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“They were sinners though,” he sighed. “Either they came to me that way, or they committed their sins with me.”
“Doesn’t that make you just as much of a sinner?” Tanya asked.
“This is crap,” Dad said. “He’s lying. Jerking her around. None of the psychologists concluded Sidney was motivated by religion or some moral code.”
“He killed them for the sport of it,” I said. “For the dopamine that came from literally squeezing the life out of them. Tanya hit on it when she talked about how hands-on he was. Intimate killings.”
The bulk of the interview was more of the same. Sidney started quoting Bible verses. Leviticus was a favorite. It went on for over an hour.
“What about the girls at Deadwater Lake?” Tanya finally asked. “It was the highest body count for you in a single day. You’ve refused to talk to investigators about it. Why? You’ve only been too eager to discuss the other girls.”
“Some are more interesting than others,” he said with a smirk.
“So you don’t think Annabelle Oleson, Maisy Adams, Emily Reynolds, or Sarah Duran were interesting by your standards? What was wrong with them?”
He remained statue-like, refusing to answer the question.
“Mr. Sidney, you must know how difficult all of this is for other people to understand.”
“You want to know what makes me tick?” he asked, biting out the word “tick.” He snapped his teeth at the end of it.
“Sure,” she said. “That’s probably the biggest reason people will tune into this interview.”
He laughed.
“What is it you want people to know about you?” Tanya asked. “This is your last chance to tell them.”
“She’s leaving too many things to him,” I said.
“What would you do differently?” Dad asked.
“He’s got an ego. That’s obvious. He’s a sociopath. I would have fed into that. Belittled him. The Deadwater Lake girls were like fish in a barrel. At least some of his other victims would have been challenging to him. I’d have goaded him. Said he was past his prime when he killed those girls. Not to mention being sloppy enough to leave Geneva alive.”
“Good instincts,” Dad said. “I’d do the same. You want them unsettled. Out of their comfort zone. Get an emotional reaction. Sitting there and handing him rope like, ‘What do you want people to remember?’ It lets him take his time to think about it. To wrap himself in this persona.”
“Did anyone ever ask you?” I asked. “Did you know the Sidney interview was happening?”
He shook his head. “I was long gone.”
“Pity. I’d have liked to take a crack at him too.”
Dad smiled and lightly slapped me on the back. “I’d have liked to see it.”
“Do you have any remorse?” Tanya asked Sidney. “Any regrets?”
“Do you think this is my confession? It’s not my fault I’m good at my job, Ms. Talbot. But then I don’t suppose you know what that’s like.”
“Do you think you can rattle me?” she snapped.
“I think he just did,” I said.
“He just did,” Dad said in unison.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Sidney said, smirking. “It’s too bad though. You could have made this great TV.”
“You’re a con man,” she said, losing her cool. “Do you think what you’ve done makes you superior to the rest of us?”
“Rein it in, Tanya,” Dad sighed.
