The Renfield Syndrome by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 37

Police did not arrive until several days later when the woman failed to show up to work. Having been notified, the principal sent someone out to her house, but being unable to enter, they called 911. Soon, an army of emergency personnel flooded the property, and using a battering ram, the fire department finally gained access. Searching the house, the teacher’s body was soon discovered. The Johnstown-Gloversville area had never seen such brutality. Local authorities hoped to have seen the last of it after the mutilated body of the young high school girl was found in the woods. Clearly their assessment was that a single killer might be responsible. However, the details of this case would be kept away from the media in order that the killer would not be scared off. If their suspect was living somewhere in Fulton County, investigators wanted to keep it that way. According to statistics, sixty percent of all murders go unsolved. If the person responsible for these crimes managed to slip away, the odds of apprehending them would be far less than if they were contained by a media blackout.

Two days later the autopsy report had been made available, but only to the authorities. The details were seen as being so gruesome that it was felt the public would never be able to cope with it, and a general paranoia might well sweep through the area. Any violent reaction from the public could be just as dangerous as the crime that gave birth to it. For now, the goriest details of the murder were sealed per court order with the exception of what information authorities needed to continue their investigation. However, it was felt by the media that the public had the right to know, so a general outline was pieced together and broadcast over both television news and the internet. People were being asked to maintain a watchful eye and to report anything suspicious to the police. And yes, there were many calls for anything from a dog barking to a branch tapping against a window brought to life by a gust of wind.

Meanwhile, Caspian sat in the living room with Reuben and Dorothy watching a sitcom when the news broke in with an urgent broadcast on another horrific murder committed in the Fulton County area. The estimated time of death was roughly the same time as when Caspian had gone for ‘his long walk.’ Reuben had now become suspicious that he had somehow become involved in both murders. He had been out on both nights, and given his psychosis, Reuben worried that he might be off his meds again. But he wondered if Caspian was truly capable of such actions. Or perhaps he had become blinded by the ‘father and son’ bond that had developed between them. But what if he was wrong? There was only one way to find out. He would have to find a way to get inside his head, and there was only one way to do that.

The next day while Caspian was in school, Reuben took the opportunity to search his bedroom. Initially, there wasn’t much to find, but under the mattress of his bed, he found DVDs of old vampire movies and several others titled ‘Faces of Death.’ Turning on Caspian’s TV and DVD player, he inserted a disc from one of the series and, playing it, discovered the horrific scenes Caspian had been watching— beheadings, executions, and eviscerations. Reuben was horrified, and seeing what was obviously going on in Caspian’s mind, he tried to think about how to proceed. However, if there was a chance of setting him off, it might be a better idea to schedule an appointment with his psychiatrist and discuss the matter in a controlled setting. But he needed to be sure to replace everything he found to its exact place in order to avoid being suspected of searching his room.