Delusions With Murder: A Rilynne Evans Mystery (15 page)

The diner across the street was busier than normal.  It took nearly half an hour for her to make it back to office with their food.  After inhaling her sandwich, Rilynne started on the stack of reports.

After sorting out the reports that needed to be looked into in person and sending them to the detectives out on the streets, Rilynne started making her calls.

“I’m amazed by some of the people in this town,” she said to Matthews when he walked back in an hour later.  She had just finished her third call, and could not believe the things that people were calling in about.  “This last guy said his neighbor mows the yard diagonally and has to be our killer.  Apparently mowing diagonally is a sign that someone is deeply disturbed and capable of hideous acts.”

“You know, I think I’ve heard that,” he laughed.  “We better go right down there and arrest him.”

Rilynne picked up the next report.  “This is going to be a long day,” she mumbled as she started dialing.

She was not wrong there.  Mixed in with the normal paranoid calls, were several calls from people who insisted someone in their life was the Pirate Killer.

One woman was adamant that her husband was the man they were looking for.  She said that beginning around the time of the first killing, her husband started taking trips once a month.  He had told her after she finally asked about them, that he had been going to see medical specialists but he didn’t want to involve her in it.  She said she did not think twice about it until Detective Wilcome’s press release.  She then started looking into it more, but could not find any record of him actually traveling out of the city, or visiting any doctors.

She said he was an avid camper, and had spent most of his life trudging around those woods.  He was also a veterinarian and would have the medical know how to perform surgeries on these men.

Rilynne was hopeful until she asked the woman where her husband currently was.  She responded by saying her husband had passed four months earlier from a brain tumor.  She insisted her husband’s spirit had come back and was finishing his work.

Rilynne was both frustrated and amused when she ended the call a few minutes later.  The rest of the day did not get any easier.  When eight o’clock finally rolled around, she could not have been happier to walk out of the office.  

“Hey Detective,” Ben said when she stepped into the elevator.  “We were going to the bar for a drink if you want to join us.  I could take care of that fine while we are at it,” he grinned.

“I just spent the last six hours calling every nutcase in this city who thought anyone who said hello was the killer trying to abduct them,” Rilynne said.  “A drink actually sounds perfect.”

Nicole seemed to bounce with excitement.  “Great!  There’s this really cute guy I have wanted to introduce you to.  Hopefully he will be in tonight.”  She led the way out the door and down the block.  Rilynne looked at Ben and quickly rolled her eyes before they followed.

The bar was full for a Thursday night.  They took the only three seats left, which were at the end of the bar.  Surprisingly, the majority of the crowd tonight were not members of the police department.  “I have never seen this many people in here,” Ben said as he took his seat.  Rilynne glanced around at all of the unfamiliar faces and responded, “I guess people feel safer being out in a area generally populated by police officers.”  She couldn’t really blame them.  The entire city seemed to be on the verge of turmoil lately.

“Did you get any good information off the call line?” Ben asked.

Rilynne laughed.  “Well, there was the woman who was adamant that her husband is the killer, even though he has been dead for several months.  And the man who thought it was actually the entire black community working together to eliminate the white men.  Oh, or my favorite was a conspiracy by the police department to get these men, who were actually all hardened criminals, off of the streets for good.”

“Wow!”  He looked shocked.  “You really did have an interesting day.”

“So did y’all turn up anything at the cabin?” Nicole asked while flagging down the bartender.

“The prints on the bottles haven’t come back with anything yet.  We did find a bedpan that has some blood on it that is being tested,” Rilynne explained.  “It will take a few days to come back to see if it belongs to one of the victims.  If not, we can start running it through the national database to see if we get any matches.”

Nicole swallowed her martini in one gulp.  “Mmmm,” she said before ordering another one.  “So how long would it take you to get a match if it doesn’t belong to one of the victims?”

“Well, if he’s in the system, not too long.  If he isn’t, we won’t get anything until we catch him and can compare it,” she replied.  She turned to Ben to see if he could offer any further information, but he seemed to be sorting something out in his head.

“Everyone shut up!” the bartender suddenly yelled as he turned up the volume on the television.  As if a switch was flipped, all sounds floating through the bar abruptly stopped.

“We are standing right outside Addison Valley Hospital, where it has been confirmed that the latest Pirate Killer victim, Derek Hartley is in intensive care,” the newswoman said. 

“Derek Hartley, who was previously reported to have been found dead after only four days with the Pirate Killer, was actually found very much alive.  It is unknown at this time what condition he’s in, or when he will be available to make a comment about his horrible ordeal.”

The crowd was in a sudden uproar.

“What?” Nicole looked like she was going to fall off her stool.  “You mean that he’s actually alive?  Then why weren’t we told about it?”

Rilynne didn’t even have a chance to answer her before two large men approached her.  “Maybe you should be out there doing your job instead of sitting around in here drinking with your little friends,” stated the first.  “You have a witness and you still have not been able to catch this guy!  What are we paying you for?” yelled the second one.  It was obvious by the smell that the men had had quite a bit to drink.  Rilynne knew she had to defuse the situation quickly, or it could get out of hand.

“I understand you are frustrated gentlemen, but we are doing everything we can to track this guy down.  I guarantee you that as soon as we can, we will get him off of the streets.  Until then, we ask…” Before she could finish her statement, the first man threw his beer mug down on the floor shattering it.  It wasn’t until then that she realized how close the two men were getting to her.  She took an instinctive step back, but hit the bar behind her.

“You need to take a step back,” Ben said, suddenly stepping between Rilynne and the two men. 

“And what are you going to do about it?” the second man asked.  Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Ben by the arm and tried to move him out of the way.  “I’m just going to teach the little bitch a quick lesson.”

Ben clutched the man’s shirt with both hands and pulled him away from Rilynne. His friend jumped in throwing a punch, landing it square on Ben’s jaw.  She looked up to see the group of officers in the back corner pushing their way through the crowd to get to them, but they only made it half way across the room when it was all over.

Ben returned the punch with one of his own, leaving the man unconscious at their feet.  The second man, who was still trying to get to Rilynne, was dropped to his knees, arm pinned behind his back, before he even knew what was going on.

Rilynne looked to Ben in utter disbelief.  While she had seen several fights in her day, she had never seen anyone knocked out in one punch before.  The man being handcuffed by the officers who had finally reached them looked even more shocked than she did.  He was a head taller than Ben, and had at least twenty pounds on him.

“Wow,” was all she could seem to get out.  He took his seat next to Rilynne and asked, “Are you okay?  He didn’t hurt you did he?”  He seemed to be looking her up and down for any sign of injury.  “No, he didn’t touch me,” she said.  He took one last look before turning back to the bartender and ordering another round.

Nicole seemed to have been really shaken by the ordeal.  She did not say a word until she got up to leave ten minutes later. 

“I honestly don’t think I have ever seen Nicole so quiet,” Ben stated as she walked out.  “You would think after such a big spectacle she would have more than enough to talk about.”

“I think everything going on has her pretty freaked out. Being in the middle of a bar brawl couldn’t have helped,” Rilynne said, finishing the last of her beer.  “I think I’m actually going to head home, too.  I think I have had enough excitement for one day.”

Ben stood up and followed her to the door. 

“Impressive Davis,” one of the officers sitting by the door said as he reached out to shake Ben’s hand.   “You should really think about joining the department boxing team.”

“We have a boxing team?” Rilynne asked as the door shut behind her. 

“We do a benefit every year to raise money for a city project.  Last year's was to build the new playground in the park.  The police department has a team, along with the fire department, the school district, and a few others,” he explained.

“How did I not know about this?” she asked.

Ben just shrugged, and stared out at the empty street in front of them.  It was another cloudless night, and the moon was full and bright. 

“So, why were we told Hartley was dead?”  Ben asked bluntly.

“Detective Wilcome made the call,” she said.  “The fewer people who knew that he was still alive, the safer he would be.  We also knew if the perpetrator were to discover that he was alive, it might cause him to panic.  That could lead him to either vanish, or go on a spree.”

He didn’t seem to be satisfied by her answer.  The whole situation seemed to be bothering him more than he had shown inside.  “So is he talking?” he asked.  “Does this mean you are closing in on this guy?”

“No,” she replied.  “He was in a coma when he was brought in.  The doctor doesn’t know when, or even if he will wake up.  But since we know he was lured out of the apartment building, he would have gotten a good look at this guy.  If he wakes up, he should be able to point us right to him.”

“So this could all be over soon then,” he stated.  His voice was almost dry, and his gaze was set straight ahead.

“Hopefully,” she responded.  “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.  You were actually the investigator we wanted to call, but you were in court that day.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“I didn’t actually lie to you, you know,” she tried to explain.  “Nicole I lied to, but I didn’t want to lie to you.  I told you Derek Hartley had been found.  I just left out the part about him being alive.”

“The most important thing is to keep Derek Hartley safe, and that is what you did,” he said with a half smile.  “Of course, the news report will not make that as easy.  How do you think the story got out?” he asked.

Rilynne had been wondering that same thing.  “It has to have been someone at the hospital,” she explained.  “Even the couple that found Hartley were informed that he had died.”

The couple that had come upon him in the woods was a pair of newlyweds on their honeymoon.  The wife was frantic when the officers arrived at the scene, which only got worse when they were informed an hour later that Hartley did not make it.  Her hysterical ranting was flipping between finding a mutilated body and for bringing her new husband to a town that was being terrorized by a serial killer hunting men.

Ben walked her to her door before saying goodnight. 

Rilynne drew herself a steaming bath and put on some relaxing music.  As she slid below the bubbles, all of the stress she had been feeling melted away.

Something about Ben’s reaction to learning that she had not been honest with him about Derek Hartley did not sit well with her.  All her life she had been lying to people.  While it was not something she took pride in, she was used to it.  However, since she really only lied when it came to hiding her secret, she was not use to being caught.

She tried to shake the feeling off as she climbed into bed.  With any luck, we will hear back from the owners of the cabin tomorrow, she thought.  The sooner we can get this closed out, the better for everyone.

Chapter Thirteen

T
he station was quiet when she walked in the next morning.  The majority of the officers were still out chasing down the reports that were coming in.

“Is there any news?” she asked Wilcome who was sitting at his desk in the back corner. 

“The blood type on the bedpan does not match Derek Hartley.  It’s possible that it could have belonged to one of the other victims, but we are going to start running it against the national database.  If we are lucky, it will match someone already in the system,” he said.  “Until then, we are just waiting to hear back from the owners of the cabin with the rental history.”

Detective Matthews had stated the night before that if he did not hear back from them today, that he would fly to California himself to track them down.  Despite the joking tone in his voice, Rilynne actually thought he would.

“So,” Wilcome grinned up at her.  “I heard there was a bit of a bar fight last night.”

“I wouldn’t really call it a bar fight,” Rilynne replied as she walked back to her desk.  “Some men just got a little out of hand after hearing the news report about Hartley.  They were drunk.”