John Lutz - Night kills

Jill had, in fact, come to think of herself as a professional temp. That was how she might fill in job applications and various other forms under "occupation." Temp. It at least kept prospective employers from thinking she might have just gotten out of prison. Now and then temporary jobs obtained through Files and More resulted in permanent employment-that's what the company had told her-but Jill soon learned it didn't happen very often. And she'd become convinced it wasn't going to happen for her.

Not only was the work temporary, but no matter where you were assigned the other employees treated you differently. You would never be one of them. They knew you'd simply fail to come in someday and that would be the last they'd see of you. They wouldn't exactly be rude to temporary workers, but no one wanted to form anything like a fast or permanent friendship. And romance seemed to be out of the question. Sex was always possible with the geeks she ran into who saw her as temporary in more ways than one, but romance, connecting with someone she might eventually love and depend on, that was as distant as the farthest star. Romance was, of course, what Jill wanted desperately. That and an infusion of cash.

A Monet smoothly crossed the screen. A garden scene: water lilies; muted, beautiful colors; lush green at the edges but subdued, like the green of a faded dollar bill.

Romantic, but the painting had made her think of money.

If she didn't find steady employment soon, Jill would have real money problems. She had no family, hadn't since her brother in Missouri died last year, and she was only four months in New York.

It had seemed the longest four months of her life. There was no one she could turn to for a personal loan, or even a reassuring hug. What people said about New York was so true: It took a lot of money to exist here. And if you were by yourself in the city, the loneliness could crush you.

Jill was determined not to be crushed, not to return to Wichita, Kansas. That way lay defeat as well as more loneliness.

On one of her jobs, helping to label and box catalogs, a woman named Billie had told her about Internet dating, how she'd started to do it and it had turned out well for her. Sure, she'd met a lot of losers, but a few winners. Nothing permanent, but guys who wanted more than drinks, laughs, and a quick go-round and see you later.

At the time, Jill had been almost horrified by the idea. Having to resort to the Internet for romance seemed so wrong, and it was embarrassing. High tech meets the heart. She sure as hell didn't need that.

But now…well, it was different. Maybe because Jill hadn't had a meaningful date in months. The last guy had taken her to a Village dive and expected oral sex right there under the table. And he'd seemed so…normal at first. Maybe that was the trouble. Maybe she'd lost touch and he was normal and she was living outside the real world.

No, she refused to believe that.

There went a Manet, an ordered but vivid scene of revelers, a beautiful woman wearing a low-cut dress and a large locket standing behind a bar and looking out and smiling at whoever over time might observe the painting. A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, no doubt a raunchy place in nineteenth-century Paris. Now it would seem tame. Its festive image had lost its lasciviousness and become art, and great art at that.

Jill had done some research, and it altered her opinion about Internet dating. Billie was probably right. It was a new world and things had changed. Jill would simply have to adapt. In this hectic life, in this mad city, there was nothing wrong, or particularly unusual, about using an Internet matchmaking service. Romance-possible romance, anyway-might be had at a price. Plenty of people were paying that price and finding romance. Why not Jill?

A Degas glided past, one of his poised and elegant ballerinas glowing in the limelight of the past.

Jill owed on her plastic cards, but she reminded herself that she wasn't maxed out. Plastic and elastic. Hope. The thing that sprang eternal.

One roll of the dice, and it could be a beautiful world.

She decided to take a chance.

There went a Van Gogh.

Quinn and his team members had exchanged ideas and information and decided they needed to start at the beginning and cover ground already trod. They'd visit the places where the torsos were found and question people in surrounding buildings, try to find someone who'd heard something unusual or happened to look out a window and see something that might be pertinent. Even if they'd given previous statements, the same questions after the passage of time could sometimes trigger memories.

They were about to get up and leave Quinn's office when they got a call from Renz saying he'd just finished taping a television interview that was about to air on a local channel.

Quinn aimed a remote at the small TV in the bookcase across from his desk and ran up the channels. Pearl got up from the armchair and closed the drapes to block the sunlight. Her motions were almost automatic, as if she still lived there and adjusted the drapes often.

By the time Quinn found the interview it was well under way. Michelle DeRavenelle, an impossibly cute local news anchor, was standing alongside Renz, holding a microphone. The interview was taking place in a sunny spot outside One Police Plaza. A slight summer breeze ruffled DeRavenelle's hair and made her look even cuter, while making Renz's sparse locks stand straight up so he looked as if he'd just gotten up from reading in bed.

"…only the nude torsos?" DeRavenelle was finishing asking. She held the microphone out toward Renz as if offering him a bite.

There was a small, lonely potted tree just behind and to the left of Renz. He shifted slightly to his left and a branch seemed to be growing out of his head. "Serial killers operate out of compulsion," he said. "They feel they have no choice. While leaving the victims' torsos to be found seems-and in fact is-bizarre to us, it might not seem so to him."

DeRavenelle appeared to dismiss this answer. "Hopefully, the FBI or police profilers have analyzed this killer, Commissioner."

"Of course."

Quinn smiled. He didn't recall any profiler report in the files. What could anyone really surmise with any degree of certainty about a killer from a couple of unidentifiable torsos? That was the sort of thing that happened only in mystery novels and television drama.

"Do the police have any ideas as to who he is, what kind of madman he is? If indeed he is mad."

"Oh, he's mad by our standards," Renz said, "however anyone might decide to label him. Early on in a case, that's about the only thing we can be sure of when dealing with this kind of killer. Our profiler is examining evidence and working out a hypothetical composite suspect who I'm sure will eventually turn out to be much like the real suspect when we arrest him. Sadly, at this point there simply isn't much to work with, so it will take time."

"Can the same be said about Captain Frank Quinn and his detectives-that it will take time for them to assemble enough information to find the killer? Unfortunately, there might not be time to waste."

Renz wasn't thrown. "It's difficult to predict how this kind of investigation will go, but I'm sure that with Quinn in charge it will take the minimum amount of time to make an arrest. That's why I partnered with him and his team and tasked them to find the killer. I know they're the best, and in a case like this, one that impacts virtually all of our citizens who are women-or men who have lovers, wives, or daughters-the city deserves the best."

DeRavenelle cocked her head and smiled. This guy knew how to play the game. "But no suspects so far, Commissioner?"

"Not solid suspects. Because of the deviant sexual aspect to these terrible crimes-"