Mary, Mary

Lowenstein-Bell:
    I watched you having dinner last night. You and your fine family of five. Very cozy and nice. “Mother Knows Best.” With those immaculately clean glass walls of yours, it couldn’t have been easier to watch. I enjoyed seeing you with your kids at your last supper.
    I could actually see the delicious-looking food on your plates, prepared by your cook and nanny, of course. You were having a swell time, and that’s fine with me. I wanted you to enjoy yourself on your last night. I especially wanted your kids to have a lasting memory. Now I have a memory of them, too.
    I’ll never forget their sweet faces. Never, ever forget your kids, Marti. Trust me on it.
    What a beautiful, beautiful house you have, Marti, as befits such an important writer and film director. Is that the right order, by the way? I think so.
    I didn’t come inside until later, when you were putting the girls to bed. You left the patio doors open again, and this time I used them.
    I couldn’t resist. I wanted to see things just the way you see them, from the inside looking out.
    But I still don’t understand why all you rich people feel so safe in your houses. Those big castles can’t protect you if you aren’t paying close attention.
And you weren’t. You weren’t paying attention at all. Too busy being a mom—or too busy being a star?
    I listened to you upstairs, doing bedtime with the girls. It was kind of touching, and I mean that. You probably thought you would be the last one to tuck them in, but you weren’t.
    Later, when everyone was asleep, I watched each of those girls in her bed, breathing so peacefully. They were like little angels with no cares in the world.
    I didn’t have to tell them they had nothing to worry about, because they already knew. It was just the opposite for you. I decided to wait until the morning, so that I could be with you alone, Madam Director.
    I’m really glad I waited, too. Your husband, Michael, took the girls to school today. His turn, I guess. That was lucky for everyone, but especially for him. He got to live, and you didn’t have to watch him die. And I got you the way I wanted, just the way I had imagined it for such a long time.
    Here’s what happened next, Marti.
    Your last morning started like any other. You did your precious Pilates and then went for laps in the pool. Fifty laps, just like always. It must be nice to have such a big swimming pool. Heated, too. I stood and watched you gliding back and forth in the sparkling blue water. Even there, so close, it took you forever to see me.
    When you finally looked up, you must have been good and tired. Too tired to scream I suppose. All you did was turn away, but it didn’t stop me from shooting you. Or then cutting your pretty face to ribbons and shreds.
    Tell you what, Marti, that was the best part of all. I’m starting to really like defacement.
    Now, let me ask one final question—
do you know why you had to die? Do you know what you did to deserve this? Do you know, Marti, do you know?
    Somehow, I doubt it.

Chapter 27
    BUT THAT WASN’T EXACTLY the way it happened, the Storyteller knew.
    Of course, he wasn’t going to tell the
L.A. Times
and the police everything, only what he needed them to know, only what was in the story he wanted them to help authenticate.
    It was such a good story, a helluva story if he didn’t say so himself. Mary Smith! Jesus. A classic horror tale if ever there was one.
    Speaking of stories, he’d heard a good one the other day—the “psychopath’s test.” It was supposed to tell you if you had the mind of a psycho. If you got it right, you did. The story went like this. At her mother’s funeral, a woman met this guy and fell instantly in love. But she never got his name, number, or anything about him. A few days later, the woman killed her sister.
    Now . . . the test! Why did she kill the sister? If you answer correctly, then you think like a psychopath.
    The Storyteller did, of course. He figured it out immediately. This woman killed her sister . . . because she was hoping the guy she liked would appear at the funeral.
    Anyway, after he killed Marti Lowenstein-Bell, he was high as a kite, but he knew he had to stay in control, more or less anyway. He had to keep up appearances.
    So he hustled on back to work.
    He roamed the halls of the office building in Pasadena and talked to half a dozen coworkers about things that bored the living shit out of him, especially today. He wanted to