past the two men and stared uncomprehendingly at the carnage before her.
"You lot took your time," Tony gasped. As he passed out, the last thing he heard was his own hysterical laughter.
Carol pushed open the door of the side ward. Tony was propped up on a pile of pillows, the left side of his face swollen and bruised.
"Hi," Tony said, a wan half-smile the best he could manage without too much pain.
"Come on in."
Carol closed the door behind her and sat down on a chair by the bed.
"I brought you some bits and pieces," she said, dumping a plastic bag and a padded envelope on the coverlet.
Tony reached out for the bag. Carol winced inside as she saw the bracelet of bruises round his inflamed wrists. He took out a copy of Esquire, a can of Aqua Libra, a tin of pistachio nuts and a Dashiel Hammett omnibus. Thanks," he said, surprised by how her choice touched him.
"I wasn't sure what you liked," she said defensively.
"Then you're obviously a good guesser. The perfect task- force officer."
"If a little slow on the uptake," Carol said bitterly.
Tony shook his head.
"John Brandon was here earlier. He told me how you worked it all out. I don't see how you could have got there any quicker."
"I should have realized sooner that you wouldn't have done a disappearing act at such a crucial time. Come to that, I should have realized as soon as I saw that profile that you could be a target and taken steps to protect you."
"Bollocks, Carol. If anyone should have realized that, it was me. You did a bloody good job."
"No. If I'd been on the ball, we'd have got there in time to save you having to ... to do what you did."
Tony sighed.
"You mean, you'd have saved Angelica's life? For what?
Years in a secure mental hospital? Look on the bright side, Carol.
You've saved the state a fortune. No expensive trial, no years of incarceration and treatment to pay for. Shit, they'll probably give you a medal. "
"That's not what I meant. Tony," Carol said.
"I meant you wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that you've killed someone."
"Yes, well, I can't pretend it was the perfect outcome, but I'll learn to live with it." He forced a smile.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but the first thing I'm going to do when I can walk again is go out and buy you a new mac," he said.
"Every time I look at that coat of yours, I get the urge to scream."
"Why?" Carol frowned in puzzlement.
"Didn't you know? She was wearing the identical mac when she turned up on the doorstep. That way, if she left any fib res at the scene.
Forensic would assume they'd come from you. "
"Terrific," Carol said ironically.
"How are the ankles, by the way?"
Tony pulled a face.
"I don't think I'll ever play the violin again. I managed to make it to the loo on crutches, but I had to sit on the edge of the bath to pee. They're saying there probably won't be any permanent damage, but it'll take a while for the torn ligaments to heal. How was your day?"
Carol pulled a face.
"Grisly. I suspect you'd have been in your element. You were right about keeping the fantasy alive. She, he, it, had tapes of all the telephone-sex conversations she'd had with her victims, and she'd stolen the outgoing message tapes from the men who had answering machines.
"It took the boffins a little while to crack the computer stuff. We didn't have anybody who really knew what they were doing, but my brother Michael came in and sorted it out for us."
Tony gave a twisted smile.
"I didn't want to say anything at the time, but for a wild moment, I actually wondered about your brother."
"Michael? You're kidding!"
Embarrassed, Tony nodded.
"It was when you posited the idea of the computer manipulation of the videos. Michael had the expertise to do that, no question. He's in the right age group, he lives with a woman but not in a sexual relationship, he's got access to all the information the killer needed about the way the police and forensic scientists work, his job is in the general area where I'd expect the killer to work, and he was in a position to know exactly what the police were up to and be involved in the investigation. If we hadn't caught Angelica when we did, I'd have been scrounging an invitation to dinner to check him out."