“I’ve got good news for you,” a voice on the back pulled him out of his dreams.
Allex turned around and paused the clip.
“Our demonic friend has cuts or scratches on his hands, he leaves traces of inflamed epidermis and dermis inside the victim,” Beverly Cruz said.
She wasn’t looking at Serret, but at the freeze-frame of thin-fingered hands covered in black blood holding a knife.
“I double-checked everything,” the woman continued. “With the previous case, I had a suspicion, but I couldn’t confirm it, the reaction was less: he apparently didn’t have such injuries yet.”
“What could it be?”
“Allergies, scratches, scrapes that do not heal and begin to fester, periodically become inflamed. The reason could be anything – from splinters to bitten nails.”
“The latter is more likely,” the young man agreed.
“And what about the beautiful creature?”
Cruz nodded towards the screen, Allex bit his lip.
“This is Gasztold’s patient, an acquaintance of our victims,” Serret answered after a moment.
“Good for the artistes,” Cruz sighed with a smile. “They only have artificial blood, artificial tears, artificial food—”
Serret’s stomach responded to the only word it knew, Beverly Cruz patted her colleague on the shoulder as he sat in the chair.
“Go home. Your blond beast won’t run away from you.”
“Blond beast?”
She was sometimes amazed at his slow-wittedness …
“This is Gustavsson, the Blond Beast. She was even given some kind of award for her acting manifestation of bloody sexuality – though she looks like a golden-haired angel.”
Allex became even more thoughtful, Cruz regretted she had even started a conversation about the object of Agent Serret’s fantasies, at whom he had been staring lustfully for a quarter of an hour, without looking away.
“I won’t let you spend the night here, just go!”
If he didn’t listen, she would kick the chair out from under him. The young man nodded, a forced smile appearing on his tired face. He didn’t even have the strength to joke or respond to her jibes.
When Allex reached under the table to grab his backpack and put his laptop there, the backpack was gone. The events of the day flashed before his eyes, from end to beginning … The last time he remembered the backpack was in the store, how he put his things at the shelving and went to catch the robber.
It turns out he left it in the store!
This was not the first time Agent Serret had lost things – that was why he preferred not to carry any bags or backpacks, stuffing the necessary items into the pockets of his jacket and jeans – fortunately, he did not have so many clothes to move things from place to place.
He’d have to go to Baltimore tomorrow. He hoped his backpack would be where he’d left it – and he’d be able to talk to the workers.
Allex took five photographs of blonde women from the board, put them in the inside pocket of his jacket, and grabbed the laptop under his arm.
The Blond Beast, then. For some reason, there was a beaming idiot’s smile on his face.
8. Invisible Man
Chrome crossbars lined the space at right angles, artificial white light bulbs were reflected in the mirrors, the air, despite the air conditioning and ventilation, was filled with a suspension of salty sweat and deodorant. The clanking of the barbell on the stand, the occasional shouts of men lifting weights, the measured steps of women in tight suits on the treadmill, rhythmic music filling the gym with sound … Special Agent William Gatti looked inside from the hallway, but did not go in – since he knew perfectly well that his inappropriate appearance would immediately attract unwanted attention.
He had already spoken to the manager at the counter, waiting for him to download and print out the list of clients who had been to the gym in the mornings – like the victims’ husbands – and it turned out, they were the vast majority. The epiphany had come to Will a few hours ago, after he had discussed the news with Serret on the drive to Baltimore.
How can one get the keys to the apartment and then return them without anyone noticing the loss? A locker room in a gym, with unreliable drawers, with the ability to get into other people’s things without question.
The catch was, the morning is the most popular time for training. As the manager said, the gym is empty only at night – and even then, some night-dweller decides to pump iron alone …
Will didn’t want to just walk around and stare at the visitors, he needed cover. He didn’t look like a bodybuilder, even though he was well-built – thanks to genetics and exercise, to help him cope with the flow of uninvited thoughts – for in nondescript clothes, glasses, and disheveled hair, he would give himself away immediately.
Tomorrow they’ll send Serret … He seems to be irreplaceable where imagination and charisma are needed; if he’s combed and dressed in the appropriate clothes, he could easily pass for a young blogger who wants to keep fit.
Allex was underestimated because of his slight frame, but Will saw him as a real killing machine – who just needed to be fed regularly. At first, Allex Serret seemed too active, noisy, irrepressible, he emitted unutilized energy, being near him was like standing next to a boiling cauldron ready to explode.
Then Will adapted, got used to it surprisingly quickly, saw the positive sides in Allex’s proactivity … Allex got many things at a glance that Will had not dared to say out loud until recently, his foolishness was truly funny.
Dr. Lukas Gasztold – with his insight and calm – and Allex Serret – with the eternal pantomime on his freckled face – were the first people he let close.
Will kept his distance from Gasztold, deliberately addressed him as ‘Dr. Gasztold,’ and observed the therapist-patient subordination. Will rarely acknowledged the wisdom of the other person, rarely accepted someone else’s opinion, he was used to the fact that despite their experience and intelligence, people were simply unable to understand him – and give the right advice or comment. With Dr. Gasztold, everything was different: he was always one step ahead, had answers to any questions, never expressed a single value judgment, was cautious, like a predator on soft paws, in which the blades of his claws were hidden.
Dr. Gasztold was a true professional – and Will valued their relationship at work above all else, in the format it was so far. Will knew very well how projections and transferences worked, especially with psychiatrists, especially with people like him, who were deep down hungry for companionship and friendship.
It was easy to be friends with Serret, he was open, looked into the eyes without embarrassment, with a smile, sometimes said out loud what should have been kept behind one’s teeth. He was not afraid to seem ridiculous or funny, he was straightforward in his likes and dislikes, often getting punched in the face for it – literally and figuratively.
And at the same time, Allex was as naive as a child, often taking everything literally. He seriously explained Cruz’s nagging as her hostility, while Will could clearly see how she looked at him, licking her lips, how they both enjoyed a strange game of mutual biting, rolling on the floor, grappling like yard cats.
Allex was a clown – and he accepted the role as a mask, embodied it to the fullest extent. Will sometimes envied him – because he himself did not know who he was, doubted any of his qualities, considering them only an attached characteristic of someone