Hollow Man (26 page)

There is such a thing as the perfect crime, and I'll tell you what it is. The perfect crime is one where you get to keep the proceeds. It's one where you get to watch the press and police go into a frenzy because they can't catch you. And it's one where the police eventually get their man. Of course, to be the perfect crime, the man they get has to be (a) guilty and (b) not you. I learned that lesson at a small boarding school in the highlands of Scotland, a simple lesson that played itself out for the first time when I dreamed up a scheme to short-sheet another kid's bed, and my accomplices shouldered all the blame. It was a lesson that stuck.

Just like at my boarding school, once the police and press had their teeth sunk deep into Tristan and the dead Otto, I was all but ignored. The idea of a district attorney's employee and a former cop killing two people in a stagecoach-style robbery was too much for the press. They slathered over every detail, of which I was one. Naturally, I overplayed my hand a few times, but the general
impression stuck: I was the guy who'd almost been framed but who'd gone undercover to snare the mastermind behind the plan and captured him in a fight to the death in our apartment. Detective Ledsome never corrected the details I put out there, and occasionally I wondered whether she had a few doubts and was hoping I'd open my mouth a little too wide one day.

The result of my media appearances, which featured the reluctant but always-available-for-an-interview hero, meant that getting gigs in Austin was a cinch. The fact that Gus wasn't around seemed to help on that score because there was no one to complain about the stolen songs I was playing. I had club owners begging me to play and, in fact, they were so desperate they offered to pay me an appearance fee. Once the first had done that, the others had to follow and I, quite literally, laughed all the way to the bank. Even Marley called and, timidly, asked if I could play at his place. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, of course, but instead I said “Sure” and doubled my appearance fee. I hadn't forgiven him, it wasn't that. No, I just hadn't decided on the appropriate punishment for him and, until I did, I figured I should keep him close, nice and grateful and trusting.

The cash from the heist came to slightly under $96,000. When I supplemented it with the music money, I was able to go part-time at the DA's office. I could have gone back to trial court, but I hung on to my gig in the juvenile division because I wanted to keep an eye out for Bobby. Not just because I wanted to keep my hands on his sister, no it was more than that. Bobby and I knew a thing or two about each other, and that knowledge had fostered a mutual, unspoken détente. I liked to remind him of my usefulness by scrubbing his cases, and he was always polite and outwardly grateful. It was in my own interests, of course, not his, that I took risks to keep his record clear, because it's an absolute truth that if you cross paths with a psychopath, you have two choices: either get out of the way entirely, or stay on his good side.

And that lesson, I'm very well aware, applies as much to me as it does to anyone else.

Several people inspired me to write this book, and plenty more helped me put it together. To Juan de Kruyff for the true story that sparked my imagination, a tale told during a wonderful ski vacation several years ago. And to the real girl in a green dress, I don't recall your name and you have no idea that I, or this book, even exist but I hope your life turned around and you are in a better place.

My thanks to Dr. Stephen Thorne and to M. E. Thomas for all the help on the matter of sociopathy and psychopathy, which was absolutely invaluable. To Doug Skolaut and Tim Hoppock of the Austin Police Department for their assistance, filling in the gaps of my knowledge on police procedure and criminal investigations. And thanks to Michelle Pierce and Kevin Lance for their tips on music and how the music business works.

Thanks as always to the publishing professionals in my life, especially Dan Mayer and Jill Maxick, and my agent, Ann Collette. And finally to my wife, Sarah, and the three beautiful people who make us so happy, Nicola, Henry, and Natalie.

Mark Pryor is a former newspaper reporter from England and now a prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, in Austin, Texas.

He is the author of five novels in the Hugo Marston series, which are set in Paris, London, and Barcelona. The first,
The Bookseller
, was a
Library Journal
Debut of the Month and was called “unputdownable” by
Oprah.com
. The sixth is due to be released in 2016. Mark is also the creator of the nationally recognized true-crime blog
D. A. Confidential
and has appeared on CBS News's
48 Hours
and Discovery Channel's
Discovery ID: Cold Blood
.