The Night Killer Part 27

Conrad slapped his thigh. "You listen here. I've been patient with you people insulting me, but I've had it. I'm not corrupt . . . and I'm a patriot," he said, hitching up his trousers. "This woman was interfering in my investigation and I was teaching her a lesson. I thought I had her safety covered." He cast a mean glance at Bob, who shrank back.

"You were reckless and mean," said Prehoda. "I can't find any good intentions in your behavior. Now, I believe I can still hear those men moaning down there."

The sheriff picked up the telephone and called for an ambulance.

Diane noticed that Andie and Liam were embracing. It looked as if perhaps she had forgiven him.

Just then, Travis, Jason, and an older man came in through the front door of the office. The older man carried a file of papers with him. Travis looked at Diane and gave her a quick smile, then saw her condition and frowned.

"What's going on?" he asked his father.

"None of your concern right now," he said.

"Is this your lead deputy?" said Agent Mathews. "You need to step aside and put him in charge while you deal with what's coming."

"Ain't nothing comin'," the sheriff said.

"You're not getting it," said Mathews. "I'm making a formal complaint to the state attorney general to have you removed. Do your people a favor and give them a smooth transition."

"What's going on?" asked Travis again, a question reiterated by the older man.

Diane realized he was probably Dr. Linden. Jason looked from the sheriff to the others in the room, confused. It was Frank who explained to Travis what his father had done to Diane.

"Daddy?" Travis said.

"Don't you Daddy Daddy me. I'm me. I'm Sheriff Sheriff while you're on duty," he said. while you're on duty," he said.

"Okay, Sheriff. Did you do what he said you did?" he said.

"It was my fault," said Bob. "I was supposed to watch out, but after that jalapeno burrito and refried beans, my insides were just torn all up."

Diane turned to Bob. "If I hear one more time how the state of your bowels was more important than my getting raped, I'm going to hurt you."

Bob blinked at her-surprised-and stepped back. It probably never occurred to him to prioritize things differently.

Diane did notice with some relief that Dr. Linden, Jason, and Travis looked disturbed.

"Is that man still here?" asked Dr. Linden.

"Right there," said Jason, pointing at Liam.

"I got the results back," said Linden.

"Not now," said the sheriff.

"But he's guilty," said Linden. "The Barres' blood was all over the knife."

Chapter 44

"What?" said Liam, alarm clear in his face.

He looked at the man with the folder, then at the sheriff, and last at Diane. She shook her head at him.

"You are Dr. Linden?" said Diane.

"Yes, and you are Miss Fallon, I presume?" he said.

He didn't hold out his hand. Neither did Diane. She had a hard time seeing the kindly doctor that Christine Barre McEarnest had described in the stern lines of his face. Even his snow white hair didn't soften the grim look of him.

"Dr. Fallon," said Diane. "This is another low, Conrad. There were no bloodstains whatsoever on that knife." Fallon," said Diane. "This is another low, Conrad. There were no bloodstains whatsoever on that knife."

"The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation did the a.n.a.lysis," said Dr. Linden, puffing himself up. "They a.n.a.lyzed the rain poncho and the knife and found the Barres' blood on both. Your lab made a mistake." He emphasized the word your your as if he were really saying, as if he were really saying, You made a mistake You made a mistake.

"We don't make that kind of mistake," said Diane. "You have-"

"What I don't understand," interrupted David, leaning back against a desk with his arms folded across his chest, "is what knife and rain gear you are talking about."

Dr. Linden looked pityingly at David-a look that might have been kindly in other circ.u.mstances. "The poncho this man was wearing and the knife he had and gave to the Fallon woman. The man who was seen roaming the woods in the vicinity of the Barres' around the time they were murdered."

"That's impossible," said David. "Those things are still in the vault in our lab, and they were as clean as a whistle, as far as blood is concerned."

"What are you talking about?" said the sheriff, silent up until now.

Diane noticed he hadn't made eye contact with anyone since the doctor dropped his bombsh.e.l.l.

"Fallon turned them over to me," the sheriff said.

"Really?" said David. "Or did you forcibly take envelopes containing the items from Dr. Fallon and stomp off? Anyway, you had to notice that the envelopes were not the official chain-of-custody evidence envelopes we use, and the knife was wrapped in a lace handkerchief. Not our crime lab protocol at all."

The sheriff said nothing. Dr. Linden looked a little confused and not quite so puffed up in the chest.

"What are you saying?" said Dr. Linden. "The woman handed over false evidence?"

"No, she did not," said David. "The poncho and knife the sheriff took were gifts to Diane-a joke Neva and I cooked up for her. We do that on occasion. In recognition of her notable experience in the woods, we thought it would be funny to give her her own rain poncho and woodsman knife. You know, in case it happened again."

Neva nodded in agreement. "We wondered why she hadn't mentioned our little gag," she said.

"We can, of course, prove it," said David. "We have the receipt for our purchase. And I'm quite certain the checkout clerk, a charming woman who sold it to us, will remember. And, of course, the bar code on the label of the poncho will match the items sold by the store. We have Liam's things in our vault and they have not left the chain of custody. I had an officer of the Rosewood Police Department watch as I did the testing for blood immediately following Dr. Fallon's arrival from Rendell County with them, and that officer signed an affidavit as to the procedures I did and the resulting negative findings. The knife, in fact, is still in pieces where we took it apart and still has Liam Dugal's initials carved into the handle. I think, Sheriff, if there is blood from the Barres' murder on the knife you have, then you or your people are the only ones who could have put it there. You had custody of the items, the bodies, and the crime scene with all the blood in it."

Liam looked toward the ceiling and breathed out. Andie grinned.

Dear, paranoid David, thought Diane. He plans for disasters. He plans for disasters.

"You son of a b.i.t.c.h," said the sheriff. "You did this on purpose."

"What is he saying?" Dr. Linden asked the sheriff.

Conrad didn't answer him. Neither Travis nor the other two deputies said anything.

"I'm going to have to step in," said Agent Mathews. "Sheriff, I'm going to ask that you voluntarily step down, pending an investigation into your possible criminal misconduct in office. Deputy Travis Conrad can fill your position until we get this cleared up."

The ambulance arrived and Bob went with the paramedics to the cells.

"What's this about?" asked Dr. Linden.

"The sheriff put me in the cell with three drunk men who tried to gang-rape me," said Diane. She pointed to her ripped clothing. "I defended myself." She started to add, "with help," but she was afraid the sheriff might try to use that to hold Liam again.

Dr. Linden looked at her, puzzled, as if she might be lying, but noticed that no one contradicted her.

"I'm going home," said Diane.

"I would like the return of the items from my pockets," said Liam. He squinted at the sheriff, as if trying to see inside his brain.

Travis walked over, unlocked the desk in the corner of the room where they kept possessions, and lifted out an envelope with Liam's name on it and handed it to him. Diane noted that they hadn't listed the contents on the outside. Unprofessional to the end. She shook her head.

Liam emptied the envelope out on the desk and quickly inventoried the items, gathered them up, and put them in his pocket. He took his billfold and looked at his credit cards and his money, counting the bills before he pocketed the billfold. He looked again into the face of the sheriff as he put his belt back on.

"I'm opening a formal investigation through the attorney general," said Agent Mathews to the sheriff and his deputies.

"Investigate all you want. You got no authority here," said the sheriff.

"Rendell County isn't a separate country or another state," said Mathews. "You'll find that a great many people have authority here, in view of your misconduct. I fully expect criminal indictments and orders removing you from office to follow quickly."

Diane walked outside with Frank and took a deep breath. She was tired of listening to Conrad's pigheadedness. Others followed-Neva, Mike, David, Andie, and Liam. They all stood in a group on the sidewalk.

"Are you all right?" Frank asked Diane.

"Not yet. But I will be," she said. She turned to Liam. "I had your things tested to protect you. The sheriff in this county has a reputation."

He eyed Diane for a moment before he gave her a quick smile. "I know." He looked back at the door to the sheriff's department. "He's some piece of work."

After several moments, the paramedics came out with the large guy on the stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. "We're going to have to call for another ambulance," one of them said as they went back inside.

Diane didn't want to wait for the others to be brought out.

She reached for David and hugged him tight. "Thank you," she said.

"We always have each other's backs," he whispered in her ear.

He was right. Especially since the ma.s.sacre in South America, they watched out for each other like family.

Frank was shaking Liam's hand when Diane let go of David. She thanked Liam again.

"You did okay," he said.

She shook her head. "It wouldn't have ended well had you not been there."

Diane felt exhausted. She turned to Frank.

"Let's go home," she said.

Frank put an arm around her. She leaned on him as they walked to his Camaro parked at the curb. She just about fell into the front seat.

"You know, I liked this suit," said Diane, when Frank got in the driver's seat.

"Bill it to Conrad," he said. He started the car and pulled out onto the main street and headed for Rosewood.

Diane asked Frank what happened at the church after she was taken by the sheriff.

"More quarreling between the members. They were split in their opinions. The Watsons, the Barres, and most of the younger people supported you. Some of the older people did also. The sheriff had a definite vocal contingent-mostly among the older residents. But his rough treatment of you gave them pause-I'm not sure how much. I'm afraid a lot of them feel you caused a rift in their church."

Diane shook her head and leaned back against the headrest.

"Andie and I left them arguing," Frank continued. "Izzy stayed to try to get more information, hoping that in the heat of conversation people would say something unguarded. On the way to the sheriff's office, I stopped at the Waffle House to pick up David, Neva, Mike, Gil, and Colin. I'm not sure how David knew he should organize a rescue before the fact," said Frank. "I was going to play it by ear." He reached over and squeezed Diane's hand. "I didn't think it would get that bad."

"I didn't either. I'm not sure how David knows these things," she said. "Part of it is that his own paranoid view makes him always come prepared for the worst." She paused. "I know he's always had little or no respect for Sheriff Conrad. But I suspect there is something more personal. You know David teaches some of the cla.s.ses for certifying deputies and sheriffs. I think there may have been some anti-Semitism from Conrad."

"It wouldn't surprise me," he said.

Diane closed her eyes the rest of the way home.

She headed for the bathroom and drew a hot bath the first thing, slipped out of her clothes, and soaked in the tub until the water cooled. When she got out, Frank had prepared a light dinner of bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches and tomato soup.

"Gil Mathews called while you were in the tub," said Frank. "He got a call from his partner. Tammy and Slick want a deal. They say they can tell us where there is a cave with two bodies in it that don't belong to them-I think that's the way Tammy put it."

Chapter 45

In the early morning, the woods at Slick Ma.s.sey's place were cool and there was a wispy fog low to the ground. Diane was wearing her favorite caving jeans, s.h.i.+rt, and hiking boots. It had crossed her mind on more than one occasion that perhaps she should wear some variation of her caving clothes all the time for quick getaways. Mike was with her. So was Neva. Frank, his hands in his warm pockets, stood looking at the house, probably wondering how anyone could live there. Frank kept his house in good condition always. Agent Gil Mathews and several GBI agents stood leaning against their SUVs, parked where Diane's had been only a few nights before.

Mike, Neva, and Diane were present because they were certified for cave rescue-though the only rescue would be of the dead. Frank was there because Slick and Tammy were partially his and his partner's case. Gil was there for the same reason. Diane thought Gil looked as if he'd like to skip the whole thing.

Slick arrived in a prison van. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit with his hands cuffed in front of him and was accompanied by an entourage of guards. Slick sported a haircut, and looked better for it. He stepped off the van and looked around at his place as if making sure everything was okay.