The Surgeon Quotes
"The odor was linked to the most unpleasant aspects of his job."
"Moore avoided looking too long at the victim and focused instead on the living people in the room."
"She was the only woman in the homicide unit, and already there had been problems between her and another detective."
"She had transferred to Homicide from Vice and Narcotics six months ago."
"He had walked in straight from the heat, and already sweat was chilling on his skin."
"The draped corpse lay on the table—a woman, by the shape of it."
"The aftermath lay right in front of him, staring with open eyes."
"They could never fully erase what had happened here, because the air itself was permanently imprinted with terror."
"The ordeal would have lasted well over an hour."
"She was so friggin’ calm about it now. It makes me wonder."
"What happens in the world—all the violence—I don’t need to read about it."
"I picture her gleaming with sweat, suffering through the long hot day and into the night."
"No matter how careful we are, evil knows where we live."
"It’s the power that thrills him. Ultimate power, over life and death."
"By taking the womb, he defeminizes his victim. He steals her power."
"I remember reaching under my bed. Grabbing the gun."
"She cried until her throat was raw, until her lungs were stuttering with spasms."
"Funny thing about teamwork. Whenever I share my hunches, someone else always gets the credit."
"No, she was going to keep her hunches to herself."
"Don’t react, she thought. Don’t let ’em see they’ve gotten to you."
"It ain’t gonna happen, asshole. This time I’m gonna keep my cool."
"Her anger had given way to excitement. To the exhilaration of the hunt."
"I can stitch a body back together again, but I cannot mend this broken family."
"It’s a sad day when it gets down to who claims credit for this or that."
"Sometimes, a faceless stranger is the only person you can talk to."
"Raped in May, butchered in July. It’s a fine world for women, isn’t it?"
"If there were any real saints in the world, they sure as hell wouldn’t be cops."
"You’re letting them win if you don’t complain."
"The ancients say that almost immediately the north wind ceased to blow. Artemis was satisfied."
"This isn’t a souvenir. And it’s not a mark of ownership."
"A place of strong winds and dangerous tides."
"What comes to my mind is not the wooden horse or the clang of swords or the thousand black ships with sails unfurled. No, it is the image of a girl’s body, drained white, and the father standing beside her, clutching the bloody knife."
"I won’t have my patient used as bait. She needs to stay here for round-the-clock observation."
"How many women could we save if we stop him now?"
"Use a comatose woman as bait? Endanger other patients in this hospital by inviting a killer to show up here?"
"Yes, she’s still alive. And no, she’s not talking yet."
"Detective Crowe’s hanging around here like a vulture. I’m sure he’ll know it before I do."
"I keep saying that to Detective Crowe, and he doesn’t accept it, either."
"He moves in and out of my life like air. No one sees him. No one knows what he looks like."
"It doesn’t matter where I hide. He’ll know where I am."
"Where we go depends on what we know, and what we know depends on where we go."
"I can see you’re scared. You lock yourself in your office. You look like you haven’t slept in days."
"I want my life back. This time I won’t let him win."
"He knew she couldn’t identify him. He knew she posed almost no danger. Yet he went to a lot of trouble to kill her."
"A woman’s very essence. No wonder Catherine had been horrified to learn that a man she did not know possessed such an intimate part of her."
"Because I know how it must look, to be walking in her door at midnight. I know what must be going through their heads."
"In the kitchen, a kettle whistled. She turned and walked out of the room."
"How insubstantial even tempered steel seemed, against an opponent who could walk through walls."
"‘Why is this happening again?’ she whispered."
"‘It’s Capra—’ ‘No. He’s dead.’ He cupped her wet face, made her look at him."
"‘She sent it to herself.’ ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this.’"
"It’s time to look at what else might be going on."
"You don’t remember who cut your hair, or when. What else don’t you remember?"
"Eventually, you do remember the actress’s name, don’t you?"
"It’s when you relax, when your mind stops desperately clawing at that filing cabinet drawer."
"It’s only a movie, Catherine. Happening to someone else. You are safe."
"The sight of blood can make some men faint, and people scurry to hide such horrors from the public eye."
"Humans have lost touch with who, and what, they really are."
"Every thread of evidence wove neatly into a tight pattern, and the fabric appeared indestructible."
"The killings ended when Capra was shot to death in Catherine Cordell’s bedroom."
"I see you got the Capra video. Singer shook his head. 'Man, was there weird shit in that house.'"
"Somewhere in here, he thought, the Surgeon has left his footprints."
"There were only two people in that house. Cordell and Capra."
"Hell, no one ever knows who the monsters are."
"By now Singer knew where this conversation was headed. 'You’re sayin’ Capra had a partner.'"
"‘Compassionate doctor! Such a polite young man!’ Singer snorted."
"With so many other details to follow up on and all the interviews with Hoyt’s colleagues at the lab, a pair of ATM withdrawals might be way down on the team’s priority list."
"Bingo. Confirmation that Hoyt was their man."
"It’s one feature that helps us distinguish between races. A hair shaft from an African subject, for instance, is nearly flat, like a ribbon."
"I want him as much as you do. Let me back in."
"Get yourself killed in the line of duty, and you’re a hero. How simple, how permanent."
"This is how he tortures us. How he beats us down. He wants us to beg for water, beg for our lives. He wants complete control."
"As the hours passed and no amount of struggling could loosen her bonds, her body seemed to shut down into a state of suspended animation."
"You never know until the beast of opportunity is staring us in the face."
"As God created me, as God created us all. As the lamb is blessed, so is the lion. So is the hunter."