Night Strike

by Rodney Mountain

  "Who died first?" Corrie asked suddenly.

  The CSI techs looked up, shrugging their shoulders. Robin looked at the bodies and then over at Corrie. Nick wondered what Corrie was thinking. She walked over and looked at the bodies again and then at the carpet that the techs were working on.

  "The girl died first," Corrie said, "Had to have. She doesn’t have struggle wounds on her and the blood splatters confirmed she died close to where she was."

  "There are smears," Robin said, "The body was moved, but the blood that leaked out from his one post-mortem hole was stationary on her body."

  "The big question is why?" Nick said.

  "The girl had had sex," Robin said suddenly after taking a closer look, "She’s dilated enough and there’s some fluid in there."

  "Not with him," Corrie said, "Condom was too clean."

  "He doesn’t look like he’d had an erection near death either," Robin said, "So who was she with?"

  "Was it consensual?" Nick asked Robin.

  "It was either rape or very rough," Robin said, "Probably rape."

  "That puts a whole new slant on this," Corrie said, "So the fluid might be from the killer…"

  "We know that whoever it was didn’t plan on Henry Wright," Nick said, "Remember, she said that he left later in the evening and hadn’t made plans."

  "Let’s go talk to the guard again," Corrie said, "I don’t buy his story. If someone raped Sandy Calitri I doubt she was quiet about it."

  "Agreed," Nick said, "I also don’t buy he was the only guard."

  "Terry!" Corrie yelled, "Was there another guard here?"

  "Yeah," Terry said, coming into the room, "There’s a desk guard, but he clocked out before the body was found. The kid spent his last hour at the desk and made the round where he found the bodies when the second shift front desk man came in."

  "Have you found the other guard yet?" Nick asked him.

  "I’ve got the blues out looking for him," Terry said, "He’s not at home, haven’t been able to find him yet."

  "What’s his name?" Nick asked.

  "Roger Howard," Terry said, "Jake Robertson hit the house, nobody there."

  Corrie went over to a telephone and made a call while Nick asked a few more questions. She had half a smile on her face when she came back to Nick. Nick and Terry looked at her curiously, wondering what she’d found.

  "Robertson said the place looked like it wasn’t inhabited," Corrie told him, "Mail was piling up and the newspaper hadn’t been collected for about three days. Why do I get the feeling that the other guy wasn’t here last night?"

  "That might explain a bit," Nick said, "Shall we go have another chat with our guard?"

  "I think that’s prudent," Corrie nodded, "Can you run a check on both guards and on Endicott Nichols?"

  "Sure," Terry said, "I’ll have that information by the time you get done with the kid."

  "Thanks," Corrie said.

  Chapter 9

  Nick and Corrie went back to the room where the security guard was pacing nervously. Corrie walked in and sat down, looking at the guard with an expression of concern on her face. Nick saw that she was pulling the good, but worried cop routine, so he decided he’d be the one who was blustering.

  "You’ve been lying to us, Morton," Nick said, "I want to know why."

  "I haven’t!" Morton protested, his face showing the lie.

  "How many rounds did you make between 11 and 2?" Corrie asked him, "And don’t lie to me."

  "At least three!" Morton said, "The clock goes off at random intervals. Damned if I can remember when."

  "And you saw nothing," Nick said, "Right?"

  "Nothing at all!" Morton exclaimed.

  "Then explain why the lights were on in the office," Corrie said, "From 11:12pm to 1:13AM, to be exact."

  "You can’t…" Morton said, the color draining out of his face.

  "The news stations keep a camera on the skyline," Corrie said, "This building is visible and Henry’s office is easily distinguishable."

  "I didn’t see anything…" The kid said.

  "I know you’re lying," Nick said, "Why don’t we go down to the station…"

  "You didn’t make any rounds, did you Joe?" Corrie said, "You were down at the front desk all night."

  "Huh?" Nick said, looking at Corrie.

  It was obvious from the look on the kid’s face that Corrie had hit it right on the money. Nick saw that Corrie had an idea and let her run with it, realizing that she’d have a better chance to pull the truth out of the kid if she knew what she was doing.

  "Roger Howard didn’t come to work last night," Corrie said, "In fact, I’d be willing to bet he hasn’t been in all week."

  "How could you know that…" Nick said and shut up again.

  "Damn him," Joe sighed, "He and Julie wanted this vacation so badly. They’d saved up for it for a year and then the management denied the vacation time because they didn’t want to pay for a substitute guard."

  "So you and he devised a plan to give him his vacation and still get paid," Nick said, figuring out what was going on.

  "Yes," Joe said dejectedly.

  "You took the desk and faked the rounds," Corrie said, "Giving that lame excuse when the others showed up in the morning."

  "Yes," Joe nodded.

  "So you have no idea what happened up there," Nick said, "You know, you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble just by telling us the truth."

  "I was trying to save my job," Joe said, "We’re both going to get fired now."

  "I won’t say anything unless I have to," Nick shrugged, "If they were that cheap then they can waste the time to figure it out themselves."

  "Since you were at the desk," Corrie said, "Who came in and out while you were here?"

  "Nobody came in or out the front," Joe said, telling the truth, "I didn’t even know they were here. They all had to have come in before I took the desk."

  "Could someone have left without you seeing them?" Nick asked him.

  "Sure," Joe said, "At eight the second shift locks all the doors but the front one, but they all have exit latches. Someone could easily have left without my seeing it."

  "Stay put, Joe," Corrie said, "We’ll come back and talk to you later."

  Joe nodded and went back to the couch, much relieved at finally having the truth out. Nick and Corrie went back over to the office and looked around again.

  Chapter 10

  Nick sat down on a chair and tried to play out in his head what had happened.

  "Ok," Nick said, "So whoever the killer is came in here and raped Sandy Calitri."

  "Right," Corrie nodded, "Probably right there on that couch, as it’s the most convenient place to do something like that."

  "So let’s break it down," Nick said, "Sandy Calitri obviously fought a bit, with the killer finally ending her life with a pistol."

  "Where did the pistol come from?" Corrie asked suddenly, "Did the killer bring it with him?"

  "Terry," Nick said, "Did you check firearms records for Henry Wright?"

  "There’s a .38 caliber Colt," Terry said, looking at his notes, "I called that in an hour ago."

  "Carry permit?" Nick asked him.

  "Premises permit," Terry said, "This address. CSI has been looking for the weapon. I figured I’d tell you if we found it."

  "Keep looking," Nick said, "So there was a gun here. Murder of opportunity?"

  "So the killer rapes Calitri," Corrie said, "What happened after that?"

  "Takes the gun from Henry’s desk," Nick said, "If there was a gun here that’s where it would be."

  "Ok," Corrie nods, "Takes the gun and shoots Sandy Calitri. Where’s Henry during all this?"

  "Not here," Nick said simply, "He wouldn’t have sat through Sandy being raped. A guy that rich wouldn’t have had to take it from her by force either."

  "I question your logic on that one," Corrie said, "But it’s unlikely Wright would have been this stup
id even if he had."

  "Right," Nick said, "So he comes in and finds the killer with Sandy."

  "Wright is surprised," Corrie said as she looked at the doorway, "Why didn’t he run?"

  "Woman in trouble," Nick said, "Chivalrous instinct. He couldn’t tell she was dead yet."

  "She might not have been," Corrie said, "She was probably in shock at the end."

  "So he gets up and faces off with Henry," Nick said, "Why hit him flat hand to the heart?"

  "Maybe the killer knew Henry had a heart condition?" Corrie said, "Could have been an inside job."

  "So the killer gets up from Sandy and goes and thumps Henry," Nick said, tracing the steps, "Killing him."

  "He goes and gets the gun he knows is in the desk," Corrie said, walking to the desk, "Since he knows he has no choice he kills Sandy Calitri."

  "So why does he place the bodies like that and put a condom on Henry’s dick?" Nick said, "That makes no sense."

  "It makes perfect sense," Corrie smiled, "Think about it. What did that lawyer insinuate downstairs?"

  "He wanted us to…" Nick smiled, "The killer was counting on us looking at the scene and not investigating it as close as we should have."

  "It was improvised," Corrie said, "Too clumsy to have been planned out. They also couldn’t have known that the guards were pulling that stunt."

  "That just leaves the who," Nick said, "You don’t think it could be Endicott Nichols do you?"

  "Is he strong enough for that?" Corrie wondered.

  "Sandy Calitri was small," Nick said, "And Henry was getting old and had a nasty heart condition."

  "He’s also got a record," Terry said, "Endicott Nichols is on probation for an attempted sexual assault three years ago."

  "Why come back?" Nick said, "That doesn’t make sense."

  "Wait a minute…" Corrie said, "Endicott said he was at his father’s prayer breakfast. Did anyone check that?"

  "Give me a minute," Nick said and made another phone call to the television station.

  "You realize how big a mess this will be if Endicott Nichols did it?" Robin asked them, "The trial will be a spectacle."

  "No it won’t," Nick said, "Senator Nichols will hang his son out to dry. He’ll have to if he wants to stay in office. Endicott was not there this morning. Trace has been covering those breakfasts for two years and has yet to see Endicott at one."

  "Endicott lied to us," Corrie said, "Imagine that."

  "Let’s go have a conversation with the young man," Nick said, "I think we need to find out where he was this morning."

  Chapter 11

  Endicott was still sitting in the other room, looking as arrogant as ever. Nick and Corrie pulled up chairs in front of them, both of them wearing very serious expressions on their faces. He looked at the two cops with scorn and a smile on his face.

  "Where were you this morning, Endicott?" Nick asked him, "You didn’t quite make it to your father’s prayer breakfast."

  "Ok," Endicott shrugged, "So I slept in. So what?"

  "You seem to have a thing for women," Nick said, "Young and pretty ones especially."

  "Don’t most people?" Endicott said, scowling at Nick.

  "Most people don’t assault them," Corrie said, "You have a record, Endicott."

  "That was a misunderstanding," Endicott said, shrugging.

  "I’m sure it started out that way with Sandy Calitri too," Nick said, "But it ended up with you raping her on the couch in your boss’s office."

  "Prove it," Endicott said, smiling in a way that proved it to both Nick and Corrie, "You’ll never get it off the ground."

  "Sure," Corrie said, looking at his hands, "Your hands will tell us all we need to know."

  "My fingerprints are all over this place," Endicott shrugged, "Try again."

  "Not your fingerprints," Corrie said, "The blood. Human blood doesn’t wash off easily. It leaves stains on the hands, even after being washed off."

  "Robin!" Nick yelled, "Can you bring the electrospectrograph out here so we can check for blood on Endicott’s hand!"

  "You can’t!" Endicott said, standing up quickly, "That’s not legal!"

  "Sure it is," Corrie said, realizing what Nick was doing, "Your hands are in public view. We just have to aim the device at them."

  "Then we just have to match your DNA to the semen in Sandy Calitri," Nick said, "It’ll be easy enough."

  "You won’t find any cause I wore…" Endicott, very flustered by this point, started to say before he could stop himself.

  "You wore a condom to rape her," Nick said, smiling, "It’s over Endicott. I wouldn’t say anything else. You have the right to remain silent…"

  "Fuck you!" Endicott yelled and rushed Nick, his eyes appearing even wider in rage behind those thick glasses.

  Nick dodged and watched the kid trip over Corrie’s outstretched leg. Terry Moore and one of the uniformed police officers tried to catch the kid, but he went straight for the edge of the stairwell. Terry missed by inches as Endicott Nichols the Third went over the railing and tumbled into the abyss.

  "Shit!" Nick exclaimed.

  "Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy," Corrie said as she stood up and walked to the railing, "He did it, sure as hell."

  "Is the electrospectrograph something new?" Terry asked them as they all peered down at the body lying five stories below, "I’ve never heard of it."

  "It doesn’t exist," Nick said, "I made it up to trip him up. Didn’t quite expect that reaction though."

  "Robin," Corrie said, "Run the DNA analysis. I’m betting you’ll find enough to tie Nichols to it."

  "No bet," Robin said, "This is the easiest case you’ll have all year."

  "Easy?" Nick said, "Not hardly! Do you know how friggen long Corrie and I are going to spend sitting in depositions about Endicott’s death?"

  "We’ll be dealing with this case for a month," Corrie agreed.

  "I guess we should call it in," Terry said, still looking down at the body, "Before someone notices."

  "Probably should," Corrie agreed.

  "I say let’s go for Coffee first…" Nick said, looking away in disgust.

  Other Titles by Rodney Mountain

   

  Immortal Universe Novels

   

  The Healy Murders

  Durell’s Insurrection

  The Accidental Immortal

  Undercover

  The Killer Strikes

  Anoki's Revenge

  The Immortal Progression

  Corporate Immortality

  Not With a Whisper

  The Mullinix: Ascension

  The Mullinix: Redemption

  The Mullinix: Resolution

   

  Other Works

   

  The Black Fossil