'Better come see me tomorrow, Smoky,' he says.
'Why?'
'Because I can tell you all about Vargas. The trafficking beef ? I was on that case.'
'No kidding?'
Barry had said it was a federal case. The fact that AD Jones had been a part of it is unexpected. And maybe a plus.
'For real, as the kids say. Come see me tomorrow.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Good. Have you thought about the other thing we discussed?'
You're kidding, right?
'Some.'
A brief pause. I think he's waiting for me to fill the silence, to expand on that one-word answer. When I don't, he lets it go.
'I want regular briefings. And I want to see that diary.'
'It'll be on its way to you within the hour, sir.'
Callie had shown up not long after I finished the call with AD Jones. Bonnie still played chess with Alan, who was teaching her the finer points of the game. Callie sat down next to Bonnie and the two of them began to play against Alan, who found himself fighting to keep pieces on the board.
It was during a rematch of this doubles tournament that Elaina managed to maneuver me into the kitchen, in her firm but gentle way.
'So,' she said. 'Are we planning to finish what we started on Saturday?'
1for-two-me?
I'm putting a cracker into my mouth as she asks me this, and I freeze mid-bite. I finish up and swallow, feeling guilty and evasive without knowing why.
'Smoky,' she chides. She grabs me by the chin and brings my face up. 'It's me.'
I look at her, let a little bit of that patented Elaina-goodness flow into me, womb and warmth. I sigh. 'I know. Sorry.' I shrug. 'Truth?
Of course we will. But when?' I shake my head. 'I don't know yet.'
'Fair enough. But you'll let me know?'
'Yeah,' I mumble around my cracker, feeling like a child. 'Of course.'
'You've been doing so well, Smoky, and clearing out that home was a good idea. I want to make sure you finish, that's all.'
Then she smiles, baldness and all, an Elaina-smile that makes further words unnecessary. A
It's early evening by the time the day winds down and Bonnie's yawning tells me that it's time to go. I'd stayed here later than I'd planned, but I needed this. Callie's jokes and Alan's mock-anger at being beaten by Bonnie at chess, Elaina's ever-present warmth and Bonnie's full-body grins, had all served to recover some of what this weekend had started out as: a normal life. Can you give all of this up? Should you? Is Quantico the solution?
Shush, I tell myself.
'I'm going back to the office,' Callie tells me at the door. 'I'm going to dig through Mr. Vargas's computer. I'm sure I'll find many distasteful things.'
'Don't stay too late,' I say. 'We're meeting at the office bright and early tomorrow morning.'
Elaina and Alan each get a hug, as does Callie, first from Bonnie, and then from me. I work with my family, my family is my work, that's how my life has worked out.
That's what you get for marrying the gun.
I'm in too good a mood to take my own bait.
17
'I'M GOING TO READ THIS FOR A LITTLE WHILE, SWEETHEART,' I say to Bonnie. 'I won't keep you up, will I?'
I have asked her this before, many times. The answer is always no. Bonnie could sleep through an air raid, just so long as she doesn't have to sleep alone. She shakes her head, smiles, kisses me on the cheek.
'Good night, honey,' I say, and kiss her back.
One more smile, and she turns away from me, toward the cool shadows. Leaving me in my small pool of light, to think and then to read. I have my notepad pages from the other night. I add some things we now know.
PERPETRATOR:
Under METHODOLOGY I add:
INTERVIEW WITH SARAH LANGSTROM CONFIRMS HE DRUGS HIS
VICTIMS.
HE FORCED HER TO DISEMBOWEL THE ADULT KINGSLEYS AND
TO CUT MICHAEL KINGSLEY'S THROAT. (His behavior re: her is specific. WHY?) Under BEHAVIORS I add:
DISEMBOWELMENT IS A WAY OF REVEALING THE INNER 'TRUE NATURE' OF HIS VICTIMS. CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THEORY OF REVENGE AS A MOTIVE. HE CLOSES THE EYES OF FEMALE VICTIMS PRE-MORTEM BUT HE
STILL DISEMBOWELS THEM. THEY MAY DESERVE LESS BUT THEY
STILL, IN HIS MIND,
PERPETRATOR CLAIMS EARLIER VICTIMS, INCLUDING A MARRIED
POET AND A PHILOSOPHY STUDENT.
ARTWORK WITH THE BLOOD IS AN ODDITY. EXTRANEOUS AND UNNECESSARY. WHY DO IT? SUBSTITUTION FOR LETTING SARAH CUT
THE VICTIMS?
MURDER GIVES HIM AN ERECTION, BUT NO VISIBLE ABUSE TO THE
BODIES, AND NONE PER SARAH'S ACCOUNT.
Of course, I realize, it could just be that his scalpel is his cock. The cutting could be the sexual act for him.
RELIGIOUS OVERTONES. GETTING ORDERS FROM GOD?
Under DESCRIPTION I add:
CAUCASIAN OR CAUCASIAN APPEARING.
APPROXIMATELY SIX FEET TALL.
SHAVES OFF ALL BODY HAIR.
VERY FIT, MUSCULAR. 'PERFECT BODY.' WORKS OUT (NARCISSIST). KEY: TATTOO ON HIS RIGHT THIGH OF AN ANGEL CARRYING A FLAMING SWORD. HE'LL HAVE DESIGNED THIS HIMSELF.
I add notes regarding the program found on Michael Kingsley's home computer. If put there by the perpetrator, it points to technical expertise, or access to technical expertise.
I consider the angel tattoo. It either represents his actions or it represents himself. He seems lucid enough for it to be the former, but the blood art falls on the crazy side, which is strange and unsettling. IS HE BEGINNING TO DECOMPENSATE?
Decompensation, at its simplest, is the act of something going from a stable state to an unstable one. It's not universal among serial killers, but it's a common phenomenon. Ted Bundy spent years as a careful, clever, charismatic assassin. Toward the end of his 'career' he spun out of control, and this helped lead to his capture. Dr. Child, one of the only profilers I really respect, talked about this subject to me once, and what he said comes to me now.
'I believe,' he said, 'that all violent serial offenders are, to some degree, insane. I'm not referring to the legal definition of insanity. I'm proposing that finding joy in the murder of other human beings would not be the behavior of a sane individual.'
