‘It activates itself,’ the doctor said. ‘All it needs is a little bump.’

Hunter’s mind went into overdrive. ‘Fuck! The table . . . and the counter . . . that’s why . . . the impact.’

Captain Blake gave him a slight headshake, still not with him.

‘Do you think a clicking trigger mechanism just like that one could’ve been used to activate the bomb that was placed inside Laura Mitchell?’ Hunter faced the doctor.

She thought about it for a second and her face transformed as realization dawned. ‘It could’ve been easily adapted, yes. It’s such a sensitive mechanism that Doctor Winston could’ve activated it by mistake as he pulled the bomb out of the victim without even noticing it.’

‘How tall was she?’ Hunter asked, nodding at Kelly Jensen’s body.

‘Five six,’ the doctor replied.

Hunter turned to Captain Blake. ‘The table inside the old preschool, and the butcher’s counter in East LA had both been raised off the ground about a foot by wooden blocks or bricks. Neither of the victims was very tall. Laura Mitchell was five seven. The killer was making sure that his victims wouldn’t just climb down from where they were once they woke up. They had to jump down. Like a kid out of a bunk bed.’

‘Oh God!’ Doctor Hove’s eyes returned to the knife. ‘The impact as their feet hit the ground would’ve jerked the object inside them.’

‘Enough to activate the trigger mechanism?’ Captain Blake asked.

‘Easily,’ Doctor Hove replied. A moment later she brought a hand to her mouth as she realized what it all meant. ‘Jesus! The killer wanted to make them kill themselves without them knowing it.’

Forty-Nine

‘OK,’ Captain Blake said closing the door to Hunter and Garcia’s office just minutes after getting back to Parker Center. ‘What the hell is going on? I can almost get my head around a psycho being obsessed with painters. Both of them brunettes. Both of them somewhere in their thirties. Both of them attractive. In this city, that kind of obsession is normal crazy. But this thing about placing something inside the victims . . . something as absurd as a bomb, or as . . .’ she shook her head as words escaped her ‘ . . . fucked up as a fan-out knife, and then stitching their bodies shut, that’s completely dancing-around-the-room-naked-smothered-in-peanut-butter crazy.’ She looked at Hunter. ‘But this isn’t what we’re dealing with here, is it? This guy isn’t insane. He’s not hearing the devil’s voice in his head or drinking his own piss, is he?’

Hunter shook his head slowly. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘An obsessed stalker going after his idols, then?’

Hunter tilted his head from side to side. ‘First impressions . . . maybe, but if you look closely at the evidence, it goes against the possibility of an obsessed fan being behind these murders.’

‘How so? What evidence are you talking about?’

‘The lack of bruising.’

Captain Blake’s brow furrowed so hard, her eyebrows almost met.

‘Two victims,’ Hunter indicated with his fingers. ‘Both kidnapped and held hostage for around two weeks. You remember what Doctor Hove said, right? That if we take away the savagery of the stitches and the way in which they died, they were both untouched. Not a scratch. The killer didn’t lay a finger on them while they were in captivity.’

‘OK,’ the captain agreed. ‘And how does that relate to the obsessed fan theory?’

‘Obsessed fans spend a lot of time creating fantasies in their heads about their idols, Captain,’ Hunter explained. ‘That’s why they become obsessed in the first place. Most of these fantasies are sexual, some are violent, but none is about kidnapping their idols so they could chat for weeks over hot milk and donuts. If this guy were a fan obsessed enough to kidnap, chances are he wouldn’t be able to resist acting out at least one of his fantasies. Especially if he was prepared to kill them anyway. And if he did that, there would’ve been some sort of bruising somewhere on their bodies.’

Captain Blake looked pensive. They’d never be able to obtain confirmation that either of the victims had been raped. But Hunter was right; the lack of bruising on both of their bodies suggested that wasn’t what this killer was after. An obsessed fan was starting to sound improbable.

‘So who the hell could be capable of something like this?’ she asked. ‘A split personality job?’

‘Again, possible, but with what we have so far it’s hard to say.’

‘Why?’ she challenged. ‘You said so yourself, the killer went from passive to absurdly violent in one quick step. Isn’t that an indication of extreme mood swings? A drastic change in personality?’

Hunter nodded. ‘Yes, but the way he carries out his violence contradicts the theory.’

‘How’s that?’

‘The time and preparation behind both murders was too extensive.’

‘Slow down, big brain, I ain’t following you,’ she countered.

Hunter continued. ‘Mood swings and extreme personality changes have to be triggered, usually by a very strong emotion – like rage, or love, or jealousy. They don’t simply occur out of the blue. The new mood, or personality, takes over and stays for a while, but as soon as that rage, or whatever emotion it was that triggered it is gone, so is the personality. The person goes straight back to his or her normal self.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘Like waking up from a trance. How long do you think this trance can last, Captain?’

She started to catch on. ‘Not long enough.’

‘Not long enough,’ Hunter agreed. ‘The killer crafted a bomb and that knife from hell himself, not to mention the unique self-activating trigger mechanism. He also took time preparing the location where the victims were left, and then calmly sewed their body parts shut. All that takes a lot of time. Both preparing and executing it.’

‘And that would mean that the killer would’ve had to have been in an altered state of mind for days, maybe weeks,’ Garcia added. ‘Highly unlikely.’

Hunter nodded. ‘And then there’s also the current accepted opinion of modern psychology that Multiple Personality Syndrome doesn’t really exist. It’s a therapist-induced disorder perpetuated by a never-ending barrage of TV talk shows, novels and ill-conceived Hollywood movies.’

‘What?’

‘Basically, modern psychology believes that Multiple Personality Syndrome is complete bullshit.’

Captain Blake leaned against Hunter’s desk and undid both buttons on her suit jacket. ‘So we’re dealing with someone who knows exactly what he’s doing?’

‘I’d say so, yes.’

‘His creativity is proof of that,’ Garcia added.

Hunter nodded. ‘He’s also patient and self-disciplined, a rare virtue nowadays, even in the calmest of individuals. Add that to the level of craftsmanship he’s showed so far, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he were a watchmaker or even an artist himself. Maybe some sort of sculptor or something.’

The captain’s eyes widened. ‘Like a failed sculptor? Someone who was never as successful as his victims? You think this could be payback?’

Hunter shifted his weight to his left foot. ‘No. I don’t think this is born out of revenge.’

‘How can you be sure? Envy is a powerful emotion.’

‘If the killer is a failed artist after revenge because he never made it big, he wouldn’t target other artists. It’d make no sense. They wouldn’t be the reason he never made it.’

Garcia bit his bottom lip and bobbed his head in agreement. ‘The revenge would’ve been against agents, or gallery curators, or art critics and journalists, or all of the above. People who can make or break an artist’s career, not fellow artists.’