John: The Senior Killer (20 page)

An hour later each agent
had a group interview and the interviews went quickly as anyone
under the age of forty was eliminated, but only after careful
scrutiny. By nine pm the list of passengers who fit the ‘John’ was
down to about twenty older folks. Half of those were disposed and
now it was down to about ten passengers who were men and single
traveling to Canada. All but three were found in their cabins. Brad
went with Wendy and when it came to interviewing an Alex Windslow,
found them knocking on his cabin door. John had been around actors
all his life it would seem. So he knew the common man off the
street would be nervous when being interviewed by the FBI. He
played the role like an Oscar nominee. In the front of his twisted
mind fingerprints would give him away, so he had on a pair of very
used gloves to pretend his hands were cold on a ferry out on the
open water.

His hands were the first
thing Brad noticed and after introducing the two of them and
showing them their official status he asked Alex a few questions.
‘Tell me Mr. Windslow what led you take this trip and where are you
going?” Alex is sitting on the small bunk with Brad and Wendy
standing against the wall he told them where he was from and said,
“I’m going to see the flowers in Butchart Gardens on Victoria
Island. You see I’m a flower lover and go each year to see the
spring bloom of the Gardens.”

“I see you are wearing
gloves. Do you have circulation problems?”

“Yes do, but how does that
concern you, he said with a little too much force in his
voice.

“Well as you know we are
looking for a killer who preys on old people and if you don’t mind
I would like to see your hands.”

John slipped a glove off
and as his hand was shaking, he held it out for them to look at.
What Brad and Wendy saw were not the hands of what they had seen
and the old timer in Bishop had described to them. The guys hand
had long fingernails and even though he was bald, his fingers had
long black hairs growing on the tops of his hands and
fingers.

Brad said, while passing
his passport back, “We will have additional questions later Mr.
Windslow and be careful as this crazy killer preys on people just
your age. Someone like him with a twisted mind thinks he is doing
the world a favor and he also thinks of killing off seniors he is
making room for others to take their place.” Brad was totally
focused on how Alex would react to such a strong statement about
the killer's mind profile. However, later when they discussed Alex
Windslow the guy never batted an eye.

Wendy added at a table
discussion that this Alex guy never asked us to repeat a question
even though the ferry vibrated with some noise so why did the guy
have hearing aids in his glasses?

Chapter 14

Back on land at the ferry
terminal Nancy and Steve were having a sit down after both had
talked to Brad. He had told Steve and Nancy he was sure John was on
the ferry and the interviews were taking place now. After all the
interviews he would call and report on about their
findings.

Steve had called Washington
DC and informed his boss what the situation was and filled him in
on another senior murdered and that they had him trapped on a ferry
headed for Canada. His boss cautioned Steve about the fact Canada
was a foreign country and laws had to be followed when they arrived
in Canada. Of course it was not forgotten, he informed Steve, that
we could turn the ferry around and bring it back to Anacortes and
quarantine the ferry on some pretense of disease or a bomb from a
terrorist. However, if the killer somehow wasn’t on board and
couldn’t be apprehended, they all hell would break loose from the
over three hundred passengers taking a trip to Canada. It was
decided at the highest levels, as the ferry steamed towards
Victoria, to proceed and when it docked in Canada, officials from
both countries would be on hand to discuss what to do.

Steve called Brad and
informed him of what the decision was and that is to continue to
investigate and interview eliminating all of the obvious and focus
on the suspects that he felt were in need of investigating further,
especially finger prints.

Brad relayed the orders and
decided to try and obtain fingerprints off each of their prime
suspects including Alex Windslow. Brad had narrowed it down to two
guys: Alex Windslow and another guy by the name of Ted Swift. Both
from Seattle and both single with Brad and Wendy both agreeing some
further questions needed asking.

First they started with
Ted, who readily agreed to be fingerprinted and seem to have an
alibi for Aberdeen. They would check his alibi and after taking his
prints by another agent, they moved back to interview Alex. They
found Alex taking a rest and looked sleepy when a knock on the door
took a few minutes to wake the guy up. Maybe his ears are hard of
hearing, Brad thought.

Alex invited them in and
Brad noticed no gloves were on. It seemed now that Alex was in a
foul mood and answered with short quick sentences. He gladly said
he would offer his finger prints up knowing that they were nowhere
to be found in any database. A long time ago he had lifted the
fingerprints off a glass in the studio of a nobody and pasted those
fingerprints onto his fingers while waiting for the FBI to come
back and ask for his prints; now he rolled his fingers onto the
card from an agent. They would play hell, he thought trying to
match those fingerprints to John. How stupid they were. This is the
twenty first century and film companies were nothing but high tech.
So easy, he thought to put on over on them. His confidence rose as
they left his cabin.

“Shit,” said Brad and Wendy
had never heard him swear before. They walked back to the snack
area where the rest of his team and other agents sat and waited for
him. He said to them, “Well, unless we catch a break on the prints,
they had faxed the prints via satellite to the van trailer in
Anacortes, “we are out of luck. I’ve had the ferry going at half
speed to delay our arrival and we are close to docking time now. We
will be met by some officials and regardless I want both of those
last two guys we interviewed followed.”

Brad called Steve on his
cell and reported what had come of the interview and the
fingerprints. Steve told him that neither one of those guys he sent
prints on matched the John Mitchell prints. Steve told him to put a
tail on both and Brad reported he’d already had that in place. He
also told Brad to work with the Canadian law enforcement people and
at the highest levels they had been informed of the events leading
to the serial killer on the ferry. The last thing Canadians wanted
was a serial killer in their midst.

The ferry docked and the
passengers debarked for lodging or staying with friends or
relatives. If Brad was right, Alex was their man. They had two
agents on him and the Canadian authorities authorized the tail. The
agents followed Alex to a hotel in Victoria where he rented a room
for two days. Steve sent the helicopter over to the island and
picked up the team.

Their heads hung low as
they sat in the van trailer and talked about how they almost had
the guy. Steve told them all to take a rest and they would all meet
tomorrow at Denny’s for breakfast. That night Brad called Sujin and
reported the day’s events. She told him he did his best and no one
could have done it better. It was a small lift knowing he did do
his best, but maybe his best wasn’t good enough. He laid in bed
thinking how close he came to catching the guy in the act of
murder. Only a few minute differences were like horseshoes: close
but no points. For hours he lay there going over the plan and what
developed after the chase was on. The net was effective, but a
shade late. What could have I done differently, he thought. He
flashed back to seeing the bike early that morning. He couldn’t
fault himself for not connecting the bike to the killer. There must
have been twenty or more cars and vans in the parking lot and why
would he think that particular bike was the method he was using for
getting around and his escape, not to mention his
disguise.

His wake up call came at six
am. He packed his bag after a long hot shower looking at a much
aged man in the mirror when he shaved. Dark circles and some new
lines around the eyes made him look like he felt: old.

At eight all the team plus
Steve, including Nancy sat at a large round table in the
restaurant. Brad opened the table up for discussion and no one had
much to say. Steve piped up saying, “You did your best. No one can
fault the plan and it was only the results that foiled us. This guy
is good and maybe too good for us. Our prep is enjoying his flower
walk in the Garden as we speak. He knows we have a tail on him, but
it appears he doesn’t care. We found his residence in Seattle and
like you reported it is an old house south of the airport. We got a
court order and agents report no finger prints anywhere in the
house. They are still looking for any evidence as we speak, but it
is doubtful anything of value will show up. Brad, we are called to
Washington and a special jet is waiting for us at Whidbey Air base
to fly us to DC. Let me add something here, we are not giving up
and Brad send your team to Oregon and let’s regroup there after we
return in a day or two.”

Brad told the group to keep
the brain tank full and he would see them we he returned. And he
added, “Think what you might do if you were him and Wendy do your
best and consult with other profilers and share your information
with them. Mike, go home and take care of the farm for a day or
two; and agent Jones use your logical mind and Billy buy a case of
cigarettes because you will need them after I imprison you at the
Round House.” That last word from him cheered the group up and
Nancy asked how she should fit into the scheme of things. Brad told
her to check on the activities of all that had happened and find
any flaws for next time, if there would be next time. After that
write a report up and come visit us at the Round House.

At that Brad left to make a
phone call home and told Sujin the schedule for the next few days.
After that he and Steve left for the Naval Station on Whidbey
Island by helicopter.

Washington at the end of
May is on the verge of hot muggy dog days of summer. While Brad
anticipated a gloomy day meeting the big boss, the weather was
anything but gloomy. A bright sunny day with a slight breeze
greeted the plane as it landed at Andrews Air Base. A helicopter
was waiting for them and left for a fight to Virginia. The sun was
setting to the west when they sat down at CIA headquarters at
Langley. After a short walk, ID’s checked and signed in both Steve
and Brad was led to a room unmarked. The agent who led them pressed
a button and after a one eyed camera look at the visitors the door
opened into a reception area about the size of a small dentist
office where a large fat man sat on a secretary chair looking at
the entrants. The gray haired portly man stood up and led them
through another door into a large conference room without a window
anywhere. Brad felt a slight air movement and a humming sound in
his sensitive ears. He’d never been here before, but knew it was a
room secure from any outside listening devices or bugs. A stark
metal conference table the size of a board room table sat gleaming
in its stainless steel finest. Uncomfortable looking chairs sat
around the table could accommodate twelve sore butts by the time a
meeting was over. It was designed for efficiency, not comfortable
to sit around and shoot the breeze. The large man with overhanging
eye brows filled with bushy hair from one side to another sat down
at the head of the table and stared through milky gray eyes at both
Steve and Brad.

He cleared his throat and
said, “Tell me a story Mr. Pratt. I want to hear about the
Anacortes plan from start to finish. Don’t leave out one detail.
This conversation and your report will be recorded. Do you have any
questions before we start?”

Brad told him no questions
and he was ready to start when he was. The grossly overweight man
reached under the table and Brad assumed he sent a signal
somewhere. The man’s jowls shook like Jell-O as he gave Brad a nod
to start.

Brad started in California
and never left out a detail until leaving for Washington DC. He
reported the house in San Diego having clues left for them; to
Bishop where the postman and the eye witness gave them valuable
clues to identify John; The pig farm in Yelm; to the flower book
and subsequent plans set up for the Aberdeen and Anacortes sites;
and the ferry ride across the straits to Canada. When he finished
the man sat there and looked at him reaching under the table again
to signal the end of the recording session.

Mr. Portly, as he later
described the man to Sujin, looked hard at both Steve and Brad
while saying, “You both will be contacted in a few days’ time. I
want you both to go back to the Oregon coast and continue working
on the case until you hear anything different from me” With his
last words he stood up and the meeting was over.

The helicopter was waiting
for them and flew them back to Andrews for the flight back home.
Steve stayed to take care of a few things at home and would be out
in a few days. A F-16 took Brad back at sixty thousand feet at
better than Mach 2. He arrived at North Bend at around two in the
morning. The pilot gave him the high sign and after fueling up left
into the early morning with a red orange glow turning south and as
Brad stood there watching the pilot keep the afterburners on until
only the sounds of early morning sea gulls headed to the beach
could be heard. Mike was waiting for him and he climbed into the
van and they headed south to the Round House.