“What the hell are you talking about?”
“We can't sit here and wait for Aldo to come after me. I thought maybe I could find a way to draw him out in the open. But after talking to him, I realize it's going to take something pretty strong to make him lose his cool. He'll just sit and wait and I can't take that. We have to go after him.”
“We are going after him,” Joe said sharply. “Why do you think I've been spending eighteen hours a day at the precinct? We're gathering information, we're sifting evidence, we're collating. We'll get there.”
“And it's driving you crazy. That's not the way you like to operate,” Jane said. “You want to go after him, too.”
“It's safer this way.”
“He's not in any hurry. He thinks he's found Cira and he's willing to wait for his opportunity. It could take years of cat-and-mouse. I'm not giving him my years. I want to live them to the hilt.” She turned to Eve. “I think I know a way to bring him out in the open, if you'll help me.”
“How?”
At least they were listening. “Wait just a moment.” She headed for the front door. “I called Trevor last night and told him to come here.” She gestured to Trevor, who was standing outside talking to Bartlett. “We'll need him.”
“You told Trevor about this before you talked to us?” Joe asked.
She shook her head. “That wouldn't have been fair. He just knows that I'm ready.”
“Ready for what?” Joe asked.
“Easy,” Eve said quietly. “Listen, Joe. She's trying to tell us.”
“It could work,” Jane said. “I know it could work.” She turned to Trevor, who had just come into the room. “Tell Joe that we haven't been conspiring behind his back.”
Trevor shrugged. “I came because I got the royal summons. I gave her the list she wanted and she sent me on my way.”
“What list?”
Trevor nodded at Jane. “Over to you.”
“Aldo is a computer geek. It's the one interest Trevor found he had a passion for other than his acting. Trevor gave me a list of the sites he noticed Aldo frequenting most often.”
“Give it to me.”
“I will. After I finish.” She turned back to Eve. “But Aldo's overwhelming passion is his desire to revenge himself on Cira.”
“You mean on all her look-alikes.”
“It's still Cira in his mind.”
“So?”
“What if he had a chance to revenge himself on the real Cira?”
Eve frowned. “What?”
“As well as skeletons there were bodies found almost perfectly preserved at Pompeii and Herculaneum. What if he found out that they'd unearthed an anteroom off the theater at Herculaneum and discovered the skeleton of a woman who'd been killed the day of the eruption?”
“Cira?”
Trevor gave a low whistle. “Holy shit.”
“Trevor, you said there were several statues of Cira commissioned by Julius. Considering how famous she was, it wouldn't be too unlikely that there would be one of her found in the anteroom of the theater where she died. Wouldn't mention of a statue immediately pique Aldo's interest?”
“Absolutely.”
“Of course, we couldn't announce the discovery right away. We'd have to leak the information to make sure it was believable.”
“How?” Eve asked.
“Use the Web sites I furnished her,” Trevor said. “Three were newspapers. One was an archaeology magazine. I believe she's hinting that I do a little manipulation of the content.”
“And you're so good at that,” Joe said sarcastically.
“He might need your help,” Jane said. “We wouldn't want him to be caught and have them issue a retraction. But if you could have the local police quiet any protests from the publisher we'd be safe.”
“And why would he go after the bones of a dead woman when he could go after you?” Eve asked.
“He smashed a statue of her in effigy even before he started killing those women. He told me he thought he'd destroyed her when he blew that tunnel. But he's lived with her image too long, she's still alive for him.” She paused. “And when I was talking to him I realized why. It's her face. Whenever he sees a face that resembles hers, it triggers memories and then it triggers the killings. He can't stand even the chance of seeing her face, having it exist somewhere in the world. What if we rubbed his ugly mug in that phobia? What if we made Cira a household name? What if he couldn't pick up a newspaper or switch on a TV without seeing Cira? What if she became as famous as Nefertiti?”
“Jackpot,” Trevor murmured.
“I hope.” She grimaced. “And one of his favorite Internet sites is a porn site dealing with necrophilia. It's not unreasonable to assume he'd jump at the chance to humiliate her in that way.”
Eve shuddered. “It's difficult to believe he could—” She shook her head. “What a beast.”
“But we have to make sure it's a temptation he can't resist.” Jane paused again. “We've got to make it a doubleheader.”
Eve stiffened. “Go on.”
“I have to be there. Cira and I have to be together.”
“No!” Joe said.
Eve was studying her expression. “Why?”
“Because I'm not certain the draw of Cira present isn't stronger than Cira past. But if we're together, then he'll feel he can gather us both in one swoop. He can destroy Cira's remains once and for all and kill me.”
“And he'll consider it a threat that Jane is going to the place where Cira's bones were found,” Trevor said. “After the reconstruction it would magnify the story and get more publicity, more faces in the media.”
“Reconstruction,” Eve repeated slowly.
“I didn't mention it to him,” Jane said quickly. “He just followed my line of thought.”
“And now I'm following it,” Eve said. “Elaborate.”
“You're the key. You'd be the final threat to turn Cira into a world-famous image if you did a reconstruction on the skeleton.”
“Go on.”
“How many times have you been invited to do a forensic reconstruction by foreign governments and museums? It wouldn't be too far out to have them come knocking on your door to verify that the skeleton is Cira's.”
Trevor nodded. “And that you'd go, considering the fact that Aldo will know I told you that Cira was his motivation.”
“And we all know what your motivation is, Trevor,” Joe said dryly.
“And you should be glad it's so strong,” Trevor said. “You'll be going into my territory and you'll need all the help you can get.”
“Your territory?”
“The art of the con.” Trevor smiled. “A very big, complicated, twisted con.”
“And you're looking forward to it.”
“You bet your life.” He said to Eve, “But Jane's right, it will all revolve around you. There has to be a thread of truth in any lie to make it believable and you're our thread.”
“Should I be flattered?”
“Do you think I'm stupid? I know better than to try to butter you up. I'm just stating the way I see it.”
Eve was silent a moment. “You think it will work?”
“I think it has a chance. Jane's hit on a way to use Aldo's obsession. Providing it's presented to him in the right way.”
“And that's your job?”
“I can't think of anyone more qualified.”
“Neither can I,” Jane said. “That's why you're here.”
“It sounds damn chancy to me,” Joe said.
“I don't care what it sounds like,” Jane said. “As long as it gives us a chance to draw Aldo out of the shadows.”
“And exactly what are we going to do once we get the bastard's attention?”
Jane shook her head. “We'll have to play it by ear and work it out. But no matter how difficult it is to find a way to trap him, we're still a step ahead. We'll have the advantage as long as he thinks we have something he wants. He wants Cira and he wants me. He'll be playing on our ball field and there's a chance we can catch him in a mistake if we can make him frantic enough.” She couldn't read Joe's expression, dammit. She added persuasively, “It's what you were trying to do when you were following him to Charlotte and Richmond, wasn't it? Only this will knock him off-balance. It will give us a chance and, in the end, it will be safest for me.”