by R E Gauthier
Kelsey had apologized to Doc for her earlier outbursts and he forgave her saying he understood the pressure she was under. He asked Mack to call him if they needed him, saying he needed a bit of fresh air. Watching him leave she winced when he closed the door. He says he forgives me, but it’s my fault he doesn’t forgive himself. I should never have blamed him for any of this mess.
She just felt so tired all of a sudden and wanted this case solved. Their killer seemed to be one step in front of them and they still had a possible victim out there who wasn’t safe until they caught her.
“When is Elizabeth Ellis supposed to be coming home? We need to get her into protective custody when she arrives at the airport, we don’t need another death on our hands before we catch this killer.” She directed her inquiries to anyone but looked directly at Rachel.
“The Delaware Police have spoken to her and she is due to come into Wilmington Airport tomorrow morning from New York connector flight. They have specific instructions to keep her in a police safe house until we have notified them we have our killer in custody”
“Good see that they don’t mess things up. Maybe we should...She left that thought dangling and focused on the task at hand finding out who this blonde woman is.
“Where is Race right now?” She asked Rachel.
“She’s in a room down the hall, I have fed her and she’s under guard by a Baltimore police officer.”
“I’ll go get her we need to question her about this therapy group. I feel that if anyone would know as much as Race knows about her life and the way those girls made her life a living-hell it will be those women and one of them may be our killer.” She left the room and took a huge cleansing breath, I need to stay calm and not go off on my friends and colleagues; her temper wasn’t going to get her anywhere right now.
***
Kelsey could tell that Race looked like she would rather be anywhere but here in the room with the three FBI agents sitting across from her. She also knew that if she could be anywhere else she wouldn’t be here either. Wanting this case to be over and knowing it could be days or weeks until they caught their killer. Up until now she had been careful and deliberate in everything she did, so they may not find her unless she made a mistake.
Clearing her throat she took the lead on questioning Race further and started with the most important question she could ask.
“So we have a witness who distinctly saw a blonde woman with blue eyes kill one of our victims. Do you know someone who fits that description?”
“You’ll have to more specific MacGregor; I have known a lot of blonde women.”
She swore under her breath, the strain on her from this case and everything else that happened addled her brain. Lesson one in questioning: Never ask vague questions.
“Okay, let me be more specific then: do you know a blonde woman with blue eyes who had access to the knife that went missing?”
“The knife went missing after I moved my stuff out of storage last February.”
“Did someone help you move that day?”
The look on Race’s face looked blank but she answered her question.
“Yeah Michelle, she and I moved some of my stuff into another long-term storage facility in New Jersey and the rest I either took with me or I gave away to charity.”
“Did you give the knife you used to kill your uncle to charity?”
“No, I thought it was with my stuff I took with me to Brazil but it wasn’t. I checked my stuff when I got back a couple weeks ago and it’s not in the storage unit. It’s gone.”
“Race could Michelle have taken the knife?”
“Yes but I don’t know why she would.”
“Who is Michelle an Ex-lover or a friend maybe?”
“I met her in the group therapy I went to after I was discharged. We struck up a friendship one night after our group session. We went for drinks.”
Tired of this slow progress she just wanted to find out if Michelle is their killer.
“Race does Michelle have blonde hair and blue eyes?”
“Oh yeah she’s got the most beautiful blue eyes and honey-gold hair, she said wistfully.
Kelsey suddenly thought of something and realized Race was high as a kite. She spoke slower and was very relaxed than that afternoon.
“Race did you take anything since we spoke to you last?”
“No but I did smoke a joint; it’s medicinal. I have a prescription. It’s to manage pain from a gunshot but it helps my PTSD also.”
Well that would explain her present demeanor.
“Did you know her last name this Michelle?”
“Yeah it was...Patterson. No it’s Anderson.”
“Okay so what can you tell us about Michelle Anderson?”
“She married her high school sweetheart and he raped her. She ran away from him. I can’t imagine she could be your killer; she was so sweet and kind. She helped many of the women in our group even though she was much younger than most.”
“How old would you say she was?”
“I don’t know maybe early twenties.”
“Do you know when and where she was raped?”
“Why would that matter?”
“It would help us track her down.”
Race told them that Michelle Anderson had said she had grown up in Louisiana and she had been raped almost four years prior to the group therapy. Nikki got right on trying to track down a Michelle Anderson with those search parameters. Rachel checked with LEO to see if a Michelle Anderson popped up in any wanted tags. Kelsey stayed with Race to try and talk to her about last night.
“Why the questions MacGregor, I told you everything I know. You still think I’m hiding something; you think I might still be your killer?”
“I told you I never believed that you were our killer but you are involved. This Michelle may have killed for you.”
“Well I wish I could believe anything that comes out of your mouth.”
Kelsey winched she knew sooner than later Race would comment about her dishonesty last night.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“So am I,” Race said bitterly.
“I need you to understand I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Yeah well lying is hurtful; I thought you and I may have had something. I guess I was wrong.”
“I’m sorry I just...”
“I saw the way you were looking at her; do you have feelings for her?”
“Who...?”
At that moment Nikki returned and said she had found no Michelle Anderson fitting the description Race gave them. They asked her more questions about what she knew about Michelle. Rachel came back in and said she didn’t find any warrants past or previously on a Michelle Anderson.
She decided they’re likely not going to get much more out of Race tonight and they would do better to sit and sift through the case and see how they could find Michelle Anderson.
“Rachel could you take care of Race and see she gets a room here in the hotel? Race I’m sorry but until we have a possible suspect to find we’ll need you to stay a little while longer. She signaled for Rachel to take Race out while she spoke to Nikki alone. “Well we have established that our killer could be Michelle Anderson living in New York a little over a year ago, she had access to the possible murder weapon and she knew Race’s whole life story. I’m going to call Doc and the three of us can brainstorm to see if we can get into Michelle Anderson’s head.”
Chapter Forty-Three
“Sometimes when it ends up differently than you expected, it is usually better than you thought.”
She, Nikki and Doc were formulating an extensive behavioral profile on Michelle Anderson in her suite. They walked through each murder and what she had done trying to put themselves into her shoes.
“She must have had easy access to the apartment complex where Cynthia, Jeremy and Miranda lived.” Nikki said.
“We have already established she has a higher than normal IQ, maybe she was able
to bypass the security system or maybe...?” Doc speculated leaving his musing open ended.
Suddenly Kelsey remembered what the witnesses at the apartment complex said: No one had looked out of place.
“She may have lived in the complex; that would explain why no one saw anyone out of place. She has been described as petite and most people are not going to think about a petite woman being a dangerous killer.” Doc nodded his approval.
She so loved when they were putting their minds together and working through things they made more headway. A bulky taskforce hindered the way she liked to work with people she trusted and worked well with.
“Nikki we should look into the leasing records for the complex before and after the murders and see if a Michelle Anderson rented a unit in the same building as our victims.”
“That’s a great idea Mack and we should also check into anyone leasing or buying a home in Natasha Beardsley’s cul-de-sac in Salisbury and the condo association here in Canton. She may have been hunting them by getting close to them first, learning as much as she could about them before she killed them.”
“Race described her as being very empathetic and helpful, she may have bonded with these women and got close enough to them that they wouldn’t have felt threatened by her, they may have let her into their homes or Natasha ran with her,” Doc said.
“But one thing about that theory is that Katherine Montgomery wasn’t a likable person, Michelle may not have got close to her on a personal level. Witnesses all say that Kate was all business and her career was everything to her.” Kelsey said remembering when she went to talk to the neighbors, that no one really liked Kate. Knowing now that she most likely had been abusive to Miranda, she didn’t like her either.
“Could Michelle have integrated herself into Kate’s workplace somehow?” Nikki asked while thumbing through a file on her tablet. “She worked at Visions International a big advertising company and just been promoted to supervisor of European acquisitions. I’ll check any new employees that were hired in the year after our first murders and leading up to Kate’s seven weeks ago.”
Kelsey thought that maybe they could also look into martial arts schools in the area who taught the art of Dim Mak.
“I’ll go and contact some colleagues of mine to see if any were or are treating a woman with a higher than normal IQ with a history of psychotic breaks. The person we’re looking for is most definitely a sociopath but she also exhibits empathy and care for people, contradicting everything we know about typical serial killers. This leads me to believe we’re mostly likely looking for a woman suffering with multiple personalities. Many of my peers are practicing psychiatrists and psychologists who keep extensive records of anyone showing dissociative identity disorders.” Doc stood and bid goodnight to Kelsey and Nikki.
“Mack, we have a lot of ground to cover to catch up with this Michelle but we have the best leads now. Let’s get some sleep and then begin fresh in the morning,” Nikki said rising and stretching her arms and back.
“Nikki I know you have a lot to check into but when you have a moment could you do something outside of this case for me?”
“Sure what’s up Mack? You look exhausted you really need to go get some sleep.”
“I’ll sleep when we have a real lead on how to find Michelle Anderson and Miranda is out of the hospital I feel so bad how all this went down. I made a mess of things.”
“Mack you did no such thing.”
“How can you say that? I should have insisted she see a doctor the first day, I was so caught up in the case I didn’t stop to worry about her well being.”
“Don’t let what Jess said make you feel bad, you didn’t know she had a brain injury, no one did.”
“Yeah, about that, the doctor said it likely happened eight weeks ago. She was still with Kate then, that bitch must have been abusive.”
“I spoke to Jess and she said Kate had only been verbally abusive until one night when she had been drinking she shoved Miranda into the wall. Miranda told Jess it had been nothing really and Kate had said she was sorry.”
“Abusive partners say they’re sorry all the time, no wonder Miranda wanted to get away from her. Still, if we had of got Miranda checked by a doctor earlier we could have prevented all of this.”
“You mean you never would have...” Nikki stopped before she said anymore.
Kelsey knew what Nikki had been about to say and she had thought it as well. If she had known the full extent of Miranda’s condition she would never had been in those situations that led to her being intimate with her, to making love to her. I would never have fallen in love with her and be in such a mess now.
“Nikki if I knew what I know now I would have done things differently and been more careful and who knows we may have already solved this case too.”
“Mack you don’t know that. We only just found Race who was Cassandra Redmond and who gave us the link to Michelle Anderson. We didn’t have much to go on but we’ve sifted through it all and found our clues and you’ve been instrumental in doing that.”
“I didn’t do much.”
“You found the urine stain in the closet; you pushed Carla Redmond to divulge about Cassandra changing her identity. Both were key clues to us finding Miranda and Race.”
“Both could have been found by someone else too.”
“But they weren’t, you did it just like you do in many other cases. You think differently than most people, you find that one thing no one else thinks about.”
“Well I still feel horrible I wish I could have done things differently and now...well I can’t go back. That’s why I’d like you to do something for me.”
“Sure name it I can do anything.”
“Can you buy a book by Miranda online for me? I’d like to get it signed and deliver it to my little niece Fiona. She’s so taken with her and the night of our family reunion, Fiona had begged Miranda to come see her for Thanksgiving but I’m afraid she won’t keep that promise after everything she has been through. Having the book will help her get over her disappointment and well you know how inept I am about doing anything online.”
Nikki chuckled.
“No problem Mack, send me your niece’s address and I’ll order the book on Amazon and have it sent as a gift to Fiona, once we get the author to sign it that is.”
“Thanks Nikki, what would I do without you?”
“I’m not sure and let’s never find out. Well I’m off, now get some rest. Tomorrow may bring us the much needed information to finally solve this case.”
“I hope you’re right Nikki, I sure hope you’re right.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Friday September 9, 2011
“To wake with dread is to fall asleep with fear.”
Kelsey woke from a horrible nightmare where Miranda lay in her arms and then she disappeared. Dread filled every cell of her being; she had never felt this way before. She had only slept for a few hours. Waking several times to write down her dreams in her journal, they had the same theme in every one; Miranda. Once she woke from a dream where Miranda was afraid and calling out to her, she was surrounded by blue and then a dark figure engulfed her. Now upon awakening she knew she had to call Nanna.
After apologizing for calling so early, she told Nanna about her dreams and she told Kelsey she had also been dreaming about Miranda the previous night. She had the same dream of Miranda surrounded by blue and a darkness engulfing her. Nanna explained to her that the dreams she was experiencing were visions of future and past events. But told her that they were only possible future events and weren’t always literal but symbolic or signified what could happen. After her conversation with Nanna she felt more determined to solving this case today. Something told her Miranda’s welfare depended on it.
She had found a Dim Mak 8th Grandmaster of the art teaching in Philadelphia and had left a message for him to get back to her about anyone capable of teaching the type of deadly strike their killer had used. Nikki had fou
nd out that a Michelle Taylor not Anderson had leased an apartment unit in the same building as their first two victims in New Jersey. They decided it was possible their killer was using another name or that she had changed it. Even with all her tech-savvy, Nikki had found twenty-three Michelle Andersons in the greater New York state and thirty-six Michelle Taylors. When she narrowed down the search for women in their twenties and blonde she still had seven Michelle Anderson and four Michelle Taylors.
Her thoughts still on Miranda she called Doc to see if he had any leads on his end. “Good Morning Doc, how goes the search for Michelle Anderson with your colleagues?”
“Well I was just about to call you; I just had quite an enlightening conversation with one of my friends. He remembers a woman who had been charged with the murder of her husband who raped her; she had been nineteen at the time. The woman had suffered a major psychosis and hospitalized, the court found her not guilty by reason of insanity and after a three year stay in a mental institute she was released under a psychiatrist’s care.”
“Doc that’s great, do we have a name?”
“I’m afraid that is where we have hit a major snag, because my friend only spoke of generalities he could tell me this but he can be in some major trouble for giving me more information. We can use Nikki to do some of her brand of investigative tech hacking to find her name.”
“I’ll call her and we’ll meet in the conference room in ten minutes,” Kelsey ending the call before he confirmed the plans and called Nikki immediately. She felt the dread wash over her again and she knew they didn’t have much time.
Stepping off the elevator on the fifteenth she called Jess’s phone to check on how Miranda had fared overnight. She steeled herself for another dressing down but she needed to hear from the person closest to Miranda on her condition.