“Gary, how far do you think it was from Sacramento to wherever it was he took you?” Nick asked.
“I was unconscious nearly the whole time, but I know I was in that vehicle for a long time. I’m guessing he drove us for the better part of a day based on how stiff I was from the trip, and how groggy I was from being knocked out. But to be very clear, I have no idea, because he deprived me of all sense of time. It was pitch black the whole time. For all I know he could have driven for twenty-four hours straight and gone back and forth as a deception.”
Rhodes interjected. “Nick, Google maps says it’s about eighteen hours from Sacramento to Denver. If The Doctor is working in Colorado, then a long road trip would make sense.”
Nick nodded. It was ambiguous, but it fit with his belief that The Doctor was in Colorado. That made the most sense given all bodies had been found in different jurisdictions in Colorado. It would keep things simpler for The Doctor.
“Tell me what happened when you did wake up,” Nick said.
“When I woke up it was pitch black. I was no longer tied up. I needed to get my bearings, so I slowly felt my way around the room. It was tiny. I estimate four feet by six feet with a low ceiling. I could not stand up. And as soon as I started moving around, The Doctor spoke to me over some type of intercom system. I’m sure you already know this, but the guy is creepy in every way imaginable. He acted like I was simply his guest, and he wanted to make sure I was comfortable. On top of everything else, it was all weird. He would turn on the lights for brief periods, but most of the time it was dark. I’m sure he wanted to keep me disoriented. He did.”
Knight went on to describe the inner workings of the doors, slots, food delivery, handling of personal waste, and the overall detail of the room and its workings. “But the part that was most interesting, and this will be important for the investigation, is that this is a mine of some sort.”
Nick said, “What?”
“There is no doubt about it, and he wanted us to know. The walls are impenetrable. I tried to dig my way out, but there was no progress to be made. And the rooms are soundproof, but the floors and ceilings are raw, and they’re part of a mine.”
“How would you know a mine from any other type of rough surface, say a hole that’s been dug?” Nick asked.
“Well, I could always be wrong. But two reasons. First, as the leader of the Coalition of Values, I visit all sorts of interesting places. As you know, in Colorado coal mining is a huge industry. I have been underground probably a dozen times. For a layman, I understand mines pretty well. This was that. I’m sure. Maybe naturally occurring, so a cave, but it was definitely that hard material. Secondly, if somebody dug a hole like a cellar or something, the material on the floor and ceiling would have been much softer, and when I tried to dig I would have made some progress. This was hard, impenetrable material – at least without the appropriate tools.”
Nick nodded, stepped away to give Knight a break, and called Barela. “Kelly, it’s Nick. Take a hard look at those videos and see what the floors and ceilings look like. I’m hearing it’s a mine. Figure out what we have, will you?”
“We had noticed something unusual with the ceilings, but we hadn’t focused on that. We’ll do it right now.”
Nick went back into the room with Gary Knight and encouraged him to talk about the play.
“I don’t know how long I had been there because I really had no sense of time. But it definitely had been several days. One morning the slot lifted up slightly, and my breakfast along with a detailed script was slipped through. This is really important for you to know. The Doctor made it very clear that if I did not play my part, he would harm those close to me. He provided detailed information about my family and close friends, and he told me he would murder all of them if I did not comply. As part of that warning, he told me if I did survive, if I talked to law enforcement, he would know, and he would kill my friends and family. I believe him. I’m scared what’s going to happen to them now that I’m talking to you. But since you have the video, I don’t guess I have much choice. I hope you’ll protect my friends and family.”
Nick nodded, and Knight continued.
“This screenplay had us act out this violent, pornographic sequence. He provided unlimited male enhancement pills, so I could perform without issue. It was clear to me from the beginning that I either had to kill everyone in that room, or I would be killed. I’m pretty sure the other three had the same instructions.” Knight’s demeanor became detached as he further elaborated on the atrocities. “Knowing what I know now, I think it probably would have been better for me if I had died in there. I’m ashamed of my actions. At the time, I was afraid for my family. I don’t know what I was supposed to do, or what I’m supposed to do now.”
“Mr. Knight,” Nick replied, “you’ve done a great job giving us information that will help move this investigation forward, and I thank you. We will have one of our detectives get with you shortly to get a list of people that need protection. I will do everything I can to keep any of what has happened from hitting the press. I know you must be distraught from all of this.”
Knight nodded.
“I do have one final question. Is there anything else you can think of that might help us find this murderer?”
Knight looked pensive. He shook his head. “I can’t think of anything, Detective. But I will spend some time recreating all of this to see if there’s anything else important. I don’t want another soul to have to go through this. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make it.”
“And now, Mr. Knight, if you will stand and put your hands behind your back, you are under arrest.”
“What?”
“Mr. Knight, we have you on video murdering three people. You have just admitted you did it. You will be afforded all the rights of anyone in this situation. For now, you are under arrest. For all I know, you are the serial killer.”
Knight paled but remained seated.
Nick stepped aggressively towards him. “There’s an easy and a hard way to do this.”
“But I cooperated,” Knight whined.
“Bullshit! You tried to conceal this. You did nothing in Sacramento when you were released. You flew home on a private jet. You didn’t tell the other detectives when they came to talk to you. Only when pressed were you forthcoming. That’s not cooperation, that’s weakness. You are under arrest. Stand up and put your hands behind your back. Now.”
Knight did as he was told. Nick and Rhodes led him out to the patrol car waiting outside. Two burly policemen loaded him in the back and drove away.
Jillian’s forensics team was also waiting search warrant in hand.
“I don’t think he’s our guy, but I’ll be interested to see what you find. Someone like that, it may be nothing, and it may be a treasure trove of illegality,” Nick said.
“We’ll see,” Jillian said as she moved past him with her team.
“Lynch,” Nick answered as he pulled out of the driveway.
“This is quick and dirty,” Barela started, dispensing with any formalities, “but he’s right, it’s a mine. We’ll have to do more work, but I’d stake my reputation on it.”
“Explain.”
“I worked at an underground coal mine out on the Western Slope over breaks and during the summer when I was in college. Mines are recognizable because they have structures to hold up the roof and walls. They’re manmade, so the areas mined tend to be straight, level, symmetrical. I studied the video, and this is definitely a mine. You can see the beams, the structure put in.”
“Thanks, Kelly, that helps a bunch.” Nick hung up, then selected Mark Wagner, an old friend, from his contact list. Wagner answered on the first ring.
“Nick?”
Nick was born and raised in Colorado. For many years, the state’s second leading industry, behind tourism, was mining. Many of his friends had pursued a career in the field. Mark was one of his very best friends from junior high, and he was also Chief Operatin
g Officer of the state’s largest mining company. The two of them, plus Randy Herde, had formed a triumvirate when they were teenagers
“Hey, Mark. I need some help. I’m sure you’ve been reading about this serial killer we’re trying to catch. He’s active right now, and the longer it takes us to catch him, the more people are going to die. It turns out he’s working out of some kind of mine, and our guess is that it’s in Colorado. I was hoping you could help us figure out who this is.”
“This is unbelievable. Whatever I can do to help.” Mark said.
“I’m guessing with everything you know about the mining industry, all the people you know, all the contacts you have, you can figure out who this guy is quicker than anyone. Given your contacts, and their contacts, I’m guessing you all know almost every person in the mining industry in Colorado, at least someone capable of this complex a mine.” Nick was talking quickly, scrambling his thoughts.
“Not a problem,” Mark replied. “You want me working from your office or mine?” Fortunately, they were both downtown, so Wagner could walk back and forth in a few minutes if required.
“I’m going to be back downtown in ten,” Nick replied. “Why don’t you pack up all your fancy gadgets and meet me at my office?”
Even as tense as the situation was, Mark laughed. “Do you have any extra offices there? I was thinking about bringing my administrative assistant, too. She’s been with me for fifteen years and can cover a lot of ground for us. She’s a database expert, and that’s a big part of what we’re going to need.”
“We have a war room in one of the conference rooms, so you two can settle there,” Nick replied. “We’ll probably go ahead and commandeer a second, smaller one as well just for you two; this thing’s going pretty fast at this point.”
“All right. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. I’ll call Ronnie and get her there as soon as possible as well.”
Nick hung up. It was past seven o’clock.
“Nicholas Lynch,” he answered, convinced The Doctor would call him.
Silence, and finally a halting voice spoke. “Detective Lynch.”
“Yes,” he said in anticipation.
“This is Governor McFadden.” Nick’s heart sank. Not only was it not The Doctor, it was the last person in the world he wanted to talk to.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Governor?”
“I know this is awkward, but I was calling to get a status on the hunt for Phyllis.”
Nick’s anger and frustration culminated at that moment. He muted the phone, placed it on the dash, and then almost broke his hand hitting the steering wheel.
After regaining his composure, he picked up his phone and unmuted the call.
“Mr. Governor,” he said, “all I can tell you is that we’re doing everything we can to find Phyllis. I will ring you if I have further information.”
Mark Wagner was less than ten minutes behind Nick, and he arrived with Ronnie Hull, his assistant, in tow.
“Thanks for being here,” Nick said.
Mark hugged him tightly. “Nothing more important than friends and family,” he replied emotionally.
“Thanks, brother,” Nick said, leading Mark and Ronnie to the conference room.
“I got us a second conference room,” he offered. “The war room is over there.” He pointed to a larger room across a sea of cubicles. “This way you two can work without interruption, and if you need someone else in here, you have plenty of room.”
Being as cautious as possible, Nick formally deputized both Mark and Ronnie. He did not want evidence excluded through machinations of a crafty defense attorney.
A junior detective on the team ensured they had appropriate supplies and were connected to the secure network. As Ronnie and the young detective were setting up, Mark said to Nick, “I need to understand ground rules here. Ronnie and I are going to get busy calling, texting, and emailing people and pulling others into this. We need to know what we can and can’t say, what we need to tell people, how we get them to keep information confidential, all that stuff.”
Nick had already considered this. At this point, he didn’t really care much about protocol or procedures. All he cared about were results. He was literally trusting this man with his wife’s life.
“Mark, we need this solved quickly. I trust your discretion. You know the different people you’re talking to, how discreet they are and all of that. We don’t have time for formalities. You do whatever you think is right.”
“Good answer,” Mark said, then turned to Ronnie.
“Ronnie, here’s what I want to do. Let’s reach out to every CEO and COO we know. Why don’t you use our contact list to develop that database. I’ll craft language to send out via text and email. Then I’ll follow up with a phone call as soon as those go out.”
Nick made to leave, but then paused. “Mark, do you have a minute? I want to show you something.
“Sure.” Wagner followed him to the secure video conference room.
As they walked in, Nick said, “I’m going to show you the video that is key to the investigation. But first I have to ask. Are you going to be okay seeing a video of rape, torture, and murder? In my whole career, this is one of the most profoundly disturbing things I have come across. I don’t want to offend or disturb you, so I need to ask. I do think it will help you better understand why we are working around the clock on this. And there may be clues for you in the video.”
Wagner nodded, “I’ll be fine. I’m a miner. My stomach is pretty strong.”
With that, Nick started the video.
Wagner watched, horrified and enraptured. “Do you mind if I drive?” he asked, indicating he wanted the remote control.
“Sure,” Nick said, handing it to him.
As the action progressed, Wagner paused, backed up, and took notes.
When it finished, he said, “You are correct. This is a mine. More specifically, this was created specifically for this. It’s not a repurposed mine. This room with the doors accessing it does not make sense for any type of mining operation in Colorado, be it hard rock mining like for gold or silver, or the most predominate form of mining here, coal mining. One thing of note, too, is that this could have been done by a single individual with the right tools. He would have to be experienced at both mining and engineering. The design would require a creative, experienced, smart mining engineer. The execution would not be that difficult for an experienced miner. As long as he had the right tools, it would be pretty easy for him to do this.”
Nick nodded.
“I know you have a lot to do. Let me get back with Ronnie. It did help seeing this, gruesome as it is. I better know what I’m looking for now.
As soon as he returned from seeing the video, Mark drafted the text in minutes in mail merge format so Ronnie could quickly send the messages out at the same time.
Mark’s message was delivered to every Colorado mining CEO and COO within an hour of his arrival at the headquarters. Then he got busy calling each of them, and information began arriving quickly. Those in the mining industry in Colorado viewed themselves as family, and they would not tolerate one of their own committing these horrid crimes.
“Nicholas Lynch,” Nick answered, swearing he was going to never answer another cell phone once this was finished.
“It’s Sandy.” Nick checked his watch. It was approaching midnight. “We landed and are taxiing to the gate.”
“Sandy, you’ve had a long day. Why don’t you let the guys take Smith and you go home and get some sleep?”
“No can do, boss,” she came back. “I’m not letting this guy go until that call comes in. I talked to Bosworth from the Toronto airport to see how he wanted to handle this. They’ve made arrangements so I can cohabitate with Smith until that call comes in. The triangulation equipment and experts are at the office. One of the technicians will stay with me at the jail. I’m too much of a control freak. I need to be there, to make sure Mike Smith keeps up his end of the deal. I’m going to l
ive at the jail until that call comes in.”
Nick had not worked all the way through the logic on this. While he felt he would find The Doctor quicker going through Wagner, it was very possible Smith would end up being the better way, depending on when the call came in. The good news was they now had two credible approaches.
“It sounds like you’ve thought this through pretty well, Sandy.”
“You have enough on your plate. I thought I could handle one for you.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“No problem. We’ll get there in time, Nick. Don’t worry.” That wasn’t possible.
“Can I see you a minute?” It was Bosworth. Nick couldn’t remember the last time he had updated his boss on the progress of the investigation. Too many things moving too fast.
“Go ahead and shut the door behind you,” Bosworth said as Nick followed him into the office. He thought this was unusual given the late hour—couldn’t be good.
“Nick, it’s late, and I’m tired,” Bosworth started, “so I’m not going to spend a bunch of time beating around the bush here. With all that’s happened, first with Alisha and now Phyllis, the obvious conflict of interest, everything, I’m pulling you off this investigation.”
“No, you’re not.”
Snuff Page 27