Sergeant Doakes appeared behind Sangre. The reporter looked around and saw him. “No pictures,” Doakes said. Sangre opened his mouth, looked at Doakes for a moment, and then closed his mouth again. Once again the sterling qualities of the good sergeant had saved the day. He went back and stood protectively by the displayed body parts, as if it was a science-fair project and he was its guardian.

There was a strained coughing sound at the door, and Nick Something and Eric the Viking returned, shuffling slowly up the stairs and back onto the floor like old men. Eric wouldn't look at the far end of the room. Nick tried not to look, but his head kept drifting around toward the awful sight, and then he would snap it back to face LaGuerta again.
LaGuerta began to speak. I moved close enough to hear. “I asked you three to come see this thing before we allow any official press coverage,” she said.

“But we can cover it unofficially?” Rick Sangre interrupted.

LaGuerta ignored him. “We don't want any wild speculation in the press about what has happened here,” she said. “As you can see, this is a vicious and bizarre crime—” she paused for a moment and then said very carefully, “Unlike Anything We Have Ever Seen Before.” You could actually hear her capitalize the letters.

Nick Something said, “Huh,” and looked thoughtful. Eric the Viking got it immediately. “Whoa, wait a minute,” he said. “You're saying this is a brand-new killer? A whole different set of murders?”

LaGuerta looked at him with great significance. “Of course it's too soon to say anything for sure,” she said, sounding sure, “but let's look at this thing logically, okay? First,” she held up a finger, “we got a guy who confessed the other stuff. He's in jail, and we didn't let him out to do this. Second, this doesn't look like anything I ever saw, does it? 'Cause there's three and they're stacked up all pretty, okay?” Bless her heart, she had noticed.

“Why can't I get my camera guy?” Rick Sangre asked. “Wasn't there a mirror found at one of the other murders?” Eric the Viking said weakly, trying very hard not to look. “Have you identified the, uh—” Nick Something said. His head started to turn toward the display and he caught himself, snapped back around to LaGuerta. “Are the victims prostitutes, Detective?”

“Listen,” LaGuerta said. She sounded a little annoyed, and a small trace of Cuban accent showed in her voice for just a second. “Let me esplain something. I don't care if they're prostitutes. I don't care if they got a mirror. I don't care about any of that.” She took a breath and went on, much calmer. “We got the other killer locked up in the jail. We've got a confession. This is a whole new thing, okay? That's the important thing. You can see it—this is different.”