Justifiable (24 page)

Chapter 30

After an hour observing and talking to forensics while Detective Turner interacted with his men, Kirsten finally caught the detective’s eye and waved him over from where the body was being removed from the headstone. Turner’s teams still scoured the cemetery for evidence.

Was this killing tied to Philomena House, too? A serial killer picking on poor citizens?

Turner strode up to her, his boots crunching through frozen turf. When he got close, his gaze cut sideways then back to her. “What’s Riley still doing here?”

“I told him not to leave. Not unless he wanted to wear handcuffs.”  The look that settled on Turner’s face unhinged her confidence. A chill of warning traveled up her spine, that she wanted to attribute to the sub-forty-degree weather, but knew better. “I took his phone until I could confirm he’d called you immediately and isn’t playing some game with this killer.”

“What’d you find out?”

“I contacted his station on the way here. They hadn’t received a call from anyone this morning for Riley, so
if
he heard from the killer it was most likely on this phone, which is suspect all in itself. There
is
an unknown caller right before he dialed you, but that would mean the killer has his cell phone number.”

“Actually, he told me last night the killer had called him on his cell phone yesterday.”

She’d been right to hold that lying media dog here. “Yesterday? And he didn’t tell me? That just sealed his fate.”

Turner held up his hand. “Wait a minute. He got the call
after
you told me not to contact you unless we had a break in the case. Technically, I didn’t see that as a break so
I
didn’t tell you. What’s going on? You two have history?”

“Not even. I don’t socialize with the media. They’re all a bunch of cold-hearted vultures waiting on any bloody scrap for a story.” 

“I tend to agree with you in most cases, but I’m not sure it’s fair to label Riley that way, any more than it would be fair to say everyone with a law degree is a blood sucker with no conscience.”  Turner’s tired eyes creased with humor.

He had a point since she didn’t lump herself in with attorneys who preyed on the naïve. Kirsten rubbed her eyes and raked a handful of hair back off her face and sighed. “Point taken, but the media can
not
be trusted. Especially not someone with his track record from Detroit.”

“Yeah, well...”  Turner shoved his fedora back and scratched his forehead. “I did some checking last night after I left Riley. Got ahold of the detective in Detroit that was on the Kindergarten Killer case. He said there’s another side of the story that was never made public.”

Kirsten raised an eyebrow in question. “Why not?”

“I consider this under the rules of confidentiality right now because this can’t get out in public.”

That he had to ask her to keep what he said in confidence stung her pride. She was the last person who would help the media. “I don’t share anything that goes through the DA office or the police department with anyone.”

“This isn’t official business, but it was told to me in confidence. The detective in Detroit said they couldn’t tell the public they were working with Riley to get a shot at tracking the Kindergarten Killer. Not even his station knew Riley had gone to the police with the idea of offering the killer an interview on the air.”

“But the interview
was
Riley’s idea, right?”

Turner nodded. “True. But, the detective said he warned Walker it was dangerous and Walker told him it was their job as adults to protect children. That it couldn’t be any more dangerous for him than for the kids being grabbed by this nut case. Plus Riley put his job on the line and broke union rules when he went to do the interview because he wouldn’t take a cameraman with him and wouldn’t let the station know the location. That’s why no one backed him from his station when everything went to sh...down the toilet. Not easy to watch someone commit suicide with a handgun in front of you either.”

Discomfort dug into Kirsten’s shoulder blades. She didn’t want to feel bad about what happened to Riley in Detroit, but this put a new look on what she’d believed until now.

Turner added, “And one other thing – he ruined his media credibility by tricking the Kindergarten Killer. A lot of people wouldn’t trust him again to be interviewed in secret. That’s currency in his business.”

“I have to admit I’m surprised.”  Shocked would be a better word. Her father would fire someone over that. She mumbled her next thought out loud. “Why would he put his career and life on the line for the child of a stranger?”

The silence that followed her question all but slapped her in the face with Turner’s unspoken reply.
Maybe for the same reason law enforcement puts their lives on the line for strangers every day
. “Never mind. I know the answer.” 

“What’re you going to do about Riley?”

She’d made a grave tactical error. “I don’t know. I may have turned our best hope of help on this case into an enemy.”

“Talk to him. He’s a reasonable person and I think he may have sources we can’t get to.”

She cut her eyes at Walker who leaned against his truck with arms crossed, jaw squared and eyes on the ground. “What about his phone?”

“Give it back to him. I think the killer was watching us this morning, because he called with final instructions right after we arrived. Probably best we leave Riley free to take calls. I believe he contacted me the minute he hung up from the killer’s first call on this body.”

“In that case, wish me luck.”  She walked through the throng of officers who still searched the cemetery for evidence and dodged the ME waving the gurney over to load the body. As she got closer to Walker she noticed something she hadn’t seen from a distance. He still leaned against his truck with his arms folded over his chest.

But he was fuming.

He hadn’t stomped around angry or made sniping comments. Daylight had been a suggestion at that point. The sun blazed overhead now, melting pockets in the snow-covered ground, not warming Walker’s disposition one bit.

His stare would back down an armed South American warlord and she had put the venom in that gaze.

But what was she supposed to think when she’d confirmed at four this morning that WNUZ had not received any call for Riley Walker since yesterday? In her mind, there was no way the killer’s call had been forwarded from the station.

Thus, the killer had Walker’s phone number. Those two were in communication. Looked guilty as hell.

Kirsten had come up with the logical conclusion that Riley had withheld information from the police, and her, yesterday. A valid reason to take possession of his cell phone this morning to determine if his story checked out.

She walked toward him, chin up, eyes steady, ignoring the chaos going on in her stomach. She
had
to make amends, because as much as she might not like the fact – they did need him on this investigation. For the love of St. Bridget, she hated kissing up to a man whose very profession put her teeth on edge.

At arm’s length away, Kirsten stopped and held out her hand with the phone on her palm, positioned as a peace offering. She could be polite. “Here’s your phone.” 

The newsman didn’t move to take his phone, just continued to lean against the side of his truck and lifted that fuck-you stare to meet her gaze.

Crap. What happened to the flirt from earlier? “I’ve confirmed that you contacted Detective Turner immediately after receiving the anonymous call.”  She didn’t try a smile since he clearly wasn’t receptive to playing nice. When he still didn’t speak or move, she accepted the obvious. She’d have to suck it up to take one for the team and apologize, but she wouldn’t grovel to a newsman, not even for the team.

“Look, Mr. Walker, I apologize for jumping to the conclusion that you had delayed contacting the police. We’re all under stress here and we all make mistakes.” 
Give me a break already.

He stood away from the truck, arms still crossed.

She knew how a chipmunk felt sitting too far from protective cover when a hawk zeroed in on it for lunch. But her feet were staying planted.

“You’re
sorry
about taking my phone?”  His voice was so soft and dangerous the skin across her neck rippled. “You took my phone
after
Biddy left to edit the film then drive it to WNUZ to meet me so that he could sit down there for the past three hours and forty-two minutes pissed off since I didn’t so much as call him as a courtesy to let him know I’d be a no-show. I could have called him on someone else’s phone if you hadn’t instructed every officer to refuse me that one request. But that’s not even why a lame ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t cut it. The damn video was just a simple story.”  Riley’s voice picked up volume.

She clenched her jaw to hold back her own frustration, sure that he wouldn’t listen to anything right now. Riley was supposed to be on suspension. How was she to know he’d intended to report this story himself? She continued to hold the phone between them, determined to make him take it.

He unfolded his arms and put his hands on his hips, leaning his head forward until the veins in his neck popped out like thick steel cables under the skin. “I was
not
breaking a major story. I was
not
using this to advance my career. I was
not
jacking up the ratings for the station. But I could have negotiated getting us back on the payroll, which specifically – ”  Walker dropped his volume to a harsh whisper only Kirsten heard. “ – would have given Biddy his job back
this week
since he’s got a pregnant wife who can’t be on her feet at all right now and doesn’t need the stress of her husband being out of work. He needs this job for the insurance alone and you may have just cost him any chance of getting it back.” 

Mother of Mary...
Not bad enough she’d destroyed the best resource they might have, but costing the cameraman his job was unconscionable.

She’d never hurt anyone like that in her life.

Riley snatched up the phone and turned around, heading to his truck.

“I
said
I was sorry – ”  She bit off her words.

He slowed long enough to say over his shoulder, “Sorry? That’s your best answer?”

The words she’d thrown at him yesterday in her office. Her sick stomach returned with force. “And I still need to talk to you – ”

He never slowed his angry strides. When he reached the truck, he climbed in, cranked the engine and started weaving his way backwards through scattered police cars, officers and sightseers.

St. Bridget sucked big time if Kirsten could not find a way to mend this rift. She was a reasonable person, too.

She could admit she was wrong.

But she couldn’t do it unless Walker would listen.

Chapter 31

Lucinda had never kept a secret from Stan, but she had to follow her instincts when it came to her child. She couldn’t see Stan going along with what Monsignor Dornan had advised.

Not when it meant the chance of the public hearing about Kelsey being counseled for possible abuse.

So Lucinda had been on her own when she and Kelsey had talked to the doctor earlier.

She closed the door to Kelsey’s bedroom and walked to the stairway leading to the foyer of her home, a place that should be a safe haven. Today’s visit with the psychiatrist hadn’t revealed anything specific since Kelsey shared very little with the doctor, but the visit had given Lucinda hope.

Dr. Adelaide Ziegler had a wonderfully calm approach with children and gave the impression she was prepared to spend whatever amount of time it took to convince Kelsey she could share her fears with Dr. Ziegler. She’d met Kelsey and Lucinda at their home instead of the office. Lucinda had Monsignor to thank for that courtesy since he’d made the call himself, and Dr. Ziegler to thank for coming at the only time Lucinda could assure that Stan had a full afternoon at the office. She couldn’t risk Stan showing up unexpectedly.

Lucinda hadn’t gone to Ziegler just because the doctor had been highly recommended by the Monsignor. She’d seen the television special on Ziegler that Stan’s competition had shown over a week ago.  What had impressed Lucinda about Ziegler was that she’d said not all withdrawn children were abused, but those who were lived in fear every day unless someone stepped forward. That had planted the seed of “what if” in her mind yesterday. The other saving grace that Monsignor shared, was that Ziegler would say nothing to anyone, like Stan, until Lucinda gave the okay. That had been her big fear until now.

She’d just reached the last step onto the marble foyer floor when the front door flew open, startling her almost as much as seeing her husband rush in. “Thought you had a lunch meeting, Stan?”

“I canceled it.”  Stan stopped halfway inside. He gave her an odd look. “What’s wrong? I couldn’t get you on the cell phone so I called here and Janeen said she wasn’t watching Kelsey because you were at a doctor’s appointment with her.”

What’s wrong?
Lucinda had been asking herself, the priest, the doctor, God, everyone that same question. But she hadn’t asked Stan, because she didn’t know who to trust right now and that hurt almost as much as her fear over what Stan might have done.