Notebooks and papers lay scattered across the floor around them, the detritus of Walsh's obsessive documentation.The fluorine killer had been hiding in plain sight, posting his surveillance videos online while preparing his next cleansing ritual.It was almost as if he had been taunting them the entire time.
“Is that it?”Miles asked quietly, looking at Walsh slumped in handcuffs.After all the sophisticated analysis and complex theories, their killer turned out to be an unstable graduate student who believed he was saving people's souls.
Vic holstered her weapon and shook her head with a heavy sigh.“Sometimes they're just crazy, Miles.Not everything has to be a massive conspiracy.”
But as Miles looked around Walsh's apartment at the bizarre mixture of chemistry textbooks and occult literature, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were still missing something important about the larger pattern.Yes, it seemed they had their fluorine killer, but what about the elemental murders across the country?
Could someone as seemingly deranged as Walsh actually work under someone in such a way?Miles wasn’t sure… but he sure as hell intended to find out when they got him into an interrogation room.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The interrogation room in the sublevel of FBI headquarters felt insulated from the insanity of the streets above.Miles sat across from Jeremy Walsh, acutely aware that three floors up, reporters and news crews were gathering outside the building.Word had leaked that they'd arrested a suspect in the fluorine murders.By the time the 6:00 news came on, Walsh's face would be on every local news station and social media feed.
Currently, Walsh sat in the metal chair with his hands cuffed behind him, rocking slightly back and forth.His greasy hair hung in his face, and he kept muttering under his breath about molecular contamination and spiritual cleansing.The confined space seemed to amplify his agitation.He was sweating despite his lack of movement, and he had started blinking profusely.
“Jeremy,” Vic said, activating the digital recorder on the table.“We need you to walk us through what you did to Sarah Morrison.”
Walsh looked up, his eyes bright with fanatic enthusiasm.“The teacher was the worst case I'd ever documented.Her chemical aura was so intense it was visible even without spectrographic equipment.She was poisoning those children every day with her toxic emanations.”
“So you decided to cleanse her,” Miles said.
“I had to.The contamination was spreading through the entire school system.Every child she touched was being poisoned with fluoride, heavy metals, synthetic chemical residues.”Walsh's voice grew more animated and the words came fast, nearly blending together.“I was saving those innocent souls from molecular corruption.”
Vic leaned forward.“How did you get the fluorine gas into her classroom?”
Miles knew this was sort of a trick question.They already knew.He supposed it might be the first step in figuring out how many of the devices were scattered all over the city.
“Through the ventilation system.It's the only way to ensure proper distribution of the cleansing agent.You have to calculate the airflow dynamics, the gas mixing ratios, the exposure duration.”He spoke with the confidence of someone reciting well-rehearsed facts.
But something in his explanation bothered Miles.Walsh was describing the general method accurately, but he wasn't providing the specific details someone would know if they'd actually created the delivery system.
“What kind of remote did you use?”Miles asked.
Walsh hesitated for a fraction of a second.“A standard electronic remote.Set for… for maximum cleansing exposure.”
“Was there a delay?”
“Oh yeah, for sure.”
“How long?”
“Long enough to ensure I was safely away from the contamination zone.”
Miles felt his first serious doubt about Walsh's confession.The actual device had used a sophisticated remote activation system, not a simple timer.If Walsh had built and installed it himself, he would know that detail and be proud of his achievement, proud enough that he’d want them to know.
“Tell us about Janet Reilly,” Vic said.“The florist.”
Walsh's eyes lit up again.“Another severe case.Her work environment was saturated with pesticides, preservatives, synthetic fragrances.She was a walking chemical weapon, contaminating everyone who came near her flower arrangements.”
“How did you access her shop?”
“I studied her routine for weeks.Documented her contamination levels, planned the optimal cleansing approach.”Walsh was back to rocking in his chair.“The fluorine exposure neutralized all the toxic compounds she'd been carrying.”
“But how did you physically get into the building?”Miles pressed.
“I...I found a way in.Through the ventilation access.”
Miles reached out to one of the folders on the table and pointed out photos of the crime scene.“Show me exactly where you installed the delivery system.”
