“Yes. Tommy Campbell was alive when his penis was removed and alive when his flesh was stitched back together. That means The Michelangelo Killer wanted him to see what he had become and thus wanted him to understand the true nature of his rebirth.”
“He had already killed then, Sam,” Cathy said suddenly. “When he sent me the sonnet-The Michelangelo Killer had already murdered Gabe Banford months earlier.”
“Yes, Cathy. So maybe the quotes and the sonnets were more than just an attempt to make contact with you. Maybe The Michelangelo Killer was not only telling you he understood, but also was trying to say ‘thank you’ in a way for showing him why he wanted to murder Banford, for showing him his true purpose-a purpose that he simply stumbled upon in what he must have seen as a stroke of divine providence.”
Cathy felt a shiver run across her back, but what Sam Markham said next terrified her more than her thoughts of the faceless Michelangelo Killer.
“I was wrong about this guy, Cathy. I was wrong about the timeline, about when the goat was killed in relation to the murder of Michael Wenick, and thus about the killer’s progression from animals to humans. It’s something that I should have seen from the beginning, simply because it would have made more practical sense for the killer-and forgive me for putting it this way-to get the top half of his satyr first, and then fit the bottom half, the goat legs, onto it. What I’m saying is, The Michelangelo Killer was already confident enough in his technique of ‘sculpting’ the bodies of his victims before he abducted Wenick and Campbell -bodies that he intended to put on public display. That I didn’t see the obvious practicality of acquiring Wenick first was an amateur mistake on my part, clouded by the fact that this Michelangelo Killer’s modus operandi is unlike any we’ve ever seen. It’s why I need you on this case with me, Cathy, why I need your insight into the mind of Michelangelo to help me get into the mind of this killer.”
“I’ll do what I can to help you, Sam,” said Cathy-the words falling from her lips before she had time to think.
“Thank you,” said Markham. There was a long silence-the low hum of the Trailblazer’s tires the only sound.
“You mentioned something a moment ago,” Cathy said finally. “You said the killer was already confident in his technique of sculpting. Are you saying, Sam, that you think The Michelangelo Killer might have even more victims? That he might have killed others in the five-and-a-half-year gap between Gabriel Banford and Michael Wenick-others that he used simply to experiment and develop his technique? Like an artist?”
“I hope I’m wrong, Cathy, but I can’t get the pictures from your book out of my mind-the pictures of Michelangelo’s early sculptures; the reliefs and the smaller statues that he made before he broke onto the scene with his first life-size sculpture, his Bacchus. And even though serial killers usually have what’s called a ‘cooling off’ period, even though this Michelangelo Killer is a very calculated and patient man, five and a half years seems like a long time for him to merely jump from a murder like Banford’s to the type we see with Campbell and Wenick. Yes, it’s important that his victims looked like the figures in Michelangelo’s Bacchus, but if we take into account what happened to Banford-and, as I suspect, what also happened to Campbell-of equal, perhaps even more importance is the awakening of the figures themselves, not just the public’s interpretation of their deeper message. My only hope is that-since this guy is so patient, since he is so obsessed with detail that he was willing to risk murdering a public figure like Tommy Campbell for his Bacchus-he might not have wanted to risk being caught while experimenting on other victims.”
“Then Gabriel Banford might have been an experiment, too.”
“Either that, yes, or as I suspect, part of a larger plan yet unformed. We might never know if Banford was The Michelangelo Killer’s first murder, but from what Rachel Sullivan’s investigation into the criminal databases has told us thus far, it most likely was the first in which he used epinephrine-no records going back over the last ten years list a suspicious death due to an overdose of epinephrine.”
“But if The Michelangelo Killer did indeed develop his technique like an artist,” Cathy said, “if he has experimented with the use of adrenaline and the preservation of other bodies over the last few years in secret, there could be no way of telling how many people he killed before Campbell and Wenick, before the creation of his Bacchus.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, Cathy. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Chapter 18
The FBI Field Office. Boston. Ten minutes past ten.
Bill Burrell sat at the conference table scowling into his coffee. He needed a smoke-needed it bad-but did not want to step outside and risk missing the linkup with Quantico. Markham and the art history professor were running a little late-an accident on the inbound artery, Sullivan had told him. A little luck, Burrell thought, as the Boston office was having an embarrassing bit of interference with their video feed that day-something about sunspots, his tech guy had said, or a faulty coaxial cable. Either way, Burrell was not in the mood to be understanding. No, the briefing from Rachel Sullivan that morning-the news about Gabriel Banford, about the adrenaline link-did not sit well with him. And the SAC knew instinctively that the upcoming teleconference with Quantico would be no better, for whereas Sam Markham was still holding out hope that the FBI had only three victims on their hands, Bulldog Burrell had a bad feeling that this son of a bitch Michelangelo Killer had more than just the blood of Banford, Wenick, and Campbell on his.
“Sorry, Bill,” said Markham, entering. “Had to stop by in-processing to get the paperwork started for Dr. Hildebrant. Cathy, you remember Special Agent in Charge Bill Burrell?”
There were others seated around the large conference table, but only Burrell and Rachel Sullivan rose to greet her.
“Yes, of course,” Cathy said. “A pleasure to see you again. And you, too, Special Agent Sullivan.”
“Call me Rachel.”
“And you can call me Bill,” said Burrell. “Please, be seated.”
An FBI agent to whom Cathy was introduced-and whose name she immediately forgot-vacated his seat for her at the far end of the table, and Cathy and Markham took their places across from Burrell and Sullivan-a large video screen on the wall before them. Cathy suddenly noticed another man on all fours-his rear poking out of a closet that seamlessly blended in with the rest of the walnut paneled walls.
“You’ll have to forgive us,” began Burrell, “but we’re having a bit of technical difficulties this morning. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee or something?”
“No thank you. Sam-I mean, Special Agent Markham already offered.”
“Then he already briefed you on what to expect today?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Good,” said Burrell. “First off then, on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation I would like to officially welcome you on board. I want to also thank you personally for all your help thus far, and for agreeing to work with us as we move forward on this case. You’ve been an invaluable asset to us in developing the profile for this killer, Cathy. I assume that, on your ride up from Providence, Sam here brought you up to date on where things stand at this point? Told you about the development regarding your former student Gabriel Banford, and the possibility of his being linked to this psychopath the press is calling The Michelangelo Killer?”
“Yes.”
“Rachel here is overseeing that end of things. She will be working on the Banford case file with the hopes of finding a more concrete link between him and the killer-mutual acquaintances, Internet records from the postings on Craigslist, that kind of thing. Her team will also be looking into all the unsolved missing person cases in Rhode Island and its immediate vicinity dating from the Banford murder to the present-cases involving other young men who this Michelangelo Killer might have abducted and experimented with before he got to Wenick and Campbell.”