Blowout (16 page)

“Is Callie with you, Ben?” Sherlock asked.

“Yes, she’s downstairs in the car. I ordered her on pain of dismemberment to stay there.”

Savich said, “Good, no one wants her to see this.”

They studied Danny O’Malley’s body. “It’s like Justice Califano,” Sherlock said. “He really fought, but in the end, the murderer toyed with him, let him think he could pull the chain free, but he couldn’t, of course. The killer is strong, guys, he’s very strong.”

“And sadistic,” Ben said. “He enjoyed this as much as he did strangling Justice Califano, got a real kick out of Danny’s struggles, gave him a whiff of hope, then strangled him right through his fingers.”

Sherlock said, “I wonder if he brought his own wire, then saw Danny’s chain and decided that would do the job just as well.”

Savich nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s probably right. He would have come prepared. He knew he was going to kill him, no doubt in my mind.”

Jimmy Maitland crowded in beside them. “There’s got to be some useful physical evidence this time. The guy was looking for something. Even the bathroom, it looks like a hurricane went through. The killer didn’t care, just destroyed, even the mirror and the medicine cabinet, glass everywhere, all the pill bottles open, pills scattered on the floor. He even ripped up the shower curtain. Still, we’ll go over this place thoroughly, just maybe he didn’t find what he was looking for.”

“Or maybe he wasn’t looking for anything. He was enraged and wanted to destroy everything,” Ben said.

“That’s possible,” Maitland said. “But I hope you’re wrong, and the murderer was looking for something.” Jimmy Maitland rose and went off toward the kitchen.

Savich and Sherlock continued to examine Daniel O’Malley’s body. “Do you smell that? It’s like the Fantastik we use to clean the counters and bathrooms at home.” She raised Daniel O’Malley’s fingers and sniffed. “The bastard scrubbed under his nails, cleaned away any skin and blood, any evidence of a struggle.”

Savich said, “Dr. Conrad is good. If there’s anything to find, he and the forensic guys will find it.”

They rose, stood looking down at the young man’s body, the gray pallor, the bulging eyes, the smell of waste his body had expelled—no, Sherlock couldn’t see him with a bugle now, uniform sharply pressed, standing on the shore of Ireland. Twenty-six years old and he was dead. “He was so young, so—new. Maybe Eliza was wrong, maybe he would have turned out to be Danny Boy, a bugle under his arm, fighting for justice, maybe he wouldn’t have turned into a money-grubbing kind of lawyer. Why was he murdered?”

Savich said, “I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel good.”

“No,” Ben said. “It doesn’t. Why was the place torn apart?”

Sherlock said, “The killer was looking for something. But what? What could a law clerk for Justice Califano have that was so important for him to find?”

Savich said, “There’s lots to consider here, but like I said, I have a bad feeling about this. And about Danny. Let’s speak to Danny’s girlfriend. Hopefully she’ll know what was going on with him.”

Jimmy Maitland was looking both pale and furious when he walked back from the kitchen. “Damnation, this makes me mad, a young kid like this, why the hell did this maniac kill him?” He looked down at Danny O’Malley’s body. “He was so damned young. It burns me to the ground.”

Sherlock said, “You find out anything from the girlfriend?”

“His girlfriend—her name’s Annie Harper—said she and Danny went to a movie Friday night, couldn’t tell me what it was. She said Danny loved Italian flicks, the ones with subtitles. She spent the night with him. She said he was really upset about Justice Califano’s murder when he heard it on the news Saturday morning. I’m going to shut up now. I want you guys to speak to her, form your own opinions, but I’ll tell you, she’s a mess right now, incoherent really. Came over here, had a key, let herself in and found him.”

“It sounds like she belongs in the hospital right now,” Sherlock said. “They’ll probably want to sedate her. And we’ve got to call her family.”

Jimmy Maitland nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s the way to go. Hope to God she’ll know what was on his mind. I don’t mind telling you, I really don’t like this.

“Okay, let me get Annie Harper to the hospital. I’m going to leave it to Dr. Conrad and the two forensic teams. We’ve got people out canvassing the neighborhood. The twelve team leaders are here. Come into the living room when you’re done.”

“Oh yeah, best to put a guard on her, just in case,” Savich said.

Maitland nodded.

Five minutes later, twelve agents stood amidst the wreckage of the small living room. When Maitland spoke, everyone fell silent. “We want every person who knew Danny O’Malley interviewed again as quickly as possible. Check alibis and phone records. The canvassing of Danny O’Malley’s neighborhood hasn’t turned up anything yet, but we’ll continue pounding the pavement, speaking to every neighbor—and you can believe we’ll get all the warrants we ask for.

“You all know the drill. Our murderer worked fast. What was he looking for when he tore up Danny’s apartment? We need to find that out.

“Danny was killed within twenty-four hours of Justice Califano, according to Dr. Conrad’s preliminary examination, which means he was killed early this morning or very late Saturday night. Annie Harper, his girlfriend, didn’t spend the night on Saturday.”

“That was her good luck,” said Agent Ollie Hamish. “She’ll realize that soon enough.”

Maitland said, “Yes, she will, and then she’ll have to live with it. Danny’s murder brings us so close I can taste it. It’s someone in this bloody loop, someone we’ve already met and interviewed, not some deranged stranger, not someone on the outside. Let’s get it done, today, all of it.”

Savich said, “We’re going to focus on the following scenarios. First, there’s some connection between Danny O’Malley and Justice Califano, something in Danny’s background that ties them together. If this is the case, we’ll find out what it is.”

Savich drew a deep breath. “The only other scenario that makes any sense is that when Danny found out about Justice Califano’s murder, he either knew immediately who the killer was, or he’d seen or heard something he shouldn’t have, probably in Justice Califano’s office. And he acted on it.”

Jimmy Maitland said, “I was hoping I was the only one thinking that.”

Ollie Hamish said, “You hate it when young could go hand and glove with stupid. Well, we’ll hope there was another reason, that maybe the two of them were tied together somehow in the killer’s mind.”

Savich nodded. “I simply can’t think of another reason why the killer ransacked the apartment. He had to be looking for whatever it was that Danny was holding over his head. Danny could have also been involved in something with the killer, and not realized that part of the plan was to kill him as well. If it turns out that Danny did know something and tried his hand at blackmail, we’ve got to find out what he knew and how he knew it. So that means we’ve got to track every move Danny O’Malley made.

“We’ll take his bills apart, strip his computer down to the hard drive. If he used them, we’ll know. As to who’s going to do what, Mr. Maitland’s already made up assignments.” He paused a moment, looked out over the devastation, then finally at the men and women who were packed into the small living room. “None of us want Danny O’Malley involved in some sort of blackmail, but the fact is that it’s a possibility, and we’ve got to face it head-on.” He turned to Agent Michaels. “When you interviewed him, Pete, did you get any impression he was keeping something back? Was there any hint that he wasn’t being straightforward?”

Agent Michaels said immediately, “He acted like a choirboy, Savich, playing the hand-wringing innocent, tears in his eyes the entire interview. I should have realized—” Pete cursed under his breath.

Savich said, “Forget it, Pete. We’ll hope it turns out he wasn’t acting. We’ll push harder on everyone else now. As Mr. Maitland said, we’re close. Trust me on this, people. We will get this monster, and we’ll get him soon. First, we have to pin down exactly why he murdered one of Califano’s law clerks.”

Sherlock said, “If it turns out Danny was a blackmailer, what could he possibly have known? He wasn’t anywhere near the Supreme Court Building on Friday night.” She paused a moment, stared around at all the agents. “I hope Danny wasn’t that stupid.”

A
FTER
S
AVICH TOLD
Ben Raven to meet them at Elaine LaFleurette’s place in two hours, he and Sherlock drove again to Eliza Vickers’s McLean condo.

Savich said, “I want to tell her myself, look her in the face and tell her about Danny. I want to see how she reacts for myself.” She and Fleurette are our best leads now.”

When Eliza answered the knock, he said without preamble, “Hello, Eliza. I’m sorry to tell you this, but Danny O’Malley is dead.”

Eliza Vickers took the news like a body blow. She turned white, whispered, “No, no,” and stumbled back from the front door. Savich grabbed her arm to keep her from crashing into the small side table in the entry hall.

“No,” she said again, staring at them, shaking her head back and forth, rubbing her hands frantically over her arms. “This can’t be true. It can’t. Oh God. Not Danny, not him.” She covered her face with her hands and stood there sobbing, rocking on her feet.

“Let’s sit down, Eliza,” Sherlock said. Together, they led her into the living room. Sherlock got her a glass of water. Eliza didn’t seem to notice the glass at her mouth, but when she took a drink, it seemed to help.

It was several more minutes before Eliza raised her ravaged face. Her eyes were shocked, uncomprehending. “Has everyone gone mad? For God’s sake, why would anyone want to kill Danny?”

“We’re not certain yet,” Sherlock said, “but Danny’s apartment had been torn apart.”

Eliza looked baffled. “But why? That doesn’t make any sense. Danny didn’t have any valuables hidden away.”

Sherlock said, “It’s possible Daniel O’Malley was trying his hand at blackmail and that’s why his apartment was torn up. The killer was looking for whatever it was that Danny was holding over his head. If Danny was attempting blackmail, it cost him his life.

“We’re dealing with someone utterly ruthless, someone who doesn’t hesitate when he sees something has to be done to save himself. And very possibly save the person who hired him to kill Justice Califano.”

“You believe there are two people?”

“Yes. Someone hired the killer. He’s very professional, Eliza, except for the risks he chooses to take, and I get the feeling that’s how he likes it. He’s an adrenaline junkie. The bigger the risk the better.”

Eliza looked perfectly blank. “No, I can’t believe Danny would do that. Besides, what could he have known? What? He was so sweet, but he worked hard because he saw this year as the servitude that would eventually land him the big bucks. He wasn’t stupid. A blackmailer? Danny? I swear to you I never saw such a side to him—you know, actually making the decision to use what he knew to blackmail a killer? Why didn’t he come to me? Why didn’t he call you? I know money was important to him, but this? I just don’t understand it.” Her voice dropped off. “It’s got to be another reason, it’s got to be.”

Sherlock said, “We’re looking into everything, Eliza, but there aren’t all that many ways to interpret this. It’s possible that someone wants to kill everyone in Justice Califano’s chambers. In case that’s the goal, there’ll be an agent here to guard you.”

Eliza couldn’t get her mind around this, they both saw it, and waited. “That’s crazy.”

“Yes, it is,” Sherlock said.

Eliza sighed, paced from one end of her living room and back again. “Maybe the killer believed that Danny knew something, that Danny didn’t try to blackmail him at all.”

“That’s possible,” Sherlock said, “but not all that likely. Look, we’re hoping that Danny’s girlfriend will have information for us, but until then, let’s assume Danny tried his hand at blackmail.”

“It’s tough, really tough. All right. If Danny was a blackmailer, then I was obviously wrong about him. Money was an obsession with him, and I never realized it. I wonder how long it takes to really know what’s going on inside a person.”

Sherlock said, “Do you know if Danny was in trouble financially?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of. We’re not paid princely wages at the Court, as you know, but he had his own apartment, though it was pretty spartan. I always got the impression that he was pretty careful with his money. He was just out of law school. And you know, he wanted desperately to have a year at the Supreme Court because he knew it would open doors for him. He told me he danced his mother around the room when he found out Justice Califano selected him.”

“No gambling, nothing he was obsessed about having—cars, a boat, whatever? No expensive hobbies? Not a big clotheshorse?”

She shook her head.

“Then why would he do this, Eliza?” Sherlock asked.

“It doesn’t say much for his morals, does it?” Eliza jumped up, began pacing, then whirled about. “Oh, Danny, you little pecker-head.” And her eyes filmed with tears again. She began rubbing her face, not looking at either of them, probably looking inward to a young man she’d liked, a young man she’d believed she’d known, a young man she’d like to punch out, if only he wasn’t already dead. She would never see him again to yell at him.

Sherlock said, “He was killed within twenty-four hours of Justice Califano. That means that when he heard about the murder Saturday morning, he realized that what he knew was worth a lot of money. And he managed to notify the person who hired the killer. What could he have known, Eliza?”

“Oh God, I don’t know. All right? How would I know what Danny knew and didn’t know?”

“You knew Justice Califano,” Savich said. “Danny must have overheard him talking with someone, or he may have read something Justice Califano left lying on his desk by accident. Something. Think back, Eliza.”

She sat back down on the sofa, clasped her hands between her blue-jeaned knees, and rocked a bit.

Savich’s voice deepened slowly, and he stretched his words out evenly. It was his interview voice, deep and soothing. “I want you to think back to Friday. You’ve just come in. I want you to tell us exactly what Danny did on Friday morning. Don’t leave out a thing. Think particularly about when he had the opportunity to speak privately with Justice Califano. Just relax and think back, Eliza.”