Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery)
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saw you distancing yourself from me, old feelings of
impending doom showed their ugly face again. I thought
I was completely healed from my relationship with
Andy, but when I couldn’t reach out to you my
insecurities kicked in, and I’m ashamed to admit that I
feared our relationship was doomed also.”
“And that’s why I got you this today.” Tom pulled a
small box from the pocket of his pants and placed it in
front of Kathy.
Kathy’s eyes widened. “More surprises? Goodness,
this is beginning to feel like Christmas.” She opened the
box to find an exquisite gold bracelet with a single
charm attached – a camera.
“Oh Tom…it’s beautiful!”
“Do you like it?”
“Oh my, how could I not? It’s a stunning piece.”
“I love you, Kathy.”
Kathy reached her hand across the table to touch
Tom’s hand. “I love you too, Tom.”
The waitress arrived with two piping hot dishes
filled to the rim with shrimp and grits. Sliced
mushrooms and bacon bits were arranged as a flower
around the outer edges of the plate.
“This looks amazing,” she said as she dug her fork
into the grits.
They ate in silence for a moment, each of them
deeply enjoying the culinary treat. Tom’s phone rang. It
was Dr. Greer.
“Lackey, it’s Dr. Greer.”
“Hi Doc! Is everything okay?”
“Sure! Everything is fine, but I was wondering if
you could please let Ms. Spencer know she left one of
her camera lenses here. I know those things can be
pretty darn expensive, so I’m sure she’ll be looking for
it. I would appreciate it if you could tell her that I will
hold it here until I see either you or Parker. Of course, if
she prefers to come and pick it up, it’s perfectly fine. It
will be in the small box on my desk.”
“Kathy was there today?”
“Yes. She didn’t tell you?”
“Well…we just arrived at the restaurant. I’m sure
she would have mentioned something about it before the
end of the evening.” His eyes locked with Kathy’s,
demanding an explanation.
“Well, have a great night, Lackey.”
“You too, Dr. Greer.”
Tom hung up the phone and placed it on the table.
His eyes had turned a shade darker each minute of the
conversation.
“You care to tell me what’s going on, Kathy?” He
asked in a tone that was not friendly or even slightly
understanding. In fact, Kathy was sure she could detect
a note of annoyance in it.
“I had to try this, Tom. It has nothing to do with
Alexis. As you know, I have studied iridology, and I am
the proud owner of an iriscope which I’ve never had the
opportunity to use before. My goal was to see if images
last captured by the eye leave a print anywhere in the
eye of the victim.”
“I thought you mentioned you were done with
Tracey’s family.”
“I am, Tom. I’m only curious. Photography is my
deepest passion, and I’ve been thinking of asking Dr.
Greer’s permission to take pictures for a while. I’m
sorry.”
“I’m sorry too, Kathy. Even if you stepped across
the line a bit, I thought we could at least be honest with
each other.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide it, Tom. I was going to tell
you about it.”
“Oh yeah? When were you going to do that, Kathy?
You’ve had plenty of chances.”
Kathy could feel tears ready to spill from her eyes.
“I don’t know, Tom! I was scared to tell you.”
“And so you damn well should be!”
“Tom, you’re making a scene,” Kathy whispered
when she saw several heads turning in their direction.
“Can we talk about this at home?”
Tom scanned the room and lowered his voice. “I’m
sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just that you should
know better than to interfere with police work.”
“I wasn’t trying to interfere, Tom, and I meant it
when I said that I have no further connection with
Alexis and her family. Her father told me to butt out in
no uncertain terms.”
“Why did he do that?”
“Because I believe what Alexis has been trying to
say, Tom, and even if the whole thing sounds insane I
know she is not lying when she talks about her friend
Lily.” She put up her hand as if to stop Tom from
interrupting. “Look, I know that you don’t believe her
story either, and I can’t fault you for that, but there is
something strange at work, Tom. You saw the photos,
right? Well, that’s not the only thing that’s happened.
Books are falling from my shelves at the studio,
magazines are flipping open, and the topic is always the
same – motherhood, children, adoption. And do you
want to hear the craziest thing of all? When I used photo
shop software to enhance and fix up the bridal package
I’ve been working on, I must have inadvertently erased
the mother of the bride from the shots – how, I have no
idea. I’ve been trying to place all of these pieces
together but I can’t seem to find a way to create a
picture that makes sense; no pun intended.”
Tom didn’t say anything. He pinched the bridge of
his nose and fixed his eyes on the glass of iced water.
“You know that I am a rational person, Tom, and I
don’t jump to conclusions, but some of this stuff is not
right.”
“I agree with you on that, Kathy, but I am trying to
run an investigation, and I sure as hell cannot use ghost
pictures and children’s imaginary friends for evidence.”
“Would you be able to use a photograph as
evidence, Tom?”
“What kind of photo?”
“Dr. Greer agreed with me that science doesn’t
support the possibility of being able to retrieve the last
image recorded through someone’s eyes, but it can’t
disprove it either. Do you remember the special camera I
own, the one I told you was over three thousand dollars
but I was able to buy for five hundred?”
Tom nodded.
“That camera is not a normal camera. It is a special
device used in iridology, and it is used to detect illness
in the body. It uses special technology that enlarges the
iris to the point that you can see even the smallest speck
in it.”
“What does this camera have to do with the case I
am working on?”
“You see, Dr. Greer said that images are not actually
seen by the eye but by the brain; when the eye captures
an image, that image is transferred to the brain by
optical nerves. This explains why people with certain
brain injuries are unable to see even if nothing is wrong
with their eyes. Taking all that at face value, what if the
image the eye captured leaves some sort of print
somewhere?”
“Exactly! Could it be possible that if such a print
exists it can be lifted?”
“We are bordering sci-fi, Kathy.”
“You’re right, Tom, but keep in mind that when
Edison came up with the idea of the light bulb, that was
probably considered borderline science fiction, too.”
“Did Dr. Greer agree to let you take photos?”
“Not at first,” Kathy grinned, “but I convinced
him.”
“Well, where are those photos?”
“They are still in the camera. I will download them
to my desktop computer at the studio first thing
tomorrow morning.”
Tom sighed, then he took Kathy’s hand into his and
looked deeply into her eyes. “You are one stubborn
woman, Kathy Spencer. Let’s see what comes out of
this, but if you don’t find anything, you must promise
me that you are going to put this case behind you and let
the police deal with it.”
Kathy raised her hand and lifted her chin looking
ahead. “I promise.”
They both burst into laughter, neither of them sure if
the spontaneous reaction was spurred by relief or
anxiety. Tom stretched across the table and grazed
Kathy’s lips with a kiss. “I love you, Kathy.”
“I love you, too.”
They made small talk while they continued to enjoy
the meal, and before they knew it, their plates were
empty and the bottle of white wine they had decided to
order after they started eating was almost gone; their
stomachs were full and their minds were lulled by a
feeling of general wellbeing. They left shortly after that,
each driving their own cars, and they went straight home
where they finished an already wonderful evening with
a breathtaking session of lovemaking. Tracey’s killer
was still on the loose, the clues were getting stranger by
the minute, but Tom and Kathy were finally singing the
same song. They fell asleep holding each other, and
right before drifting off Kathy said a small prayer of
gratitude – her relationship with Tom was as solid as
ever, and there was nothing at all they couldn’t face as
long as they were together.
Chapter 15
Most of the nurses were busy tending to patients
when the man slipped quietly into Shannon Brinkley’s
room. He had been pacing the hallway, his eyes cast
down on a clipboard he pretended to read anytime
someone passed by. He was glad to have found a supply
closet which also included scrubs – while most of the
staff knew the majority of individuals on the hospital’s
payroll, volunteers changed often, and he was able to
move around without being noticed.
Shannon lay in her bed, her face as pale as an
antique porcelain doll minus the painted make-up and
her hair pulled back away from her face into a lateral
ponytail. Life support machinery kept her body alive;
the multiple beeps which appeared to be swallowing the
silence of the small room were a confirmation that her
vital signs were stable.
The man moved quickly around the bed and slowly
closed the blind – as long as he didn’t move too much,
the thin wall separating the room from the nurses’
station would offer enough cover to get the job done
before anyone suspected his presence.
His eyes searched for the IV line among all the
tubing connected to Shannon’s body and when he found
it he grinned satisfied as he reached into his pocket to
retrieve a syringe while holding the intravenous tube in
his other hand. He pierced the rubber tube with the
needle, and was getting ready to shoot the fluid into the
line when he heard movement behind him. The sudden
sound made him jolt and he instinctually turned around
to lock eyes with a middleage nurse sporting a thick
layer of gray eye shadow and a pearly pink lipstick that
was surely created with a fresh-cheeked teenager in
mind.
“What are you doing in here, Sir?”
The man tried to pull the syringe from the IV line
but the needle was stuck into the rubber tubing, so he
dropped the syringe and jumped over Shannon’s bed.
Shannon, unaware of anything that was going on in the
room, remained unresponsive. He quickly opened the
door and ran down the hallway.
“Sir! Come back here! Sir!”
The nurse’s panicked tone attracted attention and
within seconds several other nurses and the doctor on
duty were circling around her, trying to find out what
happened and saturating the small space available in the
room. One of the nurses saw the syringe still attached to
the line, so she carefully extracted the needle paying
attention not to plunge the content into the tube
connected to Shannon’s hand. “Whoever that was, he
was trying to inject something inside the IV line of this
patient.”
All eyes turned toward the nurse, and the doctor
stepped up to take the syringe from her. He looked at the
small amount of fluid contained inside of it, but he
couldn’t make out what it was. He wrapped the syringe
in a paper towel he found near the sink. “I will send this
to lab, so we can at least find out what he was trying to
inject. I think we should call the police. We don’t know
what’s inside the syringe, but this guy was up to no
good.”
The doctor gave quick orders to vacate the room so
that Shannon could rest and not be disturbed by all the
noise such a large crowd generated.
“Why don’t you take a few minutes, Nurse?” He
gently suggested to the nurse who surprised the man in
the room, when he noticed her hands were a bit shaky.
“Thank you, Doctor. I would like that. Maybe I can
go to the cafeteria to fetch a cup of tea. It will calm my
nerves.”
The doctor, a young man who looked wiser and
more in control than his age would suggest, smiled
brightly. “That’s a great idea. I’m sure the police will
need to ask you some questions as to what you saw
when you entered the room. Did you see the man
clearly?”
“Somewhat…he was short and with dark hair. He
had a surgical mask over his face and he was wearing
scrubs. I think he was a volunteer.”
“One of our volunteers?!”
“I couldn’t be sure, but I think I glimpsed at a name
tag which displayed the name of the hospital.”
The doctor shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder
how well we screen people that walk in and out of this
place. Well, go get your cup of tea, Rosalynd. I’m sure
the police will be here to ask questions soon enough.”
The nurse left and the doctor called the security
guard who was still outside the room. “Hey!”
The security guard looked around to be sure he was
the one being summoned, then he quickly walked up to
the doctor. “Yes,
Sir.”
“I need to go down to the lab. I want you to stay in
Ms. Brinkley’s room until the police arrive. Nobody is
allowed in here, not even family.” The doctor’s voice
was kind but firm and the officer agreed without delay.
“I’ll be here, Sir. Take your time. I will make sure this
room is off limits to everyone.”
The doctor locked the door merging into the
hallway and the security guard stood by the door
adjacent to the nurse’s station.
“I will be back soon. Make absolutely sure no one
comes in here.”
“I will, Sir. Don’t worry.”
With the doctor gone and the nurses dispersed once
again to take care of other patients, it wouldn’t have
been too hard to get back into the room and finish the
job, but now the security guard was in the room and the
only way in was through the nurses’ station, so the man
knew his mission had failed this time. He wrapped the
scrubs he wore into a ball and stuffed them into the
backpack he was carrying. There was no place inside the
hospital that was safe enough to get rid of them, so he
had no choice but take them along and burn them when
he got home. Once again in his regular clothes, he put
on the same baseball cap he wore when he walked in
and stepped out of the man’s room. He scanned the
hallway for anyone who might have been around when
he went in, but all he saw was an orderly mopping up a
spill on the floor near the elevator. He wasn’t sure if he
had seen the same man before, but he wasn’t too
concerned about him – the young man continued
mopping without even raising his eyes from the stretch
of floor he was working on, so he was fairly sure he
hadn’t paid any attention to anyone walking in and out
of the restroom. He walked briskly toward the stairs;
fast enough to get out of the place before being seen and
slow enough not to draw any unwanted attention. In no
time he was on the lobby level and he exited through the
sliding door. He took a deep breath which filled his
lungs with fresh air and sunshine, but he didn’t feel any
better. He had once again failed his mission. Today he
hit his second strike, so he was quickly running out of
chances. Shannon was still alive – holding her soul with
her teeth but to his dismay still very much of this world.
He had lost two rounds but the game wasn’t over yet.
He would try again, and this time he would make sure
all obstacles are taken care before moving forward with