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In a drawer, he found a collection of spare keys for a car, for padlocks, perhaps for the house He tried a few in the back door and found one that worked He pocketed that spare before returning the other keys to the drawer Steve Zillis scorned furniture In the dinette off the kitchen, the single chair did notroom contained only a lumpy sofa, a cracked-leather ottoazines were stacked on the floor, and near them were a discarded pair of dirty socks Except for the lack of posters, the decor was that of a dor adolescence was pathetic but not criminal

If a wo able to tie knots in a cherry steh to ensure a life of torrid romance

The spare bedroom contained no furniture, but four less, bald Three had been altered One lay on its back, on the floor, in the center of the rooripped two steak knives Each knife had been driven into its throat, as if it had twice stabbed itself

A hole had been drilled between its legs Also between its legs was a spear-point stave froht-iron fence The sharp end of the stave had been inserted in the crudely forina

Instead of feet, the s Both legs were bent to allow the additional hands to grip the iron stave A third pair of hands grew by the wrists froer, as though the mannequin were insatiable

Chapter 45

In ht discover evidence of perversity, kinky secrets

Because such care had been taken in their alteration, so much time expended, these mannequins seemed to represent more than that This was an expression not of desire but of a ravenous craving, of a rapacious need that could never be fully satisfied

A second s splayed Its eyes had been cut out Teeth had been inserted in their place

These appeared to be animal teeth, perhaps those of reptiles and perhaps real Hooked fangs and snaggled incisors

Each tooth had been lued in the rined with ement

The mouth had been cut open, carved wide Wicked, inhuman teeth filled the mannequin’s maw

Like the petals of a Venus flytrap, the ears were rimmed with poised teeth Teeth sprouted froina featured ure represented a fear of all-devouring woer, Billy didn’t know, didn’t care

He just wanted to get out of here He had seen enough Yet he continued to look

The third mannequin also sat with its back to a wall Its hands rested in its lap, holding a bowl The boas actually the top of its skull, which had been sawn off

Photographs of enitalia overflowed the bowl Billy did not touch theh to suspect that every picture featured the saenitalia

A bouquet of similar photos, scores of them, bloomed from the top of the open skull Still more blossomed from the mannequin’ssnapshots of hiles, in various states of arousal

Billy’s latex gloves served a purpose besides guarding against leaving fingerprints Without them, he would have been sickened by the need to touch doorknobs, light switches, anything in the house

The fourth ered to get at her

During his shift at the tavern, drawing beers fro his tricks, these were the thoughts behind the radiant smile Steve’s bedroom proved to be as sparsely furnished as the rest of the house The bed, a nightstand, a lamp, a clock No art on the walls, no knickknacks, no memorabilia

The bedclothes were in disarray One pillow lay on the floor A corner of the room evidently served in place of a laundry hamper Rumpled shirts, khakis, jeans, and dirty underere heaped as Steve had tossed them

A search of the bedroo discovery Under the bed were a dozen pornographic videos, the covers of which depicted naed woed, so women threatened by sadistic men

These weren’t hoed and probably available in any adult-video shop, whether brick-and-mortar or online

Billy put them back where he had found theh to warrant calling the police

No Neither the raphy proved that Steve Zillis had ever har, only that he nurtured a sick and vivid fantasy life

Meanwhile, a dead man rapped for disposal and stowed behind the sofa in Billy’s house

If he became a suspect in the murder of Giselle Winslow in Napa or if Lanny Olsen’s body was found and Billy became a suspect in that murder, he would at the very least be put under surveillance He would lose his freedom of action

If they found Cottle’s body, he would be arrested