The Tower

Chapter 26

After Leah slid her hand into the noose of the tape so that it gathered around her wrist, she worked it back and forth for what seemed like hours. Robbie whimpered as the tape chafed his skin.

Finally, it had stretched enough to allow Leah to slide her sweat-lubricated hand through, freeing it. She ripped the tape from around her eyes and left it dangling from her hair. After yanking on the remaining tape around her waist, she pulled out her other arm. Once she had both arms free, she kicked off her shoes and slid out of her pants rather than trying to extricate them from the coils of tape. She stood, feeling pins and needles through her legs, and pulled the tape from around Robbie's head.

His blue eyes watered as he squinted in the light.

"Before I untie you all the way, I'm gonna go get help, okay?"

Robbie was too weary to scream that he wanted to go with her, so he bit his lip and nodded as the tears began to spill down his cheeks.

Clad only in her shirt and underwear, Leah tiptoed down the carpeted hallway. As she rounded the corner to the living room, she screamed and sank to the floor, landing on her rear. Immediately, her legs began churning, backing her to the wall, away from the horror that lay in front of her.

The corpses of her parents lay grotesquely intertwined. The empty holes of their eye sockets gazed blankly at her like those of the skeletons she had seen on the pirate ride at Disneyland. Her mother's stomach had been cut open, and there was blood splattered everywhere-all over the walls, on the white blinds, on the fireplace and mantel, seeping into the carpet.

Smeared across the window overlooking the beach were the letters "S N E." The blood had crusted already, and was beginning to flake.

Leah ran back down the hallway to her room screaming, "Don't look, Robbie!Don't look at it! Don't look?"

The dam of Robbie's emotions broke when he heard the panic in his sister's voice, and fear overwhelmed him. He sobbed with complete abandon, twisting on the bed, his face swollen and red.

Leah ran screaming into the room and pulled the tape from her hair, not even noticing the sting as it yanked a clump from its roots. She fell on top of Robbie and stuck the tape over his eyes. The scream kept coming, "Don't be scared, Robbie! Just don't look! Don't look!"

Then she ran back down the hallway, closing her eyes when she again passed the room in which her parents lay. Feeling the rest of the way with her hands, she reached the kitchen and called 911.

It was quiet and the dimmed green lamps glowed across the dark wooden bookcases. The occasional clicking of footsteps was all that interrupted the perfect silence of the Josephine Public Library.

Allander's book list was set evenly in a black folder. Jade pulled it out, placed it on the big oak desk, and reviewed it again. He was amazed by its contents. Though the Tower restricted reading, Allander had checked out an incredible range of books during his time at Maingate proper. Library resources were unlimited at the main prison; officials even borrowed books from local libraries if the prisoners requested them.

It seemed Allander had read everything: Victorian literature, biographies of composers, art theory, legal journals, historical analyses. He had also read a number of computer journals, Jade noted. Even from within prison, Allander was trying to keep up with modern technology, probably so he could be self-sufficient if he ever escaped.

He scanned the rest of the list, his finger running down the page. One author's name appeared over and over: Sigmund Freud.

At first he didn't think it was so unusual; the study of psychology was encouraged because of Maingate's association with the Ressler Institute. But as Jade glanced down the page, he realized that Allander must have read Freud's entire canon. The materials by and about Freud far outnumbered those of any other author.

Lacking a familiarity with some of the works listed, Jade asked the librarian for help. "I need a brushup on Freud. I've read him before, but I was hoping I could get something like a summary."

"I should recommend a reader," the librarian said. "Peter Gay edited one. He's fantastic on biography and-"

"Peter Gay. Good." Jade turned and left.

He found the suggested reader after spending a few minutes poking around the dusty shelves. He also grabbed Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. He settled into an armchair by a window and didn't move for an hour and a half as he leafed through the books.

Much of Allander's recorded interview came into focus as Jade read. One piece of the puzzle fell into place almost immediately. The first footnote he came across stated that Freud's given names were Sigismund Schlomo. Freud was the "Doctor Schlomo" Allander had spoken of on the tape. He had been taunting his psychologist, daring him to discover the hidden clues.

Jade had already recognized some of Allander's language as Freudian, but now he uncovered more of its meaning. For example, Allander had expressed disdain for sublimation. "What I carve, I'll carve in flesh. What I write, I'll write in blood," he had said. He felt that his art was reality; by his art, he meant his violence. Instead of sublimating his violent tendencies into something productive or healthy, he prided himself on acting them out. While others distracted themselves with fantasies, he alone indulged his true self. His way was more real, he thought, more courageous.

So what was it he admitted? What did he need or want to act out?

On the tapes, Allander had talked about something that's "there in every little boy." The Oedipal complex? The complex, like the myth, was certainly filled with sexual violence.

Jade jotted notes down on a pad. He'd have to run a lot of this by a psychologist when he got a chance. Setting down his notes, Jade stood up and cracked his back all the way up from the base. He stretched his arms over his head as he walked back to the front desk.

"Where's a phone?" he asked the librarian.

"There isn't a public phone in the building," the man replied, folding his thin arms across his chest.

Jade looked down over the counter at the white phone in front of him. He pointed at it.

"I'm sorry. No public use."

Jade flipped his badge open as he reached across the counter and grabbed the phone. "Yeah, well I'm not the public."

"Goddamnit! Where is he? Why hasn't he checked in?" Travers circled the conference room, eyeing the telephone that sat silently on the middle of the table.

McGuire looked over at her. "He said something about going to the library."

"Well, that's helpful. We're knee deep in shit and he's off reading books."

McGuire raised a finger. "I told you, we need to cooperate," he said sternly. He grabbed his briefcase and checked his watch. "You keep an eye out. I gotta run home. The boys have a baseball game."

He walked out of the room, then stuck his head back through the doorway. "As soon as you hear from him, I want him to go over to the crime scene to see those kids."

"I know, I know," Travers yelled down the hall after McGuire. "He needs to-"

The telephone rang, the shrill sound echoing off the walls.

Travers grabbed it before the first ring ended. "Marlow, where've you been?!"

"I missed you, too, Agent Travers. Where's McGuire?"

"Actually, he's at his kids' baseball game. Think you can lower yourself to talk to me?"

"I'll try."

"Well, while you were out, Atlasia committed two more murders and held two children captive."

"Fuck! You got him?" Jade grimaced at the thought of missing out on the capture.

"Glad to see your priorities are in place," Travers said sarcastically. "No, we didn't get him. He tied up a little girl. She freed herself to call nine-one-one after he left."

"He tied her?" Jade sounded surprised.

"Well, he taped her," Travers replied.

Jade pushed his hair out of his eyes as he adjusted the phone on his shoulder. "Yeah, that figures. He was tied himself. He wouldn't re-create that experience. Not with the same constraint. He'd adapt it and make it his own."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Where's the hospital? I'm there first, then I'll check the scene."

"St. Mary's. And Jade these kids are traumat-"

Travers heard the dial tone and let her breath out in a hot rush. She had to get over to St. Mary's to protect the children from Jade.