The Beautiful and the Faultless | Cami O'Connell

Chapter 19

Lucien was an interesting person.

Of course, 'interesting' didn't exactly mean 'nice' or 'likable.'

Cami had taken notes from the DSM-5 as well as a textbook called 'Serial Killers and Signatures,' constructing a psychological profile that had notes about the different things the victims had done to them, as well as ideas that it could have something to do with 'malignant narcissism.'

"Look at this," said Ingrid, who'd been doing an internet search on Lucien. "There are a whole bunch of articles about him. This headline reads, 'Lucien Castle donates eighty-five million dollars to clean-up project in Bayou Lafourche region.' And the beginning text of the article says, 'The noted philanthropist Lucien Castle donated a healthy sum to a refurbishment project...' It trails off there. Hayley mentioned there have been a lot of poachers. What if he's the one sending them?"

"Click on that video," urged Cami, pointing at the one beside the article. "That looks like he's at some sort of press conference."

Sure enough, that was the case, and he was listed as being the CEO of a company called 'Kingsmaker Land Development Inc.'

Ingrid pressed play, and immediately, Lucien began to speak. "Listen to the advice of your superiors, then do better!" he urged the audience. "Study the weaknesses of those who outrank you and eliminate them from your own experience. Authority is meant to be challenged! Great achievers refuse to stand in shadows."

Cami paused the video. "Definitely seems to fit the criteria for 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder.'"

Ingrid's phone began to ring before she could answer. "It's Davina," she said. "I need to take this, but I'll be right back."

She walked off to the side to answer. "Hey. What did you end up doing?"

"You were right," she said. "There is a rulebook, Kol found it. And it says anyone who makes an attempt on the Regent's life can be shunned. So, I did it. I called a meeting, shunned her. The witches didn't want to do it, but I showed them the book. Listed that it had been signed centuries ago by the witches who formed the Nine Coven system. It even had Josephine's signature on it from a revision done a decade ago when they were reviewing rules. So the witch was shunned."

Ingrid detected some disappointment in her voice. "Yet you don't sound satisfied."

"I'm not. Her son, another witch... he's furious. Apparently this is going to bring their family business to ruin and..."

"Hey, that's not your fault. If I were you, I'd talk to Marcel, see what can be done about that. But you did nothing wrong in following the rules. Had you reacted differently, things would have gone worse for that family. You did the right thing, Davina. She shouldn't have attacked you."

"Thanks, Ingrid," said Davina, sounding slightly more relieved now. "I'll talk to you later, I'm going to sleep now."

"Alright," she said. "Goodnight, Davina." She hung up, and walked back to Cami. "What's the next step?"

"I think we should go tell Klaus," said Cami. "He's the only one strong enough to do anything about Lucien."

Ingrid nodded. "Let's get going, then. Hopefully he's back from wherever he went with Lucien, earlier."

Thankfully, Klaus was home.

"Now what?" he asked, obviously stressed. He glanced at his cousin. "Your cat has already been howling like a demon in your room."

"Because you always taunt her," said Ingrid sourly. "Talk to her from the other side of the house as if you're going to let her out."

In the meantime, Cami had pulled out her laptop, bringing up the photos of the victims so far. "Call it a hunch," she said, drawing the attention to her, "but Ingrid and I think your friend Lucien is torturing and killing humans in the Quarter. There have been two victims so far, but I've constructed a psychological profile of the killer, and I don't think it's going to end there."