The God Experiment

Chapter No.61. BTK.

Chapter No.61. BTK.

The summer was over, and James and Sylvia were ready to go back to high school. Janet was preparing to go back to her job as a credit union manager after an extended vacation.

"You don't have to ride on your Vespa to school," Robert told his son. "I put a car in the garage for you to use."

James's smile temporarily grew large before settling to a subtle smirk. "Cool!"

"I figured that you and Sylvia would be going together to school."

"Of course," he replied before he and Sylvia went off to the garage.

"Janet was ready to go to work. "So, what are you up to today?"

"I think I'll spend some time on the basement. I'd like to create a game room down there."

She offered him a smile. "Have fun."

After he was alone, Robert went to the basement and began a careful remodeling of the main part of the basement. He replaced the old stone walls with cement blocks and the floor with terrazzo tile. His next step was to begin a complete changeover of the electrical and plumbing, all of it by simply waving his hand.

He heard the landline phone ring and teleported to the kitchen to answer it. The call ID showed that it was the FBI.

"I see that you've moved," Mark said. "You're out in the Freemont area."

"Yeah, we decided that we want more privacy."

"We have a really difficult case on our table. We thought you might be interested because some of the crimes have been committed in the Freemont district."

"I would help you even it wasn't. I'll be there shortly."

He hung up and suddenly realized that he was still working in the basement. The incongruity of that situation surprised him.

He was greeted by Mark and Joe when he appeared in the FBI office.

"This is another serial killer case," Mark told him. "He's killing families, mostly women with children but no husband. To make matters worse he's binding them up and torturing them before killing them."

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Hmm, that sounds like the BTK killer."

"Yes, but in this case, he's not taunting the media," Mark said. "In some cases, we only find out about a crime when the local police discover it accidently."

"In other words, this is a lone wolf killer."

"Yes. He might not be a prominent member of society."

Suddenly, Robert was aware of his double at home answering the doorbell.

"I'm the septic tank inspector for the county," the man said. He was in his early fifties and had a nicely trimmed beard.

"It's over there next to that tree stump," Robert said, pointing to a large stump in the front yard.

"I don't see many men home at this hour."

Robert gave him a subtle grin. "My wife's the breadwinner. I was in a bad car accident and just recently recovered."

The man briefly smiled. "Okay, I get busy doing my job." He turned and walked over to the septic tank access.

"I think I might have found your killer. I just had a guy claiming to be a septic system inspector come to my door."

"When did this happen?" Mark asked.

"Right now."

"What do you mean?"

"One of my powers allows me to be in more than one place at a time."