Elysium Dreams

Eighteen

The following morning, I was released by Sheriff Rybolt with a handshake and a ride back to my motel. My phone had seventeen missed calls. All of them from Malachi Blake. I ignored them by deleting the missed calls and sat down at the table in Gabriel's room. He was seemingly more composed than he had been yesterday on the phone.

"How was jail?" Lucas asked as he handed me a soda and a bagel.

"Not bad. The sheriff was nice enough to get me vegetarian Mexican for dinner last night and it didn't seem to come from a microwave. There were no other prisoners in my area and he even let me smoke in the jail."

"You realize those things can get him fired, right?" Gabriel asked.

"I am pretty sure he doesn't care," I answered. "He cares about catching the serial killer. I thought all night long and did not find anything to tie the eyes and the ankles together."

"That might not be the most useful thing you've ever said," Xavier answered.

"Sorry, I'm blank on it. The ankle flesh might have significance to the killer, but I literally cannot come up with anything other than Achilles," I shrugged. "However, I did think about the cigar ash. Maybe the snow is why it flattened out. I don't know what sort of weight and pressure is required to crush cigar ash, but snow falling on it, especially wet snow, might do it."

"I'm having serious issues with your theories," Gabriel said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they seem far-fetched. I understand the thought that it's a cop and it has been known to happen, but this seems extreme. Also, it could be very simple why he leaves the ankle skin. Xavier said the ropes would cause the ankles to bleed and the victim to bleed out if he skinned them. Then there was the eye thing," Gabriel grunted after his sentence.

"Ah, you're irritated that I asked and didn't seem to have a reason for asking. Like I sent you on a wild goose chase," I finally got his frustration.

"Something like that," Gabriel answered.

"If the eyes were removed before the face was burnt, it might have significance. Lots of cultures have theories about what the eyes can tell after death; however, finding that they were removed after they were burned just sounds like convenience. He removed them so they wouldn't hang and slap against the forehead while he was doing the rest of his work," I said.

"That is a visual I could have done without," Gabriel frowned.

"Me too," Michael also frowned.

"Well," I gave them a look. "I don't know what to tell you, it was an image I had in my brain all night long."

"You have seriously gruesome thoughts," Lucas said.

"That's true, but it makes the answers easier. If the ankles and eyes are just because it's convenient, that says something. It means they may not be significant except in keeping the victim alive," I said.

"You can live without your eyes," Xavier answered.

"I know, but when you put it together . . ."

"We get it," Lucas assured me.

"That brings me back to the medical training," Xavier said. His face screwed up into a strange expression.

Gabriel's phone rang. He spoke quickly. When he hung up, he put his head on the table.

"They just found another body," he said, keeping his head on the table.

"One of ours?" I asked.