They arranged to meet at the De Young Museum.

"I really missed you," Richard Melton said. "How was Quebec?"

"Va bene."

"I wish I had been there with you."

Maybe one day, Alette thought hopefully. "How is the painting coming along?" Alette thought hopefully. "How is the painting coming along?"

"Not bad. I just sold one of my paintings to a really well-known collector."

"Fantastic!" She was delighted. And she could not help thinking, It's so different when I'm with him. If it were anyone else, I would have thought, Who is tasteless enough to pay money for your paintings? or Don't give up your day job or a hundred other cruel remarks. But I don't do that with Richard. It's so different when I'm with him. If it were anyone else, I would have thought, Who is tasteless enough to pay money for your paintings? or Don't give up your day job or a hundred other cruel remarks. But I don't do that with Richard.

It gave Alette an incredible feeling of freedom, as though she had found a cure for some debilitating disease.

They had lunch at the museum.

"What would you like?" Richard asked. "They have great roast beef here."

"I'm a vegetarian. I'll just have a salad. Thank you."

"Okay."

A young, attractive waitress came over to the table. "h.e.l.lo, Richard."

"Hi, Bernice."

Unexpectedly, Alette felt a pang of jealousy. Her reaction surprised her.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yes. Miss Peters is going to have a salad, and I'm going to have a roast beef sandwich."

The waitress was studying Alette. Is she jealous of me? Is she jealous of me? Alette wondered. When the waitress left, Alette said, "She's very pretty. Do you know her well?" Immediately she blushed. Alette wondered. When the waitress left, Alette said, "She's very pretty. Do you know her well?" Immediately she blushed. I wish I hadn't asked that. I wish I hadn't asked that.

Richard smiled. "I come here a lot. When I first came here, I didn't have much money. I'd order a sandwich, and Bernice would bring me a banquet. She's great."

"She seems very nice," Alette said. And she thought, She has fat thighs. She has fat thighs.

After they had ordered, they talked about artists.

"One day I want to go to Giverny," Alette said, "where Monet painted."

"Did you know Monet started out as a caricaturist?"

"No."

"It's true. Then he met Boudin, who became his teacher and persuaded him to start painting out of doors. There's a great story about that. Monet got so hooked on painting out of doors that when he decided to paint a picture of a woman in the garden, with a canvas over eight feet high, he had a trench dug in the garden so he could raise or lower the canvas by pulleys. The picture is hanging at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris."

The time went by swiftly and happily.

After lunch, Alette and Richard walked around looking at the various exhibits. There were more than forty thousand objects in the collection, everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts to contemporary American paintings.

Alette was filled with the wonderment of being with Richard and her complete lack of negative thoughts. Che cosa significa? Che cosa significa?

A uniformed guard approached them. "Good afternoon, Richard."

"Afternoon, Brian. This is my friend, Alette Peters. Brian Hill."

Brian said to Alette, "Are you enjoying the museum?"

"Oh, yes. It's wonderful."

"Richard's teaching me to paint," Brian said.

Alette looked at Richard. "You are?"

Richard said modestly, "Oh, I'm just guiding him a little bit."

"He's doing more than that, miss. I've always wanted to be a painter. That's why I took this job at the museum, because I love art. Anyway, Richard comes here a lot and paints. When I saw his work, I thought, 'I want to be like him.' So I asked him if he'd teach me, and he's been great. Have you seen any of his paintings?"

"I have," Alette said. "They're wonderful."

When they left him, Alette said, "It's lovely of you to do that, Richard."

"I like to do things for people," and he was looking at Alette.

When they were walking out of the museum, Richard said, "My roommate is at a party tonight. Why don't we stop up at my place?" He smiled. "I have some paintings I'd like to show you.

Alette squeezed his hand. "Not yet, Richard."

"Whatever you say. I'll see you next weekend?"

"Yes."

And he had no idea how much she was looking forward to it.

Richard walked Alette to the parking lot where she had parked her car. He waved good-bye as she drove off.

As Alette was going to sleep that night, she thought, It's like a miracle. Richard has freed me. It's like a miracle. Richard has freed me. She fell asleep, dreaming of him. She fell asleep, dreaming of him.

At two o'clock in the morning, Richard Melton's roommate, Gary, returned from a birthday party. The apartment was dark. He switched on the lights in the living room. "Richard?"

He started toward the bedroom. At the door he looked inside and was sick to his stomach.

"Calm down, son." Detective Whittier looked at the shivering figure in the chair. "Now, let's go over it again. Did he have any enemies, someone mad enough at him to do this?"

Gary swallowed. "No. Everyone...everyone liked Richard."

"Someone didn't. How long have you and Richard lived together?"

"Two years."

"Were you lovers?"

"For G.o.d's sake," Gary said indignantly. "No. We were friends. We lived together for financial reasons."

Detective Whittier looked around the small apartment. "Sure as h.e.l.l wasn't a burglary," he said. "There's nothing here to steal. Was your roommate seeing anyone romantically?"

"No-Well, yes. There was a girl he was interested in. I think he was really starting to like her."

"Do you know her name?"

"Yes. Alette. Alette Peters. She works in Cupertino."

Detective Whittier and Detective Reynolds looked at each other.

"Cupertino?"

"Jesus," Reynolds said.

Thirty minutes later, Detective Whittier was on the phone with Sheriff Dowling. "Sheriff, I thought you might be interested to know that we have a murder here that's the same M.O. as the case you had in Cupertino-multiple stab wounds and castration."

"My G.o.d!"

"I just had a talk with the FBI. Their computer shows that there have been three previous castration killings very similar to this one. The first one happened in Bedford, Pennsylvania, about ten years ago, the next one was a man named Dennis Tibbie-that was your case-then there was the same M.O. in Quebec City, and now this one."

"It doesn't make sense. Pennsylvania...Cupertino...Quebec City...San Francisco...Is there any link?"

"We're trying to find one. Quebec requires pa.s.sports. The FBI is doing a cross-check to see if anyone who was in Quebec City around Christmas was in any of the other cities at the times of the murders...."

When the media got wind of what was happening, their stories were splashed across the front pages across the world: SERIAL KILLER LOOSE...

QUATRES HOMMES BRUTALEMENT TUeS ET CASTReS...

WIR SUCHEN FOR EIN MANN DER CASTRIERT SEINE HOPFER...

MANIAC DI HOMICIDAL SULLO SPREE CRESPO DI UCCISIoNE.

On the networks, self-important psychologists a.n.a.lyzed the killings.

"...and all the victims were men. Because of the way they were stabbed and castrated, it is undoubtedly the work of a h.o.m.os.e.xual who..."

"...so if the police can find a connection between the victims, they will probably discover that it was the work of a lover the men had all scorned..."

"...but I would say they were random killings committed by someone who had a dominating mother..."

Sat.u.r.day morning, Detective Whittier called Deputy Blake from San Francisco.

"Deputy, I have an update for you."

"Go ahead."

"I just got a call from the FBI. Cupertino is listed as the residence of an American who was in Quebec on the date of the Parent murder."

"That's interesting. What's his name?"

"Her. Patterson. Ashley Patterson."

At six o'clock that evening, Deputy Sam Blake rang the bell at Ashley Patterson's apartment. Through the closed door he heard her call out cautiously, "Who is it?"

"Deputy Blake. I'd like to talk to you, Miss Patterson."

There was a long silence, then the door opened. Ashley was standing there, looking wary.

"May I come in?"

"Yes, of course." Is this about Father? I must be careful. Is this about Father? I must be careful. Ashley led the deputy to a couch. "What can I do for you, Deputy?" Ashley led the deputy to a couch. "What can I do for you, Deputy?"

"Would you mind answering a few questions?"

Ashley shifted uncomfortably. "I-I don't know. Am I under suspicion for something?"

He smiled rea.s.suringly. "Nothing like that, Miss Patterson. This is just routine. We're investigating some murders."

"I don't know anything about any murders," she said quickly. Too quickly? Too quickly?

"You were in Quebec City recently, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Are you acquainted with Jean Claude Parent?"

"Jean Claude Parent?" She thought for a moment. "No. I've never heard of him. Who is he?"

"He owns a jewelry store in Quebec City."

Ashley shook her head. "I didn't do any jewelry shopping in Quebec."

"You worked with Dennis Tibbie."

Ashley felt the fear beginning to rise again. This was was about her father. She said cautiously, "I didn't work with him. He worked for the same company." about her father. She said cautiously, "I didn't work with him. He worked for the same company."

"Of course. You go into San Francisco occasionally, don't you, Miss Patterson?"

Ashley wondered where this was leading. Careful. Careful. "From time to time, yes." "From time to time, yes."

"Did you ever meet an artist there named Richard Melton?"