Taken off guard by Dan’s reprimand, Murphy attempted to explain away his blunder. “I…uh…I just meant the general public isn’t used to dealing with this sort of thing.”
“So don’t tell them.” Dan shrugged. “Problem solved.” He made his way over to the table. “You might also be interested to know The Phoenix Agency has a fairly new department that deals specifically with extrasensory abilities, as well. My wife heads it up. Did I ever tell you she possesses precognitive abilities?”
Alex hid a smirk. He could kiss his friend right about now.
Murphy shook his head. “No.” He cleared his throat. “Uh, no, you didn’t. That’s…fascinating.”
Alex glanced over at Garrett, who appeared to be having just as much trouble holding back his own grin. Damn, it was nice to see Murphy in the hot seat for a change.
“Every day, Phoenix is learning more and more about how we can use these gifts such as Eden’s to help in situations like this. In fact, each of my partners’ wives are gifted with various psychic abilities. In fact, they’ve all been instrumental in helping solve cases for us, as well as saving lives. So, I urge you, Sergeant, to take whatever Miss Westfield tells you very seriously. Especially if you want to stop this man before he kills again.”
Chagrined, Murphy looked over at Eden and nodded. “Please continue.”
With a grateful glance in Dan’s direction, Eden went on. “As I was saying, I believe our killer is psychic, though I have no idea what his specific gift is. His sister, Mary Grace, was also gifted.”
“Was?” Murphy asked, sounding genuinely curious now.
Eden nodded. “Her father beat her for using her powers. Accused her of being ‘ungodly’ and going against the Bible. He…” She swallowed hard. “He’d whip her across the back with a leather belt.”
“Jesus,” Garrett exclaimed under his breath. “What an asshole.” Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
“The vision I saw showed Mary Grace being beaten, and then her father left her alone in the barn with Josiah.”
“The bastard killed his own sister?” Murphy assumed angrily.
“No.” Eden shook her head. “She killed herself. Sliced her wrist with some sort of sharp blade that was within her reach. Josiah begged her not to, but she told him it was the only way she’d ever truly be free.”
“That’s why he’s killing these women.” Alex looked at his boss. “He thinks he’s helping them.”
Eden agreed. “He somehow knows about their powers.”
“He must also be able to pick up on their feelings of not belonging,” Garrett added somberly.
“With the exception of Chloe Howard.”
They all looked to Murphy, who shrugged.
“She wasn’t lonely. Hell, she was involved in all sorts of social groups in college.”
“Josiah had to have picked up on something.” Dan looked at the other man. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen her.”
“Unless she was like Josiah.”
Everyone’s focus turned to Eden. Intelligent, golden eyes scanned across the others before landing back on Alex.
“In my vision he told his sister he never let anyone else see him using his power.” She looked up at Dan. “I think you’re right. Whatever psychic ability Josiah possesses allows him to either read minds or sense emotions. Something that showed him all the victims, including Chloe Howard, felt as if they were somehow less than. Not normal. In his twisted mind, he felt as though he could help them by setting them free.”
Murphy stood and walked over to the board. “Question now is how did he find these women? They were all from different areas in the city. Their jobs weren’t connected, and they didn’t run in the same social circle.”
“Could be one of several possible circumstances,” Dan chimed in. “He could be like Eden and just happened to bump into them on the street.”
Eden nodded. “Or, he could be a telepath and somehow tapped into their psyche.”
“What, like a mind reader?” Garrett asked.
“Exactly.” She stood and joined Murphy at the board. Studying the pictures again, she thought back to what she’d felt and seen when she’d touched the items belonging to each one. “My best guess is he’s out there, purposely searching for his victims, but how he finds them is simply by happenstance. He sees them in all sorts of places. On the sidewalk or at the library. The grocery store, or”—
“On T.V.” Murphy mumbled almost to himself. Staring at Chloe Howard’s picture, he turned to Dan, he asked, “If The Liberator is a telepath, could he read minds through the T.V.?”
