This killer isn't the only man I've been profiling, Senator. I've been studying you as well. And I'm very much afraid that you'll take a hand in this investigation yourself before too much longer.

A deadly hand.

"Bishop? That is why he stopped?"

"I think it was part of the reason, yes. Too many cops, too much media, too much attention. It interfered with his plans, with his ability to hunt. Put his intended prey too much on guard, made them too wary. And it became a distraction for him, one he couldn't afford, especially not at that stage. He needed to be able to concentrate on what he was doing, because he was practicing, for want of a better word. Exploring and perfecting his ritual. That's why-"

When the other man broke off, LeMott finished the observation stoically. "That's why each murder was different, the weapons, the degree of brutality. He was experimenting. Trying to figure out what gave him the most… satisfaction."

You have to hear this over and over again, don't you? Like picking at a scab, keeping the pain alive because it's all you've got left.

"Yes."

"Has he figured it out yet?"

"You know I can't answer that. Too little to work with."

"I'll settle for an educated guess. From you."

Because you know it's much more than an educated guess. And I know now I made a mistake in telling you what's really special about the SCU.

Bishop also knew too well how utterly useless regrets like that one tended to be. The mistake had been made. Now he had to deal with the fallout.

He drew a breath and let it out slowly. "My guess, my belief, is that the response to Annie's abduction and murder threw him off balance. Badly. Until then, he had been almost blindly intent on satisfying the urges driving him. To kill a dozen victims in less than a month means something triggered his rampage, something very traumatic, and whatever it was, the trigger event either destroyed the person he had been until then, or else it freed something long dormant inside him."