Serial Separation (4 page)

Chapter 9

It felt good completing all of my
school work. However, the weekend was a bust. I did some Christmas shopping,
but my heart wasn’t in it. I wondered if Lisa was purposely avoiding me, or
whether she was just busy. I was concerned I had not heard from her, and my
calls to the dorm were unsuccessful. I argued with myself that she was busy
Christmas shopping. I even considered whether she had already left for her
parents’ house.

Maybe the boredom focused my
attention on the hockey league picture. I could not help picking it up several
times and studying it. It was as if the picture was going to tell me why the
men were being killed. However, the more I stared at it, the more bewildered I
became.
What could these guys have in common to warrant being killed?

I decided to see Mike Miller at the
task force office. If we could talk, without the other members of the task
force present, it would be easier to explain things to him. Explain what? I was
confused but couldn’t just ignore these men, or my connection to them.

* *
*

I spotted Colleen at the reception
desk as I entered the task force office.

“Colleen, good morning. How was
your weekend?”

“Good morning, Scott. My weekend
was fine, and how was yours?” she said, smiling.

I thought for a moment. “Not that
great, actually.”

“Is there a problem with school?”

“No, actually, everything there is
fine. We’re on break now. I didn’t talk with Lisa all weekend.” I could tell
she was studying me.

“That doesn’t sound good.” She
continued. “What can I do for you?”

“Is Mike in?”

“Yes. He’s in the conference room.
Do you want me to see if he’s available?”

“Yes, please.”

She got up and walked down the
short hall to the open conference room door. A few seconds later, she said, “Scott,
Mike is available.” She smiled as we passed in the hall.

When I reached the door, Mike waved
me in. His warm smile relaxed me. “What’s up, Scott?”

“Good morning, Mike. Well, I can’t
seem to get those murdered men out of my mind.”

“Scott, I have a few minutes. Sit
down. Let’s talk for a couple of minutes. How can I help?”

I pulled up a chair and quickly
answered his question. “Mike, we’re now on winter break, so I have some time to
devote to this new case. You may know I met with Paddy last week, but he’s not
making any commitment about my joining the task force.”

“Scott, I know you met with him. He
told me about your desire to join us. He also mentioned his problem with the
AG.”

“Mike, we worked so well on the
last task force . . . well, I was hoping you would talk to Paddy.” I studied
Mike’s face. “Mike, I have to help with this investigation. Knowing these guys,
well, it’s driving me crazy. There has to be a connection, but I can’t think of
what it would be.”

“Scott, you have already helped us.
It might have taken us a while, but you tied these two men together. We knew
they played hockey for Northeastern, but you tied them together several years
ago. There might be some significance to that association.”

Before I could reiterate why I came
to see him, he put his hand on my shoulder. “Scott, I’ll make it a point to talk
with Paddy about your helping, but I have no control over what Paddy does.”

I smiled. “Mike, coming from you,
it will be my best chance. I hope I can do something for you in the future.”

He looked at his watch. “How about
a beer sometime this week?”

“That’s a deal. Do you want me to
call you?”

Mike never answered. Paul, another
detective on the task force, entered the conference room, obviously excited.

“Mike, we just got a report—” He
stopped when he looked over at me. “Hi, Scott. How have you been?”

“I’m doing okay, and you?”

“Fine, thanks.”

I looked at both of them. “I’m
sorry; I’ll leave.” I started to get up.

Mike held out his hand. “What is it,
Paul?”

“Mike, we received a report that
two college students were reported missing. A Cathy Palmer and her boyfriend,
Bob Sullivan, were last seen Friday night in the Back Bay.”

I was standing, ready to leave, but
Bob Sullivan’s name was familiar. I pulled the folded hockey league article and
checked the names and looked at the picture to verify he was indeed there.

“Excuse me, Mike.”

They both looked over. “What is it,
Scott?” Mike asked.

Pointing to the article I
announced, “Bob Sullivan was part of this hockey league.”

Mike took the article and looked at
it. “Scott ,thanks.” He winked at me. “I need to make Paddy aware of this new
development. I will also follow up on our conversation. I’ll give you a call,
but I have to get going. Thanks for stopping by.”

Mike, smiling, shook my hand, and I
knew he would indeed follow up with Paddy. Regardless, I knew without a doubt
there were now three dead men, and, unfortunately, I knew all of them.

Chapter 10

Scott was saying good-bye to
Colleen as he headed to Paddy’s office. Mike wondered what Paddy would say
about the missing couple but thought more about the three men connected to
Scott’s hockey league.

He knew Paddy would have heard him
running up the stairs. Paddy was in another one of his argyle sweaters, but
this one looked very festive, primarily red and green. “Paddy, I need to bother
you. Paul just informed me two college kids were reported missing and last seen
Friday night.”

Paddy waved him to have a seat. “Do
you think it’s related?”

“I’m afraid so. Scott Tucker was
just here talking with me, and when he heard the guy’s name, he recognized it.
Bob Sullivan, the missing guy, played hockey in the same league as the other
two murdered men. Did you know Scott played in that same league? He’s concerned
about men he knew turning up dead. Paddy, I think it would be a good idea if
you could find a way of bringing Scott on board.”

He studied Paddy for a reaction.

“Paddy, Scott was really a big help
on the last task force. If he wasn’t involved he might not have saved Lisa from
being killed.” He knew Paddy also knew that, but he felt he needed to restate
that. “Scott and I worked well together. I would enjoy working with him again.”

“Mike, I know you and Scott have
become close friends. Right now, my concern is the relationship to that hockey
league.”

“Paddy, Scott could be an asset in
that regard. He knew all of these guys. There has to be some connection to that
hockey league. The first two guys played hockey at Northeastern, but Sullivan
goes to Boston College.”

He continued. “Paul said he is
trying to reach Bob’s parents in Winchester. The missing person’s report indicated
Bob lived at home and commuted to school. We have to be careful because he’s
only missing, and we don’t want his family to be unduly alarmed.”

Heavy pounding on the steps
interrupted them. Paul Brosque knocked on the door. “Excuse me. I heard from Robert
Sullivan’s folks. He was indeed due home at least by Sunday night. He had a
date Friday night with Cathy Palmer, who attends Northeastern. They were
reluctant to report him missing as he sometimes stays over with one of his
classmates. However, when he still hadn’t returned home by this morning, they
reported him missing.”

“Thanks Paul.” Paddy took the words
out of his mouth.

Paul continued. “Cathy Palmer’s mom
filled out the original missing person report Sunday morning when her daughter
didn’t return from her date Friday. She reported that it was not like her to
stay out without reporting in to mom. The Boston PD is following up with
Palmer’s mother, and they’re going to let us know what they learn. It looks
like we might have our next missing guy, judging from the preliminaries.”

When Paul left, Mike resumed his
conversation with Paddy. “Paddy, judging from the timing on the previous
murders, we may be already too late to stop the next murder.”

“Mike,” Paddy offered, “Scott did
meet with me, and I told Scott I received pressure from the AG on his joining
the last task team.”

“Could we utilize his skills and
not make a big deal about it?”

“Mike, if Scott comes aboard, I’m
not going to hide his participation. That would be asking for trouble.”

“Scott is a very promising young
man, he’s getting one of the best educations available, he’s intelligent, he’s
going to have a bright future, and he thinks you walk on water.”

“He does?”

“He told me you missed your calling
and you should have been an inspirational speaker. He hasn’t missed any of your
lectures at Harvard, and he can tell you make an impact with the students.” He
paused. “What happens if another man on that earlier hockey league comes up
missing?”

Paddy paused for a few seconds.
“Let me think about his participation for a while. I can’t use the defense he’s
not part of law enforcement. I’m about to bring another Harvard student on
board very soon.”

“Does Scott know him?”

“I don’t think so, and it’s not a
he. Her name is Mercedes Strong, and she’s studying to be a profiler, and
she’ll be here Wednesday for an interview. How about I bring them both in for
an interview together?”

Before he could respond, Paddy’s
phone rang, and Colleen announced it was Victor Young. “Mike, this is the AG
now. I have to take the call, and I’ll think about Scott coming on board, but no
promises.”

Chapter 11

She entered the small coffee shop
on Marlborough Street and noticed the manager changing the daily specials. The specials
changed on Mondays, and, although she rarely ate lunch here, the different
aromas provided by the combination of a coffee shop and deli were enticing. She
remembered having coffee here with Scott when they first met, and that made
this a special place.

She was meeting Judy and Judy’s
close friend, Dottie Copeland, to talk about the holidays. They frequently all
met here to share how their love lives were progressing, or, at times, not.

While she waited in line for her
coffee, she spotted and waved to Judy and Dottie, already seated at their
favorite back table. That table provided enough privacy for talking without
being overheard. She thought it interesting they were dating roommates,
attending Boston University. Judy was an attractive brunette, but Dottie caused
heads to turn. She was striking, and her complexion was so light it was hard to
tell she was black.

She was using the time to gain
enough courage to discuss her call with Scott. She hoped they would chat about
their guys, which would give her an opportunity to share her upsetting call
with Scott. She brought her coffee over to the table and greeted them.

“Good morning, girls.”

“Glad to see you up and moving,” Judy
said with a smirk.

She thought it was strange Judy was
already out of the dorm room when she woke this morning.

Dottie added, “Judy, don’t pick on
her. She’s got an active love life and probably exhausted.”

She responded, maybe a little too
quickly, “Actually, one of the things I want to talk about is Scott . . . I
didn’t want to bring it up so soon, but I need your thoughts on something.”

“Oh, gee, sounds like we’re going
to have to play ‘Dear Abby,’” Dottie said, smiling.

“Why don’t we talk about what
you’re both doing over Christmas, which is just four days away?” She realized
she wasn’t prepared to talk about Scott.

Judy offered, “Neil is going to
come over to my parents’ house Christmas day for the afternoon, and that’s
going to be exciting.”

Dottie added, “Jeremy and I are
still trying to determine how we’re going to handle Christmas. He’s been acting
strangely and I can’t tell if he . . . he might have someone else.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Judy
trumpeted. “He’s all but married to you.”

“Well, I would have agreed with
you, but there was a weekend in November where I couldn’t reach him all
weekend. My fear is that he was seeing somebody else. He’s acted strangely with
me since then.” Dottie bowed her head, her eyes filling up.

She could tell Dottie was indeed
concerned about Jeremy.

Dottie needed some time to compose
herself, and she felt now was the best time to get her own issue on the table.
“Scott and I had words the other day on the phone.”

“Gee, Lisa, you just told me he was
late calling, but I didn’t realize you had serious words over it,” Judy said,
placing her hand against Lisa’s.

She found it hard to get the words
out. “Dottie, Judy knows about his call, but he was late calling me the other
night, and I guess I took my frustration out on him. I realize now I never gave
him the chance to explain why, but I don’t know whether I hung up or he did. I
don’t know if he’s got someone else either or whether we’ll see each other
Christmas or not.”

“Lisa, don’t be silly. Scott
doesn’t have anyone else. What happened is just a lover’s spat . . . you’ll be
fine.”

She knew Judy was trying to help.

Judy looked over at Dottie, who was
now focused on Lisa’s troubles. “Dottie, she has some issues related to that
ordeal with Jimmy Ballou, and she needs to get past them.”

She wasn’t expecting Judy to bring
up that history. “Do you think we’ll still go away skiing over New Year’s?” She
hoped that would change the subject, as she didn’t want to get into a
conversation about that ordeal.

Dottie was first to respond. “Like
I said, Jeremy has been acting so strangely, I can’t say whether we’re still
going or not. I want to, but he hasn’t been close to me in weeks. If we go
away, I’m going to break his leg, so all we can do is spend time in bed.”

That made them all laugh and
lightened the moment.

“Dottie, I’ll pick Neil’s brain to
see if he knows anything about what’s up with Jeremy,” Judy said, trying to
reassure her. “In the meantime, if we are indeed going away, we need to book
some reservations or we might all be freezing to death in the car. That might
give some incentive to creating some body heat. If it’s okay with you guys,
I’ll call and make reservations at the Balsams, or do you want to be closer to
home?”

She beat Judy to the punch. “Let’s
go for the Balsams. The long ride might help us understand what is happening
with these guys.” She looked to Judy. “Can you see if Neil’s up to taking his
station wagon? It would be too cramped in Scott’s car.”

They continued their conversation
about the holidays, but she kept thinking about Dottie’s comment about whether
Jeremy had another girlfriend, or was with someone that weekend. She wondered
if she was driving Scott away. Did he have someone else, or would he ever spend
time with someone else?