House of Skin

TERRITORIAL

Fenn let Spider spend the night at the hands of the other detectives. They would pull him from his cell every two or three hours and give him a good going over. It was standard procedure, sleep deprivation. Tried and true. He was being held on charges of multiple homicide and murder conspiracy. He was looking at life if he was lucky and lethal injection if he wasn’t. Still… Spider looked upon it all as some kind of cheap amusement. He refused a lawyer because he said he did not recognize the law of the State of California. If he was shooting for an insanity defense, he was making a good job of it.

Fenn met Lisa for breakfast the next morning, before he went to the precinct.

“I talked with Gaines an hour ago,” Fenn told her. “They got nothing from Spider last night. Just the same shit he was telling me.”

“The Territories,” Lisa said.

“Ever come across that one before?”

Lisa shook her head. “Can’t say that I have. But I’d like to talk with him.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Fenn said, dipping into his eggs. “We’ve gone easy on him so far, but that can’t last. He’s a strange one. Doesn’t want a lawyer. Admitted to Gaines that he killed them, but won’t implicate Eddy. Not directly.”

“I’ll interview him, see what I can get.”

“Good. We have a psychiatrist, but he’s a shit and he doesn’t have the sort of experience you’ve had.”

“This isn’t going to be cut and dried,” Lisa said. “I can feel it. Compulsive killers like Spider create very elaborate fantasy systems to justify their crimes. They create immense psychological barriers to hide behind. This is going to be a very complex situation, if these Territories are any indication.”

“I suppose. I’d love to know what he means by these ‘sisters’.”

“It probably means nothing. In my experience, deluded individuals always have some guardian protector they cling to. That’s all this is, I’m sure… but getting him to tell us about them will be problematical.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t see his eyes. He really believes in them.”

“I’ll just bet he does.”

“Tell me about the Territories,” Lisa said.

They were in an interrogation room. Spider was shackled to a chair. He smiled up at her and then closed his eyes.

“And why do you want to know that? Can’t you see I’m a monster, a fiend?” He fought at his bonds, hissing, then collapsed, giggling. “I’m so terribly deluded, Doctor. I want only to kill people.”

“I only want to help you. There’s no need for sarcasm.”

They were alone in the room, but Fenn and a few other detectives were watching through the glass, ready to burst in at a moment’s notice. But it wouldn’t be necessary, being that Spider’s hands and feet were immobilized.

“Did I tell you I knew Eddy?” she said.

“No, but I’m sure you will.”

“I’m not lying. I was his physician at Coalinga. He was under my care. We got to know each very well.”

“He never mentioned you.”

And was that good or bad? Lisa wasn’t sure.

“I treated him for several years. We talked of his father a great deal. Eddy idolized him.”

Spider was interested now. “The Doctor.” He said it with awe in his voice. “Gone off to the Territories. We’ll see him soon, I think.”

“Where are the Territories?” she asked.

“I’m so bored with that one. But, very well, you seem educated.” Spider yawned and closed his eyes again. “It’s a place beyond here and now. So close you can almost touch it, but so far away you could never reach it in a thousand lifetimes. Not unless you know how, not unless you impress the Sisters. Eddy’s father got in and many others through the centuries. Call it an alternate universe. That will tax your brain less.”

Lisa considered it. “Interesting. I’ve always wondered what happened to William Zero, as, I imagine, many others have.”

“Now who’s being sarcastic.”

She smiled thinly. Sarcasm had not been her intention. She was trying to get Spider to draw her into his fantasy world. Once she had a firm footing on his delusions, she could begin to pick them apart.

“How did he do it?” she asked. “How do you get into the Territories?”

“It’s not easy. It takes work and devotion to your craft.”

“But how?”

“By the very nature of what he did.”

“By killing people?” she chanced.

“No, by the way he killed them. There’s a ritual involved. That’s the only way you can get through. Why do you think he was never caught? He slipped away where no one could follow.”

“And you and Eddy are trying to do the same?”

“We’re not trying, we’ve done it. We’re close now. A few more and they’ll take us away. They told us so. That’s why it doesn’t matter if you lock me up or not, one day—and soon—they’ll find this cell empty.”

“I see.”

“No, you don’t. Not yet. But if you keep poking around, you’ll find out. And by then it’ll be too late.”

Lisa just nodded. She was thinking about Eddy and his connection to Cherry Hill.

Stop looking for him. If you find him, you’re going to find me… and you don’t really want that, do you?

She grimaced. As if she didn’t have enough problems already. Was Cherry Hill mixed up in this too? And if so, how? Was her infatuation with Eddy still alive? Was she working with him? God, the idea of that was truly chilling. If it was true, then Lisa’s past truly was coming back to haunt her. Eddy, Cherry… well, why not Dr. Blood-and-Bones too?

You unleashed a monster in Cherry, keep that in mind.

No, the monster was already there, Lisa thought.

You threw open its cage and set it free.

Lisa had had enough. She had a few answers now, but none that made any sense. Fenn was right: Spider’s belief in all of this was somewhat unnerving. But it meant nothing, of course. If they could just get Eddy in here and see what he had to say. It could all prove most interesting if he, too, was compelled by similar delusions. A shared psychopathy was a rare thing.

“We have to go,” Fenn said when she came out.

“Where?”

“The hospital. Eddy attacked Gulliver last night.”