Incubi

such short notice.”

“And whatever it is you’re sad about, confronting it, to yourself, or to others, makes you feel insecure.”

Jack laughed feebly. “Tell me about my killer, not me.”

“I think I can do that, Captain.”

“I know a little bit about the ins of these kinds of things, but you know the ins and outs.”

“You’ll probably never catch him,” Karla Panzram offered. “And you won’t luck out with a reactive suicide or a guilt-reversion.”

“You’re telling me he’s stable, right? And smart?”

“He’s very smart. Very ordered thought patterns, high IQ, and an attention for detail. He’s logical, and he’s a planner.”

Lots of sex killers had high IQs, well past genius levels. But this was ritual, and Jack knew nothing about that. “He’s not psychotic,” he said more than asked.

“No, and he’s not paranoid, psychopathic, or unsystematized. He’s not even acting like a sociopath.”

Jack let that one sit. The Emerald Room was not only known for the best food in town but also the best service. When their waitress arrived, a beautiful redhead in black pants and white blouse, Jack said, “Order whatever you want. Tab’s on the county.” This was a lie, however: Jack was picking this one up himself. Olsher could justify consulting fees but not dinners. Dr. Panzram ordered steamed mussels, crabmeat flan, and grilled Muscovy duck for appetizers, and blackened prime rib. Where’s she going to put it all? Jack wondered. He ordered a dozen oysters.

“Cocktails?” the waitress asked.

“I never drink on d—” He beamed at his watch: 4:01 P.M, “Fiddich, rocks, Dr. Panzram?”

“Just a Coke,” she said.

When the waitress left, Karla Panzram added, “You drink too much.”

Jack gritted his teeth. First Olsher, then Randy, then Craig, and now this woman. They knew more about him than he knew himself. “I haven’t even had one yet, and you’ve pegged me as—”

“Retraction of the mimetic muscle groups and lid margins, fluctuation of the frontalis and lateral pterygoid, and the usual facial inflections. It’s the best lie detector. It’s also a wonderful way to gauge subconscious excitement. Your face lit up like a pinball machine when you looked at your watch and saw you were off duty.”

This depressed him, but what else was new? When the waitress brought his drink he had to fight not to touch it.

“Let’s call him Charlie,” Karla Panzram said. “Let’s make him human instead of a shadow. Charlie is erotomanic but not in the same way as your usual sex killer. He’s not a sadist, a sexual sociopath, or some horny nutcase with the wrong levels of FSH and LH in the brain. Charlie’s compulsions are not founded by cerebral defect or biogenic deviations. He’s very…passionate. Passion, I think, is a key word here. He’s also deflectional.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means he didn’t want to kill the girl.”

“He did it for an outward reason, you mean? The ritual angle?”

“Yes, and whatever the ritual is, it’s not an unsystematized symbol or an idea of reference. Charlie’s very level-headed. The only way he’ll fuck up is if he lets his passion get in the way.”

Hearing this delicate woman use the word fuck unnerved Jack, like knocking over a vase in a crystal shop.

“Passion,” she repeated. “Remember that. It was his passion that allowed him to go through with the murder.”

Passion, Jack thought. He lit a Camel. Here is my love.

“It’s not the ritual itself, but his association with the ritual that’s important. It involves some personal belief mechanism that allows him to vent his passion. Did you run the M. O. through triple- I?”

“Yeah, nothing yet, but they’re working on it.”

“What about Interpol CCCS?”

Jack raised a brow. “I didn’t bother. You think he could’ve done this in another country?”

“Sure. Look where we are.”

“A seaport,” Jack acknowledged. He felt instantly stupid.

“If I were you, I’d be calling every port city on the coast. And run the M.O. with Interpol too.”

“Good idea. I’m also getting a researcher to try and get a line on the ritual.” But as Jack spoke, his eyes kept flicking to his drink.

“It’s calling you, Captain.”

Up your ass, he thought. He liked this woman, but he didn’t like the truths she made a point of rubbing his face in. The aroma of the Scotch was almost erotic. He took a sip, then sighed.

“Charlie is very conative; there’s something in his life that’s turned a hesitant impulse into a free act. He’s probably never even come close to a reality break. He knows right from wrong as clearly as you do. His passion is purposive.”

Jack wasn’t sure if he got that. “You mean the impetus, right? And you’re saying it’s objective?”

“Yes, er, at least to Charlie it is. And that’s the funny part. Heavy purposive fantasies generally have roots in a very deep delusion. But Charlie’s not deeply delusional.”

“Neither are sociopaths, but you say he’s not sociopathic.”

“You know a lot more about these cases than most cops, but you should also know that a sociopath wouldn’t have drawn the symbols, and he would’ve terrorized the girl. Charlie didn’t. He even blindfolded her so she wouldn’t see what was coming. Sociopaths like to see the terror in their victims’ eyes. They have no feeling for them, but Charlie did. I may be wrong about some of this, but I’m not wrong about that. Plus, a sociopath would’ve turned the place upside down for valuables, and he would’ve taken her money. Whatever Charlie’s delusion is, he’s got it under complete control.”

Jack sneaked another sip, thinking, his long hair kept falling in front of his face.

“Charlie’s also persuasive, a magnetic personality. He’s probably very attractive. The victim was willing from the start, and that too is a key word. The bondage wasn’t forced. Otherwise the wrist and ankle lacerations would’ve been more severe. Most girls don’t let a man they just met tie them up. There was something special about him, something that made her trust him instantly. Girls with andro-compulsive desires have a tendency to fall for guys fast. It never lasts, but that doesn’t matter.”

This definitely didn’t last, Jack thought.

“Willingness. Remember that,” Karla Panzram induced. “You’re looking for a charmer with a knack for making girls sexually willing in situations that would normally project reluctance on the part of the female. Lots of male erotopaths are like that — the only difference is they don’t kill the girls afterward. One question: Did the girl have a drug history?”

“No, but her tox screen’ll be in today.”

“Have your tech check for cocaine, and also the usual synthetic morphine derivatives. There’s a lot of Demerol and dilaudid going around now that the coke prices are up. He may have enticed her with something to make her less inhibited, and if so, you’ve got another string to diddle with, someone with drug connections.”

“What about Charlie himself? Do you think he’s a drugger?”

“I doubt it,” Karla Panzram said. “The act is very important to him — there’s no way he’d round off any of the corners of the experience with drugs. The way he wrote the stuff on the walls shows me someone with a clear head. We TAT drug users all the time and what they come up with is completely different. I know this may all sound very obscure to you, but I still assert that the major keystones here are passion and willingness.”

“But there was blood in the vagina. Not much, but still. I’m thinking vaginal abrasions.”

“She must’ve been on her period, then; ask your tech. Charlie is not the type of personality to commit rape. It’s a priority that his victim be willing. I even think that if one of Charlie’s prospects turned out to not be willing, he’d leave. He wouldn’t go through with it. Charlie is not a hostile person.”

Jack almost winced. “Not hostile? Shanna Barrington looked like a botched autopsy. He tore her up.”

“He tore her up out of passion, Captain, via the ritual delusion. Not hostility, passion.”