Dead End

by Nancy Mehl

  “Does he know who you are?” Noah asked him.

  “It’s possible. I worked on a TV special a few years ago about The Raggedy Man. If he saw it . . .”

  “What about you?” Noah asked Bell.

  “No. Never met him. Haven’t been on television.”

  Noah took his wallet out of his back pocket and handed it to Tobias. “I need yours.”

  Tobias gave Noah his wallet, which he slid into his pocket.

  “Do you know what to say?” Sawyer asked.

  “I have a good idea.” He blew out a breath. “Cross your fingers.”

  He left the small room, walked down the hall, and put his hand on the doorknob to the room where Kaely and her father sat. He paused to calm himself, then opened the door. Ed turned around to stare at him. It actually shook Noah to be sized up by The Raggedy Man.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Special Agent Quinn,” he said quickly, walking closer to the table. “We haven’t met. I was out of town when this was set up. I’m Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Des Moines office, Tobias Bell. This interview wasn’t approved by my office, and I’m shutting it down.”

  Kaely, who’d frowned at him when he first walked into the room, immediately fell into her role. “This was cleared by the Omaha SAC,” she said, her tone sharp. “I believe you report to Omaha?”

  Noah forced himself to look angry. “I believe you’re actually assigned to St. Louis, isn’t that right? That gives you absolutely no authority here. I’m asking you to vacate this room. Now.”

  “I was asked by Omaha to be here, sir. I need you to leave. You’re interfering with this interview.”

  “I don’t think you understood me, Special Agent Quinn,” Noah said, taking a step closer to Kaely. “I don’t need someone who got booted out of Quantico interfering with our case.”

  Suddenly, Ed rose to his feet. The look on his face was menacing, and Noah had to fight the fear that made his heart thud in his chest. This man, this killer, wanted to hurt him. Then the door opened behind him and two guards rushed in, along with John Howard.

  “Agent Bell, I want you out of here. Now.” Howard was playing it for all he was worth. The rage in his expression was so realistic Noah had to remind himself this was an act.

  The guards stood next to Ed. The one called Kenny quietly ordered him to sit down or be removed from the room and taken back to his cell. For a moment, Noah wondered if Ed would obey. But then he plopped down into his chair.

  “Let’s go,” John said to Noah.

  “This isn’t the last you’re going to hear about this,” Noah said, a note of hysteria in his voice. He glared at Kaely and then headed out the door. Then he hurried back to the viewing room to see what happened next.

  He watched as John thanked the guards and dismissed them. Then he addressed Kaely. “I’m sorry about this, Agent Quinn. If you want to end this interview, I would understand. I doubt we’re going to get what we need from this prisoner. Why don’t you come with me?”

  “No,” Ed said suddenly. “Leave her alone. I . . . I want to talk to my daughter.”

  John stood there for a moment, just staring at him. Finally, he said, “All right.” He pointed at Kaely. “Thirty minutes and this is over. Understand?”

  Kaely nodded. John turned on his heel and left.

  Noah held his breath, hoping the ruse had helped. The idea was to make Ed feel as if he and his daughter were on the same side. Being oppressed by those in authority. Had it worked? As they watched the feed, he prayed he hadn’t made Kaely’s situation worse.

  “They really think I know something about this copycat killer, right?” her father asked. His face was flushed. He didn’t like being told what to do. Never had.

  Kaely nodded. “But if you don’t, there’s nothing you can do. Forget about it.” She pushed the remainder of her sandwich his way. “Do you want the rest of this? It’s a little too spicy for me. Not like the sandwiches we used to get at the little shop near the house.” She smiled. “They were great.”

  “Yeah, they were,” he said. Kaely heard a hint of sadness in his voice. It almost sounded real.

  Her father stared at her sandwich for a moment. Then he reached over and took it. After a couple of bites, he put it down.

  “Why do they think this guy has anything to do with me?” he asked as he chewed. Kaely suddenly remembered her mother chiding him about talking with his mouth full. What an odd thing to think about now.

  “Bodies found in a field. The older bodies look like . . . yours. The new bodies follow your pattern. Tied with red ribbon. And something the killer shouldn’t have known about. Wire angels in their right hands.”

  Kaely watched her father but saw no surprise on his face. He already knew. Since no details had been released, the copycat could have gotten that information only one way—from Ed. Although she’d become certain he was involved somehow, this confirmation of her suspicions caused rage to rise within her like a tsunami. Hadn’t Ed Oliphant caused enough destruction? She glanced quickly at a camera, trying to make it look as if she was just trying to work the kinks out of her neck. She needed to feel as if she could still connect to Noah. It helped her calm down. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was an FBI agent and needed to act like one.

  “You know we’re going to be here for a while,” she said. “Looking through things. Letters, communications. We’ll be talking to other prisoners. Guards.”

  “Yeah, I know. But you won’t find anything.”

  “Maybe not, but I know you’re connected to this, Dad. I wish you’d just tell me the truth. For once in my life.”

  Her father didn’t respond. He just stared down at the table.

  Kaely took a drink of her water. “Do you hate me?” she asked when she put the bottle down.

  That question seemed to surprise him, and he looked up. “Why would you ask me that?”

  “The Scripture found in the victims’ mouths.”

  His eyes widened, and his jaw went slack. He didn’t know about the Scripture.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Now Kaely had his total attention. “Written on a piece of paper and jammed into the mouths of the new victims. It read, ‘I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.’ Maybe it isn’t directed toward me, but you can see why it concerns me.”

  Before Kaely had any chance of stopping him, her father stood, his face a study in fury. In one fell swoop he lifted the metal table and upended it. Kaely managed to scoot her chair back to avoid being hurt. Then she jumped up and moved away from him. The door swung open, and guards flooded the room, grabbing her father and wrestling him to the floor.

  Noah and Chief Sawyer were right behind them. Noah ran to her and grabbed her hands.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Kaely nodded.

  She’d discovered something important. Whoever the Copycat Killer was, he’d colored outside the lines.

  Sixteen

  Kaely sat at the head of a long table inside some kind of conference room. Noah was next to her, and Sawyer, Bell, and John sat on the other side. Warden Galloway had just left after telling them her father was in solitary confinement.

  “Did we do any good here?” Bell asked.

  It was clear to Kaely that he wasn’t happy with the results. Her father hadn’t confessed or given away the name of his apprentice.

  “I think we accomplished quite a bit,” she said.

  “You want to explain that?” Chief Sawyer asked.

  Noah cleared his throat. It was obvious he was nervous. Probably felt guilty about his plan to loosen Ed’s tongue, but it had been a good one. It had caught her father off guard. Without that, he might have been able to control his temper when he heard about the Scripture. And that reaction told her something they all needed to know.

  “As you said, my father knew about the Copycat Killer.
He wasn’t surprised when I mentioned the red ribbons and the wire angels.”

  “He is working with someone, then,” John said.

  Kaely nodded. “Yes, I’m convinced he is.”

  “Is that it?” Sawyer asked, sounding irritated. “Because we already knew that.”

  “No, that’s not it. He really lost it when I told him about the piece of paper with the Scripture written on it.”

  “Obviously, but why would that set him off?”

  “The pupil disobeyed the teacher.” Kaely smiled at the puzzled faces looking at her. “The Scripture wasn’t my father’s idea. He’s angry because our UNSUB inserted himself into my father’s modus operandi.”

  “Will that help us?” John asked.

  Kaely nodded again. “Any fissure caused by disagreements will help us gain some ground. If he decides to punish his protégé, he can do it by giving him up.”

  “I get that, but in the meantime we need to figure out how Ed is communicating with this killer.” He turned to Noah. “Why don’t you start going through records, his mail, talking to guards. They may have noticed something that will help us. Talk to other inmates he might be communicating with.”

  “I really don’t think you’ll find anything there,” the chief said. “According to Warden Galloway, he has very little contact with other prisoners. Certainly not enough to plan something like this.”

  “Okay,” John said. “But we have to cover every possibility. Start with his mail. Then talk to the guards before interviewing other inmates.”

  “All right,” Noah said.

  “My father told me we won’t find anything this way,” Kaely said, “but of course, he could be lying. Trying to steer us away from discovering something he doesn’t want us to find. I’d like to help Noah, if it’s okay. I’m sure there’s a lot of information to pore through. We need to search for evidence that he’s conned, bribed, or blackmailed any staff members. That includes guards, infirmary staff, social workers . . . anyone who might be smuggling communications in or out.” She frowned at Noah. “We also need to identify anyone who might idolize him. Someone who’s willing to do his bidding.”

  “Sounds good,” John said. “I’d like to have your input. Just in case you see something the rest of us have missed.”

  “It will probably take some time to gather everything we need to look through,” Kaely said. “Why don’t we attack that in the morning?”

  Sawyer nodded. “Anything else today?”

  “I’d like to visit with Warden Galloway. And then I want to meet with the chief medical examiner.” She frowned at him. “Have all the bodies been released?”

  Sawyer shook his head. “All the newer bodies except the most recent one. She’s still there. Some of the older bodies have been identified, their families notified. A few were released. Four are still unidentified. We’ve gone through missing persons reports from around the time these women were killed. That’s how we identified the others, but we haven’t found anything yet. It’s possible we never will.”

  “Seems like someone should have reported them missing,” Noah said.

  “It doesn’t happen as often as it should,” Kaely said, saddened by the thought. “I’d like to see those bodies, along with the most recent one,” she said to Sawyer.

  He stood. “I’ll make that happen. Stay here. And I’ll ask Galloway to sit down with you.” He looked back and forth between Noah and Kaely. “Need anything to drink?”

  Kaely grinned. “Might be nice. I lost my water when the table flipped over.”

  “I wouldn’t mind something,” Noah said.

  “What do you want?” Sawyer asked.

  Kaely requested another water. Noah opted for a cola.

  After Sawyer left, Kaely leaned closer to Noah. “I hope you don’t feel like I’m trying to take over. You’re lead agent, and you’re in charge of talking to staff and going through the records.”

  Noah chuckled. “I’m not that insecure. I’m glad we’re doing this together.” His smile faded. “How are you? You confronted Ed, and you’re still standing.”

  “Yeah, I am.” Kaely was relieved it was over, but to be honest, she wasn’t as distressed as she thought she’d be. God had given her strength and peace. And in the end, she’d walked out with the upper hand. That felt pretty good.

  “You’re really okay?”

  She smiled at him. “I am. Your prayer helped me so much. Thank you, Noah. Now I just want to figure out what’s going on.” Kaely stretched her body and shifted in her chair. She felt tired, wrung out. Probably because she’d expended so much energy preparing to talk to her father.

  Sawyer walked into the room and handed them their beverages. Kaely took the cap off the bottle of water and took a long drink. She was thirstier than she’d realized. She looked up to see Sawyer staring at her, concern in his expression. Although he treated her with respect, sometimes when he looked at her, she was pretty sure he saw a fourteen-year-old girl whose world had imploded.

  “I’ve got something else to attend to,” he said. “The chief medical examiner in Des Moines will see you at four thirty. Here’s the address.” Kaely took the card from Sawyer just as the door opened again and Warden Galloway walked in.

  Sawyer nodded at him, then said to Kaely, “We’d like you to try talking to your father again.”

  “Not tomorrow. Give him a day or two to think. In fact, it would be better if he’d ask to speak to me. Can you give it a little time?”

  Sawyer shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m not sure when our copycat killer will strike again. The woman found yesterday at the service station had been dead less than twenty-four hours. The one in the railway yard was there four or five days before she was found. He’s not taking long between kills.”

  “I understand. I assume you want a profile, but I’m not ready yet.”

  “We’re not asking for a profile. You’re not responsible for that. Just share whatever you can with us.”

  Kaely nodded. Of course, he wanted a profile, but since she wasn’t with Quantico, they had to call it something else. Cloak it in terms that wouldn’t cause problems.

  Sawyer turned and walked out the door as Warden Galloway slipped into a chair across from her and Noah.

  Kaely looked at Noah, not wanting to usurp his authority again.

  “We need copies of all correspondence sent to Ed Oliphant,” he said.

  The warden nodded. “Okay. But Ed was only interested in letters from his family. And any mail that included money from sick fans.”

  “Were there ever letters from family?” Kaely asked.

  “Your brother has written several times.”

  “What about the people Ed sees?” Kaely asked. “Who does he have contact with?”

  “Look, I know you’re trying to find out if anyone in the prison is involved with this copycat killer. But it just isn’t possible. Ed has very little to do with other prisoners. We’ve tried to assimilate him, but for the most part, he won’t have it. To be honest, the other prisoners are afraid of him. A couple of inmates speak to him, but he doesn’t respond well to them. Just ignores them.”

  “That could be an act,” Kaely said. “We need the names of those prisoners.” She glanced at Noah to see if he was offended by her suggestion. He didn’t seem bothered. He nodded in agreement.

  “What about staff?” Noah asked.

  Galloway’s face darkened. “My staff is above reproach.”

  “I believe you,” Kaely said, trying to mollify him. “But they might have seen something. Might be able to get us on the right track.”

  The warden took a quick breath, and his expression softened. “Sorry. I’m very protective of our staff. They go through a lot working here. The other day a violent prisoner headbutted one of our guards. Put him in the hospital. My people take abuse but keep doing their jobs. They’re heroes in my book.”

  “Absolutely,” Noah said. “We’ll treat them with the utmost respect. You have our word.”
/>   Galloway nodded. “Thank you. What else can I do to help you?”

  “Can you can think of anyone else Ed sees?” Noah asked. “I know it seems as if we’re asking the same question over and over, but we need you to tell us everything you can think of.”

  The warden thought for a moment. “Well, yes. I assumed you knew he sees a therapist. He visits her once a month.”

  “Yes, we were informed about her. Can you give us her contact information? And I’ll need a list of all the guards who’ve had anything to do with Ed.”

  Galloway’s expression tightened again. “All right.”

  “Thank you,” Kaely said. “But if anyone can help us with this investigation, your guards can. It’s obvious they’re well trained and observant.”

  Thankfully, Galloway took a deep breath and appeared to relax. They needed his cooperation to do their job. Kaely hadn’t lied. So far, she’d been impressed with the guards they’d met.

  “When can we start talking to them?” Noah asked.

  “It will take me a few days to revamp schedules and set this up. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s done.”

  “Warden Galloway, we may not have a few days. We need to talk to them as quickly as possible.”

  “Tomorrow is Friday, and then we hit the weekend,” Galloway said with a sharpness to his voice. “Different guards. Different schedules. Even though I don’t think Ed’s spent significant time with any of them, if you really want to talk to every guard he’s had contact with, the list is long.” He ran his hand through his hair. He was noticeably irritated. “I’ll do my best to put this together quickly, but I can’t promise anything. You don’t want them all at the same time, do you?”

  “Not together,” Noah said. “Individually, if you can arrange it.”

  “Good. I can’t pull too many guards off duty at once. Too dangerous.”

  “And the therapist?” Kaely asked. “What’s her name?”

  “Dr. Melanie Engle. A good person. She’s done a lot for the prisoners who will talk to her.”

  “Frankly, I’m surprised my father agreed to therapy.”

  Galloway shrugged. “I guess everyone needs someone to talk to.”