Twisted Hunger by Marilyn Campbell

decided that if the woman was still up to her old tricks, she’d have to be in pretty good shape. “Let’s say nothing out of the ordinary happened, no serious diseases, disfigurements or big weight changes. If she simply aged like an average woman, what would she look like today, I mean, twenty years from today?”
    The artist was finishing up the second sketch when Terrell returned to get Luke. They thanked the artist for his time and went back to the interrogation room with the two sketches.
    “Why two?” Terrell asked.
    Luke pointed at the younger version. “That’s the woman I saw in the alley. No question.” He tapped the aged version. “And that’s what she would look like today, if she aged normally and didn’t have anything drastic happen, like an accident or an enormous weight gain. It was the artist’s idea to change the hairstyle to a more contemporary one.” He briefly related what he had told the artist to get him to draw the second one.
    Terrell sat down with his long legs stretched out in front of him and his hands folded over his flat stomach. His mouth moved from side to side as he glared at Luke.
    “ What ?” Luke asked and sat down in another chair.
    “I was sure you couldn’t come up with a definite description. Not after all this time. If you were some guy off the street who came in here with this story, I’d have you thrown out as a nut-case.”
    “But you know I’m not nuts. So what do we do next?”
    Terrell leaned forward and spoke in a low, serious tone. “What you do next is get on a plane back to Charlotte while you still can. I keep looking for the killer and some kind of hard evidence that would hold up in court.”
    “But I saw her, and I can still identify her. I could—”
    “You could get yourself killed and that’s about it. We once assumed she had a friend on the inside who alerted her about Pablo’s testimony. Then Pablo ended up in a box. If the same woman is responsible for Neuman’s death, she may still have the same friend. And now here you are, giving her description to the police artist. You shouldn’t have asked for the second sketch.”
    Luke frowned. “I didn’t think it would matter.”
    “The problem with this case is we have no idea what matters and what doesn’t.” He sighed. “Let me put it another way. Even if she didn’t come after you first, and we caught her, and you went to court as an eye witness, a good defense attorney would tear your testimony apart. Too damn much time has passed for anyone but me—and the killer—to listen to you. It’s just not enough for you to risk coming forward now.” He picked up the older version sketch. “Believe me, this drawing could be a big help. Maybe not in court, but you’ve given me an idea of the face I’m looking for, and that’s a hell of a lot more than I had before.”
    Luke rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know what made me think I could do more.” He got up and walked around the table. “Look, if you don’t mind, I’d like to stick around for a few more days. I can’t go back to Charlotte without visiting the family, and I’d really like to take another look through that file. I just can’t believe someone could commit that many mutilations and not leave a single clue behind. Even a pro must make mistakes once in a while. Maybe a fresh, non-professional approach would come up with something no one else has thought of.”
    Terrell wasn’t happy about it, but he couldn’t deny his friend the time he asked for. “Okay, but you have to do something for me. I’ve gotten roped into filling a chair at a thousand-dollar chicken dinner in Sacramento this Saturday. I was told I could bring a date.”
    Luke grinned. “Isn’t this rather sudden, sweetie? What will Sergeant Maria say?”
    “Don’t be a smartass. Here’s the situation. Senator Jones is throwing an AIDS research fundraising banquet. It’s one of his pet charities, but it’s also time for him to start