“They killed her. I know they did it,” Oscar said.

“Who do you think they are?”

“I don’t know who they are. They’ve been following me, some specialized group supporting some cause. I’m their target. It’s been going on for months, at least. How can she be gone? Maybe I am a danger to myself. Maybe I do want to die.”

He began to cry.

“I loved her more than anyone … ever in my life. I keep thinking I’ll wake up. It isn’t true. It can’t be true. I’m not really here. I hate Jaime Berger. Maybe they’ll kill someone she loves. See how that feels. Let her live that hell. I hope it happens. I hope someone murders whoever she loves most in her life.”

“Do you wish you could kill someone she loves?” Scarpetta asked.

She tucked several tissues into his cuffed hands. Tears fell, and his nose ran.

He said, “I don’t know who they are. If I’m out there, they’ll follow me again. They know where I am right this minute. They try to control me through fear. Through harassment.”

“How are they doing this? Do you have reason to believe someone is stalking you?”

“Advanced electronics. There are countless unclassified devices you can order off the Internet. Microwave-transmitted voice to skull. Silent sound. Through-the- wall radar. I have every reason to believe I’ve been selected as a mind-control target, and if you don’t think things like this happen, think back to the human radiation experiments conducted by the government after World War Two. Those people were secretly fed radioactive materials, injected with plutonium for purposes of nuclear warfare research. I’m not making this up.”

“I’m aware of the radiation experiments,” Scarpetta said. “There’s no denying that happened.”

“I don’t know what they want from me,” he said. “It’s Berger’s fault. All of it’s her fault.”

“Explain that to me.”

“The DA’s office investigates identity theft, stalking, harassment, and I called and asked to talk to her, and they wouldn’t let me. I told you. They put me on the phone with this asshole cop. He thought I was a lunatic, of course, and nobody did anything. There was no investigation. No one cares. I trust you. I know you care about people. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Please help me. Please. I’m completely unprotected. I have no shields here. No protections.”

She checked shallow abrasions on the left side of his neck, noting that the stage of scab formation looked relatively fresh.

“Why would you trust me?” she asked.

“I can’t believe you’d say that. What manipulation are you trying?”

“I don’t manipulate people. I have no intention of manipulating you.”

He studied her face as she studied more abrasions.

“Okay,” he said. “I understand you have to be careful what you say. It doesn’t matter. I respected you before all that. You don’t know who they are, either. You have to be careful.”

“Before all what?”

“You were brave to discuss Bhutto’s assassination. Terri and I watched you on CNN. You had a long day and night on CNN, talking about it, were so compassionate and respectful about that terrible tragedy. And brave and matter-of- fact, but I could tell what you felt in your heart. I could tell you were as devastated as we were. You were devastated, and it wasn’t for show. You worked hard to hide it. I knew I could trust you. I understood. Terri did, too, of course. But it was disappointing. I told her she had to think of it from your perspective. Because I knew I could trust you.”