CHAPTER 10

 

 

“Any idea what this’s about?” Sheila asked as she and Jake parked in back of the station later that day.

“No,” he replied. “Seems kinda strange to me Knox would pull us off the street to a meeting. Especially since he wants these murders solved so fast.”

Going in the back way, they noticed everyone bent over their desks, busy with paperwork or glued to their phones. No one spoke or waved or hardly even glanced at them. Jake stared out at the heads bowed over their work, wondering if he’d suddenly been transported to the Twilight Zone. Never was it this quiet in Homicide.

“Gotta go in here for a minute,” Sheila said when they got to the restrooms.

Jake bent over the water fountain as she pushed through the door. At the same time, the men’s room door opened. Mahaffey emerged, hitching up his pants. As he passed behind Jake, he muttered, “Watch your butt in there.”

Not sure what he meant, Jake finished his drink, stood and watched his friend amble on down the hallway without a backward glance. What was that all about? Is something hinky about to happen in this meeting? Is that what Mahaffey warned me about? And why didn’t he stop and talk?

While he pondered these things, Sheila came out of the restroom. “What’s up?” she asked, staring down the hall after seeing him do the same.

“I just got warned to watch my butt in this meeting we’re going to.” He still stared.

Sheila glanced from the hall to Jake, then back down the hall. “Warned? By who?”

“Somebody I trust,” Jake replied, brow wrinkling in great furrows. “And he muttered it as he went behind me, like he didn’t want anybody to know he said anything to me. Somethin’ real strange is goin’ on here.”

“You think we’re being set up for something?”

“Yeah,” he said, glancing at her, respect for her insight growing. “C’mon. Let’s not keep Knox waiting.”

At the door to Lt. Knox’s office, Jake and Sheila paused before knocking. Voices sounded from inside the office, telling them they weren’t the only ones in this meeting.

Exchanged glances reflected their concern. Jake knocked on the frosted glass.

After a couple of seconds, Lt. Knox opened the door. Several other people sat and stood around his office, chatting in twos and threes, but Jake couldn’t see who they were. He recognized the Chief’s voice. Knox opened the door just enough to slip out with a backward glance.

“What’s going on, Lieutenant?” Jake didn’t even give him a chance to speak first. His gut feeling drove him onward.

Knox held his hand up, palm out. “Keep your voice down, Jake.” He managed to look concerned. Jake was immediately suspicious since Knox never called him by his first name. “I appreciate you two coming in on short notice. Sorry to pull you off the street, but this meeting was called. The Chief, the Mayor, three of the City Directors, and leaders of the Concerned Citizens’ and Police Watchdog Committees are in there.” He jerked his thumb toward his office. “I think they’re loaded for bear over these prostitute murders.” When Jake opened his mouth to say something, Knox quickly held up his hand again. “We don’t have time for questions or debate. Just answer their questions, and let’s get this over with soon’s we can so you two can get back on the street. Okay?”

Jake glared at Knox a few more seconds. Why was he on their side all of a sudden? Or at least sounding like he was? And who called this meeting? The Chief or the Mayor?

No answers came to him. A glance over at Sheila told him she was wondering the same things. The artificial light striking her hair as it hung caressing her face made a glow that set off the smoothness of her cheek in a very pleasing way.

Mentally shaking his head, he turned to Knox again. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Sheila echoed, with a glance back at Jake. A little tug of pleasure came to her heart as their eyes touched. She thrust the feeling away quickly.

A smile and nod from Knox, then they went into his office.

As they entered, quiet preceded them like a wave. The other people already present stopped in mid-sentence, turning to stare at the duo as they came in behind Knox. Jake shut the door, then followed Sheila to the two chairs conspicuously empty in the center of the room. Sitting down, he felt like a goldfish in a room full of cats.

“Det. Wiley, Det. Spencer, you both know the Chief of Police.” Knox started talking before he even sat down. “This is Mayor Dixon, Directors Owens, Edwards, and Lockaby,” he gestured at each in turn. “And Gladys Phipps of the Concerned Citizens’ Committee and Richard Wallace of the Police Watchdog Committee. Ladies and gentlemen, Detectives Wiley and Spencer.”

Grim nods from all of the civilians present. Jake returned the nods politely, but without enthusiasm. Sheila at least smiled as she nodded back.

“We’d like an update on this serial killer we have running around the city,” the Mayor began. In his second four-year term, the Mayor made no bones about wanting at least a third term. The suit he wore wasn’t quite a tuxedo, not quite. “Is this Gabriel back again?”

“Well, Mr. Mayor, I …” Jake began.

“It’s too early to call these serial killings, Mr. Mayor,” lt. Knox interrupted him and jumped in. “So far, we’re just calling them murders. Labeling them as serial killings will set up the idea in the public’s mind that more will happen. We don’t want that. No indication that it’s Gabriel.”

Jake frowned deeply at Knox, who ignored him. He decided to let Knox have the limelight. Maybe he’d have to come up with the answers. Or toast himself if the heat came with the light.

It was the latter of these two he hoped for most.

“All right, Lt. Knox, have it your way.” The Mayor turned back to Jake. “Tell me about these murders.”

Shrugging, Jake replied, “There isn’t much to tell. Three prostitutes from different parts of town have been murdered in the past six weeks. All had their throats cut, multiple stab wounds, slashes on the body. Pretty gruesome stuff.”

His voice implied he’d seen this sort of crime before and maybe worse.

“Do you think the same man may have killed all three?” The Chief knew Jake by reputation. Four stars shone on the shoulder boards of his dark blue uniform.

“Don’t know yet, Chief. I think there’s a good possibility.”

“What makes you think so?” the Mayor jumped in.

Jake faced him. “Same type of killing each time. It appears our perp goes out, picks up a whore …” Catching himself, he turned to the women present. “Sorry ladies, a prostitute, then takes her to an out-of-the-way place and kills her. Similar stab patterns, all done by a right-handed man.”

Jake left out some of the details on purpose. He and Sheila had decided earlier some of the evidence they gathered needed to remain secret, so only they and the killer would know about it. Besides, he didn’t know who among this gathering he could trust and who he couldn’t.

“And what are you doing to catch this maniac?” This came from Richard Wallace. An intense short man, he sat forward in his chair, one hand on the arm of the chair, the other balled into a fist on the other arm of the chair. Even his clothing was intense. His khaki slacks sported creases he could use as letter openers. The light blue shirt he wore under a dark blue single-breasted blazer appeared hand-laundered. He could see all the way to tomorrow in the spit-shine on his $250 shoes. Three deep vertical creases right above his nose gave away his feelings. Jake got the image of a frightened man. One who demanded results to ease his fear.

Shifting around, Jake faced him. “Our approach has been the standard one in cases of multiple murders. Det. Spencer and I go to each crime scene, visit with the medical examiner assigned to the case, learn all we can from the officers on the scene, then interview those people who might have seen something at the time of the murder. The same thing we do in all murder cases.”

He tried to catch Knox’s eye, but found the Lieutenant busy studying something on his desk. If he’d had any doubts about being set up in this meeting, they’d deserted Jake by now.

About what he should have expected from Knox.

Gladys Phipps, Executive Director of the Concerned Citizens’ Committee, spoke up. “Officer Spencer, do you have any ideas that Officer Wiley might not have thought about?” A heavy-set black woman, she favored orange as the primary color in her wardrobe.

Sheila hesitated a second, glancing at Jake to see if he heard a slight in the woman’s question or in her use of the title ‘Officer’ rather than ‘Detective’. “No,” she then replied. “I think Det. Wiley is having us cover all the possible bases on this case.” It occurred to Sheila that she was being used to make Jake look bad.

Did Lt. Knox set this meeting up to get Jake? It sure seems like it. And these people, are they purposely putting me against him? No – so far they seem to be concerned citizens, just that. So then, did Knox invite them knowing what they’d say? Or did he tell them just enough to start them thinking like they are?

“Have you gotten anywhere?” Wallace broke in.

“We don’t have any suspects yet,” Jake replied. “If that’s what you mean.”

Wallace sat back abruptly. “That’s exactly what I mean. You’ve followed standard procedure and gotten nowhere! Maybe it’s time to go beyond standard procedure.” His eyes shifted from Jake to pause on Knox for a nanosecond, then on to the Mayor. “Especially if there’s any possibility that this may be that maniac, Gabriel.”

Jake noticed the slight pause on Knox.

“What do you have in mind, Richard?” the Mayor asked.

“Something that would put more people on the case than just these two detectives. I’m not sure they’re enough.” This came out in a tone of voice that suggested Jake and Sheila were out of their league. “After all, Det. Wiley couldn’t catch Gabriel a year ago.”

Who are you to make that kind of judgment? Jake wondered. You’re a shop owner who’s been robbed a couple of times and never been satisfied with the police response. So you made up this so-called “Watchdog Committee” that talks and blusters and doesn’t do anything. You have no experience in law enforcement, but you don’t let that stop you from trying tell us what to do.

“I think I agree,” Phipps added. “This kind of crime can’t go on in our city. Any tourism would be ruined if a serial killer is allowed to run loose. We don’t even know how many more he’s killed that haven’t been found.”

Jake heard her implication that it was somehow his and Sheila’s fault that the killer hadn’t been caught yet. He met his partner’s eye as they exchanged glances again. They had thought about other bodies, but had no evidence that any existed. Whores went missing a lot for one reason or another, but weren’t often reported as such.

“Well, Gladys, do you have any suggestions?” the Chief asked.

“Not really. This is a police matter, not something I know much about.” (Then why are you in this meeting? Jake wondered.) “But for the sake of the citizens of this city, I think we should do all that’s possible to catch this murderer.”

“That’s right,” Director Edwards agreed. “This is a matter that needs immediate attention. Many more of our citizens could be killed before this madman’s brought to justice.” He was an older man with thinning hair and a white mustache.

“Right,” Director Owens echoed. This was all the man contributed. Clearly, he could be any man, anywhere.

“And, who knows, he might not stop with just prostitutes,” Director Lockaby chimed in. “He may go for other, innocent citizens.” The youngest of the trio of City Directors, Lockaby also was probably the most naïve.

“I don’t think we should say that prostitutes aren’t innocent citizens,” Phipps said with an edge to her voice.

“Oh, I didn’t mean that!” Lockaby backpedaled, fast. “I believe all the murdered women should be considered innocent citizens. I meant that other people could be picked out as victims.”

“Legitimate citizens, perhaps?” Phipps persisted.

“Ladies, gentlemen.” The Mayor stepped in, smoothing the troubled waters. “I don’t think we serve any of our citizens by sniping among ourselves. All the people who live in our city deserve equal respect and consideration.”

“Then what are we going to do?” Wallace demanded, sitting forward in his chair again. “We certainly don’t want these killings to continue. Nor do we want any copycat killers to show themselves.”

“That’s right!” Phipps interjected. “I’d thought about that, too.”

Knox cleared his throat. “Mr. Mayor, Chief? I have a suggestion.”

The Chief turned to him. “You do? Then by all means, let’s hear it.”

A tiny smile turned up the corners of Knox’s mouth. “In other cases of this kind, there has been considerable success with a Task Force addressing the situation.” While he didn’t say so, Knox made sure he came across as having experience with this sort of case.

So that’s it! Jake realized. Knox wants this Task Force so he can run it! Both he and Sheila had been left out of the discussion after he outlined the procedures they followed to solve the crimes.

Knox went on. “Having more agencies and more people will allow us to follow up leads quicker and develop suspects faster. Plus, we can keep control over what is allowed out in the media.” He looked at the Mayor as he said this last.

Nodding, the Mayor said, “You may have something there, Lt. Knox. Good idea. Who would you suggest serve on this Task Force?”

“High level representatives of the police, yourself as representative of the city government, Mr. Wallace, and Ms. Phipps.” He nodded briefly to each one as he said it. “And probably someone from the State Police and State Bureau of Investigation.”

“We would insist on keeping operational control in the department,” the Chief added quickly. “Otherwise, the quality of the investigation may decline.”

Listening closely, Jake heard the political nature of this Task Force. Long on contacts for Knox, short on real investigators. “If you want the quality of the investigation to stay high, don’t set up a Task Force,” he jumped in before anyone could say more.

“What do you mean?” the Chief asked.

“You’re out of line!” Knox almost yelled, with a look of hostility that confirmed Jake’s belief. “This discussion is way beyond your expertise. Keep quiet or leave the office!”

“No, no. Let him speak, Knox. I want to hear all sides of this.” The Chief turned to Jake and asked again, “What do you mean?”

“Just that. If you go with the idea of a Task Force, the quality of the investigation will deteriorate. Too many cooks and all that. Plus, you invite the Bureau in and they always take over. They look at any local cops as incompetent, anyway.” Jake shrugged. “Almost as bad as the Fibbies.”

“Fibbies?” the Mayor asked.

Jake replied, “The FBI, sir.”

“I don’t think you have much room to talk,” Knox jumped back in. “what have you done so far? You’re no closer to catching this guy now than when you first got the case. Talk about incompetent!”

Before Jake could say what he thought about Knox, Sheila spoke up. “That’s not quite fair, Lt. Knox. We’ve only had the case for a few days. Not nearly enough time to do anything much with it. Given enough time, Jake and I can solve it.”

“Enough time!” Knox snorted. “You two would have to have ‘til Hell freezes over to solve this.”

“Give us three weeks.” She faced the Chief and not Knox when she said this. “Three weeks before you set up a Task Force. Is that too much to ask?”

“I don’t think …” Knox started to say.

The Chief stopped him with an upraised hand. “Three weeks isn’t too much, Det. Spencer.” His smile told Jake and Sheila both why he gave in to her request. “It’s very reasonable, in fact. Okay. You have it. Three weeks, then we talk more about a Task Force if the case isn’t solved. Fair enough?’ He looked from one to the other.

“There’s something else we should bring up,” Sheila went on. “Lt. Knox mentioned it a minute ago. What do we release to the media?”

“I think we can handle that,” Knox said, his arm gesturing to the rest of the group, but excluding Jake and Sheila.

“But we,” Jake pointed to himself and Sheila, “are the officers in charge of the investigation. We should have some input into what goes out to the media.”

“This group doesn’t need your input on anything, Wiley!” Knox grew red in the face and leaned across his desk.

The Chief jumped in. “I, for one, would appreciate hearing what Det. Spencer has to say. You, too, Det. Wiley.”

Jake motioned for Sheila to go ahead. He figured the Chief would listen to her best.

“Det. Wiley and I have discussed this and came to the conclusion we should keep some details of the murders secret. By releasing only most of the facts to the media, we can have some information known only to the murderer and ourselves.”

Gladys Phipps spoke up. “What details will you withhold, Det. Spencer?”

Sheila smiled just a little, barely raising the ends of her lips. “Ms. Phipps, I hope you’ll understand if I don’t tell you. That way, there’s no question about you, or any of you others, accidentally saying something you shouldn’t.”

“Spencer, you don’t have any reason to insult others in this meeting,” Knox blurted.

“No, Lieutenant. That’s okay. I understand what Det. Spencer is saying and why she’s saying it.” Phipps looked around. “Are any of you insulted by what Det. Spencer said?”

Head shakes all around. Phipps looked back at the Chief, giving him the floor again.

“All right. Wiley and Spencer handle what goes out to the media. Fair enough?”

Knox wasn’t about to give up. “Chief, there is one other thing I think we need to consider.”

When he didn’t go on, which Jake took as a blatant attempt to get everyone’s attention, the Chief said, “Well, what is it, Lt. Knox?”

“I was just thinking, a psychological profile of this killer might help us find him.” Knox glanced smugly around the room, meeting everyone’s eye and lingering a moment on Jake’s.

For the most part, Jake didn’t believe in psychobabble. That included so-called profiling that seemed to be mostly guesswork and general statements that could fit almost everyone. But they were sexy and thus used almost indiscriminately.

There was silence for the space of a few seconds, then the Mayor spoke up. “Good idea. Good idea, Lt. Knox. At least that would put us ahead if we have to establish a Task Force.” As an afterthought, he added, “And it may be of help to the detectives now.”

“All right.” The Chief looked as if he wasn’t sure about the idea, but couldn’t think of a good reason to object. “Who do you have in mind, Lt. Knox.”

“Dr. Petrino is already under contract with the Department. What about him?”

“Fine. Follow up with him.” The Chief looked around the room. “Is that all?” No one spoke up. “Very well. We’ll meet again when we need to. Agreed?”

All agreed. Jake and Sheila left with Knox glaring at them.

Neither said a word until they were away from the office, in the hallway headed out of the building. Then Jake stopped abruptly. If Sheila hadn’t been watching, she would’ve bumped into him, so sudden was the stop.

“What did you think of that?” His face was a mask of disgust.

“I think we both just got screwed and didn’t even enjoy it.” Sheila’s reply was soft, low-key.

Jake stared hard at her for a second, then burst into laughter. “Right! Absolutely right!”

His laughter came faster, less restrained. Sheila joined in. For both of them, it was a release of tension built up from the meeting, from the pressure of the prostitute murders, and from being in close contact with each other so much of the time.

Without thought, Jake stepped toward Sheila clearly intending to throw his arms around her. Right at that moment, he just reveled in the fact that they’d survived the meeting still in charge of the investigation and that he had a partner who could stand on her own in his world of macho cowboys. At the last second, he seemed to catch himself and made an awkward show of placing his hands on top of her shoulders.

“You, uh, did okay in there, uh, partner.” He knew that sounded lame, but all he could do now was go with it. “I guess you even saved my skinny butt.”

“Told you I would. Remember?” Her eyes searched his for a few seconds.

“Yeah, yeah.” He dropped his hands, glad he could break contact, no matter how much he enjoyed it. “Let’s get some coffee.”

She laid a hand on his arm. “Oh, Jake, I can’t. I have an appointment at the beauty shop in fifteen minutes.”

He looked her over half-critically. “Yeah, I can see that. Getting a little shaggy there. But really nothin’ a good brushing couldn’t fix.”

“You really think so?” Sheila unconsciously touched her hair.

“Nah – just tryin’ to make conversation.”

They both laughed loudly again. Not quite out of control this time.

“C’mon,” Jake said. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

The whole way, Sheila found her heart beating just a little faster. What was going on here? Was this more than she thought? She came here with the intention of getting away from a man, starting over. New job, new possibilities, new life. Never had a thought about getting involved with another man. She just wanted to do really well in her new job; wanted to learn all she could about her profession. And now, this – whatever it was becoming.

Unknown to her, Jake entertained similar thoughts.

That is, until they exited the building through the front entrance. Immediately, they found themselves surrounded by a pack of media wolves snapping questions at them from right, left, and in front.

“Det. Wiley!” one shouted. “What are you doing to solve the prostitute murders?”

Another yelled out, “Det. Spencer, do you feel a kinship with these women as victims?”

Yet another, “Detectives, do we have a serial killer in our city?”

“Are you two able to solve these vicious killings?” another cried.

Pushing through the swarm, Jake stopped once and opened his mouth to reply to one of the questions. Sheila’s hand squeezing his arm kept him quiet.

It took them a couple of minutes to reach Sheila’s car. “Get in,” she told him. “I’ll drive you around back.”

Not hesitating, he slid into the passenger seat and they sped away. Shouts from the reporters trailed after them.

“What was that all about?” she asked just before he got out.

“No idea,” he replied. “But I’ll bet it was Knox’s doing.”

 

Thirty minutes later, Jake’s phone rang just as he stepped into his apartment. Not sure whether to answer it or not, he checked the machine first to see whether he had messages. None showed. He decided to play it safe and let the machine catch this call.

“Jake,” he heard after the beep. “This is Harold Dye. I’m calling to let you know something that may be of interest to you. Give me a call …”

Jake picked up the receiver. “Hello, Harold. I just got in. What’s up?”

“Did you have fun outside the station?”

Silent for a couple of seconds, Jake fumed. “How’d you know?”

“It was a set-up. A fax came through alerting all the media in town that you and Det. Spencer would be in front of the station at 4:30 and would have some information about these murders.” Dye chuckled. “I told my editor it was a set-up. You’d have at least called me if you’d caught the guy doing all these murders or if something new came up.”

“Right, I would. Who’s name was on the fax?”

“No name, but would you care to guess where it came from?” A smile came through the phone with this question.

“Knox, I’ll bet.”

“You are so good, Jake. You didn’t hear it from me.”

“Right again. Talk to you later.” Hanging up, he considered what Harold told him. The thoughts cruising through his mind weren’t pretty.