Necessary Evil

by Janelle Taylor

  Mory walked into their joint office to find Dan sitting at his desk, hands on his forehead and staring at sheets of paper before him. “You been here all night?” he asked.

  Dan flinched at the sudden sound, pulled his attention back to the pages before him, scratched his stubbled chin and mumbled wearily, “Yeah. Been studying these files. I’m trying to find something to tie all of this together, one common thread.”

  “By the look on your face, I’d say you haven’t found it.”

  “Nope, but I will. Each murder almost matches the torture of its female victim’s. How does he get these details? If this isn’t an inside job, then he’s stealing or reading the files from somewhere. I don’t want to think it could be one of our guys, but I’m not going to ignore that possibility either. I want to go to the District Attorney’s office this afternoon and check their trial files. Maybe there’s something in them that our case files lack. At the time of our vic’s arrests and trials, they had no reason to try to connect these crimes or perps. They did a lot of investigating while prepping for trials, so maybe there’s a clue in their notes. Maybe a matching person of interest. So far, none of the original crimes were our cases, and two were BMT, so I’m unfamiliar with them. We didn’t have Silverman’s case, and it was chalked up wrong. Our boys did their work, but Ed failed to do his. Thank God, we have Henri in charge now and she’s promoted Harold.”

  Mory added, “Since Susan’s case wasn’t a homicide, we didn’t get it either. We need to see Ray’s file on her case since it never went to trial.”

  “The Captain said he would give Raymond a call and let him know I’m coming over. But first, we’ve got to talk to Susan Ames. Sorry, Mory, I just wasn’t up to it last night. Re-opening these cases is hard on the women and after Karen Starnes...Well, I just wasn’t up to facing a seventeen-year-old girl. I called her mother last night and told her we wanted to talk to them and why. She promised to shield the girl from the morning papers and television news and any phone calls or visits before we got there. Anything new on the ropes? It’s too soon for news about the note.”

  “Ropes are standard, available in plenty of stores, same as the first two. I bet the same’s true with the typing paper. Harold told me no strange fingerprints anywhere. The lab’s got sperm samples, but we don’t have enough evidence to justify demanding a sample from anybody right now. So, I guess we don’t have shit! This Avenger is damn smart and careful.”

  “You’re right, Mory, and it riles my gut.”

  “Tell you what, Dan, why don’t I make some calls about the potassium chloride and do some follow-ups on the ones I made yesterday about James Starr while you go home and take a hot shower. Ms. Ames’s parents might think you’re the crazy man if you show up looking like that.”

  “I guess I do look pretty rough. Thanks, Mory. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Make it two. Eat before you come back. I don’t want you passing out on me if that Avenger comes up behind us.”

  Chapter Six

  Late Monday morning, June 25th

  Dan watched the young girl as she sobbed in her mother’s arms while the past reared its ugly head to bite her again. As always, he hated this part of his job. He saw Susan’s mother gently stroke her daughter’s long blond hair as she spoke soothing words into her ear. He saw anger reflected in Mrs. Ames’s eyes as she tried to comfort her only child.

  He had learned since being there that Susan’s father had been killed when she was ten and her mother had never remarried. After Susan started to school, Mrs. Ames had taken on a part time job that included some weekends. She had quit after the tragic incident to stay home with her daughter who no longer went out with her friends, who had become withdrawn and depressed. Dan’s heart was sick as he waited for the pitiful teenager to calm down so he could finish speaking with her.

  As her sobs decreased and her breathing became normal, he said softly, “Miss Ames, I’m sorry to have to talk to you about this. I hate what happened to you before, just as I hate what’s happening now. But I need for you and your mother to answer a few questions and then we’ll leave. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she replied. “Do you know who... Who’s doing this?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. We want to catch this man before he—” Dan chose a word carefully, “—hurts anybody else.”

  Mrs. Ames declared in an angry tone, “From what I’ve heard and read, the only people he’s hurting are those who’ve escaped paying for their crimes for one reason or another. I don’t think the average male has anything to worry about. Just the bad guys.”

  “In some cases, we never know why someone does what they do. We don’t know the motivation behind these crimes, though there has been a lot of speculation in the papers. We don’t know if this man is lulling the public before he does something really serious to someone who’s innocent. I understand the torment bringing all of this up again will cause you, but we must investigate these crimes.”

  “Do you have a daughter, Lieutenant? Do you have any idea what that horrible devil has done to our family? To Susan? My seventeen-year-old daughter sleeps with me now, because she’s too afraid to sleep in her own room, even though it’s next to mine. My teenaged daughter will not stay home by herself, even if I only walk to the next-door neighbor’s to borrow a cup of sugar. She goes everywhere with me, no matter where I’m going or what she’s doing, because she won’t stay here alone. We’ve had the house up for sale for months. When it sells, we’re leaving this town and heading to Florida to live near my parents. Hopefully, she’ll be able to break free of all this misery down there.”

  The agitated woman took a breath and continued, “In the meantime, I have a child who won’t be alone for a single minute, who won’t wear shorts, even if it’s hot outside. Now, you come here, dredge up the horror again and tell us the animal you set free after he hurt my daughter is dead and you want us to give you information to help you find the Avenger and bring him to justice? Just because she was terrified and didn’t have the strength to testify with that demon giving her the evil eye, you set him free. What more evidence did you need? The proof was all over her body. Why did she need to testify? She picked him out of a line-up. She gave a statement. She gave a deposition. She was only sixteen, so that should have been enough to try him and convict him. Foolish laws let him go free. I would give my life savings to the person responsible for avenging her and for stopping it from happening to another innocent young girl. I would kill him myself if he ever came near her again. Who knows if he was only biding his time until he felt it was safe to return and hurt her again. I’m glad that monster’s dead.”

  After an irate and near breathless Mrs. Ames finished, Dan noted that her blue eyes were wild with hatred and loathing. Her red hair had escaped a barrette and partially covered one eye. She looked angry enough to have killed and tortured the man herself. Her chest heaved as she fought to regain control of her breathing.

  “Mama, it’s okay. I can talk to the officers.”

  Susan’s soft voice focused everyone’s attention on her.

  “Baby, after what he did to you, he deserved much worse than death. Lordy, I would love to have been a fly on the wall and seen him get his just dessert. I would have held that animal down for the Avenger to torture him even longer.”

  “Mama, I want this to be over. I just want it to go away. Now that he’s dead, he can’t hurt me any more. He can’t. It’s over. It’s finally over.” Tears streamed down Susan’s face and dropped to her lap as she looked at Dan and Mory. “What do you want to talk to me about? What could I possibly do or say to help you? I wasn’t any help to myself when my own life was at stake, so why do you think I could help you now?”

  Dan said, “I don’t know, Miss Ames, but we’ve got to try. As I told you, if this vigilante continues on his rampage, he might kill an innocent person who was wrongly accused, or provoke other people to take the law into their own hands. Do you know anyone who might be compelled to
punish the man who hurt you?”

  “No, sir. Mama wanted to after he was let go, but she isn’t a killer. And she isn’t in shape to put up much of a fight,” Susan jested.

  Dan saw the girl’s half-smile as she glanced at her mother’s wide girth that pulled the seams of her pants so tight they looked as if they might burst open any moment. Her oversized tunic was filled too. Dan sensed there was much love in there for Susan.

  “My daddy died when I was ten. My aunts and uncles all live in Florida. Mama didn’t want to move there after his funeral, because she thought it would be too much on me to give up my friends after losing Daddy. But we’re both ready to move now. I want to go where no one knows what happened to me, so no one will talk about me behind my back. Go where the boys don’t know my past and think I’m easy because I’m not a virgin any more.” Between renewed sobs, she repeated many taunts and jokes she had endured since that horrid afternoon. “After he was released, some kids thought I had lied about him. It got so bad, Mama started home schooling me. Plus I was scared to go anywhere. I was afraid he’d come after me again.”

  Dan heard the anguish in her voice. He thought of the times he had relocated: once after his divorce and most recently after that trouble in New York. “Sometimes a move can give you a new perspective on something. Getting away from all the busybodies and bullies helps a lot, too, and that comes from someone who’s been there. In bad times, I always think about something my daddy used to say: ‘You aren’t responsible for anyone or anything else. The only person you’re responsible for is yourself, so always be true to yourself and make what you do count.’ I think he stole that line from somewhere, but it’s always helped me. You can’t control what others say about you, but you can control what you do about what they’ve said. Never let anyone convince you to do, say or think anything you don’t want to. You aren’t to blame for what happened, so don’t feel guilty or ashamed. Go to Florida and find happiness and freedom again.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant Mallory. You’re a really nice man,” Susan said as she smiled at him. “Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?”

  “That’s all for now. We’ve got a nosy journalist following these cases and featuring them in his column and the TV stations are reporting them on their news programs. So far, they’re in the dark about the details of Truman’s case matching Susan’s. But it won’t take long before someone, especially James Starr, makes the connection as he did with the other two Avenger slayings. I suspect he and others will call or come over hoping to get an interview and pictures. Any chance you two can go to Florida until this mess settles down?”

  The near frantic woman said, “Thank you, sir. We’ll pack and leave as fast as we can. The realtor has a key to the house. I’ll let her know we’re gone. And to be careful of who she lets inside, none of those sneaky reporters only wanting pictures or film.”

  “Good luck, Ms. Ames, Susan. If you think of anything or you need me, call the number on that card and they’ll page me.”

  “Okay.” Susan smiled, at last feeling safe and clean again.

  “I’ll show you gentlemen out,” Mrs. Ames said as she hefted herself up and patted Susan on the arm. “I’ll be right back, honey.” At the door, she turned to Dan and Mory. “Please don’t come over here again to question my daughter. This new trouble is going to be very tough for her and I don’t want her upset needlessly.”

  “We understand, ma’am. We don’t want to upset her, either.” Dan lowered his voice to a near whisper and stood close to tell her, “I do want to warn you about the media pestering you.”

  Mory told her, “This is one of the hardest parts of our job, but also a necessary one. Hopefully, we’ll catch the guy soon and it will all be over.”

  “I hope you never catch him,” she replied as she scooted them out and closed the door.

  Dan glanced at Mory. “Can’t blame her for being pissed at us and happy Susan’s attacker is dead. I got a little preachy in there, but they both seemed to need it. After what they’ve been through, it’s a miracle they’re both still sane and didn’t kill that bastard.”

  Monday afternoon, June 25th

  Dan was in a foul mood by the time he arrived at the District Attorney’s office. He had dropped Mory off at his car after their talk with Susan Ames, then headed to see Raymond Harris. Mory was going home to spend time with his wife while he poured over more files. He wished, for a fleeting moment, that he was the one who was married; but remembering his ex-wife, he pushed away that thought with haste. He would never forget the sudden rage that had consumed him when he walked into his apartment that rainy afternoon and discovered Kristi’s betrayal. Upon hearing strange noises, he had thought she was taking an afternoon nap and was having a nightmare or was ill. As he got closer, he realized she wasn’t alone as she writhed naked on their bed, moaning in pleasure, not pain. He saw the brown hair and nude body of his best friend and grasped what was causing her vocals.

  He had stood in the doorway and said, “Hi, Kristi, I’m home.” Rick’s head had jerked up from the space between her legs, his face shiny with Kristi’s moisture and gaped at him with an oh-shit look.

  “When you finish, Kristi, pack your bags and get out. And as for you, ex-partner, it would be wise and safer to transfer to another precinct.” With that, he’d stalked out of the room and refused to speak with either of them. He had pretended to ignore Kristi’s tearful begging that she was really sorry, Rick’s vain attempts at apologies, and finally their joint exit from his home. He had torn the bedroom apart after they left. The sheets were shredded, her clothes were thrown out of the drawers and closet onto the floor, and her perfumes and bottles of make-up were emptied on them. So much for the training he had received at police camp for maintaining a calm demeanor, but at least he hadn’t killed either or both of them. Betrayal had hung heavy in the air and mingled with the musky smell from the traitors’ lovemaking. He had sprayed an entire can of air freshener, but it hadn’t erased the odor from his brain. Finally, he sat down on the floor and cried in the midst of her soiled belongings. That was the first and last time he had cried over her. Kristi and Rick had moved to Minnesota soon afterward.

  The distance had helped soothe the hurt, but a lonely ache came over him on occasion. It wasn’t for Kristi, but for someone to share time with, someone to laugh with, and someone to help him deal after a difficult interview like Karen’s. There hadn’t been a woman he’d wanted to ask out in a long time. Janie and Mory had fixed him up a couple of times, but those blind dates hadn’t worked out. One-night stands were taboo for him because of AIDS, and women who seemed safe enough to bed were usually marriage hungry and in a hurry to feed that appetite. He didn’t want to remarry for a long, long time. If ever. He didn’t like the bar scene either, and had never been so down on himself that he’d had to pay for sex. He hoped the day never came that he got that desperate.

  Dan guessed he was just feeling lonely. He didn’t want to face going home to his small apartment, watching television or reading these rape cases. He wanted to relax and enjoy the company of a woman. Maybe go out to dinner or take in a movie. But his chosen field made him guarded against everyone and he was still bitter after the humiliating episode with Kristi and Rick. He didn’t want to drop in at Mory and Janie’s, especially since they were having their own problems. The last thing they needed was a sad little puppy begging for scraps of attention. Then again, maybe it would do them some good to see what it was like out there in the single world where the grass was neither greener nor fresher. It was more like sticky mud, eager to suck you in and down beneath its dark and smothering surface.

  Those were the troubling thoughts coursing through Dan’s mind when he rounded a corner in the hallway and crashed into a woman, causing a stack of files to tumble from her grasp and scatter across the terrazzo floor.

  “Sorry, miss, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Let me help you with—” As he looked at her, Dan was struck silent by he
r eyes: beautiful and expressive eyes surrounded by dark, thick lashes whose gaze was filled with apparent amusement at his loss of words, as was her expression. The sum of her features was captivating. Her shoulder length blond hair was thick and full and cut stylishly to curl towards her arresting face. Sexual desire gnawed at his hungry loins. Her pink lips were perfect as she smiled and spoke.

  “That’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going either.” As the handsome stranger squatted and helped her retrieve the files, she said, “My boss wanted these an hour ago, but I was still typing his scribbled notes from his meeting yesterday. Thanks for your help, Mr...?”

  Mr. Right, I hope. “Dan Mallory. Lieutenant Dan Mallory, Homicide Division.” Now why did I say that? Am I trying to impress her? Hell yes, I could jump her in the nearest closet. Hell, right here in the hallway!

  “Well, then, these are for you,” she said with a grin as she tapped the files. “I’m Andrea Arquette, Ray’s legal secretary, but everyone calls me Andi. So you’re the one who’s chasing our mysterious Avenger. Having any luck?”

  I hope I have more luck chasing you, Dan thought, as he said out loud, “Not so far. That’s why I wanted to review Ray’s files: to see if there’s anything he’d discovered in his investigations that we hadn’t. Since you work for him, any ideas or suggestions? Believe me, I could use them.” Over dinner, maybe?

  “I really don’t know too much about this Avenger case other than what’s in the papers or on TV, and I learned a long time ago not to believe everything I read and hear. James Starr has been pretty aggressive in covering some of our more sensitive cases without a thought to the victims, so I don’t read his column any more.”

  “Did you help Ray work on those women’s cases?” There was that smile again, the tantalizing kind that gave a man weak knees and an instant hard-on. He’d love to see her smiling up at him as he drove himself into her over and over again. Get a grip, his mind warned, before it becomes obvious what you’re thinking.