“So, you don’t have any family at all?”
“No, I’m totally alone. I might have some distant relatives out there somewhere, but I have no idea who they are. The people I work with are more like family to me now.”
He brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her cheek. “If you let me, I’ll protect you, keep you safe and make you part of my family. You’ve only met Shelly, but I’m sure that they will all like you. Now, do you feel safe enough to go in and go to bed?”
“Yes, but could I ask a favor?”
“Anything.”
“I don’t want you to take this as a come on of any kind, but could you come in and sleep with me? I just need to know that you’re there.”
“Believe me, I would sleep better knowing exactly where you are also.”
Dan sent her in to get ready for bed, while he checked all of the window locks and set the alarm. When he came into the bedroom, she was already under the covers. He got in bed beside her and put his arm around her. “Do you feel safe now?”
She sighed and let out a deep breath. “Yes, very safe. Thank you for staying with me. Is it asking too much to have you just sleep with me?”
He laughed and tweaked her nose. “No, it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have a physical relationship with you. But now isn’t the right time. We’ll both know when, and if, we are ready for that. Right now, my goal is just to keep you from being afraid.”
“You’re doing an excellent job of that. Goodnight.”
CHAPTER 17
Too soon it was morning. Dan made sure the alarm was set, while he went to his house to change and then came back for her. Laura called Rutledge, to tell him that they would be in after they stopped to pick up breakfast. When they got to work, the Captain was in the break room with Roy. “Now that I have the three of you together, I have some pretty weird news. Michael Vitale came to see me this morning. He told me that he needed time off to escort Stacey’s body back home. It seems that they both grew up in the same small town in Indiana. Her mother has asked him to help with the arrangements. Ralph is releasing her body tomorrow, and Michael will be gone for about a week.”
Laura was astonished. “What does that do to our case, Sir?”
“We will continue working on the leads we have. Ralph is printing some pictures from your apartment lobby video, and we can show them to Liz. If Vitale is our killer, then this will give us a much needed break. Maybe we can get some work done, without additional crime scenes showing up. My buddy tailed him last night, but he just went home and stayed there.”
Laura had an idea. “Sir, when does the tail start on Vitale?”
“When he leaves work at night.”
“So, he could have been at my apartment at three, dressed as a woman, and no one would have known.”
“Good point, Laura. I’ll check his schedule for yesterday and see if I can find out where he was during that time.”
“When I found out that the psycho drugged Stacey before he killed her, I knew he cared about her and didn’t want her to suffer. This makes Vitale look even guiltier to me. We have about a week to try to come up with some hard evidence, so we can arrest him when he gets home. Is there any way we can get a warrant to search his place?”
“I don’t know how, but let me work on it. He hasn’t really done anything wrong, that we can prove. Find me something even a little suspicious, and I will go to a judge.”
The next three days were spent going through the files and comparing the times and dates with Vitale’s schedule. The problem was that a year ago he had started working part time afternoons and weekends. This left him plenty of time to work at Montgomery’s as Emily, but that wasn’t conclusive enough to get a warrant. Liz came in and identified the crazy woman in the video, but that didn’t tie Vitale to the delivery.
Just to be on the safe side, Dan continued to escort Laura to and from work for the entire week. One night, just before they left for the evening, they were arguing over where to go for dinner. Dan asked Roy if he wanted to come with them to be the tie breaker. “What are my choices?”
Dan was laughing. “Laura wants Chinese and I want Italian. It’s her turn to buy, so she has more leverage.”
“You make a lady pay for dinner?”
“Yeah, it’s part of her independence thing. She can’t drive herself home, so she makes me let her buy dinner.”
Roy laughed. “You know, it’s good to see you two relaxing and having a good time. Sara is waiting on me for dinner, so I’ll pass this time. Just invite me again when Murf is paying. I’ll vote for a place that serves lobster!”
Dan gave in, so they went for Chinese. When they got back to her apartment, he parked the car and sat there holding her hand. “Are you doing okay staying by yourself?”
“Yeah, until there’s a loud noise out in the ally! But I have my alarm set, and I double check all the windows before I go to bed. I’m not letting up, just because Vitale is gone.”
“Well, it sure has been nice not having to worry as much. I really enjoy spending time with you, Laura.”
She smiled warmly at him. “Me too. Since all we had with dinner was tea, would you like to come up for a glass of wine?”
“That would be a very nice way to end the evening.”
He came around to help her out of the car. It was sprinkling lightly, and they ran for the door, laughing. They got in the elevator, and he pushed the button for the forth floor. On the way up he gave her a kiss, and she hugged him tightly. “Thanks for being in my life, Dan.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
When the elevator opened, they were both stunned to see another flower box sitting in front of her door. They got back in and went down to the lobby. Dan called the Captain immediately. “Sir, Laura got another flower delivery tonight!”
“Watch her closely, Murphy. I’ll be there with a team, ASAP!”
He looked over at her and saw that she was shaking, so he took her in his arms. “Are you going to be alright?”
“Dan, this means it isn’t Vitale, unless he came back from Indiana early.”
“We will find that out. If it isn’t, we’ll go after David Benson. Something tells me psycho boy is cracking. If so, he will start making mistakes.”
The team arrived with Captain Rutledge and swept the building from top to bottom. After determining that everything was safe, they went to Laura’s apartment. She opened the box and found a dead rose with a note that read, “You have disappointed me by continuing with that jock! You will pay the consequences! The next move is mine.” She looked at Captain Rutledge. “Sir, is Vitale back in town?”
“That was my first thought. I called Stacey’s Mom, and he’s still there. She said she couldn’t have done everything without him, and he will be home soon. That leaves us with David Benson. We’re not playing this wait and see game any more! I’m sending units to his place right now!”
Dan listened while Rutledge called for a team to be sent to Benson’s address. “Can we come along too, Sir?”
“Sure, why not? If it isn’t him, I don’t want Laura staying here tonight anyway.”
When they got to David’s apartment, his car was in the garage, but there was no response to the police knocking. Captain Rutledge got the manager to open the door for them. Officers went in with guns drawn and found David slumped over at his kitchen table. There was a gun in his hand and a single shot to his temple. Rutledge called CSU and then went out to where Dan and Laura were waiting. “It looks like he killed himself. There’s a suicide note, but I am waiting for CSU before we touch anything.”
Laura looked confused. “Don’t you find this peculiar, Sir?”
“This whole case has been peculiar from start to finish!”
She bit her bottom lip. “I guess that’s the problem. I don’t feel like it is finished.”
“Well, what about the note saying the next move is his? Maybe this is the move.”
She thought for a moment. “Okay,
but how is this affecting me?”
Rutledge frowned at her. “I don’t get your point, Laura.”
“How am I paying consequences? His killing himself makes my life easier. I don’t have to chase him any more, or worry about him chasing me.”
“I think we should wait and see what Ralph comes up with. Do you want to take a look inside?”
“Yes, Sir, I would very much like to do that.”
Laura walked through the front door and surveyed the living room. There were chunks of different kinds of rope lying on the couch, along with an open box of clothes pins. An empty dildo box was left on the coffee table, next to some wigs. She walked out into the kitchen and looked at the body. A typed confession had been left on the table but not signed. The part she could read, rambled on about Emily Anderson and Nancy. A hall closet door stood open, and in it were dry cleaning bags with women’s clothes in them. The names on the slips, attached to each bag, were the names of all the victims. “This is all too neat and tidy for me. No one in their right mind leaves this much evidence just laying around their apartment!”
Dan walked up to her. “Who are you talking to?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Well, it had to come out sooner or later. I think out loud to myself. It’s a strange habit that I developed from years of living by myself. I guess I just needed to hear a voice. So, now that you know how crazy I am, you can feel free to turn and run.”
He grabbed her in a big hug. “I don’t have any intentions of running. It will take a lot more than that to chase me away. I know that something is really bothering you. So, what’s wrong?”
“Why do you think something is wrong?”
“You’re wearing your worry wrinkle.”
Her mouth dropped open in a gasp. “Wrinkle! What are you talking about? I’m not that old!”
He laughed at her. “It has nothing to do with age. You get this funny little line between your eyebrows when you’re worried. I think it’s cute.”
“Sorry, but that’s not a wrinkle! Let’s get out of here.”
“That’s fine with me. Let’s go.”
“We better let the Captain know.”
Dan told Rutledge that they were leaving and then walked out with her. Dr. Foote was headed into the building as they were coming out. “Did we finally get him?”
She looked at him thoughtfully, wondering exactly what to say. “Ralph, I don’t think that’s a suicide in there. Can I have a complete report when you’re done, please?”
“So, you don’t think this is our guy?”
“No, I don’t. We’ll get together and talk, after you have gone over everything, but I want you to look for signs of someone forcing him to pull that trigger. My gut is screaming at me right now, and I’m almost never wrong when I get that feeling.”
“Okay, but be careful. If you’re right, then psycho boy is still out there.”
She turned and watched him walk into the building. “Dan, how about that wine now?”
By the time they got to her place, the florist box and CSU team were gone. Dan opened the bottle of wine, while she polished the glasses. After they sat down on the couch, he broke the silence. “Have I given you enough thought time?”
She laughed and patted his knee. “It’s funny how well you know me already. I love the way you can be silent with me, until I’m ready to talk.”
“I’m just trying to be respectful of your space. I can tell when those wheels are turning in there. Do you want to talk about what’s bugging you?”
“The note said I would pay consequences. What consequences am I paying if he’s dead? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“Maybe he meant religious consequences, or karma for causing his death.”
“Do you really think that this psychopath has moral or philosophical reasoning?”
Dan shook his head. “I really don’t know what to think about that. Why don’t we have one more glass of wine, and then do another of those snuggle sleepovers? I just want to know you’re safe. Then tomorrow we can get with Ralph and evaluate the evidence.”
“Thanks, I would really like that. You take such good care of me. Sometimes I think that you’re just an imaginary man that I made up in my head. I’ll wake up one of these days and find that you have disappeared.”
He picked up her hand, folded all of her fingers except the index one and used it to poke himself in the chest. “Doesn’t that feel real to you? Relax, I’m not going anywhere.”
About three in the morning she sat up in bed screaming. It was reassuring to know that Dan was there with her. “Hey, Laura, I’m here! It’s okay. What’s wrong?”
She was out of breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He turned the light on and patted her on the back. “That’s why I’m here.”
“It’s that stupid nightmare again. Only this time, David Benson is running along beside me, and the monster is chasing both of us!”
“There’s no one here except the two of us. Lie back down, and try to get some more sleep. In the morning we will get with Ralph. Don’t worry, we’ll straighten this out. Right now you are completely safe with me. I told you I wouldn’t disappear.”
Snuggled back down beside him, all of the nightmares faded away. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have found someone like him.
CHAPTER 18
In the morning, Dan and Laura went directly to Dr. Foote’s lab and found him busy at work on the case. “Can you tell me anything, Ralph?”
“It’s complicated, Laura. There are some slight abrasions on the trigger finger, which could indicate that he had some help. Also, his blood alcohol level was 0.24, which is extremely high.”
“What does that tell you?”
“That he probably drank a lot to get the courage to shoot himself. But I wonder about him still having enough dexterity to pull it off as well as he did.”
“Then why is it complicated?”
“Because of all the evidence that points directly to him, the different kinds of rope, the clothespins, all of the victims’ clothing and the dress up stuff like wigs.”
“Ralph, this killer has had nerves of steel all the way through this. Now, all of a sudden he needs a drink to pull a trigger? And if you were the psycho, would you leave all of the evidence that links you to these murders just lying around your apartment? It’s too easy. I would never profile this killer as the suicidal type. Why wouldn’t he just run to another state, if we were too close? I’m telling you, David Benson is not our guy! We are being played, just like we have been all along.”
“You could be right. The scary thing is that if you are, Vitale still isn’t our killer either. That means we are starting over from scratch.”
“Yes, as far as I know, he isn’t even back from Indiana yet.”
Ralph looked apologetic. “I’m sorry I can’t give you anything more definite. I will keep digging, but for right now, the evidence is screaming much louder than your gut.”
“Thanks for trying. We’ll work it from our end and get back to you.”
She was quiet as they rode up in the elevator. Dan was considerate and gave her space to think. When the doors opened, they could see Roy at his desk. “Hey, guys, I have coffee on. I heard you had a very bad night. He might be dead, but at least we got him!”
Laura shook her head. “I don’t think Benson is our guy, Roy.”
Dan looked over at him. “It’s a gut thing.”
“Laura, the evidence is overwhelming. Here’s a copy of the suicide note. How would he know all of these details, if he wasn’t the killer?”
“I hate to burst your bubble, but the psycho killed him and typed the note. The psycho knew all the details.”
Roy shook his head. “Have you seen this evidence list? Man, everything was right there in his apartment.”
“I know that, I was there. Have you looked at the photos? It was just lying all over the place in plain sight. Who does that? As careful and meticulous as t
his guy has been all the way through this whole thing, as much as he has led us in a carefully planned maze and now all of a sudden he’s a slob. I’m not buying it. My gut is telling me we are being played for fools, while he’s planning the next move he talked about in his note.”
Roy thought for a moment. “Well, wasn’t it a dead rose? Maybe that meant that he was going to be dead, and that was the next move.”
Dan laughed under his breath. “Now you’re going to get into the consequences part of the note. What are the consequences he is talking about?”
Roy laughed teasingly. “I get it. Now that you two are lovey-dovey, you’re going to gang up on me! That’s not fair, is it?”
Laura was getting very angry. “Roy, it’s as plain as the nose on your face! Wake up and smell the psycho! It isn’t David Benson!”
Roy was taken aback by how forceful her response was. “Hey, I was just teasing! Are you waiting for results from one of those HIV test?”
She threw up her hands and walked out of the office. “I’m going to talk to the Captain. See if there are any surveillance cameras at Benson’s complex. I would be willing to bet that you’ll find someone else going in there.”
Roy had an amazed look on his face, as he watched her leave. “Man, is she grumpy or what? You’d think she’d be happy that this was over.”
“Burns, how many times have you told me that she makes these amazing leaps? Now, all of a sudden you’re ignoring them?”
“It’s one thing to be stuck on a case and need a break. That’s when she makes these wild suggestions, and then we’re off on a different track, which usually leads us to the suspect. Right now we aren’t stuck. We have a ton of evidence, which supports the case against Benson!”
Dan shook his head. “That would be taking the easy way out. I’m going to look into that surveillance she wants. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine.”
Roy shrugged. “I love her too, Murf. Of course I’ll help.”
The Lady Killer Page 18