Part 25 (2/2)

”Which was the reason behind ViCAP in the first place, so no one would have to. Still, like you said, some crimes are going to fall through the cracks.”

”Unless you knew exactly where to look,” he said, pointing at the copy of Ulysses.

Sarah didn't follow. ”What do you mean?”

”Ever been to Bloom, Wisconsin?”

Now she followed. Leopold Bloom was the main character in the book. ”And there's a John O'Hara living there? In Bloom?”

”Yes, but maybe the location isn't based on a character,” he said. ”For instance, what about Joyce, Was.h.i.+ngton?”

”That's a real town?”

”Yes, and there are actually two John O'Haras living there.”

Sarah bobbed her head back and forth, thinking this through. ”The killer, now at victim number three in his third different town, decides to throw us a bone and tip his hand where he's going to kill next.”

”Or where he already has,” said Hummel. ”These are small towns.”

”Unlike, say...Dublin, Ohio.”

Hummel pointed at her as though he were the host of a game show and she'd gotten the right answer.

”Exactly,” he said. ”Decent-size city; they report everything to ViCAP. Still, there are three John O'Haras listed there, so I called anyway.”

”Wait-you've already made calls?”

”Yep.”

”You didn't use-”

Hummel raised his palms, amused. ”Don't worry. I didn't ask if there were any dead John O'Haras. Just any murders within the past twenty-four hours.”

”Were there?”

”No. Not in Dublin, not in Joyce, not in Bloom.”

Sarah looked at Hummel, deflated. His theory got an A for imagination but an F for outcome. Why is he telling me all this? There's got to be a reason. A good one, I hope.

”Are there other towns?” she asked. She knew Bloom's wife in the novel was named Molly. ”Is there a Molly, Nebraska, for instance? A Molly, Wyoming?”

”No, but there is a Bloomfield, New Mexico,” he said.

Sarah frowned. ”That's kind of a stretch, don't you think?”

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