The Dying Room (10 page)

Dell Road, 10:45 p.m.

“So this tall man just showed up at Mrs. Dority’s door?” Jess glanced up at Dan who was so generously massaging her shoulders. She had been alternately pacing the floor and sitting at this desk in her home office for better than three hours. Eventually, the chair had won out.

Mrs. Dority was the mother of Meredith Dority. Meredith had worked with Mayor Pratt years ago when Dan had been the liaison between the BPD and the mayor’s office. The two had been married briefly during that time. Sadly, Meredith was murdered by one of Eric Spears’ followers last September.

“She said,” Dan repeated, “he showed up at her door about eight-thirty this evening. Detectives Wells and Harper are over there now taking her statement.”

Jess huffed. “I would have preferred to do that myself.”

“I knew you would,” Dan confessed, “that’s why I called Harper while you were still in the shower and sent him and Wells over there.”

Growling her frustration in spite of those magic hands, Jess checked the time. “One of them should be calling me any minute.”

“I have every confidence.” Those wonderful fingers stopped in their work. “How about a cup of hot cocoa?”

Jess looked up at him again, feeling a little contrite now. “I would really love that, but I hate to put you to so much trouble at this hour.”

Dan smiled. “No trouble. You do what you have to do and I’ll be back shortly.” He paused at the door. “Marshmallows?” he asked with a wink.

She grinned. He knew her well. “Please.”

 Jess watched him go. She felt bad that he refused to go to bed without her, but she couldn’t stop replaying that interview with Durham. She was exhausted, there was no doubt about that part, and still her mind wouldn’t stop going back to the undeniable fact that Pratt’s and Rutledge’s murders were connected. The killer had obviously put the word out so that men like Durham would hear the news. The tall thin man who’d visited Durham on Monday had to be involved somehow. If only the prison camera had gotten a better shot at his face. Damn it! Now, a man matching that same description showed up at Mrs. Dority’s house. This was no coincidence.

Turning her attention back to the computer, she flicked a few keys and summoned the search results for the
dying rooms
. Her heart sank when she clicked on the images of the children. How could a rage killer like Durham compare himself to the innocent children left in such deplorable conditions? According to the reports, many of the children were simply left to die in the government run orphanages. How could a government be so cruel to its own people? She shuddered.

Forcing herself to continue reading, she slowly began to see the connection Durham appeared to be drawing to his own ugly history. Many of the children were abandoned by their families for reasons Jess couldn’t begin to understand. Some of the children were unwanted because they were the wrong sex, female. Others were sick or physically challenged in some way. Her chest ached and her stomach churned at the horrors. The children ended up in horrible conditions, some suffering slow unthinkable deaths. According to Durham’s psych eval, he’d been tossed aside by his mother when he was born with clubbed feet. He hadn’t known his father, and his grandmother had allegedly abused him as a child. His allegations to the prison psychiatrist included beatings, starvation, and sexual abuse. In his mind, he’d been abandoned as surely as those children in the reports Jess had just read. He’d been abused and, essentially, left to die more than once.

The difference was that Durham had survived to adulthood. He’d had choices. The children in these reports had none.

“Here we go,” Dan announced as he returned with a steaming cup of cocoa on an heirloom silver platter his mother had given them.

Jess closed the window on the computer screen and blinked in hopes of clearing the horrific images from her eyes. There were some things a person could never
unsee
.

“Thank you so much.” She placed a soft kiss on his handsome jaw as he leaned down to place the cocoa in front of her. “Where’s yours?”

Before he could answer, the doorbell rang. Bear growled, scrambled to his feet, and raced off to bark at the front door. Dan frowned. “I’ll get back to you.”

Jess hoped everything was okay with his parents. She imagined his mother would have called if his father had taken ill. Though Dan Senior seemed to be doing well these days, he had a history of cardiac episodes. She supposed it could be Lori or Chet reporting in, but mostly likely they would call. The sound of Sylvia’s voice eased the tension nudging Jess. Not Dan’s parents. Thank God.

Was there bad news about Nina? The new worry gnawed at Jess until Sylvia walked into the room with Dan and Bear right behind her.

“I knew you were still working,” Sylvia explained. “I saw the light.” She gestured to the window that overlooked the backyard. Their house sat on a corner lot. Anyone driving up the side street would see lights on in the rear of the house.

Jess pushed out of her chair. Her cocoa was too hot to drink anyway. “Looks like I’m not the only one working late.” She hesitated at the corner of her desk. “Unless this is about something else.”

It was then that Jess noticed just how pale Sylvia’s face was. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Maybe you should sit down,” Jess suggested.

Sylvia stood there not saying a word.

“Two more hot cocoas coming up,” Dan announced, breaking the awkward silence.

Jess ushered Sylvia to the sofa near the window. “Thanks, sweetie,” she said to Dan when he lingered by the door. “Sylvia would love a cup.”

When it was just the two them with Bear curled at their feet, Jess clasped Sylvia’s hands in her own. “What’s going on?”

Sylvia seemed to snap from the trance she’d drifted into. “I thought my life was...” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Okay. I don’t have any financial worries. My career is great. My love life is...” Sylvia shrugged again. “Sometimes really great. But, you know,” she turned to Jess, “I really believed things were damned good considering the state of the world. Sure, we’ve all done things in the past we regret, but lately I’ve been dwelling on a decision I made half a lifetime ago.” She shook her head. “I’ve been all wrapped up in ancient history and I didn’t see that there was something terribly wrong here and now.”

“Take your time,” Jess offered, “and tell me what’s going on.”

“I received the tox screen back on the judge.” Sylvia pulled her hands free of Jess’s and clenched them in her lap. “The cause of death was cardiac arrest. He was administered a lethal injection of the same three drugs used to execute prisoners on death row.”

Jess felt the new tension stir and start to climb up her spine. “Pratt?”

“I believe we’ll find the same. I’ve put an extra rush on the testing, but I won’t be able to confirm until the results are back.”

Jess rubbed at the worry lines across her forehead with the back of her hand. “If we’re dealing with the same killer in both cases, as my team and I suspect, I doubt he’s finished.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Sylvia wrung her hands a little harder. “Pratt has the eagle tattoo on his scalp. Same size, color, and location as the one I discovered on Rutledge.”

“Both belonged to the same good old boys’ club,” Jess added. Birmingham might be one of the most progressive cities in Alabama, but some things hadn’t changed a whole lot. Women like herself and Sylvia fought hard to attain a level in their careers enviable by most, female or male. In Sylvia’s case, it hadn’t hurt that she was also a senator’s daughter and wealthy. And still, neither she nor Sylvia belonged to that club.

“Should I be offended?” Dan asked as he returned with two more cups of cocoa. He set one on the coffee table in front of Sylvia. Before Jess could ask, he brought hers over.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Jess sipped her cocoa. “Sylvia may have uncovered another connection between Rutledge and Pratt.”

Dan pulled Jess’s executive desk chair around her desk and closer to the sofa. “I’m listening.”

“Both the victims had the eagle I was telling you about.” Jess hadn’t thought much of the tattoo. Rutledge had been a young man at one time. Young men often did wild and impulsive things. There was no reason to suspect it was connected to any aspect of the case.

“Have you found an organizational connection related to the tattoo?” Dan lifted his cocoa but hesitated before taking a sip. “I can’t think of any clubs or organizations that use a single blue eagle as a logo.”

“Whatever it is,” Sylvia spoke up, “Daddy has one.”

At least now Jess knew what it was that had Sylvia so upset.

“After I saw the one the judge had,” Sylvia explained, “I remembered seeing Daddy’s when I was a child. I asked him about it and he said he’d gotten it while he was in the Air Force. When I mentioned the matching one I discovered on Rutledge’s body, Daddy pretended to know nothing about it.” She stared at her cocoa. “I went to see him tonight. After finding the same thing on Pratt, I wanted answers. I demanded to know the truth.”

Jess waited through a tense moment of silence.

“He lied to me.” Sylvia exhaled a heavy breath. “He looked me in the eyes and told me there was nothing to it. He said some nonsense about old buddies making a mistake a long time ago.”

“It’s possible he could be right,” Jess said even as her instincts warned that he had indeed lied to Sylvia.

She shook her head again. “When I left he called someone. Whoever he called, he said they had to talk. That the police were going to start asking questions.”

“If our killer has a list, as we suspect, the senator could be on it.” Jess could definitely see how terrifying that prospect was for Sylvia.

“I’m worried, Jess. I’ve never known my daddy to lie to me. Who would he be protecting?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s keeping something like this from me.”

“We all have secrets,” Jess reminded her. She glanced at Dan. “Most of us anyway.” Jess and Dan had made a promise to each other on their wedding day that they would never keep secrets from one another. “Is it possible your mother would know about whatever this is?”

“I don’t think so.” Sylvia visibly forced herself to sip the cocoa.

Jess doubted she had bothered with dinner. “Have you had dinner? Would you like a sandwich or something?”

“I had a bowl of soup with Daddy while I worked up the courage to confront him.”

“I can’t imagine the senator keeping a secret related to the murder of two men,” Dan said. “He, Pratt, and Rutledge respected one another. There must be some aspect of this you don’t know that will explain everything.”

Sylvia squared her shoulders. “I hope so. Either way I’m taking a few days off work.”

“I can understand you might want to be close to your father right now.” Jess would do the same. “I’ll speak to the senator tomorrow. Maybe he’ll come clean with me.”

“I want to help with the investigation,” Sylvia stated.

Jess was confused. “Why take a few days off then? You’re the ME on this case.”

“I want to be with you every step of the way on this one. I don’t want to be stuck in the morgue. This is a high profile case, Martin will take over if I make the request.” Sylvia gave a nod as if the decision was made. “We’ll consider it a ride along. I’m sure your team won’t mind.”

“But you’re already a part of the team by doing exactly what you do.”

“I won’t take no for an answer, Jess. This is my daddy we’re talking about. I have to be a part of every step.”

Jess looked to Dan. She actually didn’t have an issue with Sylvia being involved, she supposed. As chief of police, the buck stopped with Dan. “I’m game, if you don’t see a problem.”

“If Dr. Leeds is agreeable, then so am I.”

“Martin Leeds wouldn’t dare say no to me,” Sylvia informed Dan.

“I’ll expect you at the office by eight in the morning,” Jess warned.

“I’ll be there.” Sylvia’s relief was palpable.

The baby kicked Jess hard. She jumped and pressed a hand to her belly. “I think someone’s trying to tell me something.”

Sylvia set her cup aside. “I should go and let you get to bed.” She stood. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Jess nodded. “I’ll be there. Night.”

The sound of Dan’s voice reassuring her as he walked Sylvia out made Jess feel warm inside. He was such a good man. She rubbed circles on her belly. This baby was going to be a very lucky child.

Jess got to her feet and gathered the cups onto the platter Dan had used to serve. She shuffled to the kitchen with Bear right on her heels, rinsed the cups, and placed them into the dishwasher. As she straightened away from the dishwasher, one of those harsh twinges twisted in her lower back. She groaned.

“Hold on, little one,” she said softly. “We have a couple of weeks to go yet.”

Her cell rang and she forgot all about back pain. She hurried back to her office and snatched it up.
Lori calling
. “Hey, Lori. How’d it go with Mrs. Dority?”

“The guy showed up at her door. She wouldn’t open it since she didn’t know him. He told her he understood and that he had a message for her.”

Jess hoped this was something that would provide a direction in the case instead of simply more questions.

“He told her the man who had put her daughter in harm’s way had paid for his evil deeds and that she could rest easy now.”

“Pratt.” Jess nodded. “Did her visitor introduce himself?” Not that it would have mattered. He would likely have used another alias. Al Hitchcock certainly hadn’t been his name. They had tracked down every A. Hitchcock in the greater Birmingham area. There were only three. None were tall and thin and only one was Caucasian.

“Al Hitchcock,” Lori confirmed. “She described him. He was the same guy who visited Durham.”

The image they’d viewed of the visitor to the prison filled Jess’s mind. “Well, I think maybe we’ve got our guy. We just don’t know who he is or exactly what his face looks like.”

Lori laughed. “It’s a start.”

“That it is. Thanks, Lori. See you in the morning.”

Jess ended the call and headed for the bedroom. She was beat. Dan caught up to her in the hall. “I turned off the lights in the office.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, not an easy feat these days. “I’m going to get you to bed. You look ready to collapse.”