JUSTICE REBORN (A Charlie Taylor Novel Book 1) (21 page)

Max stopped and was silent; his breathing
became even again. Janice pushed. “So, Dr. Armstrong is this when you had sex
with her out on the pool deck?”

“There’re times when I dream I had……… but
it didn’t happen. Just as we’re standing there in full embrace, her completely
naked…… and her hand wrapped around my penis, the phone rings. And one of her
friends leaves one those teenage messages…. a young girl’s voice, her
vocabulary, slang, and giggle …….all reminded me of grade ten kids. It was
enough to return me to sanity…….. this was a kid.

I tried to back out of the scene in a
graceful manner. She became extremely hostile, and it didn’t matter what I said
she told me she would tell her Dad I had raped her.  I tried to stay until she
cooled off, but it wasn’t working. She’d been rejected and humiliated and this
doesn’t happen to her. I just gave up and almost ran from the house. For the
next couple of hours, I waited for the police…….. when no one came, I assumed
she’d calmed down, and it was all over.”

 “Dr. did you ever talk to anyone about
what happened? Police? Friend?”

“Oh no…… What the hell could I say? We
almost had sex……. she screamed and threatened me. I didn’t want more press, and
I was sure this would leak if I talked to anyone.”

Janice noticed he was tiring, which was not
surprising, after about an hour of interrogation, so she summarized. “If I
understand you correctly, you think Sally is ruthless and angry over your
rejection of her advances. And, this is the reason she wants to damage your
reputation. And Vincent either doesn’t know the truth or knows but wants
revenge for your refusal to help with his production problem. Is this your
position?’

Max took a little time before responding.
“Yes that’s it and it’s more intense than your summary. Vince will probably
lose his company or have to sell and lose control, which for him means the same
as losing the business. Could I have saved his company? I don’t know and
neither does he but with me as the focal point he has a convenient excuse.

 Sally matured into a female version of
Vince, smart, mean and stubborn as the proverbial mule. I knew she developed
some fixation on me… flattering for me…..and I did nothing to discourage it.
Did I lead her on? Don’t think so………… but I have to say our encounter rates as
one of the most sexual charged five minutes of my life. And to finish my
confession, if Sally were five years older, I would be aggressively pursuing
her without let up. She’s one of the few women, and I use the term women, I’ve
ever felt would be a lifetime partner for me.”

 The conclusion left Janice in a quandary;
he confessed that in some parallel universe he would marry Sally. The man was
unbelievable, an unrepentant womanizer.

In the observation room, for Dr. Kate the
confession looked and sounded authentic. He threw in enough to prove he wasn’t
a saint and then denied the rest. How was the bastard beating the system? He’s
practiced yoga since high school, also continued to make regular visits to
India. Some yoga experts claim they can control the involuntary body functions;
had Max reached this level or beyond?  What sort of control could he achieve?
Was this why he had the courage to challenge the S1 Interrogation?

His blood work will probably be clean. Max
was it too good to be discovered in that fashion. His intense attraction to
teenagers may or may not be abnormal, but he persisted in taking advantage of
his looks and his high profile status.

In a matter hours, Kate would be in
Stephen’s chambers where she knew he anxiously awaited some good news. First,
she would work with Janice to run both dialogues, Sally’s and Max’s, in a
parallel pattern, a start-stop mode, attempting to uncover anything false. Her
instincts told her, she wouldn’t find anything, both interrogations appeared
solid. Later this afternoon she would have to deliver the news to the Judge’s
chambers: both parties were telling the truth. Impossible.

Stephen would not be pleased.

                                     ###

The female half of the Five Star Couple sat
in the lounge with a cup of tea and listened to the pianist playing a classical
piece: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, L’Empereur, composed when Napoleon was
conquering Europe.

 She was conservatively dressed, a large
hat, short white gloves. This was to be the next hotel visit and the last kill.
She wanted to assess possible police stakeouts. The hotel certainly rated the
five-star classification, and she was pleased with the setting. The interior
was stunning, and, best of all, the stairs from the upper floors exited close
to the large front entry doors, an easy walk to the street.

The killer could not detect a police
presence which in some ways was a concern; was she missing something? Surely
they would stake out some of the better target hotels. However, since he
ignored prostitutes, maybe Horny Harry was the first priority, it made sense, a
better utilization of scarce resources.

As well, the media reported the Prison
Decommissioning project demanded more personnel. The Warden had expressed his
concerns: if all the convicts were forced into an S1 interrogation, there might
be a riot. As a precautionary move, some police resources had been diverted to
Fort Green prison.

If resources were stretched, her partner
was right, the timing was excellent: one last strike while the police dealt
with all the demands.

She finished her tea and exited the hotel.
One more chore.  A leisurely walk around a three-block radius of the hotel.
Would she spot any stakeouts on the street?

The schemer enjoyed the sound of ice cubes
rattling against the inside walls of his glass.

 A self-assured smile persisted, and he
drained the remaining third of his scotch. A high-speed review of all his
Confidential recordings revealed no further insights or opportunities. The
recordings were a career-ending risk, but he hoped the appropriate gain would
follow the endeavor.

He wondered about the Judge’s handling of
the possible flaws in the S3 Interrogation. Was Kate’s analysis on the
duplicates correct? His sources told him that Stephen had not informed the
Regional Director about the duplicate problems, an excellent decision, for the
schemer, because he knew the Region was upset with the omission. Would the
revised filtering software allow most convicts to be processed in under 45
minutes?

Dr. Max’s situation remained a Board
secret. An error in judgment? As it progressed the issue would become complex. 
When would the Judge make this public knowledge? Would his delay cause Stephen
more problems with the Region?

Today he heard an error in judgment was
being covered up by the Investigative Division, more subterfuge and more
turmoil for the Judge. The Chief’s staff used a random selection process to
solve a long outstanding murder investigation. The Division blocked any
announcements because the results of a ‘random selection’ are deemed
inadmissible, regardless of what an S1 interrogation produced.  Although the
justification for an S1 interrogations was not stringent, the police could not
indiscriminately round up suspects and subject them to an interrogation. The schemer’s
paid informer told him the Chief was furious and looking for a way out of the
mess.

 When this reaches Stephen’s chambers, he
will have an ugly dilemma on his hands. If the Judge decides the results of
that S1 Interrogation are not admissible, there will be a public uproar when a
brutal killer is released. On the other hand, Regional had always been adamant:
any Sector using ‘random selection’ as means to solve crimes will be severely
admonished, demotions to be expected, the entire scenario a no-win for the
Judge. His Sector branded as undisciplined.

All the issues would soon be in play.
Nothing he could leverage, yet. There were going to be more opportunities; he
had to be patient. His recordings may prove invaluable for playing the second
guessing game. When the time came, he would project an image of a concerned
servant of the justice system and not someone who had allowed ambition to
distort his common sense.

Now, the biggest problem was controlling
his emotions in the presence of Judge Stephen. He didn’t understand all the
reasons for his jealousy; but, whenever the Judge came forth with one of those
judgments full of wisdom and empathy, he almost lost it. He saw the job as
rather straightforward and had no doubt he could handle it with ease.

For now Stephen was safe, but with so many
potentials controversies he was not on a secure perch. It didn’t matter if it
was Stephen’s fault.  All the schemer required was enough to start the
splattering; typically he would start with small rumors plus regular updates to
keep the turmoil going. Innuendo was an excellent tool, and he was the master.

One other thing he was sure of: he knew
Stephen. The Judge was such a self-righteous bugger, prepared to accept
responsibility for all the world’s problems and would do anything to protect
the office. Given that scenario he thought Stephen would resign quickly rather
than allow doubt to build about the system or the Judge’s position. Stephen
didn’t have the backbone to get into the trenches and take the heat, didn’t
understand that he had to protect himself, not everybody played by the rules.

One more explosive revelation should be
enough to sink Stephen. Would the Dr. Max’s case do it? If Max got through S1
and S2 interrogations, the schemer had an opening. The rumor to start:  the
Judge allowed the Fort Green clearance of death row to proceed even when he
knew there were doubts about the validity of the interrogation techniques.

This wasn’t true, but the timing was so
close he could get the rumors going and when the denials started, the
opportunity for more confusion would present itself. The objective would be to
create a picture of Stephen as someone so enamored with technology he was
willing to gamble with lives.

Duplicate memory streams, random
selections, and Dr. Max: three situations which could be manipulated into
career-ending events. Best to be prepared with half-truths and distorted
timelines. Let the suspicious public come to their own conclusion. There was
one journalist who would run with it and keep the source confidential.

He felt like sending Dr. Max a bottle of
his favorite champagne. The bugger had to have the biggest libido in the
scientific community. A friend told him Max had been pushing the limit for
months with many young models. If there was an Olympic medal for sex drive, Max
would get all the medals: gold, silver and bronze.

                                         
###

The Chief’s anger was evident; the phone
almost vibrated as he yelled his demands.

 “Charlie review for me what you are doing,
not all the details.”   

“Chief, I’ve a set up at all the four and
five-star hotels. I don’t have staff in the lobby, but the hotel staff is
ready. They’re to send us pictures of any woman who registers and demands the
second floor and is wearing a large hat and white gloves. They’re also to
monitor all calls from that room until we arrive. We’ll be manning a 24/7
phone, and I’m thinking about getting the same directive to the three-star
hotels.”

“The couple must be close to another
attempt; now what about that damn Harry?”

“Since you couldn’t release more men for
the park surveillance, Karen has rounded up a couple of volunteers from Vice,
and they’ll start an evening patrol of the area. The next step will be to try
and bait him with one of our own.

 Problem is, even though we’re convinced
it’s the general area around the best hotels, it’s still a large zone to cover;
we’ll need a few teams to have any hope of trapping him. I’m talking to Vice to
see what we can put together.

Now, Karen thinks he possibly worked as a
cab driver. We started to look at previous employees, but there is a horde of
prior employees; many only worked a few shifts, maybe students working a short
time to make a few bucks. On top of that their recordkeeping is atrocious; I’m surprised
the income tax crew hasn’t shut them down. So I’m saying this avenue is not
likely to yield anything.”

The Chief never commented, just hung up,
the abrupt ending a sure sign of stress; the man was always polite to everyone,
even his own subordinates.  The gossip slipping and sliding around the
building: one of the Deputy Chiefs pulled a fast one and now the Chief was
trying to recover. Charlie’s busy schedule didn’t allow him time to chase that
rumor.

He didn’t care for any of his own action
plans. Maybe get some people in the lobby. No, if the killers were ex-cops,
they would spot the undercover men. Leave it.

As much as his serial killers pressed him,
the Judge’s clandestine assignments continued to plague him; he didn’t want to
disappoint the Judge.

First the damn secret recorder: Charlie
reviewed each Board member, aided by unfettered access to confidential files.
Last, he stepped through his personal assessment of each, based on his
interactions and observations.

 He concluded it had to be either Doug, the
man who wanted to be a judge, or Jacob, the man who didn’t fit with the rest of
the Board. Charlie didn’t have time to speculate on motivation; it was time for
action. It would take time to acquire the equipment and staff. He’d have to
roll the dice, a gamble the only alternative.

On top of all this, he couldn’t stop
thinking about Emma. It was hopeless and he had blown it; nevertheless, she
kept coming into his thoughts. Nothing he could do. And once she found out he’d
run a clandestine operation, possibly undermining her friend Dr. Kate, she’d
probably turn her back on him forever. The two ladies were really close.

The Judge refused to allow to coordination
with Dr. Kate; he wanted two entirely different lines of attack, independent
thinking. The problem: Charlie’s thinking was getting nowhere. No matter how
many times he reviewed the Interrogation recordings he couldn’t detect how Dr.
Max achieved the impossible, circumventing the S1 Interrogation, lying to
Forensic staff.

Of course, the Chief would be furious when
he found out the Judge had not informed him. But since the Judge was safe, the
Chief’s fury would be turned in the other direction, right at Charlie.

All these problems stuck to him, no
hand-off possible. Every issue belonged to him until resolved or he was
demoted. Best get going and round up the detection equipment to catch the Board
recorder. If the equipment worked and he guessed right, one problem was solved.
If not, best not to think about that outcome.