“Phoebe, you gotta aim high, rise above the crowd if you don''t wanna get stepped on. Only then can


    you break free from all this…”


    Damian’s voice was like a curse, echoing in my ears nonstop.


    The guy was a lunatic, a true devil.


    No wonder I have this amnesia—there''s a good chance he''s behind it.


    “Is it possible... that with thebination of a car ident, hypnosis, medication, and other


    treatments, someone could forget certain memories and then have false ones imnted during


    hypnosis?” I asked quietly.


    Now I seriously suspect that my belief in Dexter as my decade-long love was all a result of


    Damian''s maniption. He took advantage of my memory loss to mislead me, to sow errors in my


    own recollections.


    “There''s no denying that possibility,” Robin said gravely. “Three years ago, there was a case of a


    psychologist who induced his patient tomit murder on his behalf.


    The reason was that this psychologist had hypnotized his client, who had psychological issues, and


    transferred his own hatred onto the patient. The patient felt the psychologist’s rage and hatred as if


    it were his own, even bing delusional, believing that it was the victim who had harmed him and


    his family. In a fit of rage, the patient stabbed the man to death in broad daylight.”


    I sat there in silence.


    There was definitely something off about Damian, and now I was pretty sure of it.


    Dexter, it turned out, was just another fly in the web, not an outsider at all.


    And Melody’s entrance—could it be what Damian warned me about, that if I didn’tply, he’d


    rece me?


    Melody was like a catalyst.


    It seemed Damian’s real aim was to use her to warn me, to push me, to hasten mepleting his


    task—to have Dexter marry me. But he hadn’t anticipated my untimely death.


    Damian never saw my ending at the hands of a serial killer.


    Oh, what an uncontroble oue this was for him.


    “The case is closed…” Finn muttered when he returned. “The guy confessed clearly, said he found


    out his son’s disappearance might be linked to the deceased. After repeatedly being rebuffed when


    trying to find his son, he developed a murderous intent.”


    It looked like chance, but it was clearly orchestrated.


    A case within a case, cases behind cases, and even cases behind those. Following the trail,


    forwards or backwards, there were issues everywhere.


    I watched Finn sketch out the web of clues on the whiteboard and spoke up softly. “Two cases, a


    serial murder, and a dismemberment... It looks like the mastermind behind them all was using the


    victims to kill.”


    “Because there’s no such thing as a perfect victim in this world,” Finn said, looking at me. “That


    year, there were six nationwide disappearances of young people with Asperger''s Syndrome. Do you


    know why only the parents of these two kids are still searching?”


    Têxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    I shook my head.


    “Because the others saw it as getting rid of a burden. Asperger''s, autism, pfft, to them, geniuses are


    monsters, freaks. Plus, with the kids gone, they cashed in on a hefty amount of donations. Why


    wouldn’t they be happy?” Finn scoffed. “Guess why the Langley family didn’t bring Caleb, the


    illegitimate child, home? Couldn’t the Langleys afford it? Were the Langleys too concerned about


    their reputation? No. Caleb’s mother and Ethan had a legal marriage.”


    Colin frowned, giving Finn a warning look.


    Finn was asking for it. “Because he was a monster too. Rumor has it that he never spoke a word


    after being born, was diagnosed with autism, and when he was dumped at the orphanage,


    everyone thought he was mute.”