An Unkindness of Ravens

by European P. Douglas

  “You know the police are looking for you?” Tyler asked when Ferguson seemed lucid again. He nodded, “Do you know why they are looking for you?”

  “They think I took the money from the church,” he said. Tyler and Danny looked at one another in surprise. Ferguson saw this and said, “What? What is it?”

  “They want you for something much more serious than stealing,” Tyler said.

  “What are you talking about?” Ferguson looked more worried than ever now and Tyler just couldn’t place this man as a serial killer.

  “They want to question you about some murders that have taken place recently in Virginia,” he said.

  “Murders!” Ferguson cried out, a look of utter disbelief on his face. “I didn’t kill anyone!” he said.

  “You ran after an FBI agent came to talk to you; that doesn’t look good for you,” Tyler said, shaking his head.

  “I thought they were going to try to say I stole all the money that went missing from the church account.”

  “Did you steal money from the church?” Tyler asked him. This was a side story to him, but someone might be interested in it.

  “No, I would never do such a thing,” Ferguson said and he looked sincere.

  “Well, I don’t really give a damn about the church money,” Tyler said, “I’m here to ask you what you know about the murders.”

  “I don’t know anything about any murders.” Tyler turned to Danny then and said,

  “Call the Woodbridge PD, tell them Ferguson is up here. You don’t have to tell them who you are, just hang up after you give them the message.” Ferguson looked on as Danny took the phone and then walked to the other side of the roof to make the call.

  “This is your last chance to tell me something,” Tyler said to Ferguson, “As slow as I’m sure the local police around here are, I’m sure they’ll be here within ten minutes for a serial killer.”

  “I’m not a killer,” Ferguson insisted.

  “Tell me something right now and I cut those ropes, you’d have some chance of getting away then,” Tyler said. He watched Ferguson’s eyes for some hint at guilt. Did he believe Tyler, did he want to run?

  “I haven’t been out of this town for well over a year,” Ferguson said, meeting Tyler’s gaze. Tyler believed he was telling the truth. This was not the man Sarah and the FBI were looking for.

  In a way, Tyler would have been disappointed if he was. The lead to him had been far too easy and it would have been a very weak end to his story to boot. Sarah was not going to be happy, but there was nothing Tyler could do about that.

  Chapter 18

  Sarah was in Ferguson’s house when she got the news that he’d been arrested. Her first instinct was to get down to the station to talk to him, but she had not long been allowed access to his house, and she wondered if staying here and seeing if she could find anything before interviewing him would be a better use of her time. The decision was made quickly. She turned to the Woodbridge PD officer who was with her and said,

  “This whole house is to remain untouched until I get back, got it?”

  “Yes... Agent,” the man said, obviously about to call her ‘Sir’ and then not knowing what way to address her.

  “I have to be sure I can trust you,” she said, looking into his eyes. “No one gets in until I’m back. OK?”

  “No one gets in until you say so,” he said, nodding, his face eager to please her. In these situations she always had to wonder if this was out of respect or because they found her attractive. It was hard to tell.

  As she drove to the station, she called ahead to see what was going on and hear the details of Ferguson’s arrest. She wanted to know as much as possible before she got there. The dispatch officer came on the phone and told her of the sequence of events, and Sarah’s blood boiled when she heard of Tyler Ford’s involvement. He’d promised to keep her in the loop with anything he was doing! She hung up from the station and dialled Tyler’s number straight away. She was furious.

  “Hi...”

  “What the hell were you playing at?” Sarah spoke over his answering the phone.

  “Take it easy, Sarah,” Tyler said, his voice calm but having the opposite effect on her.

  “No I won’t take it easy,” she shouted, “You went after Ferguson without telling me!”

  “I didn’t think it was him when I went there,” he said.

  “Don’t bullshit me,” she said with a warning tone.

  “Seriously,” he said, and there was almost a laugh in his voice that didn’t do anything to placate her. “I was going on the word of a new informant I’ve never used before. I didn’t know what was going to be up there.”

  “So why didn’t you call the police, or me to go with you?”

  “It could have been a complete waste of time. Who knew Ferguson would hide out in such a shitty place?”

  “Why didn’t you call me when you called the police?”

  “I didn’t call, I had my intern call while I was holding Ferguson down. He started struggling worse when he knew the cops were coming, so both of us had to hold him.” Though this sounded plausible, she didn’t like it, in her mind they should have called her and let her call the police.

  “I don’t know if this set up we have is working,” she sighed. Tyler was silent a moment before he said,

  “We could lose him if anything changes.”

  “Maybe,” she said. She was angry right now and knew it wasn’t the best time to be considering this, but at the same time she wanted to give Tyler a scare, to let him know his exclusive story could be snatched away from him in an instant.

  “I don’t think there’s any ‘maybe’ about it,” he said, “It’s a given.” He still sounded calm and factual, and this annoyed her further. It didn’t feel right to her, it needed the full weight of the FBI on it. “This could be Spalding,” Tyler said into her thoughts, “He’s close.” Against her will, Sarah’s reason melted at this. The possibility of this being Spalding had been the blinding reason she’d really gone along with Tyler in the first place. The thought of him being so close and her, and her ruining everything by exposing this to the world scared the hell out of her. If he disappeared once more, she knew she would never have the chance again. She didn’t want to agree with Tyler right now, though.

  “I have to go, I’m just about at the station,” she said and then hung up before he could make any reply to this.

  Sarah was still some minutes away, but it was nice to be in the quiet of the car again. She probably should have asked Tyler if Ferguson had said anything to him before the police got there, but there was plenty of time for all that.

  A couple of reporters harassed her as Sarah went up the steps into the Woodbridge Police Station, but she ignored them. The station was quiet inside. An officer at the desk looked her over as she came in and she took out her badge as she approached him.

  “I’m here to talk to Ferguson,” she said. The officer looked at her ID and said,

  “We can’t talk to him yet; his lawyer is on the way.”

  “Where is he?”

  “In a cell out back,” the officer said, nodding backwards.

  “Is he being watched?”

  “Yeah, one of the guys is keeping an eye on him.”

  “I want to go see him anyway. I won’t speak to him until his lawyer gets here.”

  “Knock yourself out,” the officer said, “Through that door,” he pointed.

  Sarah went through the door and into a dark dingy corridor the likes of which she hadn’t expected. It looked like something from the long ago past. Stone walls ran along a tunnel like hall, and what light bulbs were working were so dull it was hard to see coming in from the bright of the lobby area. She stood a moment to let her eyes adjust, not sure if there might be a step in front of her or something else to trip over.

  Once ready, she moved on down the short hall towards another door which she could make out now, a darker shape on a dark shape ahead. There was no noise
coming from the other side when she got there. Pushing through, Sarah stepped out into a more brightly lit corridor with an officer sitting at a small table at the far end. He was listening to something with earphones in, and he took them out hastily and stood up when he saw her. To her right was a flat wall, but on the left side of the corridor there were two holding cells with gray steel doors and the viewing holes open in both.

  “Agent Brightwater, FBI,” she said to the officer as she walked towards him. She peered through the first viewing hole and saw an empty cell.

  “Sergeant Colt,” the man said, and he nodded the next cell. “Mr Ferguson is in this one.” Sarah nodded, she walked to the cell and looked inside.

  Ferguson sat on the flat stone shelf with his head in his hands. He looked up and they met eyes, and Sarah felt utter hate coming from the man and it shocked her. She looked to Colt, more to look away from Ferguson and said,

  “Has he said anything yet?”

  “I’m not saying anything until I see my lawyer!” Ferguson shouted form within the cell. Colt smiled,

  “That’s pretty much all he’s said since we took him in.”

  “Any ETA on his lawyer?”

  “Said he’d be here in half an hour, so that’s any minute now if he’s punctual.”

  “Let's hope he is. I want to talk to this guy,” Sarah said, hoping that Ferguson had heard her.

  Chapter 19

  Ferguson’s lawyer was a man called Henry Mason, and he was not prompt in arriving. He was brought through the doors to the cell area and insisted at once that he be allowed to see his client in an interview room rather than, as he described it, a drunk tank. The move was made to save any trouble down the line and then Mason had to have some time alone with Ferguson before the police came in to interview him.

  Sarah was growing more and more frustrated by the minute and she knew this was all part of Mason’s tactics. He hoped to throw them off and annoy them as long as possible to give his client time to breathe and not get too nervous. Ferguson would see everything that was happening and think his lawyer had great power over everything, and this in turn would lead him to follow what Mason said to the letter if he wanted to get out of this unscathed. Sarah was in the station close to two hours before she got to go in to talk to Ferguson.

  Mason ran over some ground rules that Sarah didn't pay any attention to. She was glad to see Ferguson had noticed this too and she hoped some of the power had shifted back to her now.

  “Mr Ferguson, you have been arrested on the suspicion of murder,” Sarah said, “Do you have anything you want to say about that?” Ferguson looked at Mason, who shook his head.

  “No comment,” Ferguson said, but Sarah could tell he was worried about this, that he wanted to say something in his own defence.

  “Can you tell me why you were hiding on top of that building downtown?”

  “My client wasn’t hiding, officer,” Mason said. “He was not aware that the police were looking for him.”

  “Can you tell me where you were for each of the last four evenings please, Mr Ferguson? Where you spent each night, please?”

  “No comment,” Ferguson said after a quick glance to Mason. Sarah nodded like she’d expected this, but it was killing her not getting any answers.

  “Did you know that there has been a theft of a large sum of money from the church you help out at?” Sarah said.

  “That had nothing to do with me!” Ferguson suddenly railed, “I would never do anything to hurt the Church!”

  “Is my client being arrested for this crime?! Mason asked, trying to get control of Ferguson again.

  “Not at the moment, but it’s likely,” Sarah said.

  “So I assume you would consider killing to be something bad for the church too?” Sarah said, and she was delighted to see Ferguson starting to answer without looking at Mason.

  “Of course, that would be the worst thing for the reputation of the church,” he said. Mason shot a look at Ferguson but didn’t say anything.

  “What is it about personal cleanliness that so bothers you down at the soup kitchen?” she asked.

  “My client...”

  “It shows no respect for God, who ultimately is the one who has offered up the food for these poor people. The least they can do is have their hands washed before they eat it.” Ferguson had interrupted his lawyer and Sarah loved it. His zealotry about the cleanliness wasn’t enough to go on by itself, but at least it was there. There was no reason it couldn't be transferred over to the murders if Ferguson was the killer.

  “Were you in Harper’s Ferry in the last few days?” Sarah slammed home this question while Ferguson was still angry.

  “What?” he spluttered, “No, I’ve never been there in my life!” he said. Mason looked aghast and turned to Ferguson,

  “This isn’t what we discussed,” he said.

  “I’m innocent,” Ferguson said, turning to him now. “I didn’t do anything at all, I don’t see what keeping quiet about that fact will do for me. If anything, I think it makes me look guilty!”

  “But you are not guilty,” Mason said, his tone intended to calm his client and then turning to Sarah he said, “Do you have any evidence at all against my client?”

  “At the moment, no,” Sarah said, “But we are waiting on results from the lab and we hope to have something in the next few days.”

  “Days!” Ferguson said, and Sarah wondered was it telling that he didn’t say it wasn’t possible they could have any evidence against him.

  “You can’t hold Mr Ferguson that long,” Mason said, “And you know it.”

  “No, but we can hold him for up to seventy-two hours and then more if we decide to charge him,” Sarah said.

  “That sounds like a threat!” Mason said.

  “Well, it isn’t,” Sarah said, not ruffled at all by the accusation.

  “I have to stay here for a few days?” Ferguson asked in a disappointed tone.

  “Not if I have anything to say about it,” Mason said. Sarah shrugged and looked at Ferguson.

  “Your lawyer will play his games now with the courts and we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, it would be very helpful if you could start answering some of my questions. They can rule you out as a suspect as well as rule you in, something I don’t think you’ve been informed of so far.”

  “You don’t have to say anything, Mr Ferguson,” Mason said, but Ferguson didn’t look happy.

  “I just want to get out of here. I’m innocent, and if answering questions can get me out of here faster, then that’s what I’ll do!” he said. Sarah smiled but hid it at once.

  “That’s your decision Mr Ferguson and you’re entitled to do what you want, but I will say one last time that my advice as your legal counsel is not to say anything in response to these ridiculous allegations against you.”

  “Duly noted,” Ferguson said, “I want you to be here to make sure they aren’t trying to trick me into saying something I don’t mean.”

  “We’ve no interest in tricking you, Mr Ferguson,” Sarah said, “If you’re not our man, this is a lot more of a waste of time for us than it is for you.” How she wanted to tell him about the hair found in the wound of the latest victim. Sarah looked at him and she just knew it was the same hair. If only lab tests were completed as fast as they were in the movies.

  “It won’t be long before the town of Woodbridge is issuing a formal apology to Mr Ferguson, and after that there are damages to consider,” Mason said.

  “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, Mr Mason,” Sarah said and then looking back to Ferguson she asked, “Can you tell me your whereabouts for the last few days please?”

  Ferguson ran through his week, as he could recall it, and there was nothing more interesting than his staying at the shed on the roof of the building, which she already knew about.

  “Why were you staying there?” she asked him, careful not to say ‘hiding.’ Ferguson sighed and joined his hands on the table. />
  “I knew the money was gone from the church,” he said, “but I didn’t know where, yet.”

  “So you thought we’d come after you for it?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t take it,” he quickly clarified. Sarah nodded and wrote this down.

  “I’m not interested in missing money at the moment Mr Ferguson, but the Woodbridge PD may want to ask you some questions about that in a future interview.”

  “I didn’t take it,” Ferguson said again, though weakly.

  “Do you keep a diary, Mr Ferguson?” Sarah asked.

  “No, I don’t have a diary.”

  “Would you know where you were and what you were doing on a range of dates over the last month or so?”

  “I could remember most, and what I can’t I’m sure I could figure out based on what I can remember.”

  They spent the next half hour going over Ferguson’s movements at the times the other murders were carried out, but it was frustrating and slow for Sarah. She began to doubt she had the right man at all. Though he was a little confused on some of the dates, he seemed to have a fairly rigid and structured life. When he wasn’t working in the church, he was working at some charity or other. He wouldn’t be the first person to use religion or charity as a cover, but Sarah was feeling less and less confident as the questioning went on. Was this going to be all one giant waste of time? How she wished the lab would get back with the hair sample.

  After the interview, Sarah informed the Sergeant about the money missing from the church and asked if Woodbridge PD could look into it as she’d like to have something else to hold him on if Mason was as good as he thought he was.

  It was a tired and dejected Sarah Brightwater who left the station that evening. Things didn’t seem to have moved at all. It was frustrating and annoying in the extreme.

  Chapter 20

  The offices of ‘The Baltimore Echo’ were silent. Tyler was here all alone; not even Davis was here this evening. He always liked having the place to himself; outside of his home desk, it was here alone that he got his best work done. He looked over the file Danny was working on and saw that the clever young man had started setting up hyperlinks to items he thought might possibly be linked. It was becoming increasingly clear that Danny Kircheck had a bright future in journalism ahead of him.