great help. Knowing something about how Cindy’s mind worked could help us figure out what happened to her.’
‘Okay. Just as long as you don’t think it was me. I’m in the clear, right?’
Doyle ends the call without answering the question. Let the kid stew if he can’t be concerned about anyone but himself.
And then he allows himself to start believing.
Another box has been ticked. It all seems so simple now. So fucking obvious. How the hell could he not see this earlier?
There is one more number on his list. He enters it on his cellphone. This will be the litmus test. The confirmation of what he already knows to be true.
His call is answered, and he launches straight into it. Time is not his to waste.
‘Miss Friedrich, it’s Detective Doyle again. I have another question for you.’
The rush of his words causes her to hesitate. Then: ‘All right. Go on.’
‘You need to bear with me. It might sound a little off-base.’
‘Detective, I think we’ve already established your level of eccentricity. Whatever you ask now won’t surprise me.’
‘You told me that Dr Vasey wasn’t as badly disturbed by the break-up of your relationship as he claimed. Is that right?’
‘That’s what I believe, yes.’
‘Not affected enough to cause him extreme mental distress or to make him seek counseling.’
‘That’s right. I think I’d come to know him well enough to determine when he was just being theatrical.’
‘Okay, but he did
‘Yes, but as I say-’
‘What form did that take?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘What words did he use? What did he say to try to make you feel bad?’
‘Well, I. . I don’t recall exactly. He ranted and raved, that’s all I remember. I was used to him doing that, so I tended to tune him out. Is it important?’
‘It could be. Let me help you. Did he ever threaten to harm himself?’
The silence is long enough to give Doyle his answer. When she speaks again, she is subdued.
‘How did you know that?’
‘Then he did?’
‘Yes. Yes, he did. He threatened to commit suicide.’
Praise the Lord, thinks Doyle, but decides not to say.
‘How? How was he going to kill himself?’
‘He. . he said he was going to string himself up. Hang himself. But it was bluster. I knew he had no intention of doing anything like that.’
‘No. But he said it anyway?’
‘Yes. That’s what he said. But I don’t. . Detective Doyle, I’m starting to find this just a little bit too creepy. What’s going on here?’
‘I don’t know. Not fully. And what I do think could be wrong.’
‘But you’re not wrong, are you? You know something. You’re not as crazy as the other cops believe, are you?’
‘Maybe. We’ll see. Watch this space.’
‘Oh, I’ll be watching. Prove them wrong, Detective. And prove to me you’re not the asshole I thought you were.’
‘Tall order. I’ll see what I can do.’
When he gets off the phone, he brings all the pieces together in his mind. Watches them slot neatly into place.
It was thinking about Tabitha that provided him with the first clue. How she decided to commit suicide by jumping into the East River, and then the irony of her being killed by drowning. It led him to think about the other victims, and in particular what Sean Hanrahan’s wife had said about him being on a sure route to the graveyard. Vasey’s case files also contained notes about discussions with Hanrahan regarding possible thoughts of suicide. It was a natural thing to ask him about. He had lost his partner. He was depressed and drinking heavily. The signs were all there of a cop who might be on the verge of killing himself.
And how would Hanrahan have committed the act? Why, the same way most other suicidal cops do it: by eating his gun. And how did he finally meet his end? That’s right — a gun blast to the head.
It could have all been coincidental, of course.
But not anymore. Not after what Doyle has just heard in those phone conversations.
Cindy Mellish, the bookstore girl. Loses her boyfriend and makes a feeble attempt at cutting her wrists. How does she die? By having first her wrists, and then the rest of her, sliced wide open.
Lorna Bonnow, the nurse. Lost a baby and felt like throwing herself in front of a moving vehicle. Dies when a car mashes her into pulp.
And then Vasey. Threatens to hang himself. Ends up with someone doing it for him, and in spectacular fashion.
That’s the connection. Has to be. The killer’s warped view of helping people is not limited to contacting Doyle and giving him pointers to the next victim.
It’s also about helping people to die.
Doesn’t matter how serious they were about it. If they said it, they must have meant it. And the killer sees it as his moral duty to provide them with the assistance they need to fulfill their destinies.
Son of a bitch.
That’s why Tabitha had to be drowned. When the perp found her at Gonzo’s apartment he could have shot her, stabbed her, smothered her or finished her off using any one of countless other methods. But he chose drowning. Or rather, there was no choice to be made. Death by drowning was the fate she had already earmarked for herself.
But what of Repp? Where does he fit into this? What fate did he unknowingly select?
Doyle wishes he knew. But there’s no time left in which to find out.
He consults the dash clock again. It’s after seven-fifty. In a few minutes Doyle will have to enter Repp’s house. In a few minutes more he may have to confront a serial killer.
He feels uneasy. He tells himself it’s only natural, given what may be about to occur. But he knows there’s something more.
He still believes it was too easy, working out that Repp is next. But what else could the clues mean?
The digital recorder is still in Doyle’s pocket. He takes it out and switches it on. He listens again to the music and then the killer’s voice.
Those references to the distractions, the small stuff getting in the way. Who else could that be but Repp? And then the music. Definitely by Travis. From the album ‘The Man Who’. Rachel was certain about that.
And yet. .
The earlier stuff. Was that just meaningless preamble? That advice about protecting his brain with a hat
