Delusional

by Terri Breneman

  “Who wants to help me test it out?” Boggs asked.

  Jessie and Helen voiced their excitement and the three disappeared up the stairs. Toni hugged Vicky. “You’re the best, sweetie. Can I get you another drink?”

  Vicky held up her giant beer glass. “Fill it up.”

  After Toni got Vicky her beer, she went behind the bar to refill her own wineglass. Johnnie was sitting on the end barstool, smoking a cigarette under the air filtration system. “This is pretty cool,” Johnnie said. “Normally I can’t smoke inside.”

  “I know, it’s amazing. In fact, I’ve been known to smoke every once in a while myself and I love this thing,” Toni replied.

  “You know, smoking is bad for you.” Claire appeared by Johnnie’s side.

  “Good thing it’s my only vice.” Johnnie didn’t seem pleased at the comment.

  “And I’m a firm believer in not doing bad things alone.” Claire pulled out a cigarette of her own. “Got a light?”

  Johnnie smiled as she lit the cigarette. “Holy crap, Claire. You’re a doc, for God’s sake.”

  “Well, like you said, it’s my only vice.” Claire took a long drag and sighed. “This shouldn’t be wonderful, but it is.”

  Vicky joined them at the bar. “So here’s where all the action is. When do I get to cut into that lovely pink cake?”

  “As soon as Boggs comes down from the roof,” Toni said. “In fact, if she doesn’t come down soon I’m going to send a rescue team up for her.”

  “I love cake,” Johnnie said, shaking her head slowly, “but that’s the grossest looking thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Thank you very much,”Toni replied.“I had to beg the guy to put that much pink icing on the thing. He thought I was nuts.”

  Vicky kissed Toni on the cheek. “This is the best birthday party I’ve ever had. Thank you.”

  Only a few minutes later the group returned from the roof. After describing what they could hear from the new toy, the guests gathered around the cake to sing to Vicky.

  He double-checked his gym bag, making sure everything was in order. He carefully looked at each item inside, careful not to touch anything without gloves. He twisted his ring as he looked. There was his Bible, of course. And a grapefruit-sized rock, duct tape, a stun gun, syringe, vial and a bottle of myrrh oil. As he saw the bottle of myrrh, he recited a verse from the Book of Esther he’d memorized months ago. “For so were the days of their purification accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with other things for the purifying of the women.”

  He’d been given this passage in a message from God and had been told that it applied to all sinners, not just woman. He re-zipped his bag and tucked a pair of latex gloves in his pocket. He was ready. More than ready. He’d done his research well. Not only did he know the next person to be cast out, he knew how to get inside the sinner’s apartment. Although it wasn’t foolproof, he was confident that God would help him complete his mission. He prayed once more. He was special. He was invincible. Once he was satisfied that he’d done all he could to prepare, he grabbed his bag, pulled on a baseball cap and left.

  Later that night he sat alone in his sanctuary reliving his latest mission. It had been even easier than he’d hoped. The deviant was far too trusting and let him inside the apartment almost immediately. He’d been carrying a clipboard and he told the man he was going door-to-door to raise awareness of gay issues for the upcoming election. Even though he knew telling that little white lie was a sin, the greater good outweighed his transgression. As soon as he crossed the threshold, with the man’s back toward him, he’d pulled the stun gun from his bag and thrust it forward, grinning as he pulled the trigger. He’d watched as the man collapsed to the floor, his muscles contracting violently as though he were having a seizure. A three-second shock always left his victims totally disoriented with a loss of balance and muscle control. With the speed and confidence he’d gained from the last mission, he’d pulled on gloves, dragged the man’s body to a kitchen chair, put him in it and quickly duct taped him to the chair. Once that was completed, he could take his time.

  He’d bowed his head in silent prayer first. After only a moment, he’d begun his sermon, ignoring the sheer terror he’d seen in his victim’s eyes. Once his well-practiced speech was complete, he’d taken out the syringe and vial. The deviant struggled to free himself, but he had ignored him once again and administered the lethal dose. After he’d recited his final prayer, he’d dabbed a bit of myrrh oil on the forehead of his victim. He’d retrieved the rock from his bag and lifted it up high, as though he’d been offering it to the heavens, then in one violent, yet fluid movement, he’d crushed the man’s skull.

  As he relived those wonderful moments, he dropped his head in prayer, thanking God for the opportunity to serve Him. He felt as though he was getting closer and closer to the time when he could share his mission with the whole nation. He was special, handpicked by God, and that felt good. After finishing his prayer, he raised his head and grinned. What else can I do to please God? He twisted his ring. The choices were endless.

  Chapter 6

  By Sunday afternoon all of the pink things had been removed from the game room and the trash had been taken out. Toni was downstairs ironing and watching football. She was one of those people who insisted on ironing almost everything except sheets. She was putting the finishing touches on a T-shirt when the phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and hit speakerphone. “Hiya, Vicky. What’s up? Feeling older but wiser?”

  “Incredibly funny,” Vicky said. “I was wondering if you guys could stand a little company? I’ll spring for the pizza.”

  “Sure. Is everything okay?”

  “That maniac killed again last night and I wanted to pick your brain. So far we’ve got squat for evidence.” Vicky sounded defeated.

  “I’ll give it a shot,” Toni said, wondering if she’d have any idea of how to help. “What time are you coming over?”

  “How about in about an hour? And if it’s okay with you, I’d like to ask Patty and Johnnie. Maybe they’ve got some ideas.”

  “That’d be perfect. I’ll tell Boggs.”

  “Okay. I’ll go ahead and order the pizza and have it delivered to your place. It’ll be paid for already, in case it gets there before I do. Just sign my name.” Vicky hung up before Toni could respond.

  Instead of going up to the study on the third floor where she knew Boggs was working on her computer, Toni dialed Boggs’s cell phone number.

  “Hello?” Boggs sounded distracted and obviously hadn’t looked at who was calling.

  “Hiya, gorgeous. Want to get lucky tonight?” Toni held in a snicker.

  “What? Hey, where are you?”

  “I’m in the basement ironing and I’m too lazy to walk up.”

  “Are you okay? Do you need me to come down there?”

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m fine. Vicky just called and she’s coming over in an hour. There was another killing last night and she wants to talk. She’s ordering pizza and calling Patty and Johnnie.”

  “Okay, another one of Vicky’s famous powwows. At least this time you’re not the one in danger. I was beginning to think I fell in love with a psycho magnet.”

  “Very funny,” Toni said. “And by the way, halftime is almost over. How about bringing some wine down with you? I could use a glass after all this ironing.”

  “I’ll be down in about ten minutes, babe. I just want to finish these e-mails. And oh, yes. I do want to get lucky tonight.”

  Toni was on her second glass of wine by the time Vicky and the pizza delivery guy arrived. Patty and Johnnie arrived within minutes of each other and they all sat around the kitchen island, taking slices of pieces from all of the boxes. As usual, Vicky had ordered more food than even ten people could eat.

  “Thanks for letting us come over here,” Vicky said as she began picking the pepperoni off her slice and popped it in her mouth. “I was hoping you could help
me come up with some ideas with these cases.”

  “I never turn down free pizza,” she said. “Tell us what you know so far.”

  Vicky took a bite of her pepperoni-less slice of pizza and began. “Well, the victim was named John Deutermann, and he’s co-owner of the independent bookstore here in Fairfield. It was the same as Maggie. He was duct taped to a chair. The perp used a stun gun again and bashed the victim’s head in with a rock.” She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.

  “Do you want a beer?” Boggs asked.

  “No. I think I’ll stick to soda tonight in case the lab calls or something else happens.”

  “Was there anything at the scene?” Patty was taking notes with one hand with a slice of sausage pizza in the other. Her enthusiasm as a new detective was obvious.

  “He left the rock and a Bible again. No prints so far and the Bible was brand-spanking new.” Vicky picked off pepperoni from another slice of pizza. “The crime scene guys pulled the drain in the shower again. The results aren’t back from Maggie’s place yet.”

  “Did the neighbors see or hear anything?” Johnnie asked.

  “Nope, not a thing. The M.E. said he died between eight and midnight last night. He lived in one of those four-unit apartment buildings where each front door is on a different side of the place. His front door faced the back of a convenience store.There could have been an entire football team in front of his place and no one would have seen a thing.”

  “So what do we know about these two? What do they have in common?” Patty’s pencil was poised above her pad.

  “They were both gay,” Vicky replied.

  “It sounds like one of those scary religious nuts,” Toni said. “The rock thing could represent a present-day stoning, especially with the Bible left behind.Assuming,of course,that he’s targeting gays.” Although she was trying to sound professional, inside Toni felt sick to her stomach. The thought of this man torturing another human being just because their lifestyle offended his religious beliefs frightened her. She knew people did horrible things in the name of God, and the realization that a person just like that was in their vicinity made her shudder. She hoped the others didn’t notice. Her appetite disappeared.

  “Holy crap,” Patty said. “I can’t believe there are people like that. I mean, I know there are people out there that think we’re all going to hell, but stoning us to death? Are you serious? Sounds like a bad horror movie.”

  “And doing it in the name of God,” Boggs said. She took a long swallow of wine and shook her head. “You know, I don’t care what others believe or how they practice those beliefs as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. But this is insane. I sure as hell hope this isn’t an organized group.”

  “You mean like that minister from Kansas who protests at funerals?” Johnnie asked.

  “What are you talking about?” Patty asked.

  “He thinks that the United States is being punished for condoning homosexuality and that’s why our vets are being killed in Iraq. A bizarre connection if you ask me. He’s got this horrible Web site that we monitor.” Johnnie got up and helped herself to another beer.

  “We?” Patty asked.

  “The FBI. It’s really disturbing,” Johnnie said as she twisted the cap off the bottle.

  Toni noticed that everyone had stopped eating, just as she had. She wondered for a moment if they had also lost their appetites. “Hey, let’s go downstairs. Grab your drinks and I’ll put the pizza away.”

  Vicky and Patty grabbed sodas from the fridge and Boggs refilled her wineglass and Toni’s before heading down. Johnnie was leaning against the island and gave a quizzical look to Toni.

  “You can smoke down there,” Toni answered the unasked question. “Go on, I’ll be there in a sec.”

  Johnnie smiled and winked at her, mouthing a “thank you” before turning to go.

  Toni heard the tail end of the description of the Web site Johnnie had mentioned as she entered the game room. She sat on the couch next to Boggs.

  “It even had a picture of a lesbian who’d been killed with a counter of the number of days she’d been in hell.” Johnnie was sitting at the end of the bar. She put out her cigarette. “And there was horrible screaming. I had to hit mute.”

  There was momentary silence as that information sank in. “Do you think our killer could be a member of that group?” Patty was sitting next to Johnnie at the bar.

  “I don’t know, but I’ll look into that angle. What do you think, Toni?” Johnnie had brought her messenger bag downstairs and she pulled out her notebook.

  “Well, it sounds like that group likes and wants the publicity,” Toni replied. “So far this guy hasn’t left anything behind to identify him or a group, so I’m thinking no.” Toni pictured the scene described earlier by Vicky and scooted closer to Boggs. She needed to feel the security of being close to her. “I think we’ve got a loner here.”

  “So you’re thinking we’ve got a lone serial killer here?” Vicky had her feet outstretched on the coffee table and looked both physically and emotionally exhausted.

  “That’s my best guess for now,” Toni said.

  “Unless these two people have another connection to each other that we don’t know about yet,” Boggs said. “Then it could just be personal.”

  “We’re looking into that angle,” Vicky said, “but one way or the other, we’ve got to get him. These murders are horrific. I’m hoping there’s something the lab comes up with. There’s no such thing as a perfect crime.”

  “And as soon as this shit goes public, we’re going to have a mess on our hands,” Boggs said. “There’ll be extremists on both sides and panic in the gay community.”

  “Captain Billings is trying to keep a lid on the details,” Vicky said. “At least for now. We used the same crime scene techs on both, so that’s helpful. No specifics were given out to the press, but who knows how long that will hold. But even if the details are left out, we’ve still got two people who were killed by some intruder. It will be in the news tomorrow for sure. The Captain also told me this afternoon I could borrow Patty to help me on this.”

  “Really?” Patty was beaming and she pulled her own notepad out of her bag. “My first homicide. Okay, so there were no signs of forced entry in either case?”

  “Nope. No fingerprints, no blood other than the victim’s and no witnesses,” Vicky replied. “Nothing.” She looked at Toni. “What? Did you think of something?”

  “Not really.” Toni took another sip of her wine. She was tapping her finger on her lips. “But, it makes me wonder. If this is a serial killer, it’s unusual to start with a perfect murder. They generally work up to that. Do you know what I mean?”

  “Like a regular perp?” Patty asked. “Start with peeping in windows before finally ending up assaulting some woman?”

  “Something like that, yes. Unless it’s a crime of passion.” Toni sat up and put her glass on the coffee table. She was trying to remember what she’d learned both as a psychotherapist and while studying forensic psychology in graduate school.“Normally they’d have practice runs, if you will. And each time they’d go a little further until they actually killed someone. The guy would then keep reliving the murder in his mind, over and over. Hmm.” She was slowly shaking her head.

  “So we should look for assaults maybe using rocks?” Vicky asked.

  “Yes, but this guy seems different.” Toni was troubled, not only from the hideous crime, but from the motivation. Something didn’t seem right. Something didn’t fit. “Most of these guys get some kind of sexual satisfaction from the killing. And I say ‘guys’ because about ninety-five percent of serial killers are men. Anyway, from what you’ve told me about the scenes, there doesn’t seem to be anything sexual here. And that makes me wonder.”

  “Vicky did say that she thought the guy might have showered afterward,” Patty said. “Could that mean something?”

  “I don’t know, maybe,” Toni admitted. “We just don’t have hardly
any info on the guy to get a clear picture.” She picked up her glass and drank the rest of her wine. “If we were talking about a so-called normal serial killer, there should be a clear pattern of his victims. For example, he might kill women between the ages of twenty and twenty-five who are brunettes. The victims represent something to him, so they are usually fairly consistent so that he can relive the incident over and over. Does that make sense?”

  “Like killing the girl who dumped him in high school?” Johnnie asked. “Same look and build as this girl from his past?”

  “Exactly,” Toni said. “He finds someone who looks similar, then he tortures and kills her in his act of revenge. But this guy has killed first a woman, then a man. And as far as we know, their only connection is the fact that they’re both gay. Strange.”

  “Well,” Boggs said as she refilled Toni’s glass of wine, “if he’s not a normal serial killer, could he be a total nut job? Not that serial killers are sane, but you know what I mean.”

  “At this point, that angle makes more sense to me,” Toni replied. “But I’m no expert. And he seems to be able to plan very carefully, so that’s something to keep in mind. He’s not an idiot and he doesn’t leave anything behind except what he wants to leave.”

  “So it’s probably not like what Claire said yesterday,” Boggs suggested. “That a crazy person pounded someone on the head because they thought they were a fence post.”

  “Hey, when did you talk to Claire?” Vicky asked.

  “When she dropped off your birthday presents, Miss Gotta Know Everything.” Boggs laughed. “We were talking about the definition of legally insane.”

  Toni recounted the conversation to the others.

  “So this guy could think the victims were fence posts?” Patty seemed confused.

  “Doubtful,” Toni replied. “These seem to be well thought out. And it’s not like he just happens upon people. He’s planned his moves, I think. Especially with the Bible there and all. But he could be delusional, thinking he was doing a good thing. In fact, if he’s truly delusional, he might think that God is speaking directly to him. That’s not really very uncommon.”