NIGHT MOVES: The Stroll Murders

by Gar Mallinson

  Sabina led the way and grumbled to herself. Harry didn’t want to hear, so he studied the multiple coloured sets of dots, green, blue, yellow, red. As they moved deeper into the hospital, lines broke away until only the blue remained. Eventually they saw a circular information desk.

  Dina Onetree, they were told, was in Acute Care on the sixth floor.

  As the elevator door opened, they saw Alan and Spence in the hall with a uniform. The door to the room was closed.

  “She’s awake, but she can’t tell us much.” Alan sighed, looking at the floor. “She remembers being in a park with a girl named Sally. She remembers Sally leaving her there. She remembers hearing footsteps behind her, and that’s it. She didn’t see anyone.”

  Spence took over. “She remembers wakin’ up in some kind of underground room like a root cellar. That, she can describe. It had a sandy floor and dirt walls. She doesn’t know how long she was there, but she remembers the sand well and how soft it was. So apparently, it wasn’t beach sand.”

  Alan continued. “She dug her way out with a rock she found in the wall itself. I guess she found more than one because she describes one as round and another pointed. Anyway, she dug until part of the wall collapsed and she crawled out. She says the top was made of logs roped together and well hidden. Oh yeah, she was naked.”

  “She said the root cellar thing was in the bush, but she could see a log cabin in a kind of clearing, so it wasn’t that far in the bush,” Spence said.

  As she talked, she got angrier. “She ran in the bush, naked, not even shoes, son-of-a-bitch. She ran, and she knew how to do that without goin’ in circles like most of us would. She went east, she said, found that river, and swam down with the current. Figured it would hit the sea eventually. Get this, she made shoes out of cedar bark. She said the river saved her life.”

  “She said something interesting,” Alan said. “She said they, and she meant they, so that’s confirmed, knew the bush. They were good trackers, as good as her people, but she didn’t think they were Native. She was careful not to leave signs, yet they never lost track of her. She’s convinced they were in the river behind her when she was pulled out. She didn’t see them, but she knew.

  “A lot of what she said is how she felt, not what she saw, like the tracking and the river, but I believe her. She’s lucid and clear about what she remembers. Roberta and Spencer were right. There’s two of them.”

  “And we know a little more now,” Spence said. “The girls were taken from the stroll and they were Tasered. She’s got Taser marks on her belly right where the incisions on the others were made. Maybe that’s the reason for the disemboweling. We’re waitin’ for results on what they used to sedate them.”

  “We can add to that, I think,” Sabina said. “I was in that same park with Sally. She’s a friend, so we can talk to her anytime. Both of us saw a grey SUV that didn’t look right. Too many circles, too slow, wrong place. There were two guys in it, and they weren’t playing around. I’ve got no idea how they saw us ‘cause it’s really dark in there, no streetlights nearby. They tried to get us to go with them, and they didn’t do that in any kind of natural way. They tried to pincher us, you know, one on the side, one in front. I speed-dialed Harry and he came and got us.”

  “I had Will with me,” Harry said. “He hung back behind the rock ridge and followed the guys. They tried again later, a young Native girl with that same sensual aura this girl has, but she was smart, knew something was off, and disappeared in an alley.

  “Will watched the pair spend over an hour looking for her. When he followed them out of town, the driver really floored it and blew two lights. He lost them at the bypass on Jinglepot and figures they went up one of those access roads. He’s convinced these two are our guys. So we’ve got the SUV. Will got the plate number. You guys can run it.”

  “I’ll run it now.” Alan called it in, waited, then grunted. “Stolen plates off a junked wreck. Registered to a woman. Got new plates with a new car.”

  Spence looked at Sabina. “Did these guys spot Will? If they didn’t, we can nail these bastards. Just watch the strip for the car and take them there.”

  “He says no. No evasive action,” Harry said. “He stayed back, not much traffic that time of night, that’s how he lost them. And he said the SUV was fast, probably a six or eight, maybe even souped. The driver was good, and he floored it up the bypass.

  “We should get out of here.” Alan waved them down the hall.

  “We can’t talk to the girl any more today. The doc will let us know if they can identify the drugs. Let’s hit somewhere for an early breakfast. I’ll call Roberta. We need to put all this together, see what we got.”

  They got a back booth in the Acme. It was just past eight. Roberta joined them a half hour later. By that time, the four of them had finished eating and were on coffee.

  As Roberta slid a chair over from an adjacent table, the waitress hustled over with another cup and the coffee pot. She cleared the plates marbled with yellow remnants of egg and refilled cups.

  Roberta plopped a bundle of papers in the center and stirred milk and sugar into her coffee. “Okay, what’d you get from the girl?”

  The four of them threw out bits of information. Occasionally, Roberta asked for clarification and added a comment or two. Slowly a picture began to emerge. They all saw it. Roberta summarized.

  “We have a psychopath, a controlled one until recently, when he was thwarted twice in one evening. And we have an SUV and the stroll. We know he hunts there, we know roughly when, we know what he’s been driving up until now, and we know he won’t be driving that vehicle again, not while he’s hunting. We know he has a place in the woods up in the foothills. Thanks to Dina, we know he Tasers his victims and then sedates them. We don’t know yet what kind of sedatives but will shortly. We know he has a kind of root cellar affair he puts them in. If he did that with one, he did it with them all, and there’ll be some significance attached to that. It’ll be part of the ritual pattern he follows. We now know roughly where he is, and we just have to canvass the area to find him. But if he discovers that’s what we’re doing, he’ll move somewhere else and repeat what he’s done.”

  Roberta took a sip of coffee. “After last night, he might do that anyway, but as long as he’s here, he’ll stick to the stroll. It’s his playground and he’ll keep it. We know from Dina and from Will that he’s white and so’s his partner. Sabina and Sally came close to these guys, so they can verify that. He doesn’t seem to have noticed Will tailing him. Best of all, we know he’s escalating. He’s angry and losing control. He’s missed twice with Dina’s escape, and he can’t function unless that’s redressed. He’s got to find a girl, and he’s got to find her soon.”

  “So should we blanket the stroll tonight? Watch for this creep?” Sabina looked around the table. “And if we do, how do we recognize him? He’s gonna look like everybody else.”

  “We can’t do plain clothes,” Roberta said. “Everybody will know, and the girls will clear out. What we’ve got is sitting right here minus you two.” She pointed to Alan and Spence.

  Roberta sipped more coffee and then shook her head. “It won’t work. We don’t know what he’ll drive or really what he looks like. Sally and Sabina saw only their shapes. Their faces were pretty well hidden in the darkness.”

  “You can add Will to the mix,” Harry added. “And we might be able to get Rory and his crew. Will has them out in the bush looking for these guys and their hideaway. That would give us people they’d never suspect. Rory’s guys are street people, damn near invisible.”

  Spence glared at Harry. “We can’t put a crew of civilians on the stroll. Jesus, we’d be strung up! There’s no way we can allow that. You guys know that. So why the hell suggest it?”

  “She’s right,” Alan said. “You can’t do that. We have to find another way.”

  “What other way?” Harry said. “If we can’t put cops on the stroll, not even plain clothes, how do you e
xpect to get these guys? We’re already involved; we’ve been for most of this. We’re still on retainer to solve the Mary Chan murder, and you can’t do anything about that. In fact, if we choose to cover the stroll on that case, why would you object? We’re all after the same sickos. You’ve been using us all the way along in spite of the rules, so why stop now?”

  Alan shook his head and looked down at the table. He pushed his empty coffee cup around by the handle and that drew the waitress with a full pot. Spence waved her off.

  “If Josie ever finds out what we’ve been doing, it’ll mean our badges and probably your licence. She’s got heavy political connections along with the commissioner, who’s a friend. We’re on really thin ice here.”

  “But look what this psycho’s doing!” Alan said. “We’ve got a chance here, slim, but a chance. You two are legitimately on a case. If we use your people, and you’re linked to us by cell, maybe we can sell the idea after the fact. I can get a crew together on the quiet, have them ready, but it wouldn’t be instant, wouldn’t be authorized, and that might leave you vulnerable. Anything happens to any of you, we’ve got a serious problem. And I can’t afford a leak, so I can’t get many to help.”

  Alan glanced at Spence. “But we’re in this far, I say we go for it.”

  “Jesus, Alan, think about what you’re sayin’! I never did like these guys in the middle of an investigation. No offence ‘cause I know you’re pretty good, but we can’t start doing this kind of thing without compromising damn near everything I can think of.”

  Spence didn’t look apologetic exactly, but less vehement than she usually was, and Harry and Alan both picked up on it.

  “Try this then,” Harry offered. “We’re on about our usual business working for a client. The perp in this case is one you’re also looking for. No surprise there. You’re up at headquarters doing your thing, and we’re on the street doing ours. We find something, and like good gumshoes, we call you. Like good cops, you come to our rescue. Everybody’s happy and we all get our pictures in the paper. We get more clients and you both get a commendation in your files. Where’s the downside?”

  Spence sat back and nodded. “The downside’s that we know it’s not the way this is goin’ down. This is a planned operation involving civilians who shouldn’t be in the middle of an investigation by the RCMP. It’s against everything I believe, against every regulation there is, against common sense… But if we don’t at least try this, we may never get these bastards. So I’m in.” She looked around the table. “This meeting never happened; we just had breakfast, is all. And we all need to get on with our day.”

  Roberta leaned in. “It sounds like we might have a chance to remove these guys. I’ll be at the hotel for another day or so. Call if you need me.”

  She got up and walked to the counter, paid, and left the restaurant.

  Alan nodded to Harry. “Keep in touch.”

  Spence went to the counter and paid their tab. Harry and Sabina waved the waitress over and got refills.

  “I’ll call Will, get him on to Rory and we’ll get it set up for tonight. If your friend Sally wants to help, she’s a natural and we could use her, but she has to know what she’s getting into, and she can’t talk about it ever.”

  “She’ll do it for sure. She knows these creeps as well as anybody, so she’ll help. If the guys see us, we’re part of the landscape. Unless, somehow, we’re special to them. That would be even better, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried for me and Sally again. Don’t worry, H, we’ll stay out of the park.”

  Harry took the last dreg of coffee. “It’s not the park I’m worried about, it’s you two. You may be prime for these guys. You and the Native girl they lost last night. Will knows what she looks like.”

  “See if Sally’ll go for it. I gotta get back to the office, fill in Izzy. Get Will and Rory organized.”

  Sabina paid at the counter, flirted with the cashier, who probably wasn’t more than twenty, and sauntered out, hips swaying. His eyes never left her rear.

  ◆◆◆

  Harry walked up the crescent, paused at the racy lingerie store for a look in the window, and ambled past the pool hall.

  Isabella was at her desk. “Well, well, you’re up. Did you just come in for coffee or are you working? Your other half off flirting with the girls again?”

  “Izzy, I swear, you’re a card. Pithy sense of humour, barbed but pithy. We’re both getting ready to work. Just finished breakfast after all. Any donuts in there?”

  “Three, all cinnamon and all hard as rocks. I got them this morning when I came in. You ought to try that sometime, be a revelation for you.”

  She held out two slips. “You’ve got two calls, one from Will and he says it’s important. He tried your cell and so did I, but being such a private dick, you had it turned off. The other’s from that reporter who said he had some information you’d be happy to have. Smarmy bastard. Don’t like him.”

  “I’ll call Will now. As for Martin, what’d you tell him?”

  “You were in the field, and I didn’t know when you’d come out.”

  “Good on ya! If he calls again, give him the same.”

  Harry opened the door to the office and headed for the donuts. One in hand, he called Will.

  ◆◆◆

  Sabina took a quick wander through the Flying Fish. The place had two rooms with everything from jewellery to couches. It almost always had something interesting hanging on the walls. This time, it was a fireplace, amazingly real looking except for being on the wall. She spent some time looking at cards, then wandered down to the Harbour City gallery and looked in the window. They were showcasing abstracts, mostly in yellows and blues. She continued on to the museum.

  Sally was behind the tiny glass counter doing something with arrowheads. Sabina stood and watched her for a moment. Brown skirt, not too short, but stylish, and a brown silk blouse, Sabina was always amazed at the transformation. Her hair was up, a large tortoise shell comb in the back. When she saw Sabina, she walked out from behind the counter, her manner changed and her movements more fluid.

  “How ya doin’, Boots?”

  “You’re something, you are, Sally. You make me feel good just lookin’. I’ve always wondered, why don’t you have a street name like me?”

  “Why’d you choose Boots for yours?”

  “I think you did that. At least you liked the boots I was wearing. And I do need one, given what I do for a living.”

  “I remember that. You just visiting? You don’t normally come by this early.”

  “Yeah, we need to talk. You going to be free soon? For lunch or coffee or something? We could go to the Aladdin, get a back booth. We need some privacy for this one.”

  “Aladdin’ll be full of cops. Let’s just grab a coffee and sandwich and stay here. I can close up for an hour and we can sit in the storage room.”

  Ten minutes later, a sandwich in hand, Sabina laid it out.

  “You remember in the park? Those guys who tried to get us to go with them? You picked up on the car and when they stopped, you knew they were off. Well, we think maybe they’re the guys we’re looking for.

  “One of our guys, Will, was tailing them and watched them work the stroll again. They tried to pick up a Native girl. She caught on early and gave them the slip. Will said they were very, very thorough searching for her. He followed them all night and thinks they’re losing control. They blew lights and disappeared north in the foothills somewhere.”

  “So I was right. Those two guys were off.”

  “They’ll be back tonight if our profiler’s right, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. We’re going to try to get them tonight, just us, our company. Harry, Will, Rory and his people, me, and you, if you’re willing. The cops know about it and aren’t happy with what they call civilians being involved, but they’re stuck. They can’t prowl the stroll. Everybody’d disappear, including our perps. Our guys are waiting to back us if we find those creeps. Will
you go with me? You have a better sense of when things are off, so you’d be a big help to me.”

  “You have to ask, Boots? Of course, I’ll go with you. Those freaks have to be stopped or more girls will die.”

  Then Sally put her arms around Sabina. “You’re special to me babe. I’ll fight anyone who’s a threat to you. What we’ve got’s not common, especially when there’s a guy like Harry involved who understands you.”

  “He’s a rare man, and I love him beyond measure. He approves of what I do in his own confused way.” Sabina caressed Sally’s cheek.

  Sally put the remnants of lunch in the garbage and grinned. “Let’s get another coffee from Serious and plan how we’re gonna do this, and more importantly, what we’re gonna wear. I’ve still got a quarter hour before I have to open up.”

  “I’ll get the brews, you plan your wardrobe. Back in a jiff. Surprise me.”

  When Sabina returned, Sally had paper spread out on a table and was drawing a rough map of the area. “Thanks, Boots. Stick it on the edge there. Look, if we want to cover the stroll really well, here’s where we should have people.”

  She marked the spots with red crosses. “I know some of Rory’s guys, and if he can get them and keep them sober, we can follow those creeps anywhere they go. Rory’s guys aren’t all like Cage, but they ain’t the cleanest either.”

  Sabina studied the map. “I gotta get this to Harry and Will. Here, let me take a shot and send it to Isabella.”

  “Okay. Now the important stuff. What’ll we wear?”

  ◆◆◆

  Rory and his crew were tired. They’d been in the bush for more than two days and had found nothing. Their vehicles were a few kilometers away on a logging road. About forty percent of the area on the coast guard’s map had been covered, but not as well as Rory would have liked. This was difficult country. The foothills were steep, filled with gorges, streams, and rock ridges, as the hills mounted toward the range of mountains running like a spine along the length of the island.