for the effects of makeup.
âErika, you canât improve on perfection.â
âI so much want to look nice for you, Victor.â
âThen wash most of that stuff off. Let your natural beauty shine through. Iâve given you everything you need to dazzle.â
âHow sweet,â she said, but she seemed uncertain whether she had been complimented or criticized.
âThe district attorneyâs wife, the university presidentâs wifeânone of them will be painted like pop-music divas.â
Her smile faltered. Victor believed that directness with a subordinateâor a wifeâwas always preferable to criticism couched to spare feelings.
Standing close behind her, he slid his hands along her bare shoulders, bent close to smell her hair. He pulled that glorious mane aside, kissed the nape of her neckâand felt her shiver.
He fingered her emerald necklace. âDiamonds would be a better choice. Please change it. For me.â
In the vanity mirror, she met his eyes, then lowered her gaze to the array of makeup brushes and bottles before her. She spoke in a whisper: âYour standards for everything areâ¦so high.â
He kissed her neck again and matched her whisper: âThatâs why I made you. My wife.â
CHAPTER 19
IN THE CAR, on the way to the Quarter for a grab-it dinner in Jackson Square, Carson and Michael ping-ponged the case.
She said, âAllwine wasnât chloroformed.â
âWe donât have blood results yet.â
âRemember his face. He wasnât chloroformed. That makes him and the dry cleaner, Chaterie, the exceptions.â
âThe other male, Bradford Walden,
was
chloroformed,â Michael said. âOtherwise, those three make a set.â
âThe Surgeon took their internal organs as souvenirs.â
âBut from the women he only takes ears, feet, handsâ¦. Did Nancy Whistler e-mail you that list of people with library keys?â
âYeah. But after seeing Allwineâs apartment, I think he opened the door for the killer, the guy didnât need a key.â
âHow do you get to that?â
âI donât know. Itâs just a feeling.â
âLetâs do some victimology analysis,â Michael suggested. âFirstâ¦Iâve given up on the idea the victims are connected to one another somehow. Theyâre random prey.â
âHow did you analyze your way to that?â
âNow and then,â he said, âI have a feeling of my own.â
âAny significance to which body part he takes from any particular victim?â
âElizabeth Lavenza, swimming without her hands. Are hands of special importance in her life, her work? Is she a pianist? Maybe an artist? Maybe a massage therapist?â
âAs you know, she was a clerk in a bookstore.â
âMeg Saville, the tourist from Idaho.â
âTook her feet.â
âShe wasnât a ballet dancer. Just a receptionist.â
âHe takes a nurseâs ears, a university studentâs legs,â Carson said. âIf thereâs significance, itâs inscrutable.â
âHe takes the dry cleanerâs liver, the bartenderâs kidney. If heâd carved the bartenderâs liver, we might build a theory on that.â
âPathetic,â she said.
âTotally,â he agreed. âThe bartender had a Goth lifestyle, and Allwine lived in black. Is that a connection?â
âI didnât get
Goth
from his apartment, just
crazy.
â
She parked illegally in Jackson Square, near a Cajun restaurant favored by cops.
Just as they reached the entrance, Harker exited the place with a large bag of takeout, bringing with him the mouthwatering aroma of blackened catfish, reminding Carson that sheâd skipped lunch.
As if not in the least surprised to see them, as if picking up in midconversation, Harker said, âWord is the mayor might push for a task force as early as