“Let me deal with that,” said Esti. “I think I know somebody.”

“Great.” Gurney gave her an appreciative nod. “In addition to an estimated time of death, see if you can get copies of the initial photos in the autopsy sequence.”

“The shots taken before he was opened up?”

“Right—the body on the table, plus any detail shots of the head and neck.”

“You want to see exactly how he was nailed?” A quirky grin revealed more relish for this kind of thing than most women would have. Or men, for that matter.

The normally impervious Hardwick grimaced in disgust. Then he turned to Gurney. “You figure that horrible shit was some kind of message?”

“Ritualistic stuff usually is, unless it’s an intentional distraction.”

“Which do you think this was?” asked Esti.

Gurney shrugged. “I’m not sure. But the message seems clear enough.”

Hardwick looked like he was biting down on a bad tooth. “You mean like … ‘I hate you so fucking much I want to hammer spikes into your brain.’ Something like that?”

“Don’t forget the neck,” said Esti.

“Larynx,” said Gurney.

They both looked at him.

She spoke first. “What do you mean?”

“I’d be willing to bet the target of the fifth nail was Gus’s larynx.”

“Why?”

“It’s the voice organ.”

“So?”

“Eyes, ears, larynx. Sight, hearing, voice. All destroyed.”

“And this means what to you?” said Hardwick.

“I may be wrong, but what comes to mind is ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.’ ”

Esti nodded. “That makes sense! But who’s the message for? The victim? Or someone else?”

“That depends on how crazy the killer is.”

“How so?”

“A psychopath who kills for an emotional release usually leaves a symbolic message that reflects the nature of his own pathology—often by mutilating some part of the victim. The message contributes to the feeling of release. It’s primarily a communication between him and his victim. Probably also a communication between him and someone in his childhood, someone involved in the root of the pathology—usually one of his parents.”

“You think that’s what the Gurikos nails-in-the-head thing was?”

Gurney shook his head. “If the Gurikos murder was connected to the two Spalter murders, mother and son, I’d say it was driven more by a practical goal than a compulsion.”

Esti looked baffled. “A practical goal?”

“It seems to me like the killer was advising someone to mind their own business, to keep quiet about something, and letting them know at the same time what would happen to them if they didn’t. The big questions are, who was the someone and what was the something.”

“You have some ideas about that?”

“Just guesses. The something may have been some fact about the first two murders.”

Hardwick joined in. “Like the identity of the shooter?”

“Or the motive,” said Gurney. “Or some incriminating detail.”