Conduct in Question

Chapter 16

In fury, the Florist ripped up a dozen petal drawings made on the copies of Katharine Rowe’s photograph and threw them on the floor. With his large, muscular hand, he could not catch the flow of the line. Such artistry evoked the entire range of human emotion. He stared bleakly at the torn pictures strewn on the floor.

He had actually seen Katharine Rowe yesterday in the parking garage. She was even more beautiful than her photograph. But maybe she really deserved the name “Katie,” which he had read in the society column. So many grown women had childish names like Bunnie or Patsy. She was nothing but a high-class whore.

Still, her beauty demanded his very best design. Lifting another copy of her photograph from a drawer, he sought his finest drawing pen. More technical difficulties beset him.

A pen was not a knife. Paper was not flesh. The very first challenge of his art was to capture the freedom of spirit in the Matisse drawings. Only then could he hope to redeem these souls. A force beyond himself summoned the creator. Only withered souls refused the challenge. Katharine Rowe would be his masterpiece for the world.

Lost in thought, he considered yet another technical difficulty. To create such a beautifully evocative line, the victim had to be absolutely still. Should he immobilize her first? He could easily obtain drugs that paralyzed muscles.

He dismissed the notion. The pitiful thrashing was one of the most satisfying aspects of his art. The delicious dawning of terror drove him to intense, orgasmic delights of both mind and body. The deep pleasures of creation could not be achieved without pain, suffering, and challenge. No birth without blood. He would have to persevere until he could draw such a line under any conditions.