11. I already missed the little bird and his comforting presence.

ELEVEN

I already missed the little bird and his comforting presence.

Friday, May 4, 2057

Lower North Lakes, Precinct 153

Cauldron City, Nebraska.

Chaos greeted me at the station. One of the dog handlers claimed Miranda and Pumpkin before we managed to escape the parking garage, all the warning I needed that I was about to step into a living nightmare. I’d insisted Marrinni stay home with his ladies, promising I could handle everything at the station.

I already missed the little bird and his comforting presence.

That every spot had a vehicle in it warned me everyone had come in, putting in extra hours due to the attack in New York City. At the sight of a crowd at the elevator, I decided to avoid the risk of getting stuck and took the stairs.

On the third floor, bodies crammed into the cubicle farm, and most watched one of the televisions mounted near the ceiling, following news coverage of the poisoning. Rather than join them, I headed straight for Captain Farthan’s office. He stood in his doorway chatting with Grimstone, who reminded me a lot of his grandfather when truly angry.

Given even a single provocation, the young black dragon would be joining Paul in having a reputation for causing significant amounts of property damage.

“It seems there’s a lot of overtime going on,” I commented, and I patted Grimstone’s shoulder, hoping it would remind my fellow detective he needed to control his temper. “What’s the biggest fire I need to deal with this morning?”

“The death count is climbing, and there were several attempted kidnapping attempts from women’s shelters. Two children were taken, but the NYPD managed to recover them. As far as we know, the cases are connected.”

Was nothing sacred to Dr. Lerrans and his gang of terrorists? Every time I thought the man couldn’t become more despicable, he proved me wrong. “Have they finished the DNA testing yet?”

“The report should be in your office. I haven’t looked at it, so I don’t know what the result is. I’ve been trying to get as much of our files together for the FBI as possible. A lot of the extra bodies in here are going to be going over all our physical records from related cases and making a second digital database. We aren’t trusting our records at this stage, not when Smithson got incomplete records during his first stab at this case.”

The white unicorn would join the black dragon in destroying something if the case worsened. At the rate things were going, I would be joining them. My magic could do a lot of damage in a hurry, but I only practiced destructive arts to make certain I didn’t lose control of my power if I did need to use it.

I would be making time to practice, as I worried that I would need to use every trick up my sleeve to stop Mercy. While I wished I could stop the twisted group before they struck again, I recognized they were ten steps ahead of us. We flailed, attempting to predict the future based on the broken pieces of the past.

“I’ll get to work on it. Was it your idea to send Miranda to work with the dogs?”

“It was mine,” Grimstone admitted, and he grimaced. “Your puppy needs to be trained, and the last thing Miranda needs this morning is to witness how ugly this case is getting. Hopefully, by this afternoon, we’ll be able to present the death toll as numbers. Everyone is infuriated.”

I could respect that. We tried to ease the cadets into the harsher realities of life as a cop. The poisonings went far beyond what we typically dealt with. Perhaps, with a little luck, everyone would be calmer by the end of our shift, allowing us to approach the work with clear heads.

“That’s an understatement, Grimstone,” the opal dragon grumbled.

“All right. What’s the death toll at?”

“Sixteen hundred and rising. The current estimate is that there will be somewhere between two to three thousand deaths. There are people dying on the streets because the medical system in New York can’t handle this many incoming patients. The hospitals are all coded right now, and overflow is headed to nearby states, but most of the patients aren’t making it to be treated. There will be survivors, although there won’t be many.”

“Species breakdown?”

“So far, dragons, unicorns, and shapeshifters are proving to be the most resilient to the toxin, but only if treated. When the toxin is left untreated, there are no survivors. The media has caught on to the difference in death rates between mundane humans, magickers, shapeshifters, and other species. Worse, they’re likely doing Mercy’s work for them, giving a death and survival count by species.”

I clenched my teeth so I wouldn’t start cursing. If Dr. Lerrans was trying to find a way to test his poison, the media truly did do his work for him. However, if he wanted shapeshifters and other species to survive, there was some chance the poisonings would stop while he adjusted the formula. “Has anyone made any progress on making an antidote?”

“Not yet.”

Damn it. “No other locations were targeted?”

“So far, only homeless shelters were targeted.”

Bastards. “Anything else I need to know before I get to work?”

“I emailed you with the FBI contacts. Agent Kellar is waiting for your call. He’ll fill you in from the top.”

I nodded, bumped Grimstone’s elbow with mine, and went into my office. I unlocked my new computer, dug out Agent Kellar’s number, and put the call on my speakerphone before closing the door.

“Good morning, Detective Lovell,” a man answered. The roughness in his voice indicated he’d had a long night and a bad start to his morning .

Aware I’d be joining him in having a bad start to the morning, I sighed. “Morning. Shall we jump straight to the chase?”

“Sounds good. What do you know?”

“Dr. Lerrans and his band of assholes targeted homeless shelters using liquid sugar, and we’re looking at thousands of deaths before this is over.”

“That’s a good summary. We’ve figured out how the liquid sugar was contaminated. Any guesses?”

I considered the ways someone might poison liquid sugar being sent out to homeless shelters. “If I wanted to poison someone with something, and I only wanted a very specific population to be hit, I would use some magic to somehow neutralize the poison until I activated it, once again with magic, when at the location I wanted to have poisoned. I’d do it in such a way where the poison wouldn’t hurt anyone else ingesting it if it hadn’t been activated yet.”

“Could you work that sort of magic?”

I winced, well aware I could do such a working, and it wouldn’t be all that difficult. “If I had a sample of what I wanted to add to the target, and I had a chance to set it up, I could do it.”

“Any chance I can get a demonstration? We’ve been trying to figure it out, but we don’t have a lot of strong magickers. I’ve been told you’re quite skilled?”

One day, I would remember that secrets never lasted long when in a station full of people who earned their keep uncovering what others wanted to hide. “I’m skilled enough, I suppose. But yes, with some time and effort, I could do that sort of working.”

“How long would it take you to set it up? ”

I thumped onto my chair, already regretting my career choice. “It would depend on a lot of factors, but assuming I had the substance I wanted to use with me and a focal within the substance I’m contaminating, it would take about twenty minutes. For example, if I used a piece of clear crystal in the container as a focus, like a marble, in the container, I could teleport the second substance to the focus, thus contaminating everything within the container. This poison doesn’t take much to kill somebody, so it wouldn’t be a hard working. I would just need to account for the volume in the container, and as long as there was space within, it’d be simple enough.”

“So, it would take one person in the distribution center dropping some form of focal into the liquid sugar and a magicker of moderate skill to add the poison?”

“I honestly have no idea how much skill is required for that working. I never really paid much attention to the skill level required for a lot of my tricks.”

For the most part, I told the truth. I was aware my skill with my magic surpassed most I knew, but I had never felt a need to compare myself to others. I could do what I could do, and I had no desire to validate myself based on the accomplishments of someone else.

“I’ll call around and see what I can find. Can you do an experiment or two to see how viable the method is? Use food coloring instead of poison, though.”

Food coloring would confirm the theory well. “Can you send me a list of the supplies they likely used for the poisoning? Ideally, I’ll use the same type of container to see how my magic reacts with it. Also, we have samples of the poison here, so I can do a live run of it to see if it works. ”

“We have some of the bags in evidence. I’ll get them to check for any objects inside the bags along with the brand and type so we can test the theory.”

“Has it been confirmed that Dr. Lerrans was in New York?”

“It’s either him or a lookalike,” Special Agent Kellar replied.

“How did he get to New York?”

“He took the train. We have closed off his ability to get around the United States any other way than air by a dragon or another winged sentient, magic, or car. All airports are on high alert, and we’ve implemented our anti-terrorism protocols. The same applies for all bus and train stations. He might be able to board a bus, but the instant the bus reaches a station, he’d be busted. We’ve also developed a way of detecting the toxin contaminating goods, and it’s relatively easy. Anyone with basic magicker skills can do it.”

I straightened in my seat at that news. “Already?”

“Our magickers started working on it as soon as word hit the wire about the attacks.”

While the FBI and local police forces clashed, I appreciated their ability to get things done in a hurry when something went wrong. “Got someone who can teach me that trick?”

“I’ll have an email shot your way with instructions on how to do the working. You should have no trouble with it. You don’t even need a sample of the poison to detect it. Magicker tricks are over my head. I can barely light a candle on most days of the week, but I was able to get this to work. The poison has a highly magical component, and something about that makes it easy to expose. ”

Magic called to magic, and when dealing with a substance made of a mix of science and magic, I could understand how a basic working could expose its presence. If anyone could learn the trick of detecting the toxin, lives would be saved.

Having to check everything would change society overnight, and not in good ways, but lives would be saved. As soon as I figured out how to do the working, I would teach everyone in the station.

It would be a good start.

“All right. I’ll keep an eye out for your email. Anything else critical I need to know before I start trying to figure this out from the beginning?”

“Yes. It’s about the autopsy report we sent your way.”

“I haven’t had a chance to review it yet.”

“That’s all right. I expected as much. We had a magicker go over the bones to confirm some things we suspected after the basic DNA test was done. It’s bad.”

“Dr. Lerrans raped his daughter?” I guessed.

“We believe she was his granddaughter. We have no idea who the girl’s mother is.” Special Agent Kellan hesitated. “Or was. We’re having DNA tests done of all women associated with this case.”

I could make one solid guess about the situation, and if it proved to be correct, I would do more than merely join forces with Roger to see the bastard fall. I would do what I could to make certain the serial killer was treated decently until his dying breath. “If you haven’t, please bump the girlfriend from Rhode Island to the top of the list.”

“We suspect she was his daughter, yes. Which would possibly make the living girl his daughter in addition to being a potential target. Roger was quite helpful with making sure we knew which body was hers. We are going to try to get the girl DNA tested, but we’re having trouble explaining why we want some of her blood. We won’t do the test without her consent. I am hopeful we’ll be able to start her DNA test by this afternoon.”

In some ways, I admired Roger’s determination to see another demon fall. “Is Roger going to be treated well when this blows over?”

“He will. He won’t ever be a free man, but he will be working with the FBI and other agencies for training purposes. We’ll essentially keep him in the equivalent of a safe house under guard while he helps us better train our agents and hunt other serial killers. He won’t go back to prison, and we’re hopeful we can keep him alive for a while rather than go down the route for doctor assisted suicide.”

I wondered how the families of Roger’s victims would react to the news. “And publicly?”

“We will get some backlash should it go to the media, but we’ve discussed the situation with the families. His cooperation with us means others might not have to suffer. We’re also considering something drastic.”

When FBI agents considered doing something drastic, it often meant somebody was going to die. “What are you considering?”

“Roger took a great many steps to protect the little girl we tracked down. She’s… damaged. She has health complications, which we discovered during her initial medical intake. However, she has a rapport with Roger because he ‘stopped the bad people’ for her. We’re considering trialing him having supervised custody of the girl. Once we can realistically ap proach Dr. Erik about her case, we might, but she is able to live a somewhat normal life when Roger is keeping an eye on her. She trusts him. We don’t know if her brain was damaged from abuse or if she was born this way. Currently, we have medical staff putting out as many of the physical fires as they can. In good news, her heart only needs a minor operation to be corrected, and it’s something they can do using mundane techniques. The unicorns we’ve brought in lack Dr. Erik’s skill when it comes to delicate organ restoration, and her heart problems are due to birth defects. While she understands being treated for health problems, she doesn’t understand DNA or why we want her blood. Roger is likely the only one who’ll be able to convince her to consent to the DNA test.”

I sighed, suspecting the FBI agent hoped for another miracle. “How is Roger handling the responsibility?”

“Better than we expected, honestly. It was something he said that made us consider this as a viable path.”

While Roger undeniably lacked empathy, the man was smart—and he understood a great deal about human nature. “Go on.”

“He suggested that if he had to pay penance for taking lives, even the lives of filth, would it not be ideal if he helped make certain an innocent was able to live a life free of filth? In his words, he is filth, but he knows the basic differences between right and wrong. He just doesn’t care about people. She doesn’t need him to be a moral compass. She needs him to provide food, shelter, and care. He thinks it is a better service of justice if he becomes the sort of father Dr. Lerrans could never be.”

The realization that Dr. Lerrans was likely the girl’s father and grandfather sank in. “What do you think the odds of the girlfriend being his daughter are?”

“A great deal higher than we like or are comfortable with,” the FBI agent admitted. “When even Roger, a hardened serial killer with zero regard for life, is horrified about the circumstances, it’s an issue. But I’ll also confess something: of us all, Roger has been handling the situation with the most grace and compassion. We’re struggling to see beyond the circumstances of the girl’s birth. He only sees the girl.”

“And his sight?”

The FBI agent’s sigh worried me. “He thinks of her as a bright star in the sky. She’s innocent. She simply doesn’t comprehend how to be evil, do evil, or even recognize evil. That’s why we’re struggling to get the DNA test consent. We don’t want to do any harm, and we’re having trouble explaining these concepts to her. Hell, Lovell, we aren’t even sure we want to. In his words, Roger began killing because of the darkness, and she is anything but. That’s yet another reason we’re considering this path.”

It occurred to me that perhaps there was legitimacy to the idea.

Death was the easiest of escapes, a true dodging of responsibility.

Roger would spend the rest of his days caring for someone who might never learn how to be independent. He would spend every minute of what remained of his life dedicated to her. There would be watchers always around, making certain he walked the straight and narrow.

While I would never be able to determine if justice would be served or redemption reached, I could see the value of him flipping the coin and taking on the role of a protector rather than a killer.

“A penny for your thoughts, Detective Lovell?”

“If he began killing because of the darkness, then raising Dr. Lerrans’s daughter as his own would be the ultimate form of revenge. He takes away the darkness from someone and protects that light.” I allowed myself to release my initial resentment and hesitation on an exhaled breath. “And if he’s working with the FBI to help shut down other serial killers, he will ultimately do a great deal of good. His death won’t serve anyone at all. But what of the family of his victims?”

“We have decided that if the family of his victims dislikes the course of action we are taking, they are more than welcome to fill his shoes. The requirements would be the same. They would have to accept constant monitoring in the form of on-duty agents, they would have to account for every last decision they make in regards to the girl, and they would have to sacrifice their full lives to make certain she has the care she needs. Our method provides food, shelter, and all other needs to both of them, Roger is kept from striking again, and he gets the vengeance he seeks and we owe him in a way that will bring Dr. Lerrans out. And should he make an appearance, he will find that nobody will have mercy on his soul, especially Roger.”

Roger might get one last kill, and if he did, it would be in defense of another, an innocent who would never be able to cope with nor understand the circumstances of her birth.

Hell, I struggled to cope with the situation.

“Let me know what the DNA test comes back with, but I’m going to operate under the assumption that the girlfriend Roger murdered is, in actuality, Dr. Lerrans’s daughter. That gives me a new route of investigation: finding her mother.”

“We’re tossing around the idea that the mother is the heart recipient.”

I shook my head, realized the man couldn’t see me, and struggled with my desire to start cursing. “How old would Dr. Lerrans’s daughter be had she not been killed?”

“She would be in her late thirties,” he replied.

That matched the age of the murdered criminals. However, it did not match one key factor: gender. While there were variances in gender, perceived gender, and a whole slew of medical opinions on the entire concept of gender, men like Dr. Lerrans tended to view the world in black and white, thus believing there were only two possibilities available, being male or female. If he had a child in need of a donor, and he had the ability to pick and choose victims based on blood type and gender, he would go for the best match in search of the perfect organ.

I could only hope the FBI agent understood what I implied without having to get involved with a debate on the sliding scale of biologics within humanity and other species. “Considering how little regard Dr. Lerrans seems to have for his daughters, I am concerned that there might be a son, and he’s the one in need of a heart. Why don’t I give Dr. Erik a call? I can discuss the situation with him and get back to you. I can also broach the subject of brain damage to him.”

“That theory is a better one than what we’ve been kicking around, and it better matches with the data we do have. Good luck. Shoot me an email with what you learn, please.”

“Will do. If you need me, ping my cell. It’s usually with me. I’ll call you once I have more information. ”

We exchanged information, and after I had his contact added into my cell, I hung up, focused on my breathing to calm myself, and questioned everything I had thought I had learned about the case.

Once I could handle the task without my voice or hands trembling, I put my work phone on speaker, dialed Dr. Erik’s number, and headed for my new digital board, wondering what I might find when I began to dig.

“Hey, Lovell,” Dr. Erik answered. “What can I do for you? Your timing is good. I just got out of surgery, and I’m off for the next three hours.”

Excellent. “Mind coming down to the station for a chat? I have a lot of questions, and you might be the only one with answers.”

“Can I bring Gloria?”

“You might want to keep the filly home for this one. We’re going to be having a very difficult and ugly talk. Unless she’s ready to see the real darkness of the world, in which case, I hold no responsibility for the fallout.”

“It’s time she grew up and became a proper mare. I’ll bring her along with a box of tissues. And if it’s that bad, I’ll bring some decent coffee.”

“I have some of the good stuff here, and I’ll make us a pot. Bring your laptop and anything else you need for hunting this killer, because I think we’re going to be making some good progress today.”

“I’ll be there in thirty. I need to go get my laptop and my notes first.”

“Be careful, and I’ll see you soon.”

Friday, May 4, 2057

Lower North Lakes, Precinct 153

Cauldron City, Nebraska.

Dr. Erik perched on my desk while his daughter took over one of the chairs. Both had wet hair from showering, and I suspected they’d been in surgery together. “Wear a patient again?” I asked, raising a brow.

As promised, I’d made us coffee. I’d managed to take enough for us before scavengers had made off with the rest of the pot.

“We had a projectile vomiter who needed her appendix removed. It was a pain response.” Gloria grabbed a few strands of her hair and sighed. “I think I would have preferred blood this go around.”

“It’s a unique peril of the medical industry,” Dr. Erik informed me. “What has you wound up so badly? I have brought chill pills for anyone in need of them, and I’ll issue prescriptions as required. I couldn’t help but notice that the station is buzzing.”

“We heard about New York,” Gloria informed me, and her expression hardened. “We were up late talking the New Yorkers through treating the toxin.”

“Gloria, I’m sorry in advance. I tried to convince your father this was not a good idea, but he said it’s time for you to be a mare rather than a filly. Blame him for any emotional or mental scarring you endure today. ”

“Are you enduring any emotional or mental scarring?”

I nodded.

“Well, I guess it’s time to grow up. Hit us with the worst stuff first.”

“We have reason to suspect that Dr. Lerrans raped his own daughter.”

Dr. Erik’s expression turned rather stony and cold. “I see.”

“We also have reason to believe that he produced a child as a result.”

For a moment, I thought both black unicorns would lose their temper, but they stared at me, their faces telling me everything I needed to know. The subject of our discussion would fall one way or another, and if the unicorns got a hold of him, they’d smash him into paste with their hooves.

After grumbling curses and crossing his arms over his chest, Dr. Erik asked, “Are all the victims deceased?”

I shook my head. “Remember the little girl Roger wanted to hide and protect?”

Their eyes widened.

Rather than wait for either one to say something, I went to the digital board, turned it on, and brought up the initial file on Dr. Lerrans. “Our current suspicion is that this little girl is both the daughter and granddaughter of Dr. Lerrans. She has significant health problems and suffers from mental impairment. At current, the FBI is strongly considering having Roger take over her care. The girl views Roger as a safe haven. He helped to protect her. It keeps Roger on the right side of the line while he helps the FBI catch other serial killers. However, the FBI needs more information on if she can be assisted. Right now, she will never be independent.”

Dr. Erik sighed. “With that level of incest, the probability of her being naturally that way is high. If that’s the case, there is no chance of changing her situation. The organ has no other imprint to work around. However, if there were old injuries due to physical abuse, as long as she’s below the age of twenty or so, I can likely reverse it. After the age of twenty, most organs lose their childhood regenerative abilities. Development has mostly been concluded, and the organs have settled.”

I went to my computer and checked my email, finding an entire dossier on the little girl. She was more of a teenager stuck in a child’s body, which only added to the tragedy of the situation. “Apparently, she’s roughly fifteen.”

“Have her brought to Cauldron City with Roger. I might not approve of Roger’s previous choices, but caring for someone who can never truly grow up or be independent is more than punishment enough. He will be sacrificing his every ambition to care for her, and if the FBI thinks they can protect her while he does the work, good. His death wins us nothing at this stage.”

“I’ll admit, the poetic justice of Roger raising Dr. Lerrans’s child appeals to me.”

Both black unicorns nodded, and Gloria got up to pace my office, stopping to stare at the digital board. “He’s the child of a neglectful red dragon? Hmm. Dad, reds aren’t usually neglectful, are they?”

“No. Reds do have good sight into someone’s nature, and if this bastard was born twisted, his father would have known. Back then, reds would abandon hatchlings with a dark nature. By abandon, I mean kill. They were nurtured to be unable to condone such things. If we were to find this red dragon and notify him of his son’s crimes, chances are, he’d take care of the problem for us.” Dr. Erik frowned, staring at the digital board along with his daughter. “If the red dragon couldn’t tolerate the thought of killing his offspring, then leaving makes sense. Dragon hatchlings often need to be taught how to be dragons, especially when one of the parents is something other than a dragon.”

I made a note of that tidbit in Dr. Lerrans’s file. “Let’s assume that this red dragon noticed his nature and abandoned him. There are plenty of people raised by a solitary parent who don’t end up serial killers. What sort of nature might this red dragon have noticed?”

“A complete lack of empathy. Like Roger,” Dr. Erik said, and he lowered his arms, hopped off my desk, and came over to join me, reading over the preliminary file. “I’ll ask around and see what I can dig up about their abilities. I only know the basics. Mostly, I care about helping red dragons control their sight rather than the nuances of their abilities. Some red dragons become overwhelmed and need help turning that ability off. We have mundane medical methods we can use to help limit the sight when the patient is a dragon, but it’s questionable. By questionable, I mean dangerous and permanent. We’ve seen situations where the sight has been completely blinded, the dragon’s magical abilities constrained, and so on. But if the sight is that bad, the consequences of the procedure are usually viewed as a relief. A dragon that has lost the ability to shapeshift is, to dragons, still one of them. If anything, they’re more treasured because they have suffered through tragedy. A living dragon is far better than one that has gone mad from the sight.”

I regarded the doctor with interest over the news there was a way to treat dragons with a damaging sight ability. “Do you think you could help Roger with his sight?”

Dr. Erik shook his head. “Not unless he happens to be a dragon or some other magical species. When it shows up in humans, it’s pretty bad. Humans usually lack the ability to turn it off, and our techniques simply don’t work on someone who is a standard human. It doesn’t work on magickers, either.”

“And that drives them mad?”

With a sigh and a nod, he stared at the digital board. “If this girl is as bright a light as Roger says, then she would be a huge relief to his sight. He’d see her, and he’d see hope and everything good in the world. Those with dark souls ultimately drive those with the sight to madness.”

With a start, I realized the black unicorn likely pitied Roger. “Do you think Roger might hurt her?”

“No. I’ve met more than a few people cursed with that sight. He would likely lay down his life, without hesitation, to protect that light. There are few people who actually are beacons of light. Society infects us all with greed and ambition. It takes a special person to maintain that sort of light.”

I understood—and because I understood, I worried. “Roger really likes Jace.”

“I doubt Jace is a light in the dark quite the same way this girl is, but he’s probably a bright spirit. He has no greed. He has no reason to be greedy. He lives to help people. He became a cop to serve and protect. Roger likely noticed he has little darkness to him. Don’t get me wrong—he has his moments of darkness. He has a mean streak ten miles wide, especially when it comes to certain issues. I wasn’t joking about his tendency to hospitalize people if they overstep his boundaries. That sort of thing keeps him from being a beacon. But compared to most of us? He’d be a light to Roger. Roger doesn’t understand people, but he does understand darkness versus light. That’s all his eyes know. Because of that, I’ll see what I can do to make certain that girl is able to thrive with him.”

That would simplify matters for me. I put my phone on speaker, dialed Special Agent Kellar’s number, and waited for him to answer.

“That didn’t take you long.”

“Dr. Erik and his daughter, Gloria, are in my office. You’re on speaker. I thought we’d continue our discussion from a little earlier if you have the time?”

“For you, I have time. What’s the discussion subject?”

“As we know, Roger has a sight ability,” I said, heading to the digital board to begin a file on the serial killer. “Dr. Erik suggested that a red dragon with a child with a darker spirit might abandon that child.”

“I can confirm that. I’ve asked more than a few reds about it. When Dr. Lerrans was born, they’d abolished their tradition of crushing eggs of those with dark spirits. Instead, the child would be abandoned without awakening their draconic heritage in an attempt to protect others from the child’s nature. As his mother was human, he was a live birth—and live birthed children were never disposed of. They were, and still are, considered to be the least threat when a dragon goes sour.” Special Agent Kellar huffed, puffed, and muttered curses. “We’ve been searching for his father, but we’ve had no luck yet.”

That didn’t surprise me in the slightest. “Dr. Erik would like you to bring the girl and Roger to Cauldron City so he can handle her treatments.”

“I’ll ask around and see what we can do. With Dr. Lerrans hunting elsewhere, moving shop to Cauldron City isn’t a bad idea. If we bring a whole task force, I think we can keep them both safe. It’ll be a few days.”

“A few days won’t matter in the grand scheme of things. It’ll also give me a chance to look into various therapies available for those suffering from genetic mutations and faulty genes. Try telling the girl that a doctor wants to look at her blood to see about the best treatment plans to help her feel better. That’ll let me run the DNA test and get a confirmation of the situation.”

“I can do that. All we need is a yes or no in regards to Dr. Lerrans’s status as her father, grandfather, or both.”

“As I’ll need the DNA test results to see if we can do any gene therapy for her and screen for other issues, that might be the way we get consent without alarming or hurting her.” Dr. Erik narrowed his eyes and regarded my digital board as though it might bite him. “What is her mental age?”

“Two or three. On a good day, she acts like she’s four or five. She has some ability to comprehend what’s going on around her, but her learning capacity is limited, her vocabulary is poor, and her ability to have conversations is limited. She is verbal, though.”

“How does she typically interact with Roger?”

“He works on puzzles with her a lot. They will sort the pieces by color, because she loves colors and enjoys putting the same shades together. Then they will look for pieces that might fit. Roger has no real care about finishing the puzzle, and the ones with more pieces keep her the happiest the longest. Yesterday, they spent twelve hours working on a thousand piece puzzle.”

“How far did they get into it?”

“I’d estimate they found about fifty pieces.”

Dr. Erik sighed. “Roger was patient the entire time?”

“Patience is something he has and is willing to use, but the monitoring agents indicated he enjoyed the process and never displayed signs of impatience or irritation. She spent a lot of time babbling about the colors, and Roger managed to teach her a few words, all names of colors.”

“Encourage that, and get them a table with coloring apps and similar. If you can get them here today, once I’m done with my next surgery, I can start working with her. Does she have a name?”

“No, she doesn’t. We’re debating what to do about that. When Roger tracked her down, he just called her Girl, and that’s really all she knows.”

“She loves colors, so why not have Roger try to explain the concept of having a name to her and suggest she pick her favorite color as her name?” I suggested. “Then it will be something that brings her joy.”

Gloria smiled at me, came over, kissed my cheek, and gave me a hug. “You’re just the sweetest.”

“It’s a sound idea,” Dr. Erik said, and he relaxed enough to resume perching on my desk. “Please send me her medical file for review.”

“I can do that. Thank you, Dr. Erik.”

The black unicorn gave the FBI agent his cell number, and once the call ended, he got up, grabbed his briefcase, and herded his daughter to the door. “I’ll be back, Lovell. I want every piece of medical information we have on this case. No matter how inconsequential it may seem, if it has anything to do with the human body, I want it in my hands.”

I saluted the man. “Please tell Captain Farthan you are invading my investigation and get his approval. Frankly, I need all the help I can get at this stage.”

“You’re doing just fine. Are you going to need a chill pill prescription?”

“You know what? It might be a good idea, just in case.”

“I’ll check your medical record and prescribe one. When was the last time you had your blood pressure checked?”

“A month ago,” I replied.

“How was it?”

“A few points higher than you would find to be acceptable.” I winced at the confession, aware he’d get his hands on the number and take me out back if I tried to hide the truth.

“I’ll get the record and see about one that’ll help lower your blood pressure a bit. Gloria, make him an appointment. You have my permission to join forces with the other foals to drag him in for a full physical.”

“Sorry, Lovell.” Gloria waved before stepping out of my office. “It won’t be too bad, I promise.”

“Too bad implies it’s going to be bad.”

“Well, we are medical vampires out for the blood and wallets of our patients. You’ll survive, I promise.”