Linda Crowder - Jake and Emma 02 - Main Street Murder

by Linda Crowder

  “What about hypnosis? Doesn’t that help people recover lost memories?” asked Joyner hopefully.

  “Hypnosis leaves a patient in a highly suggestible state,” explained Dr. Gibbs. “It’s been thought that some patients who’ve ‘recovered’ memories under hypnosis are actually generating false memories placed there by the hypnotist.”

  “Why would anyone plant false memories?” “I’m not suggesting it was intentional, more that the belief by the therapist that the patient had been abused, for example, may have influenced their questioning, thus suggesting to the patient that was what the therapist wanted to hear.”

  “Yeah, that would not be good,” agreed Joyner.

  “Still, someone who is skilled in working with crime victims might be able to help Ms. Jackson recover her memory more quickly without running the risk of tainting those memories.”

  “Who do you recommend?” asked Joyner

  “There are a couple of therapists in Casper who are truly exceptional in their work with victims of violence. One is Jerry Coaches, but you won’t be able to reach him. Jerry spends his summers in Alaska. I don’t expect him back until snow flies up there.”

  “And the other?” asked Joyner.

  “Emma Rand.”

  Emma was surprised to see Detective Joyner when Kristy ushered him into her office later that afternoon. She’d met the detective when he was working on a previous case she’d been involved with but though he knew Jake well, Emma hadn’t spoken with him since she’d told him about the conversation she’d overheard at the parade.

  She rose to greet him. “Detective Joyner, how nice to see you again.” Shaking his hand, Emma asked if she could get him coffee or a soft drink. When the detective declined, Kristy softly closed the door on her way out of the office.

  Emma gestured to one of her comfortable guest chairs. “Please, sit down. Are you here because of that conversation I called you about? Have you found out who those two men were?”

  “No, I’m afraid not,” answered the detective, making a mental note to take a look at the surveillance footage that was sitting on his desk. “I’m afraid I’ve been focused on trying to find the person who attacked Cheri Jackson at the Solstice Rodeo.”

  Emma frowned, “Yes of course. I was just in to see Cheri day before yesterday. How incredibly sad.”

  “Yes it is. I just came from the hospital,” said Joyner. “Ms. Jackson has regained consciousness.”

  “How is she?” asked Emma.

  “She’s weak but Dr. Gibbs seems to think she’s out of danger. They’re moving her out of the ICU anyway.”

  “Thank God,” said Emma. “Poor Kristy has been worried sick. Was Cheri able to tell you who stabbed her?”

  “No she was not,” answered Joyner. “Which is why I came to see you.” Emma raised her eyebrows, to which Joyner continued, “Dr. Gibbs says she has the kind of amnesia where you can’t remember what happened to you during a trauma.”

  “Psychogenic,” supplied Emma. Joyner nodded. “Are they sure there is no biological cause of the amnesia? She may have hit her head on a sink or the cement floor when she fell.”

  “Dr. Gibbs didn’t seem to think it was ‘organic’ I think he called it.”

  Emma nodded again, “They would have checked for head injury I expect. If they haven’t, they certainly will now that she is conscious in order to rule out a physical cause. How can I help you?”

  “Dr. Gibbs said it may help Ms. Jackson recover her memory of that night more quickly if she works with a therapist who has expertise in working with crime victims. Frankly, I suggested hypnosis, but he wasn’t too keen on that idea.”

  “The integrity of memories recovered under hypnosis has been called into question,” Emma mused. “Hypnosis can be a wonderful tool. I use it in my practice for stress reduction and to help reinforce positive behaviors - like not smoking.”

  Emma looked to see if Joyner was following her reasoning. When he nodded, she continued, “However, if you hope to be able to use Cheri’s memory of her attack in court it would be best not to use hypnosis.”

  Joyner appreciated Emma’s honesty. She was a straight shooter, just like her husband. Even when Joyner and Jake were on opposite sides of a case, Joyner respected the attorney’s integrity. “What would you suggest?” he asked.

  “I’d be happy to work with Cheri, primarily using talk therapy to help her reach a place where her mind feels safe enough to consciously release those memories.”

  Joyner smiled ruefully, “That doesn’t sound as fast as hypnosis.”

  Emma smiled back at him. “No, I’m sorry I have no quick fixes to offer, Detective. I’d like to see whoever hurt Cheri brought to justice too, but there is no substitute for time in healing the mind.”

  Joyner rose, “I’ll mention it to Ms. Jackson when I see her. Of course, the state victim’s fund will pick up your fee.”

  “Detective,” Emma’s voice carried a question that stopped Joyner before he reached the door. He turned to face her. “Jake thinks there is no connection between the conversation I heard during the parade and the attack on Cheri.”

  “You think he’s wrong?” asked Joyner.

  “I don’t know. I think it’s an awfully big coincidence but Jake says coincidence happens all the time. Besides, he thinks it would have been too big a risk for a man to attack a woman in a ladies room in a crowded arena so a woman had to have done it.” Detective Joyner nodded.

  “I just wondered what you’re thinking,” continued Emma.

  “I think your husband makes a lot of sense,” said Joyner, watching Emma frown. “If I were a betting man, I’d bet on Cheri’s attacker being a woman - someone who had a grudge against her perhaps.”

  He continued, “Still, like you, I don’t like coincidences so until I can prove otherwise, I’m treating these cases as if they are connected. That’s why I’m hoping Ms. Jackson will be able to tell us what happened sooner, rather than later, in case she might still be a target.”

  He turned to leave again, then stopped himself and walked back to Emma’s desk. He sat back down in his chair and lowered his voice, “Emma, does Kristy Castle normally have access to your patient files?”

  Emma looked surprised at the question. “No, of course not. Casper’s a small town so I maintain an especially high level of confidentiality. I keep all my own patient files in here,” she gestured at a four drawer filing cabinet tucked into a corner of her office, “and I have the only key.”

  “What information would Ms. Castle have access to?” continued Joyner.

  “Billing information because she handles all my invoicing, and contact information because she manages my schedule. Why do you ask?”

  Detective Joyner was silent for a moment then answered, “Right now, Kristy Castle is the only person I know was alone in the restroom with Ms. Jackson and who left the arena with her hands and clothes covered in blood.”

  “She found Cheri!” said Emma. “She went back to look for her when Cheri wasn’t at their seats. Of course Kristy had blood on her hands and her clothes. She was trying to save Cheri’s life - and she did!”

  Joyner held up his hands. “Now don’t look at me that way, Emma. I’m not accusing your friend of stabbing Ms. Jackson. I’m just saying that I’m a cop and as a cop, everyone is a suspect until they aren’t a suspect - surely you understand that?”

  Emma sighed. “Jake would have said the same thing,” she told Joyner, “But that doesn’t make me like it.”

  “Just so long as we understand each other,” said Joyner. “I need you to leave Kristy Castle out of the loop in your work with Ms. Jackson. If the attack on her really is connected to the murder in Ms. Castle’s building that makes Ms. Castle a prime suspect for both.”

  Emma steamed at this but she didn’t have a logical argument to offer. Joyner didn’t know Kristy like she did. He didn’t know she would never have hurt Cheri and he only had Kristy’s word that she had barely known her neighbor before he di
ed. Kill him? How could you look at Kristy and think she would kill anybody?

  But emotion and intuition do not sway a determined policeman so Emma kept her opinions to herself. She promised Joyner she would be careful to safeguard any notes she took with Cheri. She also agreed to ensure that Cheri and Kristy would not be in the office at the same time so there would be no chance of Kristy overhearing their sessions.

  Satisfied, Detective Joyner left and Emma went back to the case file she’d been working on. When Kristy asked what Joyner had wanted, Kristy told her only that he’d been there about a crime victim he might be referring to her. She told Kristy that because of a sensitive family situation, he’d asked her to observe especially strict confidentiality so she would need to handle all contact and billing with this client herself.

  Kristy accepted Emma’s story, which made her feel all the worse for telling her half-truths. She hoped Detective Joyner would solve the case quickly and things could go back to normal.

  Then it occurred to her, what if he doesn’t solve the case? Not every crime got solved. Perhaps Cheri wouldn’t remember the attack, sometimes victims never completely recovered the memory of what happened to them. If the case went cold, would Kristy live under a shadow of suspicion for the rest of her life?

  Emma shuddered. It would be a terrible thing if justice was never served to the person or persons who committed these crimes but it would be worse for someone like Kristy, innocent but living with suspicion. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind of those thoughts. If she was going to be a real help to Cheri, she couldn’t let her own concerns about Kristy influence her work.

  9

  Detective Joyner had stopped by the hospital to speak with Cheri when he left Emma’s office. He found her newly settled into a room on the main medical floor, looking less fragile than she had only an hour earlier. When she agreed to work with Emma to regain her memory, Joyner had filed the paperwork with the state’s victim fund to have the sessions authorized. He put a “rush” code on the paperwork, which usually brought a response either the same day or early the next morning.

  With that done, he turned his attention to the security camera footage which had been copied to a disk that had been sitting neglected on his desk. He popped the disk into the drive and waited while the viewing software opened and the silent images started.

  The fact that Emma Rand knew what float was going by at the time she overheard the men’s conversation considerably narrowed the amount of footage he needed to view in order to locate them. He scanned the crowd as the Welcome Wagon came into the camera’s range.

  The camera was trained on the road - the better to catch accidents and monitor traffic which was the intent when the City installed these cameras. Only the first couple of rows of bystanders could be seen, and then only from the camera’s vantage point 20 feet above street level.

  He spotted Emma and Jake, their lawn chairs in the first row of spectators. Children darted out here and there, scooping up candy tossed out to them. Emma’s face was clearly visible, looking up and waving at her friends on the Welcome Wagon. Jake was turned away from her and looking down, chatting with a child who was excitedly showing off some prize gleaned from the floats.

  Joyner saw Emma’s attention shift and her head turn partially as though she were listening to something in the crowd. He froze the frame and zoomed in on Emma and what he could see of the people standing behind her. Directly behind Emma were two men, heads together. The taller of the two, wore a baseball cap that shaded his face. They were gesturing at the parade.

  Frustrated because all he could see of them was the tops of their heads, Joyner advanced the footage frame by frame. Four frames later, the shorter man looked up at the float and Joyner was able to capture a slightly out of focus but clear enough to be recognizable picture of him.

  He saved the image then continued advancing one frame at a time until the men turned away from the camera. The taller man had not looked up, once pulling on the bill of the cap, keeping his face out of the camera’s eye.

  Joyner wondered if the man was aware of the Main Street cameras and was deliberately hiding his face from them. If so, he clearly hadn’t shared that information with his companion.

  Resuming regular speed, Joyner watched while the men quickly disappeared from view and Emma nudged Jake. Joyner watched while she gathered her lawn chair and disappeared in the direction the men had gone with Jake trailing behind her.

  As the Welcome Wagon trundled out of the camera’s view, there was a brief section of blank screen then an image of the corner where Emma had reported losing the men in the departing crowd. He saw what appeared to be the taller of the two men turn away from the parade route and head up the street. A minute or so later, Emma came into camera range, looking toward the man but prevented by the now surging crowd from following him.

  Joyner reversed the footage and watched again as the man came into camera range then turned away from the spectators. He was clearly alone at this point. Joyner wondered where the second man had gone. Joyner watched frame by frame as the man made his turn. The camera that had captured these images was oriented toward the intersection but he thought there might be a moment or two when the angle would be right to catch the man’s profile.

  Joyner swore under his breath as the man turned his face away from the camera, keeping his focus on the shaded storefront until the danger had passed. By the time the man faced forward again, all Joyner could see was his back, then he disappeared from the camera’s view all together.

  There were no cameras on the side street that might have recorded where the man had gone. The City had installed them only on one five block stretch of Main Street. Always frugal, the Council wanted to test whether the cameras would prove useful enough to warrant spending the money to install more. Right now, Joyner wished they hadn’t been quite so careful with his tax dollars.

  Emma paused to knock on the open door that led to Cheri Jackson’s hospital room. Hearing Cheri’s cheerful response, she walked in to find a room liberally decorated with well-wishes. Every flat surface, except the nurses’ work station, seemed to boast a card, plant or vase of flowers.

  Two big bundles of balloons floated in the corners, anchored by the trademark golden foil of Casper Balloon & Gifts. Emma laughed as she deposited her own balloon bouquet next to the much larger one that boasted a trademark Welcome Wagon balloon as its centerpiece.

  “Oh my, Emma,” said Cheri, grasping Emma’s hand as she settled herself on a corner of the bed, “you didn’t have to bring me anything. Just your smiling face is present enough for me.”

  “Don’t knock it,” said Emma, smiling back at her friend. “It’s not every day a girl gets to find out how much she’s appreciated.”

  Cheri waved her hand depreciatingly. “You know how it is when you’re a member of something. Word goes out, ‘She’s in the hospital’ and it triggers the flower committee.”

  Emma looked around the room, “I have seen those obligatory flower committee arrangements my friend and these are not them! I’m not sure there are any flowers left in Casper. I think I got the very last balloons in town!”

  Cheri laughed. She had a good, hearty laugh and Emma was pleased to be hearing it again. Cheri’s color had returned to her and she was sporting neither IV nor oxygen tubes today. Emma asked when Cheri thought she’d be going home.

  “I could go home today,” Cheri answered, “but that crazy policeman says I have to stay here until he can get a team put together to babysit me.”

  “Detective Joyner?” asked Emma. Cheri nodded. “He thinks you need police protection?”

  “Isn’t it wild?” answered Cheri. “Some crazy person, probably just somebody who’d had too much to drink, takes a swipe at me and suddenly I need a body guard. Waste of taxpayer money, if you ask me. At least I work in a bank surrounded by security so I was able to convince him I could go to work all by myself.”

  “Well I’m a taxpayer and I can’t think
of a better use of my money.” Emma smiled as Cheri stuck her tongue out at her. “Have you been able to remember anything more about what happened?”

  Cheri’s smile vanished and her face became serious. “No, Emma, I have not and I don’t understand it. Oh, I know they say it’s trauma but I don’t see what’s so traumatic about it.”

  “Cheri, you almost died,” answered Emma. “You were in a place you assumed would be reasonably safe and then suddenly it wasn’t.”

  “Yes, but in the accident that killed my Joe I almost died too - I even bounced my head off the steering wheel,” said Cheri. “I didn’t forget what happened then.”

  “Post-traumatic amnesia isn’t quite that predictable,” explained Emma. “Some people will develop it but only for a few hours after an incident. Others will never remember what happened. Still other people, like you, may develop it after one sort of trauma but not after another.”

  “In other words, ‘who knows,’ right?” asked Cheri.

  Emma smiled ruefully. “Something like that. Human behavior is an inexact science. Every person is a complex combination of all the biological and environmental influences that have affected them over the course of their lifetime. I can predict generally how someone should respond to a situation, but one plus two doesn’t always equal three with human beings.”

  Cheri sighed. “This is why I became a banker. Give me a spreadsheet and I can tell you 100% of the time what those numbers are going to add up to be. People? That’s a whole other story.”

  “Exactly,” said Emma. “Which by the way is also probably why Detective Joyner wants you to have someone looking out for you for awhile. At least until we have an idea of why someone would attack you, it’s best to keep you safe.”

  “That sums it up perfectly.” Both ladies turned toward the man’s voice at the door. Detective Joyner walked into the room followed by a uniformed policewoman.

  “Ladies, I’d like to introduce you to Officer Ann Rutledge. She’s going to be your evening security detail tonight, Ms. Jackson.”