Gone ,but not forgotten

by Philip Margolin

  "For what?"

  "I'd prefer the contents of the pardon were not revealed until you decide the threshold question of admissibility," Betsy said.

  "This is getting extremely complicated," judge Norwood said.

  "Mrs. Tannenbaum, why don't we have the guards take Mr. Darius back to jail. It's obvious to me that this is going to take some time."

  Betsy's stomach churned. She felt like she might collapse.

  "I'd like to confer with Mr. Darius in private. Can I use your jury room?"

  "Certainly."

  Betsy walked out of the judge's chambers. She felt light-headed as she told the guards that judge Norwood was letting her confer with Darius in the jury room. One of the guards went into the judge's chambers to check with Norwood. He came out a minute later and the guards escorted Darius into the room. Betsy looked toward the rear of the courtroom, just as Reardon walked into the hall.

  A guard stationed himself outside the door to the courtroom. Another guard was in front of the door that opened into the hall. Betsy shut the door to the jury room behind them and turned the lock. A table long enough to accommodate twelve chairs filled the center of the large room.

  There was a narrow rest room in one corner and a sink, countertop and cabinet filled with plastic coffee cups and dishes against one wall. The other wall held a bulletin board covered with announcements and cartoons about judges and jurors.

  Darius sat down at one end of the table. He was still dressed in the clothes he was wearing when he was arrested. The pants were rumpled and his shirt was wrinkled. He was not wearing a tie and he had jail-issue sandals on his feet.

  Betsy stood at the edge of the table trying not to look at the door to the corridor.

  "What's going on?" Darius asked.

  "Page knows about the pardon. Colby told him."

  "That son-of-a-bitch."

  "Page wants to have the judge take Colby's testimony in secret, so the senator's chances of being confirmed won't be affected."

  "Fuck him. If he tries to screw me, I'll take him down. They can't use that pardon anyway, can they?"

  "I don't know. It's a very complicated legal issue."

  There was a knock on the hall door. Darius noticed the way Betsy jerked her head around.

  Are you expecting someone?" he asked suspiciously.

  Betsy opened the door without answering. Reardon was standing behind a guard. She was holding a black Gladstone bag.

  "This lady says you're expecting her," the guard said.

  "That's right," Betsy answered.

  Darius stood up. He stared at Reardon. His eyes widened. Reardon looked into those eyes.

  "Don't…" Darius started. Reardon shot the guard in the temple. His head exploded, spraying flesh and bone over her raincoat. Betsy stared.

  The guard crumpled to the floor. Reardon pushed Betsy aside, dropped the bag and locked the hallway door.

  "Sit down," she commanded, pointing the gun at Darius. Darius backed away and sat in the chair at the end of the table. Reardon turned to Betsy.

  "Take a chair on the other side from me, away from Darius, and fold your hands on the table. If you move, Kathy dies."

  Darius stared at Betsy. "You planned this?"

  "Shut up, Martin," Reardon said. Her eyes were wide. She looked manic.

  "Dogs don't talk. If you utter a sound without my asking, you'll suffer pain like you've never known."

  Darius kept his mouth shut and his eyes riveted on Reardon.

  "You made me an expert on pain, Martin. Soon you'll see how well I learned. My only regret is that I won't have those private moments with you that you shared with me. Those days alone together when you made me plead for pain. I remember each night we shared. If we had time, I would make you relive every one of them."

  Reardon picked up the black bag and placed it on the table.

  "I have a question for you, Martin. It's a simple question. One you should have no trouble answering. I give you permission to answer it, if you can. Considering the time we spent together, it should be a breeze.

  What's my name?"

  Someone pounded on the hall door. "Open up! Police."

  Reardon half-turned toward the door, but kept her eyes on Darius.

  "Get away or I'll kill everyone in here. I've got Betsy Tannenbaum and Martin Darius. If I hear anyone at the door, they die. You know I mean it."

  There was a scraping at the door to the courtroom.

  Reardon fired a shot through the top of the door. Betsy heard several screams.

  "Get away from the doors or everyone dies," Reardon yelled.

  "We've backed off" someone shouted from the hall.

  Reardon pointed her gun at Betsy. "TALK to them.

  Tell them about Kathy. Tell them she'll die if they try to come in here.

  Tell them you'll be safe if they do as I say."

  Betsy was shaking.

  "Can I stand up?" she managed.

  Reardon nodded. Betsy walked to the courtroom door.

  "Alan!" she shouted, fighting to keep her voice from breaking.

  "Are you okay?" Page shouted back.

  "Please keep everyone away. The woman in here was one of the women Darius kidnapped in Hunter's Point. She's hidden Kathy and she's not feeding her. If you capture her, she won't tell me where she's holding Kathy and she'll starve to death. Please keep everyone away."

  "All right. Don't worry."

  "In the hall, too," Reardon commanded.

  "She wants everyone away from the hall door, too.

  Please. Do as she says. She won't hesitate to kill us."

  Reardon turned her attention back to Darius.

  "You've had time to think. Answer the question, if you can. What's my name?"

  Darius shook his head and Reardon smiled in a way that made Betsy feel cold.

  "I knew you wouldn't know, Martin. We were never people to you. We were Fantasy figures."

  Betsy could hear people moving around in the courtroom and the corridor.

  Reardon opened the bag. She took out a hypodermic. Betsy could see surgical implements lying on trays.

  "My name is Samantha Reardon, Martin. You're going to remember it when I'm through. I want you to know something else about me. Before you kidnapped me and ruined my life, I was a surgical nurse. Surgical nurses learn how to mend broken bodies. They see parts of the body wounded and twisted and they see what a surgeon has to do to relieve the pain injuries cause. Can you see how that information might be useful to a person who wanted to cause pain?"

  Darius knew better than to answer. Reardon smiled.

  "Very good, Martin. You're a fast learner. You didn't speak. Of course, you invented this game. I remember what happened the first time you asked me a question after telling me that dogs don't speak and I was foolish enough to answer. I'm sorry I don't have a cattle prod handy, Martin. The pain is exquisite."

  Reardon laid a scalpel on the tabletop. Betsy felt sick. She sucked air.

  Reardon ignored her. She moved down the table closer to Darius.

  "I have to get to work. I can't expect those fools to wait forever.

  After a while, they'll decide to try something stupid.

  "You probably think I'm going to kill you. You're wrong. Death is a gift, Martin. It is an end to suffering. I want you to suffer as long as possible. I want you to suffer for the rest of your life.

  "The first thing I'm going to do is shoot you in both kneecaps. The pain from this injury will be excruciating and it will cripple you sufficiently to prevent you from being a physical threat to me. I will then ease your pain by administering an anesthetic."

  Reardon held up the hypodermic.

  "Once you're unconscious, I'm going to operate on you. I I'm going to work on your spinal cord, the tendons and ligaments that enable you to move your arms and legs. When you wake up, you'll be totally paralyzed.

  But that won't be all, Martin. That won't be the worst part."

  A glow suffused Reard
on's features. She looked enraptured.

  "I'm — also going to put out your eyes, so you won't be able to see. I'm going to cut out your tongue, so you won't be able to talk. I'm going to make you deaf The only thing I'm going to leave intact will be your mind.

  "Think about your future, Martin. You're relatively young. You're in good shape. A healthy specimen. With life support, you'll stay — alive thirty, forty years, locked in the perpetual darkness of your mind.

  "Do you know why they call prisons penitentiaries?"

  Darius did not respond. Reardon chuckled.

  "Can't fool you, can I. It's a place for penitence. A place for those who have wronged others to think about their sins. Your mind will become your penitentiary and you'll be locked in it, unable to escape, for the rest of your life."

  Reardon positioned herself in front of Darius and aimed at his right knee.

  "You in there. This is William Tobias, the police chief I'd like to talk to you."

  Reardon turned her head and Darius moved with uncanny speed. His left foot shot up, catching Reardon's wrist. The gun flew across the table.

  Betsy watched it skid toward her as Reardon staggered backward.

  Betsy's hand closed on the gun as Darius grabbed Reardon's wrist to snake loose the hypodermic. Reardon lashed out with her foot and kicked Darius in the groin.

  She jabbed the fingers of her- free hand at his eyes. Darius moved his head and the blow caught him on the cheek. Reardon leaped forward and sank her teeth into Darius's throat. He screamed. They smashed against the wall. Darius held tight to the hand holding the needle.

  He grabbed Reardon's hair with his free hand and tried to pull her off.

  Betsy saw Darius turn white from pain.

  Reardon struggled to free the hypodermic. Darius let go of Reardon's hair and smashed his fist into her head several times. Reardon's grip loosened and Darius pulled away. The flesh around his throat was ragged and covered with blood. Darius grabbed Reardon's hair, held her head away from him and smashed his forehead against her nose, stunning her.

  Reardon's legs gave way. Darius snapped her wrist and the syringe fell to the floor. He moved behind Reardon, wrapping an arm around her neck.

  "No!" Betsy screamed. "Don't kill her. She's the only one who knows where Kathy is."

  Darius paused. Reardon was limp. He was holding her off the ground so only her toes were touching. His choke hold was cutting off her air.

  "Please, Martin!" Betsy begged.

  "Why should I help you?" Darius yelled. "You set me up.

  "I had to. She would have killed Kathy."

  "Then Kathy's death will be a fitting punishment."

  "Please, Martin," Betsy begged. "She's my little girl."

  "You should have thought of that when you decided to fuck me over,"

  Darius said, tightening his hold.

  Betsy raised the gun and aimed it at Darius.

  "Martin, I will shoot you dead if you don't put her down. I swear it.

  I'll keep shooting you until the gun is empty."

  Darius looked across Reardon's shoulder. Betsy locked eyes with him.

  He calculated the odds, then he relaxed his grip and Reardon collapsed on the floor. Darius moved away from Reardon. Betsy reached behind her.

  "I'm opening the door. Don't shoot. Everything is — all right."

  Betsy opened the door to the courtroom. Darius sat down at the table with his hands in plain view. Two armed policemen entered first. She gave one of them the gun. The other officer handcuffed Reardon. Betsy collapsed on one of the chairs. Several policemen entered from the hall.

  The jury room was suddenly- filled with people. Two officers lifted Reardon off the floor and sat her in a chair opposite Betsy. She was still struggling for air. Alan Page sat next to Betsy.

  "Are you all right?" he asked.

  Betsy nodded mechanically. Her attention was riveted on Reardon.

  "Samantha, where is Kathy?"

  Reardon lifted her head slowly. "Kathy is dead."

  Betsy turned pale. Her lips trembled as she tried to hold herself together. Reardon looked at Alan Page.

  "Unless you do exactly what I say."

  "I'm listening."

  "I want what Peter Lake got. I want a pardon for everything. The cop in the hall, the women, the kidnappings. I want the United States attorney to guarantee no federal prosecution. I want the governor here personally.

  We'll videotape the signing. I'll walk. just like Lake.

  Complete freedom."

  "If you get your pardon will you tell us where you're holding Kathy Tannenbaum?"

  Reardon nodded. "And Nancy Gordon."

  "She's alive?" Page asked.

  "Of course. Nancy is the only one who continued to track Martin. She's the only one who believed me. I wouldn't kill her. And there's something else."

  "I'm listening."

  "I can give you the proof to convict Martin Darius of murder."

  Darius sat rigidly at the far end of the table.

  "What proof is that?" Page asked.

  Reardon turned toward Darius. She smiled.

  "You think you've won, Martin. You think no one will believe me. A jury will believe a crazy woman if she has proof to back up her testimony. If she has photographs."

  Darius shifted a little in his seat.

  "Photographs of what?" Page asked.

  Reardon spoke to Page, but she stared at Darius.

  "He wore a mask. A leather mask. He made us wear masks too. Leather masks that covered our eyes. But there was one time, for a brief moment, when I saw his face. just a moment, but long enough.

  "Last summer, a private investigator named Samuel Oberhurst showed me pictures of Martin. As soon as I saw the pictures I knew he was the one.

  There was the beard, the dark hair, he was older, but I knew. I flew to Portland and I began to follow Martin. I was with him everywhere and I kept a photographic record of what I saw.

  "The week I arrived, Martin threw a party to celebrate the opening of a new mall. I mixed with the guests and selected several women to use as evidence against Martin. One of the women was his mistress, Victoria Miller. I sent a picture of Martin leaving their room at the Hacienda Motel to Nancy Gordon to lure her to Portland.

  "The evening after I gathered Victoria, I followed Martin. He drove into the country to Oberhurst's house.

  I watched for hours while Martin tortured Oberhurst.

  When Martin took his body to the construction site, I was there. I took pictures. Most of them did not come out, because it was night and there was a lot of rain, but there's one excellent photograph of Martin lifting the body out of the trunk of his car. The trunk light illuminated everything."

  Page looked across the table at Darius. Darius met Page's stare without blinking. Page turned back to Reardon.

  "You'll get your pardon. We'll go to my office. It will take a while to firm up everything. Will Kathy and Nancy Gordon be — all right?"

  Sloane nodded. Then she smiled at Betsy.

  "You didn't have to worry. I lied about starving Kathy. I fed her before I came here, then I put her to sleep. I gave Kathy her stuffed animal, too, and made certain she was nice and warm. I like you, Betsy. You know I wouldn't hurt you, if I didn't have to."

  Page was about to tell two of the officers to take Reardon to his office when Ross Barrow rushed into the room.

  "We know where the girl is. She's all right. Tannenbaum's investigator found her in Washington County."

  The woman the medics carried out of the dark basement looked nothing like the athletic woman who told Alan Page about Hunter's Point. Nancy Gordon was emaciated, her cheeks sunken, her hair unkempt. Kathy, on the other hand, looked like an angel. When Stewart found her, she was in a drugged sleep, lying on a sleeping bag, hugging Oliver. The doctors let Betsy touch Kathy's forehead and kiss her cheek, then they rushed her to the hospital.

  In the living room, Ross Barrow took a statement from an excited R
eggie Stewart while Randy Highsmith looked at photographs of Martin Darius that had been found during a search of the house. In one of the photos, the trunk light clearly showed Darius lifting the dead body of Samuel Oberhurst out of the trunk of Martin Darius's car.

  Alan Page stepped out onto the porch. Betsy Tannenbaum was standing by the railing. It was cold. Page could see the mist formed by her breath.

  "Are you feeling better, now that Kathy's safe?" Page asked.

  "The doctors think Kathy will be fine physically, but I'm worried about psychological damage. She must have been terrified. And I'm frightened of what Reardon will do if she's ever released."

  "You don't have to worry about that. She's going to be locked up forever."

  "How can you be sure of that?"

  "I'm having her civilly committed. I would have done that even if I was forced to give her a pardon. The, pardon wouldn't have prevented me from committing her to a mental hospital if she's mentally ill and dangerous.

  Reardon has a documented history of mental illness and hospital commitments. I spoke to the people at the State Hospital. There will have to be a hearing, of course.

  She'll have a lawyer. I'm certain there will be some tricky legal issues. But the bottom line is that Samantha Reardon is insane and she will never see the light of day again."

  "And Darius?"

  "I'm dismissing all of the counts except the one for killing John Doe.

  With the picture of Darius with Oberhurst's body and the evidence about the murders in Hunter's Point, I think I can get the death penalty."

  Betsy stared at the front yard — The ambulances were gone, but there were still several police cars. Betsy wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

  "A part of me doesn't believe You'll get Darius.

  Reardon swears He's the Devil. Maybe he is."

  "Even the Devil would need a great lawyer with the case we have."

  "Darius will get the best, Al. He's got enough money to hire anyone he wants."

  "Not anyone," Page said, looking at her, "and not the best."

  Betsy blushed.

  "It's too cold to stand out here," Page said. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital'?"

  Betsy followed Page off the porch. Page held open the door for her. She got in. He started the engine. Betsy looked back toward Kathy's prison.