A Killer Column

by Casey Mayes

  “Bull. You have a list, don’t you?”

  Jenny said, “We can do better than that. We have pictures.”

  She handed him the folder, and I wondered what she was doing. “That’s the wrong one,” I said as I tried to grab it. Had she forgotten that Murphy’s photograph was there as well?

  The detective was too quick for me, though. He snatched it away, and then looked at the photographs. When he got to his own, he looked at her with a puzzled expression. “What’s this?”

  “You’re on our list,” Jenny said, not afraid to meet his gaze.

  “Jennifer, you’ve got to be kidding.”

  “There you go, you just added to the case against you. Every note and reference to me calls me Jennifer, just like you used to do.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t really think I’d do this to you, do you?”

  “You have to admit that you took it hard when we broke up,” she maintained.

  “Sure, it stung, but I’ve moved on. I’ve even got a new girlfriend now.”

  “You do?”

  He nodded as he reached into his back pocket. I saw Zach’s hand go to his jacket, and the move wasn’t lost on Murphy, either.

  “Take it easy. I’m just getting my wallet out,” the detective said.

  He gingerly removed it, and then showed Jenny a photo of him with another woman.

  Jenny looked at it, and then said, “This is Nancy Waters.”

  “Do you know her?” I asked.

  “She’s one of the police dispatchers.”

  Murphy shrugged. “I figured she’d know something about cops, so it might make things a little easier. We started dating two weeks after you and I broke up.”

  “Why haven’t I heard anything about it?” Jenny asked.

  “Hey, Raleigh’s not exactly Mayberry,” he said. “It would probably amaze you to learn about some of the things that go on.” He tapped the folder. “I’ll keep this, if you don’t mind.”

  “We were going to show it to some of the premium toy stores around town,” Zach said. “Someone might recognize one of them.”

  “It’s worth a shot. May I take the bear as well?”

  Zach looked at Jenny, who nodded slightly. “Fine.”

  “Good enough. I’ll start looking into this tomorrow.”

  “Detective,” I said. “You never said what brought you here in the first place. Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

  “What makes you ask that?” he said as he stared intently at me.

  “It’s pretty clear that you didn’t drop in for a social call. When Zach answered the door, I saw that look on your face. Something bad happened tonight, didn’t it?”

  “I’m afraid it did,” he admitted. “Someone tried to kill Kelsey Hatcher this evening.”

  “WHAT HAPPENED?” ZACH ASKED.

  “She was walking to a restaurant and someone shoved her from a crowd into traffic. If the guy beside her hadn’t noticed, she would have been hit dead-on by a bus.”

  “Did anyone see who shoved her?” I asked.

  “That’s the problem. Nobody admits to seeing anything,” he said. “By the time we got there, some of the crowd had dispersed, so there was no way we could even interview all of the suspects.”

  “And you think this is related to Derrick’s death,” Zach said.

  Murphy scratched his ear. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  “Neither do I,” Zach quickly agreed.

  “How’s she doing?” Jenny asked him.

  “She’s shaken up, but physically, she’s fine. I can’t help wondering why someone would want to get rid of her.”

  “Why are you looking at me when you say that?” I asked him.

  He didn’t let up for one second. “I understand you two have already had a few clashes since she’s taken over.”

  “Where did you hear that from?”

  He shrugged. “Does it really matter? All I need to know is if it’s true.”

  “You don’t have to answer that,” Jenny said as she put a hand on my shoulder.

  “I appreciate that, but I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  Zach said, “Maybe you should listen to Jenny.”

  “No,” I said loudly. “I’m not hiding behind my lawyer, especially when I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “It’s your funeral,” Jenny said.

  I turned to Murphy. “In any new relationship, business or otherwise, there’s a period of time where the people involved have to work out how they relate to each other.”

  He pulled out his notebook and jotted something down. “So, that would be yes.”

  “Murphy,” Jenny said with a warning tone in her voice.

  “Hey, I’m just asking questions.”

  Zach stepped between them. “Then stop putting your own spin on the answers. Next question.”

  Murphy stared at him a second, and then looked back at me. “Here’s an easy one. Did you see Kelsey Hatcher at any point today?”

  I was about to answer when Jenny said, “Whoa. That’s enough.”

  “We could do this in my office, if you’d rather,” Murphy said.

  “My client and I need to confer. If you want to bully her into going downtown, I’ll simply advise her not to speak with you at all. Is that clear?”

  Murphy shrugged, and then closed his notebook.

  I wasn’t sure exactly what was happening. “Does that mean I’m coming with you?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t see the point of wasting your time or mine. Once I have more information, I’ll want to speak with you again.”

  “Not without me being present,” Jenny said.

  “And me,” Zach added.

  Murphy smiled a quick, wry grin. “You win. For now.”

  As he started for the door, his mood suddenly changed. “Jennifer, until I can run down a few leads, don’t take any chances. It would be good if you had someone with you at all times.”

  “You’re not worried about me, are you?” she said.

  “It just makes sense not to take any chances.” Murphy looked at Zach and said, “You’ll look out for her, right?”

  “You can count on it. Let me know as soon as you hear anything about the bear.”

  “Will do.”

  After he was gone, I asked Jenny, “Why wouldn’t you let me answer his question? I’m sure someone had to have seen me with Kelsey today.”

  “Don’t assume anything.”

  “I was there,” I insisted.

  “Did you shove her in front of a bus?”

  I looked at her as though she’d just lost her mind. “Of course I didn’t.”

  “Then don’t make Murphy’s job of railroading you any easier than it has to be.”

  I looked at Zach. “And what’s with you? You were actually nice to him there at the end.”

  “It was about a different case. We all know I have no official standing here. He’s not obligated to tell me anything about what he finds out about Jenny’s stalker. I need his goodwill on that one.”

  “And no one else sees a conflict between the two issues?”

  Zach shook his head. “I don’t. When you’re a cop, you need to compartmentalize everything in your life. The two cases don’t necessarily touch, but even if they did, I trust Murphy to do the right thing where Jenny’s concerned.”

  I picked up his photograph, which he’d taken out of the folder Jenny had handed him. “I can’t believe you actually told him we suspected him of stalking you.”

  “I didn’t want him to catch you hiding Derrick’s planner. I had to do something to create a diversion.”

  “Why didn’t you knock a lamp off the table or something?”

  Jenny touched the base of one of her lamps. “Are you kidding me? I love this lamp.”

  “You know what I mean. It could have been reckless telling him we’re on to him.”

  Jenny shrugged. “Think about it. Did I say one word about the cameras Zach put in?”

  I t
hought back over the conversation, and realized that subject hadn’t come up. “No,” I admitted.

  “Then bringing him partially into the loop may make him slip, if he’s the one who’s been doing this, new girlfriend or not.”

  “You’re taking an awfully big chance,” I said.

  “Like you’re not?”

  “That can’t be helped,” I said. I looked at my husband and asked, “Where does the attack on Kelsey leave us?”

  “We keep doing what we’re doing,” he said finally. “Right now, it’s all we can do.”

  “Then what’s next?”

  “After we get something to eat, I’d like to talk to Sylvia.”

  “You’re off the interview team, remember?”

  He looked hurt for a moment. “But Murphy’s doing my job now.”

  “Sorry, I don’t want anyone to be too scared to answer.”

  Zach seemed to think about that, and then he said, “The least I can do is drive you two around.” He saw that I was about to protest when he added, “But I’ll stay out of the way.”

  “Promise?”

  “Of course I do,” he said. “Jenny, are you ready to go?”

  “I’m ready. Should we get something to eat on the way?”

  “I’m not about to eat at the Crest Hotel,” Zach said.

  “Don’t worry,” I said laughing, “we’ll find a place where you can eat without a jacket and tie.”

  WE GRABBED A QUICK BITE ON THE WAY, STOPPING OFF at a barbeque place Jenny loved. It was delicious, a real Eastern-style menu with a vinegar-based sauce that I thoroughly enjoyed. Zach loved the tomato-based Western recipe, but we got plenty of that at home. We all agreed that the hush puppies, little deep-fried corn-bread bombs, were some of the best we’d ever had, and the sweet tea was thick enough to have trouble pouring from the pitcher to the glass, a real requirement for North Carolina sweet iced tea.

  After we ate, Zach said, “I’m almost too full to drive.”

  “You can take a nap in back of my car,” I said. “I don’t mind if you stay there when we go into the hotel.”

  “You and I both know that there’s no way that’s going to happen.” He did take the backseat, while Jenny joined me up front.

  “Are you honestly going to take a nap? We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “No, but I might rest my eyes.”

  Two minutes after we left the restaurant, Jenny said, “Is he actually snoring back there?”

  I grinned at her. “He can’t be. You heard him. He’s just resting his eyes.”

  “And every other part of him,” she said. In a softer voice, she added, “You really got lucky finding him; you know that, don’t you?”

  “I like to think he got lucky finding me, too,” I said.

  “Of course he did. I just wish I could do it, too.”

  “Maybe if you stop working eighty-hour weeks, you’ll be able to.”

  She shrugged. “There is that, isn’t there?”

  “It must limit your dating pool.”

  “You’ve seen the whole sum of my love life in the past three years. There have been exactly two men, either one of which is most likely stalking me at the moment.”

  I could tell Jenny was feeling morose about her dating life, but there was nothing I could do to help her. Maybe a change of topics would distract her from her thoughts.

  “I wonder who pushed Kelsey,” I said.

  “I’ve been thinking about that myself. It’s a clumsy way to try to kill someone, wouldn’t you say?”

  “What do you mean? Using a steak knife on Derrick wasn’t exactly poetry.”

  “No, but at least it was pretty reasonable to believe that it would be effective. How hard must that shove have been?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, “but there’s something the two events have in common.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Most likely they were both done on impulse,” I said. “That means our killer isn’t a planner. He or she takes advantage of a situation and acts boldly when the opportunity affords itself.”

  “So they haven’t been caught because they’ve been more lucky than methodical. How long can they keep taking risks like that?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But we need to start thinking like the killer if we’re going to have a prayer figuring out who it is.”

  “How do you do that?” Jenny asked.

  “We need to ask Zach. He’s known across the South for being able to put himself into a murderer’s shoes.”

  Jenny shivered noticeably. “I can’t imagine how creepy that must be for him.”

  “I wonder about that myself sometimes, but Zach finds a way to deal with it.”

  He stirred in back, and then sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Did someone mention my name?”

  “Go back to sleep, Zach. We’ve got at least another ninety seconds before we get there.”

  “I told you, I was just resting my eyes. Now will someone tell me why my name was mentioned in conversation?”

  Jenny said, “Savannah was just telling me how you can project yourself into a killer’s shoes, and we were wondering if that’s what we should be doing right now.”

  “It’s not a bad idea, but we don’t have a lot of information, do we?”

  “That’s not necessarily true,” I said. “We know they act spontaneously, and that there’s no hesitation to their movements. Don’t most amateurs have to work up the nerve before they commit murder?”

  “It depends on the crime. If they are in the heat of the moment, there’s no planning at all. Those are the easiest killers to catch. The ones that plan carefully and act coldly are a little tougher to find.”

  “Do you agree that Derrick’s murder and the attempt on Kelsey’s life were unplanned?”

  I glanced at him in the rearview mirror and saw him frowning as he stroked his chin. “They appear to be spur-of-the-moment,” he finally conceded.

  “So then, who do we know who isn’t afraid to make bold moves? We’ve already established that everyone on our list had a reason to kill Derrick, but who had the nerve to do it?”

  “I’m not sure that’s the best way to look at it. Savannah, some of the most outrageous killers I ever saw acted in the heat of the moment, almost transforming as they committed murders, and then they reverted back to their normal personalities.”

  “How does anyone ever get caught?” I asked in frustration.

  He shrugged. “I can’t speak for every circumstance, but in mine, it was mostly due to brilliant detective work.”

  I laughed out loud, and Jenny joined me.

  From the backseat, Zach said, “Hey, it wasn’t that funny.”

  “Yes it was,” I said as we pulled into the Crest Hotel’s parking lot again.

  It was time to tackle our suspect list with our new “we’re on your side” angle and see what we could uncover.

  Chapter 17

  “WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?” I ASKED ZACH as Jenny and I got out of the car.

  “I thought I’d hang out in the lobby, in case something interesting happened,” he said.

  “You’re not going to talk to anyone though, remember?”

  “Come on, Savannah. Surely you don’t expect me to wait by the car and guard it, do you?”

  “After what happened today, is that really such a bad idea?”

  He gestured around. “Look, you’re in a spot right by the door. Nobody’s going to be crazy enough to try anything here. There are too many witnesses.”

  “That’s been the MO of the killer so far, though, hasn’t it?”

  “I’m not staying here,” he declared. “I’m either going to wait in the lobby, or I’m coming with you two. Take your pick.”

  “The lobby,” I said.

  For one split second, he looked like a frustrated little boy. “Seriously? You’re not going to let me come with you? Even if I promise to behave myself?”

  “There’s not really much chance of that, is
there?” Still, I had a hard time saying no to him. “Tell you what. We’ll tackle Brady and Sylvia, and when we talk to Cary, you can come along with us.”

  “That I can live with. How about Mindi and Lassiter?”

  “We’ll take Mindi alone, and you can come with us when we speak with Lassiter. After all, you’ve got a relationship with him already.”

  Jenny laughed. “Do you two haggle over every decision you make? It’s like watching two good old boys from Georgia arguing over the price of a bale of hay and a peck of apples.”

  “Hey, it’s what we do.”

  We walked into the lobby, and I pointed to a set of chairs out of the way. “You can wait for us over there.”

  He gave me a mock salute, and then picked up a USA Today newspaper before he sat down.

  As Jenny and I rode the elevator up to Sylvia’s room, Jenny said, “I can’t believe he’s really going to just sit there.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. If he sees an opportunity to do something, he’ll grab it with both hands. When Zach’s working on something, he’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.”

  We walked out of the elevator when it arrived at the right floor and headed to Sylvia’s room.

  I started to knock when I noticed that it was slightly ajar. Someone had put a telephone book in the opening to block the door, and I wondered what we were going to find on the other side.

  “SYLVIA? ARE YOU IN THERE?” I ASKED AS I PUSHED THE door open.

  Jenny grabbed my arm. “We should call Hotel Security, or at the very least, Zach.”

  “Not yet,” I said. I took another step in, to be confronted by Sylvia.

  “Is there something I can help you with, Savannah?”

  I saw that her suitcase was packed and sitting on her bed. “Why is your door propped open?”

  She grimaced. “Can’t you feel it? The heating unit is stuck on high, and it’s become a blast furnace in here. I’m going to insist that they move me to another room.”

  “Then you’re not leaving?” I asked.

  “I would like nothing better than to return home, but the police have asked me to stay, and I’m complying as a courtesy, at least for now.” She glanced at Jenny and asked, “Are you still tagging along?”