Mag turned off the radio. “I can’t listen to this.”
Blaze clutched her pillow. “Bombers and rapists and serial killers, oh my.”
Jenni tapped the steering wheel. “I’m glad we’re getting the hell out of Dodge.”
“That makes two.” Mag grinned reassuringly.
“Me three.” Blaze hummed a familiar tune. “We’re off to see the wizard…”
“Blaze!” Mag and Jenni erupted together.
CHAPTER 28
The Easter Bonnet Parade
The St. Louis Cathedral towered above its historic neighbors, the Presbytere, the Cabildo and Jackson Square which supplied the backdrop to celebrate Easter Sunday.
Women, girls and drag queens wore their best Sunday attire and their fabulous hats full of spring colors. Kelly Corbin, crowned queen, led the annual Easter Bonnet parade. She wore a stunning pink princess formal gown which shimmered in the sunlight and flowed in the cool breeze. Her bonnet made its own statement of spring. She carried an Easter basket decorated by streaming silk ribbons filled to the brim with white Gerbera daisies.
The steeple bell chimed eleven times.
Matthew stood in the crowd by his parents. Carol donned a beautiful bonnet of yellow and pink flowers that matched her yellow dress. “Matthew, thank you for joining us. It has been difficult for you and I’m sorry about that text. I was upset with your father and the anniversary of that girl. It was too much. Let’s forget about it and celebrate Easter.”
Matthew glared toward his father. “Mom, I’m here for you.”
Carol’s eyes sparkled as she gazed upon the woman leading the parade. “Here comes the queen. Isn’t she absolutely beautiful?”
Kelly waved to Matthew, threw him a white daisy and blew him a kiss.
“You know her?” Carol pointed to Kelly.
“No, Mom.”
“Matthew!” Kelly waved to him. “Matthew, Matthew darling.”
“Well son, for someone who doesn’t know her, she seems to know you. You two been dating? She’s very beautiful.”
“Matthew, happy Easter.” Kelly waved like royalty.
Matthew quickly turned his head. “Mom, I’m going after a cup of coffee at Café Du Monde. You want one?”
“No, but thanks for asking.”
“Dad, Coffee?”
“Coffee wasn’t what I had on my mind. I’ll take a draft beer.”
***
Inside the St. Louis Cathedral, Dr. Wright knelt in prayer at one of the private alters. She prayed in a whisper. “To the highest power, I confess I am a sinner and I’m not worthy of forgiveness. I don’t understand why someone like you would forgive me and grant me eternal life. I am not deserving.” She coughed and wiped a tear. Her memory she thought had long faded away rushed back to the front of her mind.
***
“Red, please don’t make me do this.” Liz, age eight, sniffed as a tear fell.
“You wanted a rabbit for Easter. You got a rabbit for Easter. Now do what I told you or I’ll hurt Journey again.”
Liz glanced over at Journey, her older sister, strapped to the stainless steel table. Silver duct tape across her mouth prevented her from speaking. She tried to escape. Her screams muffled. The bottom of her bare feet blistered by cigarette burns hurt her.
“Make your decision.” Red grabbed a sharp meat cleaver. “Will it be the rabbit’s foot you cut off or will it be Journey’s foot I cut off?” He stomped to the end of the table and raised the cleaver two feet above Journey’s left ankle.
Journey’s eyes darted at Liz. She whimpered; her body shook.
“Stop. I’ll do it.” Liz leaped to Red, jumped high and tried to grab the cleaver out of her reach.
Red laughed as he handed Liz the sharp blade. “Go ahead. Do what you promised.”
Tears streamed like a hard summer rain as Liz held the meat cleaver. She bolted to the rabbit cage, lifted her bunny and brought him to her Red.
“That’s my girl. I’ll hold your rabbit down. Journey, your sister made the right choice.”
***
Matthew stood at the entrance of the small private prayer chapel of the St. Louis Cathedral. “Dr. Wright. Dr. Wright are you okay?”
Liz wiped the tears, rose and turned toward him. “Mr. Raymond, I didn’t expect to see you in church.”
“Please, call me Matthew.”
“Call me Liz.”
“Liz, I wanted to make sure you’re okay. It sounded like you were crying.”
“I’m fine. This whole idea of Jesus Christ’s resurrection and dying on the cross gets me this time of year. What brings you to church?”
“A promise I made to my mother. I also came to pray for my sister. One day soon, I’ll get my sweet revenge on Milo. It’s only a matter of time before I find him.”
“Be careful what you wish for, it might come true.”
“This is one wish I hope would.”
“Heed my advice. You might not like the consequences. Take it from someone who knows. Revenge isn’t always sweet.”
“Is that advice coming from a personal experience or as a psychologist?”
“Both, I must admit.”
“You want to get out of here?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Anywhere but here and the Easter Bonnet Parade. I have somewhere in mind.” Matthew extended his hand. “Shall we?”
***
Prissy Owens led the Easter Parade along Bourbon street. At her side Ima Star held a sign - “Anyone Seen Anna Conda?”
Robby Ziegler dressed as his alter ego Amber Alert, Eura Phan and several more of the city’s queens and burlesque dancers strutted in their glory behind Prissy and Ima to the cheering crowd.
CHAPTER 29
The Body in the Bag
Matthew and Liz strolled to his favorite bench in front of the pond at Kenner City Park. A breeze blew Liz’s hair across her face. She lowered herself onto the bench.
Matthew sighed. “This is where we used to come and talk. We shared everything.” He sat near her.
“You were close to her, weren’t you?” She brushed her hair out of her face.
“We couldn’t have been any closer unless we were twins.”
“Because you were her big brother?”
“More than that. My dad has control issues and used to beat my mom and me. I made it a point not to let him get near Livia. I would have two sisters. The night my mom went into labor she had a fight with my dad. He punched her and only of the babies survived.”
“Are you telling me you remember this?” She retrieved a hair clip from her purse and clasped her hair into a ponytail.
“That’s something I’ll never forget. I’ve hated him my entire life for that night.”
“I believe you. You sound authentic and I don’t detect any lie indicators with your body language or voice inflection.”
“You thought I was lying?”
“Not at all. I’m trying to make sense of your parents not remembering Livia. They both could be suppressing a traumatic event and holding onto long term grief. If so, it explains their refusal to recognize her life.”
“I didn’t invite you here to diagnose me or my parents. I brought you here to tell you about her and show you where Milo Evans murdered her.” He looked over his left shoulder and pointed. “Right there in the public restroom.”
“That’s where you trapped Milo?”
“Right there.”
“It must be difficult for you to return here and revisit the feelings that resurface?”
“Please, Liz. Stop analyzing me.”
“Why did you leave New Orleans?”
“I had to get out from under my father’s thumb. After graduation from the police academy, I joined the force because it was the Raymond tradition. My grandfather was a police officer and his dad a sheriff. I decided I didn’t want to work for him and took off north picking up a few odd jobs for money and kept going north until I landed in Vancouver. A roadie
job to a rock band opened up and after a month I fell in love with one of the backup singers.”
“Love is a very strong term.”
“I was head over heels in love with Jamie. That’s her name. Hook, line and sinker. I asked her to marry me.”
“That didn’t work out. You’re not married now.”
“We were close to saying I do. She insisted that I had to go to her hometown and ask her pappy for her hand in marriage. She was old-fashioned that way.”
“So, I take it, you didn’t agree.”
“Wrong. I had full intentions of doing it. She was from a country town in Scotland called Goswick. We saved our money until we could afford the flight. We traveled to see her pappy. I asked for her hand in marriage. He denied my request and Jamie wouldn’t marry me. I returned home heartbroken.”
“That’s a very sad love story. Have you tried to reach out to her?”
“I did once. Her father returned my letter along with a note. He informed me that after we broke up, Jamie left. No one has seen or heard from again.”
“I’m not sure how to respond. Let’s get back to your sister disappearing.”
“Let me explain it one more time what I mean by there’s no trace of her and no one believes me she ever existed.”
***
Judas and Milo sat in front of the command surveillance center focused on monitor two - the entrance to Blaze’s apartment complex. Judas looked at monitor three. “Well, well. What do we have here? Deedra, zoom in on monitor three.”
“Well looky, looky.” Milo adjusted his position for a better view.
Judas nodded. “It’s none other than Matthew and the shrink.”
“Now that’s an interesting twist.”
“It gives you the perfect opportunity to set phase two into action. Start with theirs before going to the House of the Rising Sun.”
“Keep your eye on that goddamn copy-cat. Follow his every move. I want to catch him in the act and give him a dose of his own medicine.”
***
“Let’s walk around the jogging path. The scenery is beautiful this time of year.” Matthew took the lead.
Liz brushed her hair away from her face. “Without a doubt. I can see why you’re fond of this place. It’s very peaceful.”
“I like to walk counterclockwise. I’m not sure why. It’s something we always did as kids.”
As they rounded the bend, an oversized black suitcase caught Matthew’s attention. “What the hell is that doing here?”
Liz stared at the luggage as an expression of urgency controlled her face. “I hope it isn’t another terrorist dirty bomb. They found one in City Park this morning. We need to call it in.”
Matthew retrieved his cell phone and dialed.
“Nine, one, one, what is your emergency?”
***
At FBI headquarters, Agents Locklear and Mansfield delivered the profile of the Surgical serial killer to nine field agents and twenty New Orleans Police officers.
Agent Mansfield addressed the team. “We realize this unsub is very organized by the level of detail he used when he surgically altered his victims. We believe the unsub is a Caucasian male in his early to mid-forties.”
Agent Locklear stepped forward. “We also believe this unsub is well educated, most likely a veterinarian or a surgeon. He will have a passport as he has already killed in Canada, Scotland and in the United States. More than likely, English is his primary language and doesn’t speak any other. If he had, he most likely would have killed in countries where they speak a different language other than his native tongue.”
Officer Reynolds raised his hand.
Agent Mansfield acknowledged him. “Yes, sir. You have a question?”
“You’re describing thousands of individuals. Isn’t this more like a whim? How exact can this profile possibly be?”
“I understand your concern. We are looking for that proverbial needle in a haystack. If we can narrow the hayfield, we can streamline our focus.”
Agent Locklear took a deep cleansing breath. “Criminal profiling isn’t anything recently developed. In fact, the entire profiling concept met with wide acceptance once one of the first profilers accurately predicted twelve of the thirteen characteristics for the serial killer Ted Bundy. After that, it became a science and accepted practice. We believe by analyzing patterns and a serial killer’s signature, we can identify a motive. We find the motive, we find the killer.”
Agent Mansfield nodded in agreement. “Great point Agent Locklear. There are multiple factors when analyzing data generated from victims of a serial killer. The motive could be that he gets a high from it or likes to kill without remorse. His signature can tell us a lot about the unsub. This factor makes for the most dangerous killer. We also must look at the similarities between victims. For instance, females of a certain age, race, father figures or a specific profession. When trying to determine a profile for an unsub’s victimology, ask, what do the victims have in common? Additionally, research has shown most serial killers were abused as a child and often killed or harmed animals.”
Agent Locklear took a deep breath. “Criminal profiling may not provide the identity of the unsub, but it will provide a general description; which brings us back to this case. I would like to emphasize this unsub is extremely organized, shows no signs of remorse, likely works in the medical field as a surgeon or his either a veterinarian or a tattoo artist.”
Another officer raised his hand. “How does a tattoo artist fit into this?”
“Again, by examining the data. More than half of the victims had the same tattoo suggesting a tattoo artist; so, we can’t ignore the facts.”
***
Over thirty police cars, one hundred police officers, twenty State Troopers, four fire engines and the compliment of firemen surrounded the crime scene at Kenner City Park. Two members of the bomb squad dressed in bomb protective clothing and helmets worked strategically to assess the luggage to determine if it contained a bomb.
The taller bomb squad member examined the latest X-ray. “You’re not going to like this.”
“A bomb?”
“It looks to be a dismembered body. We have a homicide. Call in the detectives. Let them analyze for fingerprints and DNA. It’s theirs now.”
“Yo! Detectives, we have a body.”
Matthew and Liz stood beside the lead Homeland Security officer in disbelief. Matthew shook his head. “I’m not sure if I am relieved it wasn’t a bomb. Now somebody else is dead.”
“Mixed emotions are common when something of this significance happens to you. You’ll need time to process the event.”
“Don’t either of you go anywhere.” The Homeland Security Officer’s tone demanded compliance. “You will have to give your statements.”
Matthew stared at him with grudging respect. “No doubt.”
CHAPTER 30
I Spy
Milo wore a maintenance dark gray uniform and a baseball cap as he entered Matthew’s apartment. He carried a black duffle bag accented by Dimension Global’s logo, dropped it at the door and grabbed a beer from the fridge. I have all the time in the world. He plopped down onto Matthew’s couch and propped his feet onto the coffee table. So, this is what it’s like to be Mr. Matthew Raymond. I like my life better. This one is pathetic. I wouldn’t even want to kill anyone in here. I think I’d kill myself.
After Milo drank the beer, he belched. He noticed the pictures on the wall. What? I spy no pictures of baby sis. That’s right, they vanished when she did.
Milo went to his bag, knelt and unzipped it. He dug around until he retrieved a surveillance camera and an intercom piece which he shoved into his ear. “Base come in. Judas, do you hear me?”
“I hear you.”
“Good to go.” Milo moved the coffee table beneath the ceiling light. He used it as a step ladder and installed the camera concealing it from view. He switched it on. “Is it transmitting?”
“Not yet.”
; Milo adjusted the camera and wires.
“Broadcast is loud and clear. Now, go install them at Dr. Wright’s and Blaze’s apartment leaving the House of the Rising Sun last.”
“You say that as if I don’t know. Don’t insult me again.”
The door knob turned; the door creaked opened. Kelly stepped into the apartment. Her fluttering stomach clenched tight as Milo edged nearer to her. She screamed and dropped her purse.
“Ma’am calm down. I’m only the maintenance guy. I’m leaving.” He gathered his tools and duffle bag and headed to the door.
“Did you fix the refrigerator? It doesn’t cool well.”
“I’ll put that on my to do list.”
“Get the hell out of there.”
Milo nodded and glanced up at the surveillance camera.
***
From his command post, Judas barely contained himself as he watched Liz and Matthew surrounded by four police officers.
If I could only hear what they’re saying. I’ll work on that. He looked at monitor two and watched Milo enter Blaze’s apartment building. “Good boy.”
“I’m entering the apartment now. It won’t be long until you have eyes.”
“Remember, get in and out.”
The screen on monitor two turned black and came back on revealing the interior of Blaze’s apartment. “That was quick. Monitor two is receiving the broadcast.”
“Where’s the fucking copy-cat?”
“Looking for his next co-ed.”
“Okay, keep playing I spy.”
***
Surrounded by four police officers Matthew and Liz waited on the bench. Matthew twisted his lips. What a way to spend Easter Sunday. I never get a break. He looked at Liz. “It’s been three hours since they opened the suitcase and here we still sit.”
The Keystroke Killer Page 26