I'll Help You Hide From Them

Safe House

After a while, I'm taken to a safe house. Kier gets given a lift by a designated driver to bring him directly here without being followed. I use the time it takes him to arrive to try and work through the strangulation case. Dr. Illingworth instantly works out that I'm having problems actually trying to concentrate on it.

"You shouldn't force yourself to come up with a solution on the case." He tells me.

"But a killer is getting away with this and could be leaving the country right now." I reply, irritated that I can barely even do my job at this rate.

"Don't stress about it. You've got a team of people also working on it. Don't think that it's only up to you to catch this killer." He points out.

"The team is Kier, Ryan and me. With me in security detail and Kier as my bodyguard it's only Ryan working on the case. He can't find a killer alone!" I argue. "Not when he's also the medical examiner for the whole department as well."

"The case can be reassigned until you're fit to work again. The killer will be brought to justice." He replies.

"I'm nothing without this job." I admit. "If I'm let go or fired, I don't know what I'd do with myself."

"You'll manage, but there's no sign that you'll be let go or fired. The department need you too much for that." He tells me gently.

"Yeah right." I mutter, taking a moment to think it through. "What if I can't work anymore? I'd be a dead weight for the department and I don't know if I can look at a dead body objectively ever again." I check.

"We can work on those issues together. I'm sure that you can make it through so soon enough all this still be just behind you." Dr. Illingworth points out.

"What is being done about Shane?" I ask him darkly.

"Everyone on the force is tracking him down but he's somehow able to evade them every move they make." He explains.

"I did a check on him, not only does he have an unusually high IQ but he's very good with technology. He's probably hacked into their information so he knows exactly where and when they're planning on taking him down. It's probably that and the fact that he's gotten back in contact with the shooter." I figure out.

"Wouldn't the fact that he was arrested in the first place be a betrayal in Shane's eyes? He can't carry on with what he's been doing since the police now know of his cannibal nature." He simply states.

"That could be the case but he must have a lot of respect and trust for the shooter to be taking orders from him in the first place." I recall. "Even when the shooter made impractical requests he would follow them almost blindly. I still don't quite know what the shooter did to have gained that loyalty in the first place but the key to finding the shooter is finding out how they know each other." I figure out.

"That sounds difficult and vague. There could be a number of different ways they could know each other. They could share a bus to work or go to the same café. There's almost no way to find that connection." He points out.

"It's going to be tough." I sigh. "If I can't even work on the strangling case, I won't have a chance in finding Shane or the shooter." I figure out.

"It could just be a question of motivations. You want to find Shane and the shooter so you can sleep at night but this strangling case has no personal connection to you at all." Dr. Illingworth plainly states.

"I'm almost offended at the thought but you might be right. I need to be at least kept in the loop on that case. It's the only way for me to be able to get some sleep at night." I agree.

"I'll pass on the message that I'd recommend it in the hopes that it will make your Captain put you back on the case but I know that we'll both respect his decision if he continues to keep you away from Shane and the shooter." Dr. Illingworth calmly explains.

"Thank you Dr. Illingworth, I really appreciate it." I smile at him.