“He’s obviously very formal,” said Trujillo, diving into the profile immediately. He’d probably been planning the same suggestion, but this time I’d said it first. “He uses elevated language and vocabulary, complicated sentence structure, and an almost … scholarly politeness.”
“Contrast that with the nature of the attack,” I said. “The wounds were vicious—you described them as ‘feral’—but this letter was deliberate and intelligent. He obviously has a plan: he figured out where we are, so he could send us a letter, and he figured out who I am. This is not the kind of man who jumps people in alleys and tears them apart with his teeth.”
“Except obviously he is,” said Diana. “Half of that letter was proof that he’s the killer.”
“And why is it so important for him that we know that?” I asked. “He knew we’d doubt it, and he wanted to make sure we didn’t. Is he bragging? Did he write to us because he needs … what? Recognition? Credit? Fear? Don’t think about what he wants to tell us, think about what he wants for himself. What does this letter get him?” It all came back to the same thing. “What did he do that he didn’t have to do?”
Ostler looked at me grimly. “Dr. Trujillo will figure that out. I know you’ve done this before, but he’s a professional.”
“I can do this,” I said.
“You’ll still be studying them,” said Ostler, “but I want you on Elijah Sexton. You’ll be assisting Diana.”
“I can get more done alone,” I said.
“Elijah went to a grief counseling meeting,” said Diana, ignoring my protest. “We don’t know why. The cops’ surveillance team showed up at the same place, tailing the three mystery Withered, who were apparently tailing Elijah.”
“He’s not a part of their group,” I said again. “If the new Withered are following Elijah in secret, that’s just more proof that they’re not allies.”
“Brooke suggested there might be two factions,” said Nathan. “We think this Gidri is leading one of them, so maybe he’s trying to recruit Elijah to his side?”
“Could be,” said Diana. “If we knew what the two sides wanted we’d have a lot more to go on.”
“Why would a Withered go to a grief counseling meeting?” asked Trujillo. “I can’t get over that—it feels like such abnormal behavior based on what we know of them.”
“The counseling group is my assignment,” said Ostler. “I’ll talk to the police and learn what I can about it; Dr. Gentry, you stay with Brooke.”
“What about Potash?” asked Nathan. “I’m not going back into that room without an armed guard and a license to kill.”
“She’s a teenage girl,” I said, feeling anger surge up inside of me, but Ostler ignored the comment.
“If all goes well they’ll release Potash in two days,” said Ostler. She picked up the letter. “You have your assignments; go.”
8
Potash got out of the hospital three days later; they gave him a cane, and refused to let him leave unless he used it, but he threw it out the car window almost as soon as we turned the corner. Diana told him to grow up, but she didn’t backtrack to get it.
“I’m fine,” said Potash, who was sitting in the backseat. I had expected him to have an oxygen tank or something, but he was breathing fine on his own; he had a hefty prednisone prescription, but that was it. “I was in there two and a half weeks,” he said. “If they can’t cure me in that time, what are they even doing?”
“You’ll be weak for a bit,” said Diana. “I’ve seen this with injured airmen—they spend a few days in the hospital, they neglect their fitness, and they think they can go right back to full capability the first day.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Potash growled.
“Do your exercises,” said Diana. “Push yourself, but don’t push yourself too far. John, you make sure he doesn’t work himself into a relapse.”
“What makes you think I have any control over him?” I asked. “Let’s send him to your place so you can do it.”
Diana rolled her eyes, keeping her hands on the wheel. “Please stop arguing about this—he’s staying with you, and that’s Ostler’s orders, and that’s final. All his stuff’s at your place anyway.”
“He doesn’t have any stuff,” I said. “Four changes of identical clothes, and some blankets that have been officially ceded to Boy Dog.”
“You went through my stuff?” he asked.
“I was making sure you didn’t have any weapons,” I said. Which is code for “I was trying to find weapons.”
“Don’t touch my stuff,” said Potash.
“If you lived somewhere else I wouldn’t.”
“John…,” Diana growled.