Mortal Fear. Greg Iles

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СКАЧАТЬ into a fatherly Masterpiece Theatre register, but behind it I sense an unblinking gaze.

      “This is not a formal interview,” he says. “Psychological profiling is not an exact science. Any wet-nosed FBI trainee could question you about the homicidal triangle: bed-wetting, fire starting, cruelty to animals. I use a different approach. Despite the attempts of thousands to discredit Sigmund Freud, I still believe the old grouch was onto something regarding the importance of sexual experiences.”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “Are you familiar with Nietzsche’s epigram?”

      “That tired old saw about monsters and the abyss?”

      “No, this.” Suddenly Lenz is speaking harsh German that sounds like Erich von Stroheim in Five Graves to Cairo.

      “I didn’t catch that, Doctor.”

      “Forgive me. ‘The degree and kind of a man’s sexuality reach up into the ultimate pinnacle of his spirit.’”

      “I’ve seen that on EROS.”

      “I happen to believe it. I’m going to ask you some very personal questions. I hope you’ll answer frankly. You may feel a bit harried. I tend to jump from subject to subject, following my nose, as it were. Please try to remember that there is no personal motive behind my questions.”

      Right. You just want to put me in line for a lethal injection. “Fine,” I say aloud. “Let’s do it.”

      “What is the worst thing you’ve ever done, Mr. Cole?”

      The question takes me off guard. “I’m not sure I understand.”

      “What could be simpler? Please answer.”

      “You don’t waste much time on foreplay, do you?”

      “What is the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

      “Next question.”

      Lenz sighs in frustration, but I don’t really care. “Very well. What moment are you proudest of in your life?”

      “What is this?” I ask, trying to get some idea of how to handle this guy.

      “Mr. Cole, did you come here expecting to look at Rorschach blots? Perhaps to say the first thing that popped into your head when I said words like ‘breast’ or ‘hate’?”

      “I guess I thought you were going to ask me about EROS.”

      “EROS, you, Turner—it’s all one package, isn’t it? For the moment I’m concerned with you personally. Moments of shame and pride are frequently things people keep to themselves. The acts that cause these emotions often illuminate the extreme boundaries of the personality. If I know the extremes, I know the man. So please try to answer frankly. Yes?”

      “Okay.”

      “Would you consider yourself what laymen call a control freak?”

      “Yes. I guess that makes two of us.”

      “Do you masturbate regularly?”

      “Don’t you?”

      “Is that a yes?”

      “I’m still waiting for your answer.”

      Lenz gives a faint smile. “Do you masturbate while communicating on EROS?”

      “Occasionally.”

      “Would you say most subscribers use EROS as an aid to masturbation?”

      “I’m sure most of them have. I wouldn’t say that’s their primary use for it. EROS is more for your head than your body.”

      “What do you think about when you masturbate?”

      “That’s my business.”

      “Mr. Cole.”

      “Women, of course.”

      “Women doing what?”

      “What do you think?”

      “That you’re being evasive.”

      “What the hell do you want to know?”

      “Do you have violent fantasies?”

      “Such as?”

      “Women bound, for example.”

      “No.”

      “Women making sounds of supplication?”

      “No.”

      “Women in pain?”

      “No.”

      “Do you ever make mental connections between sex and blood?”

      “Hell no.”

      “This may be a sensitive question, but I must ask it. You grew up in a rural area. Have you ever had sex with an animal of any kind?”

      “Have you ever had someone pound the living shit out of you? Jesus.”

      Lenz marks on his notepad. “Would it surprise you to learn that over a third of all males raised in rural areas have had intercourse with some type of animal to the point of orgasm?”

      “It’s not something I’ve ever thought about, okay? And I’d like to keep it that way.”

      “I hope you can control your temper, Mr. Cole. There is a method to my madness, I assure you. Now … what is your first sexual memory?”

      “What do you mean? Like as a kid?”

      “Your first sexual memory of any kind.”

      “Well … trying to peek under my mother’s nightgown while she was sleeping, I guess.”

      “What did you see?”

      “Not much. It was dark.”

      “After that?”

      “Playing doctor in a tree house.”

      “With girls or boys?”

      “Girls. One girl.”

      “The same age as you?”

      “Yes.”

      “What age?”

      “I don’t know. Definitely little kids. Innocent stuff.”

      “Any genital touching?”

      “Nah. Just show-and-tell.”

      “What СКАЧАТЬ