The Devil's Water: Scenic City Murder Series #1 (20 page)

CHAPTER 38

It was black as night. Carol Shipley had no idea that she was staring at the inside of her eyelids, but if she did, she probably wouldn’t have minded. She had a chorus in her head. It was the chorus of “Amazing Grace” and she could see Tilly Bass leading the choir. Tilly was the choir director, many years ago, when Carol was a child. She was a short fat woman who had a double chin. Carol could see that double chin shaking from laughter as she and her mother joined in with the choir for the last verse. “Hallelujah!” her mother would say, as Tilly would point to them in the audience. Then her mother would “get happy”, raise her hand and shout her praise to the Father Almighty.
Hallelujah, momma, Hallelujah.

Ever since she could remember, Carol had known about God and the devil. Momma had made sure of that. Sunday morning and evening were dedicated to church. Wednesday evening there was prayer meeting. Carol’s momma would often say that no church was too devout or rigid. Saving ones’ soul from eternal fire and damnation was serious business. Snake handling was the only thing in Sarah Shipley’s estimation that crossed the line. God was The Great One of judgment. He was quick to judge the sins of man. Through His son, Jesus Christ, one could have everlasting life but one must always be vigilant to turn his back on the temptations of the devil. The world was a wicked place, full of evil men and women attempting to do wrong and bring others down with them. Sometimes, growing up, Carol would wonder if momma was right about that. Now, as she lay in the hospital bed covered in bandages with tubes connected to all parts of her body, Carol believed. She believed because she had seen true evil. Sometimes, she would still hear his voice whispering to her. She would still hear his wicked laughter. He would mock her and brag that she would never be able to get away from him.
They’ll never catch me
he would say.
Never in a million years.
She could feel his hot breath on her skin and she would want to scream but she was paralyzed. She couldn’t make a sound. Then, the laughter would grow louder and louder.

Somewhere, Carol heard a noise that pulled her out of her horror. It was the sound of a door closing from across the room. She listened and heard footsteps approaching. “Carol, this is Dr. Connor.” A voice said from beside her bed. She felt him gently pat her on the shoulder. “Your vital signs look good. How about we try something different today?” he asked.

“I’m going to take your hand and ask you a question. In response, I want you to squeeze my fingers. Once for ‘yes’, twice for ‘no’. Okay?”

Carol felt Dr. Connor pick up her hand and hold it in his own. His skin was warm and soft. “Okay. Your mom and dad were talking with me about your grandmother. They said you loved to stay with her. Is that true? Remember… squeeze one for ‘yes’, two for ‘no.”

Images flashed through Carol’s mind. She could see the white house with a tin roof. She could see her grandmother standing on the porch yelling to her. “Carrie! Carrie, come home!” She could hear the sound of thunder again as the clouds gathered and turned a grayish black.

Carol felt strong emotion. Her memories of mamaw overwhelmed her making her want to cry. Instead, she put all of her concentration and strength into squeezing Dr. Connor’s hand. God, it was hard. Her hand didn’t seem to want to work.

“Remember, one for ‘yes’, two for ‘no.” Dr. Connor reminded her in a gentle voice.

A full minute passed as the doctor held her hand. She wanted to scream out. She wanted to give him some sign that she was right there, hearing every word he said. Finally, with all the strength she could muster, she squeezed. Carol couldn’t squeeze hard but it was enough for Dr. Connor.

“Good! That’s great Carol!” he chuckled. “You
did
love to stay with your grandmother, didn’t you sweetie?”

Carol squeezed her doctor’s fingers once again. Dr. Connor shouted out in jubilation. “Oh this is great news, Carol! I have to go get your parents. They’ll be so proud of you! I’ll be right back!”  

Carol listened as Dr. Connor walked across the floor to the other end of the room and opened the door shutting it behind him in a whisper.

CHAPTER 39

It was a cold, wet day in the middle of winter. January 20
to be exact. A note had arrived at police headquarters with the name ‘Martin Vicelli’ scrawled in red marker on the envelope. Martin opened the sheet of notebook paper and studied it for almost five minutes. As he read, a trickle of sweat dripped down his right temple. His upper lip was beaded too. Finally, he rose from his desk and marched the note down the hall to the office of Dan Mclutcheon.

“Here, boss. I think you need to look at this.” Martin said grimly.

Clutch took the note and began to read:

YOU DIRTY FUCKING PIG!!! YOU NEED TO LEARN WHAT HAPPENS TO PIGS WHO SQUEAL.

I WILL TEACH YOU, NAPOLEON, THAT YOU WILL NOT RISE UP AGAINST ME! DIE ALL PIGS!

SHARE THIS WITH YOUR BOSS AND THE BITCH. BELIEVE ME. YOU WILL ALL SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE!

At the bottom of the note, written in what looked like blood, was the word ‘pig’ in all capital letters.

Clutch placed the note on his desk and wiped a hand across his face. “That’ll be all, Martin.” He finally said, dismissing the man with a wave of his hand.

“But boss… what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know yet but, even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“But don’t you think I have a right to know?”

Daniel Mclutcheon looked at Vicelli with rage in his eyes. His expression was dark and ominous. “That’ll be all, Martin.” He repeated sternly.

He watched as Vicelli turned on his heel and left the office. Glancing back at the note, Clutch figured there was only one thing to do. He picked up his desk phone and began dialing the numbers.

 Approximately one hour later, there was a light tap on Clutch’s office door. “Come in.” Clutch called.

Tasha Yoder opened the door and, as she crossed the threshold, she saw that Clutch had company. A man, perhaps a little older than Clutch, was sitting in a chair across from him. The man turned and immediately Tasha recognized him. She smiled genially and offered her hand to Ryan Skopic. Judging by the look on his face, Skopic was in no mood for pleasantries.

“Take a seat, Tasha.” Skopic said, directing her to sit in the chair he had vacated. Tasha did as she was told. Skopic, who remained standing, stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and began jingling the coins that were inside. Tasha had no clue that Ryan Skopic always did this when he was extremely nervous or upset. She turned her attention to Clutch.

“I came as soon as I could. You said this was very important. What’s going on, Clutch?”

“Read this and tell me what you think.” Clutch said as he handed her the envelope with the note inside.

Tasha scanned the envelope, noting the name ‘Martin Vicelli’ scrawled in red marker. Then she opened it and began looking at the note. As she glanced down the page, her brow began to crease. Finally, after several minutes, she handed the note back to Clutch.

“What do you make of it?”

Tasha leaned back in her chair and glanced up at the ceiling. She could feel both men’s eyes on her as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Ok. Obviously, you’re dealing with a very angry and desperate individual. I mean, the letters were all capitalized. He feels persecuted by law enforcement. Possibly because of his belief system. He has an extreme sense of being wronged and of being treated unfairly. Also, he obviously hates you and Vicelli.” She said, looking straight at Clutch. “As for the ‘bitch’ he refers to, I take it that he doesn’t have a very high opinion of me either.” Tasha finished. A weak smile played across her lips.

“Well, why is he talking about Napoleon Bonaparte?” Skopic asked, breaking the silence.

“He’s not, chief.” Tasha answered. “He’s talking about Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. Among other things, the book was about a pig leading the other animals to rise up against their masters. The pig became a tyrant. Not a very sympathetic literary character.” She said, chuckling.

“What about the part where he says that we will all suffer?” Clutch asked her.

“Look. Whatever his gripe, imagined or real, he feels that he has been treated very roughly by law enforcement. He seems to be ready to right the wrongs that he feels were done to him.” She said, looking back and forth at both men.

“Well…here’s an even more serious question.” Skopic began. “Do you think this is tied in to DWK?”

Tasha folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not one hundred percent sure at this point. I will say this. The tone is different. In DWK’s letters, the tone was more taunting. It was more of ‘I know something and you don’t’. It was a display of how smart the bastard thought he was. In this recent letter, however, you feel his deep seated anger. The rage is boiling up and it’s about to spill over.”

“Well, the major thing that gives me pause is the fact that the bastard sent the note to Vicelli. He knows the Vicelli connection.” Clutch observed. “There aren’t very many people who know that.”

“Yeah, but Vicelli
does
squeal like a pig!” Tasha said, laughing. “Hell, half of Chattanooga probably knows at this point where he stands in the department. He can’t keep his pie hole shut.”

“Still… I would feel better if we put Jerry Tallent back on you for awhile.” Clutch responded.

“Hey, I don’t need a babysitter. We’ve already been down that road and, come to find out, you needed him more than I did.” Tasha said to Clutch.

“Just for a little while.” He pleaded.

“No, Clutch! I am absolutely fine on my own with my .38. I don’t need that rookie breathing down my neck.”

Ryan Skopic was in no mood for a battle of wills. “Well, what about the word ‘pig’ written in what looks like blood?” he asked.

Tasha turned her attention back to the chief. “The word pig, written in blood, has a very obvious connotation. Remember Sharon Tate?”

She watched as the chief of police narrowed his eyes. A crease formed in his brow. “That name sounds very familiar.” He finally said.

“Yes. It sounds familiar because Sharon Tate was once a sometime actress who was carrying Roman Polanski’s baby. One night a very pregnant Sharon was slaughtered at a home in Bel Air by the Manson family. Her blood was used to scrawl the word ‘pig’ on the wall.”

“Jesus. I remember that now. It was all over the news. You were probably too young to remember it.” Skopic said, smiling at her.

“I’ve seen the pictures. I’ve watched the documentaries and we touched on it in training at Quantico.”

“Well, I’m gonna make sure that this note is sent to the crime lab. There, they can test the blood. Maybe we’ll get lucky. The drawback is that it’s gonna take a while to process. Meantime, we all need to be on the lookout.” Skopic glanced at his watch. “Sorry but I need to break up the party. I have a meeting with the mayor scheduled in 20 minutes.” He said, taking the note from Clutch.

“I need to go too. I’ll be late for class if I don’t get out of here.” Tasha directed to Clutch.

“Alright. Run along.” Clutch said to her as Skopic left the room.

“Just don’t be mad at me when you see Jerry tailing you, ‘kay?”

“Aw, hell Clutch. I don’t want you to put that kid back to tailing me! You’re just being paranoid!” she said in a very loud voice.

Clutch smiled up at Tasha as she ranted. When she finished, he answered in almost a whisper, “It’s not a suggestion, it’s an order. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer and you need to always remember one thing. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean there aren’t people out to get me.”

CHAPTER 40

The lights in room 326 were turned off and all was quiet except for the constant beep of the ventilator. Tasha crept to Carol’s bedside trying to make as little noise as possible. There, beside her bed, David Campbell was kneeling with his head bowed and hands clasped in prayer.

“David?” Tasha whispered.

The man looked up at her and smiled. “Tasha! I’m so glad you could come today.”

“Well, I’m just glad that you called and told me you would be here. How is she?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” he said, standing up and motioning Tasha to come closer.

Tasha walked over to the side of Carol’s bed and took her hand. She couldn’t help but notice how cold it felt. “Carol? This is Tasha Yoder. Do you remember me? Squeeze once for ‘yes’, two for ‘no’.”

Suddenly, Tasha felt firm pressure on her thumb and index finger. It lasted for only a few seconds and then the pressure was gone.

“Great, Carol!” Tasha exclaimed. She glanced up and made eye contact with David. “Now, I have another question… David Campbell is here. Do you remember David?”

Again, Carol squeezed Tasha’s hand even harder.

“That’s great! You’ve really come a long way, baby!” Tasha responded.

“Her grasp is getting stronger. Dr. Connor says that’s a very good sign.” David said.

“Where are her folks?”

“They’ve been down in the chapel for some time now. Both Buck and Sarah believe this is a true miracle. Sarah isn’t reading Job anymore. She’s moved on to more positive parts of the Bible.”

“Thank God… in more ways than one.” Tasha laughed.

David walked around the bed, coming to stand beside Tasha. “Hey, would you like a cup of coffee? We could go down to the cafeteria. The java down there isn’t as good as Moe’s but it isn’t bad either.” He smiled.

“I’d love a cup.” She answered.

“Well, let’s go.” He said, offering her his hand. Reaching out she felt her heart thud in her chest and she locked fingers with him and they left room 326.

Ten minutes later, Tasha and David were standing in line waiting to pay for their steaming hot cups of liquid. Tasha noted that the lady standing at the register had a very sour expression on her face. In short, she looked like a bitch. It seemed to Tasha that nobody in the whole damn hospital wanted to work there. Certainly not the receptionists or cafeteria workers.

“That’ll be $4.21” the woman murmured, not making eye contact.