CHAPTER 14:.

If Doctor Rieth's earlier pauses were weighty, the one that now followed my spontaneous confession overloaded the scale. I instantly began to wonder if revealing that particular fact had been wise. Of course, the decision had to have been made subconsciously because it had never been my intention to take the conversation down this dark alley at all. But, here we were and there was no backing up. All I could do about it now was hope any damage I'd just done was manageable.

"So you lied," she finally said, her original reserved tone tightly coiled about her voice once again as anger replaced curiosity. "You aren't really working with the police, are you?"

"Yes and no," I replied.

"Tell me, Mister Gant...if that's really your name. Are you answering the questions in order, or simply objecting? Because those two words are mutually exclusive."

"That's really my name, and a little of both, I suppose," I told her. "Yes, I lied to you, sort of."

"Sort of? Either you lied or you...Oh, why am I even talking to you?! Good day!"

"No, no, wait!" I begged. "Please, just hear me out!"

"Why?" she spat. "So you can lie to me some more?"

"No. No more lies, just the truth from here on out. I promise."

"Forgive me, but just how will I know that you're really telling the truth? So far, you haven't exactly established a good track record on that point."

I puffed out my cheeks and exhaled heavily as I tried to think of a halfway reasonable response for the extremely reasonable query. Unfortunately, there wasn't one, so I simply said, "I guess you'll just have to trust me."

I'm fairly certain that if she hadn't been stunned by the brazen reply, she would have laughed and hung up. Luck, however, finally seemed to be throwing me a bone, so to speak, and the tactic apparently worked in my favor.

"That's asking a lot considering how this started, Mister Gant."

"I know, but I'm desperate and I need your help."

"Why me?"

"Like I said, from the research I've done, apparently you are one of the very few authorities on Voodoo, if not the only one, who believes collateral possession by Lwa is possible."

"That's because I've seen it happen."

"Then I came to the right person."

"Are you trying to flatter your way out of this? Because I hate con men."

"No, Doctor Rieth, you have no idea how serious I am about this. My wife is being charged with murders she didn't commit, and I intend to prove it."

Again the clicking semi-silence of the open line filled the earpiece. I wanted to continue pleading, but I'd played all the cards I had, which in reality amounted to a hand anyone else would have folded. The woman at the other end of the phone had no earthly reason to help me, and I knew that. What's more, I was fully aware that she knew it as well; so continuing to run off at the mouth wasn't going to do me a bit of good.

"Okay," she finally said. "You've got two minutes to convince me that I should keep listening to you. But I'm warning you, even if I don't just hang up on you in the middle of this, I'm going to check out your story."

"Sounds more than fair," I agreed. "And, thank you. First off, my apologies for the lie. I just wasn't sure if you'd talk to me otherwise. In reality, it wasn't a complete lie; it was more of a half-truth."

"Semantics."

"Yes. Well, the part about me being a consultant was absolutely true. I work with the local authorities as well as the FBI on cases where non-traditional religious artifacts and symbology are found or thought to be involved.

"When I told you I was working with the police, that's where it got a bit fuzzy because at the moment I'm not. However, I was up until a week ago. I was originally..."

"Wait a minute," she said, interrupting. "You're in Saint Louis, correct?"

"Yes."

She began repeating my name in a low voice, mumbling the syllables in repet.i.tion. "Rowan Gant...Rowan Gant...That's where I've heard of you. I knew it! I knew your name sounded familiar. You're that guy...you're the Witch..."

"I don't know about the Witch, but yes, I'm a Witch."

"No, I mean you're the one who caught that psycho a few years ago, aren't you? That crazy who was going around accusing people of being Witches and then killing them..." Her voice trailed off into a murmur once again. "What was his name? Something Parker...or maybe Palmer..."

"Eldon Porter," I volunteered, knowing all too well to whom she was referring. "And, actually, the police caught him. I was just...bait...more or less."

"I think someone forgot to tell that to the media because it was all over the national news."

"Yes, well you really shouldn't believe everything you see on TV."

"As a rule, I don't, but I seem to recall the FBI themselves crediting you with being instrumental in the capture."

Dredging up those events from my past wasn't going to help my mood by any stretch of the imagination. I had made some very heavy sacrifices to end Porter's spree-a b.l.o.o.d.y orgy that had seen the deaths of several innocent people, among them two of my friends and coven mates. I had far too pressing a matter at hand to wrap myself up in that pain yet again.

"No offense, Doctor Rieth, but those are some memories I really don't enjoy revisiting...besides, there's the issue with my wife and I would..."

"Oh, yes. Certainly. I understand completely. But, I have to admit that your credibility just got an enormous boost."

"Well, that's good to know," I returned. "I would have played that ace from the outset if I had known it was one."

"So, let me get this straight," she ventured. "Your wife has been arrested and charged with these murders, and if I'm following your line of questions to me, you believe she was being ridden by a Lwa when they were committed? And, furthermore, that the Lwa is the actual ent.i.ty responsible for the killing?"

"Close. I do think Felicity was being ridden, but I definitely don't believe she committed the crimes, while possessed or at any other time. It was someone else entirely."

"But, I get the feeling you still think the Lwa is directly responsible?"

"Yes."

"I don't want to burst your bubble, but since you did read my book you should have picked up on the fact that Lwa don't purposely cause harm. Granted, they certainly get used as an excuse by individuals who would like for you to believe...for lack of a better phrase, the 'devil' made them do it...but, that really isn't the case."

"I know that, but I have a strange feeling that this Lwa is different. I'm certain that it actually is somehow driving or directing what the killer is doing. And, that it temporarily possessed my wife, otherwise she wouldn't have exhibited the behavior she did. The way I see it, if this Lwa was riding someone who was actually willing, then the murders aren't a stretch at all."

"Well, even if you're correct, and some particularly malevolent spirit has been elevated to the status of a personal Lwa by a pract.i.tioner of Voodoo, that person must be insane. In any case, you're still in the same boat. There's no way you're going to convince anyone to put an ancestral spirit on trial, Mister Gant."

"That goes without saying. But, if I can figure out who this spirit is, maybe I can find the real killer. And, if I'm right and the Lwa is driving the individual to commit the crimes...well...I don't know. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there. But, the truth is, if she knows the nature of the Lwa, and she keeps inviting it in, then she's just as guilty."

"But, the police are convinced that it is your wife who is the culprit, yes?"

"I'm afraid so."

"If you don't mind my asking, why? Do they have some compelling reason to think such a thing?"

"They say they have evidence placing her at the two crime scenes here in Saint Louis, as well as the one in Myrtle Beach."

"That's not good. What about the one in New York?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The first I heard about New York was when you mentioned it earlier. However, the rumor is that they have seven other unsolved homicides throughout the United States with similar characteristics to these, so I suspect that is one of them."

"Seven?!"

"That's what I was told."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A few years, apparently. Since two-thousand three at least."

"And you were oblivious to it?"

"Of course I was," I returned sharply. "Why wouldn't I be? It wasn't Felicity doing it."

"Sorry, and I hate to say it, but, if the police have evidence..."

"Well, that's where it starts moving beyond simply adding two and two," I interrupted. "I don't think their evidence is legitimate."

"Why not? What is it?"

"Well..." I knew what her reaction was going to be, but I couldn't lie because if she found out, it would do nothing but destroy the re-establishment of trust I'd started to develop with her. "They say they have DNA linking her to the crimes."

"Remember when I asked about a 'compelling reason', Mister Gant? I'd say DNA evidence definitely qualifies as one of those."

"I realize that, but I have cause to believe it's bogus."

"You mean a lab error? Did they re-run it?"

"Three times, actually. But, my contention is that it was planted or purposely tampered with. Long story short, I have enemies who would like nothing better than to discredit me in any way possible. I sincerely believe that they wouldn't stop at framing my wife for murder in order to get to me, especially given that both of us are, or were, involved in the investigation. This is a perfect opportunity for something like that."

"You mean you have enemies within the police department?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"So you think it's a conspiracy? I'm sorry, but now you're sounding like a television show."

"Trust me, I know that. And, if it wasn't happening to me, I'm sure I would say the same thing. But, given some of the events that have taken place in my life over the past few years, it's actually nowhere near as crazy as it sounds. Besides, it's the only logical explanation I can imagine right now because I know for certain that my wife isn't a killer."

"How can you be so sure?"

"She's my wife, Doctor Rieth."

"No offense, Mister Gant, but I a.s.sume you are familiar with the BTK killer?"

Of course I was. How could I not be? The only way anyone could have remained oblivious to Dennis Rader, self-dubbed BTK for his threefold methodology of binding, torturing, and then killing his victims, would be if they had been living in a total information vacuum. The history of his brutal crimes, his eventual capture and remorseless courtroom confession had held the attention of the nation, off and on, for the better part of the year. But, I knew that his s.a.d.i.s.tic legacy wasn't her point. What she was driving at was the fact that in everyday life the man had been a pillar of the community, and that his unthinkable activities had been hidden from his family for nearly two decades.

"Since you mentioned it, let's not stop there, Doctor Rieth," I replied. "It's not at all uncommon for the families of serial offenders to be clueless about the secret life their loved one is leading. You can lump John Wayne Gacy and a whole host of others right in with Rader.

"But, the fact remains that I am not a typical spouse wallowing in denial and disbelief as statistics would lead you to believe. Felicity is innocent, and I'll do whatever it takes to prove it."

She paused thoughtfully, but this time the silence didn't have the same hollow feeling as before.

"I guess right about now you're having trouble finding anyone to believe you," she finally said.

"You have no idea," I answered. "There are a couple of people in our corner, but at the moment it's pretty lonely where I'm standing."

"Okay then, so your wife is innocent, and it's up to you to prove it. I suppose we should get back to the part about the Lwa..." she verbally returned us to the impetus for the conversation. "You mentioned that your wife exhibited odd behavior, and this is what leads you to believe she was being ridden. Tell me about it."

Doctor Rieth listened attentively while I relayed the story of Felicity's out-of-character actions, including her missing memories and a.s.sault on agent Mandalay as well as her violent tryst with the man she had picked up in the fetish club. It occurred to me as I went over the events for what seemed like the thousandth time, just exactly how insane it all really sounded. Of course, I had a.s.sumed from the beginning that it probably came off as ludicrous to outsiders unfamiliar with the true nature of the supernatural. But, as for me, I had been there. I had seen it first hand and knew what was happening. The problem was that, even given my own knowledge and experiences, the whole thing was now starting to sound ludicrous to me too.

When I reached the end of the tale, I simply stopped. I had to admit, given my own wavering faith in the story I'd just told, I was fully expecting to hear little more than silence followed by a dull click as the phone was hung up in my ear. However, what greeted me couldn't have been much further from that if it had tried.

"Just for my own edification, your wife doesn't suffer from D-I-D, does she?"

"D-I-D?"

"Dissociative Ident.i.ty Disorder. They used to call it Multiple Personality Disorder."

"No, she doesn't."

"Has she ever displayed odd changes in personality before this recent incident. Most especially childlike tendencies?"

"No," I said again. "No offense, Doctor, but I thought you were a sociologist who specialized in world religions, not a shrink."

"I am a sociologist, but as it happens I once had a teaching a.s.sistant with D-I-D, so I ended up learning quite a bit about it. I'm simply trying to cover all the possible explanations for your wife's behavior."

Her queries reminded me that Ben had used that very ailment as an excuse to defuse a situation with one of the local police departments when Felicity had first fallen under the influence of the Lwa. That was before we knew what was going on, and it had seemed like a reasonable course of action at the time. However, now I feared it was going to become ammunition for the other side even though it was entirely untrue.

"She's not a multiple."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," she prodded.

"I understand, and I agree, but I a.s.sure you we can rule it out," I told her.

"Well then, if we a.s.sume that she was truly being ridden, the way I see it is that there has to be some kind of latent connection between your wife and the Lwa. Or, maybe even her and the killer." Doctor Rieth's reply was immediate and succinct. In fact, she hadn't even paused before offering the a.n.a.lysis.

"So, you don't think this all sounds crazy?" I asked.

"Oh yes, it sounds crazy all right, but that's not the point," she answered. "Remember, many of the things I've written about in my book sound crazy to the uninitiated."