almost a year ago.’
‘ These three crimes were committed in different parts of the city over a period of a year and did not initially appear to be connected. For reasons I can not go into at this time, when we went back and got together with detectives handling each case, a pattern emerged .’
‘ How did he gain access to the apartments? ’
‘ Like I said, there was no sign of forced entry. We have to presume for now … the … uh … caller … was let in by the victims or someone familiar with the residences .’
‘ Were these doormen buildings? ’
‘ One was .’
‘ Have you spoken to the families? How did they respond? ’
‘ Yes. We have already spoken to each of the victim’s families and have impressed upon them our commitment to finding their sons’ killer .’
‘ William Aneto’s mother has been extremely outspoken in her dissatisfaction with your handling of her son’s case —’
‘ We have spoken with Mrs Aneto who continues to assist us with our investigation. That’s all I have to say on that matter at this point .’
‘ Have you established a connection between the victims? ’
‘ That is something we are looking into .’
‘ Gay Alliance has recently been raising awareness of the first anniversary of the murder of William Aneto. Do you think there is a homosexual motive to the killings? ’
‘ It is important not to jump to any conclusions in the early stages of an investigation .’
‘ What advice can you give the public? ’
‘ No-one is to panic, here. I would say what we always say: be alert, don’t open your door to strangers, ask to see ID from anyone purporting to be from the gas company, etc. And obviously, if anyone out there has information on any of these crimes, could they please contact Crimestoppers confidentially at 1800 577 TIPS. That’s 1800 577 TIPS .’
‘ Do you have any suspects? ’
‘ We are working through a list of names that are linked in some way to our three victims. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s all we have time for here, today. Thank you for your cooperation .’
‘Yeah, thanks for letting me know, you fucking douche-bags,’ said Joe. ‘And what about – hey, we didn’t make a connection because people don’t know how to fill out a form or fucking communicate with people?’
He changed channels again and every news broadcast he saw had the story.
‘ This perpetrator comes to the homes of his victims. We have no information right now as to how he gains access …’
‘ This dates back to last year’s murder of thirty- one- year- o ld actor, William Aneto. His body was discovered in his Upper West Side apartment …’
‘ The last person to see Gary Ortis alive is with us right now …’
‘ We’ll be back after the break with information on how you can secure your home .’
‘… being dubbed The Caller …’
‘ A detective who chose not to be named described the scene as …’
‘Fear, fear, fear,’ said Joe, turning the television off. Every day, articles in newspapers ran stories with headlines that screamed Deadly. Anger. Fear. Killer. Disease. Alert. Threat. These murders were not typical for New York. You were more likelyto be killed by someone you knew than by the stranger who had now been given the title The Caller.
‘I’m going to take a shower.’ Anna walked back into the room. She leaned over and kissed him.
‘OK.’
He grabbed a magazine from beside the sofa and started flicking through it. He could hear the water running upstairs. He wanted to walk up, open the door, slide in behind her and do something they hadn’t done for months. His patience was low. He felt bad. But really, he was angry. He threw down the magazine and turned the television back on.
Anna came down half an hour later. Joe didn’t bother to look up. When he did, she was leaning over the counter with her back to him, opening a bottle of red wine. She was wearing the tiniest black shorts, no top. Her shoes were high and
‘ These three crimes were committed in different parts of the city over a period of a year and did not initially appear to be connected. For reasons I can not go into at this time, when we went back and got together with detectives handling each case, a pattern emerged .’
‘ How did he gain access to the apartments? ’
‘ Like I said, there was no sign of forced entry. We have to presume for now … the … uh … caller … was let in by the victims or someone familiar with the residences .’
‘ Were these doormen buildings? ’
‘ One was .’
‘ Have you spoken to the families? How did they respond? ’
‘ Yes. We have already spoken to each of the victim’s families and have impressed upon them our commitment to finding their sons’ killer .’
‘ William Aneto’s mother has been extremely outspoken in her dissatisfaction with your handling of her son’s case —’
‘ We have spoken with Mrs Aneto who continues to assist us with our investigation. That’s all I have to say on that matter at this point .’
‘ Have you established a connection between the victims? ’
‘ That is something we are looking into .’
‘ Gay Alliance has recently been raising awareness of the first anniversary of the murder of William Aneto. Do you think there is a homosexual motive to the killings? ’
‘ It is important not to jump to any conclusions in the early stages of an investigation .’
‘ What advice can you give the public? ’
‘ No-one is to panic, here. I would say what we always say: be alert, don’t open your door to strangers, ask to see ID from anyone purporting to be from the gas company, etc. And obviously, if anyone out there has information on any of these crimes, could they please contact Crimestoppers confidentially at 1800 577 TIPS. That’s 1800 577 TIPS .’
‘ Do you have any suspects? ’
‘ We are working through a list of names that are linked in some way to our three victims. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s all we have time for here, today. Thank you for your cooperation .’
‘Yeah, thanks for letting me know, you fucking douche-bags,’ said Joe. ‘And what about – hey, we didn’t make a connection because people don’t know how to fill out a form or fucking communicate with people?’
He changed channels again and every news broadcast he saw had the story.
‘ This perpetrator comes to the homes of his victims. We have no information right now as to how he gains access …’
‘ This dates back to last year’s murder of thirty- one- year- o ld actor, William Aneto. His body was discovered in his Upper West Side apartment …’
‘ The last person to see Gary Ortis alive is with us right now …’
‘ We’ll be back after the break with information on how you can secure your home .’
‘… being dubbed The Caller …’
‘ A detective who chose not to be named described the scene as …’
‘Fear, fear, fear,’ said Joe, turning the television off. Every day, articles in newspapers ran stories with headlines that screamed Deadly. Anger. Fear. Killer. Disease. Alert. Threat. These murders were not typical for New York. You were more likelyto be killed by someone you knew than by the stranger who had now been given the title The Caller.
‘I’m going to take a shower.’ Anna walked back into the room. She leaned over and kissed him.
‘OK.’
He grabbed a magazine from beside the sofa and started flicking through it. He could hear the water running upstairs. He wanted to walk up, open the door, slide in behind her and do something they hadn’t done for months. His patience was low. He felt bad. But really, he was angry. He threw down the magazine and turned the television back on.
Anna came down half an hour later. Joe didn’t bother to look up. When he did, she was leaning over the counter with her back to him, opening a bottle of red wine. She was wearing the tiniest black shorts, no top. Her shoes were high and
Similar Books
