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a bitch, what a bitch. 
 What did his voice sound like?
 Gravelly.
 Had she ever heard it before?
 I didn t ask her that. I assumed she would have said
something if she had.
 You can t assume anything. Anyway, go on, you re
doing fine.
 Oh, I almost forgot. He told her he had a gun.
 Well, that s a pretty important detail.
 She wouldn t let me take notes. This is all from
memory.
There was defensiveness in her voice. Decker realized
he was coming across as critical and softened his tone.
 You re doing great. A-plus. Did he threaten to shoot
her?
 No. She distinctly said he didn t threaten to use it.
He just said,  I have a gun, and she felt this cold thing
against her temple.
 Okay.
 He finally stopped hitting her. He reached up her
dress and pulled down her underwear& He& Excuse
me.
 Take your time. Here. Decker poured her another
cup of juice.  Take a gulp.
 Thank you. She took a sip.  This is very hard for
me.
 I understand.
She sighed.  Let s see. He attempted to& tried to do
it to her from behind. First the reg-
74 / Faye Kellerman
ular way, then sodomy, but he wasn t aroused.
 She saw his penis?
 Uh, no, well, I don t know. She couldn t feel him
penetrating her, I guess. She felt a little something
anally, but nothing really physically painful.
Her account was consistent with the exam. It had
revealed no sperm or seminal fluid in the vaginal mu-
cosa and a few drops of seminal fluid in the anal re-
gion. Enough to get a serum typing, but not a really
good one. But he didn t tell her that.
 Did she recall the man ejaculating? Decker asked.
 She felt something warm and wet dribble down her
leg.
Damn! If the doctor had looked a little farther down
the victim s leg, she would have found a nice, big
sperm sample. It was hell working with amateurs.
 Go on, he urged, suppressing his irritation.
 After he was done, he told her that he knew who
she was, and if she talked, he d kill her. He started to
slap her, but then I came out. She s sure that scared
him. Anyway, he took off as soon as he heard my
voice.
 So the mysterious fleeing figure probably was the
bastard.
She nodded and hugged herself.
 It gives me the chills just to think about it.
 Anything else? he asked.
 Not that I can remember.
THE RITUAL BATH / 75
He stopped writing and put the note pad away.
 Detect 
 Peter, he reminded her.
 Peter, does any of it sound like the Foothill rapist?
There were certain similarities the attempted anal
penetration and the failure to achieve a full erection,
but other things didn t fit. The ski mask for one. And
Mrs. Adler had been wearing sandals, not high-heeled
shoes. But he wasn t about to commit himself one way
or the other.
 Maybe, maybe not.
 Please don t be cryptic. Off the record.
 Off the record, maybe, maybe not.
She frowned.
 Listen, he said,  at this point it doesn t make a hell
of a lot of difference, because we don t know much
about the Foothill rapist either. Which leaves me sitting
in a pile of shit, if you ll excuse my language.
 You must be under a lot of pressure.
 That s an understatement, he said, lighting up a
cigarette.  But I usually perform well when the heat s
on. He smiled tightly.  Though I ve got to admit, the
barometer s been reading pretty high lately.
 So you re not close to finding him.
 Close doesn t mean a thing. Either you have him
or you don t. Will you excuse me for a moment?
She watched him walk over to the old lady, who
was no longer alone. To her right stood
76 / Faye Kellerman
a teenager an emaciated Hispanic boy of about sev-
enteen. A sickly pallor dulled a complexion that should
have glowed bronze. He started backing away as the
detective approached.
 Hey, I m not doin nothin , man!
 Hey, Ramon, I didn t say you were doing anything,
replied Decker, towering over the kid.  I just came over
to be friendly.
 Hey, ain t I got a right to walk in a park? The boy
sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve.  I mean, hey,
a park s a public place!
 You ve got rights. Sure, you ve got rights. Every-
body s got rights. I was just making sure that Mrs.
Sanchez gets her rights, too.
The grandmother gave him a warm smile.
Decker prodded a sunken chest with his index finger.
 Why don t you beat it?
 Hey, man, I m goin , I m goin .
The detective watched him cross the street. When
the boy had disappeared, he returned to the bench.
 Junkie, he said, sitting down.  They prey on people
like the good little Señora: old women with children
who can t give them chase. Sneak up, grab their purses,
and they re a couple bucks richer with very little effort.
 What a world, Rina said.  Until now we d always [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]