S.Costas: Did he say when?
BrownEyedGirl: No. He said he’d have to check his schedule. Then he got off.
Shit. Sebastian hoped they hadn’t spooked him.
S.Costas: Did he seem nervous or suspicious?
BrownEyedGirl: Not really. Just a little cagey. Maybe he’ll get back to me, like he said.
He obviously wanted some contact with her or he wouldn’t have gotten in touch. And Malcolm was cocky enough to think he could get away with anything. The killings had occurred in Newark, New Jersey, Malcolm and Mary had gone to high school in San Antonio, Texas, and Mary now lived in Sacramento. Perhaps he believed she was sufficiently removed from the situation. If Sebastian hadn’t found that old shoebox in the storage above Malcolm’s garage, the one that contained Mary’s old letters and pictures, he wouldn’t have realized they’d once been so close, and Mary might not have learned about the tragedy in New Jersey. She’d been completely surprised-stunned-when he’d told her. The news had brought her to tears. It wasn’t until five months later that she’d dug Sebastian’s card out of her desk and called him to say she was receiving some rather mysterious e-mails-e-mails that reminded her of someone they both knew quite well.
S.Costas: Don’t mention seeing him again, not for the next few days. We have to be careful or we’ll blow this.
BrownEyedGirl: If it is Malcolm, I can’t imagine he’ll really agree to get together, not after telling me he’s someone else. How will he explain that?
S.Costas: Easy enough.
BrownEyedGirl: How?
S.Costas: By saying he’s in the witness protection program or something.
Knowing Malcolm, and his desire to come across as a big shot, that was exactly the line he’d use.
BrownEyedGirl: I didn’t think of that.
S.Costas: He wants to see you or he wouldn’t be writing you so much.
BrownEyedGirl: He acts like it, but he won’t ever commit.
S.Costas: He will someday.
BrownEyedGirl: And if he does…how will that work? If you show up instead of me, he could pull out a gun and shoot you. He won’t let you take him to the police. Not after everything he’s done to escape.
S.Costas: It would be best to arrange a meeting in a public place, a restaurant or a bar, if possible.
BrownEyedGirl: Maybe I should continue to pretend we’re rekindling the romance and invite him here for a drink. I could get some of his DNA on a glass or something. The police will have to listen if you can prove he’s alive, right?
Sebastian was no longer sure he wanted the authorities involved. He’d begun to dream of taking care of Malcolm on his own. It seemed so much simpler, more efficient. The police had done nothing so far except give him the runaround.
S.Costas: No way. He’s a murderer. Do whatever you can to avoid letting him get that close. You haven’t given him your address, have you?
BrownEyedGirl: No, but he asked for it.
Sebastian didn’t like the sound of that.
S.Costas: You didn’t give it to him, did you?
BrownEyedGirl: Of course not. I told him I don’t share that information over the Internet.
S.Costas: If he doesn’t want to get together, why’d he ask for it?
BrownEyedGirl: He claimed he was going to send me some flowers.
S.Costas: Cunning.
BrownEyedGirl: Actually, I think it’s a telling coincidence.
S.Costas: What do you mean?
BrownEyedGirl: Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day he asked me to be his girlfriend. We celebrated the 19th every month for the two years we were together.
Interesting…
S.Costas: Mention of flowers was some sort of hint?
BrownEyedGirl: Could be.
S.Costas: How’d he respond when you wouldn’t give him an address?
BrownEyedGirl: He said he could get it if he really wanted it.
That was true. She was listed; anyone could find her. But Malcolm probably had her address long ago. Sebastian believed Mary was the reason he’d come to California in the first place. They both knew he’d run into a mutual friend in New York City-months before the murders-who’d mentioned that she was now living in Sacramento. That friend had contacted her to say she’d seen him.
BrownEyedGirl: He said something else I think you’ll be interested to hear.
S.Costas: What’s that?
BrownEyedGirl: He told me he used to be a cop.
This raised the hair on the back of Sebastian’s neck. If he’d needed further proof, he had the coincidence of the anniversary and now this. Wesley was Malcolm. They had him on the hook; they just needed to reel him in. But was it safe to allow Mary to go on with this fishing expedition? If Malcolm figured out what she was doing…
S.Costas: This could get dangerous.
And because he’d been the one encouraging her to communicate with Malcolm, he’d feel responsible if something happened to her. He had to be careful.
BrownEyedGirl: He has no reason to hurt me. I don’t have any money.
Maybe she didn’t have money, but Malcolm had contacted her for a reason. Was she simply someone to brag to? Was he bored? Lonely? In love with her? Hoping to meet for a sexual rendezvous?
Or did he sincerely regret having passed her up in his younger days? He’d divorced his first wife and murdered his second. He didn’t seem very easy to please when it came to women, but there was no way to tell what was going on in his mind.
BrownEyedGirl: Isn’t that why he murdered your ex-wife? For her money?
S.Costas: That was part of it, but there could be other reasons.
Exactly what those reasons might be Sebastian hadn’t yet deciphered. Emily had asked that they meet for lunch. She’d been upset when she called him. But she’d scheduled the meeting for a week away, when Malcolm would be on a trip to Vegas with his brother, and been killed before that day could come.
S.Costas: Did he give you anything new to go on today besides letting you know that he was a cop-and that he remembers your anniversary?
BrownEyedGirl: Just more of the same.
S.Costas: The same what?
BrownEyedGirl: Flirting. Compliments. What you’ve read before. He tells me he wishes we’d gotten together. That his life would’ve been different if we had. His comments are getting more and more explicit, of course, and-Oh boy, he just signed on!!!!!
Sebastian sat up straighter.
S.Costas: Malcolm?
BrownEyedGirl: Yes! He’s sending me a message. It says, ‘Hey, you still up?’ Should I respond?
Would it be smarter to play hard to get? Probably. But Sebastian was getting low on patience. And money. He had to press forward before circumstances forced him to give up.