The Promise (35 page)

              Gallagher reassured him, “You’re better off there. You wouldn’t like the real world. It’s a pain in the ass.”

              “So, you need some good news today, Mike?”

              The detective smiled thinly, “Desperately.”

              “Okay, here you go, Allison Taylor was in the Mercedes. We found both fingerprints and hair that matched hers.”

              Gallagher pumped his fist high in the air, “Yesssss!”

              Elie laughed, “Dr. Lowe, you wouldn’t happen to have any heart attack medicine handy would you? Gallagher may need it real soon!”

              “Well, maybe this will put him over the edge, we also found prints and hair that matched Margaret Williams, too.”

              That news was bittersweet for the detective. He was still struggling with his personal fondness of Raven. “She was there, too? Are you sure?”

              Dr. Lowe nodded, “Yes. And, of course, there were fingerprints and hair fibers everywhere. The victim found dead near the stadium, drove the car, as did Malcolm Oden, of course, and who knows who else was in that car.

Said victim was shot twice in the side of the head, execution-style, first, behind the left ear; and then as he slumped down, a second time in the left side of his brain. He died instantly. The gunman used a .38 caliber weapon. No casings were found on the ground. Clean.”

              “Is there any other news, Doctor?” Gallagher asked.

              “Not at this time. We will have a final report in about two weeks, but I wanted to get these reports to you. If you have any other prints or even hair samples from someone you are looking at, we can try to match it. Otherwise, we are done.”

              “Okay, thanks Dr. Lowe. It’s back to Gotham City. Let’s go, partner.”

Elie thanked Dr. Lowe and they walked silently out of the building. She spoke up, “This is difficult for you, isn’t it, Mike? You like Raven.”

              “Business is business, Elie. She is a suspect in the disappearance of Allison Taylor. It’s a good possibility that Margaret was in the car with her the day that Allison vanished. My personal feelings aside, I want to solve this case and Raven is a part of that solution now.

If putting her in jail will loosen her lips and help us solve this disappearance, fine. Otherwise, she can sit in there and stew for awhile. I am not going to feel bad about it. So be it.”

              Then, he added, “Damn, her!” Elie was smart enough not to say anything else to him.

Chapter Sixty-
two---someone comes Calling

             
“Elie, we need to find out where Dr. Morgan is. This is not a good time for him to be out of the office where he cannot be reached. Can you find out where he is?”

              “I have asked several of the secretaries. They don’t even know where he is. The rumor around school is that he is interviewing for a new assistant headmaster.”

              “Why wouldn’t he do that in his office?”

              “Evidently, one of the people he is looking at is in another state and he’s combining that with a personal vacation…”

              “Great. Just great.,” mumbled Gallagher sarcastically. “Stay on it, Elie. I really need to talk to him…”

              Officer Simpson knocked on the detective’s office door, “Got a visitor, Mike…”

              “Who?”
 

             
The officer laughed, “Redding Shaw, your best friend. You want to see him?”
 

             
Gallagher and Elie looked at each other in surprise, “What in the hell does he want? The detective mused to his partner and added, “Yeah, send him in, Jerry.”

              Redding Shaw appeared at the door. He was dressed in a nice suit and graciously greeted the detective and the police woman. “I apologize for not calling before I came in. I hope I’m not intruding on your day.”

              Gallagher wasn’t sure what to feel. He didn’t like the guy. But, he was intent on doing what he could to solve the case. “Not a problem, Mr. Shaw. Come in.

This is Bree Kelly, she’s a student at the Colony School. I was just finishing up with her. Thank you, Miss Kelly, you can go now. We will call you if we need any further information.”

              Elie played it perfectly, “Oh, okay, Mr. Gallagher. I just want to help in any way I can!” She exited quickly.

              “What’s on your mind, Shaw?”

              “Well, I didn’t feel right about our meeting at my house and I wanted to, well, apologize…”

              “Apologize to me, for what?”

             
Shaw said meekly, “For letting you and a lot of the other people in the community down by my behavior over the past several months. I’m pretty ashamed of myself…”

              Gallagher was not sympathetic, “Mr. Shaw, I’m a police detective. I’m not a priest. If you want to go to confession or to some mountain top in Tibet and pour out your soul, that’s fine with me. I am trying to solve a missing girl’s case here. Is there anything else you want to tell me, specifically about that?”

              Redding Shaw paused, then spoke, “Yes, there is something else. I think I can help you find Allison Taylor…”

              The detective looked at him, “Oh?”

              “If you think she was kidnapped, Detective, you are way off base. You’re not even close.”

              Gallagher offered him a chair and got up to shut the door. He pulled out his mini-tape recorder and set it down in front of Redding Shaw,

“Pray tell, Mr. Shaw. I want to know everything you think. I’m your Sherpa. Welcome to Tibet. Tell me who Yeti is.”

Chapter Sixty-three---another twist or Turn?

              As Redding Shaw finished his statement and prepared to leave, Gallagher shook his hand and thanked him for coming in,

“I appreciate what you told me today, Mr. Shaw. I need to check all of it out, but it was decent of you to come in and give me this new information. I’ll be in touch with you.”

              The former partner of Arch Taylor smiled, “I haven’t been the nicest man in the world, but, I do have some good qualities. Thanks for listening. I hope I have been of service. Good day, detective.”

              Gallagher watched him make his way through the outer office, stopping to greet a lot of policemen on the way out.

“He knows everyone around here,”
He thought to himself.

Then, he sat down at his desk and re-played everything Redding Shaw had just told him on his recorder. Shaking his head several times in amazement, he finished listening after almost an hour and just sat there staring at the walls absorbing this potentially case-changing development.

What Redding Shaw had told him, if true, had put an entirely new spin on the disappearance of Miss Allison Lynne Taylor.

              His telephone rang, “Gallagher here.” He grimaced. “What is it Rambo? No, there is no truth to the story that a red Mercedes was involved in the disappearance of Allison Taylor and even if it was, I would appreciate it if you kept it quiet.”

He paused to listen to Rambo’s response. “You are going to report that anyway? I just told you there was no Mercedes, are you deaf?”

Another pause, “I have nothing more to say to you, Rambo. You are way off base on this one!” He hung up the phone and looked for his trash bin again. He noticed it was gone.

It was replaced with a plastic one. He laughed. “Good move, Chief.”

Chapter Sixty-four---Whodunit?

             
Gallagher and his boss sat in the conference room as they finished listening to the tape together.

“Do you believe Redding Shaw, Mike?” Chief Parker asked him.

              “I honestly don’t know. He seemed sincere. His information does fit with the facts of her disappearance. I want to believe she is still alive, so that helps me accept what he said.

His description of Arch was accurate and I could see Mr. Taylor doing what Shaw said he did. Plus, Arch kept telling me he was responsible for his daughter’s disappearance. This case scenario goes along with that.

But, still,” Gallagher stopped in mid-sentence.

              The Chief came over to his detective. He knew Michael Gallagher. For all his idiosyncrasies and volatile emotional nature, Gallagher was a good man and an individual that Albert Parker respected more than any of his staff.

He sensed that his friend was in pain because of the conflicting crossroads facing him here. He put his hand on his shoulder, “Still?”

              Gallagher shrugged, “My instincts tell me that Archer Taylor and his daughter have a strong relationship with each other. According to Redding Shaw’s version of events, it fell apart and that’s why she is gone.

I believe that Arch would try to understand why Allison did what she did and see it for the love she had for him. But, he’s harboring a lot of guilt, Chief. That could be the impetus for his heart attack.

So, I have my instincts and I have a missing girl here with a conflicting set of facts. Now, Redding Shaw is muddying the waters.”

              His boss smiled, “Or maybe he’s purifying them.”

              Gallagher smiled tightly, “That’s ironic, Redding Shaw purifying anything!”

              “However, if he’s lying or making an honest mistake…”

              “Then, I am back to what the investigative facts are telling me. Allison was abducted by Raven and her friends in the red Mercedes for the purpose of revenge for threatening to expose them for their call-girl operation which involved her dad.”

              “And, Redding Shaw.”

              “Yeah, and Redding Shaw.

So, his revelations today could mean he had a selfish motive in coming to see me. This would protect his involvement in the sex crimes and put the focus on Archer Taylor’s selfish move towards Allison.

There’s something that bothers me more, though. It’s my theory of The Promise girls kidnapping Allison. Why would Allison expose the Promise when her own father could be incriminated with the evidence she gave the police.