The Big Book of Female Detectives

by The Big Book of Female Detectives (retail) (epub)

  No more Ms. Firecracker.

  “What’s that?” she said in a whisper, eyes on the clock.

  “You took me seriously. That talk we just had. You disagree, but you treated me with respect.”

  4 P.M.

  Both law officer and suspect remained motionless, staring at the clock.

  A phone in the room rang. She leaned over and hit the speaker button fast. “Yes?”

  The staticky voice, a man’s. “Kathryn, it’s Albert. I’m sorry to have to tell you…”

  She sighed. “Go on.”

  “It was an IED, plastic of some sort…We don’t have the count yet. Wasn’t as bad as it could be. Seems the device was under a stage and that absorbed some of the blast. But we’re still looking at fifteen or so dead, maybe fifty injured…Hold on. CHP’s calling. I’ll get back to you.”

  Dance disconnected, closed her eyes briefly then glared at Keplar. “How could you?”

  Wayne frowned; he wasn’t particularly triumphant. “I’m sorry, Kathryn. This is the way it had to be. It’s a war out there. Besides, score one for your side—only fifteen dead. We screwed up.”

  Dance shivered in anger. But she calmly said, “Let’s go.”

  She rose and knocked on the door. It opened immediately and two large CBI agents came in, also glaring. One reshackled Keplar’s hands behind him, hoping, it seemed, for an excuse to Taser the prisoner. But the man was the epitome of decorum.

  One agent muttered to Dance, “Just heard, the death count’s up to—”

  She waved him silent, as if denying Keplar the satisfaction of knowing the extent of his victory.

  * * *

  —

  She led the prisoner out the back of CBI, toward a van that would ultimately transport him to the Salinas lockup.

  “We’ll have to move fast,” she told the other agents. “There’re going to be a lot of people who’d like to take things into their own hands.”

  The area was largely deserted. But just then Dan Simmons, the blogger who’d pestered Dance earlier, the Jude Law lookalike, peered around the edge of the building as if he’d been checking every few minutes to see if they’d make a run for it this way. Simmons hurried toward them, along with his unwashed cameraman.

  Dance ignored him.

  Simmons asked, “Agent Dance, could you comment on the failure of law enforcement to stop the bombing in time?”

  She said nothing and kept ushering Keplar toward the van.

  “Do you think this will be the end of your career?”

  Silence.

  “Wayne, do you have anything to say?” the blog reporter asked.

  Eyes on the camera lens, Keplar called, “It’s about time the government started listening to people like Osmond Carter. This never would have happened if he hadn’t been illegally arrested!”

  “Wayne, what do you have to say about killing innocent victims?”

  “Sacrifices have to be made,” he called.

  Simmons called, “But why these particular victims? What’s the message you’re trying to send?”

  “That maybe bankers shouldn’t be throwing themselves fancy holiday parties with the money they’ve stolen from the working folk of this country. The financial industry’s been raping citizens for years. They claim—”

  “Okay, hold it,” Dance snapped to the agents flanking Keplar, who literally jerked him to a stop.

  Dance was pulling out a walkie-talkie. “Michael, it’s Kathryn, you read me?”

  “Four by four. We’ve got six choppers and the entire peninsula com network standing by. You’re patched in to all emergency frequencies. What do you have?”

  “The target’s a party—Christmas, I’d guess—involving bankers, or savings and loan people, bank regulators, something like that. It is a bomb and it’s under the stage in that room you texted me about.”

  Wayne Keplar stared at her, awash in confusion.

  A half-dozen voices shot from her radio, variations of “Roger…Copy that…Checking motels with banquet rooms in the target zone, south of Moss Landing…Contacting all banks in the target zone.”

  “What is this?” Keplar raged.

  Everyone ignored him.

  A long several minutes passed, Dance standing motionless, head down, listening to the intersecting voices through the radio. And then: “This is Major Rodriguez, CHP. We’ve got it! Central Coast Bankers’ Association, annual Christmas party, Monterey Bay Seaside Motel. They’re evacuating now.”

  Wayne Keplar’s eyes grew wide as he stared at Dance. “But the bomb…” He glanced at Dance’s wrist and those of the other officers. They’d all removed their watches, so Keplar couldn’t see the real time. He turned to an agent and snapped, “What the hell time is it?”

  “About ten to four,” replied Dan Simmons, the reporter.

  He blurted to Dance, “The clock? In the interrogation room?”

  “Oh,” she said, guiding him to the prisoner transport van. “It was fast.”

  * * *

  —

  A half hour later Michael O’Neil arrived from the motel where the bankers’ party had been interrupted.

  He explained that everyone got out safely, but there’d been no time to try to render the device safe. The explosion was quite impressive. The material was probably Semtex, Abbott Calderman had guessed, judging from the smell. The Forensic Services head explained to O’Neil that it was the only explosive ever to have its own FAQ on the Internet, which answered questions like: Was it named after an idyllic, pastoral village? (yes). Was it mass produced and shipped throughout the world, as the late President Václav Havel claimed? (no). And was Semtex the means by which its inventor committed suicide? (not exactly—yes, an employee at the plant did blow himself up intentionally, but he had not been one of the inventors).

  Dance smiled as O’Neil recounted this trivia.

  Steve Nichols of the FBI called and told her they were on the way to the CBI to deliver the other suspect, Gabe Paulson. He explained that since she’d broken the case, it made sense for her to process all the suspects. There would be federal charges—mostly related to the explosives—but those could be handled later.

  As they waited in the parking lot for Nichols to arrive, O’Neil asked, “So, how’d you do it? All I know is you called me about three, I guess, and told me to get choppers and a communications team ready. You hoped to have some details about the location of the attack in about forty-five minutes. But you didn’t tell me what was going on.”

  “I didn’t have much time,” Dance explained. “What happened was I found out, after wasting nearly an hour, that Keplar was kinesics proof. So I had to trick him. I took a break at three and talked to our technical department. Seems you can speed up analog clocks by changing the voltage and the frequency of the current in the wiring. They changed the current in that part of the building so the clock started running fast.”

  O’Neil smiled. “That was the byword for this case, remember. You said it yourself.”

  And remember: We have two and a half hours. We’ve got to move fast…

  Dance continued, “I remembered when we got to CBI Keplar started lecturing Dan Simmons about his cause.”

  “Oh, that obnoxious reporter and blogger?”

  “Right. I called him and said that if he asked Keplar why he picked those particular victims, I’d give him an exclusive interview. And I called you to set up the search teams. Then I went back into the interrogation. I had to make sure Keplar didn’t notice the clock was running fast so I started debating philosophy with him.”

  “Philosophy?”

  “Well, Wikipedia philosophy. Not the real stuff.”

  “Probably real enough nowadays.”

  She continued, “You and the Crime Scene people found out that it was probably a bomb and that it was planted in a l
arge room with a stage. When the clock hit four in the interrogation room, I had Albert call me and pretend a bomb had gone off and killed people but the stage had absorbed a lot of the blast. That was just enough information so that Keplar believed it had really happened. Then all I had to do was perp walk him past Simmons, who asked why those particular victims. Keplar couldn’t keep himself from lecturing.

  “Sure was close.”

  True. Ten minutes meant the difference between life and death for two hundred people, though fate sometimes allowed for even more narrow margins.

  One of the FBI’s black SUVs now eased to a stop beside Dance and O’Neil.

  Steve Nichols and another agent climbed out and helped their shackled prisoner out. A large bandage covered much of his head and the side of his face. O’Neil stared at him silently.

  The FBI agent said, “Kathryn, good luck with this fellow. Wish you the best but he’s the toughest I’ve ever seen—and I’ve been up against al-Qaeda and some of the Mexican cartel drug lords. They’re Chatty Cathy compared with him. Not a single word. Just sits and stares at you. He’s all yours.”

  “I’ll do what I can, Steve. But I think there’s enough forensics to put everybody away for twenty years.”

  The law enforcers said good-bye and the feds climbed into the Suburban, then sped out of the CBI lot.

  Dance began to laugh.

  So did the prisoner.

  O’Neil asked, “So what’s going on?”

  Dance stepped forward and undid the cuffs securing the wrists of her associate, TJ Scanlon. He removed the swaddling, revealing no injuries.

  “Thanks, boss. And by the way, those’re the first words I’ve said in three hours.”

  Dance explained to O’Neil, “Gabe Paulson’s in a lot more serious condition than I let on. He was shot in the head during the takedown and’ll probably be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Which might not be that long. I knew Nichols’d wanted to have a part of the case—and for all we knew at that point he had primary jurisdiction. I wanted to interrogate the only suspect we had—Keplar—so I needed to give Nichols someone. TJ volunteered to play Paulson.”

  “So you just deceived the FBI.”

  “Technically. I know Steve. He’s a brilliant agent. I’d trust him with anything except an interrogation with a deadline like this.”

  “Three hours, boss,” TJ said, rubbing his wrists. “Did I mention not speaking for three hours? That’s very hard for me.”

  O’Neil asked, “Won’t he find out, see the pictures of the real Paulson in the press?”

  “He was pretty bandaged up. And like I said, it may come back to haunt me. I’ll deal with it then.”

  “I thought I was going to be waterboarded.”

  “I told him not to do that.”

  “Well, he didn’t share your directive with me. I think he would have liked to use cattle prods, too. Oh, and I would’ve given you up in five seconds, boss. Just for the record.”

  Dance laughed.

  O’Neil left to return to his office in Salinas and Dance and TJ entered the CBI lobby, just as the head of the office, Charles Overby, joined them. “Here you are.”

  The agents greeted the paunchy man who was in his typical work-a-day outfit: slacks and white shirt with sleeves rolled up, revealing tennis- and golf-tanned arms.

  “Thanks, Kathryn. Appreciate what you did.”

  “Sure.”

  “You were in the operation, too?” Overby asked TJ.

  “That’s right. FBI liaison.”

  Overby lowered his voice and said approvingly, “They don’t seem to want a cut of the action. Good for us.”

  “I did what I could,” TJ said. Then the young man returned to his office, leaving Dance and her boss alone.

  Overby turned to Dance. “I’ll need a briefing,” he said, nodding toward the reporters out front. A grimace. “Something to feed to them.”

  Despite the apparent disdain, though, Overby was in fact looking forward to the press conference. He always did. He loved the limelight and would want to catch the 6 P.M. local news. He’d also hope to gin up interest in some national coverage.

  Dance put her watch back on her wrist and looked at the time. “I can give you the bare bones, Charles, but I’ve got to see a subject in another matter. It’s got to be tonight. He leaves town tomorrow.”

  There was a pause. “Well, if it’s critical…”

  “It is.”

  “All right. Get me a briefing sheet now and a full report in the morning.”

  “Sure, Charles.”

  He started back to his office and asked, “This guy you’re meeting? You need any backup?”

  “No thanks, Charles. It’s all taken care of.”

  “Sure. ’Night.”

  “Good night.”

  Heading to her own office, Kathryn Dance reflected on her impending mission tonight. If Overby had wanted a report on the attempted bombing for CBI headquarters in Sacramento or follow-up interrogations, she would have gladly done that, but since he was interested only in press releases, she decided to stick to her plans.

  Which involved a call to her father, a retired marine biologist who worked part-time at the aquarium. She was going to have him pull some strings to arrange special admission after hours for herself and the children tonight.

  And the “subject” she’d told Overby she had to meet tonight before he left town? Not a drug lord or a terrorist or a confidential informant…but what was apparently the most imposing cephalopod ever to tour the Central Coast of California.

  BAD GIRLS

  BAD GIRL: MADAME KATHERINE KOLUCHY

  THE WINGED ASSASSIN

  L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace

  ALTHOUGH ONLY SERIOUS AFICIONADOS of detective fiction remember her work today, Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith (1844–1914), whose nom de plume was L. T. Meade, wrote several volumes of detective fiction that are historically important.

  Stories from the Diary of a Doctor (1894; second series 1896), written in collaboration with Dr. Edgar Beaumont (using the pseudonym Clifford Halifax), is the first series of medical mysteries published in England. Other memorable books by Meade include A Master of Mysteries (1898), The Gold Star Line (1899), and The Sanctuary Club (1900), which features an unusual health club in which a series of murders is committed by apparently supernatural means, all written in collaboration with Dr. Eustace Robert Barton (1868–1943), writing as Robert Eustace. The Sorceress of the Strand (1903) portrays Madame Sara, an utterly sinister villainess who specializes in murder.

  The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings (1899), also a collaborative effort with Barton, is the first series of stories about a female crook. The thoroughly evil leader of an Italian criminal organization, the dazzlingly beautiful and brilliant Madame Koluchy, matches wits with Norman Head, a reclusive philosopher who had once joined her gang. The volume was selected by Ellery Queen for Queen’s Quorum as one of the 106 most important collections of mystery short stories. Curiously, only Meade’s name appears on the front cover and spine of the book, though Eustace is given credit as the cowriter on the title page.

  Eustace is known mainly for his collaborations with other writers. In addition to working with Meade, he cowrote several stories with Edgar Jepson; a novel with the once-popular mystery writer Gertrude Warden, The Stolen Pearl: A Romance of London (1903); and, most famously, a novel with Dorothy L. Sayers, The Documents in the Case (1930).

  “The Winged Assassin” was first published in the February 1898 issue of The Strand Magazine; it was first collected in The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings (London, Ward, Lock, 1899).

  The Winged Assassin

  L. T. MEADE & ROBERT EUSTACE

  THAT A SECRET SOCIETY, based upon the lines of similar institutions so notorious on the Continent during the last century, could ever have exis
ted in the London of our day may seem impossible. Such a society, however, not only did exist, but through the instrumentality of a woman of unparalleled capacity and genius, obtained a firm footing. A century ago the Brotherhood of the Seven Kings was a name hardly whispered without horror and fear in Italy, and now, by the fascinations and influence of one woman, it began to accomplish fresh deeds of unparalleled daring and subtlety in London. By the wide extent of its scientific resources, and the impregnable secrecy of its organisations, it threatened to become a formidable menace to society, as well as a source of serious anxiety to the authorities of the law. It is to the courtesy of Mr. Norman Head that we are indebted for the subject-matter of the following hitherto unpublished revelations.

  * * *

  —

  My scientific pursuits no longer interested me. I returned to my house in Regent’s Park, but only to ponder recent events. With the sanction of conscience I fully intended to be a traitor to the infamous Brotherhood which, in a moment of mad folly, I had joined. From henceforth my object would be to expose Mme. Koluchy. By so doing, my own life would be in danger; nevertheless, my firm determination was not to leave a stone unturned to place this woman and her confederates in the felon’s dock of an English criminal court. To effect this end one thing was obvious: single-handed I could not work. I knew little of the law, and to expose a secret society like Mme. Koluchy’s, I must invoke the aid of the keenest and most able legal advisers.

  Colin Dufrayer, the man I had just met before my hurried visit to Naples, was assuredly the person of all others for my purpose. He was one of the smartest lawyers in London. I went therefore one day to his office. I was fortunate in finding him in, and he listened to the story, which I told him in confidence, with the keenest attention.

  “If this is true, Head,” he said, “you yourself are in considerable danger.”

  “Yes,” I answered; “nevertheless, my mind is made up. I will enter the lists against Mme. Koluchy.”

  His face grew grave, furrows lined his high and bald forehead, and knitted themselves together over his watchful, grey eyes.