believed devoutly in his innocence.
All the time she was in court, she played with the strange black moon fishing lure that Douglas Shipman had given his friends. By now, she had evolved her own theory of the crime. Douglas Shipman, for a reason Anna did not yet know, had killed the young woman.
As for Trace Wydmore, he and Anna had broken up somewhere in the vicinity of 220 times.
She would let him get to second base and then start to feel like a harlot again and then break up with him again and then miss him so much that she'd give in to him when he came around again (first base only) and then spend half the night sitting up in the kitchen talking to Mrs. Goldman.
"The terrible thing is, I enjoy it, Mrs. Goldman."
"That's only natural, Anna. To enjoy sex."
"For a woman to enjoy sex?"
Mrs. Goldman smiled. "Yes, of course. My late husband and I were quite compatible."
"You did?"
"Sure. Sex is a part of life, Anna."
"But Trace and I aren't married yet."
"Then maybe you should get married."
"That's the problem."
"What is?"
"I love him but I don't know if I love him enough to marry him. I mean, I read those women's magazines and they talk about the real thing and when I compare what they say to how I feel about Trace, then I'm not sure it's the real thing."
Mrs. Goldman yawned and then stretched her hand across the kitchen table and patted Anna's hand with great maternal affection. "Maybe I have the solution, Anna."
"Oh?" Anna said anxiously. "What is it?"
"Stop reading those magazines."
Chapter 14
A ccording to Ressler, Burgess and Douglas — among the most knowledgeable criminologists in the world — a homicide that involves mutilation serves several purposes for the murderer.
1. He is able to make ugly something he fears and loathes i.e. a face, breasts, sexual organs etc.
2. It is the mutilation after death, not the act of killing, that frequently brings him sexual satisfaction.
3. This type of satisfaction is onanistic i.e. masturbatory. Only rarely are sexual fluids discovered in the cavities of the victim. Far more often, fluids are found on or around the body. For the killer, the ultimate fantasy — the sexual thrill of mutilation — occurs after death.
4. There is also the phenomenon of regressive necrophilia, when the killer places foreign objects inside the victim.
I went through twenty pages of material in the book while I waited for Claire Heston to descend the steep driveway from her manor house and drive into town. I planned to follow her and talk to her, if I could. I wanted to know more about her great-great-grandfather, Douglas Shipman.
I still had an hour and a half to go before I saw Gilhooley. The overcast afternoon was humid. I ran the air conditioning until my sinuses started to protest.
The Hestons lived on a stretch of road that ultimately became Marion, a small town adjacent to Cedar Rapids. This was the preferred area for the new rich. Even if I hadn't known that, the parade of expensive foreign cars would have given me a clue.
I returned to my reading, this time learning about a fellow who had sex with his victims both before and after their deaths. Once he'd even managed to have sex while the victim was dying. The clever fellow used a garrote.
These were characteristics of the sexual mutilator. I was trying to apply them to what I knew about the two women who had been killed. This kind of sifting would be made easier with a computer.
I also needed to see the autopsy on the woman who'd been found in David Rhodes' trunk. With that information, I could tap into my home computer and do some background work.
At first I didn't recognize the driver of the red BMW. It came fast down the curving drive, paused only briefly, and then turned right on to the street.
He was headed west. My good friend Perry Heston.
I decided, just for the hell of it, just, I suppose, because I was tired of waiting for Claire, to follow him.
I n broad stroke, Cedar Rapids
All the time she was in court, she played with the strange black moon fishing lure that Douglas Shipman had given his friends. By now, she had evolved her own theory of the crime. Douglas Shipman, for a reason Anna did not yet know, had killed the young woman.
As for Trace Wydmore, he and Anna had broken up somewhere in the vicinity of 220 times.
She would let him get to second base and then start to feel like a harlot again and then break up with him again and then miss him so much that she'd give in to him when he came around again (first base only) and then spend half the night sitting up in the kitchen talking to Mrs. Goldman.
"The terrible thing is, I enjoy it, Mrs. Goldman."
"That's only natural, Anna. To enjoy sex."
"For a woman to enjoy sex?"
Mrs. Goldman smiled. "Yes, of course. My late husband and I were quite compatible."
"You did?"
"Sure. Sex is a part of life, Anna."
"But Trace and I aren't married yet."
"Then maybe you should get married."
"That's the problem."
"What is?"
"I love him but I don't know if I love him enough to marry him. I mean, I read those women's magazines and they talk about the real thing and when I compare what they say to how I feel about Trace, then I'm not sure it's the real thing."
Mrs. Goldman yawned and then stretched her hand across the kitchen table and patted Anna's hand with great maternal affection. "Maybe I have the solution, Anna."
"Oh?" Anna said anxiously. "What is it?"
"Stop reading those magazines."
Chapter 14
A ccording to Ressler, Burgess and Douglas — among the most knowledgeable criminologists in the world — a homicide that involves mutilation serves several purposes for the murderer.
1. He is able to make ugly something he fears and loathes i.e. a face, breasts, sexual organs etc.
2. It is the mutilation after death, not the act of killing, that frequently brings him sexual satisfaction.
3. This type of satisfaction is onanistic i.e. masturbatory. Only rarely are sexual fluids discovered in the cavities of the victim. Far more often, fluids are found on or around the body. For the killer, the ultimate fantasy — the sexual thrill of mutilation — occurs after death.
4. There is also the phenomenon of regressive necrophilia, when the killer places foreign objects inside the victim.
I went through twenty pages of material in the book while I waited for Claire Heston to descend the steep driveway from her manor house and drive into town. I planned to follow her and talk to her, if I could. I wanted to know more about her great-great-grandfather, Douglas Shipman.
I still had an hour and a half to go before I saw Gilhooley. The overcast afternoon was humid. I ran the air conditioning until my sinuses started to protest.
The Hestons lived on a stretch of road that ultimately became Marion, a small town adjacent to Cedar Rapids. This was the preferred area for the new rich. Even if I hadn't known that, the parade of expensive foreign cars would have given me a clue.
I returned to my reading, this time learning about a fellow who had sex with his victims both before and after their deaths. Once he'd even managed to have sex while the victim was dying. The clever fellow used a garrote.
These were characteristics of the sexual mutilator. I was trying to apply them to what I knew about the two women who had been killed. This kind of sifting would be made easier with a computer.
I also needed to see the autopsy on the woman who'd been found in David Rhodes' trunk. With that information, I could tap into my home computer and do some background work.
At first I didn't recognize the driver of the red BMW. It came fast down the curving drive, paused only briefly, and then turned right on to the street.
He was headed west. My good friend Perry Heston.
I decided, just for the hell of it, just, I suppose, because I was tired of waiting for Claire, to follow him.
I n broad stroke, Cedar Rapids
Similar Books
