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Her next question reveals she has decided to take me seriously: “Did John Stark also have an extraordinary sense of smell?”
“I don’t know.” My stare is intent. “Now that he’s dead, we’ll never know.”
Shestudies me like a cat about to pounce. “You look angry, Warren.”
“Don’t I have reason to be?” My gaze drops to my useless body, lying inert on the sheepksin pad. I don’t even think of it as my body any longer. Why should I? I can’t feel it. It is just a lump of alien flesh.
“You’re angry at the policewoman,” she says.
Such an obvious statement does not even deserve a response, so I give none.
But Dr. O’Do
“Do you still think about Detective Rizzoli?” she asks.
“Every day.”
“What sort of thoughts?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I’m trying to understand you, Warren. What you think, what you feel. What makes you kill.”
“So I’m still your little lab rat. I’m not your friend.”
A pause. “Yes, I can be your friend-”
“It’s not why you come here, though.”
“To be honest, I come here because of what you can teach me. What you can teach all of us about why men kill.” She leans even closer. Says, quietly: “So tell me. All your thoughts, however disturbing they may be.”
There is a long silence. Then I say, softly, “I have fantasies…”
“What fantasies?”
“About Jane Rizzoli. About what I would like to do to her.”
“Tell me.”
“They’re not nice fantasies. I’m sure you’ll find them disgusting.”
“Nevertheless, I would like to hear them.”
Her eyes have a strange glow to them, as though they are lit from within. The muscles of her face have tensed with anticipation. She is holding her breath.
I stare at her and I think: Oh yes, she would like to hear them. Like everyone else, she wants to hear every dark detail. She claims her interest is merely academic, that what I tell her is only for her research. But I see the spark of eagerness in her eyes. I sniff her pheromonal scent of excitement.
I see the reptile, stirring in its cage.
She wants to know what I know. She wants to walk in my world. She is finally ready for the journey.
It’s time to invite her in.