"What do you mean?"
"He'd tell them how important it was in their line of work to guard against their own tendencies, everybody has such tendencies mdash;this is him talking mdash;and child abuse is an insidious thing. And he'd have them interested and listening, and he'd say, 'I know you yourself must have been tempted on many an occasion to slap the little kid you're sitting, especially when he's acting up,' and the fifteen-year-old sitter goes, 'Oh, boy, you said it,' and he goes, 'For example, haven't you been tempted at least once tonight to smack him around?' and she goes, 'Well hellip;' and he goes, 'Come on, tell me the truth, I'm a trained child psychologist,' and before you know it, he's got her convinced that the best way tocurb these tendencies is torelease them, you know, in a therapeutic manner, slap the kid gently, why don't you go get the kid now? And she runs to get the kid and he tells her to give the kid a gentle slap, and before you know it he's got her beating the daylights out of the kid while he's listening and getting his kicks. That was this one case I had, I may write a book about it one day."
"That's fascinating," Peaches said.
"Another case I had, this guy would look in the paper for ads where people were selling furniture. He was looking for somebody selling a kid's bedroom set, you know? Getting rid of the kiddy furniture, replacing it with more mature stuff. He knew he'd get either a youngish mother or a teenage girl on the phone mdash;usually the girls who want their furniture changed when they get into their teens. And he'd start talking to them about the furniture, either the mother if she was home, or the teenage girl if the mother was out, and while he was talking to them, because it would be a long conversation, you know, what kind of bed is it, and how's the mattress, and how many drawers in the dresser, like that, while he was on the phone he'd be hellip; well hellip;"
"He'd be masturbating," Peaches said.
"Well, yes."
"Do you think the man who called me tonight was masturbating while he talked to me?"
"That's difficult to say. From what you told me, he eitherwas already, or was leading up to it. He was trying to get you to talk about your body, you see. Which is still very nice, by the way."
"Well, thank you," Peaches said, and smiled.
"Sounds to me like that's what would've set him off. Getting you to strip in front of the mirror there. You'd be surprised how many women go along with something like that. He hooks them into thinking they've got a shot at modeling mdash;there isn't a woman alive who wouldn't like to be a model mdash;and then he gets them looking at themselves while he does his number."
"That's when I began to realize," Peaches said.
"Sure."
"When he told me to take off my blouse."
"Sure. But lots of women don't realize even then. You'd be surprised. They just go along with it, thinking it's legit, never guessing what's happening on the other end."
"I'm afraid he might come here," Peaches said.
"Well, these guys don't usually do that," Parker said. "They're not your rapists or your stranglers, usually. Don't quote me on that, you got allkinds of nuts out there. But usually your telephone callers aren't your violent ones."
"Usually," Peaches said.
"Yes," Parker said.
"Because he has my address, you see."
"Um," Parker said.
"And my name is on the mailbox downstairs. With the apartment number."
"I know. I saw it when I rang the bell. But that says P. Muldoon."
"Sure, but that's what's in the phone book, too. P. Muldoon."
"Well, I doubt he'll be coming around here. He may not even call again. What I'd do, though, if I was you, I'd change that message on your answering machine. Lots of single girls, they do these fancy messages, music going in the background, they try to sound sexy, it makes the caller think he's got some kind of swinger here. Better to just put a businesslike message on the machine. Something like, 'You've reached 123-4567,' and then, 'Please leave a message when you hear the beep.' Strictly business. You don't have to explain that you can't come to the phone because everybodyknows they caught the machine. And of course you shouldn't say, 'I'm out just now,' or anything like that, because that's an invitation to burglars."
"Yes, I know."
"The point is most people today are familiar with answering machines, theyknow they're supposed to leave a message when they hear the beep, so you don't have to give them a whole list of instructions, and you don't have to sound cute, either. Your friends hear that cute little message a coupla hundred times, they want to shoot you. An obscene caller hears that cute little message, he figures he's got a live one, and he'll keep calling back till he can get you talking."
"I see," Peaches said.
"Yeah," Parker. "Do you have any male friends who can record a message for you?"
"Well hellip;"
"Because that's usually the best thing. That way any nut who's running his finger down the book for listings with only a first initial, he comes across P. Muldoon, he gets a man's voice on the answering machine, he figures he got a Peter Muldoon or a Paul Muldoon, but not a Peaches Muldoon. He won't call back. So that's a good way to go unless you're afraid it'll scare off any men who may be calling you legitimately. That's up to you."
"I see," Peaches said.
"Yeah," Parker said. "Now with this guy who called you tonight, he already knows there's a Peaches Muldoon living here, and he already got you going pretty far with his little routine, so he may call you back. What we'll do if he keeps calling you, we'll put a trap on the line hellip;"