Delusional

by Terri Breneman

  “Good idea,” Vicky said as she pulled out her phone. “And I’ll check and see how Amy is doing.”

  While Vicky was on the phone, the others talked about other possible connections between the first two women. They looked at everything from hair and eye color to build and probable shoe size. Nothing made any sense.

  “Do you want the bad news or the bad news?” Vicky said as she rejoined them.

  “Crap,” Johnnie said as she lit a cigarette.

  “Amy Judge died a couple of minutes ago. Claire was just getting ready to call. She never regained consciousness.”

  “Oh,I’m so sorry,”Toni said quietly.“At least she didn’t suffer. Well, you know what I mean. Jeez, that didn’t come out right.”

  “I know what you’re saying.” Boggs squeezed her shoulder.

  “What’s the other bad news?” Johnnie asked.

  “Claire never heard of our guy, but she is going to ask around. Discreetly, of course.”

  “I’ve been thinking about what Boggs said,” Johnnie said. “And I think she might be right about our guy being smart. But not just book smart, forensic smart.”

  “Exactly,” Boggs said. “He hasn’t left any evidence. He’s obviously wearing gloves and there are no prints on the stones or the Bibles. That’s why I’m leaning toward Peter. Plus, I think he’s a total asshole.”

  “I’m leaning in that direction,” Vicky said. “Even though Mevin has a lot of red flags. That could explain how he gets inside these apartments. Flash a badge.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Boggs growled. “I knew I never liked the guy.”

  “Doesn’t mean it’s him,” Vicky warned. “We’ve got to get proof. So don’t accidentally shoot the bastard, okay?”

  “Hey!” Toni sat up straight, almost spilling her mug of coffee. “Call Claire back. Has she notified anyone that Amy died? Can you tell her not to?”

  Vicky was already dialing. “Dammit. Why didn’t I think of that? Patty, call Captain Billings and tell him what we’re going to do.”

  Vicky was excited now, and she hopped up and began pacing. She began talking quickly to Claire, giving her instructions.

  Patty looked confused at first, but after hearing Vicky explain things to Claire, she dialed her own phone and explained their plan to Captain Billings.

  “This just might work,” Johnnie said. “If he thinks that Amy has regained consciousness, he’ll have to make a move to silence her. He’s got to be worried.”

  “A normal person would be worried,” Toni said. “But not necessarily him. He might think that if she identifies him, it is because God wants everyone to know about him. But I think it’s worth a shot. Hard to say. He might think that it’s not time, and in that scenario he’d kill her.”

  “I am so tired of these crazy people,” Johnnie said. “But I guess it is job security.”

  Both Vicky and Patty finished their phone calls about the same time.

  “Claire was still in the room with Amy when I called her back,” Vicky said. “She talked to her supervisor and they aren’t releasing her condition. At least not for the next twelve hours.”

  “How did you swing that?” Boggs asked.

  “Her supervisor’s dad is a cop, so she understood what was going on. Let me call Captain Billings and give him the update.”

  “How are we going to get the information out there?” Patty asked. “Our killer needs to know what’s going on. Boggs could mention it to Peter, but what about our other suspects?”

  “What about a press conference?”Johnnie suggested.“Maybe Captain Billings could give a statement about crime in general and mention that a recent victim of a home invasion is recovering and an arrest is imminent. That should make the news.”

  “Good idea,” Vicky said. “I’ll see what he thinks.”

  “Speaking of the press,” Boggs said. “Guess who will be featured in tomorrow’s paper?”

  “Not featured,” Toni said. “A small mention is more like it.”

  “What’s the scoop?” Johnnie asked. “Did you win an award or something?”

  “Far from it,” Toni said. “Our office hires third-year law students every year and I’ve been helping supervise a group of them this fall. It’s just a small article about how the prosecutor’s office contributes to public interest groups. I only talked to the reporter for about five minutes. I doubt they’ll even mention my name. I think they talked to Anne Mulhoney for quite a while. She is the prosecutor.”

  “Still, I think it’s pretty cool,” Boggs said. “My girl is famous.”

  Vicky closed her phone and finished the last of her coffee. “Captain Billings is going for the press conference idea. He’s doing it in the morning. He’s also going to call Claire’s supervisor and set things up. I think he wants to put a dummy or something in the bed and make it obvious that it is supposed to be Amy’s room. I don’t know if he can swing it, but it’s worth a shot. Maybe this will be the break we need.”

  “If it turns out to be Mevin, he’d know what was up. He was a nurse, you know,” Patty said.

  “True,” Vicky said. “But if he’s nosing around, that would at least give us something a little more definitive. We could bring him in for questioning and maybe get a warrant to search his place.” She looked at Toni. “So you’re going to be a media star, huh? Will you still associate with us peons?”

  “Sure,” Toni said. “I’ll remember all of you. I’ll be sitting in my yacht and say to Boggs, ‘do you remember those women we used to hang around with?’ Yeah, I’ll definitely remember you.”

  “Very funny.” Vicky stood. “I think I’m okay to head home. No sense in spending the night here. I’m sober and Claire is on her way over to my place. Can’t disappoint the doc.”

  “Yeah, we should be heading out, too,” Johnnie said.

  Toni, Boggs and Vicky all looked at Johnnie with their eyebrows raised.

  Johnnie blushed and Patty turned away, busying herself with her laptop. “Yes, it’s true,” Johnnie continued. “Patty and I are dating in case you all are too stupid to realize that.” She grinned. “At least until she gets tired of me.”

  It was Patty’s turn to blush and her face was as red as a beet when she turned to face the group. She was also grinning. Johnnie leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I guess I outed us,” she said.

  “It’s not like we didn’t know,” Vicky said. “As long as you two aren’t as mushy as these guys,” she added, pointing to Toni and Boggs, “then we’re good.”

  They headed upstairs, agreeing to meet again tomorrow night. Boggs carried the tray with the carafe and mugs. There were no cookies left. Not even any crumbs. After Boggs set the alarm, she and Toni put the mugs in the dishwasher.

  “Do you think this ruse will work?” Toni asked.

  “I sure hope so. I think it’s Peter and I think he’ll make a move if he thinks Amy can identify him. Come on,” she said, taking Toni’s hand. “Let’s go to bed.” She winked.

  “Are you tired?” Toni asked.

  “Not at all.”

  The huge grin on Toni’s face was all Boggs needed for a response.

  Chapter 16

  Boggs was sitting at the kitchen island drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper on Friday morning when Toni came down the stairs.

  “There’s actually an entire paragraph about you, babe,” Boggs said.

  “Are you kidding?” Toni poured coffee in her travel mug and sat next to Boggs. Mr. Rupert was sitting on the island. He pawed at the paper that was lying flat on the countertop.

  “See? Even Mr. Rupert is impressed.”

  “Let me see that.” Toni pulled the paper closer at which point Mr. Rupert promptly sat his large self in the middle. “Come on, boy. I want to read.”

  He plopped down and rolled over on his side, covering the majority of the paper.

  Boggs laughed. “Well, it basically said that you are one of the supervisors for law students at Metro and that you used to b
e a psychotherapist. It said you were a member of the bar, duh, as well as the American Counseling Association and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance. That’s about it. You were right, it was mostly about Anne.”

  “Well, she is the boss,”Toni said. Mr. Rupert was still covering the paper. “I guess I’ll look at it later. He’s too cute to move.” She glanced at her watch. “Want to ride to work together? I’ll treat us to biscuits at Hardee’s.”

  “That’s a deal.” Boggs refilled both of their cups. “Just let me grab my briefcase and gun and I’ll be right with you.”

  They took Toni’s VW Bug since it was better on gas than Boggs’s SUV. Toni backed out into the alley and waited while the garage door slowly closed.“Hey, there’s J or Joe. Mr.Weirdo.” She waved to their neighbor who was putting trash in the Dumpster. “Might as well be friendly in case he’s not the maniac,” she said to Boggs.

  He stood next to the Dumpster, looking at both of them for a moment, then turned and walked back to his house. It seemed obvious that he had seen them.

  “Well, that was incredibly rude,” Toni said as she drove past. “I saw him look right at us.”

  “If he were normal, he’d have grinned from ear to ear,” Boggs said. “To have a pretty woman wave at him. Bet that’s never happened in his entire life.”

  “Or maybe he’s the maniac,” Toni said quietly. She drove in silence for several minutes.

  “We’re okay, babe.” Boggs reached over and rubbed her leg. “We’ve got the best security system ever made. And we’re armed.”

  Toni shook her head. “I’m not.”

  “Maybe you should carry until this thing is over,” Boggs said. “But until we get home tonight, I don’t want you to be alone, okay?”

  Toni tried to sound more confident than she felt. “I’ll be fine, hon. He’s never hit anywhere but the person’s home. And since we’re riding together, I won’t be home alone.”

  Earlier that morning, he had finished his early morning prayer session and was eating breakfast at the kitchen table. His mother had made him fried eggs and bacon. He was drinking his second cup of coffee when he saw the article in the paper. He faithfully read this liberal Fairfield paper every day so that he would know his enemies. As he read the article, he could feel his face get hot and his jaw tighten.

  “Are you okay, son? You don’t look so good. Are your eggs okay?” His mother hovered over him.

  He tried to calm himself. He didn’t want to take his rage out on his mother. Honor thy mother and father. He repeated that three times before he responded. “Yes, Mother. I’m fine. And your eggs were wonderful as usual.” He stood, kissed his mother’s cheek and headed to his sanctuary. “I must get ready for work now.”

  Once inside his beloved room, he knelt in prayer, asking God for strength. After nearly twenty minutes he began to feel better. He understood now that the article was another message from God. Just to make sure, he ran several checks on his computer. There was no doubt,the newspaper was accurate in its description. He twisted his ring. Toni Barston was a deviant. How did I miss that? He’d talked to the woman, for Heaven’s sake. He bowed his head in prayer again. After only five minutes, he smiled. There was no need to be angry any more. He’d just add her to his own personal list.

  He decided to run some errands instead of going straight to work that morning. Who cared if he was late? His only real work was his mission for God. He’d only been in his car for a few minutes when he heard the news conference by Captain Billings. He pulled into a grocery store parking lot to listen. At first, he was frustrated, then he felt shame. He had disappointed God once again. He hung his head. She was supposed to be one of the ones God had chosen to cast out, and now she was going to be fine. Should I go and kill her now?

  His answer came minutes later from the radio. A commercial was playing for a maid service. The message was loud and clear.

  LET US TAKE CARE OF YOUR MESS. YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS.

  He smiled and thanked God. He would move on with God’s list and his own list. Life was good.

  Toni was sitting at her desk, checking her e-mail. “Oh, crap.”

  “Good to see you too, Toni,” Sam Clark said from her doorway.

  Toni jumped at the sound of his voice. “Oh, sorry, Sam.”

  “Read something you don’t like?”

  “Actually,I did.I see that you assigned Peter as my investigator for the McConnell case.”

  “I know, that’s why I came down,” Sam said. He was leaning against the doorframe with a Diet Coke in his hand.

  “Sit down, Sam. Please.” She motioned toward the only other chair in her small office.

  Sam grinned and plopped down in the chair. After another gulp of his soda, he shrugged. “Sorry about that, but everyone else is swamped. Plus I figured you’d only need a couple witness interviews, and he’s okay with that.”

  “I shouldn’t complain,” Toni said. “I’m grateful for the help. And you’re right. Unless something unusual happens, that’s all I’ll need. I think the defendant is going to plead guilty anyway. I just wanted to make sure I knew what I could do if the plea blew up and I had to go to trial.”

  “I normally give Peter to Anne Mulhoney,” Sam said. “He thinks it’s because he’s so good and that’s why he gets to work for the prosecutor, but actually it’s because he doesn’t treat her like dirt.” He grinned. “But the funny thing is that Anne told me when she has an important case that needs more than routine work, she only wants Boggs.” He inched forward in his chair. “Has she found anything good yet?” he whispered.

  Toni shook her head. “But not for lack of trying,” she said quietly.

  Sam leaned back and sighed. “Damn it. I might start looking myself.”

  “As soon as she knows anything, she’ll fill you in.”

  “Still on the short list I assume?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.” He stood and drained the last of his Diet Coke, tossing it in the trashcan next to her desk. “Oops,” he said, retrieving the can. “I keep forgetting we have a recycle bin now.” He turned to leave. “Thanks for understanding about this, Toni. Hopefully soon it won’t be an issue. Oh, and Betty wanted me to tell you that in addition to the rolls and casserole we’re bringing, she is also baking a pumpkin pie.”

  “Perfect. This should be a great dinner.” Toni jotted down the extra pie on her list from her briefcase.

  “The sign-out sheet,” she said to herself, after putting her own list away. She placed the call to Charlie, but Clara said he hadn’t arrived yet. Toni really didn’t want to talk to him anyway, so she took a chance and asked Clara for the list. “He said he would fax me a copy, so maybe you could handle that for him?” She hoped Clara would agree.

  “I guess that would be okay,” Clara responded tentatively.

  Toni gave her the number and hung up relieved. Now I can just let his daily phone calls go to voice mail, she thought.

  She retrieved the fax a few minutes later and looked at the scrawled signatures. It gave her absolutely no information. Another dead end. At least it was worth a shot, she told herself. Maybe now I don’t have to deal with Charlie.

  Toni looked at her calendar and sighed. The rest of her day was pretty full until almost four o’clock. She gathered the files she’d need for the morning. There were three detention hearings and two arraignments. Mostly routine stuff, she thought. She’d have enough time to wolf down a sandwich at about twelve thirty, then she had four plea hearings scheduled for the afternoon. She was still amazed at how the legal system worked. Sometimes it felt like a production line. First, the case would be called by the bailiff. In Judge Crayton’s courtroom, the bailiff looked like he was eighty years old. He would mumble the name of the defendant, then clearly call out the case number as though that number was far more important than the actual person’s name. Toni glanced at her watch. She needed to concentrate on her job instead of the absurdities of the system.

  After the first detention heari
ng was over, Toni left the courtroom and headed to the one across the hall. There were a few people seated in the back, mostly law students she assumed, but the defense table was empty. She knew she had at least fifteen minutes before the judge would appear, but she sat at the prosecutor’s table anyway. She pulled out the file for this hearing and stared at her notes. Her mind wasn’t on the hearing. It was on the maniac that was stoning people to death. She knew there was something very obvious and simple that she was missing, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of what it was. Maggie was dead. She felt a wave of nausea overtake her and she closed her eyes. For a split second, she felt a sense of terror, maybe the same kind that Maggie felt. What’s happening to me? She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. The nausea faded and she opened her eyes. She was staring off into space, unaware of her surroundings, when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She jumped.

  “Sorry. Did I scare you?” The old bailiff smiled down at her.

  “I guess I was in another world,” she replied. “What can I do for you?”

  “The judge wants to speak with you in chambers,” he said.

  She looked over at the defense table. It was still empty. “By myself?” she asked. It was unusual for a judge to ask for only one attorney. In fact, there was a rule that prohibited it. The bailiff shrugged and Toni followed him back to the judge’s chambers. He left her standing outside the heavy oak door. She knocked lightly and waited. No response. She knocked a little harder this time and heard the judge beckon her inside.

  She opened the door and stood in the doorway, unsure of what she should do and why she was called in here. “You asked to see me, Judge?”

  Judge Mildred Crayton waved her inside. She was semiretired and only recently had moved back to criminal law. She had salt-and-pepper hair that was cut short, but stylish. Her bright blue eyes shined behind rectangle wired-rimmed glasses. She was smiling. “Sit down, Toni. And close the door, please. We have a few minutes.”

  Toni did as instructed, sitting in one of the leather club chairs in front of the judge’s massive desk. She sat at attention, if that was possible, and waited for the judge to speak.