Gallery of the Dead

Fifty-One

Fifteen minutes earlier

As soon as Agent Fisher left the observation room, Agent Williams moved a step closer to Hunter and Garcia.

‘I’d like to apologize for Agent Fisher’s behavior.’ He sounded sincere. ‘As I told Captain Suarez, it’s been a very long and surprising day for all of us and it all seems to have gotten the best of her, at least for today. She never usually acts this way. She’s a great agent. Very dedicated. Very in control. Very knowledgeable, but neither of us has ever worked on such a frustrating case.’

Hunter replied with a subtle nod. ‘It’s not a problem. I understand her frustration.’

‘Frustration is just a small part of it,’ Garcia said, sounding a lot less forgiving than Hunter.

Agent Williams looked back at him.

‘C’mon, we can stop pretending here,’ Garcia elaborated. ‘It’s more than obvious that what’s really eating her is the fact that she feels threatened by us.’

Through the two-way mirror they all saw Agent Fisher step into the interrogation room and close the door behind her.

No reaction from the man at the table.

‘The two of you were assigned as the lead agents in Director Kennedy’s niece’s homicide investigation,’ Garcia continued. ‘That’s a huge responsibility, bestowed upon you by the director himself, which means that he not only trusts you, but he probably also considers the pair of you to be his best agents. Of course you guys want to do well for him, but after over two months of no results and a few downfalls, things have gone a little pear-shaped, haven’t they? Tempers were probably already running high before Director Kennedy decided to invite us to join the investigation.’ He shrugged as he corrected himself. ‘And by us I mean Robert; I’m just a consequence. Anyway, Agent Fisher didn’t like that at all, because in her head all it meant was that all of a sudden, in Director Kennedy’s eyes, the FBI golden pair didn’t seem to be shining so bright anymore.’

Agent Williams found it hard to retort.

‘I’m not sure what she thinks is going to happen,’ Garcia proceeded. ‘But we’re not here to discredit anyone or to tread on anyone’s toes. We’re not here to compete against you and we sure as hell aren’t here trying to impress Director Kennedy or anyone else. We just want to catch this psycho as much as you do.’

The multidirectional microphone on the ceiling above the metal table inside the interrogation room picked up Agent Fisher’s voice loud and clear, sending everyone inside the observation room into a deep silence. Through the speakers they all heard her introduce herself, then tell the man that she was the senior agent in charge of the entire investigation and that this would be his only opportunity to talk to her.

Hunter kept his arms folded in front of his chest and his full attention on the man sitting at the table. He would rather be inside the interrogation room, but even from the other side of the two-way mirror, he had a clear enough view of the man to be able to search his facial expressions and body movements for any telltale signs. He saw the man’s stare intensify, as if he were weighing up what Agent Fisher had just told him. When she asked him for a name and upon his silence suggested that she come up with one for him, Hunter saw the subtle shrug the man had given her in reply.

When Fisher mentioned the word ‘artist’, there was a slight twitch to his left eye, which intrigued Hunter.

‘Did you see that?’ Agent Williams asked.

Both Hunter and Garcia nodded.

Inside the interrogation room, Agent Fisher countered the man’s silence with a threat, but that also failed to produce any effect. She then began attacking his ego, but again the man’s only reaction was an uneasy blink of the eyes. When she mentioned Mr. Davis’s neighbor, the man’s eyebrows moved down slightly. Not exactly a frown, but definitely a sign of curiosity. That intrigued Hunter, setting off the first alarm bell inside his head.

‘Do we know if anyone has talked to Mr. Davis’s neighbor?’ he asked.

Garcia and Agent Williams turned to face him.

‘The one who made the 911 call. Do we know if anyone has talked to him?’

‘No idea,’ Agent Williams replied. ‘But we can find out. Why?’

‘No reason, but I would just like to check,’ Hunter answered. ‘With the suspect being arrested on the spot and Tucson PD having orders not to initiate an investigation, that sort of detail could’ve easily been overlooked.’

Inside the interrogation room, Agent Fisher carried on with her attack on the man’s ego, but his curiosity seemed to fade way too fast, substituted by a faint, cynical smile.

A second alarm bell started ringing inside Hunter’s head.

The man seemed to be pushing Agent Fisher just as much as she was pushing him. The only difference was that he was doing it in silence.

Agent Fisher got to her feet and began making her way to the door. There was no doubt that she was going through the interrogation-trick book one step at a time. As she got to the door, the man finally spoke.

‘So... Special Agent Fisher, how many bodies have you found so far?’

In the observation room, everybody’s attention heightened exponentially as they watched Agent Fisher slowly walk back and retake her seat at the table, but it was the way in which the man threw the numbers at her that concerned Hunter.

Suddenly, the man surprised everyone when he practically admitted that there could be more than four victims.

‘Sonofabitch,’ Agent Williams said, making no effort to disguise the excitement in his voice. ‘It’s him. It’s the fucking Surgeon. We’ve got him.’ He reached for his phone, ready to call Director Kennedy, but Hunter stopped him by lightly placing a hand on his shoulder.

‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Let this interview play out first.’

‘Why? It’s him. He’s admitting to it.’

‘Not exactly,’ Hunter replied.

‘What do you mean — “not exactly”?’

Back in the interrogation room Agent Fisher and the suspect began talking about the timeframe. The man shrugged before dropping the bomb: ‘Things have been happening for a lot longer than that.’

More alarm bells, but they only seemed to be ringing inside Hunter’s head.

‘It’s him,’ Agent Williams said again. ‘We’ve got him.’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ Hunter said, shaking his head. ‘This is wrong. This is all wrong.’

‘Wrong?’ Agent Williams queried. ‘What do you mean, “wrong”? What’s wrong?’

‘What he’s saying,’ Hunter replied. ‘He’s not telling her anything; she is telling him.’

‘What?’ Agent Williams’ entire forehead creased like an old piece of paper. ‘I’m not following you, Detective Hunter.’

‘He’s cold-reading her.’