The Trophy Exchange (34 page)

Lucinda saw tears forming in Evan
’
s eyes. Self-pity, too bad, she thought and pressed on. She slapped down photos of the three faces from the triple homicide and pointed to the shot of the little girl.
“
Did you enjoy doing this one, Doctor? Did you rejoice in your power and control when you smashed her brains into the floor? It must have been so easy. She was just a little girl
–
about Charley
’
s age, I believe.
”

“
Lieutenant, that is quite enough,
”
Theismann growled.

“
No
,
n
ot quite,
”
she snapped back.
“
Those are the only murders he
’
s charged with. Here are the others we suspect he committed
.”
S
he slammed down seven more photos.

“
This is ridiculous,
”
Theismann said.

The door to the interrogation room opened again. This time, Ted stuck in his head.
“
Lieutenant?
”

Without looking away from Evan, she said,
“
Not now.
”

Reed stuck his head in the doorway and barked,
“
Yes, now, Lieutenant.
”

Lucinda glared at the
d
istrict
a
ttorney, then turned back to face the two men at the table.
“
These pictures show you how serious the situation is. Take a good look at them. And think about them
–
think hard. Now
,
if you gentlemen will excuse me for a moment.
”

Forty-One

“
How dare you?
”
Lucinda snarled through clenched teeth.

“
Lieutenant, it was essential,
”
Reed soothed.

“
Essential? The suspect had tears in his eyes. I had him that close. Who knows if I can ever get him there again.
”

“
It may not matter, Pierce. There
’
s a situation that needs to be addressed before you go back in that room.
”

“
Not matter? What? What are you talking about?
”

“
While you
’
ve been occupied with Dr Spencer, something
’
s happened that points away from his guilt.
”

“
It can
’
t hold up. We
’
ve got a positive identification from an eyewitness,
”
Lucinda objected.

“
And maybe your eyewitness is right
,
but maybe she
’
s wrong. We
’
ve got to answer the questions posed by this new development before we gamble on that ID. Ted, fill her in.
”

“
This afternoon,
”
Ted began
,
“
about the same time we were pulling into the hospital parking lot, a woman was running out of her home with a rope clenched between her teeth. A man attempted to strangle her in her home with that rope.
”

“
Ligature strangulation doesn
’
t happen every day, but that
’
s a pretty tenuous connection,
”
Lucinda said.

“
There
’
s more. A cast-iron skillet was recovered from the scene
–
it had blood and tissue on it.
”

“
You
’
re kidding.
”
Lucinda sucked in a sharp breath. A whirlwind of contradictory thoughts laid waste to Lucinda
’
s clean line of logic that implicated Evan Spencer.
How can this be possible?

Ted continued,
“
And the description of the perp is similar to the one at the triple, too.
”

“
Where
’
s the surviving victim?
”

“
At the hospital. She
’
s got a broken arm and a lot of bruises and scrapes but otherwise she
’
s
okay
.
”

“
Ted, before you go, could you print out another copy of the six-pack we used to get the Spencer ID
?
I want to run over to the hospital and have our survivor take a look at it.
”
Turning to Reed, she said,
“
This makes no sense. The witness positively ID
’
d Spencer.
”

“
I told you I hate eyewitnesses. Where do we stand on the DNA testing?
”
Reed asked.

“
I expect something sometime tomorrow.
”

“
I can
’
t hold him overnight, unless you can shoot down the connection between tonight
’
s attack and the triple homicide. But if you can
’
t
,
and all the puzzle pieces fit together, I
’
ve got to let him go.
”

“
They can
’
t fit. It makes no sense. We can
’
t risk him leaving the country before the DNA results are in.
”

“
Then get busy, Lieutenant. I can stall them for a while but Theismann won
’
t let me do it for long.
”

A nurse escorted Lucinda to the cubicle where Tammy Johnson sat on the end of the bed sporting a fresh cast. As she walked in, Tammy said,
“
Whoa, girl. You look worse off than me. You want to climb up here, too?
”

“
No, Tammy
,
my wounds aren
’
t fresh
–
yours are. You can keep the doctors to yourself.
”
Maybe I should just cut a couple of holes in a sack and keep it pulled over my head.
“
I
’
m Lucinda Pierce from
H
omicide.
”

“
Lordy, I
’
m not dead, am I?
”

“
No,
”
Lucinda laughed.
“
This sure isn
’
t heaven and it
’
s not bad enough for hell either.
”

“
Wanna bet? I hear one meal in this place, and you
’
d change your mind about that real quick.
”

“
I
’
m here, Tammy, because there
’
s a possibility your attack is connected to a recent murder.
”

“
Really? Wow! I guess I didn
’
t overreact after all. The nurse said I can leave soon. Can I go back to my home, Lieutenant?
”

“
You can leave here, Tammy, but the techs are still all over your house. Do you have some place to go?
”

“
Yeah. I
’
ll stay with my cousin. She
’
s on her way here now. I
’
ll need someone to help me dress for a while anyway. I
’
m so pissed off that the bastard broke my arm. And my skillet. I was told you all took my skillet. That was my granny
’
s skillet. I really want it back.
”

“
It
’
s in the lab now, Tammy. We think we can get a good sample of your attacker
’
s DNA off it.
”

“
So, I got him good?
”

Lucinda laughed again.
“
You sure did, Tammy.
”

“
Are you going to get that bastard, Lieutenant?
”

“
That
’
s what I
’
m working on and that
’
s why I
’
m here. I brought some photos for you to look at.
”

“
Bring
’
em on.
”

“
He might not be in this group of photos. If he
’
s not, that
’
s
okay
, too. All right?
”

“
Sure. Sure. I want to get the right guy arrested not just
any
guy arrested.
”

Lucinda pulled over the rolling table and laid the photographic line-up on its surface.
“
Take your time, Tammy, look closely at each one.
”

“
There
’
s the bastard,
”
she said pointing at Evan Spencer.

Lucinda swallowed hard.
It’s not possible
.
“
Look at him again, Tammy. Are you certain?
”

“
No doubt in my mind,
”
Tammy said shaking her head.
“
I
’
ll admit the suit and tie threw me off for a bit. But that is him.
”

It can’t be Spencer. He was in custody when the attack happened.
“
What was your attacker wearing Tammy?
”

“
Like I told the other officers, Lieutenant, he had on a dark-colored sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. I got the impression that his hair was shorter than it is in this picture here, but I never saw under the hood so I can
’
t be sure about that.
”

“
Anything else you noticed?
”

“
Gloves. He wore gloves. Heavy
-
duty work gloves. The kind you
’
d wear if you were setting fence posts.
”

A heavy weight pressed down on Lucinda
’
s gut making the acid in her stomach roil. A perfect match with the triple homicide description.
Somehow something is wrong. But what?
“
Thank you, Tammy. Here
’
s my card. Call me if anything else comes to mind,
okay
?
”
Lucinda turned and walked out of the cubicle.