Protector - Laurel Dewey [96]
Jane shook her head and pulled out a cigarette. She started to light up when a nurse spotted her. “Officer!” the nurse said, “you can’t smoke in here!”
Jane walked down the hallway and out the automatic doors. A hospital traffic cop eyed her blue Mustang that was parked where she’d left it. “That’s a police vehicle!” Jane yelled over to him. “Tow it and you’ll be sorry!” Jane ducked around a corner and found a secluded area. She no sooner lit up when she heard her name quietly spoken. She turned. “Boss!” Jane said, semi-startled.
“I just came from the scene,” Weyler said, subdued. “It’s a goddamn mess.”
Jane took a drag on her cigarette and looked off into the distance. “You know, I wanted Martha out of the picture. But I never wanted anything like this to happen to her. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t left.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’d have the good sense not to have the windows and back door wide open. Did you not express to her the possibility of a stalker?”
“Yes. I told her there was some concern in that area.”
“That’s it? Concern? Martha probably didn’t equate the same meaning to that word. Did you tell her to keep the windows and doors closed?”
“I did. She said the house was stuffy and that she wanted to briefly open the windows to move the air around.”
“How many people die for how many stupid reasons? So, who else knows about this mess?”
“We’re holding off the media as long as possible. I’ll have Chris handle that when I feel it’s appropriate. I ordered a twenty-four hour police guard around Emily. Other than that, I haven’t debriefed anyone. I was hoping you had information from the number one source.”
Jane leaned against the wall and stared up into the starry night sky. “She was on that damn roof. I don’t know whether she went out there to look at the stars or to get away from something. Either way, she was out there and slipped and caught hold of the vent pipe. She hung there while this fucking asshole crawled out on the roof.”
“We know it’s a guy?”
“She says she heard him breathing. That’s how close he was. And then he left.”
“Left?”
“Maybe the back alley patrol vehicle freaked him out. I haven’t had a chance to figure out the timing but he must have shot Martha and then made a beeline up to Emily’s bedroom and crawled out on the roof when he saw her open window. He had to know that we’d be in there when we heard the shot. He knew he had to work fast and get out. It was a helluva chance but it goes to show how desperate he was.”
“Where did he go? He’s on the goddamn roof.”
“He didn’t go back into the house through her bedroom because there were no signs of wet footprints on the bedroom carpeting.” Jane thought for a second. “Come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing any outside footprints on the carpeting except for Emily’s from when she went outside earlier in the evening.”
“So, he covered his tracks?”
“He covered his feet. Just like the first time when he took out her parents.”
“This puts us back to the theory that one person killed two people—”
“One person can kill two people. You stun one and kill the other, then turn around and finish off the first. This guy is smart. He’s a pro.”
“Are you forgetting that Emily’s parents were killed with two different knives and two different kill patterns?”
“He planned it that way, knowing it would throw us off. This guy’s sick but he’s far from stupid.”
“So, what’s ‘PAYBACK?’ Weyler wondered out loud, referring to the ominous note left on the knife that cut through Martha’s cheek.
“I don’t know.”
“I’m aware that you feel this case has nothing to do with drug dealing, but I think we should seriously reconsider that possibility.”
“Boss, I told you, it doesn’t add up—”
“I know. The kid told you that she never saw her folks doing coke. I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to dismiss the idea. ‘Payback