The Competition

75

We found Jenny and Michael already starting on their second cup of coffee. This coffee-meeting ritual had grown on me. There was something comforting about it, although given the reason for these meetings, I didn’t know why. The photocopied pages of Evan’s journal were spread out on the table between them. Jenny held up the pot. “Want some?”

“Sure, thanks,” I said. Bailey took a cup too, and we settled in around the table. Bailey brought them up to speed on the latest events, including the press release identifying Evan Cutter as the shooter and the leak that we’d been in Boulder.

Michael and Jenny exchanged a look; then Michael cleared his throat. “Before we get to these pages”-he gestured to the copies of the journals-“we think you should be aware that the press releases are likely to speed up his timetable. I guarantee he knows that he’s been identified.”

“So the net is tightening quickly,” Jenny said. “As we’ve surmised, he never expected to go on indefinitely, and this journal confirms what we’ve said all along: he plans to continue these rampages until he’s stopped-”

“And that means when he dies,” Michael said. “Evan Cutter has no intention of being taken into custody.”

And I had no intention of letting him have his finale of choice. Death was too good for this subhuman. I wanted Evan Cutter taken into custody alive and kicking. “We agree. What’d you think of his journals?”

Jenny led off. “This boy is a classic example of a psychopath-”

“No big shock there,” Bailey said.

“No. But I’ve seen what many would have called the most extreme psychopaths in the world, and Evan Cutter is right up there. And unlike some of the other, more prolific killers, he doesn’t even pretend to be serving a political ideology. He simply hates the world. And loves power. The combination of that hatred and thirst for power is what fuels his desire to kill. Murder for him is the epitome of power.” Jenny pushed a few of the pages around, then pulled one out and pointed to the bottom of the page. “See here, where he rails against his father for moving the family around so much? For a normal child that might be tough, but for Evan Cutter it was torturous because it undermined his power. His father said go, and like it or not, he had to go. That infuriated him. You said his father is a military type, a former Marine, correct?” I nodded. “And I’d guess fairly strict?”

“I got that impression,” I said.

Jenny shook her head. “You couldn’t hope for a worse combination. In general, psychopaths can’t tolerate any form of restriction. But Evan in particular has a very low threshold for frustration. What is apparent in these pages is that any obstacle, no matter how small, sends him into a rage.”

“Because it’s a threat to his power,” I said. Michael nodded. “But he doesn’t fit the profile you guys gave us. Evan didn’t complain about feeling persecuted or even do a lot of yakking about guns. And neither did Logan.”

“We had to go with generalities,” Jenny said. “But when it comes to specific individuals”-she sighed-“there just are no concrete rules. And this is a big part of the problem when it comes to spotting a potential psychopath of this ilk. As we said from the start, they’re heterogeneous. There is no single profile.”

“True,” I said. “But Logan…he doesn’t fit any mold.”

Jenny nodded, reached into an accordion folder that was on the floor next to her chair, and pulled out some photocopied pages. I recognized them as the pages from Logan’s journal. I’d forgotten we’d given them a copy. “After hearing that Logan was dead, I took another look at these pages. I’d always had the sense that Logan was a follower, not a leader. I think Amanda probably had it right when she told you she thought Logan had a crush on her primarily because he wanted to emulate Evan. And Logan clearly had some serious psychological problems-certainly he was severely depressed. I don’t think, given what he ultimately did, that it’s a big stretch to say Logan also had a great deal of anger boiling inside him. In that regard, he and Evan had something important in common. But the difference is in how they dealt with that anger. That difference is what made Evan so attractive to Logan. Evan’s aggressive energy, his apparent power, was revelatory for Logan. Here was someone who channeled his rage outward, who punished others rather than what Logan did-”

I nodded. “Punish himself.”

“Right,” Jenny said. “I doubt Logan, on his own, would ever have harmed another person. He might’ve fantasized about homicide in his darker moments, but I doubt he would ever have acted on it. It was the introduction of Evan into his life that induced him to turn his rage outward-”

“You think he committed suicide out of guilt?” I asked.

“In part, yes,” Michael said. “He was suicidal in general, so he might’ve killed himself eventually no matter what. But Logan was not psychopathic, so it’s highly unlikely he derived the pleasure from killing that Evan did. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Logan suffered terribly in the aftermath of the Fairmont shooting.”

“And what about the reverse?” Bailey asked. “Would Evan still have done these shootings if he hadn’t met Logan?”

“In light of the fact that he did carry on after Logan killed himself, I’d say probably yes, he would have,” Michael said. “Now, would he have done the Fairmont shooting if he hadn’t met Logan? That I can’t say. But I can say that connecting with Logan made Fairmont a more likely target.”

I had a question that’d been in the forefront of my mind since our meeting with the Cutters. “Sorry for the dogleg, but I’ve been meaning to ask you, how come none of the parents-not the Jarvises or the Cutters-saw anything wrong, nothing out of the norm, before the shooting? The parents seem like responsible people. The type who pay attention. These guys were planning the Fairmont murders for almost a year. How can it be that they didn’t notice anything was wrong?”

“The only thing the parents said was that the boys weren’t around much in the last month,” Bailey said.

Jenny nodded. “Of course, they were busy getting ready. Or they might’ve been keeping themselves away to make sure no one could see any difference in their behavior. But that wouldn’t register with any parent as ‘something wrong.’ As for Evan, I wouldn’t expect to see any gross manifestations of unusual conduct by the time he was planning the shootings. He had no moral compunctions about it, so there was no reservoir of guilt to trip him up. These shootings were something he eagerly anticipated. He would’ve made sure not to do anything that might raise concerns.”

“Logan would have been the one more likely to show visible signs of something amiss in the last few weeks,” Michael said. “He had a conscience.”

“But even if Logan wavered, or started to act out, Evan was there to keep the lid on,” Jenny said.

“Right,” Michael said. “And it’s even likely that Logan was in a bit better mood than usual in the last month. Once a suicidal person has made the decision to end his life, he feels a sense of relief, even euphoria. Logan knew the killing spree couldn’t last forever. So for him, the shooting marked the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Bottom line, by the time their plans were under way, it was way too late,” Jenny said. “They were old enough to manage their behavior. The time to catch signs of homicidal pathology like Evan’s was much earlier, in childhood.”

“And what would those have been?” I asked.

“The early signs of psychopathology are varied. There was a study that showed infants who turned out to be psychopathic had a pronounced tendency to stare at objects out of their reach. They theorized that the infants stared in an effort to exert control; that the space between the infant and the object was a threat to the baby’s control-”

Michael shook his head. “I’m not sure how much stock I put in that one-”

“It may be a bit far-out,” Jenny said. “But generally, psychopaths show a greater attachment to objects than to people from a very early age. Some believe that may be caused by mothers who have difficulty bonding with their babies. Personally, I think the child has to already have a tendency toward psychopathology for maternal detachment to have that kind of impact. My own mother suffered severe postpartum depression for a solid year after I was born. Refused to even touch me. She eventually recovered-enough to go back to work, anyway. But she never became anything close to a ‘loving’ mother.”

“How did it affect you?” I asked.

“From about the age of six I knew I wanted to help children-”

“So it had a positive effect?” Bailey asked.

“Well…I also vowed never to have any children of my own. But it certainly didn’t make me a sociopath. And, diagnostically speaking, that’s the problem we face. Family trauma or even abuse is not a predictor. As I’m sure you’ve seen, there are plenty of kids who suffer devastating abuse who have no violent tendencies whatsoever.”

I nodded. I’d been assigned to juvenile court for a year. It was sadly common to find that the kids had been abused, but most were charged with drug crimes or theft. The few who were in for violent crimes were usually involved in gangs.

“Anyway, as for the early signs of psychopathology, you’ve heard of the classic ones: cruel, sadistic behaviors toward animals or smaller children-”

“And younger siblings are often targets,” Michael said. “But in this case, neither Logan nor Evan had them.”

“And not all children will behave in such obvious ways,” Jenny said. “While they lack empathy and do not have normal attachments to family and friends, their behavior may not initially be overtly abnormal. A child may merely appear to be less demonstrative than others or a little less empathic. But if the child is a fast learner, he’ll pick up on the appropriate social cues at a young enough age to avert detection. Destructive behavior is common. Such children often have a penchant for setting fires. Deceptive behaviors, lying, cheating, stealing. For them, the ends always justify the means, and no value is placed on honesty-”

“Which is why they can be very glib,” Michael said. “They have no regard for rules or for the truth. Evan had that juvenile arrest for car burglary?” I nodded. “I’d bet he was the ringleader. And I’m sure there were other such instances for which he never got caught. I’d also imagine Evan committed noncriminal acts as a child that showed a cruel, sadistic side, but weren’t big enough to force the parents to put two and two together.”

“How on earth could a parent see any kind of sadistic behavior and not know that there’s something seriously wrong?” I asked.

“A combination of denial-we don’t see what we don’t want to see-and a failure to grasp the significance of what they’re seeing,” Jenny said. “It’s not uncommon for parents to view each incident as an isolated event and explain each one away, rather than see the whole picture. And if the behavior surfaces during adolescence, well…even the most normal teenagers can be unlovely.” Jenny gave a brief smile.

Memories of our interviews with Evan flashed through my mind. “I just can’t believe Evan gamed us so well,” I said.

Jenny nodded. “I understand. It is upsetting. But remember, your contacts with him were relatively limited. And even trained professionals have been deceived by psychopaths. They can be excellent actors. After all, they’ve been studying normal behavior practically since birth.”

“Where does it come from?” I asked. “Psychopaths are born, not made, right?”

Jenny nodded. “Biology plays a part, of course. There are studies of monozygotic twins that show psychopathology has a genetic component.”

“But environment, upbringing, they matter too,” Michael said. “Though, as this case has shown you, socioeconomic factors really don’t matter. You can find psychopaths in Beverly Hills or on skid row.”

“And to complicate matters further,” Jenny said, “this pathology is not a black-and-white issue. On one end of the spectrum you have narcissists, who are most certainly empathy-challenged and self-absorbed, but not usually physically dangerous. And on the other end of the spectrum, you have the most severe psychopaths-who are extremely dangerous in every way.”

“Like Evan,” Bailey said.

“Yes,” Michael said. “And you have everything in between those two extremes.”

“But studies do show that psychopathology is on the rise,” Jenny said. “I’m not sure whether that’s because we’re better at spotting the disorder or the incidence has truly increased.”

“If it really has increased, wouldn’t that explain why there seem to be more of these mass shootings?” I asked.

“It might,” Jenny said. “But remember, not all of these shooters are psychopaths. Logan is a prime example. His pathology might never have resulted in harm to another person had he not met up with Evan.”

“You mentioned these killers live through their writings,” I said. “Then why did Evan give his writings to Amanda?”

“For posterity,” Jenny said. “Remember, he doesn’t have any illusions about his longevity on this planet, and in addition to satisfying his homicidal desires, he wants recognition, fame. By secreting those notebooks with Amanda, he was ensuring that they would survive him. He plans to die in a spectacular way, and once he does-”

“Amanda would bring out the notebooks, and everyone and his brother would want to see them,” I said. It was disgusting, but true. “You also said they love to write about their killing plans, but there aren’t any in these journals. Is it possible he did write out his plans but didn’t want to risk leaving them with Amanda?”

Michael sat forward. “Yes, that’s what we believe. He took a big risk even leaving those journals with her.”

Jenny nodded. “We think he’s keeping his plans close at hand, wherever he is.”

“Now if we just knew where that was,” Bailey said. “The problem is, he could be anywhere. Sleeping in his car, camping out under a bridge-”

“Even staying in a motel if he has a fake ID,” I said.

“But now that we put his picture out there, he’s going to have a much harder time with that option,” Bailey said.

“You have an alert out for his car?” Jenny asked.

“Of course,” I said. “And we still have one out for Logan’s car too.”

“Those cars have got to be where they stashed their weapons,” Bailey said. “If they’d been anyplace else, we’d have found them by now.”

I nodded and took a sip of coffee, though my stomach surely didn’t need the acid. “Do you think Evan will write me another letter?”

“No,” Michael said. “Tweaking you was fun. And it was a release in a sense. He could sublimate his need for recognition by savoring his access to a famous prosecutor. But now he is known. He doesn’t need that release.”

“Do you have any new ideas about what his next target might be?” I asked.

“I’d say keep looking at the big venues-but ones he’d be very familiar with,” Jenny said. “At this point he knows that his next target will likely be his last. So what he wants now is a sure thing. A place where he feels most in control.”

“And I think that means somewhere in the San Fernando Valley,” Michael said. “He can’t risk traveling, and he was here for the Cinemark shooting. So I’d guess he’s still local.”

Jenny sighed. “I know that’s still a huge amount of territory to cover-”

“It is,” Bailey said. “But we’re trying.”

We wrapped up our meeting, and as we walked to the parking lot, it started to pour. Naturally, I’d left my umbrella at the station, so by the time I got to the car, I was soaking wet. Bailey handed me some paper towels she kept in the middle console.

I wiped my face and neck, then rubbed my hair dry. “The thing is, he could’ve been preparing for his next target for the last six months-or even a year. I’ve been thinking he’d need to score another AK or AR. But he doesn’t necessarily have to use guns-”

“No. Matter of fact, I’d be surprised if he hadn’t set himself up with Molotovs, pipe bombs, the kind of thing he can build himself. And you’re right, he’s had plenty of time.”

“He’d need a place to store it all.”

“Yeah. But a car would do.” Bailey pulled out of the parking lot.

I stared out the window. “Jenny’s right. He’s not far.”

“I agree.”

Which only made the question of Evan’s whereabouts more aggravating. Worse still was the possibility that we wouldn’t have the answer until it was too late.