Page 33 of Girl, Unmasked
‘Yeah.But why are you writing descriptions of a fictional character?’
'Best way to catch a ghost is to give him a face.'Ella said.'I'd bet my ass this character is a self-insert.He's writing what he knows.'
‘Could be.Narcissists can’t help inserting themselves into things.’
‘Right.So if we know what Cain looks like, we might know what our killer looks like too.’
‘Well, apparently the local kids give him crap for his hair.Calls itwiryabout a dozen times.Says he’s gangly once or twice too, but the author’s not big on descriptions.’
Ella added to the profile.Tall, wiry.Ragged, unkempt hair.Street harassment from local kids.Weak, sickly, prone to coughing fits and fugue states.
It wasn't much, but it was a start.A vague sketch of a man who thought turning women into angels was an appropriate way to give the middle finger to the Lord.‘Murders.What do we know about them?’
‘Not much.All those parts are missing.There are a few references tohis angels, but that’s as much detail as he reveals.He only talks about the victims themselves, not the ways he killed them.We only see the aftermath.’
Ella halted her marker mid-sentence.‘And what’s he say in the aftermath?’
‘It’s usually him in his shithole apartment having a one-sided argument with God about how these murders are all his fault for making Cain the way he is.’
Revenge against God?For what?
‘The victims.What did you find on them?’
‘They’re all women who wronged him, so turning them into angels is like irony.’
An icy wave spider-walked down Ella’s spine.She thought of Sophie Draper, violated and displayed.A message in ruined flesh.
‘Any names?Identities?’
'Just first names.'Ripley ticked them off.'Emily, Gloria, Penelope, Judith.No last names.'
The marker squeaked across the board.Emily.Gloria.Penelope.Judith.
Four women.Four blank spaces where surnames should be.
Three more potential victims if she didn't figure this guy out in time.
'What else?'Ella asked.'There has to be some kind of connection.You said they all wronged Cain?How?’
‘As far as Cain’s concerned, these women are a regular rogue’s gallery of sins.’
Ella poised at the board, eager to write something, anything.‘Specifics.I need specifics.’
‘Emily was Cain’s old boss.Gloria was a teacher who humiliated him in front of his whole class back in school.Penelope was his ex-girlfriend who ripped his heart out.’
‘That’s more like it,’ Ella said as she attacked the whiteboard.‘And the last one?Judith?’
'Judith was Homecoming Queen, Prom royalty, most popular girl in school, ruthlessly clichéd.Also Cain's long-time crush, apparently.Until she shot him down in front of the whole cafeteria.Cain’s been carrying a torch for his wounded pride ever since.'
Ella began chewing her pen.A pattern was starting to emerge, but the kind that could make a therapist’s head explode.
'So he's not targeting a type.There's no physical preference, no obsession with a certain feature or background.'
‘Nope.The only thing they have in common is the luck to be caught in Cain’s blast radius when he finally blew.They’re all personally connected to him.’
Ella blew out a breath and pushed her hair back.Damn, the thing felt like straw.When all this was over, it was time for a sharp left to the hairdressers.
It was all so goddamn clear in the book.The rejection, the humiliation, the narcissistic wounds that festered until he couldn’t take anymore.A motive with a twenty year history, all amplified by society's blend of isolation and entitlement.
