Syndrome E

30

Leaning against Kashmareck’s car, Lucie gave her boss the rundown. He had joined her at Szpilman’s, shortly after the arrival of the CSI teams and two medical examiners. For several hours, people in uniform had been going in and out of the house.

Lucie nodded toward the open door.

“The MEs gave an estimated time of death. It happened the same night as Claude Poignet’s murder. The killers knew the restorer’s death and the theft of the film would send us running back here. So they eliminated the only person who could identify them. As for the girlfriend… she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They weren’t being too particular.”

She sighed.

“The computer’s hard drive and all the books in his library have disappeared. There were volumes on history, espionage, genocide. Maybe Szpilman had written notes in the margins? Perhaps there was one book in particular that might have pointed us toward something? Damn, if I’d only known the first time I came here!”

“The thefts are what interest me. Old Szpilman was just a collector.”

“He was more than that. He did serious research into this film, studied it inside and out, made contact with a guy in Canada who knows what he’s talking about. Somehow or other, the killers found out.”

Kashmareck pulled two small bottles of water from his climate-controlled glove compartment and tossed one to Lucie.

“You okay?”

“Absolutely.”

“It’s all right to say no.”

“I’m fine.”

“And your daughter, how’s she doing?”

Another sigh. “Better. Big breakfast this morning, and she wolfed down her lunch. They’ve removed her IV. Now we’re waiting for the famous verdict of the bowel movement. Just life.”

Kashmareck flashed her a smile that lately had become a rare sight on his face.

“We all go through it. Kids exist to remind us that our priorities aren’t always the ones we think. Even if it’s hard sometimes, they put order in our lives.”

“How many kids do you have?”

“More than I should.” He looked at his watch. “Okay, I’m off to see the locals about getting real-time access to info from Lille. You head back. Go spend a few hours with your daughter while they wrap up here. You’re not looking too hot, and the next few days threaten to be even worse.”

“Got it.”

She pressed her lips together, without moving.

“You know, Captain, there’s something about this latest crime.”

“What’s that?”

“On site, the MEs counted thirty-seven stab wounds for the girl and forty-one for the kid… They had them all over their bodies, including the genitals. Deep wounds, several inches down. Sometimes the knife went to the hilt—they could see the marks the metal left around the slits. Given the characteristics, the similarities in the stabbing patterns, they think it’s the work of a single attacker.”

The commanding officer answered with silence. There was nothing to say. Lucie stared at him intently.

“There’s pure madness in this, Captain. In their movements, their way of operating. Something not right in the way they’ve been proceeding. The same kind of irrationality we saw in those kids in the film, more than fifty years ago.”