Chapter Nineteen---An arrest is Made
Michael Gallagher was getting frustrated. As he sat in his office fretting it had been almost two weeks since Allison Taylor disappeared and he was no closer to solving the crime, if it was a crime, than he had been from the moment he was assigned to the case.
He still questioned the fact that as a homicide detective he had no business even being on the case since there was no evidence of a homicide.
Yet, he felt for Archer Taylor as a father who was distraught beyond words. He knew the feeling and this case was getting very personal for him. Was he trying to bring resolution to his absent daughter by bringing back Archer Taylor’s loved one?
He was conflicted, part of him wanted to solve this case and the other part of him wanted to resign from it.
The latter scenario was based on the strong possibility that Allison would not be found alive and Gallagher was not sure he could handle another sad story like the one he barely survived in his own experience.
He decided to work out of his angst by going back over the clues he had, the instincts in his gut, the “people of interest” in his potential suspect list and whatever else he could dredge up to get some momentum in this baffling mystery.
He looked at the names of those who knew her or potentially knew her, her father, her mother, Justin Shaw, Raven, the girls of The Promise, the administrators at the prep school and, Arch Taylor’s business partner.
Gallagher just shook his head.
Something was missing here.
None of these individuals felt right as the possible perpetrator. They just didn’t “feel” like kidnappers or murderers to him.
Yet, it also didn’t seem that Allison had orchestrated this for some selfish or unselfish reason. How could a beautiful girl just disappear off the face of the earth and not have anyone know what happened?
Usually, in cases like this there is a warning or a trend or an event that triggers some kind of clue leading to a solution.
Girls like Allison are smart, resourceful and wary of danger around them. What was he not connecting to here?
The phone rang. It was Elie. She related her experience to Gallagher about kneeing Dr. Oden. Gallagher almost fell off the chair laughing. “You don’t think you compromised your situation there, do you, Elie?”
“No, but I think I compromised his situation, at least temporarily. I have used my knees before in lacrosse matches, but never quite as effectively in scoring here.
Man, it felt great!”
“Just be careful, Elie. This guy sounds like a sicko. Watch your back. I don’t think you’ve heard the end of him, just yet.”
“I can handle him, Gallagher. He caught me off guard the first time around, but, I will be his worst nightmare from this point on. He has never had to parry with a Chicago girl.”
Gallagher asked her, “Have you had any Raven sightings or clues concerning The Promise?”
“Nada, but, I’m going out with Verna tonight to meet some girls and I plan to discreetly throw out a few comments to see if any of them pick up on them. I’m hoping one of them will ask me to be a part of this infantile promise club of theirs.”
Gallagher teased her, “Yeah, then you could disappear, too.”
“And, wake up next to Allison Taylor in a tree house watching, “Survivor!” Nothing on your end?”
“Nope, I was just sitting here wishing I had never taken this case.”
“C’mon, Gallagher, you’re the best! No one knows trivia like you do. Use that mind of yours, make the pieces fit.”
“Elie, there are no pieces, just parts of pieces. A half-quote, two strands of black hair, a cat fight between Raven and, by the way, we need to get her hair sample.
“I’m ahead of you, Gallagher, I already did. We’re waiting on the lab to confirm or deny.”
“For a second there, I thought I was a cutting edge detective. Have fun tonight, Elie. By the way, who sang, ‘Girls just want to have Fun!’ ”
“Roseanne Barr just after she sang the National Anthem in San Diego?”
“It was Cyndi Lauper. Get back to me later if you find out anything from the lab, Elie.”
“Good night, Gallagher. I’ll be thinking of you.” The phone went dead. As Gallagher sat there thinking his reverie was snapped suddenly by a commotion in the police station,
“Shut up and sit down you little punk!” said one of the arresting officers.
“Don’t tell me what to do, asshole! I can bust you in a matter of seconds! Do you know who I am?”
“Yeah, you’re a freak who likes to run naked across a college campus. What in the hell were you doing out there?”
“I was blowing off steam, man!”
“Yeah, well next time punch a wall with your pants on!”
Gallagher turned around because he recognized the voice. Standing there wrapped in a police blanket was none other than Justin Shaw.
He started sobbing, “I killed her!”
The office suddenly became very quiet. All eyes were on Justin Shaw.
Chapter Twenty--justin Talks
Gallagher moved quickly to the distraught young man. He could see clearly the kid was struggling with his sanity. It was a remarkable change from the cool and collected smartass from earlier that week. This person was wild-eyed and manic.
He needed medical attention right away. “Call EMT!” Gallagher ordered, “Get them over here right away. Tell them we have a code red.”
The arresting officer was a little befuddled, “EMT? But, sir, he was just running around naked.”
Gallagher turned with a cold stare, “I said call them, Simpson, now!”
The officer dialed the phone immediately.
“Justin, I want you to lay down over here and not try to talk right now,” the detective soothed him. “Just do as I say.”
Shaw complied but as he looked up at Mike, he blurted out, “I made her go away, dude. I killed Allison. I’m so sorry!”
Gallagher heard the words, but they had a ring of desperation to them that didn’t quite sound authentic.
He wanted to believe Justin Shaw as a professional so he could solve the case, but personally he sensed the kid was as loony as a flying squirrel.
He didn’t want the Taylor girl dead. He wanted to bring Allison back to her father. He knew that was his main motivation in this case.
“Just lay still, Justin.”
Justin continued sobbing. It took him several minutes to say anything more. Finally, he began stammering a verbal response,
“I should have agreed to marry her. Then, she wouldn’t have disappeared. I let her down. I want her back. I made her kill herself, I just know it.”
Gallagher quickly recognized this case was far from over. The young man was just venting his own pain. Justin Shaw was delirious and guilt-ridden and unable to contribute any help in solving Allison’s disappearance.
He was probably on medication, as well. He told Justin to calm down.
“Well, I don’t think she ran away, Justin. Our evidence indicates someone took her,” he lied to help the boy relax at that moment.
“So, quit blaming yourself. You need to rest and when you are calm enough to talk to me rationally, I would like to know if you have any ideas as to who would want to take her away for whatever reason, without your smartass answers.”
Shaw looked up at Gallagher and began crying again. “You don’t think I caused her to leave?”
“No, Justin, you didn’t cause her to leave. Now try to sleep. Close your eyes and rest, young man.”
“If I didn’t cause her to leave, then what the hell is this?” He shook his fist at Gallagher and as the detective looked down, he saw something in Justin’s hand. It was a wrinkled piece of paper. He reached down and pulled it out. Straightening it out, he read it carefully. It was a hand written note,
Ryan,
I tried to tell you when I saw you last night how much I loved you. I wanted us to be together and you said no. So, I
am gone now never to return to bother you again. It’s too painful for me to even live anymore. I can’t go
on without you. Please know I will always love you and I hope you find the woman of your dreams.
Alli Forever
Gallagher smiled down at Justin. “This is pretty special. I understand now why you are running around the campus in the middle of the night without your clothes on!”
“See, I killed her. I’m such a jerk. I should have told her I loved her back, Then, she would be here now.”
“No, Justin, you didn’t cause her to leave.”
“What do you mean, Gallagher,” sputtered Justin, “You read the note.”
“This note was not written by Allison Taylor. This is not her handwriting. It was written by someone else.”
Justin Shaw’s eyes got very wide. “Who?”
“I don’t know who. But, I know what Allison’s handwriting looks like and this is a forgery. You can bet I’m going to do my damndest to find out who did write this. Where did you get this letter, Justin?”
“It was on my car windshield…”
Gallagher continued to look carefully at the writing. It was definitely not Allison’s style. The Taylor girl crossed her “t’s” in a subtle little half-moon as they crossed the letter.
The note did not have the tell-tale “t” crossings.
Now Justin was really scared. “You mean the guy who took Allison came to my house? Oh, my God.”
Gallagher saw the EMT people arriving at the station. He looked down at Justin,
“They’re not after you, Justin. They are using you to send a message to all of us. Have you told anyone else about this note?”
“No sir.”
“Don’t say a word to anyone, understand? It may help us to,” Gallagher suddenly saw the boy’s face pale, “Justin?”
Justin was now shaking uncontrollably. “They’re going to kill me, too!”
The EMT nurses swiftly moved into action. As they checked his pulse and gave him oxygen, they glanced over at Gallagher.
One of them gave him the thumbs up. The detective nodded and walked back to his desk and carefully put the wrinkled paper in a plastic bag for fingerprint analysis.
He marked it, FINGERPRINT LAB and sent it on its way through the office courier.
As he looked over at his leprechaun, he just shook his head in frustration, “The plot thickens, Mick, I really need you now. Someone has not only taken Allison, they’re now playing a game with us, too!”
Chapter Twenty-one--Allison’s mom Revisited
“The good news Elie, is that we have another clue.
The bad news is that the clue implies that Allison is going to commit suicide so that whoever sent this has either may have already killed her or has plans to do so.”
Elie and Gallagher both sat in his car as they munched on sandwiches on their way over to see Ashley Taylor.
“Maybe, Mike, but why would they even bother sending a note if they were going to kill her anyway?”
“Simple. They kill her, her body never shows up or they stage the murder like a suicide and they’re home free. The family accepts the tragedy and life goes on.
Someone gets away with murder.”
Elie recoiled, “That’s a horrible thought.”
“Yeah, well, all we can do is to find Allison alive before any of this happens.” As he turned the engine back on, he glanced over at his partner, “By the way, do you know what two famous historical events occurred on April 14?”
Elie pondered the question and then bluffed with a smile, “The Alamo and Justin Bieber got his hair cut?”
Gallagher laughed, “Not a chance. Lincoln was shot and the Titanic hit an ice berg. But, you were so close.”
“How was I close?”
Well, the Alamo and the Titanic were both epic movies…”
“Just drive, Gallagher and don’t talk.”
As they pulled up to Ms. Taylor’s small townhouse, Elie commented, “Well, this is a step down from where she used to live!
Her partner laughed, “Yeah, but she saves a ton on her electric bill.”
Gallagher rang the doorbell and Ashley Taylor opened the door. “No butler here,” noticed the detective.
“Hello, Mrs. Taylor, thanks for taking a moment to see us. We were in the neighborhood and we had a few questions about a recent development in the case.”
The lady was gracious.
“Come in. I want to do anything I can to help my daughter. I apologize for my behavior the other day. It was not my finest moment.”
As they entered the foyer, both officers noticed the several paintings that lined the walls and the narrow hallway. “You have an impressive array of art, Mrs. Taylor.”
“Thank you, Mr. Gallagher. I got that from my father. He loved the classics.”
Elie noticed, too. She was especially intrigued by the picture of Allison Taylor at the end of the hallway. “Who painted this one? Your daughter is beautiful!”
Mrs. Taylor blushed slightly, “Oh, that’s a self-portrait of me, when I was much younger, of course. Thank you for the nice compliment, I guess my daughter and I looked a lot alike at her age.”
Policewoman Larsen smiled. “Yeah, you really did, er, do, I mean, did.”
Gallagher cut her off, “So, Mrs. Taylor, we have some more questions for you.” He proceeded to sit on the couch alongside Elie as they faced Ashley Taylor in her antique double chair.
“Justin Shaw was arrested yesterday on a trespassing charge. But, he had something in his possession that I wanted you to see.”
He pulled out a copy of the note Shaw had given to him and handed it to her. As she read the note several times, a frown came over face.
“This is not my daughter’s handwriting, Mr. Gallagher. Allison has a smaller, more elegant writing style. It’s close, but it is definitely not hers.”
The detective agreed. “We already know that, Mrs. Taylor. Is there anyone you can think of who knew how she wrote or could imitate it this well? A friend, or a relative?”
At this point, Mrs. Taylor’s countenance darkened abruptly. She stood up and announced, “I will not answer any more questions until my attorney is present and I will not, under any circumstances, submit a sample of my handwriting to you without a court order.
Good day to both of you!”
She immediately exited the room leaving Gallagher and Elie stunned by her abrupt reaction to their general question.
Elie whispered to her partner, “What in the hell was that all about?”
Gallagher got up and followed Ashley Taylor into the kitchen, “She thinks we are suggesting she wrote the note.”
He saw Mrs. Taylor walk out through the back door into her garden area. As he proceeded through it, she turned and saw him,
“I asked you to leave, detective. Don’t make me call the police on you!”
It was time for charm and Gallagher had it in spades when he needed it.
“Mrs. Taylor, I would never suspect you of any crime against the child you brought into this world. I know how much you love her. You are the last person on this earth who would ever harm Allison.
But, I really need your help here.
Will you please take a moment and help on this. Look at this writing. Do you recognize it? It would be wonderful if you were the one who could bring your daughter home safely by giving us the most important information in the case.
Would you do this for Allison?”
It worked.
Ashley Taylor’s face softened and she reached out and gently took the note from the detective’s hand. She again studied it and as he watched her reaction, she seemed to be recognizing something about the handwriting…
“I cannot be certain. I just cannot say. It would not be fair to the person.”
Gallagher’s blood pressure went up. ”No, Ms. Taylor, you don’t need to be certain, just reasonably certain here.
That way we can talk to this person and see if they
might be sending us a message to find Allison with this clue.
Maybe they really love Allison and this is their way of reaching out to us.”
Ashley Taylor wavered, “Well,”
There was a long pause.
The detective didn’t say a word. He didn’t even breathe. The answer was so close.
The Promise Page 10