The Executioner

Thirteen

Clear skies made the night feel even colder. Hunter zipped up his leather jacket while Captain Bolter pulled a Felipe Power cigar from his jacket pocket. ‘Want one?’ he offered.

‘No, thanks.’

‘C’mon, it’s my leaving do. You should try one.’

‘I’ll stick with Scotch.’ Hunter raised his glass. ‘Those things make me dizzy.’

‘You sound like a big girl.’

Hunter laughed. ‘A girl who kicked your ass in the shooting range.’

Captain Bolter’s turn to laugh. ‘You know that I let you win on Friday, don’t you?’

‘Of course you did.’

‘I’ll take one of those.’

Hunter and the captain turned to face the man standing behind them. In his early sixties, Doctor Jonathan Winston, the Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner, was dressed in an expensive-looking dark Italian suit with a white shirt and a conservative blue tie.

‘Jonathan!’ Captain Bolter said, already retrieving another cigar and handing it to the doctor.

‘You look like you just came from church, doc,’ Hunter said with a smile.

Doctor Winston lit up his cigar, took a long drag and blew the smoke out slowly. ‘From what I’ve heard, so have you.’

Hunter’s smile faded fast.

‘I’ve heard about this morning,’ the captain said in a more ominous tone. ‘By the look on your face, I can tell you don’t think this was a random killing, do you?’

Robert shook his head.

‘Religious hate?’

‘We don’t know yet, captain. There are some clues that point to a religious motive, or a religious psycho, but it’s too early to say.’

‘What do you have?’

‘At this point the only thing we know for sure is that the killer was extremely brutal, probably ritualistic.’

Hunter’s split-second hesitation was quickly picked up by Captain Bolter. ‘C’mon, Robert, I know you. There’s something else bothering you.’

Hunter sipped his Scotch and breathed in sharply. ‘They talked.’

‘Who talked? The priest and the killer?’

Hunter nodded.

‘How do you know that?’ the doctor asked.

‘The body was found a few feet from the confessional. Both doors were open and so was the small window on the partition that separates the two small cubicles.’ He paused for a second. ‘In the Catholic Church when a confessor is done confessing his sins and is given his penance, the priest always closes the partition window. Something about symbolizing that the door has been shut on those sins and the person’s been forgiven.’

‘Are you Catholic?’ Doctor Winston asked.

‘No, I just read a lot.’

Captain Bolter moved his cigar to the right edge of his mouth. ‘So you think the killer confessed before…’ He shook his head, giving Hunter a chance to fill in the blank.

‘Dragging the priest out of his cubicle and decapitating him.’

The captain closed his eyes, threw his head back and let out a slow and heartfelt sigh. ‘Forgive me, father, for I’ll rip your head off.’

‘Something like that.’

‘We all know what that means,’ the doctor said, taking another puff on his cigar.

‘That this is just the beginning,’ Captain Bolter said. ‘And if we don’t catch up with this killer soon, he’ll claim another victim.’