Chapter 52

It became clear that Irwin Snyder couldn’t have committed the earlier murders. He had been out of North Carolina only once or twice in his life. Most of his contact with the outside world was over the Internet. And of course he was too young to have been involved in murder going back eleven years.
The seventeen-year-old had killed his mother and father, though.  He seemed to have no remorse¹. The Tiger had told him to do it. That was all I had been able to get out of him. He refused to say how he had come into contact with the person or group who had such control over him.
While I was questioning Snyder, and then the others from the house, my shoulder and hand began to itch², and then ache. The bites were puncture³ wounds, but there had been little bleeding. The bite to my shoulder was the deepest, even through my jacket, and had left prominent teeth marks, which I’d had photographed at the station.  I didn’t bother going to the local emergency room in Charlotte. I was too busy. But the wounds soon became extremely painful. By late morning, I had trouble making a fist. I doubted I could pull the trigger⁴ of my gun. Now you’re one of us, Cross, Irwin Snyder had told me.  I wondered what group, or cell, or cult⁵, Snyder was part of? Where was the Tiger? Was it only one person? I attended a meeting with the FBI and the Charlotte police that lasted until eight that evening. The net result was that we were still nowhere near a solution. The FBI was scouring⁶ the Internet, searching for messages relating to the Tiger, or any kind of tiger.
I flew back to Washington later that night, and managed to sleep a little on the plane. Not nearly enough. The phone rang minutes after I stepped inside the front door of my house. What the hell?  ‘You’re back, Dr Cross. That’s good. Welcome, welcome. I missed you. Did you enjoy Charlotte?’
I put down the receiver and hurried outside into the night. I didn’t see anyone, no movement up or down Fifth Street, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t lingering⁷ near the house. How else could he have known I was here?
I ran out into the street. I stared hard into the darkness. I couldn’t see anyone, but maybe he could see me. Someone had definitely been watching. Someone was out there.
‘I am back,’I shouted,’come and get me. Let’s settle this right here and now. Let’s settle it! Here I am, you bastard⁸!’He didn’t call back to me, didn’t answer.
Then I heard a footstep behind me. I whirled⁹ around to face the Mastermind.
‘Alex, what is going on out here? When did you get home? Who are you talking to?’
It was Nana, and she looked very small and frightened. She came up and hugged me tight.

1 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

2 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

3 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

4 trigger   

n.触发器，板机，制滑机；v.触发（事件）

参考例句：

• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。
• He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪，没有发火。

5 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

6 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

7 lingering   

a.拖延的，依依不舍的

参考例句：

• a painful and lingering death 痛苦而拖延时日的死亡
• Unemployment and lingering disease cooperated to make his family broken. 失业加上长期的疾病，使他倾家荡产。

8 bastard   

n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子

参考例句：

• He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
• There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

9 whirled   

v.（使）飞快移动，使旋转( whirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Leaves whirled in the wind. 落叶在风中旋转。
• A tornado whirled into the town last week. 龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》