Nameless

by Joe Conlan

  When the boys hadn’t heard from him for five days after the rent due date, they decided to contact the authorities to report him missing. The officer who responded was initially resistant to open an official investigation. It took an effort on the part of the tenant to get the detective to at least check with family members and other friends. They explained their landlord had a habit of engaging in risky behavior. The argument was enough to convince the detective to call Henry’s brother and sister and write out an official report.

  Three days later, a pre-teen boy and his dad were building a fort in the woods at the end of their cul-de-sac bordering Coral Reef Park in southern Dade County. The father, while in the process of digging a hole in the ground to insert a two by four, scooped a full shovel of earth and threw it over his shoulder. More than just dirt landed in a heap at his son’s foot. At the top of the pile, a section of scalp with dense white hair glistened in the beam of sunlight breaking through the tree’s canopy. The fort building project came to an abrupt end. The dad called the emergency line of Miami Metro Dade Police Department who then notified Captain Kyle Fromberg. Within an hour of the discovery, Special Agent Robert Leland, the FBI’s Evidence Response Team assigned to the serial murder case and profiler, Jonathan Frazier were combing the site for the remainder of the body and any other items that could be useful in identifying the victim and/or solving the crime.

  Not much was found in the way of other body parts. Several rotting chunks of flesh were dug up within a forty foot perimeter of the scalp’s location along with broken pieces of bone. They were bagged for later analysis by the Medical Examiner. According to the M.E. at the scene, the victim was most likely an elderly gentleman. He based his opinion on his inspection of the scalp and a chunk of bone he determined was part of a femur. At that point, the task force wasn’t sure whether there was more than one victim though the amount of flesh and bone recovered would not normally lead one to that conclusion. To be absolutely certain, DNA testing would be necessary.

  Scraps and shreds of clothing were found dispersed in the general area. It was assumed most of it belonged to the victim. Further analysis in the lab would be required to ascertain whether any of the other various items collected could be connected to the killer. No obvious hairs or other trace evidence were uncovered that could potentially be linked to him.

  Though the detective who took Henry Greenburg’s Missing Persons report had done nothing yet to investigate his disappearance, the filing of the report ultimately helped the task force identify the victim. It was actually through Daniel’s persistence they were able to narrow down the list of missing persons and tie this murder in with the serial killer. Laboratory analysis set the age of the corpse between seventy-nine and eighty-five. That decreased the number of potential victims to just five on the Missing Persons list. Daniel attended a meeting of the task force after some of the lab results came back. Usurping Leland’s position as lead investigator, Daniel directed the gathering.

  “Ok guys, I want to move fast on this,” Daniel said. “We’ve got five names. I want five teams of two sent out to look into each man’s background. I want to know everything. His family, friends, habits, likes, dislikes, was he married, does he have a girlfriend...a mistress. You guys know the drill. Most important, I want to know everything they did for the weeks and especially the day before they disappeared. Anyone who came into contact with them during that time frame, I want them interviewed and investigated. So that you know, Frazier thinks we could be dealing with the same killer. I want to know as much as we can by the end of the week. I want this murder officially on the list or ruled out.”

  “What about the media?” barked Leland. The question was asked more to relieve his anger than for any significant purpose. Leland knew it would piss Daniel off and remind him that despite the intense investigation into the leak he was conducting, he had come up with zilch. The Special Agent in Charge had grilled every member of the task force himself. No one was admitting to anything. Not surprisingly, the Herald refused to reveal their reporter’s source citing the first amendment of the United States Constitution.

  “What about the fuck’n media? We discussed this. The answer to any of their questions is no comment. I don’t want anyone talking to them Leland or I’ll have their ass. I promise you that. I’m the only person authorized to talk to the media about the serial murder case. Understood?” Everyone in the room nodded their head in the affirmative including Leland. He had gotten what he wanted.

  The fruits of the investigation were reaped just a week and a half later thanks to Special Agent Christopher Frye and his teammate. Upon interviewing Henry Greenburg’s tenants, they learned that Greenburg was a regular patron of male prostitutes and often visited an upscale, private men’s club not far from his mansion. Frye questioned the owner of the club who confirmed he had seen Greenburg several weeks earlier leaving with a young man with black hair never seen before that night. The owner hadn’t seen Greenburg since. After getting a detailed description of the unknown man, Frye decided it would be best to get an FBI artist to sketch the subject and requested both a normal frontal view and profile. When together, he and Daniel compared the sketch to others derived from the airport surveillance videos; the resemblance couldn’t be denied. The Greenburg murder was officially added to the list of serial murders.

  The bright South Florida summer sun slipped behind a mountain-high cumulus cloud, offering Deborah a momentary respite from the oppressive heat. In a race against the reappearance of the sun, she walked quickly to her mailbox to retrieve that day’s mail. It had been more than a month and a half since she and Daniel separated. Several weeks prior, she spoke to him on the telephone for the first time since he left the house. Until then, she had ignored all of his ceaseless calls and scores of emails.

  For the first few weeks after Deborah received the infamous photographs, it was a monumental struggle just to be able to perform her daily activities. In spite of Daniel’s history with Annie and Deborah’s mistrust of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Deborah wanted to believe with every fiber of her being she could trust her husband. The reality that he was capable of infidelity was crushing. It caused her to retreat into a self-protection mode. She knew if she spoke to him, she would completely break down. With two young, innocent boys to look after, she wasn’t about to let that happen. Her reflexive response was to feel as though she never wanted to see Daniel again. It wasn’t until an issue from her past resurfaced that she began to wonder whether she was being unreasonable to cut off all communication with him. It was a subject that was normally taboo in the Tyler family and as far as Deborah was concerned until recently, for good reason. For years, she had been working on this problem with her therapist and though she was getting closer to a resolution, she never quite got there. Based on recent events, closure for Deborah for this long-term issue was going to be next to impossible.

  Deborah first heard she really wasn’t an only child when she came home to visit after her first semester at Georgetown. Her parents had kept it a secret because of her bad reaction to her father’s infidelity. Kate knew how difficult it was to accept and forgive the fact that her husband’s mistress was pregnant with his baby and refusing to have an abortion. She was certain her daughter would flip when she heard the news she had a two year-old sister. Kate feared it would damage Deborah’s relationship with her father forever. She was right on both counts. After an initial tirade, Deborah rejected her father’s pleas to forgive him and wouldn’t speak to him during the entire break. She barely directed a word toward her mother. By the end of the vacation, she announced to Kate she didn’t think she would be returning to college. It took a concerted effort by both Kate and the therapist to convince Deborah she was making a huge mistake. She did go back to school, but, was never able to totally forgive Jack.

  The only way that Deborah would even consider trying to work on her feelings with her dad was if the child was never mentioned. Kate had no problem with the cond
ition imposed by Deborah. The easier it was for Kate to forget the incident, the better.

  For a good while, Deborah refused to deal with the issue at all during her quarterly visits with her therapist. Over the past three years or so, it had become a focus of her therapy. What Deborah didn’t know until just recently was that her sister was born with Down’s syndrome. Her previous rejection of any conversation about the scandal prevented her from learning anything about the illegitimate child of her father. Hearing about the disability managed to soften Deborah’s unyielding stance. She became more open to discussing her half-sister. Her therapist knew they had made a major breakthrough when Deborah allowed herself to learn that her sister’s name was Allison. It was also a very harsh reminder of her childhood friend Ally Schnyder and the mistakes she made in that relationship. Deborah was on the verge of attempting to arrange a meeting with Allison when the most unexpected of tragedies struck. Allison and her mother were killed in a head-on car collision. For the second time in her life, Deborah was being denied the healthy closure of a significant relationship. This time was very different than Ally, though the strong negative feelings Deborah was hoping to release forever regarding her half-sister could never have a proper burial. Her inner obsession and need to fix things born with Ally’s suicide played no small role in her ultimate decision. She wasn’t going to let the same thing happen a third time with Daniel.

  The first step Deborah took to reestablish contact with him was to peruse some of the emails he wrote. In the first fifteen she read, he must have apologized and begged for her forgiveness over a thousand times. One week later, she accepted his call. The emotion in his voice when he realized Deborah actually answered the phone was heartrending. He was unable to speak coherently for the first five minutes. It took her another couple of weeks to finally agree to meet him for dinner. Daniel seemed as excited as the day she accepted his marriage proposal. She wasn’t even remotely considering reconciliation, but made the conscious decision it was time to restore some type of relationship one step at a time. Whether she was going to be able to forgive him for something as inexcusable as infidelity was still up in the air.

  Deborah returned to the comfort of her air-conditioned home as she rooted through her mail. The last letter in the heap caused her to inhale an extra gulp of air. Above the return address appeared the name Annie Bryan. Without a second thought, she tossed the envelope in the garbage. After a brief argument with herself, her curiosity got the better part of her. She rushed into the kitchen to get her letter opener, retrieved the envelope from the trash, tore through the seal, and sat at the breakfast nook table to read.

  Dear Deborah,

  I know that I’m the last person you want to hear from right now. You might have even thrown this letter in the garbage. But, if I’ve gotten this far, please hear me out. Before I get to the point of the letter, I want to apologize for all the pain I’ve caused you and your family. I’m not looking for forgiveness or to make excuses. I just hope you’ll believe me when I say that I know I was wrong and my only concern now is to do what I can to try to make things right again.

  Daniel has no idea I’m writing this letter. In fact, he instructed me not to communicate with you. I just can’t stand by idly knowing that I’m directly responsible for your break-up. Not that you care, but I’ve been sick over it. And though you owe me nothing except for maybe your disdain, I’m going to implore you to please give Daniel a second chance. He is absolutely miserable without you. I can assure you he’s done with me. Even though he felt hopeless when you refused to talk to him, shortly after you guys separated, he met with me to once and for all end our relationship. I haven’t seen or talked to him for weeks now.

  I would like to offer you and your family an all expense paid cruise with my company. Please don’t take this as a gift to buy your forgiveness. That’s not my intention at all. Perhaps, some time away, just you, Daniel and the boys, will be a start to your reconciliation. I pray that you accept this gift.

  With best wishes,

  Annie Bryan

  Deborah absent-mindedly placed the letter on the table, stunned by what she had just read. She couldn’t decide whether she was angry Annie had the gall to try to manipulate the situation or if she admired her courage. One thing she was absolutely positive about, she wasn’t going to be accepting any gifts from her. She wondered what Annie’s true motivation was. Deborah couldn’t think of any advantage Annie would gain by sending the letter nor could she believe Daniel would have been stupid enough to enlist Annie’s help. He would know that type of trick wouldn’t work. There was only one response Deborah felt would be appropriate. She would ignore the offer.

  Darting around the confined space of his temporary abode in preparation for the evening, Daniel was in an upbeat mood for the first time since his separation from Deborah. His dogged persistence had finally paid off. She agreed to have dinner with him and the boys. For the past two months, he had been living in a miniature studio apartment in Hallandale on a month- to- month basis. He barely had room to breathe, but the rent was cheap and the lease allowed him to vacate with only one week’s notice. The arrangement suited him just fine considering his goal that his stay would be very short. Eventually, he was going to have to move into a more permanent home. He was hoping it would be the condominium he shared with his family. Now that Deborah was speaking to him, he could make his case for their reconciliation.

  At the moment, he was rushing to get ready for his big date. He had left work as early as possible. Even with all the hustle and bustle, by the time he stepped out of the shower it was after 6:30pm. Deborah and the boys were expecting him at seven. He quickly threw on a pair of black dress slacks and a blue polo button-down nearly knocking over the flimsy night stand next to his bed and dislodging the white folding closet door from its track in the process. He specifically chose the shirt because it always drew compliments from Deborah. He even decided to spray himself with a couple of spritzes of her favorite cologne. The way he was bouncing off the walls while running around the apartment like a chicken with his head cut off made him feel like a teenager preparing for a first date. The $10,000 question was would his feelings for Deborah actually be different if only he could wipe the slate clean and start again from scratch. There was no doubt he was willing to make the commitment to do everything in his power to make it work and keep his family together.

  When he arrived at the condominium, he saw Agents Tom Morehouse and Bill Menendez parked in the lot adjacent to his home. After he parked his vehicle, Daniel walked over to the unmarked car and advised the guys they could take a break until later on in the evening. Little did he know, he was setting himself up to make a fatal error that would change his life forever. He rang the front doorbell and was greeted by an overexcited Dale and Timmy. They attacked him from both sides almost knocking the wind out of him.

  “Take it easy on the old man, kids. Are you guys ready for some dinner?”

  “Daddy, are you moving back in?” asked Timmy.

  “You know Dad is just here to take us to eat, stupid. Mom already told us,” said Dale.

  “Dale, don’t call your brother stupid. Dale is right, Timmy. I’m not moving back in. Where’s your Mom?”

  “Here I am,” said Deborah. She appeared at the top of the foyer steps wearing a Ralph Lauren bright yellow cotton dress with spaghetti straps tied over the shoulder. Daniel thought she looked absolutely gorgeous. His eyes were automatically drawn toward the bottom of the garment as it clung to her long athletic thighs. Even before they separated, it had been a while since they had made love. Taking in the perfection of her feminine frame and her beautifully chiseled face, he wondered if he had been out of his mind to lose his attraction for her. He said, “Hello Deborah. You look incredible. I’ve never seen that dress before.”

  “It was a gift from Mom and Dad. Do you like it?”

  “Like it, I love it...I love the woman in it even more. You look gorgeous, sweetie.”

 
Deborah squirmed at Daniel’s profession of love and the use of a term of endearment. She was nowhere near ready to refer to him in the same way. “Thank you, Daniel. You look good. I see you wore my favorite shirt. Is that Dolce and Gabbana cologne I smell?”

  “Yes it is. Thank you. I was hoping you’d notice...So, I thought we’d go to Dave and Busters in Hollywood. The kids can play video games. It’ll give us a chance to talk.”

  “Sounds like a good idea to me. Are you kids ready?” The boys were more than happy to go to Dave and Busters. Mom and Dad were always generous with the quarters for video games. They were practically out the door before Deborah had the chance to complete her question.

  Inside the car, on the way to the restaurant, the conversation was spirited and enthusiastic. Daniel was genuinely excited to be with his family again. The same was true for Deborah and the boys. Daniel had come to realize he missed these times desperately. Directing his entire focus on his beautiful wife and children, his attention to other matters had become distracted. Had he been on his normal state of alert, he wouldn’t have failed to notice a black Jeep Cherokee when it turned out onto Hallandale Beach Boulevard and followed them three cars behind. It wasn’t until he was holding the front door of the restaurant open for his family that he thought to scan the parking lot. By that time, the driver of the Jeep had passed Dave and Busters intending to make a U-turn to return to the restaurant after a few minutes.