The Cold Moon (2006), a Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver: summary

Time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by the little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.  William Faulkner

Time is a great teacher but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.   Louis – Hector Berlioz

This book features a psychological thriller that hooks reader from the start. The criminologist Lincoln Rhyme with his trusted partner, Amelia Sachs, tracked the Watchmaker, a genius serial killer. The 629-page book was published by Pocket Books in 2006. Jeffrey Deaver is an American crime writer. He was a former journalist, folk singer and lawyer.

The Cold Moon (2006), a Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver: summary

From his squeaky chair in the warm office and squinted through the bright morning light toward the far end of the pier. Lincoln Rhyme had his own ‘Before and After’ and he understood this concept very well. One moment he was as healthy as everyone else, searching a crime scene, and a minute later a beam had snapped his neck, almost completely paralyzed from the shoulders down. Rhyme had become to believe that he himself really was not much different in the After.

His physical condition, his skyline, had changed. But he was essentially the same person as in the Before : a cop and a scientist who was impatient, temperamental, relentless and intolerant of incompetence and laziness. The criminologist studied the victims. They found a note that was signed by a name Watchmaker: “The full moon in the sky, shining on the corpse of earth, signifying to die and end the journey begun at birth.”

The tall, red-haired detective, Amelia Sachs, was permanently assigned to Lincoln Rhyme for crime scene work but she wanted to do more forensic exclusively. Sachs’s father was a patrolman. He had been given a number of commendations over the year. The medical examiner reported the first victim had indeed fallen into the Hudson River. It was the length of clothesline that had ended the life of fifty-six-year-old Benjamin Creeley, a businessman, found dangling from banister of his Upper East town house. Sachs was at the second scene, the alley way off Cedar Street, near Broadway.

Theodore Adams, mid-thirties, was lying on his back, duct tape gagging him and binding his ankles and wrists. The killer had looped a rope over a fire escape, ten feet above him, and tied one end to a heavy, six-foot-long metal bar with holes in the ends like the eye of a needle. Teddy was a bachelor, worked for himself, a freelance advertising copywriter. Both of the victims had quite similar evidence – clock, poem, no fingerprints, and minimal trace. Sachs now understood the woman who had reported his missing brother. A teenage girl stared at Sachs with frown, the pretty detective had blocked her view on her uncle. The sister, whose name Barbara Eackhart, had no idea the killer’s motive might be. The hysterical woman asked restroom when she emerged pale and shaken.

Vincent Reynolds had known The Watchmaker – whose real name was Gerald Duncan. He didn’t have a lot of friends and could put up a lot from Gerald Duncan. He liked a lot of things about Gerald Duncan. Vincent and Duncan were opposites in many ways but they had one thing in common – dark secret in their hearts. Hungry Vincent was thinking about Joanne. The Watchmaker had learned that Joanne spent a lot her time in her workshop, a few blocks away from her retail flower store.

The criminologist studied that the Cold Moon was in December, the month of hibernation and death. As Rhyme had noted earlier, killers referencing the moon of astrological themes tended to be serial perps. A search of the victims’s clothing found none of the fine-grained sand, blood or other trace to link to the killings. Like Sachs, Rhyme doubted this was the Watchmaker, but given the gravity of the crimes he wasn’t going to be careless.

Kathryn Dance was a special agent with the California Bureau of Investigation, based in Monterey. She was one of the nation’s preeminent expert in interrogation and kinesics- the science of observing and analyzing the body language and verbal behavior of witnesses and suspects. She’d been in New York for her kinesics seminar to local law enforcement agencies. Kinesics is a rare specialty in police work.

Dance was had been a reporter after college. Eventually bored with reporter’s life, Khatryn Dance decided on career change. She opened a jury consulting business, advising attorneys with jurors to choose and which to avoid during voir dire jury selection. But it was only in six years, she changed course once again. With the help of her tireless husband, she headed back to school- the California State Bureau of Investigating training academy. She became a cop. Dance had heard of Rhyme – many law enforcers knew of the brilliant quadriplegic forensic detective.

Dance was disappointed that it wasn’t a suspect but a witness be interviewing. She preferred the challenge of confronting criminals and the more deceitful the better. Kinesics traditionally was studying somebody’s physical behavior-body language- to understand their emotional state and whether they were being deceptive or not. It was not just body language but spoken comments and written statements too. Ari Cobb, though, was a classic extrovert and an arrogant one.

Sachs explained about the suicide of Benjamin Creeley, suspicious because of the broken thumb, as well as burned evidence at his house, traces of cocaine and the possible connection to some cops. But his wife said she never saw Creeley doing any drugs. The watchmaker probably bought the clocks at the same store. Detective Lon Sellito who also in investigation told Dance that they discovered a possible source for the clocks left at the Watchmaker’s crime scene. He wanted her to interview the man who might have solved them.

Dance interrogated the clock dealer and he said that a man had bought ten clocks from him. Electronic Facial Identification Technology, a computerized version of the old Identi-Kit, which reconstructed a suspect’s feature from witness prompts. The image of a white man in his late forties or early fifties, with a round face, and unusual light blue eyes. The dealer recalled dark clothes but couldn’t remember exactly what he was wearing.

Tony Parson was sitting across from Khatryn Dance in a coffee shop. He said he couldn’t remember anything about the murder in that place. The hunger raged through him now looked Dance only few feet from him. He loved to kill the policewoman. Dance was chatting like a friend. Lincoln found he wasn’t Tony Parson but Vincent Reynolds.He was  a twenty-eight-year-old word-processing operator who lived in New Jersey and work for half-dozen temp agencies. None of which he knew about him.

The officers found a letter he was writing to his sister in Detroit. Detective Mell Cooper had emailed a digital picture of Vincent to the florist shop’s owner, Joana Harper. The woman resembled he starred at the window glass of her shop. Though they suspected him of being the Watchmaker’s accomplice, the evidence linking him to the scene was sketchy. A shoe footprint was the same size as his shoes. At last Dance successfully made Vincent spoke about the Watchmaker.

Gerald Duncan was a businessman from Midwest. He was staying in old church in Manhattan. He lost her wife in hit-run car accident in one night on business travel in New York. His wife died and tried to kill all the people who handled his wife. He interested in clocks, time, and lunar calendar. He collected old clocks and watches—only a hobby. Vincent was shock to know Watchmaker’s wife was his sister. Vincent raped his own sister when their mother and stepfather were on their honeymoon. He was fifteen and she was thirteen.

Dennis Baker came from a family of law enforcers. His father was a transit cop and his brother worked for Department of Correction and his uncle was a cop in a small town. Initially he had no interest in his job- the handsome, well-built young man wanted big bucks. He joined with other crooked cops. They target the children and rich businessman in Manhattan clubs and planted the drugs on them. But two businessmen Sarkowski and Creeley were two businessmen tough hides. They kidnapped Sarwoski and killed him and several weeks later they killed Creeley. The officers had no reason to arrest Duncan.

Baker heard about a professional killer, Gerald Duncan who could manipulate crime scenes and set up fake motives to steer suspicion completely away from the man hiring him to kill. Eliminating the motive could eliminating the suspicion too. Duncan had put the plan into operation. He killed two men randomly and sent Vincent to attack Dance. The Watchmaker would kill Amelia Sachs for her investigation.

Sarah Stanton was his last victim. The estimator of the flooring company. Detective Dennis Baker had appeared tried just attempted to kill Amelia Sachs and Detective Ron Pulaski. Criminologist Rhyme found Duncan never killed the victim, he stole the corpse from hospital. He had no wife killed in car accident. Dennis Baker dragged into jail. The Missouri State Police sent a car out to the address on the license. It owned by another Gerald Duncan.

Born in Chicago, Hale was the son of high school Latin teacher. The boy had been loner for much of his life. In doing his research into watchmaking, Charles Vespasian Hale had learned concept of the complications. Watch’s complication offer the owner some information as the time sunrise, perpetual calendar, the day, month, season, the season, month, lunar orbit. But complications were exactly he needed for his plan in New York to lead the distraction the police away from his main mission.

Charlotte Allerton was the stocky woman who pretended to be the sister of Theodore Adams, the first victim in the alley. Her husband, Bud Allerton, was the man masquerading as the lawyer who’d secured Gerald Duncan’ release from jail by promising that his client would be spectacular witness in the crooked cop scandal. Bud was really a lawyer, though he hadn’t practice for years. He pretended to be a big lawyer and the prestigious law firm. Charlotte sent Hale a warning message. The police was seizing him. Hale was presently in downtown Manhattan, made his way to New York office of the Department of Housing, and Urban Development (HUD). He appeared in an army uniform, a rank major.

In a short time a number of soldier and their families would attend a ceremony in their honor hosted by the city and the U.S Department of Defense and State. Officials would be greeting soldiers and their families, recently returned from foreign conflicts, giving them letters of commendation, and thanking them for reenlisting. These government officials, as well as the soldiers, their families, and any member of the press, were the real point of Charles Hale’s mission in New York. He had been hired for the simple purpose in killing as many of them as he could.

Hale was not completely apolitical. He had views on democracy versus communism versus fascism. Charlotte and Bud Allerton hired him for the job of sending message about wrong-minded American intervention in foreign nations. Charlotte and her second husband Bud were part of fringe militia group that had been attacking federal government buildings and UN facilities for years. He had come to New York, move into safe house in Brooklyn- finding unwitting associates: Dennis Baker and Vincent Reynolds. He learned everything he could about the Watchmaker’s supposed victims and surveyed the HUD building. Hale and Charlotte had played the fictional murder of Teddy Adams in purpose.

When Charlotte played Teddy’s sister–, the guards had let the hysterical woman to use though back door of HUD and allowed her to use the restroom down stairs without searching her. Hale had learned from Government Service Administration that florist Joana Harper had contract to supply flower arrangements and plants. He got the precise drawings every room and hallway in HUD from the estimator flooring Sarah Stanton. He had learned U.S Army Sergeant Lucy Richter from a newspaper. He had broken into Lucy’s picture, later forged, the special access passes that required soldier to attend the ceremony.

He created layers of motives for the breaks-in. His original plan was simply to pretend a serial killer who loved anything related to watch. An organization crime contacted him, a police named Dennis Baker needed a hit man to kill an NYPD detective. He eliminated the motive by eliminating the suspicion. The soldiers and their families had resembled in HUD building. High rank General had given his speech started the celebration honoring eighteen brave individuals. Charles Hale was in the men’s room of a small coffee shop not far from the HUD building. He stripped of his military uniform and looked at his digital wristwatch, which was synchronized to the timers into the bomb detonator.

Pedestrians were clustering on the sidewalk, staring. The explosion seemed bigger than he had anticipated. The fatalities would be greater than Charlotte and Bud hoped. It was hard to see anybody could have survived. Charles Hale was satisfied. He had earned some big money. Most important, he created a plot that had worked perfectly- like clockwork. The special news report the bomb story in HUD building, Bud and Charlotte were smiling it on their TV.

They expected Duncan to collect the rest of his money at the door, but plenty of policemen pointed their pistol on Charlotte. An automatic pistol was pulled from his suitcase, Bud Allerton was panic in the chamber with his step daughter. The girl screamed and he flung her onto bed. Her head hit the wall and lay stunned.

Sekapur Sirih

Buku setebal 629 halaman terbitan Pocket Books tahun 2007 dan cetakan pertamanya tahun 2006 lalu. Jeffery Deaver dikenal sebagai penulis novel misteri dengan tokoh utamanya Lincoln Rhyme, seorang kriminolog dari Kepolisian New York. Ini adalah pertama kali bagi saya menikmati karya Deaver yang tergolong agak rumit dicerna. Walau demikian, tema misteri pembunuhan berantai yang meninggalkan pesan puisi the Cold Moon yang ditanda-tangani oleh the Watchmaker dan sebuah jam di TKP membuat buku ini penasaran untuk diselesaikan.

Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia : the Cold Moon  oleh Jeffery Deaver

Dua korban ditemukan di tempat yang berbeda. Benjamin Creeley seorang pengusaha kaya di temukan di sungai Hudson. Istrinya sangat tidak percaya bila suaminya bunuh diri dan pengguna narkoba. Tetapi barang bukti yang ditemukan mengarah pada tindakan bunuh diri. Ia baru saja berbinis dengan seorang teman bernama Kowaski. Tak lama kemudian Kowaski juga terbunuh, disusul dengan korban-korban lainnya.

Anak muda dengan jeratan pada leher ditemukan di tempat yang berbeda. Kakak Theodore Adams tidak percaya bahwa adiknya yang masih lajang telah dibunuh. Barbara Eackhart bersama putrinya yang masih remaja tidak percaya melihat jasad Adams. Motif apa yang mungkin membunuh seorang penulis teks iklan yang hampir tidak memiliki musuh. Detektif Amelia Sachs dan kriminolog Lincoln Ryme menemukan adanya kesamaan. Pembunuhan lain pun terjadi dan sebuah pesan dan jam duduk ditemukan di lokasi kejadian perkara.

Ilmuwan handal Lincoln Rhyme kini duduk di kursi roda tapi tidak menyurutkan semangat kerjanya. Ia dahulu sehat dan kuat sebelum sebuah kejadian membuatnya sepanjang hari duduk di kursi rodanya. Laboratorium penyidikan sangat membutuhkan ahli kriminal itu. Amelia Sachs wanita cantik dan muda didapuk menjadi partner kerja penyidik itu. Amelia adalah putri polisi patroli. Namun  gadis berambut merah itu tidak begitu bangga dengan ayahya yang kerap memukul ibunya dan dikenal sebagai polisi tidak baik.

Kali ini kemampuan analisanya dan tentu saja dengan bantuan timnya di lapangan, Rhyme menemui kesulitan menemukan motif pembunuhnya, the Watchmaker (pembuat jam), begitu tanda-tangan pembunuh pada pesan puisi tertulisnya yang selalu ditinggalkan pada korban.

Khatryn Dance seorang detektif piawai yang kebetulan memberi seminar di kota New York sempat mendengar kasus yang sudah meresahkan warga New York. Pembunuhan berantai yang selalu meninggalkan pesan namun sulit ditelusuri karena minimnya bukti fisik. Dance dikenal ahli interogasi, wanita itu berhasil mendalami informasi dari saksi yang tidak terlalu banyak memberi petunjuk berharga.

Bagi Vincent Reynolds, Gerald Duncan adalah teman dan guru yang baik. Tidak banyak teman dan keluarga yang dimilikinya. Ia merasa baru saja menemukan teman yang baik dan luar biasa. Hanya ia yang tahu jika the Watchmaker adalah Gerald Duncan. Sebenarnya ia bukan pembunuh tapi lebih kepada pemerkosa tapi Duncan berhasil memengaruhi pemuda aneh itu. Duncan, pria pengusaha yang datang dari Midwest, ingin membalaskan kematian istrinya. Ketika itu ia dan istrinya sedang berlibur ke New York namun istrinya tabrak lari dan meninggal.

Rencana mereka kali ini adalah membunuh tukang bunga Joana Harper dan penata gedung Sarah Stanton. Dan rencana besarnya membunuh polisi wanita Dance dan Amelia. Namun dalam uapaya ini polisi berhasil menangkap Vincent. Lewat pengakuan Vincent pula akhirnya didapat informasi tentang the Watchmaker. Gerald Duncan berhasil diinvestigasi namun tidak ada satupun bukti dan alasa menahan dia. Hasil otopsi juga membuktikan bahwa dua korban sudah mati sebelum ditemukan di TKP. Hanyalah jasad yang dicuri dari ruang mayat.

Berhasil mengelabui kriminolog Rhyme dan timnya, rupanya Duncan tengah merencanakan pemboman gedung militer yang akan digunakan pada acara penganugerahan tanda kehormatan bagi puluhan pahlawan militer yang bertugas di luar negeri membela bangsa dan menyebarkan demokrasi. Identitas Duncan akhirnya diketahui, ia bernama asli Charles Vespapian Hale. Anak tunggal dari seorang guru bahasa Latin.

Ia sangat dikenal handal dalam mengaburkan motif dalam sebuah kasus pembunuhan dan juga bergabung dalam organisasi pembunuh bayaran. Hale dikeluarkan dari penjara oleh pengacara Bud Allerton. Pengacara yang lama tidak praktek dan mengaku berasosiasi dengan pengacara hebat dari kota, Bud pun berhasil membebaskan Hale.

Dennis Baker, detektif muda berperawakan tampan dan menawan, berasal dari keluraga penegak hukum. Ayahnya polisi dan pamannya juga bekerja pada kantor kepolisian bidang pengoreksian. Baker ingin uang cepat dan bergabung dengan teman-teman detektif buruk lainnya merekayasa pengusaha kaya, anak-anak muda di pub. Korban direkayasa memilki narkoba, lalu diperas. Kelompok polisi korup ini juga menjual narkoba.

Benjamin Creely memberi perlawanan dan lelaki pengusaha itu dibunuh oleh tangan Dennis sendiri. Korban lainnya mengancam karir Dennis, ia pun dibunuh lewat pembunuh bayaran. Mendengar nama Duncan, seorang ahli dalam mengaburkan motif pembunuhan, Dennis pun memberi pekerjaan padanya. Dengan kelicikannya, Duncan menumpangkan rencana utamanya lewat pekerjaan Dennis. Kini polisi berbalik menangkap Dennis Baker dan komplotannya, Duncan terbebas dari tuduhan.

Duncan sangat kagum dengan kompleksitas cara kerja jam. Ketelitian dan pertautan setiap instrumen membentuk informasi waktu, musim, bulan, dan tahun. Ia pun lama mendalami dunia pembuatan jam dan memilih nama samaran the Watchmaker. Rencana dan targetnya dilapangan telah berhasil mengelabui motif dengan menghilangkan kecurigaan.

Detektif Amelia, Dance, dan timya berhasil menemukan kediaman Bud Allerton. Pengacara itu dan istrinya sangat berbahagia menonton ledakan bom dahsyat di televisi. Charlotte dan Bud Allerton adalah aktifis milisia yang menentang kebijakan Amerika yang kerap mengurusi konflik di berbagai negara. Keduanya mengeluarkan Hale dari penjara dan membayarnya untuk membuat plot bom yang akan menewaskan petinggi militer dan para pahlawan penerima piagam.

Detektif Amelia Sachs baru menyadari pernah bertemu Charlotte dan putrinya. Ia melaporkan kehilangan adiknya Adams sehari sebelum jasad Adams ditemukan. Wanita itu juga menangis histeris saat terbunuhnya Theodore Adams dan meminta beristirahat masuk ke gedung tanpa tahu ke mana wanita itu setelahnya. Polisi percaya begitu saja jikalau wanita itu adalah kakak Adams. Tetapi yang paling membuat detektif cantik itu menggeleng-geleng kepala, ketika ia baru sadar bahwa Charlotte adalah kasus pertamanya bekerjasama dengan detektif Rhyme beberapa tahun silam dalam sebuah kasus penculikan. Dari hasil laporan catatan kriminal, Charlotte pernah menyelipkan bom di kantor pusat PBB di Manhattan. Ledakan itu menewaskan enam orang, namun ia berhasil kabur dan tinggal di pedesaan.

Para detektif pun tidak menyangka bahwa pembunuhan berantai selama ini sengaja direkayasa Charles Hale untuk mengelabui tujuan utamanya yakni membom gedung militer. Acara resmi penganugerahan medali kehormatan para perwira yang dihadiri oleh jendaral berpangkat tinggi. Dari upaya mendekati pedagang bunga penyuplai gedung itu hingga dekorator gedung yang menyuplai karpet dan peralatan gedung. Hale berhasil memperoleh informasi detail gedung dari pemasok tanaman dan bunga serta dekorator gedung. Ia membaca kisah seorang perwira yang tengah terkenal di koran. Hale berhasil mencari rumah perwira itu dan memalsukan identitas militernya agar bisa memasuki gedung itu dan bergabung dengan hadirin lainnya pada acara tersebut.

Berita ledakan bom pun menjadi tajuk berita di layar kaca. Dalam kediamannya, Bud Allerton dan istrinya sangat senang dengan ledakan itu, rencana yang telah mereka susun selama bertahun-tahun akhirnya berhasil. Amelia dan rekannya berhasil menemukan Charlotte dan Bud Allerton. Satu regu polisi telah mengepung kediaman pasangan itu. Dalam aksi itu Bud tewas tetapi istri dan putri tirinya selamat. Berita terkini mengabarkan bahwa tidak ada korban yang terluka dalam peristiwa ledakan, hal ini membuat Hale dan Charlotte sangat kecewa. Demi masa depan putrinya, Charlotte Allerton pun akhirnya bersedia bekerjasama dan memberi informasi tentang Hale. Namun sayang, Charles Hale berhasil lolos dan malah mengejek sang kriminolog itu dengan meninggalkan sepucuk surat.