Jonathan Kellerman - The Web

"He wasn't holding it."

"Was it found at the scene?"

"It was… embedded."

"Embedded," echoed Jo. "Where?"

"In the poor girl's throat! Is it necessary to know these things?"

Robin was squeezing my hand convulsively.

"The whole thing is absurd!" said Moreland. "They claim Ben was right next to her - sleeping with her, his arms around her, his head on her… what was left of her abdomen. That he'd be able to sleep with her after something like that is - absurd !"

Robin broke away and ran to the railing. I followed her and covered her shoulders with my arms, feeling her shivers as she stared up at the bright yellow moon.

Back at the table, Jo was saying, "He mutilated her?"

"I don't want to continue this discussion, Dr. Picker. The key is to help Ben."

Robin wheeled around. "What about Betty? What about helping her family?"

"Yes, yes, of course that's…"

"She was pregnant ! What about her unborn child? Her husband, her parents?"

Moreland looked away.

"What about them, Bill?"

Moreland's lips trembled. "Of course they deserve sympathy, dear. I ache for them. Betty was my patient- I delivered her, for God's sake!"

"Whooping cough," I said.

"What's that?"

"I spoke with her yesterday. She told me you treated her for whooping cough when she was a kid. She considered you a hero."

He slumped and sat back down. "Dear God…"

No one talked. Brandy got poured. It burned a slow, cleansing trail down my gullet, the only sensation in an otherwise numb body. Everyone looked numb.

"Anyone know the time?" I said.

Pam shot the sleeve of her kimono. "Just after four."

"Rise and shine," said Jo, softly. "I still don't see why we're all locked up here."

"For our own safety," said Moreland. "At least that's the theory."

"Who's out to get us?"

"No one."

"Ben is closely identified with this place," I said. "So people may start talking."

Moreland didn't answer.

Jo frowned. "Staying cooped up just makes us sitting targets. You've got no security here- anyone can walk right in."

"I've never needed security, Dr. Picker."

"Do you keep any weapons around?" she said.

"No! If you're concerned with your safety, I suggest you-"

"No problem," said Jo. "Personally, I'm fine. It's the only good thing that came out of losing Ly. When your worst fantasy comes true, you find out you can handle things."

She got up and shuffled toward the living room, tightening the belt of her robe, big hips shifting like the pans of a balance scale.

When she was gone, Robin said, "She's got a gun. A little pistol. I saw it in an open drawer of her nightstand."

Moreland's mouth worked. "I despise firearms."

Pam said, "Hopefully she won't shoot someone by accident. Is there any way you can get some rest now, Dad? You're going to be needing your strength."

"I'll be fine, dear. Thank you for your… ministrations, but I believe I'll stay up for a while." He leaned over as if to kiss her, but patted her shoulder instead. "Hopefully when the sun comes up, cooler heads will prevail."

"There are some things I'd like to discuss with you," I said.

He stared at me.

"Things we never got to last night."

"Yes, certainly. In the morning, right after I call Dennis-"

"I'm staying up, too. We can talk now."

He fidgeted with the neckband of his nightshirt. "Of course. What say we leave the terrace to the ladies and move to my office?"

I squeezed Robin's hand and she squeezed back and sat next to Pam, who looked baffled. But the two of them were already talking as Moreland and I left.

"What's so urgent?" he said, flicking the lights on in the bungalow. The newspaper clippings were gone from his desk. So were all his other papers; the wood surface gleamed.

"We never talked about A. Tutalo -"

"Surely you can see why that wouldn't be a priority at this time-"

"There are other things."

"Such as?"

"Murder. Ben. What's really going on with Aruk."

He said nothing for a while, then, "That's quite an agenda."

"We've got nowhere to go."

"Very well." He pointed crossly to the sofa and I sat, expecting him to settle in a facing chair. Instead, he went behind the desk, lowered himself with a grimace, opened a drawer, and began searching.

"You don't believe Ben could have done this," he said. "Do you?"

"I don't know Ben very well."

He gave a small, tired smile. "Psychologist's answer… Very well, I can't expect you to follow me blindly; you'll see, he'll be vindicated. The notion of his butchering Betty is beyond ridiculous- all right, trivial things first. "A. Tutalo.' You couldn't find an organism by that name because it's not a germ, it's a fantasy. A local myth. The "A' stands for "Aruk.' "Aruk Tutalo.' An imaginary tribe of creatures who live in the forest. Goes back years. A myth. No one's believed it for a long time."

"Except Cristobal."

"Joseph hallucinated. That's not belief."

"You convinced him he hadn't seen anything?"

Pause. "He was a stubborn man."

"Have there been other sightings?"

"None since I've lived here. As I said, it's a primitive idea."

"Creatures from the forest," I said. "What do they look like?"

"Pale, soft, hideous. A shadow society, living under the forest. Nothing unique to Aruk; all cultures develop fantasies of fanciful, lustful creatures in order to project forbidden desires- animal instincts. The minotaurs, centaurs, and satyrs of ancient Greece. The Japanese have a saucer-headed anthro-creature called the kappa who lurks by forest streams, abducting children and pulling their intestines through their anuses. Witches' rituals use animal masks to hide the faces of participants, the Devil himself is often thought of as the Great Beast with goat feet and a serpentine tail. Wood-demons, anthro-bat vampiric creatures, werewolves, the yeti, Bigfoot, it's all the same. Psychological defense."

"What about the catwoman-"

"No, no, that was something totally different."

"A response to trauma."

"A response to cruelty. "

"Worm people," I said.

"There are no mammals native to Aruk- one uses what's at hand. "Tutalo' is derived from an ancient island word of uncertain etymology: tootali, or wood-grub. From what I've gathered they're large, humanoid, with tentaclelike limbs, slack bodied but strong. And chalky white. I find that particularly interesting. Perhaps a covert indictment of colonizers: white creatures "appearing' on the island and establishing brutal control."

"Demonizing the oppressor?"

"Precisely."

"Was Joseph Cristobal politically active?"

"On the contrary. A simple man. Illiterate. But fond of drink. I'm sure that had something to do with it. Today, your average villager would laugh at the notion of a Tutalo."

"He was your gardener. Did he sight the Tutalo here?"

He licked his lips and nodded. "He was working on the eastern walls, tying vines. Working overtime, everyone else had gone home. It was well after dark. Fatigue was probably a factor as well."

"Where did he see the creature?"

"Making its way through the banyans. Waving its arms, then retreating. He didn't tell anyone right away. Too scared, he claimed, but I suspect he'd been drinking and didn't want to be thought of as a drunkard or old-fashioned."

"So he suppressed the vision and began hallucinating at night?"

"It began as nightmares. He'd wake up screaming, see the Tutalo in his room."

"Could the original sighting have taken place as he slept?" I said. "Could he have dozed off on the job and made up the vision to cover up?"