He went up to her. His face was drawn, and he looked deeply distressed. He wiped away the rest of the snow and managed with difficulty to turn the carcass over. It was a wild boar.

“The legs are tied together with rope,” he said. “He must have used a trap to catch it. He didn’t shoot it. The neck is broken . . . That would require a huge amount of strength.”

Teresa nodded.

“Our killer doesn’t like weapons. He kills and hunts with his bare hands.”

“But that uses up a great deal more energy.”

“And it’s risky. Never underestimate the strength people can muster when they’re fighting for their lives. But they don’t care.”

Marini looked at her.

“Who’s they?” he asked.

“People like him. They’re obsessed with blood. Ed Kemper would dissect the bodies of his victims to play around with their internal organs.”

“Do you mind if I throw up?”

“Not all over my evidence, Inspector.”

“Is that what you think the killer is doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“The skin is not here. Did he take that with him, too?”

Teresa sighed. She felt tired and defeated. There was no sign of the rage she desperately needed to feel.

“Call headquarters,” she commanded. “And get the forensics team here.”

She rose wearily to her feet and noticed a bloodied rock on the ground a little way off, far from the tracks around the jeep. It was sheltered by the branches of a fir tree, and the snow hadn’t covered it. The killer might have used it to knock the victim unconscious, perhaps with a blow to the back of his head.

She went back to the body and looked more closely at its head. She tried to look under the fur hat without touching anything: even the scalp had been removed.

She felt a light puff of air stroke her face. It was warm. She looked uncomprehendingly at the body’s blank eyes. And when the truth began to dawn on her, she felt like her body might finally fail her.

“He’s alive!” she shouted.

-49-

-49-

Bergdorf, 12 November 1978

Day 94

Initial observations indicate that the subjects remain healthy, exhibiting no signs of illness or serious pathology, despite continuing to show symptoms of what our esteemed colleague René Spitz termed “anaclitic depression.” I would describe their condition as a waking stupor.

Interestingly, one individual has shown a partially dissimilar reaction. Unlike the others, this subject demonstrates a high level of responsiveness, despite the absence of external stimuli. Though he, too, lacks facial expressions, the attendant has twice described him as appearing to be “aware.”

As I had predicted, he has begun to reject physical contact and has responded aggressively to an attempt to approach him. The attendant is convinced that the subject exerts some kind of negative influence upon the others.