Chapter 104

He finally called again.
‘I killed them, and I don’t feel a thing. Nothing at all. You will, though, Alex. In a way, you’re to blame. Nobody but you. I didn’t even want to kill them, but I had to do it. That’s the way the horror story has to go. It’s out of control now. I’ll admit that.’ The horrifying¹ confession² came at quarter past five in the morning.  I had been asleep about three hours when the phone rang. Panic raced through my body. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it.
‘Who did you kill?’I asked Kyle.’Who? Tell me who it was. Tell me:
‘What difference does it make. They’re dead, slaughtered³. It’s someone you care about. There’s nothing you can do now - except catch me. I suppose I could help you. Isn’t that what you want to hear? Would that make this more interesting for you? Would it make it fair7’ He started to laugh uncontrollably. Christ, I had never seen him lose control.
I let him go on. Inflate⁴ his ego⁵. That’s what he wanted and needed, wasn’t it?
Who had Kyle killed? Oh God, who was dead? It was more than one person - slaughtered.
‘We always worked as a team. In a way, it would be my crowning moment, to catch myself. I’ve thought about it, actually. Fantasized.  What better challenge could there be? I can’t think of one. Me against myself.’ He started to laugh again.
I had to force myself not to ask again who he had murdered. It would just make Kyle angry. He might hang up. Still, my mind was grinding. I was incredibly afraid. Christine? Kate? Jamilla?  Someone at the FBI? Who? Oh God, who was it? Jesus, have some mercy, have pity. Show me that you’re human, you bastard⁶.  ‘I’m not a highly trained psychologist like yourself, but here’s one amateur’s theory anyway,’ Kyle said. ‘I think this whole rage thing might be about sibling⁷ rivalry⁸. Could it be? You know, Alex, I have a younger brother. He came along at the height of my Oedipus complex, when I was a mere⁹ lad of two. He displaced me with my mother and father. Check into it, Alex. Consult with Quantico. Could be important.’
He was so calm, and he was ridiculing¹⁰ me - as a detective and as a psychologist.
My hands were starting to shake. I’d had enough.’Who did you kill this time?’ I yelled into the phone. ‘Who is it?’ Kyle broke my heart. He told me in great detail about the murders he’d just committed. I was certain that he was telling the truth.  Then he hung up, even as I cursed him to hell.  Minutes later I was in my car, bleary-eyed, numb¹¹, rushing across Washington to the terrible murder scene.

1 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

2 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

3 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

5 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

6 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。

7 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

8 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

9 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

10 ridiculing   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Proxmire has made himself quite a reputation out of ridiculing government expenditure he disagrees with. 普罗克斯迈尔对于他不同意花的政府开支总要取笑一番，他因此而名声大振。 来自辞典例句
• The demonstrators put on skits ridiculing the aggressors. 游行的人上演了活报剧来讽刺侵略者。 来自互联网

11 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。