John: The Senior Killer

by Robert C. Waggoner

  The meeting or social gathering was at an end when Brad’s mother announced that dinner was ready. The director stood up and walked to Brad and held out his hand. Brad took his hand and the director said, “I for one am damn glad you are on our team. Your record speaks for itself and if I read the reports correctly, you have made significant progress where the FBI failed to produce. That is why I would like you to work closely with our special agent in charge. I can tell you this,” as they slowly moved to the dining room, “she is anything but a pushover. I suggest you have all eight cylinders firing when you meet this woman.” Brad didn’t for a minute take his words lightly. If the FBI had a person who could meet this challenge and it was a woman, little did he care what sex it was. He was long past that kind of sexist attitudes and one’s proof was in the performance not the gender. He looked forward to the meeting as they sat down to a dinner of leg of lamb which he didn’t much care for and his mother knew it. But, she had enough other dishes he liked very well such as a pasta salad with his favorite dressing and fresh steamed vegetables.

  After dinner, Steve and the Director left leaving Brad and his father back in the study. Brad understood this was necessary for a father and son to do under the circumstances. And like a good son he answered his father’s questions honestly and sincerely. At the end of the session his father bade him good night and retired.

  Brad then took the opportunity to call home and talk to his wife. He loved her and she loved him. They never openly showed any emotion, but in private it was a different story and only Rocky or Sandy could tell the truth of their relationship.

  Chapter 8

  The breakfast meeting was scheduled for eight am. Brad walked into the hotel restaurant at eight on the dot. He found the Director and his special agent at a back table against the wall where it afforded some privacy. She was sitting to his right and he had two choices, either face the Director or face the woman. He chose to face her, but remembered his wife’s last words on the phone to him, “Be nice and no macho stuff big boy.” They were introduced and her name was Nancy Longstreet. Brad had on a nice smile and gave her his friendly eye look. Brad quickly noticed the Director’s words last night as Nancy gave him a look that would freeze a polar bear. Pure hate radiating from her being. Immediately he felt sorry for her to let her emotions override her judgment. It dawned on him this was intentional by the FBI to thwart his attempt to stop the serial killer and let the FBI take the credit. She would fight him at every turn. The delay was written all over her face without a word being spoken. He almost got up and left, but knew it would be rude if not full of disaster to create a scene. So he waited for her or the Director to speak.

  Nancy took the opening and said with sarcasm dripping off her words, “I see Mr. Pratt your right hand is missing from the meeting. I was under the impression your dog traveled with you everywhere even to the men’s room.”

  Brad never blinked an eye and said softly, “I had to leave him at home due to the fact there are only two FBI agents in my house and I thought it prudent he be there to protect them against an army of black birds or sea gulls.”

  “Ok you two, that is enough of game playing. Let’s get down to business and Nancy explain to Brad what our plan is for the search for the serial killer.

  Like the professional she was, she laid out a game plan that would knock the socks off an NFL football team. While she went on and on Brad looked this woman over from head to waist. Her light brown hair was done in a short cut but longer on one side giving the look of someone unbalanced. While talking she kept throwing the heavy side away from her smooth skin lightly done up with makeup. She wore green contacts making her eyes look younger than her forty plus years. A perky nose and a wide mouth gave her a nice look overall. She was dressed in a power suit and her long fingers were void of rings or nail polish. He noticed she had a death grip on her coffee cup as her knuckles were as white as her blouse. She had beautiful white teeth that were probably capped. She gave off her East Coast accent proudly and no doubt she was Ivy League educated. The vocabulary she was using suggested a background of law which wasn’t unusual for a special agent. Brad caught the last of her conversation as she was saying, “… and that will take place when I hit Seattle.”

  The waiter came about that time and Brad ordered oatmeal and dry toast with a glass of orange juice. Nancy ordered poached eggs with an English muffin. The Director declined and said he must leave early to catch his plane for Washington. He packed up his briefcase and left not saying another word to either of them. Brad was left on his own with Nancy and thought it fitting he would leave her alone with him.

  They ate in silence and he broke the ice by saying, “When are you leaving for Seattle?”

  With a mouthful of toast she looked at him while she chewed and after swallowing and a sip of coffee said, “Right after breakfast. A plane is waiting for me and after I’m settled in I would like to see you in Seattle.”

  Brad thought it would be a cold day in hell when he ran to her beckon call. He knew the time would come when this arrogant woman would be cut down to size. A field agent she wasn’t; a desk jockey she was. She was completely out of her realm and about to have a head on collision with reality. He finished up his oatmeal and with a smile left her sitting there. His car came up shortly and he tipped the guy and headed back home to his parent’s house. On the way home he thought she probably had never been left with a check in her life. However, he kept his promise to his wife and he was nice. His thoughts turned grim with the realization of their next encounter would be something he was dreading.

  ***

  In a small town on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, John sat in his easy chair watching the first snow of the year float down on Wenatchee, Washington. He’d left Seattle with a new identity and a reliable used four wheel drive SUV. His luck was holding and he found a nice room with his own bathroom in a boarding house stocked with old people. Like a kid in a candy store he would take the winter to make a plan. For all that came to know him as Clyde Walker from Seattle recently retired from Boeing and looking for a small town to relax and enjoy life, he was accepted with open arms by Christmas. Folks said he was generous to a fault. They also said they were aware to be wary of strangers and they all gave him a wary eye until the holidays brought out the good will of the citizens of Wenatchee.

  His disguise was rather simple as plastic inserts clipped to his molars enlarged his cheeks. Wireless glasses gave him the retired engineer look. A nose that was extended was closely nestled above a mustache of his own beard. A fake goatee closely trimmed completely hid his real self. John of average size at this time had a waist ban making him look on the chubby side. In the final analysis people when they saw his picture in the paper or on TV simply could not believe it was the same man who killed all those old people.

  ***

  Back at the Round House Brad was briefed on the past doings of his team. Everyone was a little frustrated and relieved at the same time with the case. No new murders were a relief; frustration at not learning much new filled the house.

  Brad told the team about special agent in charge Nancy Longstreet and her upcoming role as head of the FBI regarding the serial killer case. He conveniently left out the view of her personality except to his wife. For him, more important things were on the table than a personal squabble between agencies. Brad went on with his views and asked questions about the books.

  Mike chipped in by saying, “I found one book that was interesting and it has a historical look at all of the presidents of the United States beginning with Washington.” He handed the book to Brad and said, “Look at the index where you see a list of the presidents. Move down to chapter sixteen and see where someone has filled in the bottom of the six with an ink pen. Now go to chapter sixteen and see the corner of the page has dog ears and not another page in the book has any dog ears visible.”

  “What do make of this Mike,” asked Brad.

  “I’ll be damned if I know, but maybe t
he number sixteen is significant in some way.”

  Agent Jones added, “Letter ‘P” is the sixteenth in the alphabet. Maybe it is an old clue as the pig farm is history as we know it now. ’

  “Hold on a minute,” said Wendy. “Abe Lincoln was our sixteenth president and maybe the clue is in his name. The letter “A” might be what he meant.”

  “On the map of Washington there is Aberdeen on the coast west of Olympia,” Mike added while scanning the map.

  “I will run a list of cities and towns that start with A,” Billy said as he ran to his computer.

  Brad yelled at him to include Oregon in his list while he was at it. Brad went on to say, “Let’s assume he’s using the Dennis Radar letter writing of “Catch me if you can” and will start on the border with Canada with a “C.” Everyone sat thinking about this while Agent Jones had a map of Washington and connecting lines for a letter “C.”

  Billy came back with a long list of towns and cities for Washington and Oregon. He said, “The computer is still working but I have one scenario; take a look at this,” he had taken a big sheet of paper and on a blank map of Washington marked three cities or towns that would form a letter “C.” The first city was Aberdeen located on the coast almost on top of the forty seventh parallel; up to Anacortes on the forty eight parallel; and on over to Arden on the same forty eighth parallel. Now all knew you could play this game many different ways, so when Brad told the group that what we needed were more discoveries of his intention to leave clues behind. What that meant was back to the books and the inventory from the kitchen. By now they had another list of items from the storage room, but Brad thought what was in the house gave them the best evidence of his plan with the copycat “Catch me if you can” letters.

  Brad announced, as it was growing dark, he would go for a run. Company accepted if anyone cared to work up a sweat before dinner. Billy declined and left to inhale some more nicotine; Sujin stayed to fix dinner; and the others all left to run except Mike who stayed to help Sujin.

  In early December the weather usually has a few days of cold and clear. Frost is rare, but on occasion one can wake up to a frosty morning on the Oregon coast. The tide was out and no wind for a rare change. When the tide turned to come in then a wind would come with it. For now, the joggers enjoyed the quiet on the beach and the still air. Wendy couldn’t keep up yet, but was determined to get in shape. Twice a day she had been running and her legs and lungs ached from the effort. Tonight they had crossed the creek where it met the low tide so as not to get their feet too wet and ran south instead of north. As darkness fell and the moon rose to the east, the runner made their way back after an hour of running. Brad and Agent Jones were hardly out of breath walking back up the trail following Sandy. Wendy was huffing and puffing, but with thigh muscles burning she followed closely on the heels of the men.

  Later sitting down at the floor table all were happy eating more of Sujin’s cooking. Mostly it was simple food and not so hard to prepare. Tonight again was a fish soup and steamed vegetables. Rice and Kimchee and Wendy were beginning to acquire a taste for Korean cabbage with hot red peppers. Sujin had showed Wendy the peppers from Korea that her mother sent. Instead of bright red, like she saw in stores, they were a maroon color and had a smoother taste than other peppers she had eaten. Wendy noticed Agent Jones had taken a liking to the Korean food and was in the swing of things slurping his soup.

  After dinner they all sat, excluding Billy who disappeared outside to smoke. Drinking green tea, Brad said, “In the morning if anyone would like to come, we could do some rock climbing. Nothing serious but I think agent Jones and Wendy would like it.”

  Both Wendy and Jones nodded their agreement. Wendy looked thoughtful, Brad noticed, and waited for her to speak. It didn’t take long and Wendy said, “I know this might sound crazy, but with the number game and alphabet, could John be using astrology and could this be a cryptogram in his clues and methods of times and places?”

  Brad jumped on this comment and said, “I was thinking about that too. We need to investigate this idea further. Remember the Zodiac serial killer from the sixties? Maybe our guy is a copycat with more than one past noted serial killer. Let’s think about this idea. First the serial killer is looking for notoriety such as the Zodiac killer sending messages to newspapers and the police. In our case John is receiving tons of media exposure as we speak. He’s basking in glory reading or watching on TV, or nowadays with the computer websites are springing up as Billy has told us regarding our JM. Now, if our guy goes to ground, then what will he do for news? Will he start killing again? The questions go on and on.”

  Sujin spoke up and said, “What you are saying is you think once the news fades he will begin again. And if that is the case, we need to find out who and where it will be. If he strikes somewhere other than a senior center or town clubs all the notices will have been in vain. How do we get a fix on this guy?” Agent Jones thought she spoke rather good English and she sure sounded like an American talking.

  Wendy took the break in the conversation to say, “You know the Zodiac killer was never caught.” She let that statement hung over an already depressed team. Billy came bouncing back from the computer room announcing he had the answer, or the best guess on the probability of John’s next places to continue his murderous spree. He said with excitement, “My friends in our ‘Nerds’ club has verified that Aberdeen, Anacortes and Arden will be the start of the ‘C’ in Catch.”

  “Billy how sure of this is you,” Brad asked.

  “Would you believe upwards of eighty percent give or take a point or two,” as he looked from face to face wanting them to give him a pat on the back or something.

  “Ok if we accept what you say is as good as anything we have to go on, which city or town is first? I know that is a rhetorical question, but after looking at the map, Arden is a very small town located in Eastern Washington. Naturally if a team of agents invades Arden the town will explode with fear. Same with the other two towns and the answer is undercover would be the way to implement the infusion of agents.”

  Agent Jones was the first to say he liked it and he was happy when Wendy approved of it too. Mike loved the idea and added, “We need drawings of what he used in the past for disguises. The agents must memorize them and slight variations also included. Now, how do you Brad, expect to sell this to the FBI?” An obvious jab at the boss and Mike had a shit eating grin on his face as it was later described by agent Jones.

  “I don’t, but Steve will, to answer your question Mike.”

  “What is that expression all are saying these days, ‘You can run, but you can’t hide’.” That last exchange brought on a knee slapping round of laughter as Brad stood up and said good night. Sujin went upstairs along with Billy to change out the dogs for the night. Billy lighted a Marlboro and stomped his feet for warmth in the cold clear night. Agent Jones joined him for some fresh air and asked him he could talk with him for a few minutes. Billy, through clouds of blue smoke drifting off to the east slowing turning gray and disappearing, told Jones to ask away. “Well, I really like working with this team and as you have known Brad and the rest of the team for a long time, what do you think, or why do you think Brad keeps me around?”

  “Ah, so that’s it. Simply put Brad thinks you are unpretentious and have a base of common sense. He doesn’t think you are a climber at this point and if given an assignment you will do your best.”

  “I thank you but what if one of my bosses drags me aside for insider information at some future time?”

  “Now that is a tough one. What would I do in that case? I would tell them if they have any questions that involve the personal side of Brad Pratt and his team; they should direct the questions to Brad.”

  “I feel it is coming rather sooner than I think. I get the feeling some shit is going hit the proverbial fan soon.”

  “We have been there before and you’re not to worry. Brad in a fight is unbelievable be it physical or mental. He’s
so smooth you will observe the person with whom he is jousting, eat his or her tie in frustration.” Billy fired up another cigarette before spending the rest of the night staring at the computer. Agent Jones went back inside and set an alarm for the early morning rock climbing.

  Chapter 9

  A cool fresh breeze was blowing off the ocean as the team walked down the trail to the beach under a cloudless early morning sky. Slight traces of frost remained on the grass making the beach grass look like a field of white mixed with brown waves similar to the foam left with a wave on the beach.

  Leading Wendy and agent Jones, Brad thought about last night’s phone call to Steve. Steve listened carefully and told him he would get back to him by noon his time the next day. Brad had written a report up stating the salient facts and sent it via fax to Steve’s office. The last thing he told Steve was about his meeting with the FBI Director and his new special agent in charge, Nancy Longstreet. He asked Steve to fax him her personal file and any other facts or rumors about her.

  Putting aside the thoughts, Brad stopped at the first small sea stack and demonstrated how he climbed the rocks. At first Wendy thought it a little silly until Brad explained the how and why of rock climbing. He said, “Suppose it is a black night, raining and you are climbing out of a canyon or valley with bad guys looking for you. I know what you’re thinking: how does this concern me? Well, if you are going to be on my team you must be trained for any and all possible situations.” Both Wendy and Jones were shocked to hear they might be part of the team in the future. Agent Jones stuck out his chest and followed Brad to the top of the stack. Wendy had a picture of the path they took and followed suit.