you in connection with the death of the campus librarian. They found her body in an apartment building downtown after it burned to the ground. There are witnesses who say that you lived there. The cops have been al over campus interviewing students who say you were obsessed with vampirism and cannibalism. Apparently the victim was mutilated or disfigured in some way that further links her to you. Your picture has been in the newspaper. They're convinced that you did it.'
'I know, I know. But listen, I think we're real y onto something here!'
'We? I want no part of this. I'm cal ing the police as soon as you hang up!'
'You don't understand, Professor. I'm sick! I contracted this disease when I was a kid. I was kidnapped by a child kil er and I survived. Only, he passed his curse to me. Now I've passed it on to someone else!' His rambling sounded almost delighted.
'What are you talking about, Joseph?
Where are you? You need to turn yourself in.'
'I can't. Don't you see? If I'm right and the disease is transmittable then there's a cure and I think I've found it!'
'Joseph, you are sick.'
'Professor, you have to listen to me. There's this girl that-1-bit-'
'You bit someone! Oh my God, Joseph!'
'Yeah, but I didn't kil her. Anyway, last night she took a bite of human flesh and loved it! She has the hunger now just like me! I passed on the virus. That proves my theory! Which means that al I have to do is track it back to the original host, the carrier, and I can put an end to it for good. I can cure us both and probably others that he's infected.'
'Listen, Joseph, the fact that your girlfriend took a bite out of someone and got off on it is not proof of a virus but only proof that you've passed your fantasy to someone else and probably screwed this girl's head up pretty badly. She identifies with you so she's sharing your delusion. It's a common occurrence in kil ers. Many of them work in pairs, from Leopold and Loeb to the Hil side
Stranglers and even Bonnie and Clyde.
There've been many cases of serial kil ers using their wives or girlfriends to lure prey. They feel helpless and trapped and so they begin to side with their abuser, to identify with them, even going so far as becoming their accomplices in future murders. It's a defense mechanism, nothing more. Gary
Heidnick used a girl to lure other girls to his basement to be tortured, raped, and murdered. Without him she'd have never harmed anyone and once he was locked up she never hurt anyone again.
Joseph? Joseph, are you stil there?' The solemn whine of the dial tone abraded his eardrums. He slowly lowered the phone back into its cradle, then picked it up again and dialed the
Centers for Disease Control. He had some research to do.
Chapter Thirty-one
After spending nearly an hour in traffic trying to cross the Bay Bridge during rush hour, Detectives
