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way they operate,’ Saleda said.
    Jenna caught herself shaking her head reactively. Stopped. Realized she was looking at a severed arm on the floor. Again, the sangria of brutality to induce fear flashed in.
    â€˜Blades are an interesting weapon of choice for a terrorist group,’ she said. ‘Cause a different kind of devastation entirely from the usual terror tactics like explosives or more biological weapons like poisoned gas or disease.’
    â€˜This was a decision made
for
the group, whether by one individual or a few who led them. So, no, this wasn’t an instinct decision. It was just like every other choice the leadership made; for us to see for one reason or another,’ Jenna said.
    A deep purple flashed in, and Jenna struggled to grasp it. Too blue to be narcissism, even if it felt right. Not purple
enough
to go into the more pink fuchsia of misleading. But somehow, that was close, too. Indigo was
very
nearly the color, but still not quite the shade of deliberate intent.
    Then, the color took hold of her, all of the concepts playing with each other to help her near the association, since it
was
one with a meaning for her, if only subconsciously. Russian violet. Theatrics, actors making deliberate choices to portray something to an audience they want to convey. In a way, mislead …
    It’s a performance. Acts of terror are performances designed to play to an audience.
    â€˜Practical reasons?’ Dodd suggested. ‘Knives are attained more easily, so younger assailants had access, maybe.’
    â€˜These people weren’t all killed with hunting knives or kitchen knives,’ Saleda said, glancing reflexively toward one of the dismembered bodies. ‘Many are using big, unusual weapons. Machetes, big game knives.’
    â€˜Not all, though,’ Teva said, ‘Wounds vary in type and degree of damage from victim to victim. Only consistency is blades, it seems.’
    And if the masterminds chose blades, then what was the reason? Came back to what their performance was intended to achieve. The message of the show.
    Tell the cops they should treat all trivial things in life very seriously,
Ashlee had quoted the killer’s message.
    â€˜Tell them it’s important to be earnest,’ Jenna said under her breath. ‘Quoted from Oscar Wilde’s play. If the group left us a note to let us know they’d strike again, why leave someone behind to give us this message, too. Has to be part of the performance. I’m just not sure what it means yet.’
    â€˜So,
The Importance of Being Earnest,
’ Saleda said. ‘Any other thoughts based on what we’re seeing here?’
    â€˜God, I don’t even know,’ Teva said. ‘It’s been a long time since it was required reading in high school.’
    â€˜Hmph,’ Jenna said. ‘Ages for me, too.’
    â€˜Seeing as how I could have fathered you all … heck, grandfathered half of you … I don’t think I need to tell you how long it’s been since I was in school,’ Dodd said.
    â€˜OK, back to the scene for now, but be thinking about the literature references and who you might know who could help us other than your high school English teachers, since obviously they didn’t do much for any of you,’ Saleda said.
    The color of store-bought vanilla ice cream flashed in. Jenna shook it away for the moment, knowing it was related more to Saleda’s quip than the crime scene even if she hadn’t let it linger long enough to define it.
    â€˜The literature, the note promising another attack. That rules out revenge attack, like in Oklahoma City. There, McVeigh’s crime was his statement. No warnings. The messages here are a more common terror MO: fear. They want something,’ Jenna said.
    â€˜And usually when they want something, the fear they want to cause is tied to it. Hence the target is tied to it. Extreme pro-lifer bombs abortion clinic.