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"Yeah, that’s close to obsession I’d say, bottom line, he’s left co rare for him "Fixation, obsession, whatever the shrinks want to call it, Father Sonny’s there Our shrinks who deal with child uy can come to believe that a certain child will save hiht even believe that Emma can save his soul and cleanse hiain Usually, though, after they’re done with the child, they’ll carefully select another child and believe the saain Why does he want Eed to escape hiot to decide? He wants the control, the power? His can be the only voice?"

"Or maybe," Ramsey said, "he still believes that only E hiot to have her back She said that he needed herto that effect You knohat? I want to kill the fucker"

"Yeah, you and about a zillion other people We’ve got everyone countrywide clued into Father Sonny That’s what most of the other prisoners called him He’ll surface sooner or later Soet hiinia Trolley, she’s heading things up out there How is E into feeding the ducks here at Dro- castles She hasn’t had any night worried since she was always so quiet, so well behaved Today she was a real kid, Savich She finally whined this afternoon, didn’t want to do so her mother told her to do It warmed me to hear that fretful, obnoxious little voice Molly says it’s tough not to spoil her because of all that’s happened to her But we’re trying" He paused, then said, "I saw Molly shooting photos of her this ht, the ducks carrying on madly" "And?"

"I don’t know," Ra you that" He saw Emma’s beautiful face in hison her face in the forest, saw the s Vicious deep rage nearly overwhelmed hi the receiver so tightly his knuckles shohite "It’s not right, Savich This shouldn’t have happened Not to Emma, not to any little kid"

"You kno coh of it in your time in the US Attorney’s office, and probably soe"

"Some people in the San Francisco area think I’ve been too tough on criree There isn’t a cure or rehabilitation for child molesters, as the Church finally discovered, so it behooves us to keep them well away from children for the rest of their lives"

They spoke of Paris, of Sherlock’s continuing reaction to the word pregnant Savich was laughing as he said, "I accidentally said the accursed word in a three-star restaurant on the Isle St Louis She nearly puked in her fancy French in to pronounce I’ll bet it reasy tourist innards’ but I could be wrong In any case, our waiter ild-eyed, flapping his white waiter’s towel around, but he got her to the women’s room just in the nick of time"

"The bathroom was very nice It was too bad that I didn’tRaer, should it?"

"The doc says anotherDillon’s mouth shut to keep that word stuck in his throat, but then he couldn’t kiss h call, downsides everywhere How’s Molly?"

"She’s hanging in, taking lots of pictures, even ofall these dials on her ca about backlighting and the like She’s spending a fortune on film You want to speak to her?"

Molly slipped out and came around to Ramsey’s bed Thank God Emma was sound asleep She listened, then spoke to Sherlock She laughed, a war to herself when she slipped back into her bed beside Emma

28

RAMSEY BRUSHED HIS teeth, put the cap back on the toothpaste, and rinsed out his toothbrush, standing it bristles-up in a glass on the sink He was leaning into the s, straightened, and turned back toward the bathroom door