"And they are connecting these attacks with Mendocino. Mom,s connecting it to Mendocino. Mom,s pushing for more tests on those dead junkies. They,re going over everything."
"So you mean they,ll figure out that it,s different DNA up there, and that they have two man wolves roaming the world."
"I don,t know. Nobody knows. Look, don,t underestimate the web they can weave to snare you with their tests. If your DNA is in the system, Reuben, and they make a match - !"
"It,s not in the system. Mom said something went wrong with their sample. Besides, I,m not ... I wasn,t a criminal. I,m not in the criminal system."
"Oh, and they play by the rules? They have a sample from Marchent Nideck,s autopsy, don,t they?" Jim was becoming more and more agitated.
"Yes, they probably do have that," said Reuben.
"And Mom said they,ve been calling, asking if they can get more of your DNA. Mom,s been telling them no. Apparently, this Paris doctor advised Mom not to agree to any more tests."
"Please, Jim, try to keep calm. I can,t follow you on this. You should have been a doctor like Mom."
Silence.
"Jim, I,ve got to go."
"Reuben, hang on! Go where?"
"There are things I have to find out, and first and foremost it,s how to control the change, how to stop it, how to shut it down cold."
"So this has got nothing to do with the moon."
"It,s not magical, Jim. No, it,s got no connection to the moon. That,s fantasy. It,s like a virus. It,s working from within. At least, that,s how it seems. There has been a change in the way I view the world, a change in the moral temperature of things. I don,t know what to make of all that yet. But it,s not magic, no."
"If it,s not supernatural, if it,s simply a virus, then why are you killing only bad people?"
"I told you. It,s a matter of scent and hearing." A chill came over Reuben. What did this mean?
"Since when does evil have a scent?" Jim asked.
"I don,t know that either," said Reuben. "But we don,t know why dogs smell fear, do we?"
"Dogs pick up on tiny physical signals. They can smell sweat, maybe even hormones like adrenaline. You,re going to tell me evil has some sort of hormonal dimension?"
"It could have," Reuben said. "Aggression, hostility, rage - maybe they all have scents, scents that human beings can,t ordinarily measure. We don,t know, do we?"
Jim didn,t answer.
"What, you want it to be supernatural?" Reuben asked. "You want it to be diabolical?"
"When have I ever talked to you about anything being diabolical?" said Jim. "Besides - you,re rescuing innocent victims. Since when does the devil care about innocent victims?"
Reuben sighed. He couldn,t put all his thoughts into words. He couldn,t begin to explain how his thinking had changed, even when he wasn,t under the power of the transformation. He wasn,t sure he wanted to tell Jim everything.
"I know this much," he said. "As long as I change like this unpredictably and with no control, I,m completely vulnerable. And I,m the only one who can work this out, and you,re damn right, they have my DNA from Marchent, if from no other source. It,s right under their noses, and so am I, and I have to get going."
"Where are you going?"
"Up to Nideck Point. Now listen to me, Father Jim. Come up there anytime that you can. And you can talk to me about this, in private, if you feel the need. I give you permission. But never to anyone else, or in front of anyone else."
"Thank you." Jim was obviously relieved. "Reuben, I want permission to read on this, to do research."
Reuben understood. A priest couldn,t really act on a confession any more than he could talk about it or bring it up to the man who had confessed. Reuben said yes.
"I went by the house earlier today, got some books I,d ordered," Reuben explained. "Just legend, fiction, poetry, that kind of thing. But there have been incidents in America, you know, sightings - ."
"Mom,s been talking about those things," said Jim. "So has this Dr. Jaska. Something about the Beast of Bray Road."
"That,s nothing," said Reuben. "Just a sighting in Wisconsin of a strange creature, a Bigfoot, maybe, something like that. Not much to go on. But I am searching myself for anything and everything that can shed light on this, and there is a bizarre coincidence having to do with the name Nideck, and I,m trying to figure it