Gary held the picture of Sandra Whiley in one hand and her Crusader's Cross in the other. He was leery of holding the dead girl's jewelry, but Downes assured him the object would heighten the psychic forces.
'Okay, Gary, close your eyes and relax like you did before.'
Downes waited in silence as Gary tilted his head back.
After a moment, his head sagged sideways until his cheek almost touched his shoulder. Gary's head was swimming. Fatigue loosened his grip on the Crusader's Cross and the chain slipped out of his hand and dangled just off the floor.
Can you feel the cross in your hand?' Downes asked.
'Uh huh.'
'Good. Gary, I'm going to teach you a trick you can do with that cross because of your special powers. It's a trick us ordinary folks can't do and it's called 'projection transfer.' That's Sandy's cross. She was wearing it when she was killed. I want you to project your supernatural mind into that cross and tell me what Sandy saw and what the killer saw. Let yourself go.'
Gary let his mind run loose but the picture on the screen was scrambled.
'Do you see Sandy?' Downes asked.
'I'm starting to see them more along. You know, after I walked by,' Gary said in a voice so heavy with fatigue that his words were slurred. 'She ... she's ... He's holding her.'
'All right,' Downes said, suddenly excited. 'This is what we want.'
'He's hanging on to her.'
'Like she's trying to get away?'
'Yeah. It seems like she slapped him.'
'Sandy fought back?'
'Uh huh. And then ...'
'Yes, Gary. Concentrate. Use your powers.'
'His right hand. It's like it was going down.'
'Dropping or ... ?'
'Like he was hitting her.'
'This is what we want. This is it, Gary. Now, we know he grabbed her and pulled her back and she whipped around. That's what you saw as you passed by.
Then she hit him and he hits her with his right hand.
Now I want you to look for one more thing. At this point, the unknown man is hitting her. It had to be with something. Something in his right hand.
What is he using? It's very important. I want you to look at his right hand through Sandy's eyes and tell me what you see.'
Gary concentrated as hard as he could. What would it be? Then he remembered what the two women said at the wedding about the girl's face being chopped up.
What was it they said the killer used?
'I'm trying, but I can't picture it.'
'If anyone can, you can, Gary. You have a power that no one else has. You are the man with the power.'
Gary opened his eyes. 'It's almost there, but.. .' Downes thought about the location of the head wounds. He stood up.
'Picture it, Gary,' he said, unconsciously moving his right hand up and down. 'Tell me what's in his hand.'
Gary closed his eyes and recalled the autopsy photograph that Bob Patrick had shown him, just before he used the black light. Then, he remembered what the lady at the wedding had said.
'It's shiny,' he said suddenly.
'Huh?'
'It's metal shiny.'
'Like a ... like what? Shiny like a knife blade?'
'Yeah, shiny.'
'You've got knives, Gary. Is it like a knife you own?'
'Not a knife.'
'Not a knife?'
'He chopped her up. Chopped her with a .. . a hatchet.'
Downes's heart leaped. 'What kind of hatchet?'
'I can't see the blade, but it seems like a hatchet.'
There was a drawer in the long interrogation table. In it were pens, paper and a ruler. Downes took the picture of Sandy from Gary's right hand and replaced it with the ruler.
'Take hold of this ruler.'
Gary did as he was told.
'Gary, you are unbelievable. I've never seen anyone with your powers. Now, to me, this is a ruler, but with your supernatural mind, you can use 'projection transfer' to transfer this ruler to the hatchet. Do you have it?
Can you feel the shiny, silver hatchet?'
Gary nodded.
'All right. Here's where you do your thing. I'm gonna stand and so are you. I'm gonna be Sandy, so I'll squat down some, and you're gonna let that hatchet lead you to strike like the killer did, so we can see how Sandy was killed.
'Okay, stand up and keep your eyes closed. I'm right in front of you. Only now I'm Sandy. Are you read y?
Gary nodded.
'Let it flow, Gary. First hit. Where was it?'
Gary brought his arm up sluggishly. 'Top of the head,' he said, as his arm slowly descended.
'This is great. Then what?'
Gary saw It all. His arm swung sideways.
'Another to the right side,' he said. 'And another.'
Blood was spraying from Sandy's face as the blade sliced into it. Gary's arm rose and fell. Her face was breaking up as she fell back, flying away like shards from a fractured mirror. Gary stopped.
'What's the matter?' Downes asked.
'I don't like her face like this.'
'What do you mean?'
'The blood.'
'You can see her face chopped up?'
I I I 'Yes.
'Where is the killer, Gary?'
'Over her.'
'Can you see his face?'
'No.'
'Try hard, Gary.'
'I can't see it.'
'Okay, guy. You're doing fantastic. Hang in there.
I've never met anyone with powers like yours. So, let's use those powers. Let them flow through Sandy's medallion. Let God help you see that hatchet. Can you see It?'
'Yes.'
'Okay. The killer took the hatchet away. Where is it now?'
'He ... he threw it away.'
'Where, Gary?'
'He threw it 'cause of the blood. He didn't want to see all that blood.'
'But where did he throw it? Help us find it. Project yourself into that hatchet.'
