Humpty Dumpty: The killer wants us to put him back together again (Book 1 of the Nursery Rhyme Murders Series)

by Carolyn McCray

  She had no desire to talk to Joshua right now, but the kind of interaction had been happening lately had to go. The former agent was becoming more erratic by the day, and Sariah needed to find out why.

  As she neared his room, the door opened, and out came Bella, straining against her leash. She was followed by Joshua, who looked like he had been run over by a bus and then pounded with a sledgehammer. He squinted against the light in the hall as he paused in the doorway.

  His body kept the door from closing, so Sariah was able to see into the room. There were no empties that she could see in the room, but the mini fridge was hanging open. It had been cleaned out of alcohol. That, plus Joshua’s demeanor spoke of another rough night of binge drinking. And just when it seemed that things were getting better.

  “You okay?” she called out.

  Joshua squeezed his eyes shut, looking like he was trying to shut out her voice as much as her image. He shook his head.

  “I’ve been better.”

  “Yeah. Hangovers’ll do that to you.”

  Joshua’s head jerked up. “What?”

  Sariah snorted. “You’re clearly hung over.”

  For a second, it looked like Joshua was going to fight her on that, but then he just responded with his typical, “Whatever.”

  She wasn’t exactly sure what that was all about, but she didn’t care all that much. There was something else on her mind right now.

  “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about—”

  “Yesterday. I know,” Joshua gave her a wry half-smile, half-grimace. “I was out of line.”

  Wow. This conversation was not going how Sariah had imagined it. She was supposed to be asking him something, but for the life of her she couldn’t think of it. His apology was rattling her equilibrium.

  “Ah, yes. Just…” She looked at him, then down at the dog. Bella looked up at her with her tongue out. “I don’t know. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  Joshua started to speak, whether to argue the point or to concede, Sariah couldn’t tell. At that moment, a text came in. She pulled out her cell and glanced at the screen. It was from Had.

  News. Get here fast.

  Had knew enough not to get her hopes up for nothing. This conversation with Joshua would have to wait.

  CHAPTER 17

  Darting around the workspace, Had put the final touches on the set up. Reggie had come in and helped him out, otherwise he never would have been able to finish it in time. Between the two of them, they’d basically made the impossible possible.

  A Skyped interrogation.

  As Joshua and Coop entered the room, Bella in tow, they brought in some pretty strange energy with them. Joshua looked like Had did after he’d been talking to Mama when she was in a pissy mood. And Agent Cooper? She looked… well, Had wasn’t sure how she looked. If it were anyone else, Had would say she appeared confused. But this was Coop. She was never confused. Wrong? Sometimes. Confused? Never.

  Pushing his observations aside, Had moved toward the two. “Okay. Here’s the deal. The King’s Man was picked up just outside of Spokane early this morning.”

  “So fast?” Coop asked. “How the hell did they find him?”

  “Apparently he was speaking to a rotary club about hobo culture. They’d put him up in a hotel for the week, and one of the members was a cop. Heard about the BOLO and went and picked the guy up.”

  “Okay,” Joshua replied. “So explain to me why we aren’t headed to the nearest airport.”

  “Well, that’s the thing,” Had gushed, thrilled to show them what he’d accomplished. “I knew that we’re under the wire. We don’t know how long this new kidnapping victim might have before Humpty decides to cut her into pieces. So…” He pointed at the equipment he and Reggie had put together.

  “So you decided to build a television studio?” Joshua asked, looking around the space. He reached out to touch a camera that had been set up.

  “Don’t… Don’t touch that,” Had begged him. “I’ve been working on this since five this morning.”

  “Whatever,” Joshua growled. He rubbed a hand across his face, pulling the skin taut and then releasing it. “What is it for?”

  “We’re going to do a video conference,” Reggie blurted, then blushed. “Sorry, Had. I was just so excited.”

  As Joshua turned to face her, Had saw the former agent’s expression change. All of the sudden, he seemed taller, more energetic… younger. Weird.

  “A video conference?” Joshua asked, his tone skeptical. “That feels like it won’t be all that effective.”

  “No, no. It’s a great idea,” Coop argued. “It means we can do this now instead of waiting hours or even a full day to get into the box with this guy.”

  “But we’re not there in person. How can we get in his head without being able to be in the same room with him?”

  “Please,” she scoffed. “Haven’t you ever been intimidated by a good performance from an actor in a film? Same difference.” Coop raised an eyebrow. “Or don’t you think you can handle it?”

  “Let’s just get on with it,” he growled back.

  Had was one for two as far as his approval rate was concerned, but he’d take it. Besides, Joshua looked like he’d be grumpy about pretty much anything right now. Had was learning how to take what came out of the former agent’s mouth with a cellar’s worth of salt.

  Placing Joshua and Agent Cooper in their chairs, Had focused the camera on them, then checked the internet connection on both ends. It should be more than enough to make for a smooth video conference. He took Bella’s leash from Joshua and led the puppy back to where he would be operating the camera.

  As the suspect appeared on the screen, Had was struck by how regal he was. He was scruffy, no doubt, with a huge shaggy beard and long dark hair. But his cheekbones looked like they had been etched in glass they were so sharp, and his blue eyes glittered like arcs of electricity made solid.

  And there appeared to be no fear there, whatsoever.

  “I’m Agent Cooper, and this is Joshua Wright.” Agent Cooper started. “So, Mr. Fjerstad—”

  “I am King’s Man,” the suspect stated in a flat tone. His accent was quite good, with only tiny tells to let the listener know they were talking to someone who wasn’t born in the States. But even with the slight foreign tilt to his speech, he seemed almost more British than Nordic.

  “That’s right,” Joshua said in a pleasant tone. “You were a servant to a king. Is that what I’ve heard?”

  “That is correct,” King’s Man replied. “But that was a long time ago. I am not a servant to anyone now.”

  “I can see that.”

  Agent Cooper cleared her throat and held up several photos in front of the camera lens. Had zoomed in on each individual picture as she shuffled through them. He watched like a hawk, ready to sharpen the focus or adjust the framing to make the most impact.

  “King’s Man, do you recognize any of these individuals?”

  “No,” he said, leaning in toward what must have been the computer screen on his end of the connection. “Should I have?”

  “Their bodies were found scattered all across the United States.”

  “That is terrible.”

  “Oh come on,” Joshua mocked. “It’s not all that bad. Weren’t there like three hundred hobos killed by your group back in the late 90s?”

  “To which group are you referring?” the man replied, an innocent look on his face.

  “Very nice. Great grammar for a bum.”

  King’s Man clenched his jaw, his muscle working in stark relief against the skin of his cheek. “I am not, have never been, nor will ever be a bum. I am a hobo.”

  “Right. A hobo who’s part of the most violent hobo gang that’s ever existed.”

  “I’m afraid I still do not know of what you are speaking.”

  “Sure you do,” Joshua murmured. Had could see that he was struggling a bit. Like he wanted to stand up and pace but couldn’t. Instea
d, the former agent wiped his hands on his pant legs. “You were wearing a black bandana. Do you know how unusual that is for hobos to do since what’s-his-bucket was convicted?”

  “Robert Silveria,” Coop added. “He’s really the one that helped put the FTRA on the map.”

  “The FTRA?” King’s Man wrinkled his nose. “I am not a part of this group.”

  “Please.” Joshua made a raspberry noise with his lips. “You were giving lectures on it for the Rotary Club up in Spokane. You have a blog.”

  The suspect shrugged his shoulders, the gesture strangely delicate. European. This guy might be a hobo, but Had could see very little that was American about him, even after twenty years.

  “Fine. So I am part of them. But they are not the villains everyone thinks them to be.”

  “Here’s the other thing that makes it tough to buy your story, Olaf. The body parts showed up all along the train lines. A bunch of them right in your home turf there in Washington.”

  Had watched as Joshua got in closer to the lens. The former agent may have had concerns about the video conferencing, but he had taken to it like a pro. Although, looking at him more closely, Had could see that he was pale and sweating, his eyes darting back and forth.

  “I cannot control what you have or have not been finding,” King’s Man responded, unruffled. “All I can say is that I had nothing to do with it.”

  “You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.”

  “Mr. Fjerstad… excuse me… King’s Man. Do you know of any hobos who might be capable of doing something like this?” Agent Cooper interjected, sitting forward in her seat, also adjusting for the camera like she had been born to it. Had was thrilled with how well the video thing was working.

  “No, I cannot imagine—”

  Joshua cut him off. “And you’re telling me your name is just a coincidence?”

  This time, the confused expression on King’s Man’s face seemed genuine. “What does my name have to do with anything?”

  “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,” Joshua intoned. “Tell me that has nothing to do with this.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

  “No, you don’t, do you? Follow, that is. You’re a leader. What did you call yourself?” Joshua looked down at a printed piece of paper in his hand. “King’s Man, the King chosen from amongst the kings of the hobos. There’s an awful lot of kings in that sentence.” He frowned, and it appeared to Had that the frown went beyond a simple interrogation tactic. The former agent’s focus seemed to flit about the room, instead of the laser focus Had was used to seeing from him.

  “Where did you—?”

  “Your blog, man. That might have been a mistake. Not sure what you were thinking on that one.” Joshua wiped at his forehead with his sleeve. He was sweating profusely, and seemed to be getting more and more pale by the second.

  “Still, I don’t see how—” the suspect started.

  “Humpty Dumpty. You know. The serial killer and the nursery rhyme? All the king’s horses and all the king’s men?”

  “All of my children’s rhymes were in Norwegian. It was not Humpty Dumpty for me. It was Lille Trille. And it doesn’t translate into ‘king’s men’ in my language.”

  “That may be true. I’ll have to check up on it. But you have to admit, it’s one hell of a coincidence.”

  There was a sound from Reggie’s direction. It was the grinding of the Tardis from Dr. Who. Had glanced over at her as she pulled out her cell phone and showed him that she had just received a text.

  “We just got the results back from the bomb fragments taken from the site where you found the torso,” she whispered, trying not to interfere with the interrogation taking place. “You need to see this.” She handed the phone to Had.

  He scanned the contents of the text, and immediately surged to his feet, surprising both Agent Cooper and Joshua. Giving them a signal to wrap things up with King’s Man, Had gestured to the phone.

  Joshua was clearly confused, his eyes unsteady, but Coop seemed to get it. “Mr. Fjer… ah, King’s Man. We’re going to need to pick this back up again later. But please be thinking of any way that you can help us out here. The evidence is pointing at you, and what it’s saying isn’t pretty.”

  Had went to cut the connection as Joshua came to his feet, swaying. The former agent started to speak, and then abruptly collapsed, taking out the camera as he fell.

  “Joshua!” Agent Cooper was by his side in a heartbeat. Bella came in just milliseconds behind, licking the face of her friend and whining her concern.

  Joshua was twitching in what almost looked like convulsions. His skin was grey and clammy, but sweat continued to bead his brow.

  “Call an ambulance,” Coop barked at Had.

  He pulled out his phone to call, but Joshua groaned and stirred from his position on the ground. His arms waved in an effort to get Had’s attention. As if Had was going to be paying attention to anything else right at this moment.

  “Don’t call. Don’t call an ambulance.” Joshua’s voice was strained but strong, and Had hesitated before hitting the “call” button. “I’m fine.”

  “You are anything but fine. Don’t be such an ass,” Coop snapped at him, trying to keep Bella out of his face.

  “I’m not being an ass,” he responded. “Well, not any more than normal. This is just… well, I’ve had this happen before.”

  “Oh, really? When?”

  “It was…” Joshua started, then looked up at Reggie. He sighed, then finished his sentence in a resigned tone. “It was when I didn’t have enough to drink. I’m just detoxing, that’s all.”

  Coop sat back on her heels, staring at him. She then shook her head. “Don’t lie to me, Joshua. I saw your mini fridge this morning. You’d drunk everything in there.”

  Joshua pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Believe what you want, but don’t call an ambulance. I said I was fine. I’m fine.”

  Had made eye contact with Agent Cooper, his finger hovering over the button. She nodded, and he slipped the phone back into his pocket. Coop slowly stood, looking down at Joshua, before seeming to make a decision and turning back to Had.

  “Now,” she said, pinning him with her gaze. “What was so important that you had to interrupt our interrogation?”

  * * *

  Sariah was torn. Joshua was still on the ground, slowly making his way to a sitting position. Reggie was switching her attention from Sariah to Joshua to Had and then would start the cycle all over again.

  This interrogation hadn’t been her idea in the first place. She still felt that Curtis had been their guy. But once they had gotten into the swing of the questioning, there were a lot of things that started to make sense if King’s Man was their guy. There was a compelling argument here.

  So to have the process stopped in the middle left her feeling jumpy and incomplete. But the excitement mixed with nerves she saw in Had’s eyes seemed like it could be promising.

  “Go ahead,” she prodded. “Tell me what you’ve got.”

  “Well, we got the report back on the bomb fragments,” Had said. “It was a fertilizer bomb.”

  “So not incredibly sophisticated. That fits the profile pretty well. But why was that enough to cut us off back there?”

  “Well, it’s the fact that the fertilizer matched a specific lot,” Reggie stepped in.

  Sariah still wasn’t seeing where this was headed. “Great. One more lead for us to track down. We can never have too many, I guess.”

  “No, no, here’s the thing,” Had interjected. “The lot was one that Curtis Howse was carrying just three days ago.”

  Ah. Now it was starting to make sense. “So Curtis was carrying the main ingredient for a bomb that took out four cops?”

  “Yes,” Had answered. “And the other significant component of a fertilizer bomb…”

  “Is diesel fuel,” she finished for him.

  “And not just any diesel fuel. We tes
ted what was still in his truck. Initial results show it came from the same gas station as the stuff in the explosive. We should be able to tell within a day or so whether or not what was in the bomb matches what came from his gas tank.”

  “This is great. We still have close tabs on Howse, right?”

  “Yeah,” Had affirmed. “He was planning on staying for the convention anyway, but we’ve kept eyes on him the entire time. I can get him here within the hour.”

  “Do it,” she said. Had turned to head out the door, but Sariah stopped him with her voice. “Oh, and Had?”

  “Yes?”

  “Good call. We needed to jump on this one right away.”

  She had been right. The facts all pointed to Howse and now that son of a bitch was going down for it. Joshua’s doubts and criticisms had gotten to her, made her second guess herself. But she was right.

  It was all she could do to keep from making eye contact with Joshua right now. The guy was a mess, whether from a serious binge or, as he said, from abstinence. Honestly, she wasn’t all that sure that she cared. It was just that the idea of Joshua sober seemed so unlikely. But one way or the other, saying “I told you so” would just be salt in a ragged, infected wound right now.

  And yet somehow, it’s all she wanted to do. Which was just great. Sariah was having a hard time convincing herself that she was a decent person right about now.

  Time to put away Humpty. That would at least help balance the scales.

  * * *

  Joshua still felt pretty woozy as Had and Reggie led Curtis Howse and his lawyer in and made them sit down in the slapped-together questioning room. Bella had stayed right by his side the entire time he was on the floor, and the little pup seemed much more serious than was her usual wont. He could barely twitch without bumping into her furry little form.

  Curtis looked much less confident than he had the previous time he’d been here. Something about continual suspicion seemed to get to even the most hardened of criminals. And this one had seen this end of the other side of the law more than a few times in his life. Curtis’ eyes kept flicking to his lawyer, who looked to be a public defender well into his 50s, with graying hair and a pot-belly.