Sight Unseen

by Iris Johansen

  Lynch glanced around the club, which was empty except for the cops and club employees. “Did anyone see who was in there with her?”

  Metcalf shook his head. “Not so far. And the only security cameras are in the offices upstairs.” He gestured toward the bathroom. “You want to take a look?”

  Kendra stared at the open door, through which she’d seen half a dozen crime-scene investigators come and go since her arrival. She braced herself. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”

  They entered the large men’s bathroom, where in front of the last of six stalls, the woman’s corpse was stretched out on the floor. She was on her back, surrounded by a photographer and two crime-scene investigators.

  Griffin was standing near the door. “They’ll be done with her in a minute.”

  “Who did she come to the club with?” Lynch asked.

  “No one. She was a regular, and she always came by herself. A couple of the bartenders knew her. She had a disabled kid at home, and she used to come here to blow off steam.”

  Kendra turned toward him. “Disabled how?”

  “I don’t know. Whatever it was, she was almost never able to leave the house with her, and this was her only release.”

  Kendra turned back toward the corpse. Don’t let it be true. Please, please, please …

  She pushed past Griffin and moved quickly toward the back of the bathroom.

  One of the crime-scene investigators tried to stop her. “Ma’am, if I can ask you to stand clear while we—”

  “No! Get out of my way.” She stared at the dead woman’s face. “No. Oh, shit, no.”

  “Kendra?” Lynch and the two FBI agents were suddenly beside her.

  Kendra felt her legs weaken, and she fell to her knees. She suddenly realized she was crying. “I know this woman … I know her.”

  Lynch knelt beside her, holding her. “Who is she?”

  Kendra couldn’t take her eyes off the woman’s once-vibrant face. “Her name is Danica Beale.”

  Lynch glanced back at Griffin, who nodded his confirmation.

  Kendra wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’ve been to her house. Her daughter is a client of mine. They live with Danica’s parents. The little girl is agoraphobic, and I was trying to help her. My God…” She looked up at Lynch. “You saw her on the embarcadero the other day.”

  Lynch nodded.

  “That poor woman. And that little girl…” Kendra felt a sudden surge of panic. “This is because of me.”

  Lynch turned her to face him and looked her in the eye. “No. I can see how that would be your first reaction. But this atrocity is because there’s a psycho out there. No other reason.”

  Kendra shook her head. “He’s upping his game. If it weren’t for me, Danica would still be alive and home with her daughter by now.”

  “Maybe. And we’d still be standing over someone else who didn’t deserve to die. This isn’t your fault, Kendra. Not in any way, shape, or form.”

  Griffin shook his head. “Maybe the mother of a disabled little girl shouldn’t have been out partying at two in the morning.”

  Kendra whirled on him. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” she said fiercely. “She gave her daughter everything she had. And more.”

  “I’m just saying…”

  “Just stop, Griffin. The more you talk, the more of an ass you make of yourself.”

  Griffin motioned toward the door. “Take her outside, Lynch. Let her get some air.”

  Kendra pulled away from Lynch. “Let me alone. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Griffin frowned. “Under the circumstances I believe—”

  “I said I’m not going anywhere.” She looked down at Danica’s face. “Not until I’ve done what I can for her.”

  Lynch asked quietly, “Are you really up for this?”

  She drew a deep breath. “Give me a minute.”

  Kendra closed her eyes for a long moment to clear her head.

  Detach. Concentrate.

  She crouched next to the corpse and tried to block out all the memories of the warm and loving person Danica Beale had been. Kendra scanned her from head to toe, pausing to examine the wound across her throat. She moved in to make a closer examination of her face and hands.

  Finally, she stood up.

  “Well?” Lynch asked.

  “The killer is left-handed, which is consistent with what I saw with Myatt at Corrine Harvey’s house.”

  “You got that from the neck wound?” Lynch asked.

  “The angle of the cut suggests that he grabbed her from behind and sliced from right to left. He was wearing chocolate brown leather gloves when he killed her, so you might ask the employees here if they noticed anybody wearing them.”

  One of the young crime-scene investigators stepped forward. “I’m Agent Herb Elon, ma’am. Leather gloves? I don’t understand. How do you figure that?”

  “When he was cutting her throat, he would have had to place the other hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. A natural response would be to bite him, which is probably why he was wearing heavy gloves. Look at her teeth. There are two tiny slivers of brown leather caught between her incisors.”

  The crime-scene investigator, Elon, shined his flashlight into her mouth. “Holy shit.”

  “And you might also check neighborhood security cameras,” Kendra said. “Here in Southern California, it’s rare to see a man wearing gloves anywhere but on a construction site.”

  Lynch nodded. “Good idea.”

  “And the killer may have a scratch on his face or neck.”

  The other crime-scene investigator spoke up. “We checked her nails. No skin or blood there.”

  “The fingertips on her right hand have been cleaned with a liquid bacteriological soap. Cuticura.”

  The investigator wrinkled his brow. “How do you know?”

  “I can smell it.”

  “I’ve dealt with that soap. Cuticura is a fragrance-free soap.”

  “That just means it wasn’t perfume-scented. It’s not the same as odor-free. Myatt may have cleaned the nails on her right hand postmortem because she scratched him. He was hoping to remove any blood or skin cells that might have his DNA on them. But antibacteriological soap doesn’t kill human DNA, so the medical examiner might still find some if he looks hard enough.” She looked at Griffin. “She may have marked our killer for us.”

  “Anything else?” Lynch asked.

  “Myatt may wear a wristwatch with a metal band.” She pointed to a series of abrasions under Danica’s chin. “As he was cutting her throat, something was cutting her higher up. My money is on a metallic wristwatch, but it also could have been a bracelet. Either way, there may be blood or skin cells on it that the murderer doesn’t even know are there.”

  “Is somebody getting all this?” Griffin asked.

  Metcalf raised his notepad in which he’d been scribbling furiously. “Yes, sir.”

  Griffin looked back at Kendra. “Anything else?”

  “You should also check cameras and potential witnesses at the trolley stations in case she was followed. She probably boarded it at National City and got off just a couple blocks up the street.” Before anyone could ask, Kendra pointed to the front pocket of Danica’s tight slacks. “She has no purse with her, unless she left it at her table?”

  Griffin shook his head. “No purse.”

  “Then she might have a credit card and maybe a lipstick in those tight pants. But you can see she’s probably only carrying her house key, no car keys. They would be too bulky. Danica was much too responsible to drink and drive. She was a woman of limited means, so a taxicab isn’t likely. I happen to know that the National City trolley station is only a couple blocks from her house. There’s probably a round-trip MTS ticket or maybe a monthly pass in one of her pockets.”

  Kendra stepped a few feet away from them and took several short breaths. Hard. Dear God, that had been hard.

  “You okay?” Lynch aske
d.

  “Yeah. That’s all I have.”

  “Good work,” Griffin said. “Listen, Kendra, I’m sorry if I seemed callous about—”

  “You have no idea what Danica went through every day of her—Don’t judge if you don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned away. “I think I do need some air. I’ll see you all outside.”

  Kendra pushed her way out of the bathroom and practically ran from the club. When she reached the sidewalk, she bent over and fought the nausea and waves of sheer anxiety coursing through her.

  Our story will not end until you know how it feels to truly suffer, Kendra …

  Colby’s words echoed in her mind.

  Terror is part of our new story.

  Fight it.

  Don’t let him win.

  Was she thinking about Colby or Myatt?

  Perhaps both. Myatt seemed to be an extension of Colby, a part of the evil. Colby might have been guiding him, but Myatt was his alter ego.

  And that alter ego had killed a woman who was loved and needed by that poor child.

  Sweet little Zoey, asleep in her bed, about to wake up to a world without her mother in it. There was no father in the picture, but at least she still had a loving home with two doting grandparents.

  She finally stood upright. The cool night air felt good on her face. She took a few deep breaths.

  “Better now?”

  She turned. Lynch was standing outside the entrance, watching her.

  “I’m fine. I just needed to get out of there.”

  “They had no idea you knew her. I never would have let you go in there if I’d known.”

  “You couldn’t have stopped me.”

  His lips curved ruefully. “I believe that, but I’d have seen that you had warning.”

  She pulled her jacket closer around her. “It doesn’t matter if I’m safe and secure in your fortress. Myatt can still get to the people in my life.”

  He nodded. “You can’t protect everyone.”

  “No, I can’t. And he knows it. Who would dream Myatt would choose to target a woman on the outskirts of my life just because he thought it might hurt? It’s what Colby meant when he said I’d know what it means to truly suffer.”

  “Do you want off this case?”

  “No. It wouldn’t make any difference. He’ll still come after me and the people I care about. I just wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him.” She gazed up at the glowing neon lights above the club entrance. “It’s like I told you before. We need to find the link between Colby and this killer, Myatt. That’s the key.”

  “The Bureau has already started going through all the information we got from the prison. They’ll dispatch agents to follow up on each and every lead that comes up.”

  “Well, they can dispatch me, dammit.”

  “We’ll see what they come up with. We may have some leads in just a few hours.”

  “They’d better.” She turned to Griffin and Metcalf, who had just emerged from the club. “Griffin, I want my security detail back.”

  Griffin motioned toward Lynch. “I thought he was your security detail now.” He smiled slyly. “Has he proved inadequate?”

  “This isn’t for me. This is for my mother and my friend, Olivia. Myatt is obviously beginning to target me through the people in my life.”

  “Why just those two? I’m sure you never would have suspected he’d murder the parent of one of your clients.”

  “Of course not. But I can’t ask for special protection for every single person I know. You’d never give it to me. Olivia and my mother would be at the top of the list of people he might target to hurt me.”

  “So you want two security details?”

  “Just one. I’ll send them out of town together until this is over.”

  “And they’ve agreed to this?”

  “Not yet, but they will. I’ll see to it.” She made a face. “Though neither one of them is going to be pleased with me. Mom and Olivia care about each other, but they’re both too independent to be bosom buddies.”

  “I don’t know, Kendra. We’re really not in the personal security business, and there is no proof that—”

  “Stop arguing, Griffin. You know you’ll do it. If you did it for me, why not them? You just like the idea of wielding a club over my head.” Her lips firmed. “If you don’t agree, then I’ll take them out of town myself. If I’m forced to do that, I won’t be able to help you on this case any longer. Do you understand?”

  Griffin gave her a sour look. “You’ve made yourself very clear. Where are you going to send them?”

  “I’ll tell you once I know. In person. I’m not trusting phone lines right now.”

  He shrugged. “Okay. I’ll work something out.”

  “Thank you. I’m going to talk to them right now.”

  Metcalf checked his watch. “It’s 4:40 A.M. They are going to be displeased with you.”

  “This can’t wait. I need to take care of them before I do anything else. When can we expect some analysis of the prison logs?”

  “Agent Reade went straight to the office with them after we landed. She was entering them into the case-file database until the wee hours, which is why I didn’t ask her to join us here.” Griffin started across the parking lot toward his car. “Meet us at the office after you’re through, and we’ll see where we stand.”

  * * *

  “ARE YOU CRAZY?”

  Olivia opened her door for Kendra and Lynch to enter. She tied the belt of her robe and ran her fingers through her tousled hair.

  “We just got back from a crime scene. There’s been another murder.”

  “And you felt compelled to tell me about it at this ungodly hour?”

  “This one was different. Olivia, it was someone I knew.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” The annoyance immediately drained from Olivia’s face. “I’m sorry. Who was it?”

  “The mother of one of my clients. I’m afraid the killer is trying to get at me through the people in my life. I need you to do something for me.”

  “Anything that you—”

  There was a distinct bump from the next room.

  Kendra tensed. “What’s that?”

  “Nothing. What can I do to help, Kendra?”

  “I’m sure I heard—”

  “It was nothing,” Olivia said quickly.

  Lynch pulled the gun from his shoulder holster. “Stay here. I’ll check it out.”

  “No,” Olivia said firmly. “Do not go back there.” After a long moment, she shrugged. “I have company, all right?”

  Lynch stopped. “Oh.”

  “Yeah. So where were we?”

  Before Kendra could reply, there was another bump from Olivia’s bedroom.

  Olivia sighed. “Jeez, it’s like there’s an elephant tromping in there. This is ridiculous.” Olivia called to the back bedroom. “Don, come on out!”

  A few seconds later, a disheveled Donald Nelson emerged from the hallway, tucking his shirt into his pants. “Uh, hi.”

  “Hi.” Kendra was trying not to sound as surprised as she felt. “This is an unexpected pleasure, Agent Nelson.”

  Lynch holstered his automatic and nodded to the man. “But it could prove convenient, Kendra. Griffin won’t have to call him to tell him that he has a new assignment.”

  “There is that.” Kendra was a bit flustered. The situation was clear, but she didn’t know quite how to handle it. She tried to affect an air of nonchalance but was finding it impossible. “Okay. Well. Uh…”

  Olivia nodded intently, but the upturned corners of her mouth gave her away. She was enjoying this way too much. “You were saying something about a favor?”

  “A favor. Yes.”

  Agent Nelson pointed to the front door. “If you’d rather I step outside while you talk…”

  “That’s not necessary,” Kendra said.

  Lynch nodded. “This actually concerns you, Nelson. Your boss, Griffin, has agreed to keep a se
curity detail on Olivia and Kendra’s mother. He didn’t say if he’d be assigning you, but since you’ve already been watching over Kendra…”

  “I haven’t heard anything from him yet.”

  “We just left him,” Kendra said. “And it’s not even five yet. He’s obviously more respectful of your sleep requirements than we are of Olivia’s.” She turned to Olivia. “The favor is that I need you to leave here. I want you and my mother to go someplace where Myatt can’t get to you.”

  “You want us to run away?”

  “I want you to dodge a bullet.”

  “You’re asking me to leave my home. Leave my life.”

  “Take your laptop. You can run your site from anywhere.”

  “That isn’t the point. If our roles were reversed, there’s no way you would let this guy run you out of town. You know you wouldn’t.”

  “I know it’s a lot to ask. Believe me, I know what a big deal this is. But I just saw a woman dead on the floor of a club bathroom with her throat sliced open. She left behind a sweet little girl. And you know what? That woman’s only crime was knowing me.”

  Olivia shook her head stubbornly and didn’t respond.

  She had to get through to her. “There’s a monster out there.” She reached out and took her hands. “I need to do everything I can to catch him. And I won’t be able to do that if I don’t think you and Mom are safe. Even if you don’t want to do this for yourself, do it for the people who could die if he isn’t stopped.”

  Olivia frowned. “Damn, Kendra. Way to slather on the guilt.”

  “I can’t make you go, but I sure hope you will.” She paused, then played another card. “Because I need you to help take care of my mother. You know how stubborn and self-willed she can be.”

  Olivia groaned. “And you want me to try to stop her? Yes, I do know, and it promises to be one big headache. Does she know what you have in store for us?”

  “I called her on the way here, and she turned me down flat. I decided I’d go to her place after I came to you. I need your help talking her into it.”

  “You’ll need all the help you can get.” She grimaced. “How long are we talking about?”

  Kendra thought for a moment. “At least a few days. If it’s any longer than that, we can discuss it then.”