By reason of insanity

26

On Tuesday morning, Catherine had second thoughts about meeting with the criminal profiler, even though she had called Jamarcus on Monday and told him she would. Officially, this was still a kidnapping investigation, though the entire public now assumed the infants had already been murdered. On Monday, police had released the content of both notes, stunning the public just like the notes had stunned Catherine, who now felt like she had met Hannibal Lecter face-to-face in her prison cell.

At 8:30 on Tuesday, two hours prior to the scheduled meeting, she decided to bite the bullet and call Marc Boland. She hated the thought of forking over an additional three hundred an hour just to get some advice on whether she should call off the meeting, but she was growing increasingly uncomfortable. This was her life. And this meeting could now be part of a serial murder investigation.

Unfortunately, Bo was on his way to a court appearance, but his assistant promised to reach him on his cell phone. He didn't return the call until 10:15, and Catherine was already on her way down General Booth Boulevard, heading to the commonwealth attorney's office.

She told Bo everything about the two visions in the cell and her meeting with the chief of police, Gates, and Jamarcus Webb on Sunday.

"They wanted you to take a lie detector test?" Bo asked incredulously.

"Yes."

She heard Bo grunt his disapproval. "And they asked about alibis?"

"Yes."

"And now they want you to spend an hour or two with their criminal profile expert to allegedly tap into your psychic ability to channel this criminal?"

"Well, they didn't phrase it that way. They wanted me to describe these visions to this profiler and see if it might help him."

"And you bought this?" Bo asked. "You really think they're after your expertise?"

The question made Catherine feel stupid, as well as a little defensive. "Bo, I saw two visions, including handwriting on a wall that tracked almost word for word the notes this Avenger of Blood sent to his victims."

"My point exactly," Bo responded. "Which means they believe one of two things: either your confidential source told you what those notes said or you are somehow involved in the kidnappings."

"That's ridiculous," Catherine said. And doubly ridiculous that I'm paying you three hundred bucks an hour to suggest it.

"Why didn't you call me before you met with them the first time, Catherine? If you pull out now, it'll look like you're trying to hide something."

Catherine hesitated but then decided she was tired of lying just so she wouldn't hurt people's feelings. "I couldn't afford to call you, Bo. I'm a reporter. I don't know how I'm going to pay you for what you've already done."

"This one's on me," Bo said, his voice going soft.

"Bo…" Catherine appreciated the gesture but hated being a charity case.

"I just want to make sure you don't get caught in the middle of this," Bo said. "There's a ton of pressure on the cops right now to make an arrest. If they can't get their man, they'll be looking for a good scapegoat. Let's not give them a reason to make it you."

This entire conversation frightened Catherine. Until now, she had been assuming the best, hoping this would all go away. Maybe she could even help them find the kidnapper. At worst, she might send them on a wild-goose chase. But now she was a suspect?

"Should I call off the meeting?" Catherine asked.

"No," Bo counseled. "You should let me call off the meeting. I'll tell them you wanted to help but I wouldn't let you. If they need to know specific facts, they can communicate through me. That's what lawyers are for-we like being the bad guys."

"Thanks." Catherine felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "But you're not going to do this for free."

"We'll talk about that later," said Bo. And before Catherine could protest, he was off the line.

Ten minutes later he called back. "You're off the hook," he said. "I didn't make any friends, but it's the right call."

Catherine felt like she could breathe again. "Thanks," she managed.

"No problem. But this isn't going away. We need to meet in my office."

The urgency in his voice worried Catherine. "What's up?"

"This is a ploy to get you to rat out your source," Bo said. "They build a flimsy case against you as a suspect, then force you to divulge your source so you can explain how you came across this information."

"But I told you; I didn't get this information from my source."

"All the more reason we need to talk. And not on a cell phone."