The Executioner

Sixty-Six

Both detectives listened to Mollie’s story in silence, but she didn’t tell them everything. She was careful not to mention her real name, anything about the beatings she received or any of the abuse and humiliation she was subjected to at the hands of her father. She was ashamed.

Hunter had been right. Having run away at the age of fourteen, Mollie had to mature faster than most.

She told them how the nightmares and visions had stopped once she’d left Pennsylvania, and how she thought she’d finally got rid of them. But a few days ago, inside Los Angeles Union Station, the visions came back.

‘What exactly did you see?’ Hunter kept his voice low and even.

She tensed and cupped her hands around her hot chocolate mug. ‘Unfortunately, I can’t control anything about these visions. The images are hazy and not always clear. Most of the time I see them as if I was watching a movie on a screen.’

‘Like a spectator?’ Hunter suggested.

‘Yes.’ A quick nod. ‘But that day inside Union Station was different.’

‘Different how?’

She breathed deeply and her gaze lowered. ‘I was part of it. I was the one attacking him.’ Her voice weakened.

‘You saw it in the first person?’ Garcia asked.

A subtle nod. ‘I was the killer.’

Garcia looked uneasy for a second.

‘Wait,’ Hunter interrupted. ‘Attacking him – who?’

Another deep breath. ‘A priest.’

Hunter kept a steady face, knowing that sudden emotional reactions, even facial expressions, could make this even harder for her.

‘We were inside some dark church, I don’t know where. The priest was just kneeling in front of me, crying.’ She had a sip of her hot drink and Hunter noticed her shaky hands. ‘I showed him something… a piece of paper, I think.’

‘A piece of paper?’ Garcia queried.

She nodded.

‘Could it have been a picture or maybe a drawing?’ Hunter asked.

‘It could have. I can’t be sure.’

Traffic was heating up. A car stalled on East First Street and a barrage of horns came alive. She waited for them to die down.

‘I never got to see it. I just showed it to the priest.’

Hunter noted something down in his black notebook. ‘What did you see next?’

She hesitated for a second, as if what she was about to say made no sense. ‘A dog’s head. I showed the priest a dog’s head, and it terrified him.’

‘Where did the head come from?’ Garcia this time.

‘I don’t know.’ She shook her head. ‘I just had it with me.’ Another quick hesitation. ‘Together with the sword I used to…’ Her voice trailed off.

Hunter allowed a few silent moments to go by before asking her if she remembered which hand held the sword.

‘The right one,’ she said with conviction.

‘Can you remember anything specific about the hand? Skin color? Were there any rings on the fingers? A watch?’

She thought about it for a second. ‘Black gloves.’

The wind had picked up as more dark clouds gathered in the sky. It was getting colder, but the girl didn’t seem to notice it.

‘Anything else you remember from your vision?’

She nodded as she stared straight into Hunter’s eyes. ‘The number three. I drew it onto the priest’s chest after I killed him.’

This time it wasn’t the cold wind that made Garcia shiver.

Hunter held her gaze. Up to now, all the information Mollie had given them could’ve been obtained from the papers. The story that the killer had showed his victim a piece of paper could’ve been made up. They had no way of confirming it. But not the numbering. There was no way she could’ve known about the numbering.

‘When you came to see us.’ Hunter broke the uncomfortable silence. ‘Just before I left the room, you said something to me, do you remember?’

He got no response.

‘You said, “He knew about the fire. He knew what scared her.” Do you remember saying that?’

‘Yes.’

‘What did you mean by that?’ Hunter pushed his empty coffee cup to one side and leaned forward.

‘At first I didn’t know. It was like I had no control. Those words simply shot out of my lips. But just a minute after you left I saw it. And this time it was even stronger than the previous one.’ Her voice wavered for a second.

‘What did you see?’

‘A woman tied to an armchair. She was as scared as the priest was, but she couldn’t scream.’

Garcia ran his hand over his mouth and chin as if stroking a goatee. ‘Was she gagged?’

‘No. Her lips had been-’ the girl shook her head, hardly believing her own words ‘-glued shut.’

‘Glued?’ Hunter asked surprised. ‘Like with crazy glue?’

She nodded. ‘Her face was also covered in something sticky, like some weird type of gel.’

She couldn’t have known that either. Hunter pulled the collar of his leather jacket tighter against his neck.

‘Did you see this as a first person again?’ Garcia pressed.

‘Yes.’ She looked away as if it were her fault.

Hunter wanted to explore the picture story further. ‘Did you show the woman a picture, like you did with the priest?’

‘Yes, but again I didn’t see what it was.’

‘You said this vision was stronger than the previous one, stronger how?’ Garcia asked.

Mollie took a moment and Hunter understood her hesitation. She hadn’t had a vision in almost four years. Now they’d come back. And in the form of the most hideous murders Hunter had ever seen.

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. ‘The visions I have are usually silent – images only, but not this one.’ She paused. ‘I said something to the woman.’

Hunter kept silent, allowing her to continue in her own time.

‘I said, Welcome to your fear, Mandy…’

Hunter’s heart raced.

‘… I know what scares you to death.’