Free Final Notice by Jonathan Valin Page B

as if human sympathy were dead inside him from the start. He may be working at a distasteful job. As a gravedigger, say, or a garbage man. Or he may have no job at all. And this is important: he is likely to be a religious fanatic. Extremes, again. A man of this type, with his strong ambivalence toward authority figures, has no internal checks on his behavior. No conscience, as we call it. Instead he depends on God, or what he imagines to be God, to regulate his actions personally. It is a grandiose delusion. But your Ripper will share with a narcissist the idea that he is at the center of the universe. One of God's elect. And he will try to act that role. Since sexual feelings are incompatible with such a delusion, he will tend to project his libido onto the women who excite him. In this way, they seem to be the libidinous ones, the evil-doers. And thus, your Ripper maintains his purity and strength."
    "How might he have acquired these delusions?"
    "From his parents," Howell said. "Especially if he had a father or mother who was held up to him as a model of perfection. And whom he tried to emulate -unsuccessfully. You have to remember, Mr. Stoner, that you'll be dealing with one of life's losers. A man who has failed at everything he's ever tried. All he has going for him are his delusions of grandeur. And he will fight with incredible fury to keep them intact. It goes without saying that this man is likely to be clever. He would have to be clever in order to shore up his defenses in the face of overwhelming realities. He may also be quite charming and intelligent."
    Howell tapped his teeth and said, "I have known several charming killers."
    "I don't suppose you could help me with a physical description?" I said.
    "Yes, I think I might," he said suavely. "He is most likely to be a man of average to below-average size. Not large, like yourself, Mr. Stoner. Large men generally give an impression of power without having to assert themselves. They need not act violently to prove their strength. He may also be tattooed. There is a marked tendency among psychopathic individuals to have themselves tattooed. And, of course, the nature of the tattoo is a key to the nature of the psychosis. It may sound oldhat, but if your man has good and evil or the like tattooed on opposite arms, be very careful, indeed. Since he has repressed almost all of his aggressive feelings, he is more likely to be a quiet individual than a talkative one. He is saving his anger up, you see, for one violent act. You might also look at his pupils. The narrower they are, the greater the rage he's suppressing."
    Howell stared off into space again. And I took a deep breath. His casual way of delivering the brutal truth had unsettled me a little. And then it's always chilling to hear what can happen to a human mind, a mind like your own.
    I took another deep breath and said, "Do you think he'll try again? Do you think he'll kill a second time?"
    "Oh, most certainly," Benson Howell said. "Unless his life has miraculously turned about, he will have built up an incredible rage over two years. Enormous, Mr. Stoner. Like the power of suns. Well, imagine trying to suppress your sexual instincts for two years. Then add to that the grossest indignities that loneliness, guilt, fear, and impotence can cost a man. Oh, yes, Mr. Stoner, he'll try again with all his might. He'll select another victim as he did the first time -for some vague resemblance she might bear to his mother or to a sister or to some girlfriend, real or imagined. Or he may choose her for the simple reason that she excites him greatly and, therefore, terrifies and infuriates him greatly. He will try to repress his desire and when he fails, he'll project his own sexual longing onto his victim. That may be the moment when he begins to cut up the pictures. Or he may do that for a period of time before the transference occurs. Working off steam, as it were, before blowing up. But he will blow up. And when he