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"No, we’re good," Beck replied, his voice a low ru in the same room "Caller ID said Wessex County Sheriff Two-oh-seven area code is Maine So what’ve you got?"

"I’d like to ask you soo faster if I just tell you what I’ot a victim here, adult male, fifties, murdered in his bedroom Perp removed his eyes The next county over there’s another one, a little girl this tiust came over the phone line, and then Beck cursed, more quietly but just as clear "Jesus"

"You can guess why I’hed humorlessly "You saw our case on the news and wanted to find out how our vic was mutilated"

"Pretty ht, Detective Here we go, then The best part No sign of forced entry, no witnesses, no strange cars in the driveway, anything like that Just a random kid, a quiet nine-year-old boy with a touch of autism, middle-class family, father’s a cameraman at the local ABC affiliate Only the ot her 911 call on tape and nobody figures her for the criht? The house was locked up tight It was bedtied for another half an hour to finish reading a chapter in a book called The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Heady stuff for a nine-year-old When she goes in, he’s lying on the bed with blood staining the pillow under his head, running down from his eye sockets

"So, yes, that was the mutilation The perp tore his eyes out Theto determine what he used to remove them, but it was not done with any delicacy, I can tell you that My partner and I caught the case It looked like the guy had used a grapefruit spoon and justdug around in there Cause of death was heart failure In a nine-year-old boy That was the trauuy had a heart attack"

There was a catch in Beck’s throat and Halliwell felt a chill travel through hiht of Alice St John

"Any leads at all?" Halliwell asked hopefully

Beck paused a long while When he spoke again, there was a neariness in his voice, as if he was thinking maybe he should have checked up on Halliwell’s ID, after all

"Not much," he said at last "No physical evidence Like I said, no forced entry We were starting to look at the eant here brought in an LA Ti her sister She pointed out a tiny little piece in the international news about the murder in Paris The circumstances-- the child at bedtih that I checked on it They were too si time There were hesitations in Beck’s voice that told hi out He could al he kneas

"He took them, didn’t he?"

"Pardon ht It couldn’t be, but he felt it powerfully He told Beck about Alice St John’s murder, how it had taken place in public and so was vastly different from the Paris and San Francisco cases Max Basco a child-- fit the ave Beck what little description he had, knowing it would provide nothing And then he went back to the question

"The killer took theht? In both of the cases here, Bascoirl, the eyes were removed from the scene Locked doors and all"

The silence told him all he needed to know Halliwell drew a deep breath and leaned back in the chair, letting the familiar squeak cry out to the e around without encountering any answers

"How can that be?" Detective Beck asked, but Hallias sure theto hi "Can you hang on a minute?" he asked And then, before he put the line on hold, Halliwell heard hiot another one"

The words echoed in his mind for every second of the nearly two minutes he was on hold, so that when Beck at last returned to the line, he nearly shouted at the man

"Another one? What’s that about, Detective Beck? The way you said that, it sounded a hell of a lot like--"

"You’re not the only one who’s called"

Halliwell narrowed his eyes and stared at the blank, dark face of his co it to flicker to life and provide some kind of explanation "How ue One in Toronto Two that e in Germany, just outside of Munich"

Nausea roiled in Halliwell’s sto his free hand through his thinning hair "At an orphanage? Was there more than one--"

Beck had anticipated the question "All of thehteen months to eleven years old"

Halliwell slid his hand over his

"Hello?" Beck prompted

"I’m still here I’ this a long time, but twenty-seven kids--"

"Thirty-three, if you count the yours Plus one adult That seehed, the sound hollow in his ears "Odd? What the hell is odd, in this context? There’s no way one guy is doing all this That means there’s some kind of conspiracy Maybe it’s Internet-based, a bunch of psychos sharing ideas in a chat roo back to one another"

"Maybe" Beck didn’t sound convinced "I’d almost be happy with that as a solution Except in every case there’s no sign of entry, no physical evidence Your situation is the only one I’ve heard about where there are any witnesses If there were multiple perps, you’d expect at least one of theating officers could use"

Halliwell couldn’t argue with that logic Neither one of them wanted to admit that they were baffled, but it was obvious in the conversation It was only a encies becaan to look like a serial killer and the case involved et into the fray Halliould norht he ht be able to help