Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [540]
“Nice job, Agent Tully.” She came up beside him with bottles of vinegar and oil. “I have the bread in the oven and the sauce on simmer.”
She sprinkled the lettuce with the oil and vinegar, gently tossing it, then topping it with some freshly grated parmesan and black pepper. It smelled wonderful, and Tully felt proud for having had a bit part in its creation. How did she make this all look so effortless? Lately it seemed an effort for him to put his takeout on regular plates rather than eat it right out of its plastic containers.
“Let’s put this in the fridge,” she told him. “And while we wait for the spaghetti, you can show me what you’ve got.”
Tully took out the laptop computer, opened it and turned it on.
“If the killer and this Sonny is one and the same person, then I’m almost certain he’s the one who has Joan. He says some weird stuff in a couple of his e-mails to her.”
He kept an eye on her, wondering if it was such a good idea to talk about her patient and what this killer may have in mind for her. She looked pale, maybe just tired.
“You sure you want to talk about this?” he asked.
“Of course. It’s a case. I offered to help. And it might help us find Joan.” She pointed to the wine rack at the end of the counter. “Would you mind opening a bottle?”
He checked for a red wine, pulled one out and showed her the label for approval, but she was handing him the corkscrew and reaching for wineglasses. What kind seemed of little consequence.
“Let’s go back a step. Maggie said he’s been taking parts from his victims,” she said, looking as if she was trying very hard to be her normal professional self, though the color hadn’t yet returned to her face. “But why? This doesn’t seem like the regular sort of trophies that serial killers take.”
“Yes,” he said, “this is different.”
“Is he on a mission to rid the world of those with deformities or imperfections?”
“I thought of that, but then why not show off his handiwork? Usually killers on a mission want to show off what they’ve done. This guy hides what he’s done. Not just hides the victims but goes through a lot of trouble to stuff them in barrels and then bury them under tons of rock never to be found.”
“Sort of overkill?” she said, then smiled. “Bad pun, sorry.”
Maybe the wine was working. The color was returning to her cheeks. He filled her glass again.
“But it’s exactly what I’m thinking. Why the overkill? I think he’s embarrassed of what he’s doing.” He waited for her reaction. He wanted to know what Gwen Patterson, the psychologist, thought.
“Hmm…interesting.”
“In fact, I don’t think he gets much enjoyment or gratification from the killings. Don’t get me wrong, I still think he gains something from killing besides just getting the pieces he wants. He might feel some sort of control, but again, I’m not sure it’s from the actual killing as much as it is from simply possessing those pieces. Does that make sense?”
“What does Maggie think?”
He picked up his own glass of wine for the first time and took a drink. “I haven’t talked to her about this yet.”
“Really? Why not?”
“I wanted to run it by you first.” He could tell from the look she gave him that she didn’t buy that. “Okay, I haven’t talked to her about it yet because I did something. And I’m not sure she’s going to be very happy with me.”
Now Dr. Patterson planted her elbows on the counter, leaning into him as if ready to share in his secret. “And just what did you do, Agent Tully?”
“I sort of pulled a Maggie O’Dell.”
She smiled. “Oh, heavens, she’s already a bad influence on you.” She sipped more wine. “What did you do?”
He pulled the laptop closer and clicked on the AOL icon. “I sent him an e-mail.”
“You sent Sonny an e-mail? That doesn’t sound so unforgivable. Actually it sounds very much like something Maggie would do.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Because I sent him an e-mail from Joan Begley.”
He waited for her reaction. She sipped her wine, watching him