Experiment in Terror (Koehler Brothers Book 1) (7 page)

“Anyway, none of them knew a thing about him. They said while he always listens to what they have to say, he never spoke about himself or how he happened to end up homeless. They all agreed he had a lot of class and that he must have been some kind of professional.”

“That’s interesting.”

“After I had a first name, I spoke to some of the workers at the Shelter, but every one of them said he had never checked in to spend the night. They even let me look at their register, but there was no Matt listed.”

“Where do you think he’s spending the night?”

“I’m assuming he’s spending it down along the creek. As I said, the men mentioned he had a sleeping bag. He probably rolls it out under some bush or under one of the bridges. Tonight I’m going to take a walk along the Creek Path and see if I can locate him.”

“If you do, are you going to talk to him?”

“I’ll have to play that one by ear. It does bother me that he’s obviously spending the night down there. Makes me strongly suspect he might be the Boulder Creek Killer.”

Amanda’s heart sank as she realized there was a possibility that Gary could be right, but there was such a strong chemistry between her and the homeless man, she couldn’t believe that to be the case. Surely, she wouldn’t be attracted to a serial killer.

On the other hand, how could she be so sure of herself? She remembered a book of true crime she had read a few years previously. Three well-educated women had been attracted to a man who had killed two of his wives before he was caught in an attempt to kill the third one. Now he was living out a life sentence in an Oregon prison.

She had never been as attracted to a man as she was to this homeless one. She wished she understood her feelings. It was going to break her heart if he turned out to be the Boulder Creek Killer. If that were the case, she would never trust her judgment again.

“I have never run across anyone who seems to have appeared out of the blue the way this man has,” Gary said. “No background. No nothing. I’m wondering if I should talk to the police about him. Since he obviously spends the night somewhere around the Creek Path, I keep going back to the fact that it looks very suspicious.”

“Oh, please don’t do that,” she said. “What if he is perfectly innocent and we get him into trouble with the police?”

“If he’s innocent, he shouldn’t mind being questioned by them.”

Amanda said nothing. She wasn’t about to tell Gary she didn’t agree with him. She didn’t understand what was involved in being a detective, but since he had Sloan’s strong recommendation, he must know what he was doing.

Gary said he had no more to tell her, but he would keep her posted if he came up with anything. She thanked him and headed up to her parents’ house for dinner.

During her visit with her parents, she was so preoccupied thinking about what Gary had told her that her father finally asked her if everything was all right.

“Sorry, Dad, just thinking about work,” she said, knowing if he really knew what she had been thinking about he would be incredibly shocked.

“Problems?”

“Not really. I need to get some new artists in and I’ve been mulling over in my mind how I might do that.”

“Maybe you’ll come up with someone tomorrow when you and your mom visit the museum in Denver,” he suggested. “Is that the one on Colorado Boulevard?”

“It is, and I’m hoping I find something there. I want to find an artist who does oil paintings. Since I don’t have any in the store, I would really like to get some oils in.”

“Well, I have every confidence you will.” Her father gave her a proud smile.

He wouldn’t look so proud if he knew about her infatuation for a homeless man. He would look even less proud, probably horrified, if he knew she had hired a detective to obtain information for her.

Her cell phone rang while she was helping her mother clear the dishes from the table. When she checked, the ID said Gary Kaufmann. She didn’t want to talk in front of her parents, so she asked if she could call him back in thirty minutes.

She could hardly wait to finish the clean-up and make her excuses to her parents. She wouldn’t call him back until she reached home. She hoped Gary had some news for her.

Chapter 7

After the men left to catch the city bus up to the Shelter, Matt wandered down a stretch of the Creek Path. He wished he could talk to his brother, Mitch, who was a detective in Los Angeles and often did undercover work for the LAPD.

He wondered why neither he nor his brother had ever married. Not even come close. Was it because of the kind of work they did? Was it because of the death of their father and seeing how hard it had been on their mother? Or was it because they had never found the one woman who made them want to make a life time commitment?

He knew when this assignment was over, he was going to pursue the blond woman with a vengeance. No more putting a hold on his dreams. He only hoped she would be able to deal with his career. Usually, consulting wasn’t a dangerous job.

However, he knew this one could turn dangerous, but with the gun that was strapped under one of his dirty pant legs and a knife under the other, he was sure he could handle anything.

When the woman rode by on her bike that morning as he had been talking to Karen Goodrich, as much as he had wanted to, he hadn’t dared look at her. He hadn’t wanted Karen to ask him about her. What was the point? He would have to admit he was attracted to a woman he knew nothing about. Not even her name.

How could he explain that after meeting her the first time, he had known she was someone special to him? When he had actually talked to her in the park and then on the path when he had been alone, he was more than ever convinced she was worth pursuing. Even if he had upset her by telling her not to ride her bike after dark. There had been an incredible chemistry between them.

He wondered if his brother, Mitch, would understand the attraction the blonde had for him. He would like to ask his brother if anything like that had ever happened to him. He doubted it. He was sure his brother would have mentioned it.

Matt forced his thoughts back to the case. He was glad Karen had finally shown up. They both had agreed they shouldn’t be speaking to each other where they might be seen. It might look suspicious and they couldn’t afford that if the Boulder Creek Killer was watching the path.

He had strolled up and down the trail in the daytime many times, and he didn’t recall seeing the same man on the path again and again. But it would be foolish to take a chance. Maybe the guy was in disguise. Just like he was, he thought on a humorous note.

He thought about his history with Karen. He had dated her at one time and while they had a lot in common, neither one had felt any chemistry. Karen had gone on to become engaged to one of the detectives in the Denver Police Department. They had remained good friends and had worked on several cases together before Matt had begun his consulting business.

They had spoken briefly that morning about a plan, but he felt they should go over it in more detail. Karen thought it might be best for her to be on the bike path at the time she might be going to and from class and Matt had felt that was a good idea.

They had agreed she would go to the library with her backpack a couple hours before closing. It would give her a chance to look around the library. Perhaps the killer went to the library to find his next prey.

When the library closed, Karen planned to leave and take the path through the area where the bodies had been found. If that didn’t work they would have to come up with another plan. Perhaps she could stroll through the area late at night.

But now that the fourth body had been found under the 30
th
Street Bridge, he wondered how they could possibly second guess the killer. Maybe he should patrol the area from 30
th
Street up to the library after dark. That would be a lot of area to cover. It would be safer for Karen if he stayed in the vicinity where he knew the policewoman would be.

Matt wasn’t too worried about her. She was one of the most competent policewomen he had ever worked with. He knew she had taken a number of self-defense classes at the police academy. She had taken him by surprise on a couple of occasions and thrown him to the ground.

He saw Karen coming toward him on the bike path. He decided he would give her some quick instructions as he passed her.

Right before she reached him, he started talking. “Meet me after dark on the first bridge east of the stone bench and the water fountain.”

“Will do,” she replied, not looking at him as she went on by.

“Bring me two big hamburgers and a shake,” he said in a slightly louder voice. He wasn’t sure she had heard him. This food thing was starting to be a problem. He was sure he had lost several pounds since going on this assignment.

Matt had to smile as he turned to look at her. Instead of her usual short dark hair, she now had shoulder-length blond hair. He had to admit she resembled a college student. He noticed she had a tight pair of black jeans on and a stretchy yellow top that left her shoulder and arms bare. She was pretty darn sexy, too, and he was sure that was the look she was going for. Since she was dressed similar to the three girls who had been raped and killed, he was sure she would attract the Boulder Creek Killer if he were still in the area.

He strolled through the park and saw a couple of men from the shelter sitting at one of the picnic tables and stopped to talk to them.

“Hey, guys, did you miss your bus up to the shelter?”

“Nah, we decided to find something to eat down town and go up later,” one said.

“Yeah, their food stinks,” the other one chimed in. “What I wouldn’t give for a good steak.”

“You and me both,” Matt said. “Being homeless is starting to get to me.”

He sat down at one end of the table, deciding he would kill time by talking to the two men until they left for the shelter. One thing he was certain about, it couldn’t be a homeless man, since no DNA had been found on the victims. That was just not possible with all the hair most of them had.

When the men decided they had better catch the city bus up to the shelter if they wanted to be there before they locked up for the night, Matt stood up from the table and headed in the opposite direction.

It was almost dark when he saw a casually dressed man wearing a cap coming toward him. His senses kicked into overdrive. There was something about the way the man was looking at him.

Before they reached each other, the other man spoke.

“Nice evening, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he answered briefly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get into a conversation with this man. As far as he was concerned anyone out this time of evening on the Creek Path could be a suspect for being the Boulder Creek Killer.

“Been in Boulder long?” the man asked in a pleasant voice as he stopped beside him.

“Not long.”

“Where did you come from?”

“Here and there.”

“Boulder’s a nice town. Plan on staying long?”

“Nah.”

“What kind of work did you do before coming to Boulder?”

“Anything I could get.”

“Have you been homeless long?”

“Long enough.”

What was with this man?
Matt wondered. In all the days he had been on the Creek Path, he had never had anyone say so much as a hello to him. Not counting the woman, of course. 

Reaching home, Amanda immediately called Gary.

“Anything new?” she asked breathlessly.

“Not really. I will say I certainly don’t understand how those homeless men could think Matt was a class act. I ran into him walking on the bike path and tried to drum up a conversation with him. Unfortunately, he answered all my questions in monosyllables.”

Gary repeated the conversation to Amanda almost word for word. Amanda was tempted to ask Gary if he was sure he had the right man. She had to agree with the homeless men. Both times she had spoken with Matt, he had spoken in a well-educated voice. The deep timbre of it still rang in her ears.

She thought once again of how it had carried so much authority when he had confronted her on the creek path on her way home that one evening.

“Amanda, I have to tell you, I don’t think there is much more I can find out about this man. I’m not into charging someone when I’m not coming up with information for them.”

She sighed. “I know. Send me a bill for your time up to this point. I’ll give you my home address.”

“I can’t help but have questions about this man,” he said. “Why has he shown up in Boulder about the same time as the third girl from the University was raped and murdered? If he didn’t do the first two, is he some kind of a copycat? Why wasn’t he more forthcoming with answers to my questions? Why would the group of men he hangs out with think he’s so classy? Why would they think he must have been some kind of a professional? I tell you, Amanda, there are too many unanswered questions, but I have to admit I’m stumped. I’ve never run across anything like this. As I told you earlier, I’m strongly tempted to talk to the Police Chief about him.”

“I’m totally sympathetic,” she said. “Let’s not waste anymore of your time.”

“Will you take one piece of advice from me?” Gary asked.

“I might,” she replied, knowing what was coming.

“Don’t ride on the bike path anymore until the killer is caught. Not even in the daylight.”

“I’m sure that’s good advice. But I don’t believe I’m in any danger in the daytime. However, I will promise you. I won’t ride after dark.” She couldn’t give up her chance of seeing Matt every morning, in spite of the fact that Gary thought he could be the Boulder Creek Killer. She refused to believe it.

“I guess that’s fair. Well, I’m ready for your address.”

After she had given Gary her address and disconnected, Amanda sank back on the couch. Her disappointment was overwhelming. The spark of hope she had since hiring Gary had been extinguished.

She hoped Gary wouldn’t talk to the police about him. She would hate to think her attraction might get a perfectly innocent man into trouble. And what if he told the police she had hired him and they came and talked to her. What would she say
? What had she gotten herself into
?

Whatever it was, she refused to give up. She was in too deep now. Every time she had seen Matt, they found it hard to take their eyes off one another. She reveled in the attraction she obviously had for him. She must somehow discover the truth about him. But if a professional like Gary couldn’t come up with anything, how was she going to?

“You’re a lifesaver,” Matt said when Karen handed him two double cheeseburgers and a milkshake when she met him on the bridge. He closed his eyes in enjoyment as he bit into one.

“I’ll talk while you eat,” she suggested.

He mumbled his assent as he took another bite.

“As I understand it, our plan for this first night is for me to read in the library for a couple of hours before closing. Leave when the library closes and walk up through the area where the girls have been attacked. I’ve given it some thought, and in my opinion, I don’t think that’s going to work.”

Matt raised his eyebrows in question, his mouth too full to speak clearly.

“I’ve spent some time researching the traffic patterns on the path. When the library closes, there’s going to be a lot of people on the path. I think we should wait for the path to clear. Then I could come down one of the paths from the University and walk up past the library.”

By this time, Matt had finished his two burgers. “I have to agree with you,” he said. “What time do you plan on walking past the library?”

“Between eleven and twelve. By that time most of the pedestrian traffic has cleared. When I see it has, I’ll start up the path.”

“Okay, I’ll be under the bridge, which is only a short distance from the spot where the three girls were attacked. I should be able to see if anyone is lurking around and I’ll be prepared. Let’s just hope he doesn’t attack in a totally different place like last time. I must say, it’s confusing to know where the best place should be.”

“I totally agree with you.”

“What are you going to do until eleven?” Matt asked.

“Go up to the University and hang out. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll see something suspicious. Who knows? Maybe he follows them from the campus rather than the library.”

“Be careful. If I’m down by the library and he attacks you somewhere else, I’m not going to be of any help to you. That’s really a worry for me.”

“Hopefully, if that happens, I’ll be able to take him down by myself.”

“I know you’re good.” Matt smiled. “You’ve put me flat on my back when I wasn’t aware you were even around.”

Matt gave Karen a troubled look as she moved away from him. She was one of the most competent policewomen he had ever known, but he would feel more comfortable if he was nearby as backup.

He crossed the bridge and when he stepped onto the path, he looked around for a trashcan. Seeing one nearby, he dropped the wrapping from the burgers and the empty drink container into it. He made his way slowly down the path, hoping this assignment would soon be over. It had been almost a week since the last rape and murder down by 30
th
Street. When he reached the stone bench, he sat down and mulled over their strategy. He tried to think of every contingency that might arise. He hoped he wasn’t missing anything.

At ten-thirty, he decided he had better get in place under the bridge by the library. Arriving at the bridge, he looked carefully in every direction before he moved quickly under it. He found his sleeping bag where he had left it that morning and making himself comfortable, he prepared to watch.