Through his sorrow and pain, Miles noticed that Assistant Director Hayes was on the scene, which was surprising.He stood near the command vehicle that had been set up in Miles's driveway, coordinating with local police and federal agents.Detectives moved in and out of the house, documenting everything as both a crime scene and a personal tragedy.Miles watched them work with detached numbness, as if he were observing someone else's life being torn apart.
Vic approached him carrying one of the oxygen masks they'd used at the bus depot.Her expression was carefully controlled, but Miles could see the anger and sympathy warring behind her eyes.In a very strange way, the fact that she looked wounded, too, made him feel so much closer to her.
“Miles, I'm so sorry,” she said quietly.“I know there's nothing I can say that will help right now, but if there’s anything I can do...”
Miles took the oxygen mask from her without speaking.He needed to go in to see… to see for himself that this was indeed the real world.And for Vic to know this without him having to say it… it meant a lot.
“They're saying the house is safe now,” Vic continued.“Most of the gas has dissipated.”
Miles stood up abruptly.“I need to go back inside.”
“Miles, maybe you should wait.Let the crime scene team finish their work.”
“No.”Miles pulled the oxygen mask over his face and headed toward his front door.“I need to find the device.I need to see what this bastard left behind.”
As he started across the yard, he wondered if Hayes would try to stop him.But there was no sign of Hayes as he made his way to the front door.
Vic followed him as he walked past the police tape and into his house.It seemed like a foreign home as he viewed it through the gas mask.Crime scene photographers were finishing their documentation of the living room where Elena had collapsed.
Miles forced himself not to look at the chalk outline on the floor where Elena's body had been.Instead, he focused on the task at hand.The killer had installed a fluorine delivery device somewhere in the house, just like at the other crime scenes.Finding it might provide clues about how they'd gained access to his home.
“Where would they put it?”Miles asked, more to himself than to Vic.
“Same as the others.Probably in a place that was easily accessible.”
Miles looked around his living room, trying to think like the killer.The device needed to be connected to the air circulation system, but it also needed to be accessible for installation.He grabbed a step ladder from his garage and began checking the air vents in each room.Vic followed him closely but never tried to stop him.
The first three vents showed no signs of tampering.Miles moved the ladder to the hallway and climbed up to examine the central air return vent.This one was different.The screws holding the cover in place looked fresh, with small metal shavings on the floor beneath.Miles unscrewed the cover and reached into the ductwork.His fingers found a small metal canister connected to a timing device, exactly like the ones they'd discovered at the other crime scenes.But there was something else.A folded piece of paper wedged next to the device.
“Got it,” Miles called to Vic as he carefully extracted both the device and the note.
He climbed down from the ladder and unfolded the paper.The handwriting was neat and precise, written in the same style as the manifestos left at the other crime scenes.Miles read this one out loud and when he got to Elena’s name, he nearly started crying all over again.
“Elena represented the most molecularly corrupt individual I have yet encountered.Her work developing synthetic pharmaceutical compounds has introduced countless toxins into the human population.Every day she spent in that laboratory, she was poisoning the one meant to stop the purification process.”
Miles felt rage building in his chest as he continued reading.His voice trembled and he clutched the letter so tightly that it was starting to crinkle at the edges.“Her research into Alzheimer's medications represents the worst kind of chemical warfare against the elderly and vulnerable.By creating synthetic compounds designed to alter brain chemistry, she was contributing to the systematic poisoning of human consciousness.Her death was necessary to prevent further contamination of the pharmaceutical supply chain and to remove her toxic influence from your life.”
The note continued with more rambling about molecular corruption and chemical purification, but Miles couldn't focus on the words.It expressed how the killer had researched Elena's work, had targeted her specifically because of her job developing medications to help people with degenerative diseases.They'd turned her dedication to healing into a justification for murder.
“Son of a bitch,” Miles whispered, crumpling the note in his fist.He let out a series of whimpers that heknewneeded to come out.But he couldn’t allow it.Not yet.Not now.Now, he needed to find answers.He could properly grieve when he’d caught the man who’d done this.
Vic read over his shoulder.“They knew about her pharmaceutical research.This wasn't random.”
“They've been watching her,” Miles said.And then he pulled out his phone with shaking hands.“I have security cameras.Maybe they caught something.”
He opened the app that controlled his home security system and began scrolling through footage from the past few days.The cameras covered his front door, back yard, and garage.If the killer had approached his house to install the device, there would be some record of it.
Miles fast-forwarded through hours of footage, looking for any sign of an intruder.But the videos showed only normal activity.Elena leaving for work in the morning, returning in the evening, and the same with him.There were also a few delivery trucks, neighbors walking their dogs, the usual rhythm of suburban life.
“There,” Vic said, pointing at the screen.“Tuesday afternoon.”
Miles paused the video and zoomed in.A figure in dark clothing was visible at the edge of the frame, their face obscured by a hood.They appeared to be studying the house from across the street.
“Can you enhance it?”
“Not with this app.We'll need to get the full video files to the lab.”Miles continued scrolling through the footage, looking for clearer images of the killer.
He was so absorbed in the search that he didn't hear Hayes approaching until the Assistant Director spoke directly behind him.
