City of Endless Night

20

When Pendergast entered the office this time, Howard Longstreet — who was sitting in a cracked and comfortable leather wing chair, reading a report with a red-stamped classified jacket — motioned him wordlessly to the sister chair. Pendergast took the proffered seat.

Longstreet spent another minute or two looking over the document, then slipped the papers into an open safe by his desk, closed and turned the lock. He looked up. “I understand you’ve become more active in investigating these decapitation killings.”

Pendergast nodded.

“Perhaps you can fill me in on the most recent one.”

“The third killing was, like the second, carefully planned and executed. The security assets were neutralized in what appears to have been a precise and orderly sequence. The challenge of the victim’s having a safe room was dealt with in a most clever manner. It would appear the entire sequence was choreographed down to the last step.”

“You make it sound like a ballet.”

“It was.”

“Any fresh evidence?”

“We have the make and model of the getaway boat, along with the engine VIN. However, those were not illuminating. The boat was reported stolen that night from a nearby marina in Amagansett, and no physical evidence remained. We did, however, manage to retrieve a single, remarkably clear footprint near the scene — size thirteen.”

Longstreet grunted. “Planted?”

A smile. “Perhaps.”

“The police still cooperating?”

“The East Hampton chief was unhappy about a certain drive I took along their beach. But he and the NYPD are officially grateful for our assistance.”

Longstreet took a sip from his Arnold Palmer, sitting on a coaster on the nearby table. “The last time we spoke, Aloysius, we were dealing with two murders in which both victims were beheaded. I asked you to determine whether there was a connection between the homicides; if both were the work of a single killer. Now we have three such murders, in addition to six others that could best be described as collateral damage, and the question is even more pressing. Are we dealing with a serial killer?” He raised his eyebrows quizzically.

“I take it you’re aware of the NYPD’s theory?”

“You mean, that one individual killed Grace Ozmian, and that killing in turn inspired a second and third killing by somebody else. Is that what you think, too?”

Pendergast paused a moment before speaking. “The similarities in the M.O. between victims two and three are striking. In both cases the killer was methodical, calm, deliberate, and exceptionally well prepared. It’s likely they were the work of a single individual.”

“And the first one?”

“Highly anomalous.”

“What about motive?”

“Unclear. We focused on two suspects with strong motives in the first two killings. The suspect in the Ozmian killing was cleared. The second suspect, an ex-employee of Sharps and Gund, will soon be questioned. He looks promising, so far.”

Longstreet shook his head. “That’s the strangest thing. The victims seem so unconnected that it’s hard to imagine a linking motive. What does a mob lawyer have to do with a Russian arms dealer with an irresponsible socialite?”

“I would submit to you that the apparent lack of motive might, in fact, be motive itself.”

“There you go again, Aloysius, talking riddles.”

Instead of responding, Pendergast waved a hand.

“You’re still avoiding my question: Do you or do you not agree with the theory that the first murder was committed by a different person than murders two and three?”

“It all revolves around the anomaly of the first beheading — why wait twenty-four hours? The other two happened almost before the victims were dead.”

“You’re still evading my question.”

“Another item I find interesting. No matter how violent or messy the murders may be, the beheadings were done with great fastidiousness. This would argue against the first murder being done by a different killer. On top of that, the first body appears to have been — unlike the others — deliberately concealed.”

Longstreet grunted. “Interesting, as you say — but on its own, inconclusive.”

“We’re in a logical bind. It could, as the police are assuming, be a copycat situation, especially since murders two and three have numerous points of congruency not found in the first. However, equally logically, the coincidence of three beheadings in the space of a week would strongly suggest a single killer. We suffer from a paucity of evidence.”

“You and your ‘paucities’ and ‘logical binds,’” Longstreet growled. “It almost got us killed by that recon party of Ugandan mercenaries — remember?”

“And yet we’re sitting here today, are we not?”

“True — that we are.” He reached over and pressed a buzzer on a nearby intercom. “Katharine? Please bring an Arnold Palmer for Agent Pendergast.”