Welcome to another edition of Pope Tattles, your humble editor and crusader for good Eddie Pope, here! You're going to love this one, faithful readers because ol' Eddie has landed a plum interview with one Dr. Jake Gateson who some of you might remember as the doc who visited Bryce Droher in the Pickman nut hatch. While the interview in and of itself is interesting, the context of the interview is the real kicker.

You see, I've received more than a few tips that the actions of the Tarot Killer sound like Bryce but since he was locked up, I discounted that as a possibility (see last issue). The thing is, he's not locked up. Nope, Bryce Droher was released by the State of California due to lapsed insurance. When did this happen? Oh, May 27th, one year to the day from his initial commitment and one week before the brutal playing in San Francisco started the Tarot Killer's spree. Coincidence? Read on and judge for yourself!

Eddie Pope: Tell me a little bit about yourself, Dr. Gateson, and why is it that you are so anxious to speak with me?

DR. Jake Gateson: Do you know about "collective memory"? I'm not talking about a mass population historical remembrance. This is not a surface collection of a group memory. The "collective memory" I'm talking about is a transpersonal journey. It is a shared past which is difficult to articulate and yet, it does exist. You cannot pull out this "memory" and place it on the table, but it happens. I know it. I can feel it. It is communicated on another level. The Transpersonal Chakra perhaps? I feel it somehow with you, Mr. Pope. This space above my crown tells me you are the man to uncover many mysteries. Perhaps you feel this connection as well.

EP: Uhhh...ok. You must have a keen understanding of the psychopathic mind. What can you tell me about the man believed by many to be the Tarot Killer? What can you tell me about Bryce Droher?

GATESON: Ah. Mr. Droher. I confess I feel personally drawn to Bryce Droher and feel a Transpersonal Connection with him, as well. We three share a deep connection. He possesses an extraordinary psychosis. Extraordinary. I consider the few occasions that I had to sit with him, both in the Institute and after his release, some of the most interesting moments of my life, long as it has been. It's mesmerizing, really, to watch a mind tangled so deeply in a war between what we know to be real and what we cannot accept as reality. People suffering from a psychosis such as Mr. Droher's, have a deeply impaired ability to distinguish the personal and subjective experience from the reality of our external world. In simpler words, Mr. Droher believes that his hallucinations and delusions are real with real consequences.

Another part of the fascinating puzzle that is Mr. Droher's mind, is that he appears to suffer from echolalia. That is nothing more than a fancy doctorly way of saying that he repeats words and phrases mentioned by another. In his case, these repetitions seem to come from his hallucinations. So, when you sit down and speak with Mr. Droher, you may be speaking, not with him, but with the horrors that haunt his imagination.

What troubles me, most, though is his obsession with ritual. Hallucinations and repeating the words from your hallucinations, perhaps in an attempt to make them real, are understandable for a man in his condition. I can't help but ponder what he gains from his ritual and why he achieves such a thrill from the brutal slaughtering of dozens of birds. Is it a primal urge or is it, more likely to be the case, a sexual-homicidal fantasy played out with pigeons? If this Tarot Killer is indeed Mr. Droher, than it appears as though his rituals have become the sole reason for his existence. That troubles me.

EP: Why does this trouble you? Do you consider him capable of violence against another person?

GATESON: We are talking about a man who does not see the world as you and I see the world. His mind has taken him to places that few could understand. Mr. Droher's psychosis leads him down some very dark dangerous paths filled with many demons. If ritual slaughter has become such an integral part of his existence, then it is because of some desire that he has yet to fulfill. So, do I believe that his psychosis and these rituals could lead him to violence against a human? Yes. And it is only a matter of time.

EP: As I have mentioned, I have some suspicions that Bryce Droher is the man I have dubbed the Tarot Killer and is responsible for a string of brutal murders across the country over the past six months. Do you think he is capable of this sort of a crime?

GATESON: Again, my answer is yes. With a mind as lost in madness as Mr. Droher's, I would wonder if he even realizes that it is a human that he is slaying. The world could appear as monsters and goblins that must be destroyed. If you are correct in your thesis and Mr. Droher has, in fact, stepped over and become a serial killer, you could have great impact with your report. This would be a very rare case, indeed. You see, Mr. Droher may share a great love of ritual with his fellow serial killers, but there is little else that they have in common as far as the sickness of the mind. Serial killers traditionally suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder, not psychosis. They wear masks of sanity and are able to charm their way in and out of the worlds of their victims. This not something that Mr. Droher is capable of. If Mr. Droher were a serial killer, those that study minds such as his would be in a tailspin over the revelation. The "mad killer" on the loose. Oh, were you able to document this rare serial killer's ritual, I can only imagine the kind of attention your reporting would receive. Though I would be very careful, Mr. Pope. For if he realized that you were trailing him, I'm afraid that he would stop at nothing to stop you before you have your big story.

EP: So, if he's as sick as you claim, don't you think the hospital had a responsibility to keep him in custody?

GATESON: It is not my place to question or comment on the hospital's policies.

EP: Can Bryce be cured?

GATESON: I am an optimistic man, Mr. Pope. This doesn't mean Mr. Droher will wake up tomorrow morning feeling like a brand new man. But with the right treatment, it may be possible for us to rest the demons that haunt his very sick mind. After that, it would take time. But first you must catch your man. Only time will tell the tale of Mr. Bryce Droher.

There you have it, Ladies and Gents. More big reveals than you can shake a chocolate bourbon pecan pie at!