Linda Crowder - Jake and Emma 02 - Main Street Murder (6 page)

Jake shook his head.  “They’d be taking a huge chance doing that.  Why take that kind of risk?  Cheri lives alone, doesn’t she?”

“I think so,” said Emma. 

“Then why try to kill her in such a public place?  If you’re going to lay in wait for someone, why not at her home?”  Jake pushed his chair back and the couple got up to leave.  They stopped at the front door to pay their bill and walked out into the afternoon sun.  “It had to be a woman, Emma.  Only a woman could have been certain Cheri was alone and only a woman could have attacked her and gotten out unseen.”

Emma didn’t like the sound of that, but Jake’s theory did make sense.  “So either they have a female accomplice…”

“Or the attack on Cheri had nothing to do with the two men you overheard,” finished Jake.  “Either way, Emma, you have to let it go.  Let the police do their job and you stay out of it.  People get killed poking their noses into things they don’t understand.”

“I am not ‘poking my nose’ into anything, Jake,” Emma  replied.  “I’m engaging in idle speculation with my husband about something that concerns two of my friends.”  Jake looked unconvinced.  “I’m worried about Kristy, that’s all.  What happened to Cheri was horrible and I’m frightened that something could happen to Kristy too.”

“I know,” said Jake.  He opened Emma’s door for her and waited while she settled herself in the truck.  Closing her door, he walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.  His hand on the key in the ignition Jake turned to look at her.  “I just worry about you.”

“Well nobody’s laying in wait for me,” smiled Emma. 

8

The next morning, Detective Matt Joyner checked in at the ICU nurse’s station then joined Dr. Gibbs, who was waiting for him in Cheri Jackson’s room.  The doctor had called Joyner when Cheri started showing signs of regaining consciousness.  The detective expected she would be able to tell him who had attacked her.

At least he hoped she would.  Witness accounts were all over the place.  One woman had seen a man going into the ladies restroom with “an evil look” on his face.  She hadn’t said anything to the Rodeo security volunteer who’d been standing 10 feet away from her at the time, though, and that volunteer had sworn he hadn’t seen anyone “unusual” going in or out of the ladies room.  No one had claimed to see anyone exit the room with a knife or with blood on their hands or clothes.

His team was still going through the list of rodeo patrons but so far, they’d turned up little of interest.  They’d found a few with bench warrants and one man was cited for a parole violation for being in a location where alcohol was served - the typical Casper night on the town for the police department, but nothing that pointed to a violent attacker.

Joyner hoped that Ms. Jackson would be able to tell him who attacked her or, if it was not someone she knew, that she could at least give him a good description to work from.  Without that, he had little chance of finding her attacker.

Cheri was awake when Joyner entered her room.  She looked pale and was propped up with pillows, the head of her bed elevated.  A thin tube wrapped around her ears, delivering oxygen, and another tube delivered fluids through an IV in her right arm.  Joyner knew Cheri had received blood transfusions when she came out of surgery to treat her extensive blood loss at the scene, but she seemed to only be receiving saline now.

Dr. Gibbs introduced Joyner to Cheri, who looked at him expectantly.  “Could you tell me what happened to you on the night of the rodeo?” he asked, his voice gentle.

Cheri blinked a few times and a confused expression crossed her face.  “I don’t know,” she finally answered.  “When I woke up just now, I asked Dr. Gibbs what happened, why I was in the hospital.  He said you could tell me.”

Joyner sighed.  He hadn’t been expecting this.  He knew that victims of trauma sometimes forgot the details of what led up to the cause of that trauma but it had been his understanding it happened generally only after a head injury.  He’d have to speak with Dr. Gibbs about it.

“I can do that,” he answered Cheri, “but first, could you tell me what you do remember about that evening?”

“I remember being at the rodeo, of course,” Cheri nodded, closing her eyes to better remember the evening.  “We watched the opening events - Kristy Castle and I went to the rodeo together - then we decided to make a run to the ladies room.  We were hoping to get in and out before the intermission rush.”

“Were there a lot of ladies in the restroom?” asked Joyner.  No one had admitted to being in the room during the attack.

“Oh my, yes!  I guess every other woman in Casper had the same idea we did,” Cheri laughed.  “The line was out the door and halfway down the concourse.   I wasn’t sure I was going to make it in time!  Kristy joked about storming the men’s room.  Of course, there never is any line for the men’s room,” Cheri looked at Joyner and Gibbs as though they were personally responsible for this disparity.

“We finally did get in,” she continued.  “I remember I heard the announcer start talking about the team roping event getting ready to start just as we were getting to the front of the line.”

She stopped, then she sighed.  “Then I woke up here.”  She looked up at the two men.  “I’m just blank after hearing that announcer and thinking we needed to hurry and get back.”

Joyner nodded.  “I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson, but you were stabbed in the ladies room that night.” Cheri gasped and seemed to lose what little color she had in her face.   Dr. Gibbs, who had been keeping one eye on the monitors, encouraged her to breathe deeply until her vitals stabilized again.

“I don’t have any other details to give you,” continued the detective once Dr. Gibbs nodded to him that Cheri was ready to hear more.  “There were no witnesses to the attack.  I was hoping you could shed a little light on what happened.”

“No,” said Cheri, her voice shaking.  “No, I’m sorry.  I just don’t remember. “

“It’s all right, Cheri,” said Dr. Gibbs.  “Don’t worry about that.  You just focus on getting better and getting out of here.”

Cheri nodded and Dr. Gibbs lowered the head of her bed to a more relaxing position.  Promising to send the nurse in, he guided Joyner out of the room and into an empty family waiting room attached to the ICU.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Doc,” began Joyner as soon as they were out of earshot.  “What can you tell me about the knife?”

“Not much,” admitted Dr. Gibbs.  “From the depth of the penetration I’d say it was longer than a pocket knife but shorter than say, a hunting knife.”

“That helps some,” said Joyner.  Half the men and a good percentage of women in Casper carried either a pocket knife or multi-tool with a blade. 

“I’d also say it was a fairly sharp knife, left smooth edges so not serrated like a hunting knife or something you’d use to clean fish.  More like a steak knife.  From the shape of the wound, I’d say they just thrust it in and pulled it right out,” Dr. Gibbs frowned.  “Maybe heard someone coming and ran.”

“What about height?” asked Joyner, but here he was out of luck.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t really say,” answered Dr. Gibbs.  “I don’t have any forensic training and I was a bit pre-occupied with repairing the damage.”

“Why can’t she remember what happened?” asked Joyner, changing the subject.  “I thought you only got amnesia after a head injury.”

“She may have psychogenic amnesia.”  Dr. Gibbs continued when Joyner appeared confused.  “It’s a form of retrograde amnesia caused by psychological reasons as opposed to organic.”

Joyner nodded.  “Her memory will return though?”

“More than likely,” agreed the doctor.

“How long will it take?”

Dr. Gibbs shook his head.  “I couldn’t say.  Some patients recover the memories fairly quickly, others block a traumatic experience for years.”

“What about hypnosis? Doesn’t that help people recover lost memories?” asked Joyner hopefully.

“Hypnosis leaves a patient in a highly suggestible state,” explained Dr. Gibbs.  “It’s been thought that some patients who’ve ‘recovered’ memories under hypnosis are actually generating false memories placed there by the hypnotist.”

“Why would anyone plant false memories?”              “I’m not suggesting it was intentional, more that the belief by the therapist that the patient had been abused, for example, may have influenced their questioning, thus suggesting to the patient that was what the therapist wanted to hear.”

“Yeah, that would not be good,” agreed Joyner.

“Still, someone who is skilled in working with crime victims might be able to help Ms. Jackson recover her memory more quickly without running the risk of tainting those memories.”

“Who do you recommend?” asked Joyner

“There are a couple of therapists in Casper who are truly exceptional in their work with victims of violence.  One is Jerry Coaches, but you won’t be able to reach him.  Jerry spends his summers in Alaska.  I don’t expect him back until snow flies up there.”

“And the other?” asked Joyner.

“Emma Rand.”

Emma was surprised to see Detective Joyner when Kristy ushered him into her office later that afternoon.  She’d met the detective when he was working on a previous case she’d been involved with but though he knew Jake well, Emma hadn’t spoken with him since she’d told him about the conversation she’d overheard at the parade.

She rose to greet him.  “Detective Joyner, how nice to see you again.”  Shaking his hand, Emma asked if she could get him coffee or a soft drink.  When the detective declined, Kristy softly closed the door on her way out of the office. 

Emma gestured to one of her comfortable guest chairs.  “Please, sit down.  Are you here because of that conversation I called you about?  Have you found out who those two men were?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” answered the detective, making a mental note to take a look at the surveillance footage that was sitting on his desk.  “I’m afraid I’ve been focused on trying to find the person who attacked Cheri Jackson at the Solstice Rodeo.”

Emma frowned, “Yes of course.  I was just in to see Cheri day before yesterday.  How incredibly sad.”

“Yes it is.  I just came from the hospital,” said Joyner.  “Ms. Jackson has regained consciousness.”

“How is she?” asked Emma.

“She’s weak but Dr. Gibbs seems to think she’s out of danger.  They’re moving her out of the ICU anyway.”

“Thank God,” said Emma.  “Poor Kristy has been worried sick.  Was Cheri able to tell you who stabbed her?”

“No she was not,” answered Joyner.  “Which is why I came to see you.”  Emma raised her eyebrows, to which Joyner continued, “Dr. Gibbs says she has the kind of amnesia where you can’t remember what happened to you during a trauma.”

“Psychogenic,” supplied Emma.  Joyner nodded.  “Are they sure there is no biological cause of the amnesia?  She may have hit her head on a sink or the cement floor when she fell.”

“Dr. Gibbs didn’t seem to think it was ‘organic’ I think he called it.”

Emma nodded again, “They would have checked for head injury I expect.  If they haven’t, they certainly will now that she is conscious in order to rule out a physical cause.  How can I help you?”

“Dr. Gibbs said it may help Ms. Jackson recover her memory of that night more quickly if she works with a therapist who has expertise in working with crime victims.  Frankly, I suggested hypnosis, but he wasn’t too keen on that idea.”

“The integrity of memories recovered under hypnosis has been called into question,” Emma mused.  “Hypnosis can be a wonderful tool.  I use it in my practice for stress reduction and to help reinforce positive behaviors - like not smoking.”

Emma looked to see if Joyner was following her reasoning.  When he nodded, she continued, “However, if you hope to be able to use Cheri’s memory of her attack in court it would be best not to use hypnosis.”

Joyner appreciated Emma’s honesty.  She was a straight shooter, just like her husband.  Even when Joyner and Jake were on opposite sides of a case, Joyner respected the attorney’s integrity.  “What would you suggest?” he asked.

“I’d be happy to work with Cheri, primarily using talk therapy to help her reach a place where her mind feels safe enough to consciously release those memories.”

Joyner smiled ruefully, “That doesn’t sound as fast as hypnosis.”

Emma smiled back at him.  “No, I’m sorry I have no quick fixes to offer, Detective.  I’d like to see whoever hurt Cheri brought to justice too, but there is no substitute for time in healing the mind.”

Joyner rose, “I’ll mention it to Ms. Jackson when I see her.  Of course, the state victim’s fund will pick up your fee.”

“Detective,” Emma’s voice carried a question that stopped Joyner before he reached the door.  He turned to face her.  “Jake thinks there is no connection between the conversation I heard during the parade and the attack on Cheri.”

“You think he’s wrong?” asked Joyner.

“I don’t know.  I think it’s an awfully big coincidence but Jake says coincidence happens all the time.  Besides, he thinks it would have been too big a risk for a man to attack a woman in a ladies room in a crowded arena so a woman had to have done it.”  Detective Joyner nodded.

“I just wondered what you’re thinking,” continued Emma. 

“I think your husband makes a lot of sense,” said Joyner, watching Emma frown.  “If I were a betting man, I’d bet on Cheri’s attacker being a woman - someone who had a grudge against her perhaps.”

He continued, “Still, like you, I don’t like coincidences so until I can prove otherwise, I’m treating these cases as if they are connected.  That’s why I’m hoping Ms. Jackson will be able to tell us what happened sooner, rather than later, in case she might still be a target.”