Tortured Dreams

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter 19

"We should get checked into the motel." Xavier sighed as we left the morgue.

"You can sleep right now?" I asked him.

"Yes, at least for an hour or two."

"We've already been checked in; your bags are in your rooms." Alejandro was leading the way. He seemed a bit pissed that the maidens had maker's marks.

"I need to stop by a museum." I told them.

"Why?"

"We are in Chicago and the Field has an excellent collection of torture implements. I was wondering if any were replicas and if they knew this maker. Besides, I have a thought that I want to put to a test and I'll need some professionals to help me."

"We aren't professional enough?" Alejandro sneered.

"Sure, but not the right professionals. I need a couple of historians and maybe an archeologist. I figure the museum would be a good spot for that."

"Fine," Alejandro looked at Gabriel. "Will you ferry her to the museum after you have dropped us at the hotel."

"Can I have Xavier?" I asked.

"Sure, I'll go with you, why?"

"I'll need some medical advice as well."

Gabriel dropped off Lucas, Michael and Alejandro at the hotel. We took Lake Shore Drive to the Field Museum. I checked my watch. They would be closing soon.

"What's your thoughts?" Xavier asked.

"Something struck me while I was staring at the maiden. Maybe the devices are being used because they are recognizable."

"What do you mean?"

"Iron Maidens, impaling, and drawing and quartering are all well known torture devices. The Scavenger's Daughter is less well known, but it isn't as obscure in concept as the Pear of Anguish."

"I don't know what that is."

"You didn't know what a Scavenger's Daughter was either." I reminded him.

"True, still not sure I do." Xavier yawned.

"Don't do that," I told him.

"You're thinking of something else," Xavier said.

"I am." I took a deep breath and held it for a minute. "Ok, here goes. Aside from the obscure book, why else pick torture as a weapon? Different types of torture? Then I remembered. A couple of years ago, while I was working on my dissertation, I came to Chicago. They were having a special exhibition on torture. It was going to be traveling. On exhibit was a maiden, a rack, a Scavenger's Daughter, impaling, drawing and quartering, rats in a cage, a skull crusher and a Hanging Coffin. All of those were from the Middle Ages. There were others too, but they were not from Europe or from the Middle Ages. That's all we have here. Impaling was perfected by Vlad Tepes making it European. Drawing and quartering was used long before the Middle Ages, but it became vogue in England and some of the other northern countries during the high Middle Ages because it was quick and easy to improvise. The maiden was first discovered in modern times in Germany. The Scavenger's Daughter was invented by an Englishman. All have the European stamp on them. And all are well known as a result. The Skull Crusher, the Pear of Anguish, less common, the pear was a favorite of the Inquisition."

"So you want to see what else they had on display and find out where it went after it left Chicago?" Xavier asked.

"Precisely. Maybe our killer saw the exhibition. Maybe that is why he picked different forms of torture. That, combined with the book, would answer why there isn't a pattern to it."