Running Blind

“Except kill themselves,” Harper said.

Stavely nodded. “Suicide in bathtubs is pretty much limited to drowning while drunk or drugged, or opening your veins into warm water. Obviously, this isn’t suicide.”

“And they weren’t drowned,” Blake said.

Stavely nodded again. “The first three weren’t. No fluid of any kind in the lungs. We’ll know about this one soon as she’s opened up, but I would bet against it.”

“So how the hell did he do it?” Blake said.

Stavely stared down at the body, something like compassion in his face.

“Right now, I have no idea,” he said. “Give me a couple of hours, maybe three, I might find something.”

“No idea at all?”

“Well, I had a theory,” Stavely said. “Based on what I read about the other three. Problem is, now I think the theory is absurd.”

“What theory?”

Stavely shook his head. “Later, OK? And you need to leave now. I’m going to cut her up, and I don’t want you here for that. She needs privacy, time like this.”

19

THEY LEFT THEIR gowns and overshoes in a tangle by the door and turned left and right through walkways and corridors to the pathology building’s front exit. They took the long way around through the parking lots to the main building, as if brisk motion through chill fall air would rid them of the stink of paint and death. They rode the elevator four floors underground in silence. Walked through the narrow corridor and spilled into the seminar room and found Julia Lamarr sitting alone at the table, looking up at the silent television screen.

“You’re supposed to be out of here,” Blake said to her.

“Any conclusions?” she asked quietly. “From Stavely? ”

Blake shook his head. “Later. You should have gone home.”

She shrugged. “I told you. I can’t go home. I need to be on top of this.”

“But you’re exhausted.”

“You saying I’m not effective?”

Blake sighed. “Julia, give me a break. I’ve got to organize. You collapse with exhaustion, you’re no good to me.”

“Not going to happen.”

“It was an order, you realize that?”

Lamarr waved a hand, like a gesture of refusal. Harper stared at her.

“It was an order,” Blake said again.

“And I ignored it,” Lamarr said. “So what are you going to do? We need to work. We’ve got three weeks to catch this guy. That’s not a lot of time.”

Reacher shook his head. “That’s plenty of time.”

Harper turned her stare on him.

“If we talk about his motive, right now,” he said.

There was silence. Lamarr stiffened in her seat.

“I think his motive is clear,” she said.

There was ice in her voice. Reacher turned to face her, softening his expression, trying to defer to the fact that her family had been wiped out in the space of two days.

“It isn’t to me,” he said.

Lamarr turned to Blake, appealing.

“We can’t start arguing this all over again,” she said. “Not now.”

“We have to,” Reacher said.

“We’ve done this work already,” she snapped.

“Relax, people,” Blake called. “Just relax. We’ve got three weeks, and we’re not going to waste any of it arguing.”

“You’re going to waste all of it, if you keep on like this,” Reacher said.

There was suddenly tension in the air. Lamarr stared down at the table. Blake was silent. Then he nodded.

“You’ve got three minutes, Reacher,” he said. “Tell us what’s on your mind.”

“You’re wrong about his motive,” Reacher said. “That’s what’s on my mind. It’s keeping you away from looking in the right places.”

“We’ve done this work already,” Lamarr said again.

“Well, we need to do it over,” Reacher said, gently. “Because we won’t find the guy if we’re looking in the wrong places. That stands to reason, right?”

“Do we need this?” Lamarr said.

“Two minutes and thirty seconds,” Blake said. “Give us what you’ve got. Reacher.”

Reacher took a breath. “This is a very smart guy, right? Very, very smart. Smart in a very particular way. He’s committed four homicides, bizarre, elaborate scenarios, and he hasn’t left the slightest shred of evidence behind. He’s only made one mistake, by leaving one box open. And that was a fairly trivial mistake, because it’s not getting us anywhere. So we’ve got a guy who’s successfully handled a thousand decisions, a thousand details, under urgent and stressful conditions. He’s killed four women and so far we don’t even know how.”

“So?” Blake said. “What’s your point?”

“His intelligence,” Reacher said. “It’s a specific type. It’s practical, efficient, real-world. He’s got his feet on the ground. He’s a planner, and he’s pragmatic. He’s a problem solver. He’s intensely rational. He deals with reality.”

“So?” Blake said again.

“So let me ask you a question. You got a problem with black people?”

“What?”

“Just answer the question.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Good or bad as anybody, right?”

“Sure. Good or bad.”

“What about women? Good or bad as anybody, right?”

Blake nodded. “Sure.”

“So what if some guy is saying to you that black people are no good, or women are no good?”

“I’d say he’s wrong.”

“You’d say he’s wrong, and you’d know he’s wrong, because deep down you know what the truth of the matter is.”

Blake nodded again. “Sure. So?”

“So that’s my experience, too. Racists are fundamentally wrong. Sexists, too. No room for argument about it. Fundamentally, it’s a completely irrational position to hold. So think about it. Any guy who gets in a big tantrum about this harassment issue is a guy who’s wrong. Any guy who blames the victims is very wrong. And any guy who goes around looking for revenge against the victims is very wrong. He’s got a screw loose. His brain doesn’t function right. He’s not rational. He’s not dealing with reality. He’s can’t be. Deep down, he’s some kind of an idiot.”

“So?”

“But our guy isn’t an idiot. We just agreed he’s very smart. Not eccentric smart, not lunatic smart, but real- world smart, rational and pragmatic and practical. He’s dealing with reality. We just agreed on that.”

“So?”

“So he’s not motivated by anger at these women. He can’t be. It’s not possible. You can’t be real-world smart