In one of the cafes on the edge of the square, Miguel Delgado smiled across at the Englishwoman who worked behind the reservation desk at the Hotel Alfonso VI. Two nights before, hed engineered an encounter where hed tripped over her handbag and knocked over her drink. Shed been with friends, so shed suspected no ulterior motive when he bought her a drink to replace the one hed spilled. Tonight, though, her friends were absent. For the price of another drink, he could make the down payment on his next act of revenge.
He swallowed the last of his café solo and folded up his newspaper. Careful not to draw attention to himself, he crossed to her table, inclined his head in a small bow and smiled. Buenas tardes he said.
The woman returned his smile, without a trace of uncertainty. Minutes later, they were deep in conversation. Delgado was back in business.
THIRTEEN
On a professional note, I heard last night that Blake has done a deal with one of the Sunday tabloids. You know the kind of thing my life of hell as the falsely accused Hampstead Heath killer. And on the strength of that, hes gone off to Spain, allegedly to get away from all the pressure. Of course, weve been keeping tabs on him, albeit at arms length, and according to the travel agent, Blake has rented a villa outside Fuengirola for the next month. At least youre far enough away in Toledo not to stand any chance of walking into a neighbourhood café and finding him propping up the bar. Let me know when youre coming back and well get together for dinner.
Love Steve
Fiona cleared Steves e mail from the screen. Shed get round to replying later. It was thoughtful of him to pass on the news about Drew, but she didnt want to be distracted from the task in hand by thinking about Francis Blake right now. While she waited for Berrocal to arrive, she double-checked that she had plotted her crime scenes correctly on the map. Just as she finished, Berrocal strode through the door, full of apologies for keeping her waiting. So, what do you have to show me?
The map of Toledo was monochrome on the screen, the streets and alleys black lines over the off-grey background. This is how it works, Fiona explained. I started off with the street grid. Last night I entered the locations of the events that interest me. She omitted to mention the news from England that had stirred memories, turning her sleep into exhausting restlessness. She wasnt looking for Berrocals sympathy, nor, more importantly, did she want to give ammunition to anyone who might suggest her work failed to come up to the required standard. So she mainlined the cartons of industrial-strength coffee that the junior detectives had deposited on her desk and tried to keep the weariness out of her voice. First of all, the vandalism cluster.
She tapped a couple of keys and the screen came alive in an irregular spread of radiant neon colours, from sea-green, grading through blues and purples to red. There were only two small blocks of red, both to the west of the cathedral and the Plaza Mayor. The program assigns different colours to different degrees of probability. The perpetrator of the acts of vandalism Ive identified as a cluster is most likely to live within the boundaries of those red blocks, she told him, pointing to them with her pencil.
Very interesting, Berrocal said softly.
Dont ask me how it works. The maths is way beyond me. I leave that to the techies. All I know is that it does have a frighteningly high degree of accuracy. She cleared the colours from the screen. Now, this is the picture we get from the muggings. Again, the screen pulsed with vibrant colours. This time, there were three red blocks. One of them appeared almost identical to the larger of the two on the previous display, while the other two were more northerly.
I think the reason for these two is that the location of the crimes was circumscribed by where our mugger knew there were likely to be late-night victims, she continued, pointing to the aberrant blocks of crimson. But look what happens when I amalgamate both sets of results and we look at the vandalism and the mugging together.
Fiona clicked the mouse a couple of times. Now the larger of the original two red blocks was the only bright-scarlet patch on the screen, the others fading to deep purple. If I were a Toledo police officer looking to clear up these instances of vandalism and mugging, Id focus my attention on people who live right there, around the bottom end of Calle Alfonso the Tenth.
Fascinating, Berrocal acknowledged. But what happens when you consider the murders too?
Its far from clear cut, she admitted. Were looking at two instances, which is a very small base to work with. And, as I said to you before, because these crime scenes have historical rather than specifically personal significance, that could distort our results. Again she cleared the screen. On their own, they dont provide us with anything like pinpoint accuracy. This time, there was no small red block, just a jagged purple mass that go covered most of the west of the old city and spread like a port-wine birthmark out towards the suburbs.
However, Im working on the principle that my theories of crime linkage and the escalation of violence are correct. Now, if Ive got it right and these three groups of crimes have all been committed by the same person, then when I add the murder sites to the other two series, I should still have my red block in more or less the same place. But if Im wrong, then the resulting picture will show a significant distortion. She looked up at Berrocal and gave a wicked grin. Ready?
The suspense is killing me, he said.
Fiona hit a couple of keys and the screen reconfigured itself. The red block was still there, though not in quite such a strong shade. But the purple areas had spread and become noticeably more blue. Fiona circled the red block with the end of her pencil. It doesnt significantly distort the key area. Which indicates that the person who committed the murders could well be the same person as the vandal and the mugger. But you see this purple zone?
Berrocal nodded. Thats the fallback zone, is it? If hes not in the red zone, he might be in the purple?
Berrocal nodded. Thats the fallback zone, is it? If hes not in the red zone, he might be in the purple?
Thats right. Now, the way that has changed with the murder input may not mean much in itself, given how specific he is about the body dumps and given that the places where he displays his victims are central to the nature of his crimes. But Im tempted to go out on a limb here and suggest that he might possibly have moved house in between the muggings and the first murder.
Berrocal frowned. Why do you say that?
It doesnt matter how high-tech a system is, theres still room for gut instinct when it comes to interpretation. Id defend myself by saying that Ive used this geographic profiler a lot now, and Ive developed a sense of what the pictures mean that goes beyond whats in the manual. And theres something about the shape of this that makes me wonder if were looking at a change of address. Im sorry, I cant be more scientific than that.
So what we have learned is useless.
No, far from it. If he has moved, its been relatively recent. Between the last of the muggings and the first of the murders. There must be civic records that would reveal who lives there and if anybodys gone in the last couple of months. I could be wrong, he could still be living there. But if I was the investigating officer here, Id make it my first priority to look at residents inside the red block who have moved out.
You think he moved to make it harder for us to find him? Berrocal asked.
No, I dont think he was planning that far ahead. And he may not have left his home from choice. He may have been forced out because the building was being developed for some tourist-related business. Hell have seen this as a terrible provocation. If thats what happened, it could have been the factor that tipped him over the edge into murder. Hes been nursing his hatred for a while now, judging by the length of time these earlier offences cover. Perhaps this tourist development has been on the cards for a long time and hed been fighting it. Then finally, he lost. And he decided to take revenge on the people he thought were to blame. Fiona leaned back in her seat. I know it might sound far-fetched, but as psychopathic motives for murder go, its as coherent as any. And it makes sense of these events in a way that conventional theories of sexual homicide dont.
The way you explain it is certainly logical, Berrocal acknowledged. Can you print these maps out for us? Id like to get started on this line of inquiry as soon as possible.
Fiona nodded. No problem. Im also in the process of writing a full report for you that incorporates all my reasoning. Ill include a basic behavioural profile of the perpetrator.
Berrocal frowned. I thought you didnt approve of behavioural analysis?
Taken on its own, I think it has limited value. But when you incorporate it with crime linkage and geographical profiling, it can be helpful.
Berrocal looked dubious. So, when will your report be ready?
I should finish it today.
Good. Then I can distribute it among the investigation team. First thing tomorrow, Id like you to attend a briefing with them to answer any questions and deal with any objections?
Fiona nodded. Id be happy to.
Berrocal got to his feet. And then I presume you will want to return to England?
Fiona smiled. You presume correctly. Theres nothing more I can usefully do for you right now, so I may as well go home.
He nodded. Ill let you get on with your report, he said. Thank you.
Youre welcome, she said absently, her mind already on the next task. The sooner she finished this, the sooner she could start to think seriously about going home.
He never knew how long it would last. That was why he had to savor every moment of it, like a kid opening Christmas presents, unsure which garishly wrapped parcel held the gift that really mattered. The trick was to arrange it so that everything built to a climax. But sometimes it didnt, and he hated that loss of absolute control, hated the rage that boiled through him when those sluts let him down, when they failed to hold out long enough for him to extract each single possible drop of pleasure from their pain. Death should be the final moment in the crescendo, not a sad diminuendo leaving the spirit dissatisfied.