Acceleration

Residents of the Jungle are desperate for cool weather and take refuge in the Ignatius Howard Public Library, the “Igloo”—Duncan and his friends included. Duncan picks a book called Death: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer by former FBI profiler Mason Lucas. Lucas outlines the history and trajectory of most killers, presenting what he calls the “Homicidal Triad” (85). It comprises animal cruelty, arson, and bed-wetting. All three are about power, Roach being guilty of at least two of them. A librarian kicks Wayne out for whatever he’s looking at on a computer.

Duncan and Vinny stay. Duncan asks Vinny what he’d do if he found a killer’s journal. Vinny says he would give it to the police. Duncan argues that the book has no name and shows Vinny one of the journal’s photos of a dead cat, photocopies of several pages, and the list of the killer’s targets. Vinny urges him to turn the book in, and a hesitant Duncan agrees.

Duncan leaves work early after telling Jacob that he feels ill. He goes to the 52nd police precinct. He tells the woman at the desk that someone will get hurt and gives her the journal. She focuses instead on an old man nearby before looking through the journal and asking Duncan if he made it up himself.

The woman informs a desk cop named Jack who doesn’t take the journal seriously either. He says there are too many “crazy people” writing their thoughts in books. He tells Duncan to leave the book, and then takes a man upstairs. Duncan realizes they’re going to file it away and ignore it. When the desk cop begins talking to someone else, Duncan takes the journal and leaves. 

Roach writes about his “old bitch” (99) of a grandmother. She used to lock him in his room when he was 12, because boys have “rape on the brain” (99) and refused to let him out. He compares her to the titular creature from Alien.

Duncan meets Vinny in a park, and they get lunch from a food truck. Duncan asks Vinny if he remembers his dreaming about Maya. Vinny says Kimmy dumped him because he couldn’t let go of what happened.

Duncan shows Vinny the journal, explains what happened at the police department, and asks for help tracking Roach. Vinny thinks this is about Maya, a second chance.

Duncan dreams of dark water. He sees blue light and realizes it’s coming from a subway car stuck in the mud underwater. There is a woman facing away from him (implied to be a stand-in for Maya), sitting near the driver’s seat. A shadowy figure appears. Duncan tries to convince the woman to leave, but she says this is not her stop. The shadow approaches. Duncan can’t see its face, and it peels the girl’s face apart. Duncan wakes, nauseated. He realizes he won’t be able to find the killer in such a big city.

Duncan calls Kim and hears her voicemail. He leaves a rambling message, saying that he isn’t doing well, and reminds her of a Winnie the Pooh scene that she used to love. He erases the message instead of letting her hear it.

Duncan has a hard time focusing at work, Vinny’s help being his only solace. The two previously checked out true crime books to study. Vinny calls as he wants to meet.

Vinny says killers always start close to home and thinks they might be able to narrow their search to the blocks near the animal killings and fires listed in the journal.

Roach writes about his mother. Whenever she calls, his Gran screams that she’s a whore who won’t give her money. He remembers her bringing “Johns” home.

Duncan watches Doctor Zhivago with his mother.

Vinny shows Duncan a map of the city, the journal’s locations marked with nearly 30 pins. They later talk to Wayne but decide against telling him what they’re doing. They narrow down Roach’s age to his early twenties.

No matter how many times he reads the journal, Duncan can’t deduce Roach’s identity. Roach describes the woman “Bones,” her reading habits, and her schedule. There is also a dialogue between Bones and a friend (called “Skank”) about lipstick.

The conversation is written on a receipt. Duncan uses his shower to steam the receipt off the page—it being from Nut Factory Hardware Store for a padlock, screws, and sandpaper. He notices the date of purchase (the previous October) and prices, telling Vinny that the abbreviation “emp dis” stands for “employee discount.”

Duncan and Vinny go to the store. A worker tells him that she gets 25 percent off all purchases, but mall employees get 10 percent; Roach could be a guard or maintenance worker. Vinny thinks he’s probably a security guard because he would enjoy authority.

Duncan calls in sick, leaving Jacob angry. He goes to the security office and asks for an application from the manager, who tells him that they usually have about fifteen guards, spread over three shifts. On the way out, a guard with red hair bumps him.

Duncan and Vinny call the red-haired guard “Red.” Vinny says the subway stops on Roach’s list were all between 10:30 and 11:30 pm. They were all within 15 minutes of the mall. Thus, Roach probably works the closing shift.

Duncan and Vinny speculate that Cherry works at the mall too. They observe five guards, but none of them seems as promising as Red. They decide to follow any suspicious guards home to see what they can learn.

Duncan’s mother tells Duncan that he received a voicemail from Kim. She says they can talk if he needs to and that he called four times—more than he remembers. He reflects on catching and releasing fish with his father; sometimes a fish would swallow a hook. Duncan feels like that fish on a hook.

Duncan’s father encourages him to think of his job as a “scared straight” program. The family enjoys their evening of defrosted pizza and watching baseball.