Experiment in Terror (Koehler Brothers Book 1)

by Anderson, Alene

  “If you ask me,” Jenessa said, “they should have the whole Boulder Creek Path roped off.”

  “They can’t do that,” Amanda said. “It’s a main thoroughfare for the college students getting back and forth to class, plus a lot of other people, like myself, use it to get to work or to the library.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Jenessa agreed. “But it’s certainly a worry, even though I’m never on the Creek Path. What if he should decide to go somewhere else in Boulder and rape and murder a woman? Sometimes I don’t get home until after dark, which means I’m walking from the bus stop alone. I’m getting frightened just thinking about it. Maybe I should start driving my car to work.”

  “Let’s hope the police catch him before he kills anyone else.”

  “Not to change the subject,” Jenessa said, “but what time are your appointments this morning?”

  “The first one’s at ten and the second one’s at eleven?”

  “Are either of them good looking and single?”

  “Sorry, Jenessa, but since I haven’t met either one of them, I really couldn’t say. But I can tell you this, you definitely won’t be interested in the second one.”

  “Why?” Jenessa asked.

  “Because it’s a woman.”

  “You’re right about that.” Jenessa laughed.

  Amanda stood and gazed unseeingly out over the store. Try as she might, she couldn’t get the homeless man out of her mind, in spite of the news of another student being murdered. If she rode her bike home at lunchtime, would he still be there?

  “What’s wrong?” Jenessa asked. “Are you thinking about those murdered girls?”

  “Actually, I wasn’t,” Amanda said, making an attempt at a bright smile. “I was thinking about my schedule for today. Wondering if I would have time to ride my bike home at the lunch hour to pick up something I forgot.”

  “I would let you borrow my car, but I rode the bus. You know how expensive it is to park downtown. Besides, I guess they want to save the limited parking for the shoppers.”

  “That’s exactly why they give anyone who works on the Pearl Street Mall a free bus pass,” Amanda reminded her.

  “I know, I know. But with all these murders I may start driving anyway.”

  “Well, let’s get the registers set up,” Amanda suggested, as she went into her office to unlock the safe.

  She carried the cash box out, along with the pouch containing the money and the receipts from the previous day.

  After setting the two registers up with the required amount of coins and paper money, Jenessa handed the excess to Amanda to make up the deposit to take to the bank.

  As soon as she entered her office, she immediately thought of the homeless man. This is so ridiculous. She closed her eyes. But his image appeared to be imposed on the back of her eyelids.

  She blinked, but when she closed her eyes again, his image was as clear as the first time. She finally gave up in frustration, knowing if she kept her eyes open, she would no longer have the problem.

  Opening a desk drawer, she took out a pad of deposit slips and after counting out the money, she entered the numbers on the slip of paper and totaled them on her adding machine. The figures balanced with the register receipts so she put all the cash, checks, and the deposit slip into a bank pouch and prepared to run to the bank.

  When she entered the bank, all the talk was about the third girl who had been raped and murdered. She waited in line, trying not to think in detail what it must have been like for the poor girl. The terrible feeling of being violated and powerless to stop it. The fear of knowing she was going to die. Amanda shuddered. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how frightening it must have been for those poor girls.

  “How are you, Amanda?” Diane, the teller, asked, when it came her turn.

  “I would feel guilty if I said I was fine after hearing about that poor girl from the University,” Amanda replied.

  “I wonder when they’re going to catch the killer,” Diane mused, as she rang up Amanda’s deposit. “Every woman in Boulder is probably frightened to be out after dark.”

  “I hope they catch him before he kills again,” Amanda said, taking her receipt from Diane and putting it into the empty pouch.

  “You ride the Boulder Creek Path to work, don’t you?” Diane asked.

  “Sometimes I do, but the three girls who have been raped and murdered were all found near the same spot by the library. I get off the path the block before Broadway, and I only ride in the daytime.”

  “Please, be careful.”

  “I will.” As Amanda said the two words, she thought of the homeless man and she wondered again what his story was. Her plan to try and see him again on her lunch hour certainly wasn’t playing it safe. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by romantic notions, particularly about a homeless man. Not with a killer on the loose.

  Trying to escape her thoughts, she hurried out of the bank. She glanced at her watch and realized it was just a few minutes until her first appointment. Letting herself in the back door, she saw there were already customers in the store and she went to see if any of them needed assistance.

  Matt told the men he had to find a pay phone and make a telephone call.

  “There’s several in the library by the front door,” one of them said.

  “Looking for a job?” another one asked, and the others laughed.

  He smiled, but didn’t comment.

  As he left, he heard one of the men say, “He’ll need some better clothes and a shave and a haircut if he’s going for an interview.”

  Again the laughter.

  At least they haven’t lost their sense of humor. Maybe they enjoy this lifestyle. It would drive me crazy.

  He found the pay phones inside the front door of the library as he had been told. He was put through to the Police Chief immediately.

  “Heller, were you aware the yellow tape is still cordoning off the area where those girls were found?”

  “The tape should have been removed,” Heller said “I’m afraid that was an oversight on the part of my department.”

  “I’ve had an idea,” Matt said. “How about using a policewoman as a decoy?”

  “Great idea.”

  Matt gave the chief the information for Karen Goodrich in Denver and he promised Matt he would call her as soon as he hung up.

  “Hopefully, she’ll be available. If she agrees, have her find me when she arrives in town. We need to work out a clear plan of attack. I’ll be somewhere on the Creek Path and if she has to look for me, it will help her become familiar with the area,” Matt said, before ending the conversation. “I’ve worked with her several times in the past, but you may have to describe me to her.”

  The Chief chuckled. “It will be my pleasure.”

  When Matt returned to the stone bench, he sat down on the grass and made an attempt to take part in the conversation. They all appeared to have more stories to tell the newcomer and by the time he had listened to them, the morning had passed.

  “What do you guys do for lunch?” he asked when his stomach told him it was coming up on that time of day.

  “We go over to the picnic tables in the park across the street and a man comes by with a sandwich cart. You can buy a hotdog and a drink,” one of them volunteered.

  “Well, I think I’m about ready,” Matt told them. “I went without breakfast this morning.”

  They all stood and started shuffling down the path toward the narrow tunnel. Matt was a head taller than all of them, but he knew with his dirty clothes, shaggy hair and beard, he blended right in.

  They had no sooner reached the park when the bell on the sandwich cart announced it was approaching. The men lined up at the curb and waited to give their order.

 
After they had received their food, they strode together to one of the picnic tables. Matt was ravenous and he hoped two hotdogs and a drink would fill him up.

  Maybe he should make some other arrangement for eating. But he didn’t know what he could do without raising suspicion. He knew as a homeless man, he should have very little money.

  As Matt ate his lunch, he remembered the blonde he had seen riding her bike that morning. A disturbing thought struck him. She resembled the three girls who had been raped and killed. Blond hair and approximately the same height. A wave of apprehension swept through his body. Would she become a target for the Boulder Creek Killer?

  Chapter 3

  When Amanda returned from the bank, Jenessa was ringing a greeting card up for a lady. The other employee she had scheduled to work on the floor had not yet arrived. The two other customers told Amanda they were browsing and she went into her office to put the bank pouch in a desk drawer and the deposit receipt into a file.

  She heard the buzzer on the front door ring, signifying someone had entered the store, and a moment later, Jenessa called her on the intercom to let her know her first appointment had arrived.

  “I’ll be right out,” Amanda told her.

  When she went out into the store, she saw Jenessa flirting with a man in his early thirties, who she assumed was her first appointment.

  Amanda gave her a stern look and the manager immediately moved behind the register to ring up a sale for a customer.

  “You must be Dennis Hamilton,” she greeted him, holding out a welcoming hand. “Have you had a chance to look around our store?”

  Dennis took her hand, holding it in both of his for longer than she felt necessary. His photographs were going to have to be superb in order for her to put them on display here in her store, she thought, as she gave her hand a slight pull.

  He immediately released his grip.

  “I’ve been in your store before, which is why I thought my work might be appropriate,” he said.

  “Come into my office and let’s have a look at what you have there in your portfolio.” Turning to Jenessa, she added, “If Justin is in, why you don’t come with us? I would like your opinion.”

  Jenessa raised questioning eyebrows, but Amanda ignored her.

  “Justin is here,” Jenessa said. “Let me tell him if it gets busy, I’ll be in your office.”

  Amanda didn’t really care about having Jenessa’s opinion. She never asked for anyone’s input if it was something she liked and thought would sell in Creations For You. But there was something about Dennis that made her feel a little uncomfortable. Was it because he had held her hand a little too long or was it the way he had looked her up and down as she approached him?

  Amanda was tired of that look. She had been told often enough she had a good figure, and with her blond hair and striking blue eyes, she was aware she was attractive. She had seen the same look too many times in her ex-husband’s eyes as he met a good-looking woman. It had usually been followed up with a flirtatious comment and it wasn’t long until she heard rumors of him being seen around town with another woman.

  Thanks to her attorney, Sloan Harrison, she was rid of Eric, she thought as she led Dennis and Jenessa into her office. She sat down behind her desk, telling Jenessa to pull up a couple of chairs. When the two were seated, Amanda invited Dennis to place his photos on the surface of her large desk.

  As he spread them out for their review, she felt Jenessa’s eyes on her. She was aware her manager was wondering why she had invited her into the meeting. She would have to explain later.

  Amanda had to admit his photography was spectacular. He had caught the majesty of the Rocky Mountains in all their moods—sunrise, sunset, jagged lighting coming out of the sky over a mountain side covered with green trees, winter snow on rugged peaks.

  “Tell me a little bit about yourself, Dennis,” she invited.

  “I went to CSU in Ft. Collins. I majored in liberal arts, but became fascinated by photography. I have been selling some of my work to various galleries around the state. When I heard about your store, I came in last week and had a look around and decided to call for an appointment. I like your concept of marketing local artists’ work.”

  “We do have some out-of-state artists,” Amanda informed him. “But for the most part, we cater to the artists who are located here in the general area. Boulder, Longmont, Denver, Colorado Springs, Estes Park, Greeley, Ft. Collins.”

  “Could you tell me how your program works?”

  “We assign you a space and charge a monthly fee according to the size of it. Then when your product sells, we take a forty-percent commission and write you a check once a month for the other sixty percent less your space fee. In addition, there is a fifty dollar one-time setup fee.”

  “We cover all the expenses of the building lease, payroll, utilities, etcetera.” Jenessa spoke for the first time.

  “You also have the advantage of the exposure of your art here on the Pearl Street Mall,” Amanda added. “Besides the locals and the University students who come here to shop for gifts, our store draws tourists from all over the world during the summer months and in the winter months, the skiers often stop on their way to the mountains.”

  “You’ve sold me.” Dennis smiled. “Do you have a contract for me to sign, or is this a verbal agreement?”

  “No, we have a contract, but before we have you sign anything, Jenessa and I will discuss the feasibility of adding another photographer to our store. As you probably noticed, we do have several already on display.”

  “But nothing quite like mine,” Dennis said. “Let me show you my line of greeting cards, taken from my photographs.”

  The intercom on Amanda’s desk buzzed. She picked up the telephone and spoke briefly. “I’ll be right out,” she said, placing the receiver back in its cradle.

  “Jenessa, do you mind finishing up here? I have to attend to something in the store.”

  Jenessa gave her a curious look but nodded and turned toward Dennis as he took out several boxes of greeting cards from the bottom of his case.

  Amanda stood and left her office. Justin had told her it was getting busy and he needed some help on the register. Not wanting to be alone with Dennis, she had chosen to be the one to help out in the store. She knew she was in for a grilling from Jenessa after Dennis left.

  She glanced at her watch. Her second appointment would be arriving in fifteen minutes. Thank goodness it was a woman. She didn’t think she could handle another flirtatious man today. Once again, the homeless man flashed into her mind. She couldn’t help wonder if he had been as attracted to her as she had been to him.

  Amanda went to help the customer waiting at the register. After she had rung up the purchase and the lady had left the store, she made her decision.

  She’d do it. She’d ride her bike home at the lunch hour on the excuse of needing something she had left at her house. She was probably courting disappointment. The man had probably already left along with the group of homeless men. They moved around during the day and sometimes she had seen them lounging on the large open area of grass in front of the library.

  She was too restless to remain at work for the remainder of the day without seeing him. If she had to, she would go to the library and check out a book. But she must see him again today. She had to know if the attraction that had been there earlier was still there or if it had been a momentary thing.

  After Jenessa had finished up with Dennis, Amanda watched her accompany him to the front door. Then Jenessa turned and headed straight for her, but before she could begin the interrogation Amanda knew she had coming, a woman stepped up to the register and informed her she had an appointment with Amanda Barton.

  “That would be me.” Amanda smiled. “You must be Kathy Chambers.”

  The young wom
an nodded.

  “Have you had a chance to look around the store?”

  “Yes, I came in and viewed your inventory before I called you for an appointment,” Kathy said.

  “Let’s go back to my office,” Amanda suggested.

  Amanda couldn’t help but smile as she informed Jenessa her next appointment was here. She’d take the temporary reprieve from the questions Jenessa had in store for her as to why she had asked her to sit in on the previous interview. They both knew that never happened.

  As they entered her office, Amanda invited Kathy to spread her jewelry out on her desktop. Since it was similar to another artist’s jewelry already in the store, Amanda was sure she wouldn’t be inviting her to display her products.