The North Face of the Heart - Dolores Redondo Page 0,63
he’d worked, prayed, and sacrificed in the struggle to preserve his home and family. It was too much for any man to bear.
Each of those nights, he’d leaned over before going back to bed and whispered his promise to her. “I’ll save you. Daddy will save you.”
As Amaia listened to Johnson read Lenx’s crazed letter, its powerful threats and weighty words of condemnation echoed in her mind. Without intending to do so, she released a long, stifled groan that made them all turn to look at her.
She felt the floor open beneath her feet, casting her into a dark, terrifying, and all-too-familiar hell.
Tucker’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “Assistant Inspector Salazar was right.” A moment passed. “That letter makes it crystal clear this is an evangelical murderer who sees himself on a mission from God. As soon as we got a copy of the text, Emerson identified the Bible quotes. As we suspected, most are from the New Testament, specifically from Mark, chapter 13, where he gives his vision of Judgment Day. I’ve sent you a copy of the texts. Of particular interest is the part where Lenx refers to the powers of heaven being shaken. I’m pretty sure he interpreted that to mean hurricanes, thunderstorms, and tornados. This is a causal relationship for him: those acts of God show the Composer who deserves to die. Emerson thinks this might be just a coincidence, but my feeling is that these words from twenty years ago probably still apply to the crimes we’re investigating now.”
“Emerson?” Dupree invited his comment.
“I think we’re really making progress,” came the enthusiastic reply. “But before we use what we’ve learned about Martin Lenx to alter the profile of our target, we have to establish beyond doubt that Lenx and the Composer are one and the same.”
“The bullet in Joseph Andrews’s head matches the gun Lenx used on his family eighteen years ago,” Johnson reminded him.
“This could be a copycat killer, maybe even a disciple,” Emerson argued. “But if he’s a disciple, he’d also be an evangelical killer.”
Dupree directed the discussion. “Let’s list the points that suggest the recent killings could be the work of Martin Lenx.”
“Okay,” Johnson began. “First, the ages correspond. Martin Lenx was thirty-seven when the murders were committed, and that was eighteen years ago. If he’s not dead, he’s fifty-five. A man of that age who’s active and has taken care of himself can be in excellent health. Still, he wouldn’t fit the typical age bracket of serial killers. We don’t know what he’s been doing for the last eighteen years, but maybe with age he’s gotten calmer, more careful, meticulous. That would fit the modus operandi of the Composer.”
“Don’t forget the gun,” Tucker added. “The fact that he didn’t leave it at the murder scene in Madison is a sign he intended to keep it, maybe as a souvenir, but also just in case he wanted to use it again.”
Emerson refused to get on board. “The profiles of the other families are similar to those of the Lenx murders. The ages aren’t exactly the same, but they’re very close. But there’s a contradiction: The Composer kills the fathers. If Martin Lenx is the Composer, obviously he never killed himself. In a perfect match, the fathers would be absent or be spared.”
Dupree spoke. “I assume everybody noticed the fact that Martin Lenx dragged the bodies through the house to assemble them in what the Madison police file called ‘the music room.’ I just spoke with Officer Carter, head of the homicide squad there. He was just a boy at the time, but it turns out his father was police chief. Carter said his dad often told the story of those crimes. The building was eventually torn down, but Carter remembered that the Lenx family had a small performance hall in the house, with a piano and a number of musical instruments. Maybe this leads us back to the violins we’ve now confirmed were at five of the crime scenes. The presence of a violin isn’t necessarily unusual enough to consider it a signature, but still, he could be using it as a prop to evoke his scenario. What do you think, Salazar?”
Amaia, who’d been watching Dupree closely during this exposition, stared fixedly at the telephone console. “Emerson’s right,” she said, causing Johnson to swivel toward her and hunch his shoulders. “I agree with what’s been said, but first we have to establish whether Lenx really is the Composer.”