Again the pause for applause. The mayor removed a stringy strand of hair from his forehead and placed it back on this top of his head. He knew where the applause breaks were in his speech, and his audience didn't let him down-they clapped long and hard, with a few cheers and whistles sprinkled in.
"And so," he continued, "I am creating a special task force to oversee the apprehension of the man known as the Slasher."
More applause. Lee looked at Chuck, standing behind the mayor, his normally impassive face grim. He shifted from one foot to the other, coughed, and looked away. He's not enjoying this, Lee thought. It was clear that his friend did not like the mayor. He wondered if the mayor knew this. If he did, he was too professional to show it.
After introducing everyone, he stepped back and clapped a hand on Chuck's shoulder. Lee saw Morton stiffen at the gesture. He managed to force out a stony smile, but Lee wasn't fooled. The mayor didn't seem to notice, though, and Lee concluded that he hadn't gotten where he was by paying attention to every little slight. Like most successful politicians, the mayor had control over his emotions in public. He managed somehow to look both serious and hopeful.
"I am confident that Captain Morton will be successful in leading the elite task force to the successful capture of this heinous criminal."
"Elite task force, huh?" Butts muttered under his breath. "Wait till the wife hears that one."
"What does this mean for us?" Lee asked Chuck later, as the three of them walked uptown, passing the Chinese merchants piling empty wooden crates and bags of garbage on the narrow curb of Mott Street, the fading sun casting a golden glow over the jumble of streets and alleyways.
"Not much. More paperwork, more of City Hall breathing down my neck, but it's really just a political gesture. He doesn't want the FBI barging in, for one thing, and so he's fluffing up his feathers and strutting around the yard a little."
"Politics," Butts said, kicking at an empty carton.
"I think I'll leave that up to the mayor," Chuck said.
"I just hope he does right by us," Lee remarked.
"What I want to know is where the hell is Nelson?" Chuck fumed. "Does he do this often?" he asked Lee. "I mean, just drop out of sight like this?"
"Since the death of his wife his behavior has been pretty unpredictable," Lee replied.
Chuck kicked at a discarded soda can on the sidewalk in front of him.
"Well, he really picked a bad time to go on a bender, if that's what he's doing."
Lee looked over his shoulder at the thin trail of sunlight dipping in and out between the buildings. He was afraid something had happened to Nelson, but he didn't want to say that to Chuck, who had enough to worry about right now. But he knew he needed to fill Morton in on what happened last night.
"The killer contacted me last night-or at least I think it was him," he said.
Chuck stopped walking.
"What? How?"
Lee told Chuck and Butts about the instant messages of the previous night, including the threat to "strike closer to home" next time.
"Wonder what he meant by that?" Butts mused.
"I've been trying to figure it out. Maybe he meant closer to me?"
"But he just did Manhattan," Butts pointed out.
"Or maybe he means his home," Chuck suggested.
"But that wouldn't make sense in terms of the patterns of most serial killers. His first victim would be the one closest to his residence. Besides, the message was meant for me."
"Jeez," said Butts, shaking his head as he stepped over a wayward garbage bag on the sidewalk.
"Can we trace him, do you think?" Lee asked Chuck.
"I'll check with the folks in the Computer Crimes Division, but I think there are ways he can hide his trail, if he's smart."
"Plus, we don't know for sure if this is him," Butts said. "Could be a copycat, a wannabe."
"True," Lee agreed, but in his heart he didn't believe it.
"I'll send the guys in Computer Crimes over later to check out your machine and see if they can trace the source of the messages," Chuck said.
"Did you get the test results from the communion wine yet?" Lee asked.
"Yeah," Chuck said. "The report came in this morning: zip, nada."
"No blood?"
"Not even very much wine. It was a pretty watered-down Zinfandel, according to the lab. That's it."
Lee couldn't decide if the Slasher was trying to throw them off, or if he was just becoming more disorganized, as the dismemberment of poor Sophia might suggest.
"What about your contact who put you in touch with that homeless guy? Anything from him lately?" Butts asked.
"No, he seems to have gone underground." The truth was that Lee was worried about Eddie too. It was unusual for him to be out of touch for this long.
But when Lee returned to his apartment, there was a message on the machine from Eddie.
"Hey there, Boss Man. Good news! I may have a real break in the case. I'll call back later. So long for now." Lee wished Eddie would call his cell phone, but Eddie hated cell phones. He didn't like answering machines either, and only grudgingly left messages on them.
Feeling relieved that Eddie was okay, Lee sat down at the piano and warmed up on a few jazz standards before tackling a new Haydn sonata. The left hand was a series of octave arpeggios, and soon the back of his hand ached from the prolonged stretching. After thirty minutes or so he took a break and poured himself a Rolling Rock. A favorite aunt of his had always kept a few cold ones for him at her house, and he bought them in memory of her.
Standing at the kitchen counter, he looked out the window, across the yard behind his apartment into the lighted windows of the neighboring building. A middle-aged couple was sitting at their kitchen table, having dinner. The man lowered his head and said something to the woman, who threw back her head and laughed, the overhead light shining on her upturned face.
Next time I'll strike closer to home.
What the hell did that mean? Closer to home…whose home?
He took a drink and felt the cold liquid slide down his throat.
Closer to home…
Suddenly it hit him: Closer to home did mean Lee's home, but not Manhattan-it was his family that was in danger! He felt like kicking himself for not realizing it sooner.
He picked up the telephone and dialed his mother's number. She answered after three rings.
"Hello?" She sounded irritated and a little sleepy. She often fell asleep watching the local news, though she would never admit it.
"Hi, Mom-it's me."
"Oh, hello, dear. Isn't it a bit late to be calling?"
Lee looked at the ceramic clock over the stove, a present from Fiona on one of her many trips to Mexico. The design was a sunburst in primary colors, with a Mayan-style face mask in the center. The time was twelve minutes after ten.
"It's not that late, Mom. It's a little after ten."
"All right," she said. "Is this something that can't wait until tomorrow? I've been up since six." That was so like her-since he had caught her asleep, it was important now for her to save face by telling him now how early she had risen.
"No, it can't wait. Is Kylie at her dad's house?"
"Of course. He picked her up when he went off shift at eight."
"Why aren't you there too? I thought I told you-"
"Don't worry," she said. "Stan's with me."
"Did they get back safely?"
"What do you mean?"
George Callahan lived about fifteen minutes away from Fiona, in Lambertville, a nearby town along the Delaware River.
"I mean, did they get back to his house okay?"
"I don't know-I suppose so. Why do you ask? What's going on?"