Chapter 35

The cell phone in my pocket went off. Shit! Damn it! Why do I carry these infernal gadgets¹? Why does anybody in their right mind need to constantly be on call?
I glanced at my watch as I took the phone in hand. It was already seven in the morning. What a life. So far, we knew that Andrew Cotton and Dara Grey had gone to the Rum Jungle for drinks and then a magic show at the Mirage². They were seen talking to two people, but it had been dark in the theater. That was what we had so far, but it was still early.
I had been at the Bellagio murder scene since a little past four in the morning. The case was really getting under my skin. The murders were brutal³, primal⁴.
‘Alex Cross,71 spoke⁵ into the phone. I turned toward the picture window revealing the lake and the desert in the distance. The view was soothing⁶, an incredible contrast with what had happened in the hotel room.
‘It’s Jamilla, Alex. Did I wake you?’
‘No, not hardly. I wish you had. I’m at a murder scene. I’m in Las Vegas, staring out at the desert. You’re up pretty early yourself,’ I said.
It was good to hear her voice. She sounded sane⁷ and normal. She was sane and normal. I was the one in trouble.  ‘Oh, I sometimes get in to the office before six. That way I can get a day’s work done before everybody else arrives here. Alex, I have some information to share on the biting attacks.’
From the sound of her voice, I suspected this wasn’t going to make things any easier for me.
‘Go ahead, Jamilla. I’m listening.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ve been working with a couple of medical examiners from the other places where the bloodsuckers struck. I think we may have hit on something important in San Luis Obispo and then again in San Diego.’
I was listening; Jam had my full attention.
‘In both of the cities, the medical examiners really got into the case, really tried to help. As you know, we exhumed⁸ in San Luis Obispo. Then Guy Millner, the ME in San Diego, did the same. I won’t bore you with all the details right now, though I can overnight it to your hotel.’
“That would be great. Obviously, no faxes on any of this material.’
‘Here’s what we’ve found out. In both these murders, the teeth marks are different to those in San Francisco or LA. The marks were made by human teeth. But the killers⁹ were not the same ones. The evidence is pretty conclusive¹⁰.
‘Alex, there are at least four killers out there working. At least four.
We’ve identified four different sets of human teeth so far.’ I was trying to make some sense of what I’d just heard. “These are bodies that were exhumed? Human teeth could leave bite marks on bone?’
‘Yes. The MEs all agreed on that. The enamel¹¹ on teeth is the hardest substance in the human body. Also, as you know, the killers might have been wearing enhancers.’
‘Fangs?’
‘Right. There was gnawing¹² on the bones found in San Luis Obispo and San Diego. That’s another reason why there were clear marks.’ ‘Gnawing?’ I winced¹⁴.
‘You’re the psychologist, not me. Gnawing entails¹⁵ strong, repetitive, intentional¹⁶ action. It could definitely account for teeth marks.  One of the victims was an adolescent, the other was in his fifties.
That helped us some, too. According to my sources, the adolescent’s
bones had less density¹⁷; so did the older person’s due to osteoporosis. Thus the clear marks. But why gnaw¹³ on the bones?
You tell me.’
I was thinking about it. ‘How about this. Inside the bone is the marrow¹⁸. And the marrow is rich in blood vessels¹⁹.’ ‘Oh, Alex, yy^/Jamilla said.’That could be it. How perfectly²⁰ awful.’

1 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

2 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 primal   

adj.原始的；最重要的

参考例句：

• Jealousy is a primal emotion.嫉妒是最原始的情感。
• Money was a primal necessity to them.对于他们，钱是主要的需要。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

7 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

8 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

9 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

10 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

11 enamel   

n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质

参考例句：

• I chipped the enamel on my front tooth when I fell over.我跌倒时门牙的珐琅质碰碎了。
• He collected coloured enamel bowls from Yugoslavia.他藏有来自南斯拉夫的彩色搪瓷碗。

12 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

13 gnaw   

v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨

参考例句：

• Dogs like to gnaw on a bone.狗爱啃骨头。
• A rat can gnaw a hole through wood.老鼠能啃穿木头。

14 winced   

赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
• He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。

15 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。

16 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

17 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

18 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

19 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。