The Monolith Murders (37 page)

“Donna, take it easy. we won’t have to stay in this shitty place forever. Seems to me, when you get rid of Fred and his lovely wife, we can go elsewhere and start enjoying life. I was just watching the
Travel Channel
and it looks to me like Paris would be a good place for us to live. Did you know it was never bombed by the Nazis since Hitler wanted to keep it in pristine shape for his headquarters after he won the war? Damn lucky the French. The Brits did a lot more to fight the bastard, but look what happened to their homeland.” He rambled on. “The weather is not too bad in Paris, maybe a bit of snow in the winter.”
 

He suddenly shifted his thoughts to how they would pay for their new life. “By the way, I recall that you said Atwell had been doing well financially and you suspected that he was using his powers to make a few million. It seems to me that you could use your skills equally as well. Yes, Donna, I think it would be a great idea for us to relocate to Europe or some place like that where you wouldn’t be known and we wouldn’t have to hide out anymore.”

“Good idea, we’ll do that,” Donna lied. She might go to Europe all right, she thought, but not with this guy. He had no idea that she had stored a million bucks inside of her car and that would be all she needed to start a new life alone. His usefulness to her was close to ending.

“Before we even think about going to Europe, I have to take care of Fred. I’m no longer even going to worry about killing Maureen. I did check Fred out, and it appears you’re correct; he no longer appears to have the device in him. He’s as vulnerable as he can possibly be. He still seems to have some limited natural ESP skills. I’m sure they have always been with him, but
I can easily defeat them.”

“When are you going to go after him so we can plan our life together? And, in fact, why even bother with him at all?”

“Because you idiot, that bastard is the one responsible for me spending four years in that hellhole of a prison. And I swore each day in those four unbearable years that I would get even. Tomorrow will be soon enough. I’ll check him out after he returns from work. And when he’s home, I’ll make sure he’s unprotected and then I’ll strike.”

“Right after that you and I can go to Europe, huh, babe?”

“Yes, Polish. Just you and me and Europe.”

Chapter 65

Fred was at his desk when he received a game changing phone call.
 

“Fred, this is Chief Patterson.”

“Hi, Chief, what’s new from the panhandle?”

“A lot, Fred. Late last night we brought in Slim Woods.”
 

“So he returned to your area from Sarasota, huh?”
 

“Not really, he had been deer hunting in the vicinity of Toronto, Canada. He was up there before the time that Donna Lang and Jane Doe escaped from prison. We checked out his story, and it’s solid as it can be. He also insists he hasn’t heard from Jane since she escaped from prison. And, Fred—I believe him.”
 

“So there’s no chance that Slim is lying?”

“None, we got in contact with the general store where he has been buying his provisions and we talked to some of the nearbys where he rented his cabin. They all attest to his being there, and the timeline checks out.”

“Thanks, Chief, if anything else happens here I’ll let you know.”

Fred had expected news similar to that. He had become quite sure that Slim was not the murderer of Anderson and Don. Now he had to move forward quickly.

He knocked on Jim’s office door and entered without waiting for a welcome.

“Jim, I just got a call from Chief Patterson in Tallahassee. He told me he found Slim and he could fully account for his time prior to Donna’s escape, and since then as well.”
 

“So Slim didn’t murder anyone?”

“He might have murdered a few deer in Canada in the last few weeks, but that’s about it.”
 

“So that’s leaves us with no suspect,” Jim said.

“Not exactly. I know this might sound crazy, but I want you to arrest one of our own men and charge him with murder. But, of course, there is a story that goes with it.”

Fred noticed he had left Jim’s door opened a hair. He could also see through its upper glass segment that Jim’s secretary Judy was listening intently to their conversation.
 

Fred pushed the door shut and continued his secretive conversation with Jim.

Damn, Judy thought, I wish I knew what was going on.

As Fred was exiting the office, Jim said, “I’m still not sure of this, it goes against the grain of everything I’ve been taught.”

“Jim, you trusted me previously; now trust me once again. Please!”
 

Chapter 66

A few minutes after Fred exited from Jim’s office, Jim called for both Sergeants Lewis and Stewart.

Both entered the office at the same time. “What’s up, boss?” Stewart asked.

“Plenty. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Stewart, but I’m placing you under arrest for the murders of Doctor Anderson and Don Stead, the security guard at AU.”

“You’re kidding! You gotta be kidding! Slim Woods killed those two, you said so yourself.”

“No, I wish I were kidding. Slim has been cleared; there was no way he could have committed those crimes.”

“But why me? What reason would I have to kill them? Hell! I didn’t even know them!”

“But I have reason to believe you did know Dr, Anderson. In fact, you helped keep him prisoner and you were the partner or lover of Donna Lang.”

“That’s crazy!” Stewart turned to Sergeant Lewis for support.

Lewis said, “That’s insane, Chief; he’s a good cop, this makes no sense.”

Jim said, “Damn it, Lewis, I didn’t bring you in to argue with me; you are here to take Stewart into custody.”

Stewart was now pleading. “For Christ’s sake, Jim! What evidence do you have that I did it?”

“You are the only person who could have done it. We had no police guard at the AU Company the night they were killed. Fred took Anderson there based on Anderson’s request; he felt he would be protected there. But Anderson was in the building only a short time before he was killed. The only person who could have been there in that short a time frame was you. Sergeant Lewis contacted you to go to the building to protect Dr. Anderson, did he not?”

“Sure he did, and that’s where I went. And when I got there the front door was unlocked.”

“No, Stewart, the door was locked when you arrived. And Don unlocked it and let you in because he knew you. You then proceeded to kill Dr. Anderson because he could identify you as his captor. And you also killed Don because he could identify you as Anderson’s murderer. Sergeant Lewis, read him his rights. And book him on two murder charges.”

“C’mon, Boss, he’s my friend, I hate to do this.”

“Goddamn it, do as I said! I’m not asking, I’m telling you!”

* * *

Later that day Jim’s secretary knocked on his door.

“Sir, I heard about Sergeant Stewart being arrested. There’s a lot of buzz about it around the station.”

“So?”

“Well, it may not be any of my business; but you’ve always asked you to give you feedback on how your policemen are feeling about your leadership. You recall that, don’t you?”

Jim nodded yes.

“Well, I think your arresting Sergeant Stewart has become a morale issue; the officers expect you to always act in their best interests. So maybe it might be wise just to talk to Sergeant Stewart? After all, he has been on the force for over four years; and he’s always been loyal to you.”

“Thank you, Judy, for your advice. In fact I think I’ll go see him now.”

Jim entered the holding cell where Stewart was temporarily being held. He said to Stewart, “I want to talk to you.”

It was quite obvious that Stewart was in no mood to speak to the bastard that had him arrested.

A police guard was stationed at the edge of the hall. Although he couldn’t hear the conversation, he could observe the facial reactions of Stewart. He noticed as the captain left the cell that Stewart seemed to be smiling. Damn, the captain’s got a way with words, the guard thought. No way would I be smiling with two murder charges hanging over my head.

Chapter 67

Donna parked her car almost a block away from Fred’s house. Her powers had started to exponentially develop. She recognized that they were significantly greater now than they had been, even prior to her incarceration. She could with ease, conduct a mental scan and pick up the cerebral footprints of anyone in within a 20 miles radius. And the closer they were, the stronger the signal.
 

As she walked in the direction of Fred’s house, she mentally jumped forward, entering his home. There were three people in the living room; none of them seemed to present a threat of any kind to her. One by one, she mentally entered the rest of the rooms in the house. The house was clear, no evidence of cops anywhere. The only people in the house were seated in the living room area.
 

She saw Fred seated in a green corduroy chair. Opposite him on a sofa was a handsome man dressed in casual jeans and a Minnesota Twins tee shirt; the final member of the threesome was an attractive blonde in tight blue jeans who sat on the same sofa. They all seemed to be engaged in an animated conversation, totally unaware of the fate that awaited them.
 

Donna mentally peered around the living room; she detected no traps. She could not pick up the presence of any weapons either in the room or in the house, but she identified something strange and out of character. There was a large hypodermic needle resting on the table next to where Fred was sitting. What the hell is that? she thought. What purpose could it possibly serve? Maybe Fred has developed diabetes, she reasoned.
 

After she was mentally finished casing the house, she physically entered it. The front door was unlocked. Foolish of him, she thought. She pulled her revolver from her handbag and walked into the house.

As she entered through the living room door, the two strangers on the couch saw her immediately. A look of shock replaced the calmness that had been on their faces a second ago.
 

Fred did not turn around, but he knew the moment that Donna had arrived. Without turning he said, “You won’t need the revolver, Donna. None of us have any weapons.”

 
Donna was confused. How did Fred know that she was holding a pistol? Had she been misinformed about Fred’s loss of powers?
 

What Donna had failed to notice was that Fred had positioned a small mirror on the other side of the room that would reflect back a view of the entry to the living room. He hoped that she didn’t see it; and if he kept her occupied with conversation she might not look for it. He recalled an earlier conversation with Maureen when she diagnosed Donna as being highly literate. I’m counting on Maureen’s accurate diagnosis and the fact that Donna can’t perceive beyond that which is in front of her, Fred reflected.
 

Fred turned toward her, his voice authoritarian and confident. “That weapon will do you no good, Donna; you should know that by now.” This was the most critical bluff that Fred had ever concocted; if it failed he was a dead man.

“What do you mean it will do me no good?” she asked, still confused. “You forget, Fred, that I hold all the advantages.”

“Really, Donna? But you haven’t realized that the good doctors in the CIA have provided me with what is a greatly enhanced paranormal device, one that is much superior to the flimsy prototype you carry in your head. Plus, I’m sure you must know that I had some fairly impressive powers even before I had the operation. So in tandem they are an unequaled force.”
 

Donna recalled that when she worked in AU that Atwell had mentioned the impressive powers that Fred had, powers that Fred himself didn’t even know about at the time.
 

“But you went back to the CIA hospital to have your device removed; you didn’t think I knew that, did you?”

“You mean because Sergeant Lewis told you that?” Fred laughed. “I had Captain Hebert put that seed in Lewis’ head. Actually I did return to the CIA, but just to have some fine-tuning done, as well as some additional sophisticated software added. Now, Donna, I’m more powerful than ever.”
 

“You’re bluffing, you didn’t know about Lewis.”

“Of course I did. He left some careless clues when he killed big Don and Doctor Anderson.”
 

“But you arrested Stewart for that killing; there’s no way you could have known.”

“That was for your exclusive benefit, Donna. If you and Lewis thought that he was no longer a suspect, we could use him as our bait. The trap worked better than I expected. He led us directly to your condo in Punta Gorda.

“And, by the way, Lewis is being arrested at this very moment. He’s no longer of any use to us in helping to get a fix on your location. If you like, you can call your landlady to verify my story.”