“Is it still in your apartment?”
“I doubt it. He was very organized.”
“Don’t answer this if you don’t want to-did he climax?”
She winced. “How disgusting! Frankly, Captain, I don’t know. He made no sound of any kind. The staff here found no semen, as I understand.” She blushed a dull red. “I-I was dying to pee when I came in. Once he had me bound and subdued, he pushed me into my bathroom, pulled my panties down and sat me on the toilet as if he knew I had to go.”
“Anything else, Miss Drummond?”
“He was there when I got home, and jumped me. I fought back, but I didn’t stand a chance. He wore me out. After he had his rope around my neck, all the fight went out of me. Awful!”
“Everything you’ve told me indicates that the Dodo-we’ll call him that-stalked you for some time before he acted. He knew your habits, right down to your need of the bathroom.”
Carmine got up, smiling down at her. “Miss Drummond, you are what an English colleague of mine would call a brick. High praise! Try to get some rest, and don’t worry about cerebral anoxia. Your brain’s in great shape.”
After a little more talk with Maggie-she was determined to instruct him about this and that, evidence of a methodical mind and a good memory-Carmine left the hospital in a dark mood, thankful for one thing only: that the Dodo had chosen a victim whose fighting back wasn’t limited to their actual encounter. Maggie Drummond was such a fighter that she was genuinely thirsting to testify against him in a court. But she wasn’t the first of the Dodo’s victims. His act was far too polished for that. How many had there been, all too terrified to speak up? The Dodo-what a name for a rapist to give himself! Why had he chosen it?
“How many have there been?” he asked his two detective sergeants, Delia Carstairs and Nick Jefferson, the next morning.
“At least this answers the true purpose of the Gentleman Walkers,” said Nick, a scowl on his handsome face. “Someone’s girlfriend is out there in Carew too scared to report what happened to her, hence the Gentleman Walkers.”