Play with Fire

chapter Thirty-Eight

MORRIS AND LIBBY watched the late local news, and learned that three men had been found dead in the shop of a prominent Harvard Square rare book dealer. Police considered each of the deaths to be homicides, but were releasing no other information at this time, pending notification of the next of kin.

The next story dealt with the national scene, reporting the fire that destroyed a Mormon Church in Wyoming and claimed the life of its pastor, Bishop Andrew Hayes. Arson was suspected, and the investigation was continuing.

“Another one,” Libby said, clicking off the TV. That makes how many now – five?”

“Four, I think,” Morris said.

“If it weren’t for the black magic that Colleen sniffed out at the first one, I’d be inclined to label these as straightforward hate crimes.”

“Even for hate crimes, they’re pretty damn strange,” Morris said. “The buildings and victims were all of different denominations – Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, and now Mormon. One of those isn’t even Christian. From what I’ve read, haters tend to be pretty focused, especially if they’re pissed off enough to resort to arson and murder.”

“The only common factor is houses of worship and clergymen. What kind of psychotic fantasy would prompt someone to pick targets based on such broad criteria? Not ‘I hate Catholics,’ or ‘I hate Jews,’ or Mormons, or whatever. Instead, ‘I hate everybody?’”

“And the wide geographical separation doesn’t make any sense, either,” Morris said. “Is it to avoid getting caught, or to carry out some ritualistic purpose, or what?”

“Beats the shit out of me, cowboy,” Libby said.

Then the theme from “Bewitched” started playing.