Still no response.
His mascot was baiting him to reveal his hunches first. “I am going with Malcolm Oden as my primary suspect, Mick. Then in order, I like Dr. Morgan, Redding Shaw and, his goofy son. After that, I would have to go with Margaret Williams or maybe Archer Taylor on a long shot.
Finally, I think Allison disappeared voluntarily. I think Elie would reverse the order of that list. Because she thinks,”
“I think you’re right, Gallagher. I also think you’re as nutty as a Payday bar talking to that damn toy.” Elie laughed as she entered the room. “You’re scaring me. I thought I was weird conversing with my imaginary friends as a little girl! I suggest meds, in large quantities.”
He turned around to see his partner with a big smile on her face as she sat down. Thankfully, the chief had not appeared yet. Their little secret concerning his “mental condition” was safe from his superior.
“You need to know something, Elie. Every case I have ever solved I did so with Mick’s input. He’s a criminal genius. He’ll figure out this one, too.” Looking over at the smiling leprechaun, “Isn’t that right, little guy?”
More mute staring from the Irish mascot. Happily Gallagher was satisfied with the response.
“So, what’s the big news about the morgue visit, Gallagher?” Elie asked.
As he began to answer, his boss walked in. “Hello, Chief, let me see your eyes today,” smiled the detective.
As the Chief frowned at him for this seemingly off the wall statement, Gallagher announced, “Yep, they’re still blue.” Looking into Elie’s eyes, he made a second observation, “And, yours are still green.”
As both Parker and Larsen looked at each other wondering if their main investigator had flipped his lid, he intoned dramatically, “And, Malcolm Oden had greenish gray eyes, right Elie?”
She smiled knowingly, “Yes, and I’m glad they are as dead as he is, Gallagher.”
The detective smiled back but he wasn’t happy about it, “They may not be as dead as he is.” He paused for dramatic effect, “They may be as alive as he is.”
Elie choked out a response, “What do you mean, Gallagher?”
The Chief looked stunned.
Gallagher shook his head as he calmly explained what he had seen in the Mark Halverson file folder,
“The man who was embalmed after Malcolm Oden’s body was brought in had brown eyes. I saw the report. That can only mean one thing.”
Elie didn’t even want to say the conclusive words, so Chief Parker did, “That he faked his death and he’s still alive. He must have substituted someone else for his own corpse. How and why he did it is our job to find out.”
The police woman couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was a nightmare for her. The one guy who had not only tried to seduce her but tried to kill her was out there roaming around.
Alive.
She was furious, “I can’t believe this, Gallagher. This is incomprehensible to me! That monster is still out there?”
Before Gallagher or the Chief could calm her, she stood up and quickly strode out of the room bumping into an officer as he spilled his coffee all over himself.
Parker spoke first, “Understandable.”
His detective agreed, “Yeah.”
For a minute, neither of them spoke. Finally, Gallagher said, “Maybe we should send her back to Virginia, for her protection. I want her safety more than anything else.”
“It’s your call, Mike. I’ll do whatever you recommend here.” Chief Parker assured him.
As they sat there pondering Elie’s fate, the phone in the conference room rang, “Hello?” answered Gallagher. “Yes, this is Mike Gallagher. Who’s this?”
As the detective listened, his face took on a strange expression. He never spoke another word to the party on the other end. Abruptly, he hung up. Chief Parker was naturally curious. “Who was that, Mike?”
“That was Dr. Morgan’s executive secretary. She was hysterical. They found Theotis Morgan about an hour ago. He had been shot twice in the back of the head while sitting in his car.”
“Where?” Parker asked.
“In the parking lot behind the Colony school, we need to get over there right away.”
The Chief whistled to himself. “They’re dropping like flies all around us, Mike.”
Gallagher grimly nodded, “If all these people are ending up dead that tells us one thing…”
Parker asked him, “That is?”
“Allison Taylor is dead, too.”
Chapter Seventy-two---Is it Safe?
Elie was berating life as she drove back to her room. “This is unfair!” She shouted silently to herself. “Why is that monster still alive?”
She turned her car into the parking lot and sat for a moment inside before exiting her vehicle. Then, she checked her gun and made certain the safety latch was off before she headed upstairs.
She had to be alert and ready for any possibilities now. As she approached her room, she noticed a note on the floor partially hidden under her door. She looked around and then leaned over to pick it up. Quickly unlocking the door, she entered her room, double-locked the door and opened the note. It read,
Hello, Bree. Now that Verna and Allison are gone, I can PROMISE you that the chances are good you will join them soon. You are evil just like they were. Justice is coming.
The police woman recoiled in horror as she read the note. She jumped off her bed and ran into the bathroom running cold water over her face between more sobs.
This was a nightmare that wouldn’t go away.
She took her time calming down and finally was able to compose herself and sat down on her bed.
Taking the note gently by one of his edges, she carefully placed it into a sandwich bag to protect it for prints. Then, she called Gallagher to tell him about this new development.
“Mike? It’s Elie. I just got a threatening note from an unknown source. I have it here in my dorm room. I need to get over to the lab right away for prints and DNA .”
Gallagher was in agreement, “Right. I’m actually on my way over to your school right now. They found Dr. Morgan…”
Elie was pleased, “Great. He is back from his trip?”
The detective’s voice was somber, “Elie, they found him with two bullet holes in the back of his head.
“Oh my god. He’s dead?”
Yes, and sitting in his car at the school. I’m almost there now. I’ll meet you back at my office in about an hour, after I do my initial investigation there.”
She protested, “Why don’t I just wander over to where Morgan’s body is and check it out? I can act like an innocent high school girl who’s curious so I can protect my cover.”
“Nice try, but no. We aren’t going to let anyone from that school near the crime scene. Just go to the lab and I will see you shortly. I’ll fill you in when I get there, okay? And, bring a copy of the note so I can read it.”
Elie understood, “Okay, Gallagher. See you then.”
She went back into the bathroom and washed her face again. Then, she refreshed her makeup and was on her way out of the room when her eyes caught a small object near her door.
It was a sticker icon of a menacing black crow.
It gave Elie chills.
She began to realize, to her horror, there were only two people who could have been responsible for the note she received and one of them was in jail.
She quickly locked the door and stepped quickly down the stairs looking to her right and left constantly as she reached her car safely.
Chapter Seventy-three---The late, great Theotis Morgan
As Gallagher arrived at the crime scene, he observed there were more onlookers than police officers. Word had spread rapidly throughout the campus and the students and their friends were beginning to swarm like anxious bees buzzing around their queen but in this particular case, their king.
Dr. Morgan was well-liked at the school and there were more than a few young pe
ople who adored him. In a close-knit community like the Colony, tragedies like this are like shock waves that roll through the campus leaving everyone in a state of numbness.
Dr. Morgan was dead?
It was too emotionally incomprehensible for most of the people who knew and loved him, especially his students. His death location in the parking lot would eventually become a shrine with flowers, teddy bears and hundreds of his favorite snack food, pork rinds.
That parking lot also included a number of television vans, media reporters and camera people. Including, of course, the relentless Dax Rambo who never failed to make his presence known, ”Hey, detective, looks like our killer has struck again, huh?”
Gallagher gave him a tight smile, “I am beginning to believe that conjecture is your middle name, Rambo.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this assassination is identical to the previous one. By the way, did you catch the Samantha Shields interview this morning on MSNBC? She is reporting that Raven and Malcolm Oden may be in this together.”
“What are you talking about, Rambo?”
“In the interview, Samantha Shields was asked if she thought Raven was guilty. She said, ‘I think someone else is guiltier than her.’ When she was asked if that person was Malcolm Oden, she blushed, got all flustered and looked scared shitless. End of interview.
So, are Margaret and Malcolm an item, Gallagher?”
“No comment.”
Cursing MSNBC and Samantha Shields under his breath, the detective strode quickly to the officer in charge, Patrolman Mark Foster. “What do you have on this, Foster?” Gallagher asked him. He knew the cop from past cases they had worked on together.
The patrolman briefed him succinctly, “Dead headmaster, two bullets in the back of the head. No weapon found. No sign of a struggle. I doubt he even saw his assailant, Gallagher.”
On the surface it appeared this shooting had the same earmarks of the one from the red Mercedes. The only difference here was they knew the victim, Dr. Morgan.
He peered into the car and let his eyes wander from the front to the back seat. Nothing was visible except for a couple of large manila envelopes on the passenger side next to the body.
He motioned over to the policeman. “Foster, I want you make sure those folders get dusted for prints and be careful with the contents inside. It may give us some clue as to what happened here.” As he started to walk away, he turned back, “Although it’s doubtful, check out the trunk, too.”
Walking past the crowd to his car, he addressed them with a bullhorn provided by one of the officers, “Out of respect for Dr. Morgan, why don’t you disperse. There’s nothing to see here that is going to make your future any brighter. Remember him as he lived, and not this way.”
His words seemed to have little effect, only a few of the students turned and left. Most of them, however, stayed and kept staring at the car. “Damn teenagers!” He muttered to himself as he got into the front seat and turned the ignition.
He was about to drive off when Foster interrupted his exit, “Gallagher, I have something here that might be of interest to you…”
The detective looked at him, “Yes?” he asked.
Foster handed him a manila envelope. “This has already been dusted for prints. It was just released for evidence. I think you’ll find it interesting, Detective.”
He took the envelope, “Thanks, Foster!” As Gallagher sat in his car and undid the clasp he pulled out the contents. It included several 8x10 pictures of Allison Taylor. The one on top included an autograph from her and a short note,
Thank you for all you did for me. I am truly sorry for letting you and the school down. I hope you can forgive me. Sincerely, Allison
The detective looked at her picture and re-read her note several times. He noticed two things immediately, that Allison Taylor owed some kind of debt to Dr. Morgan and that her handwriting once again revealed the tell-tale crossing of her, “t’s.”
It was definitely from her. But, what did the notation mean? And, why did she give him her picture? As he began glancing at the rest of the photos, he was shocked to see that these pictures of her were less modest than the initial one.
She was posing in a variety of ways and she was wearing sexy lingerie or nothing at all. As he briefly scanned the nude pictures of Allison Taylor, it sickened him as he wondered what in the hell was going on at that school.
But, more importantly, did this new information have anything to do with the missing girl’s disappearance? The questions posed in Gallagher’s mind, “Why was she apologizing? What did these photos mean in the overall scheme of things? Why would she pose nude for Theotis Morgan?”
As Gallagher headed back to his office he was very curious what else the police would find in Dr. Morgan’s automobile.
Chapter Seventy-four---adjusting Elie
Gallagher, Elie and Chief Parker sat in the conference room perusing the two notes that had been sent to the FBI agent. Obviously, Elie was shaken to her core.
“I’m scared, Gallagher. I don’t know if I can take this anymore. I want to leave.”
The detective nodded at her. “I understand, Elie. The Chief and I would never make you stay beyond what you can handle. Your safety is the utmost in importance to us.”
Parker agreed, “I think maybe it’s time for us to relocate you. You’ve done a lot here for us, but someone is out there killing people and you may be next.
Besides, the media has pretty much blown your cover.” Turning to Gallagher he shook his head, “We don’t have any choice here, Mike.”
Gallagher nodded. “Elie, we have a ‘safe’ apartment where we take witnesses to protect them temporarily. I want you to stay there. We’ll send some of our people over to your dorm room to pack up your stuff and sign you out of school,”
Elie paused and then said softly, “I’m so sorry. I wanted to finish this case with you.”
The detective went over and put his arm around his partner. “You did great, Elie. We are all proud of you. But, it’s time to adjust your assignment to make certain nothing happens to you.
You will still be a big part of this investigation. You will have to do it from an office instead of on the front lines, okay?’
She nodded mutely. She knew both men were right to acquiesce to her fears, and more importantly to her safety, here.
The Chief was looking at the police copy of the note left under Elie’s door, “Why would this person warn Elie if he or she really wanted her killed?”
Elie, always the profiler, had a ready answer for her boss, “The person who wrote this loves control. It is about wielding power over me, the intended victim here, so that I will worry about the exact time when his sick brand of justice will be served.
It’s a way for the predator to enjoy taunting their prey before they strike, its all about power.
As she finished speaking, Elie went over to the window and looked out.
She was trembling.
Gallagher rang a call button in the conference room. Almost immediately, Officer Simpson appeared at the door, “Yes, sir?” The detective gestured over to Profiler Larsen, “Please take her to my office. Thanks, Simpson.”
The officer went over to Elie and gently escorted her out the door so the detective and the chief could talk in private without continuing to upset her any further.
“She’s really hurting, Mike,” Parker observed.
“Yeah, she is.” Gallagher paused as he thought about his next statement, “Chief, on second thought, I think we need to leave some of her clothes and make it look like she’s still there.
We can put a couple of plain clothes officers as school employees and see if we can catch the note dropper. It’s worth a shot.”
The Chief pondered the idea. “I agree with you, Mike. I’ll assign Teigland and Lowe to it. How about some bait for the creep to sweeten the trap?”
“What’d you have in mind, boss?”
“Leave a light on by the
window. Put a mannequin in the chair next to the shade. Make it appear that she’s doing her homework. One of the officers can move the mannequin around.”
Gallagher had a suggestion, “Better yet, Chief. Put a wig on one of the men and let him move around, more realistic.”
“Let’s do it,” Parker agreed. He pushed a button, “Get me Officers Teigland and Lowe.” He turned to Gallagher, “Whoever this slime ball is, we may have a good shot at nailing him…”
The Promise Page 27