“First run through these messages, it wasn’t clear to us whether he was or wasn’t,” says Andy Tate. “But we’re going to pore over every detail. Careful or not, there must be something here.”
“Let’s start with the punch line, Chief,” says Jane. “The last text the offender ever sent. It’s alone on the last page.”
Chief Carlyle picks up the stack of printouts and flips to the final page. Jane reads along herself:
Mon, Oct 31, 10:47 PM
I’m sorry, Lauren. I’m sorry for what I did and I’m sorry you didn’t love me. But I’m not sorry for loving you like nobody else could. I’m coming
to you now. I hope you’ll accept me and let me love you in a way you
wouldn’t in this world.
“Huh. ‘I’m sorry for what I did.’ So we have a confession. ‘I’m coming to you now.’ ‘Let me love you in a way you wouldn’t in this world.’ So our offender decided to do everyone a favor and take his own life?” The chief looks at Jane. “Any chance he was good enough to let us know where he was going to commit that selfless act?”
“We have an area-wide bulletin out for suspicious deaths last night,” says Jane. “We’ll know soon enough.”
The chief nods. “Any indication how it came to this point?”
“The last night in particular,” says Jane. “Halloween night. Flip two pages forward.”
Chief Carlyle flips there. Jane reads along with the chief, the communications on October 31, after trick-or-treating ended:
UNKNOWN CALLER
VICTIM’S PHONE （EVIDENCE # 1）
Mon, Oct 31, 8:09 PM
Trick or treat?
Mon, Oct 31, 8:12 PM
Hello? Are you home? I need to talk to you.
Mon, Oct 31, 8:14 PM
Testing . . . testing . . . 1, 2, 3 . . . testing, testing . . . 1, 2, 3
Mon, Oct 31, 8:15 PM
Not home, told you out of town
Mon, Oct 31, 8:16 PM
That’s strange coulda sworn I just saw you walking through the family room I must be seeing ghosts!
Mon, Oct 31, 8:16 PM
You’re outside my house????
Mon, Oct 31, 8:17 PM
Just want to talk that’s all
Mon, Oct 31, 8:18 PM
Nothing to talk about please go home please!
Mon, Oct 31, 8:18 PM
Let me in treat me like an adult. I know you still love me. Why pretend you don’t?
Mon, Oct 31, 8:19 PM
Go home ACT like an adult I’m sorry you know I am but it’s over
Mon, Oct 31, 8:21 PM
What are you doing have you lost your mind??
Mon, Oct 31, 8:22 PM
Stop kicking my door I’m going to call the police
Mon, Oct 31, 8:23 PM
Go ahead call them I dare you
Mon, Oct 31, 8:25 PM
I will let you in if you promise to be calm
Mon, Oct 31, 8:26 PM
I promise I swear
The chief whistles. “Fuck if that’s not a theory of the case. She soured on him and dumped him. He couldn’t handle it. He stands outside the house, lurking around. He texts her, she lies about not being home, he calls her on it because he sees her through the window. He makes a scene outside, kicking the door. So she lets him inside the house. And he kills her.”
“While wearing a Grim Reaper costume,” Andy adds. “On a dark, dark night.”
“Well, he can wear whatever costume he wants,” says the chief. “He won’t get far now.”
23
Vicky
After Labor Day, I return to Christian’s office, a four o’clock appointment again. When I’m done reading his proposal, I look up at him. Still rough-shaven and handsome, same basic kind of expensive dark suit with the open collar, still that cocky look about him like someone who knows today’s going to be another “win” for him.
“Water?” I say.
“It’s the next big thing,” says Christian. “Water is becoming a scarcity. That will become truer and truer as the population growth continues to spike. Less than one-tenth of one percent of the world’s water can be used to feed and nourish seven, eight billion people.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly,” he says, pointing his pen at me. “So how do we tap into that possibility? We could invest in water-rich areas and transport the water, but that’s a nonstarter. The barriers to entry are too high.”
“The barriers . . . ?”
“It’s hard to transport water. You need pipelines, which raises all kinds of issues. They’re expensive, they’re politically unpopular, they raise property-rights issues. They disturb ecosystems. And think about it—we’re moving water away from its original source. The ripple effect on the environment—water life, plant life, coastlines—could be catastrophic.”