Distemper by Beth Saulnier Read Free Book Online

this point, we think the same person killed both those girls. Common sense says it has to be. The M.O.s
     are too similar for it to be a copycat. There are a number of details that I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. But if you’re
     asking me if you’re right in thinking the two victims were physically similar to each other, they were. Both weresmall, five feet or under. Both wore their hair roughly the same way, shoulder length and parted down the middle. But beyond
     that, in terms of their facial features, you could say that they looked enough alike that they could be related.”
    “Do you think they were?”
    “No comment.”
    “What about Marci?”
    “Who?”
    “My roommate.”
    “We’re not sure that these two women were killed because of the way they looked. That’s one theory, the obvious one. Or it
     could be a coincidence. There might be a whole other connection.”
    “So how do you figure it out?”
    “We’ve got people on it.”
    “Who?”
    “No comment.”
    “Who around here is possibly equipped to deal with this sort of thing? You said it yourself. The cops hardly ever see anything
     more mysterious than a hunting accident. So who are you bringing in? Don’t tell me the Staties. Didn’t you hear about that
     evidence tampering scandal a couple of years back? Practically the whole unit went to jail…”
    “Oh, hell. No, it’s not the state police.”
    “Sheriff’s?”
    “Give me some credit.”
    “Holy shit. The FBI’s all over this, aren’t they? Behavioral science, right?”
    “That is not for publication.”
    “Why not? If Quantico’s involved, people have a right to…”
    “People have a right not to be scared to death for no good reason. You say FBI, everyone is going to think
Silence of the Lambs
. Hysteria isn’t good for anyone.”
    “Maybe that isn’t far off.”
    “You gave me your word.”
    “I realize that.”
    “Look. If I were your roommate, I’d be careful. I’d keep the doors locked. I wouldn’t go out alone at night. Tell her to use
     common sense, look both ways before she crosses the road, and we’ll catch the bastard. Now, you really need to leave.” I was
     on my way out the door when he called after me, sounding at least five points higher on the decency scale. “Listen, Alex.
     I don’t want your friend to be scared. How about if I send someone by in the next couple of days, do a security check on your
     place? It’ll only take an hour. The officer can give you some tips about locks, that sort of thing.”
    “That would be great.”
    “And, Alex, be careful. Our file on you is thick enough already.”

5

    “H E REALLY LET YOU IN THE BACK OF THE COP SHOP? Y OU gotta be shittin’ me.” Mad was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter while I cooked, and with at least two dozen people
     spilling out into the living room, he had to shout.
    “I shit you not.”
    “So what was it like?”
    “Nothing fancy. Messy, in a… neat sort of way.”
    “What the hell does that mean?”
    “You know, papers and files all over the place. But organized. Lots of framed certificates. They’re big into framed certificates.
     ‘Officially certified to kill you at a hundred paces,’ that sort of thing.”
    “But what about the guns?”
    “What guns?”
    “You know, the guns, Bernier. The
guns
. What kind did they have?”
    “Christ, I don’t know. They don’t have them hanging on the wall or anything.”
    “They don’t?” He looked like a trick-or-treater with an empty plastic pumpkin.
    “Oh, come on, Mad. You’re a grown man. You didn’t really think the cops kept an arsenal back there like the goddamn A-Team.”
    “I had fantasies.”
    “Poor baby.”
    “You got another bottle?” He dropped an empty magnum of something red into the recycling bin and it went
smash
.
    “You just opened that”
    “I had to share.”
    “Tonight’s really sucking for you, isn’t it?”
    He looked over my shoulder into the living room. “Not