The Appointment Killer

by Remington Kane

  She’d had a boyfriend in college cheat on her. That betrayal had cut deeply, and she never wanted to experience it again.

  She returned to Owens’ room and smiled when she saw that Rhonda was holding his hand. She filled him in on the discovery of Miranda Marx’s body.

  “That makes Marx stand out among our suspects. But why kill her there?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I will.”

  Owens released a low moan as he looked at his broken arm. “I guess you’ll be on your own, partner.”

  “McVie is sending Troy Carson here to help out.”

  “Good, Troy is smart and will get up to speed quickly. Call me and let me know what’s going on.”

  “I’ll come visit you here. The doctors say they need you to stay a few days. They want to monitor that injury to your kidney.”

  “There’s pain, but it’s not too bad. I guess that’s a good sign.”

  A doctor entered the room to check on Owens, so Erica and Rhonda went into the hallway to wait while he was examined.

  Rhonda told Erica that she was going to the hotel and gather fresh clothes for Owens to wear when he was released.

  “Would you like me to bring something back for you too?”

  “Thank you, yes. I’ll give you my key card before you leave.”

  “I’ll be back in the morning. I’ll be bringing food too, real food, not hospital food. Brad has been through enough.”

  Erica laughed and touched Rhonda on the arm. “I’m so glad Brad has you in his life. I know he was lonely before you came along.”

  “Thank you, and I’m lucky to have him too.”

  The doctor came out and Rhonda went back into the room while Erica returned to hers.

  She didn’t fall asleep that night until nearly one a.m., as she pondered the case and planned her next move at uncovering a killer.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  NEW YORK CITY, SATURDAY, JULY 20th

  Troy Carson had visited with Owens in the hospital before he and Erica rode into Manhattan. Troy had already arranged to have the rental car Erica and Owens had been using to be picked up by the rental agency.

  Troy told Erica that he had gone over the case files, but he was looking forward to meeting the suspects in person, so that he could get a feel for them.

  “You’ll be meeting Ted Marx on Monday. I asked him to come in for a talk.”

  Troy smirked. “A talk? Don’t you mean a grilling?”

  “That’s what it will be. I’m also attempting to get a search warrant for his car, his home, and his cell phone, although we’re already monitoring his phone.”

  “What’s on for today?”

  “I want you to go out to Brooklyn this morning and check with the agents who are there with Ronald Hines. There’s still a chance that the perp will try to kill Hines. He’s being kept under watch at a precinct house now that we know that the killer may have planted a bomb. His apartment was checked, and nothing was found.”

  “This killer likes to vary the methods they use. I’ll make sure the Brooklyn agents know to look for anything out of the ordinary.”

  “While you’re handling that I’ll be interviewing the last three members of Dr. McNamara’s therapy group, Kari Whitney, Donna Davis, and Ruth Thomas. With luck, they’ll know something that might help end this case.”

  “You keep the car and I’ll take the subway. I always wanted to ride on a New York City subway.”

  Erica smiled. She was only a few years older than Troy, but at times he seemed much younger. Or maybe she just felt older and wiser.

  “You’ve ridden the Metro in DC; New York is much the same.”

  “But this is New York City, it must be better here.”

  “Take your pick, car or subway; I won’t need a vehicle. Kari Whitney is living in Texas, so I’ll be interviewing her by phone. Donna Davis and Ruth Thomas both work here in midtown at their office. The two became friends after they met in therapy and are real estate agents. They’re a short cab ride away.”

  “I guess I should use the car. It will make it easier to get around. I still want to ride the subway before I leave the city.”

  “We’ll have lunch when you get back.”

  “That takes care of this morning, what about the afternoon?”

  “We’re going to sit down this weekend and go over this case from top to bottom. Maybe something will jump out at you that Brad and I missed.”

  “I doubt that, not much gets by you two.”

  “Still, you’ve a fresh set of eyes, and since you haven’t met any of the suspects in person yet, you won’t be swayed by personal judgements about them.”

  “When will we know about the warrants?”

  “That should be soon. Two cops were killed yesterday, I don’t expect any problem in getting warrants. Monday will be a busy day as the searches and seizures are done.”

  Troy nodded his approval of the plan. “And once that’s completed, we should know more, and maybe even find something incriminating.”

  “That’s right.”

  “What time is Ted Marx coming in.”

  “I’ll tell him to be here at eight. By the time he returns home, they’ll be ready to serve the search warrants.”

  “What’s Ted Marx like?”

  “In a word, annoying.”

  Erica spoke to Kari Whitney by phone and heard the shock in the woman’s voice when she explained the purpose of her call. Whitney rarely watched the news and knew nothing about the murders. The reason there was no record of Michael Heskett molesting her is because it had never been reported. Kari Whitney’s mother had made a similar deal with Heskett like the one Luis Cantrell’s father had cut with Anna Lee, only for much less money.

  “I think he gave my mom five hundred dollars to keep things quiet. Mom wasn’t exactly a candidate for Mother of the Year. She had a cocaine habit and that cash went right up her nose.”

  “Were you raped?”

  “I was fifteen and thought Michael was a cool older guy. We were kissing one day when things went too far, and I lost my virginity. I wasn’t ready for that, and he wasn’t cool with stopping. I fought him, but not very much, and when it was over, I cried.”

  “Your mother should have had him arrested for raping a minor.”

  “Yeah, but Mom was Mom. As you can probably guess, we’re not real close. Anyway, not long after that, Mom got busted for shoplifting and sentenced to ninety days in jail. I went to live with my aunt. Aunt Mary is the one who got me help and sent me to see Dr. McNamara.”

  “Did it really help?”

  “Yeah, and I’m good now. I got a husband and a kid and I’m just living my life, you know.”

  “Did you like the other girls in the group?”

  “All except this girl named Heather; she was a stone-cold bitch. And then there was this girl named Lila, what a sweetheart… I read in the paper years ago that she killed herself.”

  “Do you recall a boy named Jason Warwick? His mother rented rooms inside Dr. McNamara’s house.”

  Kari Whitney laughed. “Oh, Jason, yeah, what a nerd, and man, did he ever have the hots for Lila. I think she liked him too, but she never said so.”

  Erica’s interview of Donna Davis and Ruth Thomas took place in their real estate office. The two twenty-somethings had met in the therapy group and became lasting friends. They appeared to be doing well, as they employed several people and occupied pricey office space in Midtown.

  They had unassailable alibis for the time periods when two of the murders took place, which had already been confirmed by the police.

  When Erica asked them about Jason Warwick, they both smiled.

  “Jason was a classic nerd when he was younger,” Donna Davis said. She was tall, with short blonde hair and hazel eyes, while Ruth Thomas was two inches shorter and had long dark hair.

  “We always felt sorry for Jason,” Ruth said. “The boys in the neighborhood were all jocks who picked on him.”

  “Why do you
say he was a nerd, was it simply the way he looked?”

  “Jason was always sitting out on the porch and reading when we arrived at Dr. McNamara’s house,” Donna said. “These weren’t novels, they were books on investing and biographies of businessmen, he’s really smart. Once, when Dr. McNamara’s mechanic couldn’t figure out why her car kept cutting out in traffic, Jason studied car repair manuals from the library and took apart her fuel injector. The doctor was angry, but when Jason put it back together, the problem was fixed.”

  “You’re both good-looking, did Jason ever show interest in either of you?”

  Ruth laughed. “Not as long as Lila Martin was around; Jason adored her. It’s such a shame that she killed herself.”

  “What’s your opinion of Heather Gray?” Erica said, and expected to hear only negative comments. Erica was surprised when both women said that they liked Heather. She expressed her shock at their statements.

  “Well, we didn’t like her back then, at Dr. McNamara’s,” Ruth said. “But we’ve met with her recently and she’s so much nicer.”

  “Why were you meeting with her?”

  “Heather is in AA. She came here to see us and apologize for how she was back in the old days,” Donna said. “The three of us went to lunch and had a good time.”

  “I like her a lot,” Ruth said. “Maybe I’ll give her a call soon and see how’s she’s doing.”

  “Would it surprise you to learn that she and Jason Warwick are now a couple?”

  “Really?” Ruth said. “Yeah, that is surprising. I thought Jason hated her.”

  “Did he ever say that?”

  “Not in so many words,” Donna said. “But wow, the looks he would give her sometimes, especially when she was putting him down in front of Lila. I think if she hadn’t been a girl, he would have hit her.”

  When asked about Ted Marx, they said they had never met him, but had heard about his ViewTube channel. They had also seen the video that showed Luis Cantrell dying on the floor of a police station.

  After leaving the ladies’ office, Erica hailed a taxi. As she settled in the seat, she did so slowly. She had awakened to numerous aches and pains and several black-and-blue bruises. They were a result of her tumble down the stairs. Her right hip still hurt, and she was moving a step slower than her usual pace.

  Troy returned to the office before noon with the news that Ronald Hines was being well-protected by the Brooklyn P.D.

  “I don’t see any way for the killer to get at him, although I hope they try. If they did, they would be caught.”

  “That would be ideal, but I think our perp is too smart for that,” Erica said.

  They ordered lunch in, and after eating, they went to a small conference room and used a white board to map out their list of suspects.

  Chapter Fifty

  NEW YORK CITY, SATURDAY, JULY 20th

  Erica listed the suspects names in alphabetical order, starting with Heather Gray. She then wrote down the pros and cons in regard to the probability of each suspect’s viability as the killer.

  HEATHER ELIZABETH GRAY, 26, Manhattan resident

  PROS (Heather Gray)

  1) Heather can’t account for her time during the two murders where the killer needed to be present—the drowning of Victim #1, Craig Rubio, and Victim #3, Luis Cantrell, who died from ingesting a substance he was highly allergic to, which was peanut oil.

  2) Heather was once reported to have been seen in the Pennsylvania town and on the same day that Victim #3 was killed.

  3) Heather had reason to hate Victim #4, Keith Pardo, as she accused Pardo of raping her when she was fifteen.

  4) Heather had known of all five victims because she had heard about them through the group therapy sessions she attended while still a teen.

  5) A red hair found at the scene of the Pennsylvania murder may belong to Heather Gray.

  6) Heather’s grandfather owned a fix-it shop, and Heather visited it often until her early teens. This could indicate that she’s handy with tools.

  7) Heather may have had a reason to kill Miranda Marx related to her former intimate relationship with Ted Marx.

  CONS (Heather Gray)

  1) Heather has no police record.

  2) Heather has never harassed Keith Pardo even though she asserts that he raped her and got away with it by paying someone to lie for him. This would seem to indicate that she had moved on with her life, rather than seethe with thoughts of revenge.

  3) Heather doesn’t own a vehicle and so would be hampered by traveling to the locations of the murder. It is still possible that she had use of an unknown vehicle.

  THEODORE “TED” MARX, 38, Manhattan resident

  PROS (Ted Marx)

  1) Marx’s ex-wife Miranda was found murdered at the site where Victim #4 was tortured.

  2) Marx has been profiting by his coverage of the murders and gaining in popularity.

  3) With Miranda Marx deceased, Ted Marx no longer has to pay alimony, which is more financial incentive.

  4) He has no explanation for why the killer chose him to make contact with, although there are countless others with a wider audience.

  5) As a former lover of Heather Gray, Marx may have heard her discuss the therapy group she was in and learned the names of the offenders who had harmed the group’s members.

  6) Marx has no alibi for any of the murders and was present when Victim #3, Luis Cantrell died.

  7) Ted Marx is a jerk.

  Troy laughed aloud when Erica wrote that last item on the board.

  “Should that really count against him in a murder investigation?”

  “It counts with me,” Erica said.

  CONS (Ted Marx)

  1) While Ted Marx has a number of drunk driving arrests, he has never been charged with a violent crime.

  2) Ted Marx has a car, yet he relies on his assistant to ferry him around. This does not mean that he doesn’t have access to another vehicle.

  DR. AUDREY ANNA MCNAMARA, 49, resident of Kingston, New York

  PROS (Dr. McNamara)

  1) Dr. McNamara had intimate knowledge of the offenses, both proven and alleged, that the victims were claimed to have committed against the girls in her therapy group.

  2) Having known the victims of the men who were murdered, she might have a desire to seek revenge in their name.

  3) The doctor is on record in calling for the death of all sexual predators, whether violent or not.

  4) Dr. McNamara has applauded the killer’s actions and seems to have an aversion to authority and law enforcement.

  5) Although the doctor claimed to have figured out the connection early on between the victims, she failed to contact authorities. This could have saved lives, including the victims of the bomb blast on Staten Island.

  6) Dr. McNamara has no alibi for any of the murders and owns a vehicle.

  8) As an author, Dr. McNamara might someday profit by writing a book about the murders.

  7) She has red hair. The hair found in Pennsylvania could belong to her.

  “When are we getting the DNA results back on that hair?” Troy asked.

  “It should be anytime now.”

  “Once we have it, will we have anything to compare it to?”

  “I asked the judge to order DNA collection on all the suspects. Once we get it, they’ll be rushed through the lab in a matter of days, if not hours. There are two dead cops lying in a Staten Island morgue because of this killer. There’s not much we could ask for that wouldn’t be granted.”

  CONS (Dr. McNamara)

  1) Dr. McNamara has no record of arrests.

  2) The doctor has a sterling, if controversial, reputation.

  3) She would have no reason to kill Miranda Marx.

  JASON DUNCAN WARWICK, 27, Manhattan resident

  PROS (Jason Warwick)

  1) Like Dr. McNamara, Jason knew the victims of the men who were murdered, and might have a desire to seek revenge in their name.

  2) Jason was in
Pennsylvania when Victim #3, Luis Cantrell died.

  3) Jason loved Lila Martin, a woman whom one of the victims brutally raped when she was a child. He likely blamed the man for her suicide.

  4) Jason has access to a car and can’t account for his whereabouts at the time murders were being committed or arranged.

  5) Jason was exposed to Dr. McNamara’s views on how to deal with sexual predators while still young and impressionable. This may have fostered a hatred of such men that has festered over the years.

  CONS (Jason Warwick)

  1) Jason has no criminal record.

  2) Although Jason knew the girls in the therapy group, he had no intimate knowledge of the offenses that the murder victims were claimed to have committed against the girls in the therapy group. He also had no way of knowing their names.

  3) Jason doesn’t profit by the crimes financially.

  Troy looked over the list, then pointed at Dr. McNamara’s name.

  “She seems to be the most likely suspect.”

  “You’re right, but then, she had no reason to kill Miranda Marx. It seems unlikely that they had ever met.”

  “We need to spend the rest of the day digging through these people’s pasts. Maybe something will stick out.”

  “That’s what I had planned,” Erica said. “I’ll take Marx and Heather, while you take Jason and the doctor.”

  “Okay, but I’ll work late while you get some rest. I can tell you’re still hurting from what you went through yesterday.”

  “I’ll be fine, Troy. I will take a break later to visit Brad in the hospital.”

  “In that case, bring back dinner. It could be a long night.”

  “We need as much knowledge as we can gather. We should also be getting reports back from the agents doing interviews with their neighbors and friends. I want to spend all day tomorrow going over those.”