Page 48 of Close Up

“There are several films to be developed and printed,” Vivian said. “I’m going to be in here most of the afternoon.”

“Take your time,” Nick said. He held up the briefcase that contained Pete’s transcription of the poems. “I’ve got a little light reading to do.”

Irene looked at Nick. “I’ll get you some coffee.”

It was nearly five before they finally got back to the hotel. They went out onto the villa’s patio. Vivian opened the folder of large prints she had made. One by one she arranged them on the table. Nick examined each with an intense expression.

“These are excellent,” he said. “Sharp focus. Fine grain.”

“The Speed Graphic is a very good camera.”

He smiled. “And you are a very good photographer.”

“Thanks.”

She moved to stand beside him and pointed out the people she could identify. “Some of these folks are my neighbors, of course. I know their names. Most of them have lived on Beachfront Lane for years.”

“What about the others?”

Vivian used the magnifying glass, which had been magically produced by the hotel’s front desk, to examine every unknown face in the scenes.

“The fire drew quite a crowd,” she said. “There are a lot of people I don’t recognize. Any one of them could be the firebug.”

“We’re looking for someone who will be hanging back, trying to stay in the shadows,” Nick said, “trying to be invisible. By the time these photos were taken, everyone standing around in the street, including him, knew that we made it out of the house. He knew he failed.”

Nick spoke in a cool, detached manner as if he were a calculating machine. But his eyes seemed to heat a little and she could have sworn she felt electricity shivering in the air around him.

“If he knows he failed, why would he stick around and take the risk of being noticed?” she asked.

“Wrong question,” Nick said absently. “Why not stay to enjoy the show? He’s not afraid of being recognized. He’s been getting away with murder for years. He has confidence in his camouflage, whatever that is.”

Vivian shuddered. “A real wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“He’s not afraid that he will be noticed but he is bound to be unnerved because he failed,” Nick continued, very focused now. “He’s not accustomed to failure. He’ll be trying to put together another plan and he’ll be in a hurry. Time is running out. He’s going to have to improvise. He’ll make mistakes because he’s not used to changing his plans.”

“You’re getting all that from those poems?”

“Yes. He thinks of himself as a creative artist but he’s actually obsessively rigid when it comes to murder.” Nick took a close look at a figure dressed in a workman’s dark jacket and trousers. A cap angled low over the eyes concealed most of the man’s face. “Do you recognize him?”

Vivian scrutinized the figure. “No. He’s dressed like a deliveryman or maybe a cabdriver.”

“The clothes are right but there’s something wrong with the way he’s leaning against your neighbor’s fence.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the pose. He’s trying to imitate the casual slouch of a workingman but it’s off somewhat. He’s lounging against that fence in the manner of a man who is accustomed to lounging at the bar of his club. His shoes are wrong, too. They’re not boots. They don’t belong to someone who delivers fish or drives a cab. They look expensive. He was in a rush tonight. Didn’t get the costume right. He just made his first mistake.”

Vivian took a closer look.

“I see what you mean,” she said. She shuffled through the photos, looking for other pictures that included the man in the cap. “He’s in the first couple of photos but not in the last ones. He must have taken off when he saw me shooting the crowd.”

“It would have been easy for him to slip away, especially after the fire department arrived. He probably had a car parked on a nearby side street.”

Vivian crossed her arms. “So much for hoping these pictures would enable us to spot the guy.”

Nick looked up. There was a lot of heat in his eyes now. The anticipation of the hunter, she thought.

“We don’t have him yet,” he said, “but we have a lot more information about him.”

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