The Skull Collector
Alex walked slowly from room to skull filled room as she tried to contain her emotions. In the back most room she came upon the skull of the first victim resting on the tallest pedestal. She tried to comprehend how any person's mind could be so twisted as to do what this serial killer had done.
She now understood the ineffectiveness of the police information systems. Johnnie's hacking ability had allowed her to understand the magnitude the serial killings, who the killer was and the properties he possessed. Now she had the evidence, but she did not have the killer.
She accelerated the investigation by interviewing the parents of the first victim and the families of the three most recent victims.
The investigation of the house and the farm that the killer possessed confirmed that the killings had gone back more than fifteen years. While searching the farm, she was shot in the chest and only her Kevlar vest saved her.
Immediately after the discovery of what she called the "Museum of Horror," she was taken to the hospital and put into intensive care.
The killer's attempt to kill her in her hospital bed failed. She then decided that she was going to bring him in ensure that he stood trial for the murders he had committed.
She and her team figure out where the killer is headed.
She wants to avoid spending time working through a legal extradition process between the state where the killer has gone and Ohio so she captures the killer and brings him back.
Once in front of the judge the killer is put into a high security prison to await his trial.
Somehow the prison population learns the details of his crime and they sentence him to their version of justice.
The forty third head is his and is found on the end of a baseball bat on the pitching mound where he pitched a winning game.
Alex comments that he has gone to see his master.
