Then the voices started to drift away and suddenly he felt calm and rested.
CHAPTER FORTY
“Hey, welcome back,” a faint voice said.
Logan couldn’t figure out who said it and who they said it to. He slowly opened his eyes but they didn’t focus for a few seconds. He could just make out a female face. It was Carrie Brown, the newspaper reporter. What was this all about? Why is she here and just where was he?
“John. Are you alright?” Her words sort of floated into his groggy brain.
“I don’t know. Where am I?”
“In heaven. Can’t you tell? Where else would you get a good looking gal like me worrying about you?” she said.
“You’re sure it’s heaven?”
“Now don’t be like that. Of course it is. How are you doing cowboy?”
“What the hell happened to me?”
“You got a harder hit on that big old skull than you thought. Hard to believe, but it actually cracked that thick skull of yours,” she said.
“How did you get in here?”
“Don’t you know me well enough by now to know I can slip in anyplace?”
“I should. So how am I doing Dr.?” he asked, looking at her lab coat and stethoscope around her neck. It was folded across her shoulders like he had seen other doctors do.
When she did something, she did it right. That was one thing that he could always say about Carrie Brown.
“You’ll be fine. You just need a couple of day’s rest and then you will be up and at it again. John, what the hell were you thinking? That car was doing over 100 MPH when you swerved into it. You could have been killed,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. It felt warm against his cool skin.
“I don’t know Carrie. They killed a fellow officer and other innocent people. I figured out where they were going and just did it. I didn’t think about what might happen after,” he said honestly.
“John, John, John. You know one of these days I am going to have to write a story about how you were killed in the line of duty. I don’t want that day to come any sooner than it has to. Do me a favor, drop the Superman stuff. You know what happened to him,” she said, referring to the death of Christopher Reeves.
“Carrie it had to be done. I just happened to be the one in the right spot to do it. Any of the other officers would have done the same thing,” he protested.
Carrie just looked at him. She had known Logan for ten years and she knew he would never take credit for anything, no matter how heroic it was.
“Excuse me,” a voice said behind them. They both looked up and a doctor was standing there with a chart in his hand.
“Oh. Hi doctor. I was just on my way out. I am an old friend of Logan’s and I just popped in to see how he was feeling,” she said, cool as a cucumber.
“I see. You are?”
“Sorry, Doctor Brown. I’m in babies,” she said.
“In babies?”
“It’s an inside joke. I’ll just be on my way,” she said and patted Logan on the arm.
As she started out the door the doctor said, “Oh, by the way doctor, I think the article you wrote on frivolous lawsuits in the medical industry was right on target.”
Carrie’s mouth dropped open for a second before she turned and hustled out the door.
“Not many people get one up on Ms. Brown,” Logan laughed, but it hurt his head.
* * *
“Well, the hero returns,” Randy said as Logan came slowly up the stairs.
“Don’t start in on me. I hate that hero crap. I’ve had to read about it in the paper every day for the past week.”
“Made you read the papers did they? Must be some sort of new therapy,” Bull said.
Logan just glared at him.
“So what have you guys got? You should have this wrapped up by now,” he said.
His leg still hurt and he had a dull headache.
“For starters, we have eliminated all of the High School teachers she had in the past,” Randy told him going into detail about each one they had investigated. All were willing to cooperate now that she was dead and it wasn’t going to come back on them. DNA samples had cleared all of them.
“Excellent. What about the other University Professors?”
“That was a little more difficult. The attorneys had contacted all of her past teachers and told them not to talk to us unless they absolutely wanted to. They would be at any questioning if desired. Only two took them up on that. Dr. Franks and Dr. Hines. The rest checked out just fine. Franks finally admitted he had actually had sex with her for the grade. He is married and has two kids. I don’t know if he will be married after this,” Randy said.
“Hey, you play with fire, you get burned,” Logan said.
“I don’t care about him. It’s his wife and kids I feel sorry for.”
“I can understand that. What about the other guy?”
“As it turns out, Dr. Hines is gay,” Randy said.
“Another one? How many do they have at the school?” Bull said.
“Yes, another gay person. Anyway, he changed her grade because he hasn’t come out of the closet, as they say. She found out and threatened to expose him,” Randy told them.
“Out of the closet. That’s just another way of saying ‘here I am boys, I’m as queer as a three dollar bill,’ Bull said.
“Cool it Bull. You need to drop that stuff. We need to keep on track here. The bottom line is that he is clean from that perspective. One more ‘queer remark and you are back downstairs. Got it?” Logan snapped.
“Yeah, I got it.”
“So now all we have are our remaining three, sort of, suspects. Seems like I’m the one that has dropped the ball here,” Logan said.
“I wouldn’t say that. You did a hell of a thing. Not only that, you got two really bad guys off the street forever. That is better than going to jail. It won’t cost the taxpayers a thing.” Jonas said.
Just as he was starting to say something, the Captain came out of his office.
“Logan. Damn it’s good to see you. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better but I’ll make it,” he replied.
“Outstanding. Listen, I’ve talked to the Commissioner. You are being awarded the Distinguished Service Award. The Commissioner wants to have the ceremony as soon as you feel up to it.”
“Do we have to do this?”
“Come on John. Every one of your brother police officers is proud of how you brought those two down. Heck, even the guys that don’t like you are singing your praises,” The Captain said.
“Well let’s get it over with as soon as possible. I still have the other case to solve,” Logan sighed.
“Not to worry. The Commissioner is off my back about that. Given the circumstances, he is cutting me some slack,” the Captain said smiling.
“Just let me know when,” Logan said, resigned to the fact that it wasn’t just going to go away.
“I’ll let you get back to work. Glad to see you up and around John. I was praying for you,” the Captain said as he walked off.
“So. Where were we?” Logan asked.
“We were going to tell us what you want us to do next,” Randy replied.
“Since I was going to cover the three on my own and I don’t think I’m sharp enough for that just yet, why don’t we each take one professor and find out what we can about them. Don’t talk to them directly. I’ll do that when we have all our ducks in a row.”
“Jonas, you get on Dr. Richards. Find out everything you can about the guy. His habits, hobbies, anything that you can dig up.”
“Got it,” Jonas replied.
“Bull, you take Dr. Sorensen. Same thing for you. Whatever you find, make a note of it. Where she goes, who she sees. You never know what will come in handy,” Logan said.
“Will do,”
“Randy, you pick up on Keller. I think I’ll just compile the data for now. I still don’t feel all that strong. It wouldn’t take much to p
ut me back down,” Logan admitted.
“That may be the first smart thing you have done since we started this case,” Randy quipped.
“Never said I was smart, I said I was tenacious.”
“That’s one of those twenty-five cent words that means slow isn’t it?” Bull asked.
“Out, before I kick all your butts,” Logan said, sounding a lot tougher than he felt.
CHAPTER FORTY- ONE
“Logan, what the hell are you doing back at work so soon?” Carrie Brown asked.
“Can’t keep a good cop down,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
Carrie was different than any other reporter he had ever met. She was sharp and tenacious but what was most unusual, she was fair. She checked and double checked her sources. She just gave the facts. She didn’t have any agenda or axes to grind. It was something of an enigma in the reporting business.
“Are you sure you should be up and around?”
“I’m fine. What brings you here?”
“They are going to give you the Distinguished Service Medal again. This will make your third or fourth won’t it?”
“Fifth actually…”
“I know, but who’s counting,” she said, finishing the sentence for him.
“Right. You didn’t come here for that. What do you want? Go easy on me; I’m not up to your wit level yet,”
“What’s happening with the University murders? Ever since you got hurt, not a word. What gives? I mean, even if I bought in for one minute the love-suicide story, which I don’t, what about the lady professor, Dr. Pratt?”
“Well Carrie, we are still working on that. We just had a small set back and now we are working on it again,” he said.
“Logan, I can read you like a book. The three are related but you are acting like they aren’t. It doesn’t take a genius to see that,” she said.
“Your colleagues don’t seem to think that,” Logan replied.
“Well duh, they are all morons. You of all people should know that.”
“Look Carrie, we are still trying to piece this together. Honestly, we don’t know if they are related for sure. Some things point to that and others don’t. We are just seeing where it takes us at this point,” he said.
She looked at him for a few moments.
“I’ll accept that for now John. Because I’m worried about you and you still owe me a dinner, I’ll hang on this. You just make sure I’m in the loop if you do connect the dots,” she said.
“I will. I always do, don’t I?”
“Yeah. That’s why I care about you so much. You’re a true unassuming American hero who isn’t full of himself,” she said, patting him on the cheek.
Logan watched her as she walked across the room and disappeared down the stairs. She was a good looking woman, not beautiful, but attractive. He often thought if he were ten years younger he would make some kind of play for her. She was single and had little in the way of a social life that he was aware of.
* * *
Each one of the men handed his report to Logan. He glanced through them quickly and set them on his desk.
“Not much in the way of earth shaking news,” he said.
“These are not the earth shaking kind of people. If Sorenson were any duller, moss would grow on her. She does nothing all day but sit on the porch and read. I was ready to cut her grass just to have something to do,” Bull said.
“Never left the place to go to the grocery even?”
“Not once. Nada. Sit and read, sit and read. That’s all she did,” he said.
“Keller?” Logan asked.
“Well, as you can see, he is a lot more fun. He actually went to the grocery. By the way, the list of things he bought is included. He stopped by the Dairy Queen and got a large cone and then went back home. He did cut his grass so I wasn’t tempted like Bull,” Randy told him.
“And our good Doctor Richardson?”
“You know, the man is just a prick. He is mean to everyone. He snapped at the mail man for coming across his yard. He yelled at the paper boy when the paper missed his porch. He is one mean man. I vote for him to be our suspect,” Jonas said.
“You have something that links him to this?” Logan asked, looking up quickly.
“Nah. I just don’t like the man. We would be doing everyone a favor is we framed the jerk,” Jonas replied.
“Very cute. Not helpful, but cute. I was sure you would have something that was helpful. I don’t mean that like it sounds. It’s just frustrating to think this person may get away with it. Three people killed and we don’t have any solid evidence. We still need those DNA samples. We are going to have to get them some other way. We don’t have enough for a court order.”
“How?” Randy asked.
“Well, let’s have the lawyers come in with each of them separately. We will have a list of questions and drag it out for an hour if we can. We will have the heat turned up and a pitcher of ice water on the table with glasses. If they drink from one of the glasses, we can get a DNA sample,” Logan said.
“Is it legal?”
“It is. I pulled it off once before and the DA was good with it. You don’t have to tell them you are going to check for DNA if they leave the evidence behind,” Logan explained.
“And the DA was fine with that?”
“He was. The case stuck,” Logan replied.
“Sounds like a plan. When do you want to set it up?”
“Let’s get the attorneys on the line and see if we can do it tomorrow. I’m sure they will stall some but we can convince them that it would be in the best interest of the School,” Logan said.
“Oh, don’t start that again,” Randy moaned.
“Sometimes you just gotta’ do what ya’ gotta’ do,” Logan said.
They called the attorney’s office and told them what they wanted. It took a few minutes to get them to see it their way but in the end they agreed to see when the professors would be available. An hour later it was arranged for the day after tomorrow.
Each professor would come in with the attorneys and answer the questions with their advice. Logan thanked them for their cooperation and humbly told them how grateful he was for them to take the time to come to the station.
It was a crock. He knew it and the attorneys knew it but that was the way the game was played. Everyone took the following day off. Even Logan stayed at home, just resting up. He still had a pounding headache and his left knee hurt when he climbed the stairs but it could have been worse. A lot worse.
CHAPTER FORTY-T WO
“Dr Keller, I would like for you to clear up just a few questions we still have lingering,” Logan said.
“If my attorney agrees,” he replied.
“Fine. Can you tell me a little about your relationship with Dr. Pratt?”
“I’m not sure what you mean. She was a colleague, nothing more.”
“Have you ever been to her house?”
“Well, maybe once. A long time ago. She had a Christmas party and I went to that,” he said.
“But not recently?”
“No. Are you insinuating I had something to do with her murder?”
“I didn’t say that. I was just asking if you had been there fairly recently,” Logan said.
“Well, I most certainly have not,” he replied.
“The thing is, a neighbor said she thought see saw you going into her house. She made the ID through the picture on your University Pass,” Logan said.
“That can’t be true. She couldn’t have recognized me,” he insisted.
“Why not?”
“Because I haven’t been to her house in years. She must be wrong,” he said
The temperature had been climbing ever since they went into the room. Bull had turned off the air conditioner.
“Excuse me, is your air conditioner on?” Markham, the attorney asked.
“Yes. It does this from time to time. Sorry. It will kick back on in a minute,” Logan said.
“I und
erstand the two of you used to have lunch together from time to time,” Logan said.
“It was very rare. Just when she happened to be near where I was,” he replied.
“Excuse me, what does this have to do with Dr. Pratt’s murder?” Markham asked.
“I just want to make sure I understand their relationship,” Logan said.
“You do know she was a lesbian?” Keller replied.
“I thought she went both ways. She liked boys and girls,” Logan said.
“Well you are wrong,” he replied.
He reached for one of the glasses and poured himself a drink, taking a long gulp of the cool water.
“All right Dr. Keller. Just one more thing. Why are you opposed to a DNA sample? If you didn’t have anything at all to do with any of this, why not just get it over with?”
“I’ll answer that,” the attorney said, “It is our policy to never give anything to anyone. Self-incrimination is the number one reason people are behind bars. Silly little mistakes can come home to bite you.”
“Still, if you know you are clean, why not get yourself out of the loop? You wouldn’t even be down here if you had given us a DNA sample and were cleared,” Logan insisted.
“We never leave anything to chance,” Markham said.
As soon as they left, Randy came in and took the glass to forensics for testing. It would be another hour before Dr. Richards came in. Logan went out for a breath of fresh air and to take more aspirin. They cranked the air conditioning system back up to full.
* * *
The same routine was done with Dr. Richards and then Sorensen. All of the questions seemed honest enough but the answers didn’t really matter. At some point each of the professors fell for the inviting glass of water. Even the attorney drank some the third time. He offered the name of a good repair service as he was leaving. Logan almost broke out laughing but instead thanked him for his kind suggestion.
Now all they had to do was wait for the DNA testing to be done and they would know which direction to turn.
CHAPTER FORTY- THREE
“What?” Logan said as he read the reports from the forensic lab, “No way. They must be yanking our chains,” he said.
BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files Page 16