33
Darby didn’t know the Boston detective who caught the case. If he recognized her name, he didn’t show it. And if he knew who Danny Halloran was, he didn’t show that either.
The detective’s name was John Bace. His hair had gone prematurely white and he spoke in such a quiet, gentle voice she had to lean in close to hear him, Darby figuring the guy did this both to calm the victim down and to build intimacy. He had kind, soulful eyes, and, as they stood near the base of the stairs, Darby ran him through exactly what had happened when she entered the apartment.
She did not tell him about the reason why Danny had called her, the part about his wanting to speak to her about Richard Byrne. She knew Kennedy wouldn’t want Boston PD interfering in his investigation, people playing politics trampling all over it.
Kennedy was on his way into the city. He had been her second call, after she’d got off with the 911 dispatcher.
Bace’s eyes kept flicking to the rope burns along her neck.
‘It’s fine,’ she rasped. ‘Minor trauma.’
Her words took him by surprise.
‘I’ve been through worse,’ she said, trying to make light of it. She didn’t want him or anyone else to treat her as a victim. She refused to take on that role, ever. ‘The rope he used is on the counter over there. I placed it on a clean plastic garbage bag – I found a roll of them under the sink. I used another one for the buckle knife.’
‘Buckle knife?’
‘It’s a hidden knife, slides right here into your belt.’ She showed him.
‘Who did you say you were again?’
The front door opened. The patrolwoman manning it motioned to Bace. He stepped outside and came back in a few minutes later with Kennedy, his cheeks ruddy from the cold. Bace didn’t seem to mind having another detective there.
Bace and Kennedy moved up the steps to the second level. Darby followed.
‘Christ,’ Kennedy muttered under his breath, when he entered the bedroom. Darby remained in the doorway.
When the EMTs arrived, they had tried injecting Danny with naloxone, to counter the opioid overdose. It had failed to revive him because he was already dead. They were both as lifeless as a pair of dolls.
Bace said, ‘You didn’t tell me how you got access to the condo.’
‘Someone let me in through the main door. After that, I checked the door for the condo, found it unlocked and went inside.’
‘You said your attacker was wearing a mask.’
‘Black ski mask.’
‘How was he dressed?’
‘Didn’t really pay attention. It was dark out, and I was too busy trying to, you know, breathe.’
‘I ask because we’ve got a guy here who’s attacking gay men and women at night in the South End. Beats them up, sometimes robs them.’
‘Beats them up with what?’
‘Pipes, mostly. I know he likes to kick a lot.’
‘He try strangling anyone with a rope?’
Bace shrugged. ‘Maybe.’
‘Well, it sounds like you’re on top of it.’
Kennedy shot her a look.
‘The guy fled to the main street,’ Darby said to Bace. ‘I’m sure there are cameras out there.’
‘We’ll look into it.’
‘What’s the deal with Victor? Who is he?’
Bace flipped a page in his notebook. ‘Full name is Victor Flores. He’s thirty-three, works at Mass General in the ER. Trauma surgeon.’
‘Any history of drug use?’
‘Can’t say. Although it’s been my experience that doctors who are heroin addicts generally go the pill route. They usually have more access to opioids. You said Daniel Halloran called and asked you to come by.’
Darby nodded. ‘He wanted to talk to me.’
‘About what?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘How did he sound?’
‘Like he was on drugs.’
‘This opiate epidemic …’ Bace sighed and shook his head. ‘I’ve got to ask you to go to the station, give a statement about what happened to you and about what happened in here, everything you did. Standard procedure.’
Kennedy said, ‘I’ll take her.’
He didn’t speak until they were alone in the car.
‘So,’ he said, starting the engine. ‘What do you really think?’
‘That guy was waiting for me in the alley. He knew I was coming.’
‘And you think he, what, used Halloran to lure you there?’
‘Halloran calling me up, asking me to come and talk to him, to share something about the case – I knew it was too good to be true.’ Darby sighed, shook her head. ‘I should have been paying better attention. All the signs were there.’
‘What signs?’
‘Danny wanting to know how long it would take me to get into town, how he kept stressing about having me coming alone, no other cops. How he insisted on talking in person and not on the phone. He specifically told me to park in Vic’s spot. It was a set-up.’
‘So this guy uses Halloran to lure you there and, after he calls you and hangs up, this guy makes them shoot heroin, has them OD?’
She heard the scepticism in his voice. ‘Would you shoot heroin if you had a gun to your head?’ It sounded thin, but still it was possible. ‘That guy Victor? I bet you he has no history of drug abuse. He was there the morning I met Halloran, thought I was there to bust Danny on a drugs charge and got real upset at him. Danny swore he was clean.’
‘Was he?’
‘He was when I spoke to him. The other thing is … that morning at the bakery, the moment Halloran saw me, he practically jumped to his feet. He was going to run, Chris, I’m telling you. And the entire time I spoke with him he kept fidgeting, acting real nervous. At first I thought it was because I’d caught him in what he perceived to be an in flagrante delicto situation – holding hands with his boyfriend or whoever he was to him. He was afraid I was going to out him to his father – said he had disappointed him enough. He still works for Belham, right, the father?’
Kennedy nodded.
‘You tell him I was going to speak to his kid?’ Darby asked.
‘No. Why?’
‘Halloran said his father had called and told him I might be coming by to visit him.’
‘A lot of people saw you at the station that morning. Word got around.’
‘Halloran also said he recognized me from some online pictures. What if he was lying? What if someone was threatening him?’
‘All great questions – and ones we’ll ask when we find the guy who attacked you.’ Kennedy was staring at her neck.
‘I’m fine,’ she said.
‘Plus side to almost getting strangled to death is that you’ve got one of those smoky, sexy lounge-type voices.’
‘There’s that.’
‘Seriously, are you okay?’
‘The guy really knew how to throw a punch.’
‘Let’s take a ride to the hospital, have that –’
‘I wasn’t attacked by some guy who’s trolling for gay men and women,’ Darby said. ‘When you strangle someone, it’s up close and personal. That happens, generally, in a sexual type of situation or when you know the vic, want to make a statement.’
‘I don’t think so. But there was a lot of rage there. It was definitely personal. Look, having this guy use Halloran to make that phone call and lure me there – I get it, it sounds weak. But I don’t think we should discount it. It’s too neat, how it all ended up, don’t you think?’
Kennedy blew out a long breath. ‘I don’t like it. Not one damn bit.’
‘I also have one more piece of interesting news.’ She told him about Cullen’s phone call. ‘I think we should take a serious look at him.’
‘You think a priest ordered a hit on you? What is this, a Dan Brown novel?’
‘What if this is something that’s bigger than just Byrne? What if Cullen is involved?’
‘Well, you can’t do anything with Cullen, not after that stunt you pulled at the restaurant,’ he said. ‘I got a call on my way down here. Cullen’s going to file a restraining order against you, says you’re harassing him.’
‘That’s bullshit.’
‘Still, I’ve got to be careful here. You violate the restraining order, there’s nothing I can do to protect you. And let us not underestimate the mighty power of the Catholic Church.’ He smiled but there was no humour in it. He sighed as he looked out through the windshield, his gaze sweeping across the streets. ‘And now your attacker’s somewhere out there in the wind.’
‘But hobbling,’ Darby said. ‘I did some serious damage to his knee.’
‘With that hidden James Bond knife-trick shit.’
‘Guy’s in a lot of pain.’
‘And pissed off, I imagine. At you.’
‘That’s the good news.’
‘Oh? And why’s that?’
‘Because he’s going to come after me,’ Darby said. ‘At some point he’s going to want to finish what he started.’