“It may be nothing, but I thought you should know that Isabella Moore, you know, the girl who was just shot in Boston, used to be a patient of Maggie’s.”
“Was she a member of the …” Faith hesitated. She knew the call was being taped and she didn’t want to say the word coven. “Social club?”
“No. She was a rape victim in high school and went to Maggie during the fall semester of her freshman year. She only saw her for a couple of months, but there was something. There was some man, other than her high school rapist, that Isabella was afraid of. I know about it because Maggie was all set to bring Isabella into the fold. You know Maggie’s criteria; the family was evidently loaded. In any case, Maggie definitely had that guy on her hit list until Isabella quit seeing her. Then, it seemed to be case closed for Maggie.”
“How long was Isabella Maggie’s patient?”
“Just a few months.”
“Do you know who the man was?”
“No.”
Faith wanted to ask if Laura knew anything about Ethan Blackett, but she didn’t want to do anything that would interfere with Ed’s investigation, so she didn’t probe any further.
“I just thought that you should know,” Laura said. “Maybe there’s a connection; maybe there isn’t. I just don’t know.”
“Interesting. Thank you for the call, Laura.”
Faith immediately called Ed and updated him on the latest information from Laura.
“So, what do you think this means?” She asked.
“Was she in the coven?” Ed asked.
“Not according to Laura. The poor girl was raped when she was a kid, saw Maggie for a couple of months, then moved on.”
“Smart kid.”
“I know, right. I guess this is the connection to me,” Faith said.
“Must be.”
“Listen, I got a peek at Maggie’s visitor’s log. Want to know who’s on it?”
“Yes.”
“Claire Spencer. I wasn’t surprised to see her on there, but I was surprised to see Ethan Blackett. He works at Myles, but I have no idea what he’d be doing here. Maggie hated him. She said he was a predator.”
“Didn’t anybody complain about him?” Ed asked.
“I think they did.”
“And did she know why they didn’t get rid of him?”
“Oh, even I know that. He’s the president’s brother.”
“Well,” Ed said, “he’s part of our case.”
“The last one’s Donna Muise. Interesting, huh. Laura told me that Donna brought Maggie’s letters to her at the prison.”
“Interesting.”
“You’ll need a warrant to get this log. And you should probably talk to Laura. I didn’t want to screw up your case by asking her why Blackett would be visiting Maggie.”
“Thanks, now stay the hell away from crazy Maggie.”
“I know, right. No matter how much mystical power I have, that woman is still scary.”
******
Ed had taken the call in the coffee shop, where he and Paul were grabbing a bite before starting there day.
“Faith’s out at Patterson State Hospital,” Ed said.
“Karen told me that she was working there.”
“She took a look at Dunham’s visitor’s log,” Ed said.
“What prompted that?”
“She’s had an uneasy feeling lately and thinks Maggie might be up to something,” Ed said.
“Okay, any news?”
“You are handling this well. Better than I did,” Ed said.
“I’ve got faith, so the spiritual doesn’t surprise me. You were a pagan.”
“I was not. Just skeptical,” Ed said.
“I would have paid for you to find out about this stuff.”
“It was worth the price of admission. There is a God, by the way,” Ed said.
“I don’t need you to tell me that. I have faith.”
“On a more earthly front, Blackett’s been to see Maggie, and Bella Moore was her client for a minute,” Ed said.
“Well, that’s news.
Ed proceeded to give him the full story after which they decided to continue, as planned and make Bella their first stop of the day.
“You know how she’s doing this morning?” Ed asked.
“I called; she’s stable.”
“Thank God for that, so right after breakfast,” Ed said.
“Copy that.”
******
“Hi Bella,” Ed said as he led the way into her room. “Remember me. I’m Detective Sinclair.”
“I do,” Bella said perking up a bit and brushing her hair back with her hand. She had thought him quite sexy when they’d spoken at the theatre.
“Are you feeling up to an interview?”
“I guess.”
“I know, you’ve been through a lot, but we’re trying to figure out if this is related to Claire. So, what happened?”
Bella was thirsty and poured herself a cup of water from the small pitcher that sat on her breakfast tray.
“Are you well enough to continue?” Paul asked.
“It’s time for my meds, and it would be easier if my leg wasn’t throbbing. Hold on.”
She was about to call for a nurse when one came in the door.
“I know,” the nurse said, “it’s time. How’s the pain?”
“A bit throbby.”
“Sorry, this’ll fix you up fast.”
“I don’t want to get addicted,” Bella said.
“I’m not going to let that happen, but you need your medication today.”
“Oh, I know that,” Bella said.
The nurse fussed at her IV, took her vitals and went on her way. It only took a few moments for the medication to work its magic, and by the time the nurse left the room, Bella was feeling much better.
“That’s better,” Bella said, “where were we?”
“I was about to ask if you had any idea who’d shot you.”
Bella’s mood turned serious, and she said, “I might, but I’m scared, really scared.”
Ed, who had been standing with Paul by the foot of her bed, pulled up the side chair, sat down, and said, “Someone’s tried to kill you. It can’t get much worse than that. I think your best bet is to tell us what you know.”
“I’m not sure, of course, it could have been a random shooting, but I think it was related to Nancy Creighton’s murder.”
“Who?” Ed asked.
“She was killed two years ago, but they never found the murderer. Maybe I should have a lawyer?”
“Why?”
“I did something wrong. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t hurt anybody, but I still think that I should have a lawyer and some protection.”
“Do you know a lawyer?” Ed asked.
“No, but my parents will get me one.”
The detectives waited patiently while Bella called her father and while he arranged for an attorney.
In due course, Bella’s phone rang, and after speaking to her newly acquired counsel, Bella said. “She’s coming right over.”
Ed didn’t look happy.
Seeing the concern on his face, she said, “Oh, I’m going to tell you everything, but it would be foolish to have blind faith. I need to be sure that I’m not going to get in trouble. I only did what I did because I was seventeen, a recent victim of crime, myself, and terrified.”
“What if you told me off the record, for now?” Ed asked.
“No, we’ll wait, but what I have to say is important, and I know that I’m still in danger, so could I please have an officer outside my door. You know, like on television.”
“Not a problem,” Paul said as he stepped to the door and asked an officer, who’d been standing just a few feet away to join him in the doorway.”
“Already done,” Paul said as the officer gave her a wave.
“Oh, thank you. I was frightened.”
******
Having returned to District Four, the detectives had updated Captain
Arandia and returned to their desks when a call came in. Paul answered and a few moments later said, “The forensics came in on the round from Bella’s leg.”
Ed looked up from his laptop.
“Same gun that shot Nancy Creighton, and there’s a partial on it.”
“Really, huh?” Ed said. “So, Bella was right. We may be getting somewhere.”
“Not so much on Claire.”
“Maggie had a motive, and we just found out that Blackett’s been visiting her. At least we have a possible,” Ed said.
“Think we should go get Blackett?”
“We could, but I think that’s jumping the gun,” Ed said.
“I think you’re right.”
“We’ll talk to Bella first. I’m going to call her and see if she talked to her lawyer yet,” Ed said.
“I hope that her counsel doesn’t warn her off making a statement.”
“Well, that’ll depend on her involvement,” Ed said.
“Seems like a nice kid. I hope she didn’t get into trouble.”
“It is what it is,” Ed said and turned to call Bella.
After a brief conversation, he gave his partner the thumbs up, and they headed back to Boston City Hospital.
******
As the detectives walked toward Bella’s hospital room, they saw a group of people leave her room and walk down the hall in the other direction.
“Morning, Bella,” Ed said, “Who were all those folks?”
“My family,” Bella said with pride.
“I thought I recognized your parents,” Paul said, having met them the night before.
“I’m Attorney Hayden,” Bella’s lawyer said.
A discrete glance passed between the detectives, as the introduction was not necessary. Ruth Hayden was a top tier defense attorney with a remarkable record of acquittals, and in cases where she felt there had been prosecutorial misconduct, an impressive record of successful lawsuits against the government.
Her appearance in this situation meant either Bella was in significant trouble, or her parents had fairly serious resources. They were about to learn that in this case, it was the latter.
“My client and I have had a long talk, and I’ve advised her to be forthcoming, but if you decide to file any charges over what, at worst, could be considered poor judgment by a child, I’ll – well – I’ll be unhappy.
“We can’t make any promises,” Ed said.
“I understand, but I will be – unhappy, and I must advise you that’s never a good thing. Go ahead, Bella.”
“I don’t know who shot me,” Bella said with her eyes beginning to well, “but I do know who shot Nancy Creighton. It was Ethan Blackett.”
“Tell us what happened,” Paul said.
“It might take a little while. Is that all right.”
“Take your time,” Paul said.
Ethan Blackett’s night classes were something of a joke to the full-time drama students at Myles, and they rarely took them. Since only drama major can take the daytime classes, anyone else wanting to take acting classes had to enroll in the night school program. Nancy Creighton was an English major, and I’m in nursing.
“Except for dealing with Ethan, that’s what he wanted us to call him. The classes were fun. But it was common knowledge that several students had charged him with sexual assault and harassment over the years. In fact, Nancy told me that he’d assaulted her. She stayed in the class because she needed the credits to graduate.”
“And nothing was ever done about him?” Paul asked.
“His brother’s the president of Myles University,” Bella said.
Ed couldn’t help but let a small laugh escape, and everyone looked at him.
“Sorry, seemed everyone knew about that but us.”
At this point, Bella’s father came in.
“Sorry I’m late,” Douglas Moore said, shaking Paul’s hand and introducing himself to Ed and Bella’s lawyer.
“Thank you for coming,” Douglas Moore said to Ruth Hayden and took a seat.
The detectives looked at each other, wondering if his arrival was a good thing or not.
“As I was saying, Blackett’s a known predator. I was raped in high school, and I vowed never to let that happen again, so I made absolutely sure that I was never alone with him,” Bella said.
The mention of her rape made her father emotional, and he grabbed a tissue off the bed tray to wipe his nose.
“You okay, dad?” she asked.
He nodded and touched her hand.
“So,” she said bravely pressing on, “the night of Nancy Creighton’s murder, after class, a bunch of us went out for drinks at a local bar.”
“Drinks?” Paul asked.
“That a problem for you?” she asked with surprising tenacity.
“Not really,” Paul said.
“It is for me,” her father said.
“It was two years ago, so let’s not get into a thing about it, now.”
“You were seventeen,” her father said.
She shook her head and said, “Anyway, Nancy Creighton didn’t have an ID, so she didn’t come with us, which left her alone with Blackett. I really should have insisted that she walk out with the rest of us but, sadly, I didn’t.
At about midnight I realized that I’d left my keys in the auditorium where that night’s class had been held. It was late, and while there was no reason to believe that Blackett would still be there, I had no intention of going back alone. So, I asked one of the guys to give me a ride home and to stop along the way to pick up my keys.
When we got back to Myles, Mike, that’s the kid who drove me back, Mike Field. He let me out and was going to drive around until I came back. Luckily, the front door to the auditorium was unlocked, and the stage lights were still on. As I looked toward the stage, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Ethan Blackett carrying Nancy’s limp body out the back door.
He’d heard the noise from the door, and glanced back, but it was dark where I was standing, and he didn’t see me.
When I thought he was gone, I ran down to the first row of seats and found my keys on the floor where I’d left them. I was about to run back out when I saw a gun lying on the stage. I wondered if it was a prop, but it looked real. I was terrified that Blackett might come back in to get it, and I didn’t know what to do or who to call. I was afraid to call the police. If was just a prop, they’d be mad at me. I didn’t see any blood around where I was standing or on the stage, but I didn’t look around the theatre so there could have been blood somewhere else. I just don’t know.
“Then I thought of Dr. Dunham. She’s a psychologist and was my therapist at the time. I knew she worked late a lot, so I called her cellphone. I told her what had happened, and she was there in less than five minutes. She took the gun, said she’d take care of notifying the authorities, and told me to go home.
“She went out the side door, and as I turned to run back up the aisle, Mike opened the front door and called out, “Hey Bella, what’s keeping you?”
“I yelled back that I was coming. It was at that moment, Ethan Blackett walked back onto the stage, and saw me. He didn’t see Mike, but he saw me. I didn’t speak to him, I just ran out.
“After that night, Ethan Blackett accosted me, figuring that I’d taken the gun. I didn’t deny it. I knew Nancy was dead. They’d found her body not far from where she lived. I figured that Ethan wasn’t in jail because his brother had covered it up somehow. And if he had that kind of power, there was no way I could go to the police. I hoped I’d be safe as long as Ethan thought I had his gun.”
“Did you ask Dr. Dunham if she’d contacted the police?”
“I did, and she started to say weird things like she’d handle it in her own way, that she took care of men like him. I decided that she was nuts, and I never went back to her. I know that I handled it badly.
“So, for the past two years, I stayed as far as I could away from Ethan Blackett. Then, I tried out for this play, and I wa
s so happy when I got a part. I’d had no idea that Ethan was going to be the stage manager. When I found out, I thought of quitting, but somehow the whole incident with Nancy had started to seem unreal, and I decided to stay with the play.”
“It’s been two years since Nancy Creighton was murdered. Why would he shoot you now?” Paul asked.
“Well, I don’t know that he did, but if it was him, I figure that he must have the weapon. Can you tell if I was shot by the same gun as Nancy?”
Paul nodded.
“That’s it then, don’t you think?
“Could be,” Paul said.
“Am I in trouble?” She asked now starting to sob softly. “Will I still be able to be a nurse? It means everything to me.”
“You’ll still be a nurse,” Paul said.
“You can’t promise that,” Ed said.
“Have you told us everything,” Paul asked sternly.
She blew her nose and said, “yes,” through her tears.
“My partner’s right, I can’t promise, but let me see what I can do.”
“Considering that she was a minor, under emotional duress from having been assaulted and that her therapist told her that she’d handle it, I do not expect to hear another word about it,” Ruth Hayden said.
“Good argument counselor,” Paul said, “but with luck, you won’t need it.”
As the two detectives walked away, Paul asked, “Do you want her prosecuted?”
“God, no. I just didn’t want you to give her false hope.”
“Oh, okay. Come with me. They went back to their office, and Ed sat silently, as Paul made a call to his friend in the DA’s office. He explained what they believed had gone down, and finished with, “I don’t want this little girl prosecuted, at all.”
“She failed to report a crime.”
“I don’t want this little, underaged, rape victim prosecuted at all. She wants to be a nurse, and she can’t have any record.”
“Will she testify?”
“Yes.”
“Let me run it up the chain of command.”
“I don’t want this little …”
“All right, all right, I’ll see what I can do. Jesus.”
“Just tell the DA that I said, a lot of kids make mistakes,” Paul said.
As Paul was on the phone, Ed was listening in and wondering what his partner was up to but also looking at the Myles University website. He wanted to get some background information on Blackett and, his brother, the president.
The Power of Faith: Science Fiction Faith Ferguson Series Book 3 Page 19
