Elysium Dreams

Twenty-Three

"Good news, we think we know who our serial killer is," I said as I walked up to Gabriel and Lucas. They were standing against the SUV in the parking lot of another state park. "Bad news, he's pretty deeply involved in the case."

"Since you consider him to be our serial killer, I'd say that does make him deeply involved in the case," Gabriel turned to look at me.

"Point taken, but this is different. We are pretty sure it's Dr. Henry Ericson based on Xavier's analysis of his hand behaviors and his wife's infidelities," I said.

"I'm going to find this explanation annoying, aren't I?" Gabriel asked.

"Most likely. Do you want a chair? A Valium? An ambulance on standby?" I asked.

"Just tell me," Gabriel sighed heavily and looked at Xavier.

"Around Thanksgiving, Dr. Ericson's son found out his mother was cheating and had been cheating on his father for decades, literally. We think he did the first three victims. Then he killed himself and Dr. Ericson took over. It explains why they never found anything in the toxicology reports, Dr. Ericson would know what not to look for. It also explains the increased skill level of the replacement killer. And the timing is perfect. Also, whoever attacked Lucas and Ace was stabbed in the left arm. Dr. Ericson is left-handed, but this morning, as we talked with him, he did everything right-handed, even things we normally do unconsciously. Like he began crying but wiped his tears away with his right hand."

"What about the eye color?" Gabriel asked.

"Contacts," I offered. "You can do anything with colored contacts. I still cannot figure out how he killed his wife and Arons, but I am pretty sure he did."

"Ericson is the right build for the guy on film," Lucas said. "The death of a son could have sent him into a dissociative situation and in order to keep the son's name from being smeared by the press when it came to light, he continued the killings. He probably only planned one or two, but found he liked it. Parents do amazing things for their children."

"Can you prove it?" Gabriel asked.

"No, which is where we have a problem. I don't think that even using our special status, we are going to get a warrant from any judge in this town based on what our gut is telling us. My guess, between Hilary's ties to the FBI and Ericson working as a coroner part time, he knows all of them. They aren't going to be happy if we come to them wanting a warrant for a fishing expedition," I said.

"Great," Gabriel sighed and closed his eyes. "Is there any way to use Ace to get to him?"

"That is a possibility," Xavier said. "If we are right, then Ace attacking him back was probably a surprise. I told him once she was not your average woman, and I don't think he believed me. I imagine he does now. He'll come for her if he thinks he can get away with it."

"If I was a serial killer and wanted to attack me, I'd wait for me to get a migraine," I told them my deep dark fear. "I have always worried about that. But once the migraine hits, death looks better and better."

"How do you feel when you have a fake migraine?" Gabriel asked. I frowned at him.

"Not keen on the idea of being bait?" Michael snickered at me.

"Sometimes, it's fine. This one," I shrugged. "I'm not bothered by Dr. Ericson, him I can take. I think it's his daughter that bothers me. She's a sociopath in the making, and finding out daddy and brother were serial killers and that daddy then murdered mommy, might be the proverbial straw. If we trap him using me as bait, in ten years, she might come looking for revenge."