Detective by Arthur Hailey Page A

the bodies
were found, a radio was playing
loudly, presumably having been left
that way by the killer.
    ''Do you remember what kind of
music?" Quinn asked.
    "Sure do. Rock, so goddam loud you
couldn't hear yourself speak."
    "Was the same way at the Frost
scene." Quinn made a note.
    "It's the same guy," Montes
declared. "Has to be."
    Quinn quizzed him. ''You're sure
it's a man one man?"
    94 Arthur Halley
    "Yep. And the bastard's big,
strong as an ox, and smart. "
    "Educated smart?"
    "My instinct says no."
    Quinn nodded. "Mine, too."
    Montes added, "He enjoys it,
wallows in it, slavers over it.
We're looking for a sadist."
    "Any thoughts about the dead cats at
our scene?"
    Montes shook his head. "Only that
this prick loves killing. Maybe he
did the cats to pass the time, and
brought them along for kicks.''
    Quinn said, "I still think it's a
message in some code we haven't
deciphered."
    Before Sheriff-Detective Montes
left, Bernard Quinn apologized for
the absence of his sergeant. Quinn
explained that Malcolm Ainslie would
have liked to be present at their
meeting since he, too, was involved.
However, Ainslie was committed to
attend a one-day police management
seminar in another part of town.
    Benito Montes said, "That's
okay there's time. I think what
we've seen is only the beginning."
    3
    During the spring and summer of that
year, the residents of South Florida
wilted in exceptionally high
temperatures and steamy humidity,
sustained by daily thunderstorms and
drenching rain. In Miami itself a
series of electrical outages, caused
by heavy power demand, brought those
who had air conditioning into the
sticky world of those who did not.
Another problem, exacerbated by
heat-induced irritability and
carelessness, was crime. Gang
fights, crimes of passion, and
domestic violence all flourished.
Even among normally peaceful people,
patience ebbed and tempers flared;
in streets or parking lots, trivial
disagreements resulted in total
strangers coming to blows. With more
serious disputes, anger turned to
rage and even murder.
    At Homicide headquarters, an
entire wall was occupied by a white
glazed board known to detectives as
the "People-Dying-to-Meet-Us Board."
Divided by neat lines and columns,
it recorded the names of all murder
victims during the current year and
the year preceding, along with key
details of investigations. All
possible suspects were named on the
board. Arrests were recorded in red.
    At mid-July of the preceding year,
the board showed seventy murders, of
which twenty-five still remained
un
    96 Arthur Halley
    solved. By mid-July of the current
year, there had been ninety-six
murders, with the unsolved figure a
highly unsatisfactory seventy-five
cases.
    Both upward trends pointed to an
increase in homicides accompanying
otherwise routine robberies,
carjackings, and everyday street
holdups. Everywhere, it seemed,
criminals were shooting and killing
their victims for no apparent
reason.
    Because of wide public concern
about the numbers, Homicide's
commander, Lieutenant Leo Newbold,
had been summoned several times to
the office of Major Manolo Yanes,
commander of the Crimes Against
Persons Unit, which combined Robbery
and Homicide.
    At their last meeting Major Yanes,
a heavily built man with bushy hair
and a drill sergeant's voice, wasted
no time after his secretary ushered
Newbold in.
    "Lieutenant, what the hell are you
and your people doing? Or should I
say not doing?"
    Normally the major would have used
Newbold's first name and invited him
to sit down. This time he did
neither, and simply looked up,
glaring, from his desk. Newbold,
suspecting that Yanes had received
his own castigation from higher up,
and knowing the
down-through-the-ranks drill, took
his time before answering.
    The major's office was on the same
floor as Homicide, and a large
window overlooked downtown Miami,
bathed now in brilliant sunshine.
The desk was gray metal with a white
plastic top, on which piles of
folders and pencils were laid out in
neat