The Mephisto Club

And O’Donnell.”
    Marquette said, “Does she realize how much danger she could be in? Being the focus of a killer’s attention?”
    “She didn’t seem too impressed.”
    “What does it take to scare that woman?”
    “Maybe when he sends her that little token of affection. The equivalent of a dead mouse.” Jane paused. “Let’s not forget. Lori-Ann Tucker’s hand is still missing.”

TEN
    Jane could not stop thinking about that hand as she stood in her kitchen, slicing cold chicken for a late-night snack. She carried it to the table, where her usually impeccably groomed husband was sitting with his sleeves rolled up, baby drool on his collar. Was there anything sexier than a man patiently burping his daughter? Regina gave a lusty belch and Gabriel laughed. What a sweet and perfect moment this was. All of them together and safe and healthy.
    Then she looked down at the sliced chicken and she thought of what had rested on another dinner plate, on another woman’s dining table. She pushed the plate aside.
    We are just meat. Like chicken. Like beef.
    “I thought you were hungry,” said Gabriel.
    “I guess I changed my mind. It suddenly doesn’t look so appetizing.”
    “It’s the case, isn’t it?”
    “I wish I could stop thinking about it.”
    “I saw the files you brought home tonight. Couldn’t help looking through them. I’d be preoccupied, too.”
    Jane shook her head. “You’re supposed to be on vacation. What are you doing, checking out autopsy photos?”
    “They were lying right there on the counter.” He set Regina in her infant carrier. “You want to talk about it? Bounce it off me, if you’d like. If you think it’ll help.”
    She glanced at Regina, who was watching them with alert eyes, and suddenly she gave a laugh. “Geez, when she’s old enough to understand, this is gonna be
really
appropriate family conversation.
So, honey, how many headless corpses have you seen today?
”
    “She can’t understand us. So talk to me.”
    Jane got up and went to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of Adam’s Ale, and popped off the top.
    “Jane?”
    “You really want to hear the details?”
    “I want to know what’s bothering you so much.”
    “You saw the photos. You know what’s bothering me.” She sat down again and took a gulp of beer. “Sometimes,” she said quietly, looking down at the sweating bottle, “I think it’s crazy to have children. You love them, raise them. Then you watch them walk into a world where they just get hurt. Where they meet up with people like…”
Like Warren Hoyt
was what she was thinking, but she didn’t say his name; she almost never said his name. It was as if saying it aloud was to summon the Devil himself.
    The sudden buzz of the intercom made her snap straight. She looked up at the wall clock. “It’s ten-thirty.”
    “Let me see who it is.” Gabriel walked into the living room and pressed the intercom button. “Yes?”
    An unexpected voice responded over the speaker. “It’s me,” said Jane’s mother.
    “Come on up, Mrs. Rizzoli,” said Gabriel, and buzzed her in. He shot a surprised look at Jane.
    “It’s so late. What’s she doing here?”
    “I’m almost afraid to ask.”
    They heard Angela’s footsteps on the stairs, slower and more ponderous than usual, accompanied by an intermittent thumping, as though she were hauling something behind her. Only when she reached the second-floor landing did they see what it was.
    A suitcase.
    “Mom?” said Jane, but even as she said it, she could not quite believe that this woman with the wild hair and even wilder eyes was her mother. Angela’s coat was unbuttoned, the flap of her collar was turned under, and her slacks were soaked to the knees, as though she’d trudged through a snowbank to reach their building. She gripped the suitcase with both hands and looked ready to fling it at someone. Anyone.
    She looked dangerous.
    “I need to stay with you tonight,” said Angela.
    “What?”
    “Well, can I come in or not?”
    “Of course, Mom.”
    “Here, let me get that for you, Mrs. Rizzoli,” Gabriel said, taking the suitcase.
    “You see?” said Angela, pointing to Gabriel. “
That’s
how a man’s supposed to behave! He sees that a woman needs help, and he steps right up to the plate. That’s what a
gentleman’s
supposed to do.”
    “Mom, what happened?”
    “What happened? What
happened
? I don’t know where to begin!”
    Regina gave a wail of protest at being