(2011) The Gift of Death (20 page)

21

As soon as he stepped into the room he was attacked by voices. The fifty reporters gathered in the media centre of the Parker building, in downtown LA, were all eager to get the story. Be the first. Even if some of their theories were way off the mark. If not downright insane.

‘
Detective Harper? Can you confirm that this is the work of a satanic cult?’ shouted one reporter.

‘
A site on the net quotes a source close to the investigation as saying that Gleason never died,’ said another, a line taken up by a third.

‘
That the government kept him alive for experimentation purposes – a brain scanning program to look at the minds of serial killers - and that he’s now escaped. What are your thoughts on this?’

Karen Cain stood at the front of the podium and gestured for some kind of order.

‘
Detective Harper will answer your questions in due course,’ she said, turning to him, ‘but first he’s going to read out a short statement. Detective Harper?’

As Josh took a sip of water he looked out at the mass of faces. He scanned his audience for one that looked if not friendly then at least familiar. He recognized the booze-reddened face of the veteran crime reporter Al Denning from the
Herald
. And there was Katie Williams from the news channel WSLA. And of course the beautiful Cynthia Ross herself. An image of her naked body flashed into his mind. It had been nothing more than a one night stand, he told himself. But what a night. Obviously he had never told Kate. He took another sip of water and then stood up.

‘
Good morning, ladies and gentleman. As you know, my name is Detective Josh Harper, and I’m heading this investigation. I’m here today to try and enlist your help. We are currently seeking a violent serial offender who is extremely dangerous. I’d like to call on all of you to try and do everything in your powers to bring this criminal or criminals to justice.

‘
As you may have read, on the morning of January 25 Dr Kate Cramer, former forensic artist who worked closely with the LAPD, discovered a 15-month baby girl in the water off Malibu. She tried to rescue her, she gave mouth-to-mouth, but the baby had already died. The child had been snatched from the home of Joe and Susan Gable.

‘
On February 2, Cassie Veringer, a 30-year-old blind woman, received a package of human fingertips at her apartment in Venice Beach. We now know that the fingertips belonged to a one Alison Lowrie, a 19-year-old college student whose body was discovered in the sand dunes near Guerrero Negro, Baja California.

‘
And then on February 9, Jordan Weislander, the state prosecutor, discovered a human tongue in his icebox at his home in Pasedena. Again I can name the victim. The tongue was cut out of 57-year-old Jackson Weekes, an African-American drifter who was attacked while intoxicated and sleeping in an alleyway downtown.

‘
There has been a great deal of speculation about the case, but let me put the public’s mind at rest. It is beyond doubt that Bobby Gleason, the serial killer who preyed on young women of college age between the years 1992 and 1997, committed suicide in July 2000 while on death row in San Quentin State Prison.

‘
Although these incidents are clearly connected to the Gleason case at this stage we are not sure exactly how they fit together. All we know is that each of the individuals were somehow involved in bringing Gleason to justice.

‘
We are appealing for help and information. If anyone knows a friend, relative, or neighbour who could be involved with these crimes I would encourage them to get in touch with us, either by calling the 24-hour tip line at 1-877 LAPD. If you wish to remain anonymous you can use your cell and text the information to CRIMES or by logging into the LAPD website at
www.lapdonline.org
. I can assure you that tips sent using text or the internet will be treated as anonymous and confidential.’

He dropped his prepared statement on the desk and looked up at the crowd. Questions were fired like bullets across the room.

‘
Look,’ he said, holding up his hand. ‘Before questions I’d like to get a couple of things straight. This is not a TV show. It’s not a film. Sure, the case has more than its fair share of sensational elements, but it involves real people. People like you or me, your brother, sister, wife, husband, partner, whoever. I’d like you to respect that if possible.’

He felt like he was talking into a vacuum.

‘
And as for some of the wilder, shall we say implausible theories, I can tell you now that we have no information that the case centres around a satanic cult. Nor was Gleason kept alive for scientific research purposes. Any other questions?’

Al Denning raised his hand.

‘
Al, go ahead,’ said Josh.

‘
Am I right in understanding that one Charles Garrison – who served time with Gleason in San Quentin – was murdered on his way to New Mexico earlier this week?’

Fuck. He’d made the connection.

‘
Are you linking that crime with these incidents?’

The room erupted into chaos. Reporters, furious they had missed out on a possible hidden link, shouted their demands across the room. Finally, Karen Cain had to step in to try and restore some semblance of order.

‘
As Mr Denning pointed out we did receive information about the suspected murder of a 45-year-old man. Name of Charles Garrison. Yes, it is correct that Garrison was in San Quentin at the same time as Gleason. But at this stage we are treating this as a separate murder inquiry. Detective Harper?’

Shouts of dissent echoed around the hall as Harper tried to speak.

‘
From - from what we can gather, the modes of operation are extremely different,’ said Harper, raising his voice. ‘Garrison was bludgeoned to death in a brutal manner. We believe that whoever murdered him is not the same person behind the incidents involving Kate Cramer, Cassie Veringer and Jordan Weislander.’

Cynthia Ross stood up. She didn’t even wait for Harper to nod in her direction before she addressed her question.

‘
Have you got any information about why these crimes are being committed now? Obviously, the stories about Gleason still being alive are nonsense, but for some people out there it is like he’s come back from the dead.’

Where was she going with this?

‘
And your question is?’ said Josh.

‘
Bill Collins, the father of Gleason’s first victim, always believed that the killer worked with an accomplice, a sidekick who escaped justice the first time round. I spoke to Mr Collins this morning and it is his theory that it is this person who is behind these crimes. That Gleason’s accomplice from way back is responsible and is still responsible.’

The room went ballistic. Jesus fucking Christ. It was exactly the kind of line that drove the media crazy. He could just see the headlines in tomorrow’s newspapers.

‘
Please, if we could just have some calm in the room,’ said Karen.

Josh tried to speak, but couldn’t make himself heard above the madness. Then he noticed a movement at the back of the room. It was Kate. What the fuck was she doing here?

‘
Oh my God, that’s Kate Cramer,’ said Rebecca Williams, turning to Cynthia.

‘
No shit,’ said Ross, furious.

Kate had guaranteed her an exclusive, which she in turn had promised her editor. She’d better not try and fuck her over. She had information on her – information on Josh, too - material that she was prepared to use.

All heads turned as Kate made her way past the reporters and up to the podium at the front of the room.

‘
What the hell are you doing here?’ hissed Josh, as photographers jostled nearer to get a good shot of Kate.

She couldn’t tell him the truth – that she had a hunch that her presence at the press conference might help draw the killer out of the shadows – and so she ignored him and addressed the crowd.

‘
My name,’ she said, trying to shout above the uproar. ‘Is Dr Kate Cramer. I’m here to talk to you about my role in the case. I’ll be making a brief statement, but I’m afraid I won’t be taking any questions.’ She looked at Cynthia and gave her a half-smile, hoping that that would be enough to let her know their interview was still on. The last thing she wanted was for Ross to blurt out to a whole room full of media that she was pregnant.

‘
On the morning of January 25 I was by the sea near my home just off the Pacific Coast Highway, taking photographs. As I looked through the viewfinder of my camera I saw something in the ocean. At first I thought it might be a seal. But when I realised it was a child I immediately ran into the water and tried to save her. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts the child was already dead.

‘
As you know I was the forensic artist who worked on the Bobby Gleason case. I worked with Cassie Veringer to create an accurate and detailed portrait of Gleason, an image that subsequently led to his arrest. It is my belief that there is somebody out there who has taken Gleason as their hero. That is the person who we need to find. If anybody has got any information about such a person then please, please get in touch with Detective Harper or a member of his team. Thank you.’

As she stepped down from the podium, reporters tried to manoeuvre themselves near to her, but she walked straight past, head down, out of the room. They followed her out of the Parker Center and down to her car, but to every question she answered no comment. In the safety of her car she opened her cell and dialled Cynthia Ross’s number.

‘
We still have a deal?’

‘
The interview?’

‘
Sure, as long as you keep your side of the bargain.’

‘
My editor’s waiting for the story. When can we talk?’

‘
What about now? I’ll meet you at Coffee Sin on Wall Street in 15 minutes.’

22

Kate noticed her hand trembled ever so slightly as she turned the pages of the newspaper. She had a right to be nervous. After all, how did she know that she could trust Cynthia Ross? Would the reporter have broken her side of the deal and splashed the news of her pregnancy across the pages? Would she even go so far as to reveal the identity of the father? After all, her relationship with Josh had hardly been a secret. All she would have to do was make a few calls, talk to a few sources. Yet instinctively, she felt as though Ross – for all her ruthlessness, her burning ambition – would not betray her.

Partly it was something to do with the way Cynthia had looked at her during the interview, as if she really did understand how awful it had been for her to have found that dead child. But that could easily have been a trick, a technique Ross had perfected over the years to encourage her subjects to drop their guard. Also, at the end of the interview, when the tape recorder had been turned off, Cynthia had told her that she was afraid of having children. Not only because she was scared of the effect motherhood would have on her career, but also because she was not certain whether she was capable of devoting herself utterly to another person, even a baby. Kate had responded with a well-worn platitude, that she was sure she would change her mind once she had carried and nurtured her own child. But then Cynthia went on to tell her about her own mother – a highly intelligent woman plagued by manic depression, who had never showed her any love as a baby and young girl. Surely it was better, she said, to have no child at all than one you hated and resented? Kate was about to ask another question about her mother when Cynthia’s cell rang. She had to get back to the office. The news editor was waiting for the story. She thanked Kate for her time, promised her that she would quote her accurately and fairly, and asked whether she could ring her later that day to check the occasional fact. Kate had waited for a call, but there had been no contact, apart from a short email to tell her that the piece would be in the next day’s edition.

The first thing she noticed was the headline – ‘KATE CRAMER, FORMER FORENSIC ARTIST, WHO FOUND DEAD BABY IN SEA, IS PREGNANT’. She blinked a couple of times, feeling the bile rising inside her. She was so angry she could hardly bear to read the article, but her eyes fixed on a couple of paragraphs near the top of the story.

‘
Kate Cramer, the forensic artist who worked with Cassie Veringer to create an accurate portrait of Bobby Gleason, the serial killer who targeted young women of college age, is pregnant, sources close to the investigation can reveal. A police source, who wanted to remain anonymous commented: “One of the theories we are investigating is whether there is a link between Ms Cramer’s pregnancy and the fact that she discovered the body of a young baby girl floating in the sea outside her beachside home.”