?This is something else.?
?Yes. You said that.?
?I guess I?m interested in what you call nuisance sexual offenders??
?Okay.?
?Would that include things like following someone, calling her, but not doing anything overtly threatening??
?It could.?
Start with the sketch.
?You told me last time that violent offenders often make records? Like tapes and drawings??
?Right.?
?Do nuisance offenders??
?Do they what??
?Make sketches and things.?
?They might.?
?Can the content of a drawing indicate the level of violence someone is capable of??
?Not necessarily. For one person drawing could be a release valve, a way of acting out without actually engaging in violence. For another, it could be the trigger that sets him off. Or a reenactment of what he?s already done.?
Great.
?I found a drawing of a woman with her stomach slit and her guts spread out around her. What does that suggest??
?The Venus de Milo has no arms. G.I. Joe has no dick. What does that mean? Art? Censorship? Sexual deviance? Tough call when seen in a vacuum.?
Silence. What should I tell him?
?Did this drawing come from the St. Jacques gallery?? he asked.
?No.? I found it in my guest room trash. ?You said offenders often escalate to higher and higher levels of violence, right??
?Yeah. At first they might just engage in peeping, or obscene phone calls. Some stay with that, others move on to bigger challenges: self-exposure, stalking, even breaking and entering. For still others that?s not enough; they progress to rape and even murder.?
?So some sexual sadists might not actually be violent??
?There you go with the sexual sadist business again. But in answer to your question, yes. Some of these guys play out their fantasies in other ways. Some use inanimate objects, or animals, some find consenting partners.?
?Consenting partners??
?A compliant partner, someone who?ll permit whatever it is the fantasy requires. Subordination, humiliation, even pain. Could be a wife, a girlfriend, someone he pays.?
?A prostitute??
?Sure. Most prostitutes will do some role playing, within limits.?
?That can defuse violent tendencies??
?It can as long as she goes along. Same with a wife or girlfriend. It?s often when the compliant partner gets fed up that things go bad. She?s been his punching bag, then she pulls the plug, maybe even threatens to tell. He gets enraged, kills her, finds he enjoys it. On to the next.?
Something he?d said was bothering me.
?Let?s back up. What kind of inanimate objects??
?Pictures, dolls, clothing. Anything, really. I had one guy used to beat the crap out of a life-size blowup of Flip Wilson in drag.?
?I hate to ask.?
?Deep-seated rage against blacks, gays, and women. Hat trick every time he jerked off.?
?Of course.?
I could hear the
?J.S., if a guy does that, makes pictures or uses a doll, for instance, does that mean he probably won?t kill??
?Maybe, but again, who knows what?s going to alter his curve and nudge him over that line? One day a naughty picture is enough, the next it?s not.?
?Could a guy do both??
?Both what??
?Flip-flop back and forth. Kill some victims, just stalk and harass others??
?Sure. For one thing, a victim?s behavior can alter the equation. He feels insulted or rejected by her. She says the wrong thing, turns left instead of right. She wouldn?t even have to know. Don?t forget, most serial killers have never met their victims. But these women star in the fantasy. Or he might see one woman in one role, cast another differently. Love your wife, then go out and kill. Cast one stranger as prey, another as friend.?
?So, once someone starts killing, he could still revert to his earlier, less violent tactics on occasion??
?He might.?
?So someone who is seemingly just a nuisance could be a lot more??
?Definitely.?
?Someone who phones a victim, follows her, sends her gory sketches isn?t necessarily harmless, even though he keeps his distance??
?You are talking about St. Jacques, aren?t you??
Was I?
?Does it sound like him??
?I just assumed we were discussing him. Or whoever it was kept the bridal suite you guys tossed.?
?J.S. I-It?s gotten personal.?
?What do you mean??
I told him everything. Gabby. Her fear. Her exit. My anger, now my fear.
?Shit, Brennan, how do you get yourself into these things? Look, this guy sounds like bad news. Gabby?s creep may or may not be St. Jacques, but it?s possible. He stalks women. St. Jacques stalks women. He draws pictures of eviscerated females, doesn?t exactly have a normal sex life, and carries a knife. St. Jacques, or whoever this devo is, is killing women, then cutting them up or disfiguring them. What do you think??
?When did she first notice this guy?? J.S. asked.
?I don?t know.?
?Before or after this whole thing broke??
?I don?t know.?
?What
?Not much. He hangs out with hookers, pays for sex, then plays a scene with lingerie. Carries a knife. Most of the women won?t have anything to do with him.?
?That sound good to you??
?No.?
?Tempe, I want you to report this to the guys you work with. Let them check it out. You say Gabby is unpredictable, so it?s probably nothing. She may have just taken off. But she?s your friend. You?ve been threatened. The skull. The guy who followed you in the car.?
?Maybe.?
?Gabby was staying with you. She?s disappeared. It warrants a look.?
?Right. Claudel will rush right out and collar nightie man.?
?Nightie man? You?ve been hanging with cops too long.?
I stopped. Where had I gotten that? Of course. Dummy man.
?We have a fruitcake that breaks in, stuffs lingerie, stabs it, then leaves. Been at it for years. They call him
