NEW YORK – In Internet chats as breezy as they were bizarre, a police officer accused of plotting to kidnap and eat as many as 100 women was once cautioned not to be wasteful when cooking a victim because “there is nearly 75 pounds of food there.”

But no one was ever actually harmed in Gilberto Valle’s alleged plot, let alone eaten. And a defense attorney said the officer was merely engaging in harmless Internet fantasy.

Where exactly the line is drawn between bizarre talk and a true plot has emerged as the key question in a case that has shocked even the most jaded New Yorkers.