“Your account gave us a lot to work with. I want to go back and interview your neighbor Harriet. Perhaps she can describe this man to a sketch artist, and we’d have something to work from. We also need to go back to your old house. Based on what you said, I know there could be forensic evidence your assailant left behind. We need to examine that staircase railing to see if there’s any DNA evidence the first forensic sweep might have missed.” Eli took a couple of quick bites of ice cream. “You also provided insight into how he incapacitated his victims enough to hang them. Chloroform is known to have the sweet smell you describe and can incapacitate someone by smothering their face. Old-school but effective.”
“The more you talk, the more it sounds like you think the Hangman is not in prison.”
Eli set his ice cream dish down. “I don’t know if I would go that far. It’s hard to refute the DNA evidence of Dr. Heller’s blood in the rope fibers of each noose.”
“Except Evelyn Roush.”
“This leads me more to suspect the Hangman was working in partnership with someone who is trying to finish what they started.”
“But why is he doing this?”
“Once we know that, a lot of things will become clear. Figuring out motives isn’t as simple in real life as it is on television.”
“Those are good ideas, but what if we just end up at the same place we are now?”
“All we can do is try. Let’s call Harriet and see if she’ll visit with us in the morning. Then I’ll schedule a forensic team to meet us at your old house tomorrow afternoon and I’ll have a little chat with Ryder Dymond.”
“How did they find him?” Julia asked.
“Aurora police picked him up not far from your house. We’ll see if he says anything. At this point he’s not under arrest, but we can hold him for a few days for questioning.”
Julia pulled her hands away. “You know what I can’t get out of mind?”
“What?”
“That the man who tried to kill me didn’t care if I saw his face. That’s how sure he was that I was going to die.”
Eli thought a lot about that fact, too. And the truth was, this memory of Julia’s put her life more at risk because now she could potentially identify him. Whoever this man was, he was running out of time whether he was the true Hangman or not.
* * *
The next morning, Eli drove with Julia to Harriet Wilson’s house. Seeing her old neighborhood brought back welcome memories. Julia relished recalling sitting on the porch of her home and watching the activity of her neighbors. Children playing ball in the street. Every Coloradoan owned a dog, and the parade of pet owners and their furry charges was always entertainment.
When Eli turned the corner on her street, a sense of foreboding overtook Julia.
They parked and Julia’s eyes wandered over to her house. The property remained for sale, and her Realtor had agreed to meet them there in another thirty minutes, along with an FBI Forensics team, to take a second look for evidence. Could today hold clues they needed to bring this nightmare to an end?
“You really think this old lady is going to remember something?” Will asked from the backseat, fidgeting with the computer in his lap.
“What can it hurt? I don’t see you or Ben coming up with any new ideas.”
“Because our primary focus isn’t investigation—it’s protecting Julia,” Ben said. “Since Quentin seems to have no interest in keeping you in line and protecting the U.S. Marshals’ reputation, then it falls to me.”
Why was he picking this moment to seemingly start a fight with two of his fellow agents?
Eli turned to Julia. “I’m going to let you take the lead on this. See if she remembers you and we’ll go from there.”
Julia exited the car and walked to the door, flanked by Eli and Ben with Will trailing a few steps behind. She knocked—several louder than normal raps. Ms. Wilson was a little hard of hearing.
Before long, a nose peeked through the crack, which widened to reveal a pair of milky brown eyes. They widened in surprise and the woman threw the door open.
“My sweet Julia! It really is you.” Her bulky frame stepped onto the porch, and she pressed Julia’s face between her hands and then kissed her forehead. “I thought I was dreaming last night when that young man called me and said you wanted to come by for a visit.”
“I have three men with me. Is it okay for all of us to come in?”
“Oh, of course. It’s been so long since I’ve had a gentleman caller—imagine three in the same day.”
The four of them stepped into the foyer. Eli held his hand out. “I’m the one who spoke to you on the phone.”
Harriet dropped her hand onto Eli’s shoulder. “What a fine specimen you are. It’s nice to see that Julia found such a handsome man to take care of her.”
“We’re not together,” they said in unison.
Julia’s heart stalled. What did they say about protesting too loudly?
“This is Ben Murphy and Will Sullivan,” Julia said.
Will stepped forward, his laptop clutched under one arm. “Nice to meet you,” he said, shaking her hand briefly.
“You—” she pointed a finger straight at Ben’s face “—look like someone I know.” She tapped her index finger against her temple. “Have we met before?”
“Ms. Wilson, I’m afraid I’ve never had the pleasure of your company. Some say I look like Robert Downey Jr. Do you like his movies?” Ben asked.
As she clapped her hands together, her eyes held his—raptured by his presence. “That’s it! You do look a lot like him, but I’m thinking of an older Hollywood actor.” She snapped her fingers in the air. “I just can’t place his name. Oh, it’s going to keep me up all night thinking about this. Those green eyes of yours...really striking.”
Ben bowed slightly. “It’s the best compliment I could receive. My son...” His voice trailed. “Forgive me, I’m not really here to share personal stories. I’ll let Julia explain the reason behind our visit.”
Julia cataloged the moment in her mind. One thing about Ben—he wanted to remain a closed book. Was that unusual? Eli insisted that doing so crossed a professional boundary and yet struggled not to share parts of his life with her.
Harriet motioned for them to follow. “I have iced tea waiting.”
Eli and Julia took two chairs. Will sat next to Harriet on the couch and opened his laptop. Ben hovered near the doorway.
“Ms. Wilson, do you remember the day the police were at my house?” Julia asked.
Her eyes teared up. “That was such an awful day. I’m so glad you’ve stopped by to see me today because I honestly didn’t believe the reports that you’d survived. I mean, you didn’t testify in the trial or anything.”
Julia placed her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. “I’m sorry. I should have come to see you when I was all better. I’ve missed you.”
Her nursing assessment skills kicked in. Had anyone filled the void that Julia left? The old woman had definitely lost weight—which might not have been a bad thing. There were other signs that were more disturbing to Julia. Her dove-gray hair was much longer—gathered in a braid that went all the way down to her midback. But the strands were brittle, dry. Her skin looked sallow. Julia would need to look in her refrigerator before they left to make sure she was stocked up for a while.
Ms. Wilson waved off impending tears. “I’m just so thankful to see you today. You look so happy.”
Happy?
“Do you remember anything about that day?” Julia asked.
“I remember the neighbor who came by looking for cake ingredients.”
Julia pressed her feet into the floor to keep her legs from shaking. “Yes, that’s the man I’d like to talk to you about. We’ll see if you can describe him for Will.”
“It was the strangest thing. He said he lived just down the street, but I’d never seen him before. That may not mean too much. I don’t like to go out.”
“Tell me what happened when he stopped by,” Eli asked.
“Oh my. It was so early in the morning. He got me up out of bed. It’s like he had this whole list of ingredients he needed. I felt like a grocery store. He said it was his little boy’s birthday and his wife didn’t buy the things he needed to bake a cake. I mean, why was he baking the cake anyway?”
“What sorts of things did he ask for?” Ben asked.
Harriet began to tick things off on her fingers. “Flour. Salt. Who doesn’t keep those things on hand? Shortening. Now, these days, most probably don’t have Crisco on hand, but I do.”
“Harriet, was there anything you didn’t have on hand for this gentleman?”
“Eggs. I didn’t have any eggs.”
“What did he do then?” Ben asked.
Julia caught Eli’s eyes. He gave her a nod. Perhaps Ben wasn’t completely useless for this interview even though he didn’t agree with doing it.
“At first, I just told him I didn’t have any. But then he insisted I call someone to see if they did. You were the first person I could think of. Really, the only one.”
Eli mouthed something to Will that Julia couldn’t quite make out.
“He asked me to call you and ask for eggs.”
“Me specifically?” Julia asked.
Harriet nodded. “Yes, he did use your name. I didn’t find it strange if he was our neighbor.”
Will positioned his laptop so Harriet could see it. “Great. What we’re going to do is create a picture on my computer of what this man looks like. Let’s start with his nose.”
“Do you know Rock Hudson?” Harriet asked. “He had a nose just like him.”
Will laughed. “Can’t say I’m really familiar with him, but I’ll just Google a picture and I’ll find a nose that compares. While I do that, what else can you remember?”
“His eyes were the most distinctive, dark green. Seriously, just like that man over there.” She turned to face Ben. “Do you have a brother?”
“I don’t have any siblings,” Ben said.
Will pivoted the screen toward Harriet. “How about this nose?”
She studied the image. “I don’t know. It’s a little off.”
“Let’s stick with it for now. How about the shape of the man’s eyes? Round? Almond?”
“Oh, I don’t know. This is so hard. I hate computers.”
The green eyes that Julia remembered flashed into her vision. Now she could easily recall this most striking feature, as well. They were similar to Ben’s eyes. Julia’s palms began to sweat.
“How about the shape of his face?” Will asked. “Square? Triangle?”
“Now, that’s where you’re totally different,” Harriet playfully swatted the air in Ben’s direction. “The neighbor’s face was definitely like a square box. Very strong chin—like John Wayne.”
Julia exhaled slowly. How could she even remotely suspect Ben when he’d saved her life—on more than one occasion? The stress was causing her to become paranoid and hypersensitive.
“One John Wayne jaw coming up. Talk to me about his hair.”
“Long. I never like it when men wear their hair long. Julia, what about you?”
“You’re right, Harriet. Definitely short hair on a guy.”
“Like Eli’s. I like your hair, young man.”
Eli fidgeted in his seat uneasily. “Thank you, Ms. Wilson. I don’t get very many compliments on my hair.”
“Well, it is messy. You need to comb it. Use some of that fancy hair gel to keep it in place.”
Julia chuckled. She’d forgotten how funny Harriet was. Then a creeping hole snuck its way into her gut. Her assailant had taken so much from her, but he’d also taken her away from Harriet. It was time to correct that.
“Do you like Julia?” Harriet asked Eli.
To Julia’s surprise, a flash of red dashed into his cheeks. “Yes, she’s a very likable girl.”
“No, I mean do you like her, because you won’t stop stealing glances when she’s not looking at you.”
Julia smiled at Eli and he winked at her. “Well, it’s my job to watch her now, so I guess that means I’m doing a good job of it.”
“How about this, Ms. Wilson?” Will asked. “Does this look like the man who stopped to visit you that day?”
“It’s close—”
“We can work with it, then.” Will flashed the computer screen Julia’s way. It looked like a mash of Rock Hudson and John Wayne.
And it didn’t match any fragment of memories that Julia had of the man who attacked her.
* * *
Directly after their visit with Ms. Wilson, Eli followed Julia as she crossed the lawn to the front door of her old house. According to Julia, she was still making mortgage payments on her refurbished bungalow even though she had moved to a new house. She’d been the beneficiary of her parents’ life insurance policies, a total amount unknown to Eli, but enough to maintain two properties and perhaps the money she needed for her nurse’s retraining.
Eli waved to the men in the FBI CSI van. Eli had worked with one of the men, Shawn Jaeger, at Aurora police before he joined the FBI. Julia’s Realtor, Maryann, opened the lock and pushed the door open.
“I’ll wait in my car until you’re done and then I’ll get everything locked up,” Maryann said.
“Great, thanks,” Julia said to the woman.
No questions from Julia about potential buyers? Likely, the attempted murder would be disclosed by the Realtor and was the nail in the coffin as to why this place couldn’t sell.
Eli turned to Shawn and his partner. “I don’t think we need an extensive examination. Focus on the entryway, the staircase—particularly the banister, and then directly under the main beam. We’re looking for any evidence of blood splatter that could have been left by the killer.”
“Got it. The previous team did look at this area, but in light of what you told me about Julia’s forensic interview, I do agree a second look is warranted.”
The forensic pair slipped on shoe covers and grabbed their tackle boxes of equipment, armed with a couple of flashlights.
Julia sat on the porch, and Eli hovered over her, scanning the street for any perceived threats. Ms. Wilson poked her head out one of her side windows, monitoring their activities. Probably the most excitement she’d had since the day of Julia’s attack.
“Don’t you think someone should go in with them?” Ben asked.
Eli shrugged. “They have their specialty. We have ours.”
“Then if you think you have things covered here, I’m going to sit in the car and help Will get Harriet’s photo uploaded into the system. Then Quentin can decide if he wants local media to release it.”
“Do what you need to do,” Eli said.
The tone of his voice caused Julia to look up at Eli.
Why am I being so short with Ben? He hasn’t done anything wrong that I can prove. No member of my team has done anything wrong.
Eli rubbed at the tense muscles in his neck. The situation was beginning to wear on him. Considering how many attempts there had been on Julia’s life—he wondered if they could adequately protect her from all of them.
“I don’t think the computer image is going to help find my attacker,” Julia said as Ben walked away.
“I know. Using the program isn’t really Will’s forte, but no one else was available today and he’d had an introduction to it at least.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask Ben. Isn’t he a computer expert?”
Eli nodded. Was she so in tune with him that she could read his mind?
“I did ask Ben thinking the same thing, but he says he was never trained in the program.” Eli shoved his hands into his pockets. Was that the true cause of his irritation? He expected things from Ben that he couldn’t offer. “Regardless of the quality of the photo, we know it doesn’t resemble Dr. Heller.”
“The man I get glimpses of isn’t him, either. Is the wrong man in jail?”
How did Julia so easily tap into Eli’s biggest concern after keeping her safe—that he’d been responsible for putting an innocent man in jail?
“I still don’t think it can be possible that Dr. Heller wasn’t involved in some way in these crimes. His DNA is present at all the crime scenes except the most recent hanging. I’m thinking we’re dealing with a team and he was part of it. The thing that’s unclear is why the partner became active again.”
“What’s usually the reason something like that happens?” Julia asked.
Eli shrugged. “I’m not a profiler, but there’s usually some sort of trigger. A marriage dissolves. Loss of a job. An anniversary of the event or death of someone. Who knows? Sometimes I feel like the motives for evil are as numerous as the stars.”
The forensic team exited Julia’s house.
“We did find something,” Shawn said.
Eli helped Julia to a standing position. “What?”
“There were a few tiny droplets of what appeared to be dried blood on the underside of the banister. It would have been hard to find on the first go-round. It tested positive, so we grabbed a few swabs for DNA.”
“Is it okay for us to go inside?” Eli asked.
“I don’t have any problem with it,” Shawn said. “We’ve got what we came for.”
“Julia? Any interest?” Eli asked.
“Right now—the past might be well enough left in the past until this thing is solved and I can move forward without looking over my shoulder.”
Did that mean she could see herself coming back to live here? It was a kind of forgiveness Eli wasn’t sure he possessed.
“Julia, would you mind sitting in the car with Ben and Will? I need to have a private conversation with Shawn.”
Fractured Memory Page 15
