Spare the Lambs (16 page)

Could these role models be responsible for her crimes?  Should the mayor take a closer look at the lower classes to prevent promising young people from going so wrong?  Lily Summers is a prime example of why the government should spend more time and effort to help…….

May 2, 2001 from personal computer

              I woke up this morning to Eric standing by my bed, frowning down at me.  My cat was sleeping my chest, so I guess that means the boy and all the others are nothing more than a sign of my madness.  I can’t remember how many times I’ve read about pets freaking out when a ghost was near.  I started thinking about having myself committed, but I can’t until I see justice done.

              I got up, showered, and dressed with Eric’s disapproving eyes on me.  I drove to work in a cold sweat, but I must have left my delusions at home, because I didn’t see any dead people for the rest of the day.  What had the girl said? Would she tell me where the others’ were?  Would they be taken away from true justice and put in a barred hotel for the rest of their long lives?  Every few minutes I had to force myself to stop worrying about it.  Whatever happened was going to happen, whether I gave myself ulcers or not.

              When I got to the station, I strode into the bullpen and searched for the desk Agent Johnston had taken over, while we were stuck with him.  I was frustrated to find he had taken the desk beside mine.  He sat there and happily recounted the interrogation so far.  Lily had been home alone when the police showed up to arrest her.  She had asked the officer and Johnston show their identification through the peephole before she would unlock the door.  So far, she had signed a confession to the murder of Michele Hardy five years ago. 

              His happiness over the girl’s arrest surprised me.  Not the excitement so much as the fact that he would share that excitement with me.  I guess he was simply so happy about finally making an arrest on this damn case that he forgot he hated me.  I asked about the Lee Maynard case and his eyes lost their glint of joy.  He told me they had no leads so far.  The lack of leads on Lee’s case made me almost as happy as Lily had made him.  However, I couldn’t share that joy.

              Lily had been placed in a single cell in the holding area.  Most criminals, no matter their crimes, tended to hate anyone that hurts children.  Plus, putting a pretty young woman in a cell with men and/or women would end with her being raped.  Personally, I don’t see a problem with handing her over to criminals’ justice, except that no one should ever be raped.  Well, maybe rapist should get raped, but no one else.

              I asked a passing officer to bring Lily Summers to one of the interrogation rooms, so I could question her myself.  I could’ve talked to her in her cell, but the interrogation room would keep things professional.  I was less likely to tell her that I was going to have her killed if the cameras and recording devices were on.  As I left for the interrogation rooms, I looked back at Agent Johnston.  He had an odd look on his face that he changed as soon as he noticed me looking.  He definitely looked worried and perhaps a little afraid.

              As I walked through the halls, I thought of how to take care of the girl.  Getting someone to kill the monster while she was still in the station wouldn’t work.  No matter how much evidence we had on the people in the holding cells, they always thought they could get away with it.  Committing a murder while awaiting charges was so hard to get away with that even those idiots wouldn’t do it.  The truly sad part is, depending on their lawyer, they might beat anything the police could gather.

Getting someone to kill her in prison, if the courts didn’t decide to put her to death, would be extremely easy.  A word to the right person, get the guards to back off a bit, or offer money to an inmate’s family and they will kill whomever you want.  The system is broken.   Most prisons only teach criminals how to commit bigger crimes than whatever landed them in there in the first place.

On my way to interview Lily, the Chief congratulated me.  I thanked him, but explained that I wasn’t even working when she turned herself in.  He smiled, slapped me on the back, and said, “I know, but you put the pressure no that finally broke her.”

I told him that I had to go and question the girl.  I did need to run, but to stop myself from bursting into hysterical laughter.  He had no idea just how right he was.  Hopefully, no one would ever know that by killing two of her friends, I had forced her to confess to save her life.  However, I swore that it would only prolong her life and not actually save it.

I had been waiting in the little mirrored room for ten minutes, before the young woman was ushered in.  Her hair was limp and she had bags under her red-ringed eyes.  The orange jumpsuit made her pale skin look sickly.  She sat in the chair across from me and the bolted-down table.  Agent Johnston came into the room and leaned against the two-way mirror.  He looked like he was ready to wait a long time.  I would’ve been more comfortable, and it would’ve made more sense, if he waited in the small observation room on the other side of the mirror, but he wanted his presence to be known, either by Lily or me.

“Alright Miss Summers, let’s start with why you chose to wait so long before coming in.”  My question staggered her a little, as if no one had asked her that yet.  What had they done yesterday?  Did they give her a piece of paper and a pen, then wait in another room for her to confess.

“I saw that Lee, emm, Maynard was dead.  It was on the news and all.  Then, I saw the poster at the mall saying that James had disappeared.  I thought someone knew.”  She stopped and looked at the table, as if ashamed by her fear.  Johnston straightened, looked at me with what bordered on accusation, and then quickly left the room.  He was noticeably pissed that I got another lead on my first question when he’d had her for a whole day.  However, if he was any good at his job, I would be where she sat now.  Had I just pointed them to my second murder?  I know Johnston couldn’t keep any leads in the Lee case to himself, I was clear.  But, did I cover my tracks well enough to get away with James’s murder?

“Do you know where the other two are?” I paused as if trying to remember, “Samantha and Gerald?”  She bit her lower lip and refused to look at me.  “I can’t offer you any deals, I’m not the DA, but I do know it will help you with the judge if you help us find the others.”

She shook her head and said, “I never knew where Gerald lived.  I think Sammy was the only one that ever knew, if she even knew.  Sammy’s family moved away from the city some time last year.  She got her own place but I don’t know where.  I haven’t really cared about much since Eric,” her voice broke.  She cleared her throat and finished, “died.”

“What are their last names? What was Sammy’s parent’s name?  She must have mentioned them.”  I realized I was battering her with my questions, when she started to sob.  How had they interrogated her?  Did they ask her nicely until she finally confessed?  How can such a cold-blooded killer be brought the tears so easily.  Well, I wasn’t going to fall for her innocent act.  I’d seen her victims.  God, I still see her victims.

“I don’t know,” she wailed.

We spent an hour together, I asked her questions and she failed to answer any of them.  There was no way anyone was as oblivious to the conversations going on around them as she wanted me to believe she had been.  She hadn’t cared for Eric.  That’s why Judith never mentioned any changes in her expressions and actions after Eric’s death.  Johnston came back in and nodded for me to follow him out. 

He tried to yell at me for the way I had questioned her.  I stopped him before he could start by explaining that none of us in the station answered to him.  We only helped him in hopes of getting rid of the feds.  That stopped him mid word.  I was a little surprised and pleased.  But, I know I will definitely hear about that comment from the Chief.  Johnston glared at me and said that he needed to look into James Levee’s disappearance.  He grabbed the arm of a passing officer and ordered him to take the girl back to her cell.

I didn’t try to stop the officer.  She was of no more use to me and I could continue delivering justice.  If Sammy hadn’t turned herself in by now, she wasn’t going to.  The police wouldn’t find her, or at least not find her alive.

The Charlesville Times, cover page.

May 3, 2001

Another Easter Murderer Identified

Lily Summers, confessed member of the Easter Murderers, has identified another member of the murderous group.  This admission, while given after only one day in custody, may be too late to catch the suspect.  The person identified is James Levee age 16.  James was reported missing on April 31.  His car was found parked at the YMCA on 10th Ave.  Blood stains matching James’s blood type were found inside.

His car was found by Officer Smith early on May 1.  The officer checked the vehicle because, “sometimes teens park in empty lots to drink or fool around.”  Upon closer inspection, the officer noticed blood on the steering wheel and driver’s seat.  The window was lowered and the keys had been left in the ignition.

If James feared that he would be caught, why not take the car as he ran?  His identity hadn’t been known and he could have used the car to make it across the country before anyone began looking for him.  The blood suggests he might have been injured, but no one matching his description has been seen at any of the city’s hospitals.

The blood and disappearance may point to another member of the group being killed.  One missing and possibly dead, another killed, and one dead by his own hand.  Is one member of the group offing the others?  Or does a madman know of their crimes and is killing them off?

May 3, 2001 from personal computer

              I had no idea how to get Sammy to cough up Gerald’s location.  If their leader hadn’t already run off, then the moment he found out his girlfriend was missing, he would run as fast as he can.  I still haven’t discovered Samantha's or Gerald’s last names, which would make locating them much easier.  If James didn’t know her new address, I might never be able to find her.  He hadn’t mentioned if they lived together.  If they don’t, how was I going to get to the boy?

              As luck would have it, I dreamed the answer.  In my dream, I was in a little wooden shack.  In the corner, the girl was gagged and tied up.  Gerald stood in the shadow of the door.  He’d come to save his girl.  I woke with a smile on my face and Judith smiling at me from the closet.  As I made coffee my kitten was eating the wet food I had got her the night before.  She must’ve picked up on my happiness because she wanted to play.  I drank my coffee while she attacked my socked foot.

              At the station, Agent Johnston was already busy questioning Lily again.  I think it embarrassed the big FBI agent when I got the identity of another murderer out of Lily in less than a minute.  Sadly, getting that information in front of Johnston will make it impossible for the force to forget about James.  I had hoped that he would be thought of as a typical run away. 

Eventually, Lily will tell us where all the murders happened, if someone is smart enough to ask such a simple question.  Anyone checking those sites for stray clues will find James’s body.  I would move his body, but I didn’t know if Johnston had the locations already.  I wouldn’t put it past him to keep clues just to spite me.  It’s also a normal practice to watch body dumps to see if the murderer returns to savor it.

              I would have to just trust my luck and move quickly.  I signed out claiming that I would go check James’s home and neighborhood.  I headed straight to Ewing Street and found a parking spot three buildings down from building number 600.  I felt like there was a large clock ticking away in my chest.  The time to deliver justice was fading fast, one or both of the remaining killers might run or turn themselves in to save their worthless lives.  I decided that risks must be taken before they were beyond my grasp.  I walked around Samantha’s apartment building for a few hours asking her neighbors about her.  From Eric’s and Judith’s descriptions I could use the appearance of serious drug use as a cover.  I questioned the people in apartments number 1 through 13 and number 17 through 20, in order to avoid any chance that she may hear me if she was home.

              Half of the people had no idea who I was asking about, while the others were all too willing to believe I was from the vice department and was looking for the girl in connection with drugs.  No one thought about the fact that her description, which they confirmed, would’ve made her the worst dealer ever.  No good dealer uses their own product.

              The older woman in apartment number 10, told me she had seen a young blond man going into her apartment a few times.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the man or what day or time of day he’d stopped by, so waiting for him wouldn’t work.  A man from apartment number 1 told me he had seen Sammy smiling at her phone half of the time, probably at a text.  He looked like I had punched him in the stomach when I told him my bullshit story.  The look and the amount of details he gave me on her, told me he had the hots for the girl.

              The old man in apartment number 13, told me that Sammy worked during the day and was normally home in the evenings.  I drove over to James’s home and at the same time planned what I would do.  The happy texts were probably from Gerald, a text or call from her phone might get him to go wherever I wanted him.  He would come, if he truly cared for her, or cared about finding who it was killing his friends.  He would answer.