Chapter 107

In the morning, I drank too much black coffee and thought about our last case together: the Tiger, Daniel and Charles, Peter Westin, the Alexander brothers. What did it mean in Kyle’s fantasy? The macabre¹ story he was plotting out involved both of us. He had asked me into the investigation², then used it to control me. Was that where it ended for him, and me?
I kept trying to piece together the puzzle from a psychologist’s point of view. The rest might flow from that. Might. With Kyle, there was no knowing for sure. If he saw a clear pattern, he might reverse it; if he understood his own pathology, and maybe he did, he would use that in his favor too.Around noon, I called Kyle’s older brother, Martin, a radiologist living outside Charlotte - where we had once believed that Daniel and Charles had begun their murder spree. Did Kyle have a previous connection with them? Was that a possibility?
Martin Craig tried to help, but he finally admitted that he and his brother hadn’t spoken during the past ten years. ‘We saw one another at my brother Blake’s funeral,’Martin said/That was the last time. I don’t like my brother. Detective Cross. He doesn’t like me. I don’t know if he likes anybody.’
‘Was your father especially rough on Kyle?’ I asked Martin.
‘Kyle always said so, but to tell the truth, I never saw much of it.  Neither did my mother. Kyle liked to make up stories. He was always the big hero, or the pathetic victim. My mother used to say that Kyle had an ego³ second only to God’s.’
 ‘What did you think about that? Your mother’s assessment⁴ of your brother?’
‘Detective Cross, my brother didn’t believe in God, and he wasn’t second to anyone.’
The continuing theme throughout the three brothers’ relationship had been competition, and Kyle had always believed that Martin and Blake won in the eyes of his parents. Kyle had been a starter on the high school basketball team, but Martin had been the clever all-county point guard, who also played bass⁵ guitar in a local band, and had an enviable social life. There had once been a feature story in the local paper about the basketball-playing brothers, but the article dealt mostly with Blake and Martin. They had all attended Duke Undergraduate, but Martin and Blake went on to medical school.  Kyle became a lawyer, a career choice his father deplored⁶. Kyle had talked to me about sibling⁷ rivalry⁸, and maybe I was beginning to understand a little of the origins of his fantasy world.  ‘Martin,’ I finally asked, ‘is it possible that Kyle murdered your younger brother, Blake?’
‘Blake died in a hunting accident - supposedly,’ Martin Craig said.  ‘Detective Cross, my brother Blake was an incredibly responsible and careful man, almost as careful as Kyle. He didn’t accidentally shoot himself. I’ve always believed with all my heart that Kyle had something to do with it. But who would believe me? That’s why he and I haven’t spoken in ten years. My brother is Cain. I believe he’s a murderer, and I want to see him caught. I want to see my brother go to the electric chair. That’s what Kyle deserves.’

1 macabre   

adj.骇人的，可怖的

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards.他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• Mr Dahl was well-known for his macabre adult stories called 'Tales of the Unexpected'.达尔先生以成人恐怖小说集《意料之外的故事》闻名于世。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 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。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

6 deplored   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
• Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句

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。