34 minutes left…
8:55 p.m.
While I waited for the bomb squad, I phoned the command post and told them to check for a bomb in the handicapped-accessible van, the Honda Accord that had been left in front of police headquarters, all related crime scenes, the congressman’s home, and to notify every agency working even peripherally on the task force to put them on alert.
Despite all of these steps, however, considering the way these killers worked, if they truly had left a bomb somewhere, I didn’t expect it to be someplace obvious.
No.
Misdirection all the way.
I thought of what I’d told Annette on Wednesday morning about the fourth premise of environmental criminology-progression.
With each additional crime, offenders become more efficient, learn from their mistakes, develop preferences for specific activities and behavior Endgame: 31 minutes 9 seconds
The bomb squad arrived, and after I’d passed off Mollie’s laptop I jogged inside to find out if Lien-hua had been able to locate Agents Cassidy and Farraday.
Tessa and Detective Warren faced each other, the chessboard between them
“You’re playing better tonight,” Detective Warren said.
“I’m trying to think like you.”
“Aha.”
Tessa took her time evaluating the position of the pieces on the board. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure. What’s that?”
Tessa moved her queen. “You’re Catholic, right?”
Detective Warren scrutinized the board. “I am.”
“And Catholics believe people are born evil, don’t they?”
“It’s not that simple, but-”
“Well, in sin, or whatever. Original sin.”
Detective Warren looked up from the chessboard. “We believe that people are born with a fallen nature, that all of us are in need of a Savior.” She didn’t sound defensive or preachy, but she did seem surprised by the direction the conversation was taking. “Just watch the news for ten minutes and you can see how true that is.”
Tessa was silent. Patrick’s words from last night came to mind: “ Fractures… I don’t think we can seal them… I don’t think anyone ever has…”
Detective Warren gave her attention back to the chess pieces. Slid one of her rooks to block the square Tessa had been eyeing for her queen.
“A fallen nature,” Tessa said.
“Yes.”
“So is that the difference, then, between us and other animals? That we’re fallen and they’re not? That we need a Savior and they don’t?”
Detective Warren eyed Tessa somewhat suspiciously. “This conversation isn’t some kind of ploy to make me lose my concentration on the game, is it?”
“Maybe.”
“Aha. Well… That’s one thing that makes us different, yes.” She seemed like she was going to say more, but held back.
Human beings, being human.
Following their hearts.
Tessa made her move.
Detective Warren countered.
“What about you, Tessa? What do you think makes us different?” Her thoughts cycled back to her recent reading and research. “Did you ever read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson?”
“I’ve heard of it, of course, but no, I don’t believe I’ve ever read it.”
“Well, it’s not like Dr. Jekyll is the mad scientist or something, like he’s usually portrayed. He wasn’t trying to create a monster but to isolate one.”
“To isolate one?”
“He wanted to separate his good nature from his bad. But it didn’t go so well.”
“The bad took over?”
“Pretty much. And after it got loose there was no stopping it.” Tessa moved one of her pawns. “Anyway, last night Patrick and I got talking about being true to your heart and about these guys-like the ones the Bureau is tracking this week-how, when they do these things, they’re being true to their hearts.”
“To the fallen nature. But-”
“To the fractures.”
“Fractures?”
“It’s Patrick’s thing. Anyway, if it’s true we evolved from primates, maybe we’re not different from animals at all-”
Detective Warren’s ringing cell phone interrupted her, so Tessa quickly finished her thought. “I mean, how can we not be true to who we are? How can anything act in a way that’s incongruent with its nature?”
“Incongruent with its nature.” Detective Warren tugged out her phone, looked at the screen. “Hold that thought. It’s your dad.”