Blind Alley - Iris Johansen [72]
“Cira?”
Trevor gave a low whistle. “Holy shit.”
“Trevor, you said there were several statues of Cira commissioned by Julius. Considering how famous she was, it wouldn't be too unlikely that there would be one of her found in the anteroom of the theater where she died. Wouldn't mention of a statue immediately pique Aldo's interest?”
“Absolutely.”
“Of course, we couldn't announce the discovery right away. We'd have to leak the information to make sure it was believable.”
“How?” Eve asked.
“Use the Web sites I furnished her,” Trevor said. “Three were newspapers. One was an archaeology magazine. I believe she's hinting that I do a little manipulation of the content.”
“And you're so good at that,” Joe said sarcastically.
“He might need your help,” Jane said. “We wouldn't want him to be caught and have them issue a retraction. But if you could have the local police quiet any protests from the publisher we'd be safe.”
“And why would he go after the bones of a dead woman when he could go after you?” Eve asked.
“He smashed a statue of her in effigy even before he started killing those women. He told me he thought he'd destroyed her when he blew that tunnel. But he's lived with her image too long, she's still alive for him.” She paused. “And when I was talking to him I realized why. It's her face. Whenever he sees a face that resembles hers, it triggers memories and then it triggers the killings. He can't stand even the chance of seeing her face, having it exist somewhere in the world. What if we rubbed his ugly mug in that phobia? What if we made Cira a household name? What if he couldn't pick up a newspaper or switch on a TV without seeing Cira? What if she became as famous as Nefertiti?”
“Jackpot,” Trevor murmured.
“I hope.” She grimaced. “And one of his favorite Internet sites is a porn site dealing with necrophilia. It's not unreasonable to assume he'd jump at the chance to humiliate her in that way.”
Eve shuddered. “It's difficult to believe he could—” She shook her head. “What a beast.”
“But we have to make sure it's a temptation he can't resist.” Jane paused again. “We've got to make it a doubleheader.”
Eve stiffened. “Go on.”
“I have to be there. Cira and I have to be together.”
“No!” Joe said.
Eve was studying her expression. “Why?”
“Because I'm not certain the draw of Cira present isn't stronger than Cira past. But if we're together, then he'll feel he can gather us both in one swoop. He can destroy Cira's remains once and for all and kill me.”
“And he'll consider it a threat that Jane is going to the place where Cira's bones were found,” Trevor said. “After the reconstruction it would magnify the story and get more publicity, more faces in the media.”
“Reconstruction,” Eve repeated slowly.
“I didn't mention it to him,” Jane said quickly. “He just followed my line of thought.”
“And now I'm following it,” Eve said. “Elaborate.”
“You're the key. You'd be the final threat to turn Cira into a world-famous image if you did a reconstruction on the skeleton.”
“Go on.”
“How many times have you been invited to do a forensic reconstruction by foreign governments and museums? It wouldn't be too far out to have them come knocking on your door to verify that the skeleton is Cira's.”
Trevor nodded. “And that you'd go, considering the fact that Aldo will know I told you that Cira was his motivation.”
“And we all know what your motivation is, Trevor,” Joe said dryly.
“And you should be glad it's so strong,” Trevor said. “You'll be going into my territory and you'll need all the help you can get.”
“Your territory?”
“The art of the con.” Trevor smiled. “A very big, complicated, twisted con.”
“And you're looking forward to it.”
“You bet your life.” He said to Eve, “But Jane's right, it will all revolve around you. There has to be a thread of truth in any lie to make it believable and you're our thread.”
“Should I be flattered?”
“Do you think I'm stupid? I know better than