Serial Separation (6 page)

Chapter 16

I was late.

Today was the task force kickoff meeting. The accident on Memorial Drive was just enough to delay me. Surely Paddy would have already started the meeting. I could feel the sweat on my back from hurrying, but I found a parking spot not too far from the office.

I opened the front door to the office, stepped in from the cold, feeling the warmth inside. Colleen indicated the meeting had started and gave me the hush sign.

I whispered, “Thanks,” then headed to the rear door of the conference room. I tried to quietly enter the conference room, but the old building’s door gave me up, the squeak caused Paddy to stop in mid-sentence. I quickly found an empty seat in the rear.

Paddy resumed. “Both men had similar characteristics; white, college age, and well built. Their extremities were removed, including genitalia. The medical examiner confirmed their identity based on the medical records provided. Last Friday, Bob Sullivan, another college student, was reported missing, along with Cathy Palmer. Neither has turned up, but we feel Mr. Sullivan may be our next torso victim.”

While he continued, I studied the people in the room. I recognized other members of the earlier task force, including Paul Brosque. It was also easy to notice Attorney General Victor Young, who had the most expensive looking suit in the room. Many of the others must have been members of the press.

Paddy continued. “My role as task force commander is to focus a tiger team to find the killer, or killers, of these young men.”

“Our previous task force efforts were to organize all of the applicable state, city and community units into a single cohesive team to find the New England strangler. I’m sure all of you know we were successful. Finding the strangler, and another perpetrator who killed two former camp counselors, was a credit to the team and the different participating entities. However, although we were successful, the process was new, and it took too long to apprehend the guilty parties.” He stopped to take a drink of water, resuming leaning on the window sill.

“We established many procedures and methods to facilitate faster information sharing among the different organizations. Many of those organizations are represented in this room, while others were unable to attend. I am counting on these methods to expedite the capture of whoever is behind these gruesome killings. Please hold your questions—I’ll be done shortly. All the bodies were recovered on the North Shore, which leads us to believe the bodies were dumped in the Boston Harbor area. I meant to mention that the two men, and the new potential victim, were last seen on a Friday night. They were also in the water several days before they washed on shore.”

The room was very warm. Paddy must have also noticed it, taking another drink of water.

“I’m almost done. The preliminary coroner’s report on the bodies indicated that the hands, feet, and head were severed by a sharp, heavy object mashing the bones in all of the respective areas, causing instant death. Okay, I’ll take your questions now. Ed, since I held you off a couple of times—you’re first.”

“Thanks, Paddy. What about the private parts?”

“We’re purposely not going into too many details, but the removal does imply the killings could be sexually related. The danger of jumping to conclusions is risky; it could have been done to throw us off target. The coroner’s report did indicate that they were removed prior to death.”

Another reporter asked, “Paddy what’s next in your investigation?”

“Good question. We’re currently interviewing people who last saw the two victims and the same with Bob Sullivan and Cathy Palmer. The last two hold the most promise, since it was last Friday night they disappeared. Possibly someone saw something in the area where they were last seen.”

“We are also asking the FBI for profiler assistance, as well as other resources available locally. You can include that if you care to.”

“I would like you to publicize the establishment of the task force, which might prevent further killings.”

Paddy finished his water and looked around the room. With no further questions, he ended the meeting.

“I want to thank you for your attendance today and attention on this matter. We’re going to assemble the task team in the other room. You are welcome to take pictures. Please follow me to the other room. Members of the team should reassemble here after pictures. Thank you.”

Everyone headed to the other room, but I managed to pull Mike aside. “Mike, I’m sorry I was late, but there was an accident on Memorial Drive.”

“Paddy waited about two minutes to get started. Someone mentioned they passed an accident and traffic was backed up. You know that’s unusual for him to delay starting anything . . . I think he might just like you. Any chance you can join me tonight around six for a beer?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Nothing in particular. We haven’t touched base in several weeks, and I thought we could catch up on things. I’m interested in how things are going, and how Lisa is. You also mentioned you knew the first two guys, and also Bob Sullivan . . . so maybe we could talk about that hockey league in more detail.”

“Okay. I also have to come back for that interview this afternoon with Paddy and another—”

Paddy interrupted our conversation. “Hey, you two stragglers; we’re waiting on you . . . again.”

Shortly, we were all in our places, with Paddy and the AG standing in front of us, shaking hands. I heard Paddy whisper to the AG, “No, I believe we can expect more. Unfortunately, this is not the end.”

* * *

“Good afternoon,” Paddy said as both Colleen and the tall, red-headed woman stood at his office doorway.

“Paddy, this is Mercedes Strong; Mercedes, this is Paddy O’Brien, and he prefers Paddy over Mr. O’Brien.” After Colleen introduced them, Mercedes took a few quick strides to Paddy, offering her hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you . . . Paddy.”

Colleen watched as the two of them exchanged pleasantries. She felt uncomfortable for the first time since she had been connected with the task force. She turned without a word, heading back to her reception desk downstairs. She overheard the men talking about the redhead, and some were already using her name—Mercedes.

Colleen had a feeling about Mercedes, but she tried to put it aside, since she didn’t know anything about the girl—except, she wished she could impact a room of men like she had. She looked around, and everyone had returned to their areas. She looked down at her own outfit.

The skirt was a pretty blue, complementing her sweater. She thought the slight scoop of the neckline focused the attention on her ample bosom, but in a professional way. She looked again at the skirt but noticed the length certainly was too long, cutting across the bottom of her knees.

She hiked the skirt up so that more of her knees showed, and then her thighs. She pulled it up to Mercedes’ skirt level.
Wow—not bad.
It would definitely draw more attention now.

* * *

I felt the cold doorknob and opened the task force door. I stepped into the reception area and surprised Colleen. She was frozen in place with her skirt hiked up to mid-thigh. She looked like a deer caught in headlights.

I was caught off guard by the sight and commented, “If you’re looking for input—in a word . . . YES.” Colleen’s face went immediately red, and she let go of her skirt.

“I’m sorry, Scott, you’ll have to forgive me . . . I was just . . . well . . . you’ll know soon enough. Paddy is waiting for you in his office, and the interviewee is with him; please go up.”

I started to climb the stairs when Colleen called out. “You better brace yourself.” She stood up and hiked her skirt up again. I had never paid that much attention to her, but I found her gesture amusing.

I could only smile at her and chuckle. “Thanks, I guess.”

Approaching the landing, I could hear their muffled voices but couldn’t yet make out the conversation. The door to Paddy’s office was open. Obviously, a woman was sitting facing Paddy, her red hair hanging over the back of the chair. I knocked and waited for Paddy to acknowledge.

“Good afternoon, Scott, please come in. I would like you to meet Mercedes Strong, who also attends Harvard. Mercedes, this is Scott Tucker,” Paddy said, standing.

I went over to Mercedes, who stood up quickly and turned to make eye contact. I felt the impact of her beauty.

“N-nice to meet you, Mercedes,” I said, with a catch I hadn’t expected.

“How are you? It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Mercedes said with a voice louder than mine.

She shook my hand, the strength of her handshake catching me off guard.

“I’m fine,” I said, without knowing what more to say. I could feel the electricity in her grasp, the warmth of her palm, the softness of her skin. I caught my actions, letting go of her hand.

Paddy came to my rescue. “Please, Scott, sit down and join us; we were just talking about the role we need on the team. Mercedes, Scott assisted on our last task force.”

I waited for her to sit down, and I could feel the slight color coming to my face. I couldn’t help focusing on her long legs when she crossed them. I tried to take an unnoticed breath. I sat down, slightly facing her in the other vacant chair in front of Paddy’s desk.

I worried about my voice. “So, Mercedes, you’re at Harvard—what’s your major?”

With a big smile drilling into my eyes, she offered, “I have a double major—criminal justice and psychology. I hope to pursue a profiler role, similar to Dr. Brussels, but many people have no idea what that is. Do you?”

She put me on the defensive. “Well, since Paddy had talked to us about someone who can take the case circumstances and paint a picture of the potential perpetrator . . . I guess I have a general idea of what one is.”

“That’s close enough. What interests me about the task force is that you are processing all this seemingly unrelated data. Maybe I can help paint a picture of what kind of person would most likely be committing these crimes. I’m aware of what has been published. In addition, Paddy shared some information with me,” Mercedes responded with a flip of her hair.

I smiled, looking at Paddy, knowing now what Colleen was warning me about. It was going to be hard talking to Mercedes with her legs staring at me.

Paddy rescued me once again, bringing our focus back to him. “Mercedes, I have copies of your transcript. It is very impressive. This is not really an interview, as I don’t believe there is anyone at Harvard more qualified than you. If you don’t mind working with a bunch of males who are not always the most polite and have bad habits, the least of which is excessive coffee drinking, and smoking, we have a role for you.”

He added, “The position is yours if you want it. If you want to try it out for a while, that’s fine also. However, I think we could use your talents on the team now. I believe the experience you will gain will be of some value to your future pursuit.”

“Paddy, I’ve done my homework already. If your team would like me, I’m ready to start.”

Paddy smiled. “I admire your quick decision making, young lady. Why don’t you tell us more about yourself? I’m going to get another cup of coffee. Please feel free to begin. I’ll be right back. I can still hear you out there.”

Paddy slowly rose, looking at me to carry on the conversation, but asked, “Can I get you a cup—Mercedes, Scott?”

Mercedes responded, “Yes, please, black, no sugar, thanks.”

“I’ll get mine in a while; thanks Paddy,” I added. Paddy left the room. I moved my chair over, hoping to block the view of her legs. “So, what brings a beautiful person like you to this task team?”

Immediately, she repositioned herself to face me without much regard for Paddy returning.

“Let me start with, this is a dream assignment. I’m looking to improve on my learned skills, with actual murder investigation experience. I would hope the combination would increase the demand for my talent down the road. Finding the killers will allow me to sort out how I might have been on, or off, target.”

I watched her talk about this and her background leading up to Harvard. I noticed she used her hands to make points, her bright red nails flashing in front of my face. I later noticed that Paddy had returned and was watching us over his coffee cup.

“I was also on the cheer squad in high school, but I had to drop that for personal reasons, focusing on my school work to get into Harvard. I managed to get a limited scholarship, which helps some, but my dad is in real estate and paying my tuition.”

“The family helps with the business. I manage one of his real estate leases for him, since I go to school in the area. That really doesn’t take too much of my time and gives me some spending money.”

I realized she would be a good teammate, wondering what Lisa would think of her.

She interrupted my thoughts. “Do you work out? You look like you keep in good shape.”

“I only have enough time to do some isometrics, but thanks for asking. If anyone works out it must be you. Your handshake has some real emphasis to it. Do you?”

She laughed. “That’s my last name—Strong. Yes, I try to work out at the campus several times a week, but I’m impacted by classes and tutoring I’m doing. The tutoring ties up weekends.”

Paddy interrupted us. “I’ll be interested in your immediate reaction to the data we have on the killings. If you want to get started tomorrow morning, I would like to bring you up to speed on the details.”

“Great, I have some things to do this afternoon,” she said, adjusting her skirt. She looked like she was going to say something more, but just smiled.

Paddy nodded his head. “Tomorrow is just fine then. We’ll see you both when you can make it in the morning.”

I felt like she was reading my mind about her beauty and my thoughts about Lisa. I could feel my face flushing again.

She stood up, took a step in my direction, and offered her hand. It was warmer to the touch than I remembered, but there was even more emphasis on the pressure than the first time. I was also more prepared.