Chapter 7: Victims

Chapter 7: Victims

“We don’t know. She isn’t speaking. The doctors described her condition as ‘catalepsy.’ Another said it was closer to ‘comatose.’ I’m not sure of the difference. They think she’ll come out of it eventually. Hopefully.”

His insides were turning cold. This was one of the worse case scenarios that plagued his research. His thoughts immediately turned to the possibility that the governing authorities would ban Ecstasy.

“And the other woman?” he asked.

“She was supposed to endure twenty-four hours also, but her husband returned from a business trip early and found her tied down to her bed and nearly hysterical from having orgasms all night. About eight hours.”

“And she’s not comatose?”

“No, but she’s pretty shaken up by the experience.”

“I can imagine.”

“I don’t think you can. You’re not a woman.”

Her delivery was flat. Well, maybe a hint of sarcasm. Did she blame him somehow for what happened to those women?

“So you have a serial rapist running around?”

“He did not perform any sex acts upon the woman. And, yes, we assume it was the same perpetrator in both cases. The women were tied down and given an injection of your drug. I was told that the level of Ecstasy in their bodies was many times a normal dosage. That apparently did not harm them, but it made the prolonged orgasms possible.”

“Ecstasy is available only in a pill form,” he protested.

“The lab said that it was possible that a number of the pills were concentrated into a liquid that could be injected. The perp apparently wanted to make sure that each woman received the full impact.”

“The original drug was a liquid. Most drugs are. It was made into pills for distribution and easier consumption,” he said.

“So they are correct? Anyone could purchase the pills over the counter and dissolve them to inject them?”

“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “It’s easy to do. But one pill taken orally is sufficient to satisfy any woman for a whole evening. Hell, even for a whole night. There’s no reason why anyone would want a higher concentration.”

“Unless he wanted to assure a maximum effect?”

Landon could only nod. Visions of the tons of money Ecstasy was making for him disappearing down a sinkhole of endless lawsuits filled his mind. After the product it had taken him five years to develop was banned, of course. And then, there was the fact that the scandal would ruin his career.

“Let me get this straight. Some guy kidnaps a woman, ties her down, injects her with concentrated Ecstasy and then leaves her alone with a vibrator tied to her?”

“A powerful, plug-in vibrator. No batteries to run down.”

“What I don’t understand is why this person didn’t fuck… I mean, perform intercourse. That’s the normal goal of a rapist.”

“Not always. Some men are unable to achieve the sex act and resort to doing it symbolically.”

“By forcing a woman into more orgasms than she can handle?”

“Maybe.”

Landon felt like pounding his desk with a fist. His company was already getting enough flack from religious groups who think that anything more than normal, missionary style screwing is against God’s will. There were enough fanatics out there who were screaming that Ecstasy was turning the act of procreation into pure, lustful sin.

Taking a deep breath, he asked her, “So what do you want from me? I’m sure you came here with a reason.”

“I want you to help us catch this person,” she told him matter-of-factly.

“How am I supposed to do that? That’s your job.”

“I need to know more about this drug. I want to understand what the perp is trying to accomplish. Did he know that twenty-four hours of orgasms would make a woman comatose? Was he trying to harm her? Or was he doing something else in his mind? Maybe he thought he was doing her a big favor.”

“That sounds a little far fetched.”

“Maybe. But he went to a lot of trouble to do this, not to mention the danger of being caught and punished. Maybe, if I can figure out what he was thinking, I can anticipate what he might do next.”

For a minute neither spoke. He was trying to get his mind around this development and see what he could do to keep it from ruining him. The detective was trying to keep emotions out of her presentation. She really did want his help, but was unsure how she felt herself. There was, of course, her usual anger at the thought of a man forcing a woman into sexual acts. That had always bothered her. But this was something beyond that.

“The second woman, you said that she was talking? What did she say?” he asked.

“She said that she had just fallen asleep and woke up to find that her wrists had been locked in handcuffs and her leg was being tied down to her bed. She was threatened with a gun while the perp finished tying her down.”

“Did she describe him?”

“Just a figure dressed all in black and wearing a hood. Like a ski mask. There was only a night light on, so she didn’t get a good view of the man. And he never spoke.”

“I assume you looked for fingerprints and such.”

“Of course. But he wore gloves, and the handcuffs he left behind were totally clean. A standard pair of Chinese handcuffs anyone can buy on-line or in stores. No way to trace them.”

“Any witnesses?”

“An isolated house in a rural area. Look, I know my job. If he had left any clue, we would have found it. Or CSI.”

“I’m not sure I can help you,” he finally confessed. “But I am worried about what this will do when it becomes public knowledge.”

“So are we. So far, we’ve kept it out of the press. If it hits the evening news, it will cause a lot of problems for us.”

“And for me.” He was on his feet now, pacing back and forth behind his desk. “Okay, so right now, no one knows about this. How long will that last?”

“Until he strikes again. We can’t keep it under wraps forever. If he goes on doing this, word will get out eventually.”

“Christ! I don’t suppose there’s any chance he might not do it again? Maybe he’s accomplished what he set out to do.”

“Unlikely. Serial killers and rapists repeat their acts. That’s the way it goes.”

The two of them stared at each other for a long time, unaware that the perp had already made plans to strike again.