Serial Separation (25 page)

Chapter 67

Paddy received the phone call they were waiting for, alerting Mike. The New Hampshire State Police located Jeremy and Dottie. The young couple decided not to make the long drive to northern New Hampshire and stayed at a Salem, New Hampshire, motel for the weekend instead.

“Paddy, do you think Jeremy would be more comfortable with Dottie present during our questioning?”

Paddy didn’t immediately answer. “Mike, I think there are some aspects of his ordeal that he might not want to talk about in her presence. Let’s see how it goes without her.”

“Mike, have you had any luck reaching Mercedes?”

“No. I’ve tried several times, and there’s still no answer. She doesn’t have the phone off the hook, since it’s not ringing busy. However, she could have disconnected the phone, since she wasn’t feeling well.”

Mike thought of Scott checking out those remaining properties himself and wondered if he should have sent Paul with him. The task force was still waiting for a full listing of properties from another source to identify the missing two properties.

Scott said he still wanted to check out the other remaining properties just in case he was wrong. Scott’s words echoed in Mike’s memory—Jason’s life might depend on it.

Mike had also considered sending a patrol car by Mercedes’ apartment building to see if her car was there. He still had the balance of the afternoon and this evening to reach her or take some other action.

Mike pictured the mutilated bodies of the men. He tried to picture women, but he kept trying to put Mercedes’ image into the picture. No matter how many times he tried to force her into this process, he could not really believe she could do it.

Could she be that good, to give the impression of being a good girl while really being a vicious woman?

* * *

The New Hampshire State Police told Jeremy the task force needed to talk with him regarding his being kidnapped. Jeremy and Dottie were not under arrest, so it was a strong suggestion on the police’s part to have them drive to the task force office.

They were offered a cruiser, either to take them or escort them. However, Jeremy decided to drive his car to the office rather than deal with having to get his car later.

Jeremy considered how embarrassing it would be for Dottie to ride in a police car. He wanted to avoid upsetting her or make her more nervous than she already was. It was bad enough their weekend lovemaking had been interrupted.

The New Hampshire State Police were considerate, but it still created a scene at the motel. He wanted to explain the situation to the many observers, but it was impossible. The sooner they were away from the motel the better.

As he drove across the state line, he could tell an unmarked police car was following them at a distance, but he didn’t mention it to Dottie.

He was holding Dottie’s hand. “Hon, I’m sorry our plans for the weekend were interrupted. We did have a few minutes together . . . I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“JJ, I understand what the police want to talk with you about. If you can help save your cousin, that’s more important. We have our lives ahead of us—he might not. It would be great if you could recall something that aids the police.”

She licked his ear, which made him uncomfortable, knowing a police car wasn’t far behind. However, he wasn’t about to stop her.

“Why are you driving so slowly?”

“I don’t want to get stopped on the way to the task force office. I might be able to explain rushing, but it could get confusing. Besides, the longer it takes us, the more time you have doing what you’re doing.”

She obviously liked his answer, judging from her focused attention.

“Jeremy, I’m so happy you’re safe. It would have killed me if you had been murdered. I found your scars interesting
.
I could have spent the entire weekend making sure they were not bothering you.” She blew in his ear, and he adjusted himself. “You’re not getting excited again, are you?”

He knew she could tell it was a rhetorical question.

Chapter 68

Mike hung up the phone.

“Paddy, that was the Mass State Police; Jeremy’s car is within a block of the office.”

“Thanks Mike. Colleen is due any minute to be with Dottie while we question Jeremy.”

Mike was hopeful; Jeremy might be able to shed some light on the building where he was held.

The door to the office opened, and they both expected to see Jeremy and Dottie enter.

Paddy acknowledged Colleen. “Colleen, thanks for coming in on such short notice. Jeremy and Dottie are about to arrive. As I mentioned on the phone, please try to make Dottie comfortable about Jeremy talking with us.”

He continued, pointing upstairs. “You can use my office, which should prevent any problems. However, if you feel you need me, please don’t hesitate to get me. We’ll be in the conference room.”

“Paddy, I’m glad you called me.”

The door opened slowly, which was very out of the ordinary.

He read the task force sign on the building. “I’m Jeremy Johnston.” He stepped into the small reception area. “This is my fiancée, Dottie Copeland.”

Paddy walked over to them. “Hello, Jeremy, Dottie.” He shook both of their hands. “I’m Patrick O’Brien, and this is Colleen Evans.”

Colleen came over and greeted both of them.

Paddy then added, “Jeremy, Dottie, this is Mike Miller and Paul Brosque. They will be joining us while you, hopefully, help us with our investigation.”

Mike noticed Dottie looked very nervous. However, before he could say anything, Paddy continued, “Colleen, if you wouldn’t mind making Dottie comfortable in my office upstairs, we’re going to be with Jeremy in the conference room.” Paddy motioned toward the end of the hall.

Paddy took a position at the head of the table and indicated to Jeremy to take a seat to his left. Mike and Paul were on the other side of the table, facing Jeremy.

“Jeremy, I want to thank you for coming in to talk with us. I want to apologize for ruining part of your weekend with your fiancée. Congratulations, by the way.”

* * *

“Thank you, Mr. O’Brien.”

“Jeremy, please call me Paddy. I want to start by making you feel more comfortable. This is a voluntary discussion, although locating you might have been a little intimidating.”

Jeremy quickly responded. “Well, Mr.—I mean Paddy—we were kind of engaged at the time. I thought they were going to kick the door in. Dottie almost fainted when they announced they were the State Police looking for Jeremy Johnston.”

Paddy continued. “Jeremy, here’s the deal. I would like this to be a conversation about your early November ordeal. You were kidnapped by women we believe are behind these recent killings. Last night, they kidnapped your cousin Jason.”

Paddy stopped, realizing Jeremy’s reaction to that news. “You weren’t aware of his kidnapping?”

“No. Not at all. I might have expected it, but I didn’t know anything about it.”

“Well, he was kidnapped by what we believe to be the same gang who kidnapped you, and we’re trying to locate where they took him. That’s what this session is about.”

He continued, “We’re hoping you can shed some light on either the women who held you, or the location. This could take some time, but the more you talk about it, the more things might come to the surface. Would you like anything to drink?”

“No, thanks, not at this time.”

“Please let us know if you need anything, or need to take a break. Dottie is upstairs in my office with Colleen. I thought some of what you might tell us could be disturbing to her.”

“Mike and Paul are both detectives with the Boston P.D. assigned to our task force. Scott, Scott Tucker, who you know, is also helping with our investigation.”

He continued. “In fact, he is out right now trying to identify available waterfront properties which could be used by the women. Please tell us what you can about what happened.”

Jeremy did not immediately respond to Paddy’s request.

Paddy continued. “Perhaps what we have on the board could help provide some guide for what happened to you.” Paddy pointed to the board behind Jeremy.

Jeremy turned and looked at what was written on the board. He was reading but remained silent. Paddy gave him a couple of additional minutes.

Mike felt like he needed to calm Jeremy. “Jeremy, you haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not going to be accused of anything. It would have obviously been better if you had informed the police about what happened to you. However, you are lucky to be alive, and we can appreciate your situation.”

Jeremy finally spoke. “You have some things written that are right on target. Please give me a few seconds to fill in some details.”

He studied the board.

It was Jeremy’s turn to do the talking.

“I was kidnapped by a black gang. They were on me before I even noticed them. They knocked me out. When I woke up, I was hanging upside down. I was extremely cold. I had no clothes on and my hands were tied behind my back.”

He tried to talk with less emotion. “You’re right about it being women—there were three of them for most of the weekend. Then another one joined them late Sunday afternoon. They had me blindfolded. They talked about rapes. I painfully realized they thought I had committed them. They had me in this shower area . . . in fact that was the first thing I remember.”

Mike encouraged him. “Please continue.”

“I was in this shower area being sprayed with ice-cold water when I came to. I must have been covered with something, because they were washing me, not just rinsing my body.”

Paddy asked, “Do you want a coffee or something else to drink?”

“No, I’m on a roll. Thanks. During the washing, I got glimpses of their lower legs and feet. They were in the shower with me. I think they were also naked, but I couldn’t be sure.”

He stopped and looked at the board. “When I told them I didn’t rape anyone, they hit me . . . they all hit me. It was like my body hanging there increased their rage. They weren’t trying to be kind either, based on the focus of their paddles.”

Mike interrupted. “Jeremy, this is helpful. Can you remember any other senses as you recall what happened?”

“It was so cold. The water was cold. They rolled what I was hanging from into what I would call a freezer. They didn’t leave me in there long. It was long enough for me to welcome them bringing the feeling back into my body.”

He looked again at the board. “The building was either on the water or very near the water. I could hear fog horns in the background. The building smelled of old wood, wood preservative, and rope. The rope smell was very strong, and there was a smell of fish.”

Mike again prompted him. “Can you remember anything that struck you odd about your ordeal?”

“To this day, I don’t know how I survived it. They had me hanging upside down for most of the weekend. When they got tired of hitting me and punishing my body, I think they went to rest. Anyway, that break may have saved me.”

Jeremy put his head on the table in his hands and after a few moments resumed. “Up until that point, I didn’t care anymore. I wanted them to kill me. I was so cold, my head hurt, and I could feel blood on my body. I didn’t care anymore, and I yelled for them to kill me.”

Paddy called for a break when Jeremy started to cry.

* * *

A few minutes later, Jeremy continued. “I thought they had come to the point of killing me. It was late Sunday afternoon. They had me laid out on my back on this platform. My hands and feet were stretched out, like that da Vinci drawing of that naked man.”

He took a deep breath. “A voice I hadn’t heard before surprised me. She had yelled out, ‘Wait Red, wait.’ They all went quiet. I thought they were going to kill me up until that point. They left, and left me there for an hour or more.”

Paddy asked, “Was there anything you remember about when they came back?”

“Well, they untied my hands and feet and sat me up. Wait—I remember seeing one of them wearing combat boots. I think it was the one who was new. She didn’t say much, but I get the impression, now, she realized I was not my cousin. They must have been deciding what they were going to do with me.”

Paddy remarked, “This is extremely helpful; please continue.”

“They retied my hands behind me, left me blindfolded and naked, but took me to a car.”

Mike asked, “Do you remember anything about the car, or the drive?”

“Yeah. It was a station wagon. They had me lying down on the floor in the back. There was something else I remember about leaving that place. We were on the road just a couple of minutes, when we climbed a hill. I think it was a bridge from the sound it made, but we were climbing up an incline. It took a minute or so before we came back down on the other side.”

Mike noticed Paddy was leaning toward Jeremy. “Jeremy, these are the kinds of details which might make a difference in our investigation. The name ‘Red’, combat boots, the hill or bridge could be really helpful. Is there anything else?”

Jeremy looked at the board again. “It took us a long time before they dropped me off. I would say at least a half hour.”

Mike responded, “That’s very helpful as well.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention they took pictures. I could see the flash of light, and I heard the sound of a camera. They were taken at different times back in the building. They took pictures every time they put me through some other painful process. I didn’t have sex with Dottie for weeks because of the scars I had.”

Paul asked him, “Could you hear the sound of waves when you were in the building?”

Jeremy thought for a few seconds. “The only time I heard any ocean sound was when they had me on that platform. I think they had an access to the water there. I could smell something like seaweed, but not as strong anywhere else.”

Mike added, “We believe they had to do this process with direct water access.”

Jeremy excitedly remarked, “Something else I recall, when I was coming to at the start of this ordeal—they were washing me. I heard one of them say something about getting the coal dust off me.”

Paddy asked, “That’s also helpful. What about where they dropped you?”

“I was still tied up and blindfolded when they dumped me in the snow in the Medford woods. I managed to get myself untied and made it to the road.”

“Some college kids saw me and picked me up. They thought it was a hazing, but when they saw my condition, they found some clothes and drove me to Kenmore Square.”

He hesitated. “One other thing—I can’t remember if it was real, a dream, or a nightmare, but I think I saw three of their reflections in a glass display area on the second floor of that building.”

Jeremy pushed his finger into the conference room table. “One had blonde hair, another brunette—and the third was a tall redhead. I’ve racked my brain to try to remember if it was real or my mind playing tricks on me.”

Paddy and Mike looked at each other. “Jeremy, you have been a huge help. We all want to thank you for spending this time with us. If you remember anything else, please call any one of us at the number on this card. We’re doing our best to locate your cousin. We also tried to prevent his kidnapping, but that was not possible.”