The Tower

"Sounds like a pretty good fit, but I'd imagine he's also got some form of anxiety driving him, maybe a simple phobia. The combination means it won't be long until his next strike."

"Unless he flees."

"He's not going to flee," Jade said. "I can feel it. The timing of his prison break, the method of his killings-everything indicates he's playing out a fantasy."

"What's with the timing?" Travers asked.

"He's thirty-three. Guess how old his molester was?"

"Oh God."

"Thirty-three. All this has been brewing inside him for a while. He's not roaming too far."

"But why here? Why can't he play out his fantasy anywhere?"

"Because serial killers usually confine themselves to one geographic area."

"We don't know that he's definitely a serial killer," she said in a neutral tone.

Jade raised his eyebrows and gave her a disbelieving stare.

"Sorry," she said. "I've been dealing with McGuire all day."

"The Federal Bureau of Procrastination. Don't act on a hunch unless it's proven beforehand," Jade said disdainfully.

"Why did you join, then?"

"Welding school was full that week." He glanced at the files. "Look, are we gonna get down to business here? We both know he'll kill again, and probably soon. It's a game for him; it's up to us to figure out the pattern. He's choosing his victims to fulfill some symbolic equation he's worked out in his head. We gotta get into that game. Into his head."

"What's the deal with 'S N E'?" Travers asked. "We ran it through the computer as initials of friends, relatives, prisonmates, everything. Came up empty."

Jade shook his head. "I don't know. Could be a red herring. Also could just be something that only has relevance to him. Fuck it for now. Let's start with the kid. What'd she say?"

Jennifer leaned back against the sofa, her white oxford-cloth shirt loosely untucked. Jade caught himself staring down at the line of tan flesh that led to the curve of her breasts. He blinked hard and focused on what she was saying.

"Leah blocked out a lot of what he said to her. It was so close to the trauma I didn't want to push her. Evidently, he lectured them. She said it was like her teacher at school. I guess he raved about the law, parents, and teachers."

Jade heard Allander's voice inside his head: He must be spoken to if he's not going to be protected. He had spoken to the kids, just as Jade had thought. "All forms of authority, huh?" he said.

"And hierarchy," Travers added. "I think he's still trying to get in touch with what he's all about. The children were just passive observers. Leah said it was as if he didn't really notice they were there at all."

"His game right now is power. He's testing us, testing himself. He didn't find the kids threatening. They weren't a challenge. Too young. I say he kills anyone who's gone through puberty."

They sat for a moment in silence.

"Well, how does that help us?" Travers asked.

"The more we understand him, the closer it brings us to him."

"At the scene, it sounded like you thought he was next to invincible."

"Not invincible. Just intelligent. I hate to see criminals simplified. It's dismissive."

"So where do we start?"

"With his weaknesses."

"It sounded like you didn't think he had any."

"No. That's not true. You can see his fear in his anger. He went after the parents. Why? You can argue that these were murders of opportunity. He didn't plan how he was going to kill them; he picked up the weapons right at the site. This was especially true of the woman. Totally spontaneous. I bet she scared him. But!" He held up a finger. "Look what he does with the bodies afterward. He studies them. He defaces them. He poses them."

"He's sadistic."

"Sure, but he puts out the eyes after death. It's more about possession. He's working through an advanced sexual fantasy here, one that's taken him years to develop. He does have a weakness-he's scared of the woman."

"How do you know?"

"The man he kills to get in. But then he's alone in the bedroom with a woman. What does he do? He kills her right away. As quickly as he can. With the hammer. His concern is to render her motionless as quickly as possible. He could have kept her alive and played with her."

Travers looked at him, her unease showing. It must be harder as a woman, Jade thought. It was her choice, though. He couldn't work with her on this if he had to temper his language.

"I bet they don't find any semen in her," he said. He picked up his cup, tilted it back, and shook it. A piece of ice slid into his mouth and he crunched it loudly.

Travers looked impressed. "I just got off the phone with forensics," she said. "They didn't."

"No rape. He can't do it. Wishes he could, though. He has a lot of sexual insecurity. Just wants her unconscious."

"But he did show remorse," Travers said. "The posing of the bodies."

"I don't think so. Remorseful killers usually cover the faces."

"But not always."