Tuesday, September 24
Phoenix Police Department
Mountainside Precinct
DETECTIVE RILEY BASKIN paced the precinct lunchroom with a PB and J gripped in his hand, purple jam dripping down his bulky wrist and matting the golden hairs on his forearm. Caitlin and Spense had interrupted his lunch, and he seemed none too happy about the matter. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it. How can Harvey Baumgartner be the Man in the Maze? It just doesn’t make sense.”
At first, it’d seemed illogical to Spense, too, but after giving it due consideration, he’d changed his mind. Also, seeing that gargantuan mural of a labyrinth on Baumgartner’s wall had made a big impression and gone a long way toward convincing him. “It’s the only thing that does make sense. He fits the profile Caity constructed at the museum to a T. And by the way we’ve already confirmed he and his wife, Louisa, made large donations to the museum—he’s even got a plaque on his wall praising his generosity. Harvey Baumgartner was highly intelligent, and as it turns out, he was also an adjunct professor of law at Tempe University. We believe the Man in the Maze is a teacher, and given the fact two coeds have now been found with their temporal bones removed, we believe his preferred hunting ground was the university.”
“He may fit your profile in that respect, but so does Randy Cantrell. In fact, if we go with your theory, that the Man in the Maze killed Gail Falconer, too, Cantrell moves to the head of the line. He was her fiancé. He teaches at Tempe. He collects Native American art . . . and here’s a new piece of information you might like: Annie Bayberry was in Cantrell’s sociology classes.”
“Which makes him the perfect guy to take the fall for her murder. Maybe that’s one of the reasons she was chosen. Randy Cantrell has an alibi for the night Gail Falconer was killed. One of your own men from the task force tracked his old Reserves commander down in Yuma yesterday. Cantrell could not have killed Gail Falconer. So he’s not the guy who planted her missing ring on Annie Bayberry’s corpse. Harvey Baumgartner, on the other hand, was never even looked at for Falconer, so we don’t know his whereabouts on the night of her murder.”
“But we sure as hell do know his whereabouts on the night of Annie Bayberry’s murder—Green Valley Cemetery.” Baskin dragged a hand through his hair, then scowled when he realized he’d just gelled himself with grape jam. “So hold your horses, if you don’t mind. It seems you’re saying that Baumgartner’s not only the Man in the Maze, but also that he killed Gail Falconer. That would put him in possession of her ring. But a dead man didn’t plant that ring on poor Annie Bayberry. Like I said before, this just doesn’t add up.”
Caitlin tapped Spense on the shoulder, signaling she’d like to cut in. “Let’s just take this one step at a time, Riley.” Spense shook his head as Caity turned on the charm. She was good. He’d give her that much. “If we can just start with looking at Baumgartner as the Man in the Maze, the leader of Labyrinth, I’m good with that. We can always discuss the Falconer case and Annie Bayberry and how all that fits in later. But for now, let’s look at the facts. First, Baumgartner fits the profile of the Man in the Maze. Second, he’s got a giant unicameral Labyrinth painted on the wall of a windowless guest room that locks from the outside. Third, I’m certain he’s abused two young women in his employ. Isn’t that enough to get a warrant to search his computer?”
“Not without a sworn statement from the girls, and they’ve already said he never touched them.”
She blew out a hard breath. “Yes, but as I told you when we first arrived, one of them slipped me a note as I was leaving the house today. She wants a meeting, and I think she might be willing to give a statement if I can just make her feel safe enough. The original denial isn’t surprising, considering Elizabeth and Deejay are still in that house and still dependent on the Baumgartners for their livelihood. I’m sure if we can just help them see they have other options—”
Baskin screwed up his face. “Options? No disrespect, Caitlin, but if those girls had been abused in any way, if Baumgartner had so much as given them a friendly pat on the behind, they’d have been shouting it from the rooftops by now. They could sue Baumgartner’s estate, and as long as they backed each other up, they’d have a good shot at winning, or at the very least at settling for a sizeable jackpot. So the fact they said it ain’t so, to me, means it ain’t so.”
“I understand your doubts. But if I can get Elizabeth or Deejay to talk . . .”
“Then we might have enough for a warrant for the computer,” Baskin said, stroking his chin. “But that brings me back to square one. Harvey Baumgartner as the Man in the Maze just does not make sense.”
He tossed his ruined sandwich into the trash, opened the door, and motioned for them to follow him out of the break room and over to his desk. Rifling through stacks of papers he located the one he sought and handed it to her. “Remember this e-mail we recovered from Silas Graham’s computer?” With his pointer finger he indicated the relevant text.
The situation is most desperate as Zeus has a clever attorney, and I fear this counselor will urge him to save his own life in exchange for ours.
Baskin shook his head. “We’ve established that Zeus was Judd Kramer’s online handle. Baumgartner therefore is the counselor who supposedly urged him to make a deal, thus putting Labyrinth as a group in danger. Therefore . . .” He looked up. “Stay with me here. Therefore, when the Man in the Maze sent this e-mail to Graham, ordering him to eliminate Zeus and his counselor, he’s ordering Baumgartner’s assassination.” Baskin held up one finger. “So now then, which one of you wants to explain to me why, if Harvey Baumgartner was in fact the Man in the Maze, he would order a hit on himself.”
“Clearly, he didn’t.” Spense said, his expression unfazed, then checked his watch. “And I’d be happy to explain myself, but we need to pick this up later. It’s complicated, and right now, Caity and I have a meeting with Elizabeth Johnson. We need her cooperation and, I don’t want to be late for our appointment.”