Anticipation

by Terri Breneman

  After dressing, he thought perhaps he’d treat himself to a little something extra for the day. He went to his closet and dug in the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a small plastic bottle marked aspirin. He shook out two tiny pills. Speed. He loved speed. It made his thinking even sharper. Pleased with himself, he snapped the lid shut and slid it back into the pocket before heading out the door.

  It was a fairly brisk morning, but he chose to sit at an outside table at the small bagel shop. Only one other table was occupied.

  He gave his order to the cute young waitress and opened the Daily.

  He was surprised to see the headline. Instead of a feature article about the serial killer on the loose, the headline announced,

  “Airlines Threaten Strike.”

  He scanned the rest of the front page. Nothing about him.

  Page two. Nothing. He was beginning to get angry. How could a possible airline strike be more important than his work? Who cared about the damn airlines? He was making the big plan possible for all. He was fulfilling destiny. He could not understand the stupidity and simplicity of most people. When the waitress brought his espresso, he merely huffed at her.

  Maybe the story was in the Metro section of the paper, he thought. He quickly turned to that section. Nothing. Then he checked the editorials. Surely there would be something about the complete incompetency of the entire police department. Nothing.

  He shook his head in frustration. How could this be happening?

  How could there be nothing in the paper about him? The common people needed to know. They needed to be aware of his incredible accomplishments, even if they did not yet understand their significance. He sat at his table, sipped his coffee and stared blankly at the street. The waitress reappeared a few minutes later.

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  He felt like screaming at her. She was unaware. She had no idea that she was within inches of greatness. He longed to tell her, to tell everyone, but it wasn’t time. He took a deep breath in order to calm himself and ordered another latte. This time he added an order of a raspberry scone.

  Feeling somewhat calmer, he looked through the newspaper. In the police blotter he found the article he was looking for. The headline was small. In just three short paragraphs the story was told. Judge Haley was killed. The chief of police was concerned for the prosecuting attorneys who were involved in this case and had assigned extra police to patrol the city.

  His rage grew. There were no details. Nothing about his brilliance. He began to hear the voices again. In his agitated state, he accidently knocked his coffee to the ground. He quickly looked around. No one saw. The cup hadn’t broken. He took a moment to refocus, then casually picked up the cup. Within seconds a calm-ness overcame him. He knew his destiny. His confidence soared.

  His power grew. When the waitress finally returned to his table with his check, he smiled broadly and handed her a twenty-dollar bill. He even told her to keep the change. She thanked him several times. He smiled to himself and left. One day, he thought, that girl would realize how lucky she was to have waited on him. The great one. He decided to go to his office and get some work done. He had more plans to make.

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  CHAPTER 18

  Sunday went by quickly for Toni. Patty had arrived as scheduled and both Boggs and Vicky had gone home to sleep. Toni chatted with Patty for an hour or so but found it difficult to stay awake.

  She dozed off and on for the rest of the day while she and Patty sat on the couch watching football. The doorbell jolted her awake at nearly 6:30. It was Boggs and Vicky. Patty stood to leave.

  “How’d it go?” Vicky asked.

  Patty grinned. “Well, except for the first hour or so, she slept like a log.”

  Toni was embarrassed. “Sorry. I was more tired than I thought.” Good-byes were exchanged. Boggs locked and bolted the door while Toni went into the kitchen to make coffee. After filling their cups she returned to the couch and sat next to Mr. Rupert. Boggs retrieved their pad of paper from the bookcase.

  “Okay,” Vicky began. “This whole thing has been driving me nuts. I think that someone is definitely helping Crown. Someone on the inside. I think that’s how Crown knows how to do things.” 172

  “Well,” Toni said, “I think that he had to have help getting out of jail. And there’s just something about him that doesn’t add up.

  Maybe it was the confession. I don’t know.” Boggs was taking notes. “I’m still thinking there might have been something about that maintenance man angle. Toni, do you have the file here? Maybe we could look at the police reports.” Toni nodded and went to get it. “Let’s divide it up into the first three murders,” she said as she began pulling papers from the file.

  Boggs and Vicky began reading the police reports and autop-sies. After about 20 minutes they began filling one other in on the details. It didn’t take long to discover what the victims had in common. All were white women in their early 40s. They held influential and high-profile jobs and lived quite comfortably. Each one died as a result of her throat being slit by a sharp knife, probably a switchblade. The bones in the right hand were crushed, probably by squeezing, and a pair of her own panties stuffed into her mouth. They hadn’t been sexually assaulted. Aside from those details, there seemed to be no other common characteristics.

  As for the differences, two of the women lived in apartments, one in a house. In only one report was there a maintenance problem. All three practiced different religions and none belonged to the same country club, business association or gym. One was a Democrat, one a Republican and one a Libertarian. All three went to different colleges. One was married, one divorced and one single. There was no indication that the women knew one another at all.

  Toni shook her head. “It seems like they were targeted because they were powerful and outspoken. I think he hated powerful women and maybe thinks women should stay at home. He also has that issue with his mother, you know. He referred to her as a whore, according to the psych report. I’ll bet that’s where the panties come into play.”

  Vicky nodded. “Okay. He’s going along killing powerful women because they piss him off, right? He thinks women should be barefoot and pregnant. Then Frank finds him and he confesses to the whole thing. Then someone helps him get out of jail and he kills 173

  the judge. Why? Because she had the power to put him in prison for life?”

  “Maybe,” Toni said. “It would make sense to kill a female judge because she’s powerful. At least Judge Haley was. And she was hearing his case. But here’s what doesn’t add up. When he gets arrested, Crown confesses. He just says that he killed them, but there was no emotion in his voice. Don’t you think if he hated women so much he’d have said something? Again, look at the psych report. He calls his mother a whore. I’d think he would’ve said something like ‘yeah, I killed those bitches.’ ”

  “Exactly,” Boggs said. “The way the psych report read, this guy justified hitting women because they deserved it, or they started it.

  Why wouldn’t he do the exact same thing when Frank interviewed him?”

  They sat in silence for several minutes.

  “You know,” Toni said, “even if this guy is a total genius, and he’s just playing everyone for a fool, how would he know that he’d be able to walk out of jail? If he was taunting us with the confession—‘Yeah, I did it. What are you going to do about it?’—then he would somehow have to know he was going to walk. He didn’t do anything nuts, so I don’t think he was looking to get an insanity plea going.”

  “That would mean,” Boggs said, “that Crown knew when he was arrested that he’d be walking out the door. How could someone know that unless he had some connections with law enforcement. If Crown does have a connection, then he could easily assume he’d walk away.”

  Vicky sighed. “That means we’re looking for an accomplice within our midst. Let’s make a list of everyone, and I mean everyone, who could have the ability to do this.”

  “I think we should
stick to the men,” Toni said. “It’s got to be someone who has the same beliefs about women. We just might not know how deep those beliefs are.”

  After about twenty minutes the list was as complete as they could make it.

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  “Okay,” Boggs said. “Here’s what we have so far. The jail guys, including the desk sergeant and the two rookie boys. Also the night shift at the jail and the guard who took Crown from regular lockup to the holding cell. Then we have all the high-ranking cops who could possibly pull strings. That means lieutenant and higher.

  Next we have detectives, which includes Mr. Personality, Frank. I think we should also add attorneys.”

  Vicky agreed. “I don’t know this cookie-cutter guy, but the prosecuting attorneys do have some influence.” As Boggs wrote down the names, Toni began thinking how long this list had become and how impossible it all seemed. “Since we’re adding almost the entire male population here, what about the investigators?”

  Boggs tilted her head to the side for a moment, as if considering the possibility. “I guess you’re right. Investigators would be able to pull some strings. And we’ve got a new one, Peter. I don’t really know much about him. Sam has had him working a fraud case. He’s been buried in paperwork for weeks. Or at least I think he has.” She sighed. “This is a big list here. Now the question is, how do we eliminate anyone? If there’s an accomplice, there’d easily be alibis for all the murders.”

  Toni thought for a moment. “Let’s try to factor in the information we have from Judge Haley’s murder,” she suggested. “Maybe we’ll get something else to go on.”

  After a few minutes of discussion, they decided that Judge Haley fit the common profile and seemed to have no other connection to the other victims. The only question was how Crown got into the judge’s house.

  “I don’t think she would willingly let Crown inside,” Toni said.

  “She knew what he looked like and knew he was on the loose. In fact, I don’t see Judge Haley as the type of person who would open her door to anyone she didn’t know.”

  “But she might open the door to someone like a delivery guy,” Vicky said. “Maybe Crown puts on a flower delivery jacket and baseball cap. People look right past a person’s face and look at the flowers.” 175

  “I could go for a theory like that,” Boggs said. “But it would have to be some other type of delivery, otherwise they would have found flowers or at least some kind of trace evidence. What about UPS or something?”

  Toni shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. They all have those trucks and uniforms. Harder to pull off. What about a pizza delivery guy? All he’d need is some type of car, a baseball cap and a square red bag. Even if you didn’t order a pizza you’d probably open the door and tell them you didn’t order.” Boggs and Vicky pondered that for a while before Boggs began shaking her head. “Nope. You might open the door, but you wouldn’t let the guy inside, even if you had ordered the pizza. I don’t know about you guys, but I just take the pizza from the guy right there. He never even crosses the threshhold. Here, we’ve got no struggle, and the bodies were all well inside the front door.

  Somehow, Crown is getting all the way inside the house without them getting suspicious. By the time they figure it out, if they ever do, they’re only seconds away from death.”

  “Well,” Toni said, “that takes us right back to square one. The other ones may have let Crown inside for whatever reason, but we agree that there’s no way Judge Haley did.”

  “What about the copycat theory?” Vicky asked. “Maybe Crown didn’t kill the judge. Maybe it was someone who wanted her dead and found this to be a perfect opportunity. Everyone would just assume it was Crown and never look for anyone else. That could explain why she let this guy in.”

  Toni thought about it for a minute. “Well, that might explain letting the guy inside. It would have to be someone who’d either worked on the case or is close to someone who did. The details about the panties and the type of knife have never been released to the press. If we’re looking at a copycat, then maybe we can use our list to eliminate people. They might have an alibi for the other murders, but not for Judge Haley. How do we go about asking where these guys were on Friday night without arousing suspicion?”

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  “I can maybe eliminate some of the cops by checking their schedules,” Vicky suggested.

  “Hey,” Boggs said. “What if the guy was a cop and was on duty at the time? Judge Haley would surely let a cop in the house and he’d have an alibi. He would be ‘working.’”

  “That makes sense to me,” Toni agreed. “That would also explain how he’d know about details of the other murders.” Vicky nodded. “Okay. I’ll only scratch someone off the list if he was at the jail Friday night or I can put him at some other location with witnesses. This is going to be tough. But I think I like the idea of this guy being a cop. I mean, I don’t like the whole thing, but at least this gives us an angle.”

  “What about everyone else?” Toni asked. “What do we do with the rest of the list?”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Boggs said. “Let’s see if we can get people to tell us on their own. You know how that works, Vicky. You say something like ‘Were you at blah blah Friday night?’ A lot of times they’ll say, ‘No, I was at the mall’ or something. If they don’t say where they were right off, I always say, ‘Are you sure? I swear I saw someone who looked just like you.’ Then they usually tell you where they were. It’s a quick way to cross a few names off the list, or at least see if they have an alibi. The most important thing, though, is to see how they react when you ask. Watch and see if they seem nervous, or look at you funny. That’s the real key here.” Toni and Vicky agreed and they split up the list of names. Vicky took all the cops. Boggs took the investigators and detectives and Toni was left with the attorneys.

  At this point, Toni felt they had pretty much exhausted the subject until they had more information. She yawned.

  Vicky looked at her watch. “Well, girls, I’m officially on the clock. Rest assured that I am alert and will have no problem standing guard through the night.”

  Toni wondered if that meant Boggs would leave, hoping she wouldn’t.

  “Well,” Boggs said, “I was thinking that I might crash here 177

  tonight.” She was looking at the floor, deliberately not making any eye contact. “It would save me the trouble of driving all the way past Metro to go home and then back again in the morning.” Vicky snickered. “That makes total sense to me, Boggs.” Toni immediately jumped in. “I’d really appreciate it if you’d stay, Boggs. I think I’d feel better knowing there are two of you here tonight. Especially if we continue on the theory that we know the guy who killed Judge Haley. I mean, it could be anyone.” Vicky nodded. “She has a good point, Boggs. I think you should stay.” This time Vicky was serious.

  Boggs smiled and pointed needlessly to her bag on the floor. “I brought over a couple changes of clothes just in case.” She winked at Vicky. “It’s always good to be prepared.” Toni smiled. “I’m going upstairs then. Give me a couple minutes, Boggs, then the bathroom is all yours.” When she heard Boggs reach the top of the stairs, Toni motioned for her to come inside. She had changed into a long red nightshirt that fell a little below her knees. Three buttons at the top were purposely left undone. Boggs stopped about a foot away.

  Toni pulled her close, wrapping her arms around Boggs’s waist.

  Boggs dropped her bag and held her. They remained that way for several moments, just holding on.

  “I’m scared,” Toni whispered.

  Boggs caressed her hair. “It’ll be okay. I swear.” Toni squeezed her tightly, then stepped back. “I’m sorry. I guess this is just so overwhelming. I’ve never been in a situation like this.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I’ll let you change.” She was sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard when Boggs came in wearing shorts and a T-shirt. She put her bag on the floor.

  Toni motioned
for her to sit beside her. “Sorry about that, Boggs. Too many emotions, I guess.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Boggs said. “I think you’re holding up pretty good.”

  Toni smiled. “I think I’ve got it together now. At least for the 178

  moment. But there’s this other thing.” She put her hand on Boggs’s leg and moved it slightly upward. “When I’m not thinking about Crown, I’m thinking about you. About being in the car with you.

  The feel of your kiss, your hands. That image is burned in my brain. When I think about it, I’m there again, feeling everything.” Her hand moved slightly. She dropped her gaze. “I want to kiss you again.” She took a deep breath. “But I want more. And I want it now, but with all this other stuff going on and with Vicky downstairs . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  Boggs leaned closer. “Me, too.”

  “Just one kiss, okay?” Toni said. “Then let’s just hold each other and try to sleep.”

  “Okay,” Boggs said. “I feel the same way. I want to be able to take my time. One kiss.”

  Toni pulled Boggs closer and brushed her lips against hers. She kissed Boggs softly. One kiss. But one wasn’t enough. The second kiss was a little more passionate and the third more so. Toni felt her body reacting and she knew if she didn’t stop now, she wouldn’t. She made herself pull away. She was breathing hard.

  “We’ve got to stop,” she said.

  “I know,” Boggs said. “But I don’t want to.” They kissed one more time. “But you’re right. We’ll get there. Soon, I hope.” Toni leaned back against the headboard again. “This is the right thing,” she said, more to convince herself than Boggs. “It’ll only be a few days, right?”

  Boggs grinned. “Less than that if I have anything to do with it.

  This is hard. Let’s try to get some sleep.” They crawled under the covers and Boggs cradled Toni in her arms. Neither spoke. It took a while, but both eventually slept.

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  CHAPTER 19