The Promise

by Patrick Hurley

  “I am looking at the one group of people dumber than that detective in there. Don’t quit your day job!”

  As the room fell silent only one person was heard laughing as she exited.

  Chapter Fifty-win some, lose Some

  It was time for another briefing.

  Chief Parker, Gallagher and Elie sat in the conference room reviewing all their notes as they prepared to update each other on the case to this point.

  Gallagher began the discussion.

  “The prognosis on Arch Taylor is guardedly optimistic. He is resting comfortably, but he is not out of the woods, yet. The doctors are trying some new heart medication on him and keeping him relaxed. Must be a miracle drug.”

  Chief Parker laughed, “That’s exactly what this investigation needs. What do you have on Raven, Gallagher?”

  “I have a lot of suspicion and some begrudging respect. I wish she wasn’t a potential suspect because I like her. But, she keeps popping up at the wrong times and in the wrong places and she isn’t exactly what I call a cooperative witness.”

  Elie snorted, “I don’t know why you even hold her in any esteem. She has treated me like Amanda Bynes at a MADD convention.

  I have tried to be nice to her. She reacts to me with rudeness and insults. You need to look past her entertainment value, Mike, and see her for what she is, a possible ringleader of a group that kidnapped Allison Taylor.”

  Parker agreed, “She may have a point there, Mike. How many chances does Raven get with you? You seem to be bending over backwards to accept her explanations for things that could incriminate her.

  Do you trust this girl?”

  Gallagher considered their insights before he spoke, “I like Margaret. It may be that she reminds me of someone very close to my heart. Her language is considerably saltier, granted, but her sassiness, bluntness, loyalty to her friends and ability to cut to the chase is something that Megan had.”

  The Chief and Elie looked at each other as they realized the power of that statement. Gallagher was comparing Raven to his deceased daughter, Megan.

  There was an uncomfortable silence and then the Chief spoke, “Megan was a spunky girl, Mike, there was no question about that. She didn’t take crap from anyone. She was a lot like you, in fact.”

  “Yeah, she was, Chief. Sometimes when I talk to Raven, I see Megan. We used to argue just like that over her late night phone calls to her friends, her messy room, her grades in math, her, well, it doesn’t matter now.

  Let’s get back to work here. I have asked for a search warrant from Judge Garrison to examine the red Mercedes for DNA. We will be going over there tomorrow.”

  The Chief asked, “Do you believe Malcolm Oden is alive, Mike? Was that the man you saw doodling at Verna’s funeral?”

  “Boss, there is no way he is alive. But, there is someone who thinks, behaves and even looks like him.

  This imposter is linked to Allison’s disappearance, I am certain of that. If we find out who was driving the Mercedes that day, there’s a good chance we will find out what happened to Allison.”

  “So, you think that Mercedes was the vehicle used the day of the disappearance?” asked Chief Parker.

  I won’t be surprised if we find some evidence linking the interior of that car with Allison Taylor. We’ll be getting the fingerprint results from the lab concerning the note found on Justin Shaw’s car to see if they match anyone sometime today.

  I submitted the prints from Verna and Malcolm Oden, Dr. Morgan, Verna’s friend, Samantha Nelson, Redding Shaw, Ashley and Archer Taylor and of course, Raven.

  The lab hinted there were some other prints on the paper, but, when they ran them against anyone having a criminal record they turned up negative. This is a long shot, but worth it.”

  “What about The Promise, Elie, do you have anything on them yet?

  The police woman shook her head, “Nothing. They are there, I just can’t infiltrate them. I thought I had a chance to but, Raven squelched that.

  Since then, many of the girls have been polite, but they have acted wary of me. I don’t know if my undercover work is a viable option for us anymore.”

  “This is your call, Mike.”

  Gallagher didn’t hesitate, “Let’s keep Elie there a little while longer.” He turned to her, “I want you to see what you can uncover about Dr. Morgan.

  Remember, he lied that day to cover for Verna’s outburst and he may be tied to The Promise in spades here. In fact, he may be their leader.

  Do a little digging, okay?”

  Elie nodded affirmatively.

  “So, where is the investigation right now, Mike? Do you feel good about where we are?”

  “Yes and no. This is a tough one. Usually, in a case like this, someone talks out of turn. It’s hard for people to keep their mouth shut in a high profile news event, especially in a smaller town or a college campus.

  But, Allison Taylor seems to have been swallowed up by the earth and no one saw her disappear and no one knows anything.”

  “Except what Redding Shaw said about the girls who didn’t like her, Gallagher,” reminded Elie.

  “True. But, one would think that someone would say something to someone!

  It’s like the Village of the Mutes. People who commit crimes like this feel compelled to talk about it. No one has.”

  “Then, Elie may be right about the Taylor girl orchestrating her own disappearance, Mike. If she did, there would be no one to brag about it, because no one did it, just her.”

  Elie smiled warmly at the chief.

  “That’s not what happened here, boss. My apologies Elie, but, you’re wrong on this one.

  That girl did not walk away from her life and her daddy. She was getting ready to start college and was excited about it. Someone prevented her from enjoying that next phase of her life. We have to find that someone.”

  His partner teased him, “What’s Mick think?”

  Gallagher picked up his lucky leprechaun. “My little buddy here thinks he is going to solve this case and bring Allison Taylor home alive to her family and friends. Don’t you, Mick?”

  He moved his mascot up and down in an affirming motion. This exercise was interrupted by one of the officers who poked his head in, “Mike, the lab just got a positive ID. on the prints found on that note.

  You need to call ‘em.”

  The detective looked at his partners. “I don’t believe it. It seemed like we had been losing more than winning, until now.”

  He used his cell phone and called Dr. Lowe’s office at the lab. “This is Gallagher, do you have positive ID. on the prints for me concerning the Shaw note?” As he waited for the verification, he drummed his fingers impatiently on the table.

  Finally he heard the name and thanked the tech assistant. Turning to his cohorts he had a grim look on his face, “They identified a match from the prints on the note to one of our potential suspects.”

  Chief Parker guessed, “Dr. Morgan?”

  Elie chose not to venture her opinion.

  Gallagher just shook his head, “I guess I need to call Raven back in. Like a rubber ball she keeps bouncing back to me.”

  Chapter Fifty-one--The red Mercedes

  Mike Gallagher was armed with a search warrant and accompanied by several specialists from Dr. Lowe’s lab team. Elie, of course, was not with him. She had to protect her cover in the event someone from Verna’s family recognized her.

  As the detective turned the corner and headed towards the Mason residence he felt confident something positive would turn up on fibers or hair relating to the Taylor girl.

  He felt strongly about his hunch, “This is the car she got into that day.”

  He glanced over at his partner, Officer Simpson, the literature expert, “Do you know where Edgar Allen Poe was born?” he asked him.

  “London?”

  “Not even close. Boston, Mass.” Gallagher smugly responded.

  The officer was impressed, “How did you know that
, Mike?”

  “A little bird told me.” He smiled, thinking of Margaret Williams. His joy faded quickly as he pulled up to the house and looked at the empty driveway.

  The Mercedes was gone.

  He quickly got out of the car and walked swiftly to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by Verna’s stepfather, the man he had talked to on the phone.

  “Hello, Mr. Mason, I’m Mike Gallagher of the Athens Police Department. I have a search warrant here to examine the red Mercedes automobile we discussed earlier this week.” He looked back at the driveway.

  “Is it in the garage?”

  “No, Mr. Gallagher. It’s not. It was stolen last night.”

  “Stolen?”

  “Yes, sir, we rarely locked it. Someone hotwired it and drove it off sometime during the night. I guess we should have secured it a little better, after all it is a Mercedes.”

  Gallagher was incensed. “Yeah, you should have thought about its value a little more.”

  Inwardly, he seethed to himself, It had a helluva lot more value to me in solving this case.”

  “Have you filed a police report, Mr. Mason?”

  “Not yet, sir,” as he observed the bevy of police officers standing there, “But, I guess this is as good a time as any, huh?”

  The detective turned and walked away muttering to one of the backup officers standing on the lawn, “Take care of this. I’m on my way to the nearest bar.”

  Once again, another potential break in the case had evaporated for Gallagher as surely as a teasing oasis in a desert full of sand.

  He didn’t know how much more he could take.

  Even a stubborn Irishman had his limits.

  Maybe Allison Taylor was destined to stay missing forever.

  Chapter Fifty-two-the-autopsy Report

  “Gallagher here.”

  The detective listened intently to Dr. Lowe at the coroner’s office.

  He repeated the news he was hearing from the lab, “The deceased had lightly colored black and blue marks on her upper arms?”

  Anything else?

  There was a possible substance in her system of some kind?

  What else, a blow to her head, causing swelling under her hair. Uh huh. Do you think that blow would have been sufficient to knock her out? So, she was placed in the river?

  It could have been a knot and not a blow at all? You’re saying that it is hard to discern if that lump was inflicted that night or it could have been there for months or years? You’re the coroner, do your damn job!”

  With that statement, Gallagher slammed the phone down. He was not one of Dr. Lowe’s biggest fans. He felt the coroner was too indecisive in his analysis of victims and crime scenes.

  He paged Elie and left a message for her to meet him later to discuss the results of Verna Oden’s autopsy report. He went to his car and decided it was time for another meeting with Allison’s father.

  Chapter Fifty-three---visiting Arch

  Gallagher was on the way to the hospital to see Arch Taylor. As he drove he was in a foul mood. It was easy for him to pity himself as he prepared himself mentally to communicate with Allison’s father.

  They had something in common; they both had lost daughters in a tragic way. The main difference was that Archer Taylor still had the possibility to get his girl back. Mike Gallagher just had his memories of a little girl starting to become a young woman.

  Tears welled up in his eyes as he drove. He could still see Megan falling off the swing at the park and glaring up at him as though it were his fault.

  Another mental picture flooded his mind, the image of Megan proudly hugging him after she kicked the winning goal in her soccer playoff game at the tender age of nine.

  As more recollections tried to intrude, Gallagher shut the door on them. It was too painful to revisit them.

  “Megan is gone,” he reasoned silently, “and she is not coming back.”

  He gripped the steering wheel tighter as he made his way into the hospital parking lot for his encounter with a dad who was fighting two battles with every ounce of strength left in him.

  Entering Arch’s room, it appeared he was asleep, just like the first time he had seen him there, but, as he approached the bed, Mr. Taylor’s eyes half-opened and he used his right hand to motion Gallagher to sit next to him.

  In a weak, raspy voice, he whispered, “Hi, detective. Found my little girl, yet?”

  Gallagher gently murmured back, “Not, yet, Arch, but we will. You just get better so you’ll have the strength to hug her when we do, okay?”

  The man nodded weakly.

  “I just wanted to come by and see how you’re doing. You have a lot of people praying for you. Hang in there.”

  “Gallagher?”

  “Yeah, Arch?”

  “I let my daughter down. I know I did. If she hadn’t tried to help me, she’d be here with me today. I know it was my fault,”

  The detective cut him off. “That’s something you and her need to talk about when you’re together again. For now, you can’t think or talk about it. You need to be positive and save your energy.

  Think back when you bought your first store. Remember how confident you were that you could pull it off?”

  Taylor nodded yes.

  “That’s the same spirit we need from you now, Arch. Get stronger. Don’t let any negative thoughts drain you. Okay? I’ll be back to see you soon.”

  Arch grabbed Gallagher’s arm as he started to go, “You know Redding..?”

  “Yeah, I know Redding Shaw. I had a visit with him last week.”

  “He’s a real jerk, Gallagher. I should have seen it sooner. I hope you bust him someday. He’s not a nice man.”

  The detective smiled down at him, “In due time, we will have something important to say to Redding Shaw. Bye, Arch.”

  Walking down the hall, he heard his cell phone go off.

  It was Elie. She wanted to meet him right away back at the station. She had some news for him that might help with the case. Gallagher agreed to see her and told her he had some news of his own.

  He stopped at the hospital gift shop on his way out. “How much are your candy bars?” he asked the lady behind the counter.

  “Two dollars!” she pleasantly drawled.

  Gallagher was shocked, “For one candy bar?”

  “We try to discourage people from eating them. This is a hospital.”

  “You have a point there. Give me a Three Musketeers and a Payday!” Handing over a five dollar bill, he felt better already.

  No one was going to get him down. Not Redding Shaw, not Archer Taylor, not Raven, not Malcolm Oden and not even the girls from The Promise.

  He had his candy bars.

  At the particular moment as he tasted the chewy nougat, life was good.

  Yes, sir.

  Chapter Fifty-four--Pictures

  “Tell me, Elie, what scintillating news emanates from you today?” Gallagher was getting sarcastic, a sign he was getting discouraged with the case.

  He was losing his sense of humor. The sugar from the candy bars had turned against him as he sat in his office with his partner.

  He was exhausted and depressed.

  Elie decided to lighten the moment, “Well, honey, the doctor said we were going to have twins.”

  Her statement made Gallagher laugh. A temporary respite from the ongoing series of setbacks punctured his case on a daily basis.

  “What should we name them, Elie, how about ‘Schizo’ and ‘Phrenic?’”

  His partner laughed, “Speak for yourself, daddy.

  Seriously, I was up in my room today and as I looked out the window, I saw Dr. Morgan walking rapidly below as he looked at his watch several times. Obviously, he was in a hurry to go somewhere.

  So, I went down the back stairs and was able to catch up to him, from a distance of course, to see where he was headed,”

  “Yeah, and?”

  “He went to the covered parking lot adjoin
ing the little theater. I tracked him to the back of it, near the service elevator. He met with a guy who gave him a manila envelope.

  Morgan opened it and looked at the photos from inside it. I couldn’t see the pictures but, they must have been worth something because he took out a thick, white envelope and handed it to the guy in return.”