The Beholder, a Maddie Richards Mystery (31 page)

Chapter 45

The next morning started with the alarm radio jabbering the national news like it did every morning. The repeating themes were continuing political scandals in the nation’s capital, and new insurrections or terrorist acts in the Middle East and elsewhere. But this morning, the national feed also included the Beholder case in Phoenix, Arizona, where a reporter had become the latest victim.

Before Maddie could leave her house, Sue Martin called.

“The hotline’s getting hotter; calls are pouring in. People are seeing bogeymen everywhere. Sergeant Brackett sends patrol cars when he thinks it’s necessary,” Sue added. “But the main reason I called was that Lieutenant Harrison wants you to get in touch with him right away. Or better still, come to his office. It sounded like he meant pronto. The man seems to have worked up a lather.”

When Maddie backed out of her driveway, she glanced at Gary’s house. The plantation shutters on the front window were closed. Last night she’d had the sense not to encourage him to stay. She enjoyed his company, but it had been a strain to remain cordial while watching him and, under the circumstances, she couldn’t get in the mood for what she knew he had on his mind. To his credit, he had been a gentleman and left after she said, “Gary, I’m exhausted. Can we pick this up some other night?” Truth was she found a lot right about the man and nothing wrong. Nothing except Jed’s suspicions and that had kept her clothed and cautious.

After turning the corner she dialed Lieutenant Harrison, wondering what had gotten the normally calm man so antsy. At least he had been a calm guy until Carmen Diaz was killed.

“Lieutenant, Maddie Richards. What’s up?”

“Where are you?”

“I just left home. To tell the truth, the whole thing sort of caught up with me last night, and I set my alarm a half hour later than usual. Officer Martin said you wanted to see me. Has anything happened?”

“No. I thought Martin would find you around the station so I told her I wanted you in my office. Chief Layton has asked me to bring him current. The reporters had waylaided the Mayor in his parking lot. He called the chief.”

“I’m on my way to the station,” she said.

“What’ve you got for me to give Chief Layton?”

“Nothing really, sir, the only thing that’s sort of solid is Steve Gibbs. He called me at home last night, but, so far, we’ve kept his name out of the media.”

“How’d he get your home number?”

“All our numbers are on file at the M.E.’s office so he likely took it before he went on the lam. Anyway, Rip had told Gibbs we suspected him. That’s what spooked him.”

“Where is he?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. He swears he’s not our guy.”

“Unless he called to confess, what else would he say?”

“If he’s the Beholder, his focus would be on running, escaping. Not claiming innocence, at least not until after we have him in custody.”

“You’re still not buying that Gibbs is our man, are you?”

“We all want this case solved, so we want him to be guilty. I’ve never thought he was.”

“How did you leave it with him?”

Maddie turned onto Central Avenue heading downtown.

“I told him the truth. We had to pursue him. He’s shaken. Ashamed. Humiliated. He felt he should have had credibility with the department. I tried to reassure him, but I didn’t get anywhere with that. Lieutenant, I’m concerned that he might do himself in, if he hasn’t already.”

“You did what you could. We’ve got surveillance on his known haunts. We’ll soon have enough to support an arrest warrant, and then we’ll find him and haul his ass in here.”

“He’s not our guy, Lieutenant.”

“But you have no other nominee, right Sergeant?”

“I can be at the station in another ten minutes if you still need to see me.”

“I don’t. You asked me to look into Brackett and Dinkins. I’ve done what I can until you get something that supports going to IA. Do you have that?”

“No sir. Those two may be nothing more than my attempt to put a face on my theory that the Beholder is somehow close to the department.”

“Gibbs is a second level insider. He can fit that theory of yours.”

“I’m telling you I’m all but certain it’s not Gibbs. Lieutenant, we need to talk more about my insider theory. If you’ll go along with that thinking for a moment, you’ll realize a big problem accompanies the insider theory: who in the department can we talk to? You tell the chief. He tells his brother-in-law and Dink knows we suspect an insider.”

“True, if Dink’s our man, Sergeant.”

“Even if he’s not our man, Dink tells another, then another is told and the information makes the departmental rounds. The Beholder learns we know he’s in our house and he’ll play his cards differently. You need to keep this theory close to your vest.”

“All right, Sergeant. We’ll keep this cockamamie theory between us for now.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Now let me switch tracks, have you been able to look into the disappearance of Steve Gibbs’s mother?”

“An old missing person’s report, filed by Steve’s Aunt Cornelia Gibbs, is all we’ve got. Steve’s mother never turned up. As you know, these kinds of runaways usually pop up again or simply come home after they find the fantasy world they ran to wasn’t real. This one didn’t. So, a good guess says she’s dead.”

“And that leaves us where?” Maddie asked.

“Steve Gibbs remains front and center, whether you like it or not. And for now, like I said, we’ll keep your cop theory between us. But I remind you, results are needed. The pressure’s coming down, and I’m passing it on to you.”

“Pass completed, sir.”

Maddie knew that if results didn’t come fast, she would be the first scapegoat. The lieutenant himself would likely be next. The city was demanding results and the mayor had promised them. So, absent results, somebody’s carcass will soon be barbequed.

Chapter 46

“Thank you for agreeing to see me again, Dr. Knight. I know it upset you the last time.”

The sound of leather carried to Maddie’s ears when the psychiatrist sat in his high-back chair, facing her across his desk. “I shouldn’t take much of your time.”

“I do wish to help, Sergeant Richards. Naturally, I want my wife’s killer found.”

“Given the masculinity of your office decor, Doctor, I’d guess that most of your patients are men?”

“Not overwhelmingly, but, yes, mostly I’d guess. Is this going somewhere, Sergeant?”

“Why did you go out of your way to get Steve Gibbs his job at the M.E.’s office?”

“Dr. Ripley and I have known each other for decades. Steve washed out in med school. He couldn’t handle the burden of deciding treatments, but he loved medicine and wanted to stay in the medical field. He knew that for him that meant on the fringe. When the assistant job came up with Ripley, Steve seemed a natural. You and I have talked about this before. I don’t see what else I can tell you.”

“And after he became Ripley’s employee, Steve continued to be your patient?”

“Yes. I’ve also told you that.”

It was time, Maddie thought, for her to play the card she had come to play.

“I remember you telling me that Steve Gibbs could do anything if told by someone else in authority. Someone he saw as the decision maker. Is that correct?”

“As a general statement, yes.”

“That leads me to ask, could a highly qualified psychiatrist shape such a patient into a killer? Particularly, if that patient had unresolved issues about his mother?”

Dr. Knight brought his hands together. The fingers touching lightly and he repeatedly bounced them off the matching ones on his other hand. He stopped and said, “Are you suggesting that I arranged the murder of my wife by manipulating Steve Gibbs to kill her for me?”

“You were certainly angry at her for her numerous affairs.”

“You’ve spoken to the private investigator I hired to get the goods on her. So, it’s been established that I knew what she was up to. And obviously I wasn’t happy about it.”

“Not happy? How about angry?”

“Yes. Angry.”

“Furious?”

“Okay, furious even. All right, I admit I was furious. That was what made me plan to divorce her and use our prenuptial agreement to cut her off financially. You know all that. But I’ve told you I couldn’t divorce her because I loved her despite her indiscretions.”

“The question of the day is not whether you could divorce your wife, but whether you could kill your wife.”

The doctor abruptly rose to his feet, sending his chair to slam against the credenza behind his desk. “I’ve tried to cooperate with you, Sergeant Richards, tried to respect the need you see for these senseless questions. But I’m tired of your harassing, accusatory style.” His body began to shake. His eyes went black and deep. He could barely restrain the fury he felt toward Maddie. “Get out of here,” he screamed, surrendering his self control. He then threw his empty coffee cup across the room, smashing it against the wall. “And don’t come back. Get out!”

***

Back at the station house, Maddie checked with Doyle Brackett about his canvas of KC’s neighbors. No one had seen anyone or anything suspicious. Next, she called Gil into her office to find out that Steve Gibbs had not been seen at his home or Dr. Ripley’s lab.

“Gil. Add Dr. Knight’s office to the places where you’re watching for Gibbs. If Gibbs is the Beholder, it may be that Dr. Knight manipulated Steve into murdering his wife.”

“Whoa! I haven’t heard that one.” Gil said, still standing in the doorway to her office, his bulk blocking the light coming from the window on the far side of the station house. “Let me get the watch on Knight’s office in the works, then you can fill me in.”

After Gil left, Sue grabbed the edge of the doorway into Maddie’s office and leaned in. “Steve Gibbs has cleaned out his bank saving and checking accounts, in all, more than twenty-five thousand. He also signed to get into his safety deposit box.”

“When?” Maddie asked sharply.

“Yesterday, during lunch, the day he never returned to work. He had obviously thought about running before he did. With that money on hand, Gibbs can dig a hole and climb in. He has no known friends, and his aunt is his only family. You were concerned that Gibbs might do himself in, but one doesn’t need twenty-five thousand dollars to commit suicide, does one?”

“But taking the money kept his options open,” Maddie replied. “If he runs, he’ll need the money. If he kills himself, it doesn’t matter whether the money is in the bank or his pocket.”

“Good point. That’s why you’re a sergeant.”

Maddie smiled. “We need to find the real killer before he makes that decision.”

“Unless, you’re wrong, Sergeant, and Steve Gibbs is the Beholder.”

Chapter 47

“Dr. Ripley, Sergeant Richards. How soon can I get your report on Katie Carson?”

“I’m sure Lieutenant Harrison told you that we found nothing new. As you know, we had the expected variance in the point of death during the mutilation, and the fact that the killer had reversed the order of things with the face preceding the breasts. Other than these differences, we found nothing of significance. Oh, there was also his penetrating her with the microphone, but that took us nowhere either.”

“I know, but I didn’t attend the autopsy so I’d like to read your report.”

“I understand Sergeant. It’d be quicker if Steve had not disappeared, but then I guess I’m partly responsible for that. I’ll get after it. I should have it done tomorrow, late afternoon.”

***

“Hey, Linc. Maddie. How are you?”

“Hello Maddie. I’m busy as hell to tell the truth, but I still find time to think about us. Where are you?”

“I’m sitting at my desk. My door’s closed. Just wanted to talk.”

“You sound like your tail’s dragging. Are you missing me, or is it the Beholder case?”

“Sure I’m missing you, but I can do something about the Beholder, at least I hope I can. I’ve got several suspects, but none of the lids fit the jars.”

“I heard through our field office about Steven Gibbs. I take it you don’t like him for it?”

“We’re pursuing him. Trying to make it fit, but I don’t think he’s our guy. He lacks the authority base anywhere in his life that would give him confidence to go after women who project power. He just wouldn’t have the balls for it.”

“He still could be the guy, Maddie. Profiling is not provable math. He could have gotten over his fear of authority. He could have a split personality and when he kills he’s a different guy. Cocky. Confident. His alter ego.”

“Could be? I’m chasing it, but I’m not buying it. Now, it could be Abigail Knight’s husband. As you recall, he’s a shrink and Gibbs is his longtime patient.”

“Dr. Knight wanted his cheating wife dead,” Linc mused, “so he plays Dr. Frankenstein by twisting patient Gibbs into his surrogate killer. Then he has Gibbs kill the others to throw you off the real path. I’ve seen stranger cases.”

“I met with Dr. Knight this morning,” Maddie said. “I pushed him. He blew his top but didn’t divulge anything. Then, he’s a mind guy so he could be fooling me. There’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. I know it’s there, but I can’t seem to touch it. Maybe I’m just reaching, hoping it’s there.”

“You could bring in Gibbs. Squeeze him. If your theory is real, the very traits that Dr. Knight used to reshape Gibbs into a killer, you might be able to use to reshape him into giving up the good doctor.”

“I may give that a go when we find Gibbs. He’s in hiding now. He called me to profess his innocence and I believed him. I think I’ll hear from him again, unless he does himself in first.”

“If it is Dr. Knight behind this, he could have Gibbs programmed to end his own life as the pressure mounts. That way the good doctor has his unfaithful wife killed, the other killings confuse the who and the why, then his puppet killer checks himself out. After that, the department buys Gibbs as the killer, the Beholder killings stop, and the city relaxes. Done deal and the doc’s home free.”

“It’s a pretty neat package when you wrap it up like that. When the Beholder killed KC, he jammed her handheld microphone up inside her. We’re keeping it quiet. We don’t believe he has previously had any contact with his victims’ genitalia. What do you make of it?”