He brought the paper in each day and sat at the counter where he scrutinized it with his morning coffee. He could read the paper online, but he preferred the low tech approach. He scanned the headlines, reading those stories that piqued his interest; checked the local news to find out what was happening in the area; finally getting to his favorite comics and the sports section. On his way out to work he put the paper on the ‘to be recycled’ stack in the garage. In all the days he had read the paper, he had never paid attention to the police log. To him it was like ‘divorces granted’ or ‘marriage licenses issued’ – a waste of time. After all, he was a cop. Some of the entries were probably arrests he had made.
When he got the pile into the living room, he turned it over so the oldest paper was on the top, glad to see the date on that paper was the week Sandy was attacked.
He plowed through the papers and read all the police logs. Half an hour later, he had pulled two papers out of the stack. One referenced Craig McGinley, the second Peter Baker. Both occurrences were about a week or more prior to the death of each man.
He continued perusing the papers for the last week to see if there were any reports of an assault on a woman by a husband or significant other. He wrote down the information for three different occurrences. He finally had a place to start. He lugged the papers back to the garage and went to his closet office to begin his research.
The first thing he did was check the paper phone books – of which he had three. He did find Peter Baker and Craig McGinley’s address and phone number information in the books. He also checked the white pages on the internet and found the same information there.
He next checked the three names he found listed in the last week’s police logs. Two of the three were in the phone book and the internet white pages. He did not find the third which led him to think the man did not have a land line. None of the three were within the Lancaster city limits and so would be out of his jurisdiction. He would say something to Hank because one of the three was in East Hempfield. Maybe between the two of them they could stake out the two known addresses. He wanted to keep Max out of the loop for the time being. Mike had questions about Max’s last two years in Philadelphia and until they were answered, he couldn’t totally trust Max.
It was past time for him to investigate the information he found on the internet last week when he had done the search on Max. The articles he found were from the Philadelphia Inquirer. The stories had run for several days after the murder of Michelle Davis, a 24 year old post-grad student at the University of Penn and also Max Davis’s daughter. He remembered when Max attended dinner at his parent’s house. When he was asked if he had any children he told everyone he had a son living on the West Coast. No mention of a daughter.
Michelle Davis had been living with her fiancé when she was found beaten and stabbed in her apartment. Police records showed she was battered on several previous occasions, but refused to press charges. That information explained why Max had gotten so upset when Sandy would not press charges against Dave for the assault.
Eventually, the fiancé had been arrested for second degree murder and spent about six months in jail. During his incarceration his parents hired one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the city, and he worked out a deal to plea to voluntary manslaughter. The sentence was time served and five years probation. This all happened about 18 months before Max moved to Lancaster.
Mike found the name of Max’s partner in the last article. Anthony Magione and Max had been partners for five years. When Magione was interviewed for the follow-up story he praised Max as a police officer and asked everyone to give the family the privacy they needed to grieve the loss of their daughter and sister. The story had run its course and there were no more articles mentioning Michelle’s death.
Mike needed to talk to Anthony Magione. He began his search with the internet white pages. There was no listing for Anthony Magione or A. Magione. That didn’t surprise him. With the advent of cell phones, many cops no longer had a home land line.
He knew Max had worked out of the Roundhouse – the headquarters for the Philadelphia Police Department.
He went to the PPD website and got a phone number. He didn’t know how long it would take to get to Detective Magione, but he wouldn’t stop until he was talking to Max’s old partner.
After being transferred several times, Mike finally talked to someone in the Homicide Division. Detective John Fitzgerald told Mike Detective Magione would be on duty Sunday and would leave a note for Magione to get in touch with Mike. He thanked the detective and spent time writing out a list of questions he wanted to ask Magione. The answers he got could prove to be pivotal to the current investigation.
CHAPTER 58
Mike spent most of Saturday night laying out his plans for catching the serial killer he secretly nicknamed the Avenger. He would have been surprised to know he had tagged the killer with the same name the killer himself had chosen. Depending on the information he got from Detective Magione, he would institute plan A or B. He really hoped it wouldn’t be plan A.
He finished his breakfast and was sipping his second cup of coffee when his cell rang. The caller ID indicated it was from Philadelphia and he answered before the second ring had finished.
“Campbell.”
“Detective Campbell, my name is Detective Anthony Magione from the Philadelphia PD. I have a message here you wanted to speak to me about Max Davis.”
“Thanks for calling Detective Magione. I’m Max’s current partner.”
“How is he? It’s been over a year since he left and I haven’t heard anything from him.”
“He’s been saddled with me. I just became a detective in April and I was paired with Max when his partner retired.”
“He’s a good trainer. When I became a homicide detective, Max was my first partner. He really knows his way around a murder investigation.”
Mike picked up on the similarities of their partnerships with Max to try and build a rapport with the detective so he might be more amenable to answering the questions Mike needed to have answered.
“He really has a unique style”, Mike said. “When I first met him, he reminded me a little of Detective Columbo of the old TV series.”
“Yeah, I always got a kick out of it. No matter who we were interviewing, you could see they took him too lightly. Between his ‘oh gosh’ mannerisms and his slightly rumpled look, he came off as a real rube. By the time the interview was over though, he had managed to extract the information he needed and the interviewees were stunned by what they had revealed.”
“I’ve only been working with him since the middle of April, and I’ve learned quite a bit from him.”
“I always like to say I passed the detective exam, but I didn’t become a detective until I worked with Max. So, what did you want to talk about, Mike.”
Mike was glad Detective Magione was comfortable enough to drop the titles and go to a first name basis. “I was hoping you could tell me something about his last two years in Philly.”
“That covers quite a bit of territory. Are we talking his personal life or his working life?”
“I guess a little of both. Max has been very secretive about his last couple of years on the Philly force.”
“Well, we’re all entitled to our privacy, Mike.”
“I know, Anthony. I’m making a mess of this. Let me just be honest with you. Max and I are working on a serial murder case. The victims are men who abused their wives before they were murdered.”
“Seriously? That’s probably the worst kind of case for Max to be investigating. Are you aware of what happened to his daughter?”
“Only what I’ve read on the internet. Max has not shared much of his prior life with us. In fact, when my family asked him if he had any children, he told us he had a son in California, with no mention of a daughter. You were his partner during that time, and I need to get your take on what happened.”
“Max was always a ‘by-the-book’ kind
of cop. That’s how he developed his ‘Columbo’ persona. He felt if he could catch people off guard they would say things they might otherwise keep to themselves.
“His daughter met Neal McCracken at Penn. They were both grad students and according to Max, Michelle fell hard. After only a couple of months, they were engaged and Neal moved in with her. That’s when things started to change.”
“Change in what way?”
“Michelle started to avoid her friends. She still went to work and classes, but every spare minute of her time had to be spent with Neal. Max grumbled about having to ‘make an appointment’ to see his own daughter. One day he came into work and was spitting nails. He had dropped in on Michelle over the weekend and she had a black eye. She told him she had tripped and banged into the door frame, but Max hadn’t been a cop all those years to buy that story. He told me he was going to drop in on her more often. That went on for a couple of months, but he never saw her with any bruises again.
“Then came the first 911 call. One of their neighbors called because they heard a loud argument and a woman screaming. When the police arrived, Michelle was holding an ice bag to her cheek and Neal explained to them their argument got out of hand and he had hit her accidentally. Michelle didn’t press charges, so the police warned Neal and left. Two weeks later it happened again. Max was beside himself. He begged his daughter to kick Neal out and press charges against him. She told her father the argument was her fault and Neal was so frustrated he tried to hit the wall, but accidentally hit her.
“Of course Max didn’t believe any of it. He told me he and his wife were trying to get Michelle to move back home and give her relationship with Neal a break. Michelle told them Neal was a good man who loved her. He had promised to attend anger management therapy. That was two weeks before she died.”
“I only read the newspaper accounts of what happened. How accurate were the stories?”
“Factually – they reported what we were told. What actually happened is only known by two people, one of whom is dead. The other, Neal McCracken, slanted the story to make himself look as innocent as possible. Evidence showed he did not stab Michelle in self-defense as he claimed. Neal’s family hired a high-powered lawyer. A deal was cut and Neal pled to a lesser charge and got time served and five years probation.”
“How did Max react?”
“Along with the grief for his daughter, he felt the system had failed her. You have to remember, Mike, Max became a cop when he was 21. He attended college at night and worked his way up from patrol officer to homicide detective. He told me in the beginning his wife was extremely supportive, but after the children came, she had to shoulder more and more of the responsibility for raising the kids.
“Max wanted to be a part of his kids’ lives, but he missed a lot of recitals and ball games because he was working. When the kids got into high school, Max said Diane decided to go back to school. She had her bachelor’s degree so she signed up for law school. Max didn’t know about Diane’s law degree until she graduated. She passed the Bar on the first try and was hired by a big law firm in Center City. She was working in corporate law when Michelle died.”
“Max did tell me he and his wife drifted apart because of the job.”
“That was part of it, but the final blow was Michelle’s death. In some crazy way, Diane blamed Max for the fact Neal was able to plead to a lesser charge and get such a light sentence. Max was blaming the system he had worked for and believed in for failing to give them justice for his daughter’s death. Both Max and Diane were playing a blame game and neither one came out a winner. About six months after Neal walked, Max and Diane filed for divorce.
“Max worked like a crazy man. He hardly ever went home. Diane moved out and rented an apartment in Center City. She changed careers. She told Max she was fed up with corporate law and got a job with a neighborhood law group whose main focus was representing abused women. The last I heard, she had managed to help many women get out of an abusive relationship.”
“Why did Max leave Philly?”
“He told me there were too many ghosts here. He couldn’t bear to be in the house where Michelle grew up. He was beating himself up for not spending more time with his kids when they were young. Diane had always been his rock and now she wasn’t there anymore. He said he was tired of getting the pitying looks from the other detectives and just wanted to start over again in a new place where nobody knew him. Has he been able to build a happier life for himself?”
“I don’t know how happy he is. He’s been pretty much alone. I did talk him into a Sunday dinner at my parents’ house and he seemed to enjoy himself. Max was ecstatic when his son Ed called to tell him he was going to be a grandfather.”
“That’s great!” Mike could imagine the huge grin that must be on Anthony’s face. “Mike, I’m still not sure why you called. You already seemed to know most of what I told you. What’s bothering you?”
This was the point Mike had been heading for through the entire conversation. “You said Max blamed the system. Why?”
“Initially, it was because they couldn’t do anything when the neighbors called 911. Neal always had an excuse and Michelle didn’t press charges. Max wanted the cops to be able to book him for assault, but without Michelle’s cooperation, they couldn’t. Then when she died and Neal literally walked away with a slap on the wrist, Max went through a triple grieving process – one for Michelle, one for the death of his marriage and the third for the death of his faith in the system he had supported his whole life.”
“Did Max ever talk about doing something about his daughter’s death?”
“Like what?”
“Did he talk about making Neal pay for Michelle’s death?”
“If he had thoughts like that, he never voiced them. He became morose and performed his job like a robot. No more Columbo. No more jokes. The Max I knew had built a wall around himself. The last brick was placed when his son and daughter-in-law moved to California. That’s when he put in his resignation and moved.”
Mike was really reluctant to ask the next question, but it was the most important one. “Anthony, do you think Max is capable of killing anyone?”
“Before all this happened to him I would have said you were crazy for even asking such a question.”
“And now?”
“Max changed a lot the last two years he was here. Outwardly, he was quieter and less involved in the cases we worked. I have no idea what was going on in his head. He was required to see a police psychiatrist for a while, but he told me it was a waste of time.
“Why are you asking these questions, Mike?”
“Max has said some strange things during the course of this investigation, and I’m just concerned about his ability to see things objectively.” Mike did not want to tell Anthony he suspected his partner might be the Avenger.
“You may be right about his objectivity. Your cases sound an awful like what he went through with Michelle and Neal. It must be bringing back all the bad memories.”
“Hold on a minute, Mike.” After a minute, Anthony came back on the line. “Listen, I have to go. If you have any other questions, here’s my cell number.” Anthony rattled off the number.
“Thanks for your time, Anthony. I really appreciate it.”
Mike hung up the phone. His coffee was ice cold, so he put it in the microwave. As he sipped the warmed-up brew he was depressed because he knew he would have to go with Plan A.
CHAPTER 59
He had made a major mistake. Peter Baker was not a monster like the other two. He hadn’t believed him when Peter insisted he had not abused his wife. He should have believed him because he was not arrogant like the other two.
He had to do more research, choose his next victim more carefully. He currently had two choices. He would avoid the one in East Hempfield - Hank Simonson’s area. He’d start staking out the one in Columbia tomorrow. He would observe him for a longer period of time, which could prove dangerous.
The Avenger was afraid Mike Campbell was starting to suspect who he was. Mike was a good man and a good cop. The Avenger wasn’t sure how many more women he would be able to help before he was caught or decided to quit. Either way it had been a good run. Mike and Sandy would eventually get together, he was sure of it. He thought Hank might see more of Carol McGinley if she stayed in the area. That was an unexpected bonus to getting rid of Craig.
Arlene Baker was an abuser, but there was no way he could kill a woman. He regretted his part in helping her rid herself of Peter. He hoped the next man she sank her hooks into would be able to stand up to her bullying. That was not his concern. He had to make sure he didn’t make that mistake again.
He started to make his plans. The Avenger would seek justice for at least one more abused woman.
CHAPTER 60
Mike called Hank Simonson before he left for work on Monday. When Hank answered, Mike told him what he had come up with over the weekend.
Hank was amazed at how simple the answer was. “I can’t believe it, Mike, but why didn’t you wait until our meeting this afternoon to tell me?”
“I have my reasons. I want this kept quiet for the time being. I found three possible victims in the police logs for the last week and one is in your area. I was hoping you would be able to stake out the residence for a couple of nights.”
“Give me the name and address. I’ll run it past my lieutenant, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem. Do you want me to approach the man if I see him?”
“No. I think we just need to keep our eyes open and see if there’s anybody in the area who shouldn’t be there. I’m going to watch the house in Columbia starting tonight.”
Splintered (Mike Campbell Series Book 1) Page 22
