this fellow Reynolds, I'd say, his catching these killings spaced so far apart both in time and geography.”
“ He's awfully good and awfully young for an Area Special Agent in charge. I mean to be in charge in a field office as large as Milwaukee. I suspect he has a sterling record.”
“ Else he knows how to suck up!”
“ Don't think he needs to. He's enormous. Even on his knees, he'd find kissing up impossible. More likely has something to do with placing more blacks in high-level decision-making positions, not that he isn't talented from what I have seen of him.”
“ Quotas, really? In the FBI?” Richard's mock grimace sold his sarcasm. “Does sound as if he's made an impression.”
“ He does make an impression, yes.”
“ Good bloke, heh?”
Jessica loved Richard's English accent and idioms. “Wish you were here,” she said.
He replied, “In Milwaukee?” But his imagination was sparked now, his rapt attention had left her for the burgeoning details of her case. Over the videophone, she recognized that his mind burned with curiosity.
“ So then, we only have days if we're to save this chap in Oregon from the barbarous electric chair.”
“ Three after today, and it's not quite so barbarous. They use lethal injection in a pristine sterile environment.”
“ Like putting down a dog, huh?”
“ And what do you mean by we? 'We only have days'?”
“ If the man is innocent then I want to help.”
“ How, Richard? How will you help?”
“ I'll get on a plane for Millbrook, go over their tracks.”
“ I'm not even convinced that Reynolds is right.”
“ But you are convinced of his sincerity. I can tell that much.”
“ True. I believe he believes.”
“ And we don't have the luxury of debating it. This lapse in time between the murders could simply mean the killer himself has, at times, been incarcerated either in prison or an asylum.”
“ Else he has the patience of evil,” she suggested.
“ It may be what is meant by vengeance being best served up cold.”
“ Well this is damned cold. If he knew any of these victims, they didn't know him. There's nothing in their backgrounds to warrant any of them should have ended life as mutilated victims.” “I'm just suggesting he likes his bone soup served as a consommé.”
“ I tell you, Richard, you have a cookbook inside you wanting to get out.”
“ You must know the Buddy Holly title, 'Love Waits,' right?”
“ Of course, but—”
“ Hate waits longer.”
“ Still, can't help the doubts. A sociopathic monomaniac capable of this... I hardly think him capable of timing his killings to coincide with mid-November, spacing each by a year of interim quiet. A fantasy life for these guys is t wen ty-four-seven.”
“ There's always the exception. But speaking of fantasy life...”
“ I miss you, too, darling.”
“ Another reason to join you on the case. So suppose that this Millbrook, Minnesota, place was in fact his first time, and it frightened hell out of him, learning what he was capable of?”
“ So he lives with it for a long time, and then something else in his life intensifies, and with a sudden volley of stress placed on him, say the death of his mum, the loss of his income, a bout with depression all at once...”
“ And so in Oregon later,” mused Richard, “he has a new and overpowering urge to do it all over again, to again kill?”
“ And the same thing happens in Milwaukee,” she added. “But it's not like he's a loose-cannon, spur-of-the-moment type who leaves a trail of clues. Rather he goes at this thing in calculated fashion, hence the drawings. This is highly organized, premeditated stalking and butchering.”
“ Certainly doesn't appear anything random about it, save perhaps how he selects his victims, and even then there may be some hidden agenda. All of them being matronly in age and appearance.”
“ This creep apparently wants the bones still wet with the victim's bodily fluids
“ He's awfully good and awfully young for an Area Special Agent in charge. I mean to be in charge in a field office as large as Milwaukee. I suspect he has a sterling record.”
“ Else he knows how to suck up!”
“ Don't think he needs to. He's enormous. Even on his knees, he'd find kissing up impossible. More likely has something to do with placing more blacks in high-level decision-making positions, not that he isn't talented from what I have seen of him.”
“ Quotas, really? In the FBI?” Richard's mock grimace sold his sarcasm. “Does sound as if he's made an impression.”
“ He does make an impression, yes.”
“ Good bloke, heh?”
Jessica loved Richard's English accent and idioms. “Wish you were here,” she said.
He replied, “In Milwaukee?” But his imagination was sparked now, his rapt attention had left her for the burgeoning details of her case. Over the videophone, she recognized that his mind burned with curiosity.
“ So then, we only have days if we're to save this chap in Oregon from the barbarous electric chair.”
“ Three after today, and it's not quite so barbarous. They use lethal injection in a pristine sterile environment.”
“ Like putting down a dog, huh?”
“ And what do you mean by we? 'We only have days'?”
“ If the man is innocent then I want to help.”
“ How, Richard? How will you help?”
“ I'll get on a plane for Millbrook, go over their tracks.”
“ I'm not even convinced that Reynolds is right.”
“ But you are convinced of his sincerity. I can tell that much.”
“ True. I believe he believes.”
“ And we don't have the luxury of debating it. This lapse in time between the murders could simply mean the killer himself has, at times, been incarcerated either in prison or an asylum.”
“ Else he has the patience of evil,” she suggested.
“ It may be what is meant by vengeance being best served up cold.”
“ Well this is damned cold. If he knew any of these victims, they didn't know him. There's nothing in their backgrounds to warrant any of them should have ended life as mutilated victims.” “I'm just suggesting he likes his bone soup served as a consommé.”
“ I tell you, Richard, you have a cookbook inside you wanting to get out.”
“ You must know the Buddy Holly title, 'Love Waits,' right?”
“ Of course, but—”
“ Hate waits longer.”
“ Still, can't help the doubts. A sociopathic monomaniac capable of this... I hardly think him capable of timing his killings to coincide with mid-November, spacing each by a year of interim quiet. A fantasy life for these guys is t wen ty-four-seven.”
“ There's always the exception. But speaking of fantasy life...”
“ I miss you, too, darling.”
“ Another reason to join you on the case. So suppose that this Millbrook, Minnesota, place was in fact his first time, and it frightened hell out of him, learning what he was capable of?”
“ So he lives with it for a long time, and then something else in his life intensifies, and with a sudden volley of stress placed on him, say the death of his mum, the loss of his income, a bout with depression all at once...”
“ And so in Oregon later,” mused Richard, “he has a new and overpowering urge to do it all over again, to again kill?”
“ And the same thing happens in Milwaukee,” she added. “But it's not like he's a loose-cannon, spur-of-the-moment type who leaves a trail of clues. Rather he goes at this thing in calculated fashion, hence the drawings. This is highly organized, premeditated stalking and butchering.”
“ Certainly doesn't appear anything random about it, save perhaps how he selects his victims, and even then there may be some hidden agenda. All of them being matronly in age and appearance.”
“ This creep apparently wants the bones still wet with the victim's bodily fluids
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