“I don’t understand why we’re doing this on our own? There are two other guys on our team.”
“Trust me on this Hank. I have my reasons.”
“Okay. Do we bring this up at the meeting this afternoon?”
“Not yet. Let’s see what happens in the next couple of days. Maybe our killer hasn’t chosen his next victim yet and we’ll be wasting our time.”
“I’ll see you at the meeting then. I’m on duty until 7:00 tonight, so I’ll head over to the address you gave me after I get something to eat.”
“I appreciate your help, Hank. See you later.”
After hanging up the phone, Mike finished drinking his coffee and reading his newspaper. Now he checked the police log on a daily basis.
*****
The next part of Plan A was to get a sample of Max’s DNA. He drank coffee out of the same mug every day, so that was not a possibility. He drank water most of the afternoon, so Mike planned to get one of the water bottles Max threw out. He’d use a John Doe ID when he sent the sample to the lab. It would be time enough to identify the donor if it matched the sample from Dave’s shirt. The hardest part of this day was going to be acting normal around Max.
*****
Mike made it through the day and hoped he had done nothing to arouse Max’s suspicions. As they were packing up to leave, Mike told Max he would be working on his kitchen.
“Well that’s one up on me. I plan to nuke my dinner, do a load of wash and head to bed early. I seem to be getting enough sleep, but I’m always tired. Guess I need to start taking those ‘over 50’ vitamins.”
Mike smiled at Max’s attempt at humor and waved as his partner left for the day. When Max was out of sight, Mike filled out the paperwork to get the DNA testing on the water bottle he retrieved from Max’s trash can. His partner wasn’t the best at recycling and tended to forget to put his plastic bottles in the proper container which made it easy to make sure he had one of Max’s bottles. After sending the bottle and paperwork to the lab, he headed home.
He picked up dinner on the way because his kitchen was really a mess. Even Lucy was changing her habits because her usual haunts didn’t exist. She was not happy and let him know about it every chance she got. “It’s not easy for me either, Lucy. You’ll just have to deal with it until this case is over and I can get back to making this mess go away.” Lucy looked at him with that ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ look and sauntered over to her bowl.
Mike didn’t expect Max to begin staking out the house in Columbia until after dark, so he had time to shower and change. He left his house around 7:00 p.m. to get a spot along Columbia Avenue where he could observe traffic without being seen by passing cars because his Mustang wasn’t exactly the most non-descript car on the road.
He nestled into just the right spot, turned off his motor and waited. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., Mike saw Max’s car cruise past. Mike’s stomach knotted with the realization Max had lied to him. He didn’t need to follow Max because Mike knew where the detective was going. He waited until it got darker before he left his safe spot. He had scouted out the site yesterday so he knew where to park and still be able to keep his eye on Max.
Stakeouts were extremely boring, especially when you were alone in the car. Mike watched as the lights in the various rooms went on and off. At 8:30, the upstairs lights came on for about a half hour and then turned off. The lights downstairs were turned off at 10:00 p.m. when the residents went upstairs. The house finally darkened for the night and Mike watched Max leave.
When Mike was sure Max had left the neighborhood, he started his car and headed home. He now had no doubt Max was the killer they were looking for, but he needed to have more proof before he went to the lieutenant. He would wait for the results of the DNA match. He knew one thing, there would be no more handless corpses in Lancaster.
CHAPTER 61
Tuesday and Wednesday were repeats of Monday. Before the other two officers arrived for the meeting, Hank told Mike no one had shown up at the address he watched in East Hempfield. Mike just nodded his head and asked Hank to give it another day or two. When the regular meeting started, Max and Steven Snyder both had nothing new to report – no fresh leads. The information well had run dry, but Mike was not yet willing to share his suspicions with the others. They decided if no new leads were uncovered by Friday, they would cut their meetings down to twice a week.
On Thursday morning, Mike opened his e-mail to find the report he had been waiting to receive. He just stared at his screen, unwilling to open it. His stomach did a flip. He knew what the report would say because Max had staked out the house in Columbia for the last two nights. Waiting would not change the results, so Mike finally opened the e-mail.
By the time Max came in, Mike had printed the report and sent an e-mail to Lt. Harper asking for a private meeting. He stressed to the lieutenant he didn’t want Max to be present or told about the meeting. The lieutenant’s response was curious, but he set the meeting for the lunch hour in the small conference room.
Mike needed an excuse to avoid lunch with Max, and amazingly Max provided it.
“I won’t be going to lunch today. I have to get a haircut and my car needs an oil change.”
“Okay. I’ll try to bear up under the disappointment. See you when you get back.”
After Max left, Mike gathered up his file and headed to the conference room for his meeting with his lieutenant.
*****
Lt. Harper was already seated at the table, eating his sub. Mike hadn’t brought anything to eat because he wasn’t sure he could keep it down. He greeted the lieutenant and thanked him for the meeting.
“You’ve really piqued my curiosity, Campbell. Judging by the look on your face, I don’t think I’m going to like what you have to say.”
“Probably not. This is not easy and I need to start from the beginning.”
“Does this have anything to do with the murder cases you and Max are working?”
“It’s all about the murders. I know who the killer is.”
“Who?”
“In due time, sir. I have to do it chronologically or it won’t make any sense.”
“All right, I’m listening.” Lt. Harper ate the last bite of his sub, wiped his lips, wrapped up his trash and sat back to hear what Mike had to say.
Mike was nervous. He’d only been a detective for a little over a month, and was sitting with his lieutenant about to accuse his partner of murder. He took a deep breath and began.
“I know you’re going to have questions, sir, but I would ask you to hold them until I’m finished.” Mike saw his lieutenant nod his head, so he began to lay out his proof.
“As you know, this whole thing started with the attack on Sandy Flanders. The day after she was attacked, we got a call from Dave Flanders. He confessed he was the one who stabbed Sandy, but he claimed it was in self-defense. Max and I arrested him, took him to the station and booked him for assault with a deadly weapon. His father posted bail and Dave was out within two hours.
“On Sunday, Max and I went to my parents’ house for dinner. When he was asked about his family, he told us he was divorced and had a son living in California.”
“And that’s important, why?”
“It will become clear soon.
“We visited Sandy on Monday and she told us Dave came to visit her on Sunday – which was against the conditions of his bail. She said they agreed if he gave her an uncontested divorce and went to anger management therapy, she would not press charges. I didn’t like the idea at all, but Max reacted with extreme anger. He aggressively tried to change her mind, but she wouldn’t budge.
“After we left her room, I asked him why he was so upset and he told me Sandy wasn’t doing Dave any favors by not pressing charges. Max was convinced Dave was an abuser and would keep abusing women.” He noticed his lieutenant appeared to be getting bored by his recitation of the facts. He needed to move this along. After all, it was his reaction to Max’
s behavior that first led Mike to suspect Max.
“The next time Max had such a strong reaction to something was when Sandy told us Dave’s mother Sarah was moving out of the Flanders’ house after Dave’s funeral and filing for divorce. It was almost like he was reliving his own divorce.
“Both of these reactions were completely out of character for him. You know how laid back he is. His vocal outrage was over-the-top.
“Then came Dave’s murder. Max seemed glad Dave was dead.” Mike had been watching his lieutenant’s face through his recitation and saw his lieutenant was beginning to see where this was going.
“As you know, we followed all leads, including investigating Sandy’s father because he had been to Dave’s house the night he was killed. Mr. Powers was our prime suspect before Craig McGinley was found dead, and we were able to eliminate Mr. Powers as the killer.
“Because of the similarities between the two cases we had to try and find a connection between the two murders. How were these men targeted? During the McGinley funeral, Hank mentioned we might check to see if there had been 911 calls before the one to report the murder. We knew about Sandy’s call. Sure enough there was one for the McGinley residence about a week before Craig was killed. In talking to the staff and supervisors, there was no one who was involved with both calls. Another dead end.
“Max referred to both Dave Flanders and Craig McGinley as trash, which really shocked me. At first I thought it was some sort of dark humor, but it just didn’t feel like it. After that I went on the internet to see if I could find out anything about Max’s time in Philadelphia.”
“I know you told me not to interrupt, Mike, but why didn’t you just talk to Max?”
“I tried. Aside from the information he gave me about his divorce, he told me nothing about his life in Philadelphia. It was like he was born when he came to Lancaster. I also talked to John Wagner. He told me Max was a very private person and John respected that. He also told me he and Max lost touch after John’s retirement.
“What I found on the internet helped answer some questions about Max’s behavior, but it raised a bunch of others.”
“What did you find out?”
“Max had a daughter. She was 24 years old and a grad student at University of Penn. She was engaged and living with her fiancé. According to Max’s Philadelphia partner, Anthony Magione, Michelle Davis was abused by her fiancé Neal McCracken. Max and his wife tried to get her to leave McCracken, but she refused.
“According to Magione, McCracken stabbed Michelle during an argument. She died and he claimed self-defense.” Mike watched as his lieutenant’s eyes sparked with a dawning knowledge of what Mike was implying. “Although McCracken was arrested for second degree murder and spent six months in jail, his family hired a high-priced lawyer and a deal was reached. He pled to a lesser charge and was sentenced to time served and five years probation.
“After that, Max’s marriage fell apart, his son and his wife moved to California and Max retired from the Philadelphia PD and relocated here.”
“Are you telling me you think Max is our killer?”
“I don’t think so, sir. I can prove it.”
CHAPTER 62
“You’d better have more proof than Max’s daughter being killed. He’s a decorated police officer who is a by-the-book cop.”
“I know. I’m not finished yet, sir. After Peter Baker was killed, we had another member of our task force, but still no clue as to how the victims were chosen. Last weekend I was visiting with my next door neighbors and Rose mentioned how she missed reading the Lancaster paper, especially the police log, while she was in Florida. I couldn’t believe the connection between these cases could have been so simple. I went home and dug through all the papers I had in the garage. Sure enough, the police were called to both the McGinley and Baker residences about a week before each man was killed.”
“So you’re telling me the victims were identified through the police log in the newspaper?”
“Yes sir. I checked the papers for the week after Mr. Baker was killed and found three possible future victims. Hank Simonson has been watching a house in East Hempfield. I’ve been watching one in Columbia.”
“Anything?”
“Max has been sitting outside the house in Columbia for the last three nights and doesn’t leave until all lights are out in the building.”
“All you’ve got is a whole lot of circumstantial evidence. Maybe Max is watching the house for the same reason you are – watching for the killer.”
“After the first night Max staked out the house, I sent a sample of his DNA to the lab.”
“How did you obtain it?”
“He drinks a lot of water and throws the bottles into his wastebasket. I took one of the bottles out of the trash. I made sure the chain of control was intact.”
“Have you gotten the results?”
“This morning. Max’s DNA is a perfect match to the DNA we obtained from Dave’s shirt.” Mike passed the report across the table to the lieutenant.
Lt. Harper scanned the report and shook his head. “Why didn’t you come to me sooner, Campbell?”
“With all due respect sir, I’ve only been in the unit for a little over a month. Max is a well-respected detective and I’m the rookie. I wanted to make sure I had as much proof as I could before I came to you and accused a veteran officer of something like this.”
The quiet in the room was almost deafening. Mike waited as Lt. Harper absorbed everything he had just heard. “Where do you want to go from here?”
That took him by surprise. Mike had expected the lieutenant to tell him what they were going to do. He didn’t hesitate and told the lieutenant what he thought their approach should be.
“I want to get a search warrant for both Max’s car and apartment, as well as an arrest warrant for Max. If we can obtain them this afternoon, we can arrest him when he returns to his apartment tonight.”
“Do you think he’ll be at the Columbia house again tonight?”
“He’s casing the house. I think the last murder shook him up when he found out it was really the wife who was the abuser and not Peter Baker. He wants to make sure before he strikes again. We should wait until he returns to his apartment. Then we can arrest him quietly. The search can be conducted while we bring him in and begin to question him.”
“Do you want to make the arrest, Mike?”
“Yes sir. It’s not something I look forward to, but Max is my partner and I need to know why.”
“I think we all want to know what motivated him. Start the paperwork for the warrants and I’ll make sure we have them before the end of the day. I’ll put together a support team of uniforms for the arrest and search. What time has Max been leaving the Columbia area the last three nights?”
“Around 11:00 p.m. He heads straight home afterwards.”
“All right. You follow him again tonight. Call me when he starts for home and we’ll have the uniforms move in after you arrive.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll have the warrant requests to you within the hour.”
Mike checked his watch as he left the conference room. He had done the preliminary work on the warrants before his meeting with the lieutenant. He had just enough time to finish them before Max got back from lunch.
CHAPTER 63
By 11:30 p.m., Max was placed in an interrogation room at police headquarters. He had not put up a fight when Mike and two other officers showed up at his door to arrest him. He answered the door and appeared surprised to see the contingent of police in front of him. His surprise turned to confusion as Mike read him his rights and told him he was under arrest for murder. Max didn’t say anything as he was escorted to police headquarters and placed in an interrogation room and the camera was turned on to monitor him. He was slouched in the chair and still had a lost look on his face.
Mike and Lt. Harper were waiting for the officers to complete the search of Max’s car and apartment. They wanted to have as much
evidence as possible before they confronted Max.
The search teams arrived around 1:00 a.m. carrying plastic bags filled with evidence. Rope, blood-stained shoes, disposable rubber gloves, disposable plastic ponchos and the printed notes kept neat and clean in a sealed plastic bag. All these were found in a backpack hidden in the trunk of Max’s car. The biggest find was a knife and hand hatchet. Mike identified the knife as one that matched the set found in the Flanders’ kitchen. The hatchet was the same size as the one missing from Dave’s basement workshop. Both would be dusted for prints and the reddish brown patches sent to the lab for DNA testing.
There was sufficient evidence to convict Max of at least Dave Flanders’ murder, but that wasn’t enough. The notes found in Max’s car would provide a piece of circumstantial evidence, but they needed more to ensure convictions. The other two families needed to have justice also, so a lot depended on the DNA evidence and the upcoming interview with Max.
Mike headed for the interrogation room with a heavy heart. He had come to really like Max and admired the man’s dedication to his job. He had to know why Max decided to become a vigilante and administer his own form of justice.
He entered the room and sat opposite Max.
Max looked at his partner and asked him in almost a whisper, “Mike, why am I here.”
“I think you know the answer to that Max.”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking the question.”
“I need to give you the Miranda warnings again before we go any further so we have it on video.” Mike recited the Miranda and then asked Max if he understood his rights.
“Yes I do. And I don’t want a lawyer. Now will you tell me what this is all about?”
“You’re here for questioning concerning the murders of Dave Flanders, Craig McGinley and Peter Baker.”
Splintered (Mike Campbell Series Book 1) Page 23