I nodded. Tell me what I need to know. I don't want to have to come back here."

“Nor should you. I don't have any need for confession. That's more of a Western concept.”

“You don't feel any guilt about what's happened? Innocent people have died.”

“And will continue to. What is it that you really want to know? Do you believe I owe you something because of your crackerjack detective work?”

“You admit that you used me?”

Luu shrugged. “I don't admit anything. Why should I? I was a guerrilla fighter. I survived in the jungles of An Lao for nearly six years. Then I survived in the jungles of California and New York. I use whatever is provided to me. I try to make the most of the situation. You do the same, I'm sure.”

“Like at this prison?”

“Oh, especially in prison. Otherwise, even a reasonably bright man could go mad. You've heard the phrase ”cruel and unusual“. A cell that is seven by twelve feet. Twenty-three hours a day in it. Communication only through a cell slot in the door.”

I leaned across the table, my face close to Luu's. Blood was pounding inside my head. Tran Van Luu was the Foot Soldier. He had to be. And he had the answers that I wanted. Was he also responsible for all these murders?

“So why did you kill Sergeant Ellis Cooper? The others? Why did they have to die? Is it all just revenge? Tell me what the hell happened in the An Lao Valley. Tell me and I'll go away.”

He shook his head. “I've told you enough. Go home, Detective. You don't need to hear anymore. Yes, I am Foot Soldier. The other answers you seek are too much for the people in your country to hear. Let these murder cases go. Just this once, Detective, let them go.”

Alex Cross 8 - Four Blind Mice

Chapter One Hundred and. Seven

I made no move to get up and leave. Iran Van Luu stared at me impassively, then he smiled. Had he expected this? Stubbornness? Obtuseness? Was that why he'd involved me in the first place? Had he talked to Kyle Craig about me? How much did he know? Everything, or just more pieces of the puzzle?

"Your continuing journey is interesting to me. I don't understand men like you. You want to know why terrible things happen. You want to make things right, if only occasionally.

“You've dealt with vicious killers before. Gary Soneji, Geoffrey Shafer, Kyle Craig, of course. Your country has produced so many killers, Bundy, Dahmer, all the others. I don't know why this happens in such a civilized country. A place with so many blessings.”

I shook my head. I really didn't know either. But Luu wanted to hear what I had to say on the subject. Had he asked Kyle the same questions?

“I've always felt it has something to do with high expectations. Many Americans expect to be happy, expect to be loved. When we aren't, some of us go into a rage. Especially if it happens to us as children. If instead of love, we experience hatred and abuse. What I don't understand is why so many Americans abuse their children.”