"There is not going to be no mystery in Dallas murders, I promise you,” Parker said.
"There's never any mystery," Brown said.
"That I know. But what I'm saying, this is to be even less of a mystery than there usually Especially since it's Texas.”
"Love or money," Meyer said. "Those are only two reasons for murder.”
"That's why there are no mysteries, is what I'm saying," Brown said.
"Tell me all about it," Parker said. "But what I'm saying is the only mystery here is who the guy is.
What he is, is a crazy.”
“That's the third reason," Kling said.
"Lunacy.”
"There's nothing mysterious about any lunatic in the world," Parker said. "This thing in Dallas is gonna turn out to be just what the newspapers and the TV are saying it is, I'll bet you a hundred bucks.
It's a crazy running around killing blondes. That's all it is. When they catch this guy, he'll be nuttier than a Hershey bar, you wait and see.”
Carella wasn't particularly eager to tackle the priest's papers. Hawes had gone downtown directly after they'd left the Lund apartment, heading for Ballistics where he was trying to pry loose a report a gun used in an armed robbery. This meant that now had to wade through all this stuff by F. The papers were in several large manila lopes marked EVIDENCE. The papers s, however, were not evidence per se, in the prints lifted from them had already been :1 and filed downtown. Without the prints, the were merely papers, which might or might contain information.
But the Police Department had a lot of manila of various sizes, all of them printed with Word EVIDENCE, and a cop was likely as not to one of these envelopes whenever he wanted to send or take something someplace, even if something was a ham sandwich he planned to for lunch. So whoever had examined these the lab had later stuffed them into seven EVIDENCE envelopes, and then had stamped,: envelopes RUSH, and further stamped them MESSENGER because a priest had been this city with an Irish-Catholic police and then had wrapped the little red strings little red buttons, and here they were on desk alongside another EVIDENCE envelope did in fact contain a ham sandwich he planned for lunch.
He hated paperwork.
This was a whole hell of a lot of paperwork desk.
The clock on the wall read ten minutes to "What this is," Brown said, "is a guy mother was a blonde, she used to lock him closet every day 'cause he wet the bed. So now got a thing about blondes. He thinks all blondes his mother. So he's got to kill every blonde in world before one of them locks him in the again.”
"Like I said," Parker said.
"My mother is blonde," Kling said.
"Did she lock you in the closet every day?”
"She chained me in the basement.”
"Because you wet the bed?”
"I still wet the bed.”
“He thinks he's kidding," Parker said.
"What this thing in Texas is," Kling said, "is a guy who has a blonde wife he hates. So first he kills the two blondes he already did, then the next one'll be his wife, and he'll kill two more blondes after that, and everybody'll think it's a crazy blonde-hater doing the murders. When instead it's just this little guy, he's an accountant or something, his wife is a big fat blonde he's been married to for forty years, he can't stand her, he has to get rid of her.”
"No, I don't think this is no smoke screen," Parker said.
Carella figured he'd sooner or later have to dig into this mound of stuff here on his desk. It was just that it looked so formidable. All those envelopes full of papers. Stalling, he picked up the phone and dialed the lieutenant's extension.
"How do you feel?" Byrnes asked.
"What do you mean?”
"Your headache.”
"All gone.”
"The P.C. was on television this morning," said.
"Yes, I know.”
"A speech for every occasion, right? So what do think? Any leads yet?”
"Not yet. I just got the priest's papers, there's a lot stuff to look at here.”
"What kind of papers?”
"Correspondence, sermons, bills, like that.”
"Any diary?”
"Not according to the lab inventory.”
“Too bad," Byrnes said, and then hesitated said, "Steve..." and hesitated again and finally "I'd like to be able to tell the Commissio something soon.”
"I understand.”
"So let me know the minute anything good.”
"I will.”
"It was probably some kind of bug," Byrnes "the headache.”
And hung up.
Carella put his own phone back on the cradle, looked at all those unopened evidence again. The pile hadn't diminished one damn bit.
decided to go to the Clerical Office for a coffee. When he got back to his own desk, they still talking about the murders in Dallas.
"You want to know what I think it is?" said.
"What is it, Genero?”
"It's the full moon, is what it is.”
“Yes, Genero, thank you," Parker said. "Go the hall and take a pee, okay?”
"It's a known fact that when there's a moon. “
"What has the full moon got to do with "Nothing. But...”
"Then what the fucka you talkin' about?”
"I'm saying in the same week there's two dead blondes is what I'm saying. And there happens to be a full moon this week.”
"There is no such thing as a full moon that lasts a whole week," Parker said. "And also, what makes you think a full moon here in this city means there's also a full moon in Dallas, Texas, where this fuckin' lunatic is killin' these blondes?”
"It's a known fact," Genero said, "that there was a full moon on Monday when the first blonde turned up. And the moon was still pretty full last night when the second blonde turned up.”
"Go take your pee, willya?”
Carella looked at all the evidence bags and which one he should open first. He looked up at the clock. Almost a quarter past one. He could not think of a single other thing that might keep him starting the paperwork. So he opened the bag the ham sandwich in it.
Alternately chewing on his sandwich and sipping his coffee, he began browsing no sense into icy-cold water all at once ... through the papers in the first envelope. From the list on the outside of the envelope by someone at the lab whose initials were - and through his own corroboration of the the first envelope contained only bills, canceled and check stubs. The checks were printed the heading St. Catherine's Roman Catholic Corporation, and beneath that Michael Birney, PSCCA. All of the bills were for Father Birney had incurred as parish priest.
were bills and consequent checks for electricity... and fuel oil... and snow plowing... and food... and postage... and salaries... Martha Hennessy, for example, got a check week for $224.98 after deductions of $21.02 FICA and $34.00 for Federal Withholding Kristin Lund got a check every other week $241.37 after deductions of $21.63 for FICA $25.00 for Federal Withholding Tax... "You want to know what this is?" Meyer "This is a guy who went out with this blonde, “
Marie, whatever her name was... "Matilda," Parker said. "The first one.”
"Matilda, and it was a first date, and he score but she turned him down.
So he got so off, he killed her. Then last night...”
"Where'd you get Mary or Marie?" Brown "When the woman's name was Matilda?”
"What difference does it make what her was? She's dead. The point is...”
"I'm just curious how you got Mary Matilda?”
"I made it up, okay?”
"You musta.” ... and telephone bills, and bills service and a local garage, and bills for the church's missalettes, and mortgage bills, and bills for maintenance of the church grounds, and medical insurance bills, and newspaper delivery bills, and bills for flowers for the altar, and dozens of other bills, all of which Father Michael paid like clockwork on the first and the fifteenth of every month. There were very few bills for personal clothing, and these for relatively small amounts. The ;gest such item was for a new down parka at two :d and twenty-seven dollars; it had been a winter.