Chapter Forty-Six
This was bad. There had been another grisly vampire-style murder - in Savannah. Kyle and I rushed down to Georgia in a shiny black Bell Jet helicopter that would have done Darth Vader proud. Kyle wouldn't let the case go. He wouldn't let me go either. Even from the air, the seaport city was stunningly beautiful, with its clusters of mansions, quaint shopping districts, and the Savannah River winding through golden yellow marshes out to the Atlantic. Why were the attacks taking place in crowded, attractive locales? Why these particular cities? There had to be a reason why this was eluding all of us so far. The killers had to be playing out a complex story/fantasy. What the hell was it? An FBI sedan was waiting and it rushed us to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. The church was on East Harris in the historic district of town. Police cruisers were parked everywhere among the antebellum homes. So were EMS vans. 'The highways around Savannah are completely blockaded,' Kyle told me as we made our way through the heavy traffic near the church. 'This is the most bizarre and lurid thing to happen around here since John Berendt's book. Or, I suppose, the murder that inspired it. Should bring in lots more tourists, though, don't you think? Maybe the vampire tour will come to rival the one for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.' 'Not the kind of visitors the chamber of commerce, or especially residents, probably want to see here,' I said. 'Kyle, what the hell is
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going on? The killers are working right in our face. They're telling us something. They strike in beautiful cities. They murder in public parks, in crowded luxury hotels, even in a cathedral. Do they want to get caught? Or do they believe they can't be caught?' Kyle looked at the church spires up ahead. 'Maybe it's a little of both. I agree, though, they are reckless for some reason I don't quite fathom. That's why you're here.You're the profiler. You're the one who understands how their sick minds work.' I couldn't get the thought out of my head that these killers wanted to get caught. Why?
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