cellophane-wrapped wicker basket that monopolized the entirety of Magozzi’s desktop. ‘Is that a fruit basket?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It’s from Judge Jim.’
Gino frowned. ‘You busted the guy’s balls last night and he sends you a fruit basket? That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Maybe he doesn’t get many visitors.’
‘Well, shit. Give me a banana. So how was your meeting with the profiler last night?’
‘Interesting. Depressing. Scary.’ Magozzi ripped open the fruit basket, tossed a banana to Gino, and grabbed an apple for himself.
‘Yeah? Did he tell you anything you didn’t already know?’
‘Kind of. And it’s a she, by the way.’
Gino waited patiently for further edification while he peeled his banana, and when it didn’t come, he leaned forward on his elbows. ‘You’re a million miles away, Leo. So who exactly is this “she,” and are you going to tell me what she said that has you so doped up, or is it rated X?’
‘It’s rated G. But she had some insights.’
‘Like?’
‘Like the Web is normalizing deviant behavior.’
‘Is there anybody in the world with a Ph.D. who actually speaks English?’
‘She does, and everything she said made a scary kind of sense.’
‘Oh, man. She’s either one good shrink, or she’s a part-time supermodel, if she’s got you jumping on the psychobabble wagon train.’
Magozzi gave him a warning glance. ‘Do you want to hear this or not?’
‘Sorry. Go for it.’
‘Well, yeah, we kind of figured that out already.’
‘But, there are also a lot of people on the cusp – disgruntled, twisted, deviant, whatever – who might normally never act on their urges in the real world because there’s no catalyst to push them to the next level. And some of these types actually understand that what they’re feeling is antisocial and wrong. Enter the Web – a safe, fantasy forum to communicate with like-minded people. “Hey, Joe, you fantasize about raping and killing women? Me too!” Get a blog with fifty or a hundred or a thousand guys like Joe talking to one another, and you’ve got yourself a whole new culture with its own morals and code of conduct.’
Gino grimaced like he’d just swallowed a bug. ‘Christ.’
‘It’s a support structure. And her assumption is, it can escalate into reality from there. How many of the school shootings in the last few years would have happened if Columbine hadn’t happened first?’
‘So what we might have is a bunch of amoral whack jobs telling the other amoral whack jobs out there that it’s A-okay to murder, and then they all start believing it for real?’
‘Yeah. Like that.’
‘Sounds like
Lord of the Flies
and a twelve-step program for homicide all rolled into one.’
‘That’s what she’s afraid is happening. That the Web is actually enabling these monsters and the community is getting stronger.’
Gino put down his half-eaten banana and stared at it.
Magozzi shook his head. ‘I think that’s why Cyber Crimes is task-forcing this thing nationally.’
‘I should have known this day was gonna suck the minute that asshole in the SUV gave me a shower. So what did she think about my traveling-serial-killer theory?’
Magozzi looked to the side with a pained expression. ‘That, believe it or not, would be the best-case scenario, just like you said. Unfortunately, she thinks it’s a disconnected group of killers talking to each other on the Web, playing some sick kind of one-upmanship game.’
‘Aw, man, Leo, that so sucks. Say it ain’t so.’ Gino cocked his head and listened. ‘On the bright side, do you hear AC/DC?’
Magozzi pulled his cell phone out of his breast pocket. ‘New ring tone.’
‘ “Highway to Hell.” How appropriate.’
‘Hang on, it’s Grace. Hey, Grace.’ He was quiet for a long time, his face growing darker the longer he listened. ‘Are you sure? Shit. Okay, read it to me and we’ll work it.’ He grabbed a pen and tablet and started
‘Yeah.’
‘It’s from Judge Jim.’
Gino frowned. ‘You busted the guy’s balls last night and he sends you a fruit basket? That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Maybe he doesn’t get many visitors.’
‘Well, shit. Give me a banana. So how was your meeting with the profiler last night?’
‘Interesting. Depressing. Scary.’ Magozzi ripped open the fruit basket, tossed a banana to Gino, and grabbed an apple for himself.
‘Yeah? Did he tell you anything you didn’t already know?’
‘Kind of. And it’s a she, by the way.’
Gino waited patiently for further edification while he peeled his banana, and when it didn’t come, he leaned forward on his elbows. ‘You’re a million miles away, Leo. So who exactly is this “she,” and are you going to tell me what she said that has you so doped up, or is it rated X?’
‘It’s rated G. But she had some insights.’
‘Like?’
‘Like the Web is normalizing deviant behavior.’
‘Is there anybody in the world with a Ph.D. who actually speaks English?’
‘She does, and everything she said made a scary kind of sense.’
‘Oh, man. She’s either one good shrink, or she’s a part-time supermodel, if she’s got you jumping on the psychobabble wagon train.’
Magozzi gave him a warning glance. ‘Do you want to hear this or not?’
‘Sorry. Go for it.’
‘Well, yeah, we kind of figured that out already.’
‘But, there are also a lot of people on the cusp – disgruntled, twisted, deviant, whatever – who might normally never act on their urges in the real world because there’s no catalyst to push them to the next level. And some of these types actually understand that what they’re feeling is antisocial and wrong. Enter the Web – a safe, fantasy forum to communicate with like-minded people. “Hey, Joe, you fantasize about raping and killing women? Me too!” Get a blog with fifty or a hundred or a thousand guys like Joe talking to one another, and you’ve got yourself a whole new culture with its own morals and code of conduct.’
Gino grimaced like he’d just swallowed a bug. ‘Christ.’
‘It’s a support structure. And her assumption is, it can escalate into reality from there. How many of the school shootings in the last few years would have happened if Columbine hadn’t happened first?’
‘So what we might have is a bunch of amoral whack jobs telling the other amoral whack jobs out there that it’s A-okay to murder, and then they all start believing it for real?’
‘Yeah. Like that.’
‘Sounds like
Lord of the Flies
and a twelve-step program for homicide all rolled into one.’
‘That’s what she’s afraid is happening. That the Web is actually enabling these monsters and the community is getting stronger.’
Gino put down his half-eaten banana and stared at it.
Magozzi shook his head. ‘I think that’s why Cyber Crimes is task-forcing this thing nationally.’
‘I should have known this day was gonna suck the minute that asshole in the SUV gave me a shower. So what did she think about my traveling-serial-killer theory?’
Magozzi looked to the side with a pained expression. ‘That, believe it or not, would be the best-case scenario, just like you said. Unfortunately, she thinks it’s a disconnected group of killers talking to each other on the Web, playing some sick kind of one-upmanship game.’
‘Aw, man, Leo, that so sucks. Say it ain’t so.’ Gino cocked his head and listened. ‘On the bright side, do you hear AC/DC?’
Magozzi pulled his cell phone out of his breast pocket. ‘New ring tone.’
‘ “Highway to Hell.” How appropriate.’
‘Hang on, it’s Grace. Hey, Grace.’ He was quiet for a long time, his face growing darker the longer he listened. ‘Are you sure? Shit. Okay, read it to me and we’ll work it.’ He grabbed a pen and tablet and started
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