Alex Barclay - The Caller

‘That’s it?’ she said. ‘You told them that. What about telling them the police might call at the door! Why were they there?’

He walked over to her. ‘After everything that happened last year, I asked them to look in on your parents every now and then. That’s it.’

‘But what have my parents got to do with anything?’

‘They’re part of our family. Duke Rawlins targeted my family. You had nothing to do with what went down between me and him and Riggs, but that didn’t matter to him.’

‘I don’t understand. Did you think my parents weren’t going to tell me?’

‘I didn’t think the cops were going to knock on the door. I thought they were just going to take a look around without raising any suspicions.’

‘Do Giulio and Pam get these visits too?’

‘Let me take care of them. I’m in the same country. But yes, I did put a call into Rye PD, let them know our situation.’

Anna shook her head. ‘We’ll never be free of this.’

‘We are free,’ said Joe, pulling her into his arms. ‘It’s over. I am not going to let someone like him ruin our lives. He is not going to come after us so soon. He’s not going to risk that. We’re the worst place he could be right now. New York is the worst place.’

‘I don’t think anything would ever stop that man getting what he wants.’

‘Honey,’ he said, pulling her closer. ‘Listen to me. He’s not coming back.’

Dr Makkar led Joe into his office. He offered him a seat, then stood by the wall, gently swinging his putter and guiding a fluorescent golf ball into a green machine that fired it right back at him.

‘Precision,’ he said. He kneeled on an ergonomic stool behind his desk. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘I have a question,’ said Joe. ‘What would stop you getting your teeth fixed if they’d been injured or broken in some way?’

He shrugged. ‘Depends what you mean.’

Joe held out a brown envelope.

‘Could you look at a few crime scene photos for me? I think the perp spent some time working on the victims’ teeth or mouths for some reason before they were murdered. These are graphic images.’

‘I’m unshockable,’ said Dr Makkar, taking them from him. He looked down, his eyes wide. ‘Or at least, I used to be. Holy crap. These are hardcore. I liked that you said “ working ” on their teeth or mouths. I work on people’s teeth. This guy… wow. Wow. My breakfast is not happy.’ He took a drink from a plastic cup.

‘I know,’ said Joe. ‘So, what do you think?’

‘I don’t know, but your guy’s got some reason for smashing these teeth in. He’s not fooling around. Do you think it’s a torture thing to get information out of someone? Or maybe the victims already gave away some information they shouldn’t have?’

Joe shrugged. ‘It could be anything.’

Makkar looked through the photos again. ‘He was definitely going for a big psychological impact. It’s a primal thing with teeth. That’s why it freaks us all out so much when we dream they’re falling out. You’ve had that dream, right? And it’s like you’re trying to imagine how your life can go on without your teeth? It’s an apocalyptic thing.’ He paused. ‘Do you know what’s so cruel about messing with people’s teeth or their mouths? It’s that if you don’t heal one hundred per cent, there are so many reminders of your assault: every time you chew, kiss, smoke, go out in the cold, whatever. It’s there all the time. Psychologically, you could have to relive the whole thing over and over.’ He looked down. ‘Although, most of your victims, well, they don’t have to.’

‘Don’t dentists have the most stressful jobs, highest rate of suicides?’ said Joe.

Dr Makkar frowned. ‘I see where you’re going. Sure. And, man, you should see all the serial killers that’ve come out of dental school over the years.’

‘OK, but do you think what we’re looking for here is a dentist?’

‘Yes, I think that’s what you’re looking for, but that doesn’t mean you’re right.’

Joe smiled. ‘Well, what do you think?’

’I don’t know.’ Makkar pointed to the photo of Preston Blake that Joe had cut from the newspaper. ‘But I’d say the reason someone like this guy wouldn’t get their teeth fixed is that he will never ever let anyone near his mouth again. Look at those eyes, even. That is the look of a damaged man.’ He turned to Joe. ‘And he’s not the only one.’

‘You’re too hard on me, Dr Mak. Anyway, look, I appreciate all this. Thanks for your help.’

‘Now,’ said Dr Makkar, holding on to the photos. ‘I’m afraid I have some good news for you. I got a call from a doctor friend of mine who has one of the most experienced surgeons in arthroscopy visiting the Facial Pain Clinic next week and has offered me a slot for a patient. I’d like that to be you.’

Joe stared at him. ‘Am I supposed to be grateful for that?’

‘You’re hurting my feelings here. What am I going to do with you? Your face looks so, just rigid. It’s crazy. You can’t look at this kind of stuff,’ he pointed to the photos, ‘you can’t live this life without getting affected. You can’t fool me. You really want to spend the rest of your life in this kind of pain?’

‘No, definitely not. But I can’t do surgery.’

‘I’m telling you, you can.’

‘What day’s it on?’

‘Friday – ten days from now.’

Joe sighed. ‘OK. Fine, put me down. But I’d like the record to show-’

‘I don’t keep records for babies,’ said Dr Makkar. ‘Or cats, scaredy cats.’

When Joe got back to the office, everyone was gathered around Danny’s desk and there was an atmosphere he couldn’t quite put his finger on until Martinez opened his mouth.

‘Ease yourself into the morning, that’s right.’

‘I was getting someone to take a look at the teeth angle,’ said Joe. ‘From 7 a.m. When you were in bed.’

Martinez nodded, but was looking away.

‘OK,’ said Rencher. ‘Mary Burig is twenty-eight, single, from Boulder, Colorado, got a degree in psychology, moved to New York just over a year ago, took an apartment in the East Village, which is possibly where she was attacked.’

‘What did she work at?’ said Joe.

‘She had a part-time job at a deli.’

‘Was she dating anyone around the time of the attack?’ said Bobby.

‘No. Not since she got to New York,’ said Joe.

‘And you said she’s got no memory of what happened,’ said Bobby.

‘No,’ said Joe. ‘And there’s nothing we can do about that for now. She does remember a teeth thing. So I’ve put the word out on the teletype and updated VICAP. But whatever happens, now we know about her, it changes everything. Female vic, late twenties, happened after William Aneto and Gary Ortis, but before Preston Blake and Ethan Lowry. So Mary was the third intended victim that we know about. And she got away. And so did Preston Blake.’ He raised his hands. ‘How did two victims get away? What did the perp do differently? What did the vics do differently? Was it a physical thing – the vic gets a surge of adrenaline and overpowers the perp? Or a psychological thing – the vic says or does something that makes the perp stop? Or maybe he was interrupted – someone calls to the door, an alarm goes off, the police show up. We need to find out what Mary Burig did and what Preston Blake did that made them the lucky ones.’

‘Yeah, real lucky,’ said Danny. ‘I’d give my left arm to be living in some rehab apartment or holed up like a recluse in a-’

‘Huge mansion,’ said Martinez.

‘Yeah, well, it doesn’t sound like Preston Blake’s going to be too happy to talk to us again one way or the other.’