Det Annie Macpherson 02 - Programmed To Kill

by Speake, Barbara Fagan

  One of the other residents passed by. ‘Everything OK, Jim?’

  ‘Sure, I’m trying to get hold of Patrick Mearns. You know him, apartment 103?’

  ‘Can’t say I do, Jim. Mostly know my neighbours on the third floor.’ With that the man opened the door and left the building.

  Capelli buzzed a third time to no avail. ‘Damn,’ he muttered as he walked the length of the corridor again, stopping at Mearns’ door. He knocked. ‘Mr Mearns, it’s the building superintendent. I have a message for you.’ He knocked again and waited a few seconds but there was still no answer.

  ‘Damn,’ he muttered to himself again as he put his key in the lock. As soon as he opened the door he noticed there was a funny smell. He glanced in the kitchen, the door already open, thinking Mearns must have cooked something spicy the night before. He had no idea what the guy’s tastes were. ‘Mr Mearns, are you here?’ His voice echoed down the hallway. There was no sign of Patrick Mearns in his living room. Then he remembered the secretary saying he could’ve had a heart attack. The bedroom door was shut, so he knocked on that. No answer.

  Now it felt very strange. He didn’t exactly like being in someone’s apartment, but at least he didn’t have some jittery secretary next to him. Now that he was this far, he had to check it out. Carefully, he opened the bedroom door, in case the guy was asleep or up to something.

  ‘Holy shit!’

  Capelli fell back against the doorjamb, the contents of his stomach rising. He covered his mouth as he ran down the hallway. Hands trembling, he struggled to find his cellphone. His breath caught as he pressed for 911.

  ‘Emergency services, how can we help?’

  ‘I need the police, at Rowan Buildings, 589 the Boulevard, Westford. I was asked to check on the tenant in apartment 103. He … he looks dead.’

  ‘Your name sir?’

  ‘Jim Capelli. I’m the building superintendent.’

  ‘Have you checked for a pulse?’

  ‘I ain’t touching the guy.’ Jim’s breathing grew heavier. ‘I’ll have nightmares as it is.’

  ‘I’ll dispatch an ambulance and the police. What’s the tenant’s name?’

  ‘Patrick Mearns. He’s a lawyer. His office called me because he hadn’t turned up to work,’ said Capelli gabbling.

  ‘Stay there, Mr Capelli. The services are on their way.’

  *****

  Ellison picked up the lunch tab and a moment later, they entered the bright sunlight.

  ‘Is it me, or is the weather getting even hotter?’ Annie remarked as she followed him out of the diner.

  Ellison nearly commented that it was wedding day weather, but that would be insensitive, not a remark to cheer her up as he would have intended it to be. He wanted to know more about what’d happened between Annie and her ex, but the conversation over lunch hadn’t come back round to it. Maybe he would bring it up in the car. He was thinking of a way into the conversation as he unlocked the door, but his cellphone ringing interrupted his thoughts. It was a good few seconds before he said anything. ‘Yeah, really?’ Ellison was nodding his head as he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. ‘What’s the address? … I know the building. We’ll be there in ten minutes.’

  Annie looked at him quizzically.

  ‘Sounds like we have an identical case to Father Bannister. It’s a lawyer this time – Patrick Mearns. Bronski’s already there. Franconi wants the three of us to work it.’

  ‘What did he say about it being identical?’

  ‘Genitals sliced up, jeans around his ankles, mouth covered in tape. This time the tape was left on.’ Ellison pulled out into the traffic.

  ‘Makes you wonder if we’re dealing with a paedophile ring. Maybe one of the victims has grown up and decided to take revenge,’ Annie ventured.

  ‘They sound too similar not to be connected, don’t they?’ The traffic was light and Ellison parked within eight minutes of receiving the call. He retrieved his digital camera.

  The first officer on the scene was patrol Officer Petersen, another familiar face to the detectives. He took their names and badge numbers for the crime scene log, which he passed to Ellison for perusal.

  ‘Have you filled Detective Bronski in with the details?’

  ‘Yeah. I arranged the Medical Examiner and he’s on the way, as well as Heaviley and his team. Detective Bronski arrived ten minutes ago. I’ve handed the scene over to him, but he’s asked me to assist until everyone’s arrived and to keep the log for him. The only person here when I arrived to secure the scene was Jim Capelli, the building supervisor, who found the body and dialled 911. Detective Bronski is in the kitchen talking to him.’ The officer then handed the two detectives the protective clothing. Annie and Ellison walked down the hallway and turned right into the kitchen.

  Bronski looked up as they entered the room. ‘Detective Macpherson and Detective Ellison, this is the building superintendent, Jim Capelli. He was telling me why he opened the door of the apartment and came to look for Patrick Mearns.’

  Capelli repeated the story for the benefit of the other two. Annie took the phone number of the secretary from him and slipped out of the room. When she was out of earshot, she spoke to the woman, who was now in tears at the news. She confirmed Capelli’s story. Annie asked her what the building superintendent had told her. It was brief: only that it looked like her boss had been murdered.

  Annie returned to the kitchen and gave Bronski a nod to indicate that the story checked out.

  ‘Mr Capelli, I know this has been a big shock for you. Don’t describe what you’ve witnessed to anyone, especially the press. There are some details we need to keep out of the public domain, known only to the murderer.’

  ‘Sure. I won’t say anything. I don’t even want to think about what I’ve seen,’ Capelli responded.

  ‘We have your statement but we may need to speak to you again. Give Officer Petersen your contact numbers on the way out.’

  Chapter 22

  When the three detectives were alone, Bronski started the briefing. ‘I need to see the autopsy photos from Bannister to be sure. However, what I’ve seen in the bedroom looks identical to those injuries you described to me. The Medical Examiner is on the way, as is Heaviley’s team, but you need a look yourself to tell me if I’m right about this.’

  Annie and Ellison followed Bronski down the hallway to the master bedroom. Sunlight illuminated the room and the body seemed to take on a macabre glow. With the wall of mirrors, it was on view from most angles. The bed was soaked in blood and much of it had congealed and turned a dark brown colour. The duct tape was still on the victim’s mouth and his hands were under his body. It was difficult to confirm without turning him over if his hands were also taped, but from the positioning of his arms, it looked as if they were.

  ‘Obviously, we can’t move him until Heaviley arrives and all the crime scene photos are taken. Now tell me, from the look of him, what strikes you as similar?’ Bronski asked.

  Annie took out her notebook and flicked back to the section describing Bannister when he was found. ‘Bannister was lying on his back when he was found, blood congealed around the lower half of his body. When the paramedics cut away his cassock, his trousers and underwear were down just below his knees. Blood was still oozing from the wounds at that point. They noticed bruising around his lips and wrists but were not clear what had caused it. His wrists were not taped when he was found.’ Annie then flipped forward a few pages. ‘On that point, the Medical Examiner concluded that the bruising on the mouth and wrists was from some kind of tape. Of course, the Medical Examiner was dealing with Bannister following surgery and some of the deep lacerations in the genital area had been surgically repaired. The lacerations were on both sides of the groin area, so that his scrotal sac was virtually severed and the penis also
heavily lacerated.’ Annie stopped and looked at her colleagues.

  Ellison continued. ‘Until the body is cleaned up, it’s difficult to be certain. My guess though is that Patrick Mearns has very similar injuries. The Medical Examiner will have to confirm. I’ll get a few shots for us to use while we wait for the official photographs.’

  ‘Good,’ Bronski replied as he and Annie moved out of Ellison’s way, waiting until he was finished.

  ‘That’ll do for now,’ Ellison said a minute or so later.

  ‘I haven’t taken a look around the rest of the apartment yet, as I needed to speak to Capelli,’ Bronski said. ‘So let’s do that while we’re waiting for Heaviley and the Medical Examiner. Ellison, check the back entrance. Macpherson, call his office again and find out about next-of-kin. We need to notify his relatives before this gets out. Tell his office that we’ll need to interview all of the staff tomorrow.’ Annie retrieved the number for the law office and started to make the call, as Bronski added, ‘OK, let’s look in the other rooms. I suspect we can rule out robbery as a motive, but let’s see if anything seems out of place.’

  The back entrance was accessed through what appeared to be the lawyer’s home office. Ellison tried the patio door. It was locked and there were no signs of tampering. It would need to be dusted for fingerprints so Ellison was careful not to obliterate any. Looking around the room, nothing appeared to be out of order. In fact, the room was exceedingly neat. There was a computer on the desk, but it was switched off, as was the desk lamp. It didn’t look as if he’d been working in there when he was disturbed. There were three filing cabinets in the room, each locked. Ellison wondered what secrets the computer, or even the filing cabinets might hold. Were they dealing with a paedophile ring? He was still waiting for information from Dan Parker about the contents of Father Bannister’s laptop.

  Bronski was in the living room when Ellison found him. ‘Can’t see any signs of a disturbance in here. How about you?’

  ‘The guy was some kind of neat freak. The office in the second bedroom is pristine. Can’t see any signs of an entry from there either. We need to examine the computer to see if there are any similarities to Bannister’s. Maybe they exchanged photos.’

  Annie joined them. ‘The kitchen is the only area showing any signs of activity. He was eating cheese and olives and there’s half a glass of wine poured from the bottle. The coffeemaker is still switched on. He had a legal pad on the table but nothing on the top sheet. Either he hadn’t written anything on it or the top sheet or more were ripped off. We might get lucky and find some prints on the pad.’

  ‘So, are we all thinking that Mearns let the murderer in by the front entrance?’ Bronski asked.

  ‘Looks that way,’ Ellison replied. ‘There’s an intercom, so whoever came in would’ve been buzzed in. Makes you think he knew his attacker.’ Before Ellison could continue, the apartment door opened. Dr Fogarty, the Medical Examiner, came through, together with Glen Heaviley. Other crime scene investigators, including the photographer Annie recognised from the Bannister scene, accompanied them.

  Fogarty acknowledged them, before turning to Bronski. ‘I understand you’re leading on this one Detective Bronski. What’ve we got?’

  ‘This is the apartment of Patrick Mearns, a partner in the law firm of Atkinson and Mearns. The body is in the bedroom, found by the building superintendent who phoned it in. I’ll show you.’ Bronski led the way to the master bedroom.

  Fogarty stepped nearer to the edge of the bed while the others stayed back. ‘It seems from the positioning of the body that he was murdered here right on his bed,’ Fogarty commented. ‘If he’d been moved you wouldn’t have this pooling of blood.’ Heaviley stepped forward to take a look and indicated he agreed.

  Putting his gloves on, the Medical Examiner began to check the body for stiffness. ‘Rigor mortis is almost complete, so I’d say he’s been dead for up to sixteen hours. Usually after about eighteen hours, the body starts to become more flaccid again but that’s not happening as yet. Lividity is also fixed, another sign that the body hasn’t been moved. I’ll take his body temperature. Could someone take a reading of the room temperature?’

  Heaviley gestured to one of the technicians who did as instructed and also noted down the air conditioning and heating settings for the apartment. Next, the photographer took several photographs of the body in situ before Fogarty and Heaviley turned the body over so that more photographs could be taken. Mearns’ hands were bound together with duct tape, as the detectives had guessed. Both his hands and feet were bagged so that evidence would be preserved.

  Annie stepped out of the bedroom, leaving Bronski with Fogarty and Heaviley, so she could try Mearns’ work phone number again to get next-of-kin details. Annie didn’t recognise the woman’s voice answering the phone. It didn’t sound like Elizabeth, but before she could get the woman’s name, the call was transferred to Clive Atkinson.

  ‘I’m Patrick’s partner in the law firm,’ Atkinson explained.

  ‘I’m sorry for your loss, sir. We need to notify Mr Mearns’ next-of- kin.’

  ‘Of course, Detective. Please hold on, I’ll get his personal file.’ Annie recorded the address and phone numbers of his parents. She wasn’t sure who would be visiting them.

  ‘Are there any details as to the nature of his death that you can give me, Detective?’ the senior partner asked.

  ‘No sir, not at the moment, except to say that we believe we are dealing with a homicide.’ Annie was being cautious as she wasn’t lead on the case.

  ‘Will we be able to keep the name of the law firm out of the papers?’ Atkinson asked.

  ‘That’s not up to me, sir, but I’ll pass on your concerns.’ So much for being upset that his partner is dead, thought Annie. ‘Sir, we’ll need to interview everyone in the firm tomorrow to confirm Patrick Mearns’ last twenty four hours.’

  ‘Of course, I’ll make sure everyone here knows. Please tell his family to call me and I’ll go and see them as soon as I can.’

  Annie closed her cellphone and waited in the kitchen, until the body, which had been placed in a plastic coated body bag, sealed with a tamper proof seal for transport to the morgue, was stretchered out of the apartment. Then she returned to the bedroom where she found her two colleagues with Glen Heaviley. The photographer was still taking pictures of the scene and another technician was sketching out a grid to search the room for any trace evidence. Fogarty had already left the building.

  The three detectives moved into the hallway so Annie could feed back to Bronski. ‘Sir, I have his family’s details. Gillian and David Mearns, his parents are next-of-kin. They live in a place called Niantic.’

  ‘Down on the shoreline,’ Ellison informed her. ‘It’ll take about an hour to get there.’

  Bronski looked at his colleagues. ‘I’ll have to fill Franconi in. I’m sure he’ll need to issue a press release, given that this is our second homicide. The press are going to have a field day. Any chance you two could visit the family? It’s got to be the priority. We can’t release the name of the murder victim until they’ve been informed. You’ll also have to ask about identifying the body.’

  Ellison turned to Annie. ‘I know Niantic. Want to see the Connecticut coastline?’ Annie nodded. Then Ellison turned back to Bronski. ‘Surely this guy had a cellphone. I’ve not seen one lying around anywhere.’

  ‘No, you’re right. Maybe Heaviley will find one. If not, we’ll ask the law firm tomorrow for the number, chase the records. The murderer might have taken it.’

  *****

  The traffic was nose to tail on the route to Niantic and it took Ellison the best part of an hour and a half to get into the town. Annie had managed to ring Charlie as they were setting off to cancel their evening together. Now she was involved in two murder inquiries, her private life had to fit around
work commitments. She had to focus now, as they were getting closer to their destination. ‘This is very different from Westford,’ Annie remarked, as they crossed the bridge into Niantic itself. ‘Looks quite quaint. Can’t see the people living here rushing off to some office job. I’ve never seen so many screened-in porches and barbeques. Look at all the boats moored. What a great place to live.’

  ‘What you’ll find is a mix of permanent residencies and vacation places. The permanent cottages are more substantial in terms of storm windows, heating and cellars. The summer cottages aren’t used in winter very much. I guess the residents will commute into Westford or New London or maybe some local jobs. You wouldn’t mind the commute, coming back to some of these houses and the views. Let’s see, I think the parents’ place will be off to the left.’ Ellison took the next turn.

  ‘Two mothers within a week, that’s a record for me,’ Annie remarked as they pulled up in front of a small cottage with a screened-in porch. There was a smell of salt water in the air, she noticed, when she opened the car door.

  ‘I’ll do the talking this time,’ Ellison said, as they walked down the path. ‘It’s my turn.’

  Annie was relieved. Notifying relatives was worse than witnessing the crime scene in her view.

  Both parents were home after returning from a meal out. Gillian Mearns became quite hysterical at the news. David Mearns agreed to do the formal identification the following day. ‘We’re really sorry for your loss, Mr and Mrs Mearns. I’ll arrange for someone from our Family Liaison Service to meet you at the mortuary tomorrow, Mr Mearns. Should we say about eleven o’clock?’ Ellison finalised the details and confirmed that David Mearns knew Westford Hospital and was confident of finding the mortuary.