The Concrete Blonde (hb-3)

his wide florid face that Bosch had not seen previously.
    “Doctor, these men with these so-called paraphilia, what do they look like?”
    “Like anybody. There is no look that gives them away.”
    “Yes, and are they always on the prowl? You know, looking to indulge their aberrant fantasies by acting them out?”
    “No, actually, studies have shown that these people obviously know they have aberrant tastes and they work to keep them in check. Those brave enough to come forward with their problems often lead completely normal lives with the aid of chemical and psychological therapy. Those that don’t are periodically overcome by the compulsion to act out, and they may follow these urges and commit a crime.
    “Psychosexually motivated serial killers often exhibit patterns that are quite repetitive, so that police tracking them can almost predict within a few days or a week when they will strike. This is because the buildup of stress, the compulsion to act, will follow a pattern. Often, what you have are decreasing intervals-the overpowering urge comes back sooner and sooner each time.”
    Belk was leaning over the lectern, his weight firmly against it.
    “I see, but between these moments of compulsion when the acts take place, does this man seem to have a normal life or, you know, is he standing in the corner, slobbering? Or whatever?”
    “No, nothing like that-at least, until the intervals become so short that they literally don’t exist. Then you might have someone out there always on the prowl, as you said. But between the intervals there is normalcy. The aberrant sexual act-rape, strangulation, voyeurism, anything-will provide the subject with the memory to construct fantasy. He will be able to use the act to fantasize and stimulate arousal during masturbation or normal sex.”
    “Do you mean that he will sort of replay the murder in his mind so that he can become sexually aroused for having normal sexual intercourse with, say, his wife?”
    Chandler objected and Belk had to rephrase the question so it was not leading Locke.
    “Yes, he will replay the aberrant act in his mind so that he can accomplish the act that is socially acceptable.”
    “So in doing so, a wife, for example, might not even know of her husband’s real desires, correct?”
    “That is correct. It has happened often.”
    “And a person such as this could carry on at work and with friends and not reveal this side of himself, correct?”
    “Again, that is correct. There is ample evidence of this in the case histories of sexual sadists who kill. Ted Bundy led a well-documented double life. Randy Kraft, killer of dozens of hitchhikers here in Southern California. I could name many, many more. You see, this is the very reason they kill so many victims before being caught, and then it is usually only because of a small mistake.”
    “Like with Norman Church?”
    “Yes.”
    “As you testified earlier, you could not find or gather enough information about Norman Church’s early development and behavior to include him in your book. Does that fact dissuade you from belief that he was the killer police claim him to be?”
    “Not in the least. As I said, these desires can be easily cloaked in normal behavior. These people know they have desires that are not accepted by society. Believe me, they take pains to hide them. Mr. Church was not the only subject I considered for the book and then discarded for lack of valuable information. I did preliminary studies of at least three other serial killers who were either dead or uncooperative and dropped them as well because of the lack of public record or background on them.”
    “You mentioned earlier that the roots of these problems are planted in childhood. How?”
    “I should have said ‘may,’ the roots may be planted in childhood. It is a difficult science and nothing is known for sure. Getting to your question, if I had a definite answer I guess I wouldn’t have a job. But what psychoanalysts such as myself believe is that the paraphilia can come through emotional or physical trauma or both. It basically is a synthesis of these, possibly some biological determinants and social learning. It is hard to pinpoint, but we believe it happens very early, generally five to eight years of age. One of the fellows in my book was molested by an uncle at age three. My thesis, or belief or whatever you want to call it, is that this trauma set him on the trail toward becoming a murderer of