Red Dragon - Thomas Harris [123]
Graham had never felt as close to the Jacobis as he did to the Leedses. Their movie disturbed him now. It bothered him that he had thought of the Jacobis as chalk marks on a bloody floor.
There were the Jacobi children, ranged around the corner of the table, the birthday candles flickering on their faces.
For a flash Graham saw the blob of candle wax on the Jacobis' bedside table, the bloodstains around the corner of the bedroom at the Leedses'. Something . . .
Crawford was coming back. “Metcalf said to ask you-”
“Don't talk to me!”
Crawford wasn't offended, He waited stockstill and his little eyes grew narrow and bright.
The film ran on, its light and shadows playing over Graham's face.
There was the Jacobis' cat. The Dragon knew it was the Jacobis' cat.
There was the inside basement door.
There was the outside basement door with its padlock. The Dragon had brought a bolt cutter.
The film ended. Finally it came off the reel and the end flapped around and around.
Everything the Dragon needed to know was on the two films. They hadn't been shown in public, there wasn't any film club, film festi . . .
Graham looked at the familiar green box the Leeds movie came in. Their name and address were on it. And Gateway Film Laboratory, St. Louis, Mo. 63102.
His mind retrieved “St. Louis” just as it would retrieve any telephone number he had ever seen. What about St. Louis? It was one of the places where the Tattler was available on Monday night, the same day it was printed - the day before Lounds was abducted.
“Oh me,” Graham said. “Oh Jesus.”
He clamped his hands on the sides of his head to keep the thought from getting away.
“Do you still have Metcalf on the phone?”
Crawford handed him the receiver.
“Byron, it's Graham. Listen, did those reels of Jacobi film you sent - were they in any containers? . . . Sure, sure I know you would have sent 'em along. I need help bad on something. Do you have the Jacobi bank statements there? Okay, I want to know where they got movie film developed. Probably a store sent it off for them. If there're any checks to pharmacies or camera stores, we can find out where they did business. It's urgent, Byron. I'll tell you about it first chance. Birmingham FBI will start now checking the stores. If you find something, shoot it straight to them, then to us. Will you do that? Great. What? No, I will not introduce you to Hotlips.”
Birmingham FBI agents checked four camera stores before they found the one where the Jacobis traded. The manager said all customers' film was sent to one place for processing.
Crawford had watched the films twelve times before Birmingham called back. He took the message.
Curiously formal, he held out his hand to Graham. “It's Gateway,” he said.
? HYPERLINK “” \l “CONTENTS” ??
Red Dragon
CHAPTER 43
Crawford was stirring an AlkaSeltzer in a plastic glass when the stewardess's voice came over the 727'S publicaddress system.
“Passenger Crawford, please?”
When he waved from his aisle seat, she came aft to him. “Mr. Crawford, would you go to the cockpit, please?”
Crawford was gone for four minutes. He slid back into the seat beside Graham.
“Tooth Fairy was in New York today.”
Graham winced and his teeth clicked together.
“No. He just tapped a couple of women on the head at the Brooklyn Museum and, listen to this, he ate a painting.”
“Ate it?”
“Ate it. The Art Squad in New York snapped to it when they found out what he ate. They got two partial prints off the plastic pass he used and they flashed them down to Price a little while ago. When Price put 'em together on the screen, he rang the cherries. No ID, but it's the same thumb that was on the Leeds kid's eye.”
“New York,” Graham said.
“Means nothing, he was in New York today. He could still work at Gateway. If he does, he was off the job today. Makes it easier.”
“What did he eat?”
“It was a thing called The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun. William Blake drew it, they said.”
“What about the women?”
“He's got a sweet touch