Lilith, Alan thought, I don't know who you are. And I don’t know how many you are. But I’m going to get you before you get anyone else.
3.
Dr. Arthur Koenig was in his late fifties. Koenig wore a beard like that of the late C. Everett Koop, the U.S. Surgeon General under President Reagan. Despite his idiosyncratic facial hair, Dr. Koenig was one of the best forensic pathologists in the region. Alan had worked with Koenig on a number of cases. Alan was relieved when he learned that Koenig had been assigned the autopsy of Robert Billings. It was the morning after Grooms’ late-night drive to the home of the murdered man, and he was running on fumes due to sleep deprivation.
Dr. Koenig was silent as he dug the slug from Robert Billings’ head. Robert Billings’ body lay naked on the examination table, surrounded by the antiseptic smells and cool temperatures of one of the autopsy rooms in the Hamilton County Coroner’s building.
Although the rest of the body had been examined, the autopsy was focused on the bullet wound, the obvious cause of death. There was no other damage to Robert Billings’ body—no marks that would suggest a fight, or the forceful restraint of a man who knew that death was near. And the blood work, rushed through the lab in the wee hours of the morning, showed no signs of incapacitating chemicals.
According to all the forensic evidence available thus far, Robert Billings had undergone no trauma at all, until someone had shot him in the head and instantly ended his life.
There had been no exit wound, leading Alan to believe that Lilith had killed Billings with a small caliber like a .22. Moreover, a .22 had been used in the previous killings.
For several years earlier in his career, Grooms had worked in the organized crime unit of the Ohio Department of Criminal Investigation. In the movies, gangsters are always killing each other with shotguns and machine guns. In reality, Alan knew, most gangland executions are done with small caliber slugs like the .22. The .22 avoids the mess of an exit wound. And it is effective enough when fired into the top or rear of someone’s head at close range. A .22 slug with a hollow point easily penetrates the skull and then wreaks havoc inside the brain, practically guaranteeing death.
“It looks like at twenty-two,” Koenig said as he finally pulled the blood-and tissue-covered slug free with a pair of forceps. Using a sponge, Koenig wiped the slug clean with his free hand and placed it inside a clear plastic evidence bag.
In addition to Koenig and Grooms, Maribel Flynn and Dave Hennessy were also in attendance. Alan had expected that Sergeant Rayburn would be here, too; but the sergeant was apparently still busy with the double homicide that had taken place in Over-the-Rhine. Named in the nineteenth century to honor the homeland of the city’s many German immigrants, Over-the-Rhine was now a drug-infested zone that the city’s business and government leaders had been trying to rehabilitate for years, with inconsistent and varying results.
Maribel and Dave had thus far observed the autopsy in silence. Their mouths were covered with surgical masks, but their eyes revealed their barely contained revulsion at the proceedings. As law enforcement work went, homicide was near the top of the pecking order in terms of prestige; but one big downside of homicide work was the required attendance at homicides.
Most cops—even the tough ones—dreaded this part of the process. Truth be told, Alan hated it, too. Although he had technically been to war, his time in the Gulf during the 1990-1 conflict had been as bloodless as war could get. Alan had been assigned to a rear area, where he was responsible for administering Iraqi POWs, mostly scared teenagers and old men who had been recently conscripted. Few of the Iraqi prisoners had seemed interested in putting up a fight. The majority of them were more interested in angling for political asylum.
Alan had seen far more bloodshed in homicide than he had ever witnessed while in the army. And Dave and Maribel were even less prepared for it. Both of Alan’s partners were a decade his junior, more or less. Dave, a sandy-haired, slightly overweight computer nerd, hated the sight of blood—let alone a homicide corpse. Maribel was a little less squeamish, but not by much.
“Based on the angle of the shot and the degree of distortion of the bullet’s path once inside the skull,” Dr. Koenig went on, “I think we can safely conclude that Robert Billings had no idea he was going to die—at least not until the very last second.”
“But he knew something at the last second?” Maribel asked from beneath her blue surgical mask. Her dark brown eyes were glossy, possibly a reaction to the numerous noxious odors and fumes in this room. Maribel’s long black hair, normally worn shoulder-length, was pulled back into a bun.
“He might have been aware the second before the shot was fired,” Koenig said. “The fragmentation of the entry wound, and the distortion of the bullet’s path inside the braincase, do suggest that. But by then it would have been too late. He might have flinched. But that would have been it.”
Maribel nodded. “I see.”
It was good to get the confirmation, but this was the exact same pattern as the previous two killings.
An image began to form in Alan’s mind: Robert Billings seated on the couch, perhaps talking to someone, or otherwise distracted by that person.
Then a second person coming up from behind and shooting him in the back of the head.
That would imply more than one killer.
But how would that work with the apparent methodology of using the online dating sites? Maybe the killers were two women.
That was a scenario that might work, though there were plenty of problems with it.
“What we have here,” Koenig said, “was a man who was relaxed and at complete ease one second, and dead the next.”
4.
After the autopsy, Maribel and Alan headed for the law office where Robert Billings had worked in the IT department. Alan instructed Dave to head back to the ODCI office. Two detectives would be enough for the interview with Billings’ former coworkers. Besides, there was a lot of evidence and data to gather and assemble. Due to the nature of the case, much of that evidence was electronic and computer-related in nature, and Dave Hennessy was by far the most knowledgeable of the three in that area.
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office is located in Corryville, near the city’s EPA building and the University of Cincinnati. Alan and Maribel therefore had a short drive downtown to the offices of Holley, Steinmetz, & James.
Holley, Steinmetz, & James was one of the more prestigious law firms in Cincinnati. It ranked right below Taft, Stettinius, & Hollister—the Cincinnati firm that had once been headed by the sons of a U.S. president.
Holley, Steinmetz, & James occupied a suite of offices on the tenth floor of a riverfront office that overlooked the city’s John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge—a scenic piece of nineteenth-century architecture that had been under construction during the Civil War. Once inside the gleaming, marble-floored lobby, Alan and Maribel had no trouble locating the firm’s suite: It was indicated in bold in the building directory mounted near the lobby’s main elevators.
Once at the main reception desk of the law firm, they were greeted with delicate solicitousness. They had not made an appointment in advance. This was not done in order to keep any potential suspects off-guard and vulnerable. Alan did not believe that he was likely to find Lilith among Robert Billings’ former coworkers. The problem, rather, was that Billings had been murdered only last night, and there had simply been no time for such a courtesy.
Nevertheless, it was obvious that the management of the firm had been expecting a visit from law enforcement. Robert’s death had already made the local news, after all. The receptionist asked if Alan would like to speak to one of the firm’s senior partners; and Alan said, no, that wouldn't be necessary. Billings had been a low-level employee in the IT department, and the senior partners in a large firm like this would have barely been aware of his existence. Instead Alan asked to speak to Billings’ supervisor in the IT department, and as many of his coworkers as could be made availa
ble—anyone who had worked with BIllings on a daily basis, and might therefore have insights into his final days.
Alan and Maribel were ushered into an ultramodern, sparsely furnished meeting room that the firm likely used for client consultations. They were asked to have a seat at a table that dominated the room. After a few minutes, three people filed in: a man and woman in their mid-twenties, and another man who looked a bit older, perhaps pushing forty.
“I’m Joe Kinney,” said the older man. Kinney was tall with light brown hair. Maribel and Alan stood to make the introductions. They shook hands.
The young woman was introduced as Andrea Smith. She was blonde and pretty, but in a toned-down, corporate way. She wore her hair in a ponytail.
“And this is Mick Halpern,” Kinney said, introducing the other one. Halpern was too young to be afflicted with male pattern baldness, but he sported a shaved head nevertheless. Alan also noticed that Halpern wore a single gold earring, and he wondered how Halpern fit in at the hyper-conservative Holley, Steinmetz, & James. Perhaps Halpern was given some leeway because he wasn't an attorney, but a member of one of the firm’s auxiliary departments.
The introductions and handshakes concluded, they all sat down at the table. There was just barely room for all five of them.
“I was Robert’s supervisor in the firm’s IT department,” Joe Kinney began. Andrea and Mick here were his coworkers. This has been a horrible, horrible tragedy. Tell me, do you have any leads?”
“As you know,” Alan replied, “Mr. Billings was murdered only last night. So the investigation is still in its early stages. We are pursuing several angles, but I’m sure you’ll understand that I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics of those angles in this meeting.”
“Certainly, certainly,” Kinney said, furrowing his brow but indicating through his tone that he was perfectly reasonable and understanding. “So tell me, then, how can the three of us make your job easier? Whoever killed poor Robert, we want to see them caught and locked away for a long, long time.”
Andrea Smith and Mick Halpern nodded vigorously to reinforce this sentiment.
Alan and Maribel asked a series of routine questions that would likely lead nowhere, but were obligatory nonetheless: Did Robert have any conflicts with anyone at work? Was there anyone who might have had a motive to harm him?
“Robert didn't have any conflicts with anyone here,” Kinney said. “I’m pretty certain of that. The IT department here is small—it was only the four of us, so if there was a conflict within the group, it wouldn't have remained hidden. And if Robert had had an issue with someone outside the department—say one of the associate attorneys—that would have gotten back to me via our human resources department. Holley, Steinmetz, & James is dedicated to maintaining an intimidation- and harassment-free work environment. If Robert had been involved in anything unusual in that regard, on either the receiving or the giving end, I would have heard about it.”
Alan nodded. He suspected that Joe Kinney’s apparent faith in the omniscience of the firm might be a little misallocated. But Alan didn't expect to find Robert Billings’ killer here, at the law firm.
So far the murder of Robert Billings fit the profile of the other two Lilith killings. The Hamilton County deputies had taken Billings’ computer into custody last night, and Dave would be working this morning with the Cincinnati departments to penetrate his passwords, etc., so they could assess the nature of his online activities. Dave would also be working to get orders for records from Billings’ Internet service provider, which would almost certainly be either Time Warner Cable or Cincinnati Bell. This information would further confirm that this was indeed another Lilith killing.
But they had to cover all the bases. And these people, if they had worked with Robert everyday, might have some insight into his life.
As if she had read Alan’s thoughts, Maribel cut in.
“What sort of a person was Robert Billings?” she asked. “I mean, what were your general impressions of him?”
Joe Kinney looked at Mick Halpern and Andrea Smith, who exchanged nervous looks with each other.
“Don’t hold back,” Alan prompted. “And don’t feel like you have to walk on eggshells when talking about the deceased. Remember, we aren’t Robert’s family, we’re the police, and we’re trying to find out who killed Robert. You never know what information could help us in that process.”
“Well,” Andrea said with some obvious difficulty, “I guess the truth is that Robert was kind of…”
“Odd?” Mick Halpern finished for her. “Is that the word you were looking for, Andrea?”
“I was thinking of the word ‘loner’,” Andrea Smith replied tactfully.
“Tell me, Andrea,” Maribel said, “Did Robert ever…make advances toward you?”
This was a reasonable question, and there was no completely delicate way to phrase it. Andrea was an attractive young woman, and Robert had been a single man, older than Andrea but not too much older. Andrea would have been out of Robert’s league, sure—and both of them would have seen that. But Robert wouldn't have been the first man to make advances to a woman who was younger, more attractive, and more sought after than he was.
Moreover, if Robert had been visibly on the prowl at work, that would bolster the theory that he was seeking female company online, thereby exposing himself to Lilith.
“No!” Andrea shot back immediately. Her lack of hesitation, and the unguarded nature of her expression, led Alan to believe that she was telling the truth. “There was never anything like that from Robert.”
“Did you ever notice him looking at you?” Maribel pressed, “I mean in…an overtly sexual way?”
Andrea paused to think about this, then shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I can’t say that he never looked at me, but we were coworkers, after all. I’d be over-interpreting his looks if I automatically assumed they were sexual. The truth is—” She trailed off.
“What?” Maribel asked.
“The truth is that Robert just wasn't that kind of a guy.”
“What are you getting at?” Alan asked. “Are you saying that Robert was—gay?”
Even as he asked, Alan hoped that Robert Billings hadn’t been gay, because that would mean that they had yet another killer on their hands, that Billings hadn’t been killed by Lilith.
“No,” Andrea said, “that’s not what I mean.”
“If I may,” Joe Kinney interjected. “I think what Andrea is trying to say—what all of us are trying to say, is that Robert Billings pretty much kept to himself. He came to work and did his job. He consulted with others when necessary, but he wasn't one to go out of his way to be either friendly or argumentative, and he didn't engage in idle chitchat. If you want to know about his skills at troubleshooting a network problem, or rolling out an installation of new software, then I have plenty of information for you. But I knew next to nothing about Robert Billings’ personal life, and I don't think that Andrea or Mick knew much about him outside the workplace, either.”
Andrea and Mick both nodded in unison to this. The former was noticeably relieved.
“Okay,” Alan said, realizing that they had reached a dead end. “We appreciate your time this morning. And you have our condolences. Even though it sounds like you didn't know Robert well, I’m sure that this has been a loss and a shock to you, nevertheless.”
“It has been,” Joe Kinney said. “This is just horrible.”
“You have my business card, and Detective Flynn’s business card as well. Later on, if you think of anything that might be useful to us, anything that might not have been mentioned today, please don’t hesitate to call us.”
“We won’t,” Joe Kinney promised. “If we think of anything, you will be the first ones to know.”
5.
They were in Alan’s Explorer now, leaving the downtown parking garage. The next stop would be Robert Billings’ mother’s home. That meeting would be far more emotional than this one had been. Last
night Robert Billings’ mother had been inconsolable. Alan would have liked to have avoided talking to her so soon. But in any murder investigation, time is of the essence. Understandable emotions of the grief-stricken aside, they couldn't delay gathering the information that might ultimately enable them to catch Robert Billings’ killer.
“Do you think they were holding anything back?” Maribel asked, seated beside Alan in the front passenger seat.
“No,” Alan said. “What they told us was basically that Robert Billings was a peculiar loner who kept to himself, who spoke to his coworkers only when necessary. That fits the pattern of the other killings, doesn't it?”
“It does,” Maribel agreed.
The Columbus victim, Harold Markey, had been a 36-year-old graphic artist. The other previous victim, 34-year-old Scott Green, had worked as a purchasing agent at a Dayton manufacturing firm.
After deciding that sleep was a hopeless cause this morning, Alan had gone online on the shared Ohio law enforcement database, and reread the case investigation notes compiled by the police agencies in Columbus and Dayton.
Both Markey and Green had been moderately prosperous but socially isolated men who were mildly overweight. Both had engaged in online dating. Both had communicated at various times with an unknown and so far untraceable individual who alternately used the names Lilith, Lilly, and Elizabeth—plus several other similar-sounding names.
And both men, within a day or two of their deaths, had withdrawn similar sums from their bank accounts. Markey had withdrawn $15,000, and Green had withdrawn $20,000.
Markey and Green had also been quiet loners. All three men had existed in their environments without really being a part of them. This, Alan saw, had made them eager to trust in the promises of nonjudgmental romantic acceptance that Lilith had likely dangled as bait—regardless of whether “Lilith” was in fact a man, a woman, or some combination of people.
Alan finished up a verbal summary of all this just as he was guiding the Explorer onto the exit ramp that would take them out of the downtown district.
Lilith: a novel Page 2