Nighttime Is My Time

96

It will be only a matter of seconds before they force open the door, The Owl thought. I came so close to completing the mission. He looked at the pewter owls he had clasped in his hand, the ones he had intended to place with the bodies of Laura and Jean and Meredith.

Now he would never have the chance.

"Give yourself up," Sam Deegan shouted. "It's over. You know you can't escape."

"Oh, but I can," The Owl thought. He sighed and took his mask out of his pocket. He slipped it on and looked into the mirror over the bureau to be sure it was properly in place. He put the pewter owls on the dresser.

"I am an owl, and I live in a tree," he said aloud.

The pistol was in his other pocket. He took it out and held it against his temple. "Nighttime is my time," he whispered. Then he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

At the sound of the shot, Sam kicked the door and it flew open. With Eddie Zarro and the cops behind him, he rushed inside.

The body was sprawled on the floor, the gun beside it. He had fallen backward, and the mask was still in place, blood seeping through it.

Sam bent down, pulled off the mask, and looked into the face of the man who had taken the lives of so many innocent people. In death the scars from the plastic surgery were clearly visible, and the features that some surgeon had managed to make so attractive now seemed twisted and repulsive.

"Funny," Sam said. "Gordon Amory was the last one I would have figured to be The Owl."