Four Blind Mice

Chapter One Hundred and Eight

As soon as Luu was taken away, Kyle Craig was brought into the interview room in the isolation unit on death row. I was waiting for him. With bells on.

“I expected you'd stop by and visit, Alex,” he said as he was escorted inside by three armed guards. “You don't disappoint. Never, ever.”

“Always one step ahead, isn't that right, Kyle?”I asked.

He laughed, but without a trace of mirth as he looked around at the cell, the guards. “Apparently not. Not anymore.”

Kyle sat across from me. He was so incredibly gaunt and seemed to have lost even more weight since I'd seen him last. I sensed that his mind was going a mile a minute inside that bony skull.

“You were caught because you wanted to be caught,” I said. “That's obvious.”

“Oh Christ, spare me the psycho-babble. If you've come as Dr. Cross, the psychologist, you can rum around and leave right now. You'll bore me to tears.”

“I was talking as a homicide detective,” I said.

“That's a little better, I suppose. I can stomach you as a sanctimonious cop. You're not much of a shrink, but then again it's not much of a profession. Never did anything for me. I have my own philosophy: Kill them all, let God sort'm out. Analyze that.”

I didn't say anything. Kyle had always liked to hear himself talk. If he asked questions, he often wanted to ridicule whatever you said in response. He lived to bait and taunt. I doubted that anything had changed with him.

Finally, he smiled. “Oh, Alex, you are the clever one, aren't you? Sometimes I have the terrifying thought that you're the one who's always a step ahead.”

I didn't take my eyes away from his.

“I don't think so, Kyle.”

“But you're persistent as an attack dog from hell. Relentless. Isn't that right?”

“I don't think about it much. If you say so, I probably am.”

His eyes narrowed. “Now you're being condescending. I don't like that.”

“Who cares what you like anymore?”

“Hmmm. Point taken. I must remember that.”

“I asked before if you could help me with Tran Van Luu, the murders he's involved in. Have you changed your mind? I suspect there's still one murderer out there.”

Kyle shook his head. His eyes narrowed. “I'm not the Foot Soldier. I'm not the one trying to help you. Some mysteries just never get solved. Don't you know that yet?”

I shook my head. “You're right,” I said. “I am relentless. I'm going to try to solve this one, too.”

Then Kyle slowly clapped his hands, making a hollow popping sound. “That's our boy. You're just perfect, Alex. What a fool you are. Go find your murderer.”