by David Archer
“Mrs. Rogers,” Sam said, letting a bit of steel come into his voice. “What are you going to say when I tell you that I saw one of your sons get killed a couple of weeks ago?”
She looked up at him instantly, and Sam saw that while she hadn’t expected the question, it hadn't come as a complete surprise, either. “What?” she asked, trying to look startled. “What do you mean? Jared is fine!”
Sam grinned, knowing he had her. “Mrs. Rogers, I didn't say it was Jared I saw killed, but you already knew it had to be him. It happened on Marquette Road, about three miles from this spot. He ran out in front of my car in the middle of the night, but before I could stop and find out why, he was shot in the face by a shotgun that took most of his head off. The killer was gone by the time I got stopped, and there was nothing I could do for your son, so I called the police and let them handle it.”
She sat there for a moment, silent. Sam could tell she was trying to figure out what to say to cover her own ass, and then tears began to fall.
“I didn't know,” she said, “but I'll confess I've wondered. When I get the calls, it's always from a blocked number, and I wondered if maybe it was Daniel. He just sounds different, somehow.” She let out another deep sigh.
“When it happened,” Sam said, “your son was wearing a cheap suit, but he had on expensive underwear and shoes, and a very expensive cologne. His hair was done up pretty professionally, too, and I know that isn't cheap. Any idea why he'd have been dressed in such a fashion?”
She nodded. “Yes. When he was released, they gave him a suit to wear, but as you say, it was from some discount store. Daniel bought him some clothes, basics, you know, and took him out to be groomed. I'm sure he got him the cologne, as well.” She sighed. “I confess I'd wondered if something had happened to Jared. When he decided to leave, he didn't come back and tell me, just called on the phone and left it to Daniel to pack up his things for him.”
Sam felt anger rising; as Indie had said, no one should die alone and unwanted. “And you didn't think it important enough to come forward? I just found out that your son is buried in a pauper's grave not far from here, and no one even knew his name.”
She looked back at him, and there was a bit of fire in her eyes. “And what would you have had me do? Accuse my other son, the only one I've got left, of killing him? I don’t know for sure that's what happened, Mr. Prichard, and even if it did, I have no proof! If Daniel killed Jared, then it's because there was bad blood between them, and a lot of it. I'm sorry, and I did love both my sons, but Jared caused us a great deal of heartache! Those aren't the kinds of things you ever get over, not completely, and I'm sure that there must have been more that I didn't even know about. Daniel was the one who stayed out of trouble, who went to college and became a good husband and provider. If he had some resentment toward his brother that made them enemies, I can't say I don't understand. I certainly had my own share of grief from him, you know; their father's death was around the same time as when Jared went into the hospital, and I'm sure knowing the truth behind it was part of the reason why he took his own….” She stopped suddenly. “I don't want to discuss this any further, Mr. Prichard. And I think that I would like you to leave, now.”
Sam shook his head, disgusted. He wondered if he would feel differently if he had sons of his own, but he doubted it; murder was murder, no matter who does it, and no matter who the victim is. Sam wouldn't say there weren't some times when it was justified, and even necessary, and he'd been one to make that call himself in recent years; still, there was something about this case that just rubbed him the wrong way.
He left, and as he got into the car, a thought struck him; Genevieve Rogers was going to confront her husband about his kinky little excursions, after Sam had just become convinced that the man was a killer. Suddenly he was worried for her safety, and dialed her number.
No answer. Sam called Indie.
“Hey, Babe,” she answered.
“Indie, Momma Rogers says Jared was released from the hospital two months ago, and Rogers lied about his latest business trip to spend time with her and his brother. I'm pretty sure that Daniel killed Jared, and that means he's not afraid to commit murder. If Genevieve tells him what we found out, she could be in danger! Try to reach her and warn her, and get the cops on it, too; call Karen Parks and tell her I'm about to hand her another murder case. I'm on the way to Daniel's place, now.”
“Got it!” she said. “And look at your email; I dug up what you asked about, and you were right!”
Sam thanked her and hung up, then gave the Corvette's big engine enough throttle to leave black marks on the highway, even though he was already doing sixty. Indie called him back to say that Karen was going to look into it, and Sam filled her in on everything he'd learned from Daniel's mother. After he'd told her the whole conversation, Sam hung up, pushed the car for all it was worth and hit one-twenty on some of the long, straight stretches, fishtailing around all the corners. He got to Rogers's condo building in less than twenty minutes, ahead of the cops.
Sam rang the buzzer, but there was no answer. Sam was trying to figure out what to do when a woman came out. Sam forced his way past her and into the building, then ran through the hall and up the stairs to their unit.
Sam’s bad hip didn't like it when he ran, but it had learned that there were times when he would ignore it. This was one of those times; it was screaming when he got to the third floor, but he didn't care.
As he got to the door, Sam heard shouting, and then a scream. He tried the door handle, sure it would be locked, but it turned and opened, and there in front of him was a scene Sam never wanted to see again: Rogers had his wife held by one arm around her throat, and a butcher knife pressed to her jugular.
“HEY!” Sam yelled as he ran inside, and she used the momentary distraction to bite Daniel’s arm like a pit bull. He let out a screech and let her go, the knife flailing away from her for a moment, and she ducked out of his grasp just as Sam got hold of his collar and dragged him back from her.
“Heel, Fido,” Sam yelled, but that only set him off worse, because he whirled and swung the knife at Sam's face. Sam fell back, and that turned out to be a good move; he followed, and the more Sam fell back, the more Daniel came after him. Stumbling backward was another of those things Sam's hip hated, and it began screaming at him almost immediately, but Sam kept going anyway. Rogers kept coming after him as well, and just as steadily. Sam could see Mrs. Rogers, cowering on the floor behind her husband, but she had a phone in her hand, and Sam hoped she was calling for help.
He shouldn't have let his attention slip, because another swipe of that knife caught him on his right arm. It hurt like mad and Sam yelped, but he didn’t let himself slow down a bit.
He continued to fall back, drawing Daniel out and toward the hallway, but the madman got lucky again and caught Sam's left shoulder with the tip of the blade. It stabbed in, though not too deeply, and Sam actually fell as he tried to pull away from it. He hit the floor, his hip screaming in protest as his leg got twisted under him for a moment. Daniel advanced with a look of pure glee on his face, ready to finish him off and get back to what he'd been doing when Sam interrupted.
He lunged at Sam, ready to bring the knife down into his heart, but Sam wasn't out, yet. He rolled, swung his feet in around Daniel's and clamped his legs between his own thighs and calves. When Sam continued rolling, it brought Daniel down onto the floor on his back, and Sam got to his knees and punched him in the throat as hard as he could.
His shoulder was screaming from the stab wound, but Sam put everything he had into it anyway, and the punch left Daniel gasping for breath. Sam got up on his feet and kicked the knife away, just as three cops came rushing in with Indie right behind, telling one of them that he could take his order to stay back and shove it up his…
Sam smiled, as the paramedics brought up the rear of the little convoy.
13
Detective Karen Parks showed up only moments later
and took over. Mrs. Rogers explained that she'd hired Sam to find out what her husband was up to, and that when she confronted him about the Roseblood club, he'd gone nuts. He'd told her that she had no right to interfere with his life, and when she'd tried to tell him she cared about him and was worried, he'd told her that she was just like his mother, always getting in the way. He had lost all connection with reality at that point, and that was when he grabbed a knife and tried to stab her. She'd fought him off for a few moments, and Sam had come in just as he was getting the upper hand.
Karen turned to me. “So, this is really the twin brother, right? Your girl filled us in on that part, and I guess that explains why he seemed so different, right?”
“Yes,” Sam said. Sam pointed at the man in cuffs on the floor. “This is Jared, the twin, who was locked up in a mental institution for years. The one I saw killed was Daniel.”
“How are you so sure of that?” asked Karen.
“Simple enough; the John Doe couldn't be identified by fingerprints, and Daniel has never been arrested or served in the military, so his fingerprints wouldn't be on record. Indie found out that Jared had a few run-ins with the police when he was younger, even before he was committed for trying to kill his brother, so his fingerprints are on file somewhere. When he got out, released because he was supposedly successfully treated with some new therapies, he came home, and at first they were glad to see him, but my guess is that Daniel got fed up with Momma gushing over her poor little boy who was finally back with her. Sort of like the prodigal son story in the Bible; the one who'd always been there was jealous of the one who'd been gone and come back. After a while, I'm sure Jared figured out that Daniel was going to try to get rid of him, and turned the tables. He probably forced Daniel at gunpoint to trade clothes with him, but somehow Daniel got the chance to run and did. Unfortunately, he ran out in front of my car and froze, and that's what gave Jared the chance to fire the killing shot. Momma pretended not to know what was going on, but she admitted that she'd begun to wonder if one of her sons had killed the other.”
“That would explain the sudden divide between him and Mrs. Rogers,” said Indie. “Jared probably hated everything to do with his brother's life, including his wife.”
Sam shook my head. “Probably,” he said. “I've been thinking about the stories of when they were teenagers, though, and I don't think there was just one of them who was bad; I think they both were, but maybe in different ways. Some kinds of cruelty are related to hereditary conditions, and when we dug into things, we found that Mrs. Rogers's story about her husband having a heart attack was another lie; he actually killed himself, after being implicated in the rape and sadistic torture of a teenage girl.”
Daniel/Jared had caught his breath and was sitting in a chair, hands cuffed behind his back with two officers holding onto his shoulders. He looked at Sam with a face full of hate.
“You don't know what you're talking about,” he said. “I've never killed anyone. My brother wanted out of his life, bad enough to talk me into trading places with him. We're identical, so he took over my life and I took over his. He was heading for Florida, the last I knew.”
“Really?” Sam asked. “Sounds like you've made a mess of it, haven't you? How did you get mixed up in the Roseblood club?”
Jared flashed them an evil grin. “That was just another way I took over my brother’s life,” he said. “You are right about one thing, he and I really are absolutely identical. He was a member even before they bought our old estate, he's the one who told them it was for sale.” He shrugged. “I've been missing out on that kind of action all those years. That was the thing that got me to go along with his crazy plan.”
Karen looked at him. “You claim you never killed anyone, but we just caught you in the act of trying to murder Mrs. Rogers and Detective Prichard. That doesn't look like you were all that sane when they let you go, not to me.”
Jared shook his head vigorously. “Okay, okay, I lost it,” he said. “But I'm telling you, I'm telling you the truth, I never killed my brother or anyone else.”
Karen agreed that there was enough evidence to arrest Jared for two counts of attempted murder, and assuming the body that would be exhumed from the potter's field turned out to be his brother, for murder, as well. He was taken into custody. Mrs. Rogers, who had just learned that her real husband was dead, was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries and shock.
Sam went to the ER with Indie to get a few stitches of his own.
While they were in the ER, Indie looked at Sam. “Got any new ideas on how the cases linked together?”
Sam shook his head, but then he grimaced in pain. “Near as I can tell, they don't, not really. I can't find any way to connect Daniel—I mean, Jared, to what happened at Animal Partners, and as for the kinky club, I guess it was just the place where Daniel went to get his jollies. Jared got rid of him, then took over his membership, but to be honest, if we hadn't been suspicious about it, he'd probably have gotten away with murder. If I hadn’t seen him in a vulnerable spot, naked and being whipped, he'd never have looked enough like his brother for me to make the connection to the dead man in the road.”
She shook her head. “This was by far your weirdest case, yet.”
Karen came into Sam's room just then. “How are you feeling?”
Sam grinned at her. “I feel like some lunatic just tried to stick me with a butcher knife. You got everything under control?”
“I suppose so,” she said. “There's just one thing bothering me, and I was hoping maybe you could help me straighten it out.”
“Sure, if I can,” Sam said. “Shoot.”
Karen nodded. “Sam, I've interviewed a lot of suspects, and even confronted a view of them with damning evidence. One thing I've gotten pretty good at is spotting the signs of deception, and while I know Jared is crazy already, he wasn't showing any of the normal tells when he claimed he didn't kill his brother. I can't help but wonder if there's not something we're missing. Any thoughts on the matter?”
Sam sat and stared at her for a moment. “None that I can think of at the moment. To be honest, I was convinced Jared killed Daniel even before I went to that apartment, so I guess I was biased. It's doubtful we’ll ever find the shotgun, or any other way to tie Jared to the murder. If he doesn't break down and confess, he might still get away with it.”
Karen shot him a rueful eye. “Or, maybe he's actually innocent of that particular crime.”
“I suppose he could be,” Sam said with a grimace. He turned to Indie. “I guess we're still looking for a killer, after all.”
14
Indie drove Sam home and tried to help him into the house, but he managed it on his own. They were sitting on the couch watching television a bit later when Sam's phone rang again. The caller ID showed the number of the hospital.
“Sam,” he heard Jack say when he answered. “What's this I hear you done got yourself all cut up?”
Sam chuckled. “It isn't as bad as all that,” he said. “How did you hear about it, anyway?”
“Man, don't you ever watch the news? You all over it tonight. They saying you caught another murderer. I don't suppose there's any chance it was the same guy who killed Max, is there?”
“Sorry, Jack,” Sam said. “I'm afraid there's no connection between the two cases. I believe the man I caught today killed his own brother, but he isn't connected to Max or Animal Partners.”
“He isn't?” Jack asked, and something in his voice made Sam suddenly pay attention. “His name was Daniel Rogers, right? Big investments guy?”
“That's right,” Sam said. “Are you saying you knew him?”
“Well, no, not me personally,” Jack said. “Max did, though, he was one of the guys who put up money for the organization to run on. Some kind of tax-deductible thing, I gather.”
Sam was stunned. How in the world had they managed to miss looking at the funding committee for a possible murder suspect? Just like the staff membe
rs, they were all deeply connected to Animal Partners. Sam couldn't guess what kind of motive any of them could have for murder, but he had left an entire field of potential suspects untouched.
“Jack,” he said, “you may have just given me something that will help break your case. I need to make some other calls, but I'll get back to you soon.”
He hung up the phone without waiting for Jack to say goodbye, and was scrolling through his contacts a second later. He found the name he wanted and hit the icon.
“Carol Spencer,” he heard the attorney say as she answered.
“Carol, it's Sam Prichard. I've got to ask you a question, and I sure hope you can answer.”
“Hi, Sam. As long as it doesn't violate client confidentiality, I'll be glad to answer. Go ahead.”
“You told me at the hospital that one of the people from the Animal Partners funding committee was the one who retained you as Jack's attorney. Who was it?”
Indie was sitting beside Sam, staring at his face and watching his reactions. When his eyes went wide, she knew that he suddenly had the answer he’d been seeking. When he got off the phone, he asked her to look something up online, and the answer she brought him moments later told him he was right.
He called Karen Parks and told her what he had just learned, and she agreed that he seemed to be on the right track at last. The only problem was that they still had no idea where to find the shotgun that had killed Daniel, but Sam didn't let that stop him. He knew who the killer was, and had every intention of seeing an arrest made before the day was over.
Indie helped him change clothes and then they drove the rented Lincoln to the hospital. Jared Rogers was being held there in a psychiatric ward, with police officers on duty to make sure he didn't escape. He wasn't allowed visitors the way a normal patient would be, but Sam had made special arrangements.