Sense of Evil - Kay Hooper [56]
“In any case, the visionary killer feels he's controlled by something alien, something that is no part of himself. Sometimes he ignores or fights the voices or visions for years before they finally overpower his will. Bottom line, he's a puppet with someone else—or something else—pulling his strings.”
“Okay,” Hollis said, studying the notes in her hand and then looking up as Mallory pulled the police Jeep to the curb and parked. “This should be it. Last place on Jamie's list of properties.”
“What're we expecting to find here?” Mallory wondered, eyeing the boarded-up front window of what had once, years before, been a gas station. “According to her broker, Jamie planned to sell this place.”
“Yeah, but he also said that wasn't the original plan. She bought this property meaning to raze what's here and build a nice little place to fit in with the boutiques popping up at this end of town. It would have vastly increased the value of the property. Then she very suddenly decided to just sell out.”
“But she made that decision about several of the properties we've looked at. And the broker didn't say suddenly, he said somewhat unexpectedly.”
“Somewhat unexpectedly about three months ago. Isabel says that fits the time frame; it's when Jamie started showing signs of nerves. Deciding to unload so much of her property virtually all at once even if it meant taking a loss was out of character, and when people do things out of character there's usually a good reason behind the actions.”
“Like she accidentally killed a lover, maybe. But what was the plan after she sold out? Did she mean to get her hands on all the cash she could so she could leave town?”
“Could be. Isabel thinks there's a possibility.”
“Then why are we checking out these places? She wouldn't have hidden the photo box—or any other keepsake—in a place she was going to sell. You don't think we're going to find a body in there?”
“Well, you know as well as I do, the state crime network coughed up a list of at least three women of roughly the right age reported missing in this general area at about the same time Jamie got nervous. The police in each district believe all three women did not leave of their own free will, which makes homicide at least a possibility. And . . . if things did get out of hand in one of Jamie's little games, she had to do something with the body.”
“Hide it in a building she owned herself and was planning to sell?”
“I wouldn't call it a smart thing to do. Unless she figured out a way to completely destroy the body or completely hide it even if the building came down. Or unless she planned to be far away and living under an assumed name or something by the time anything was discovered.”
“Interesting possibilities,” Mallory agreed. “Okay. Grab your flashlight and let's check it out.”
Isabel turned her gaze to the bulletin boards across the room, which had, Rafe noted, acquired what looked like canvas drop cloths that could be conveniently lowered to cover the boards whenever unauthorized persons were present.
The cloths were lowered now, presumably because Alan had been in the room.
Absently, she said, “Mallory thought the drop cloths would be a good idea, so she fixed them. We can keep the boards covered most of the time, unless we're in here working. Less chance of too much information leaking out.”
“Isabel? Could a visionary killer gain control over his voices for years between killing sprees? Could he live normally during those years?”
“That would be . . . unusual.”
“But would it be possible? Could it be? Are we dealing with a killer who really isn't responsible—at least legally—for what he's doing?”
“That might depend