The Night Stalker (47 page)

‘A great place to keep an eye out for any female painter or musician who reminded him of his mother,’ Hunter added.

‘And here’s the surprise fact,’ Garcia again. ‘The St Michael’s Hospice building . . . he owns it.’

‘
Owns
it?’ The captain’s stare jumped from detective to detective.

Garcia nodded. ‘Bought it a year ago, eight years after a fire destroyed it.’ He shrugged. ‘What was left of the building was just rotting away. Nobody wanted it, least of all the old owners. He got the whole thing for two thousand bucks. The building was way too far out of town to be crawling with teenagers, drug addicts and drifters. A perfect isolated location. Nobody ever went up there. Few people even knew it existed.’

‘What I don’t get,’ the captain said, ‘is why he didn’t kill his victims at the hospice? Why take them somewhere else?’

‘Because no matter what, they still reminded him of his mother,’ Hunter said. ‘Despite his anger for what he considered her betrayal, his love for her was undeniable.’

‘And that’s why he created those trigger mechanisms,’ Garcia added. ‘So he didn’t have to be there when they died. A sort of detachment.’

‘Exactly,’ Hunter agreed.

‘He still could’ve done that at the hospice,’ Captain Blake pushed. ‘He could’ve locked them in a room and left them to their fate.’

‘If he did, he’d still have to deal with their dead bodies,’ Hunter explained. ‘Re-enter the room, dispose of them . . . His brain couldn’t cope with the emotion of seeing someone who reminded him so much of his mother dead.’

‘The easiest way to avoid all that,’ Garcia concluded, ‘leave them to their fate somewhere else.’

Captain Blake gently brought her fingers to her swollen lips. ‘So the psychiatrists will have a field day with him.’

‘More like a summer camp,’ Garcia came back. ‘The kind of traumatized mind he’s got is the stuff of dreams for criminal behavior psychologists.’

The captain’s eyes searched for Hunter’s. He nodded.

‘So after killing six people, this monster will probably end up in a psychiatric institution instead of getting the death penalty,’ Captain Blake said, shaking her head. ‘As always, we bust our asses to catch the crazy psychos out there, and the goddamn lawyers and the state let them loose.’

‘He ain’t going loose, Captain,’ Hunter said.

‘You know what I mean, Robert.’ The captain paused and looked at the flowers Hunter had brought her. Her lips almost broke into a smile, but she held it back.

‘How did you know?’ Hunter asked. ‘How did you know where you were?’

Captain Blake explained about how she was abducted, how she pretended to have breathed in large amounts of ether, and her attempt to break away when they got to the hospice.

‘When I started running towards the road, I saw the hospice’s old sign. I guess I was lucky he decided to make that video. I was afraid I hadn’t moved my lips enough for you to be able to read them. I thought he’d see me doing it, so I pretended to be disoriented and moved my lips incoherently, throwing the words in as I did it.’

‘Great thinking,’ Hunter admitted.

‘It saved my life.’

Garcia smiled.

‘What are you smiling at?’ Captain Blake said, glaring at him.

‘I just realized that this is the first time that at the end of a big case I’m not the one with my face all smashed in.’

‘Well, that can be easily arranged,’ she replied, giving him the evil eye.

‘Nope, I like my face like this,’ Garcia said. The smile didn’t go away.

Everyone went quiet for a moment.

‘Thank you,’ the captain finally said, looking at Hunter.

Hunter tilted his head in his partner’s direction. ‘Carlos saved us all when he came up with the flare idea.’

‘Well, somebody had to think of something,’ Garcia said.

There was a knock at the door and a nurse popped her head through the door.

‘OK now, that’s enough for today. You must all leave Miss Blake to rest,’ she said, her gaze settling on Hunter.

‘Rest?’ Captain Blake shot back almost laughing. ‘Honey, if you think that I’m gonna spend another night in here, you’re the one who needs a doctor.’

‘The doctor said you should spend at least another twenty-four hours in here under observation,’ the nurse replied.

‘Do I look like a woman who needs to be observed?’

Hunter lifted both hands in the air and looked at Garcia. ‘We’ve gotta go anyway. We’ll leave you two to sort this out.’

‘There’s nothing to sort out,’ the captain blurted. ‘I ain’t spending another night in here. And that’s final.’ She could have killed the nurse with her look.

Hunter paused by the door and whispered in the nurse’s ear. ‘I suggest you sedate her.’

‘Oh don’t worry, sugar-lips, I was already warned about her.’ She tapped her right breast pocket and winked at Hunter. ‘I have a needle with her name on it.’ She studied Hunter’s face for a moment. ‘Would you like me to have a look at those cuts and bruises, sweet pie? It looks like you might need a stitching job.’

Hunter and Garcia exchanged a quick look.

‘I’ll be fine.’ Hunter shook his head.

‘Are you sure? I’m very good with needle and thread.’

‘Positive,’ they both said in unison.