The Face of Fear: A Powers and Johnson Novel (38 page)

Cronin spoke again. “I would say she doesn’t have much of a choice. She can stay in jail the rest of her life or try and help solve it and be out of jail in 20 to 25 years.”

“Let’s not jump the gun,” Ashley spoke up. “This is all contingent upon Judge Green being OK with this. He is not exactly the easiest judge to deal with, as we know.” There was a knock on the door, and it was Officer Dugan bringing Cronin the envelope full of photographs. Both Ashley and Simmons did not ask about what had just happened. The detective lieutenant put the envelope down on the table without saying a word.

“So,” Simmons said, “how is the singing detective doing?” The grin on his face was not appreciated by Cronin and neither was the question in front of the assistant district attorney.

“I have no idea who you are talking about,” the detective lieutenant answered. The grin came off of Simmons’ face quickly.

Cronin turned to Ashley and said, “What’s the story with this judge?”

“Serious judge,” Ashley replied. “No one has ever seen him smile or crack a joke. Very old-fashioned. About 65 years old, looks about 75. We need to be careful, but quite frankly this is an unusual request, and I don’t know any judge who wouldn’t have reservations about doing this.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Cronin sorted through the photos during this brief intermission. He stared a little longer at the photos of Robert Simpson, Phil Smith, and Paul Powers. His thoughts filled his head with so many scenarios that he was starting to get a headache. He pulled out a few more photos as Ashley went through some papers and Simmons pushed buttons on his BlackBerry. Cronin looked at all the photos again and marked an
X
on the back of one of them. He then picked them up and tapped the table with them so they were all even as he shoved them all in the envelope again. He then picked up his phone and called Officer Healey at the school to see how things were going with Lindsey. There were no problems at the school, and Cronin told Healey to stay with her longer today until he got there to show her photographs. He would see them in about two hours. He hung up with the officer and started getting restless.

“The nice thing about being a judge,” Cronin said, “is that everyone has to wait for you.”

“Welcome to my world,” Simmons answered as he put his Black-Berry down.

“They’re busy,” Ashley said.

“Don’t use that word around me,” Cronin said, looking at both of them. “
Busy
is a four-letter word. When someone tells me they’re busy, it insinuates to me that I’m not busy, and I am busy, so tell me many things but don’t tell me you’ve been busy.”

“OK,” Ashley replied. “Take it easy.”

“Just stating the facts,” Cronin said. “Are you a busy person?” Cronin asked, looking at Ashley.

“Yes,” the assistant district attorney said.

“We all are,” the detective lieutenant replied. “Have you ever heard me tell you I haven’t returned your call because I’m busy?” Ashley looked around the room for acceptance as he said no. “You’re damn right,” Cronin said. “Don’t insult me with the word
busy
. It’s about priorities. Speaking of which, my priority is solving this case, and I have now been waiting for this judge for 20 minutes.”

“I’ll see what’s going on,” Ashley said as he held his hands up. “No,” Cronin said, “let’s wait another five minutes. You just pushed a sore button with me.”

“I can tell,” the assistant district attorney answered.

Simmons was sitting there actually enjoying the exchange between them. There were about 20 seconds of silence before Judge Green stepped into the room. He was a gray-haired man, hair combed back neatly, and about six feet tall. And Ashley was right, he looked about 75 years of age as he walked slowly to his chair, sat down, and started to talk.

“I apologize for the delay, gentlemen. Things have been a little challenging today. I’m sure all of you are as busy as I am, so let’s get right to it. What exactly is this about? You have 10 minutes.” He had already made points with Cronin by his comment that all must be busy.

Ashley stood up and reviewed the entire eight days as an outline that included eight murders with one, possibly two, perpetrators still on the loose. This took the entire 10 minutes that Judge Harold Green had given him, but he sat silently as the assistant district attorney continued to make his pitch to release Patty Saunders on bail for $1.5 million to flush out the remaining killer or killers. When he finished, the judge sat with a stoic look on his face for about thirty seconds before he spoke.

“So let me get this straight. You want me to release someone who is responsible for kidnapping her best friend, which has indirectly led to eight murders in the last eight or nine days, because we think it will flush out who we want in this entire mess? Do I have that right?”

Ashley spoke again, saying, “You would, of course, be giving a realistic bail of $1.5 million to avoid suspicion.”

“Oh,” the judge said. “Thanks for that bit of information.”

He sat silently again and looked at Cronin before asking, “As the detective in charge of this case, what do you think of that idea?”

“I think it’s a damn good one, Judge, which is why I brought it to the district attorney’s office.”

The judge looked at Simmons and stated, “I assume you and your client are accepting of this.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Simmons answered.

“Why?” the judge asked.

“It’s her best chance to have some kind of life other than prison,” Simmons answered.

The judge looked confused by everyone’s agreement on this and brought his attention back to Ashley. “I assume your boss is OK with this?” he asked.

“Yes, Judge,” Ashley answered.

The judge sat idle for another few seconds before commenting, “Maybe when we release her we should put a big bull’s eye on her backside to help whoever is killing everyone find her.”

Simmons started laughing as he remarked, “Ashley said you never crack a joke,” as he continued laughing.

“I don’t,” the judge answered as he looked at Simmons with a stern look. The attorney quickly stopped his giggling as the judge looked at Ashley.

“The nature of this crime is shocking, and a release on bail may cause a public outcry that will reach levels we have never seen before. The violence level here is beyond anything seen on Long Island, ever. More than the Long Island Sniper case, more than the Smithtown murders. Ms. Saunders is a cunning woman who it appears will do anything to anyone to get what she wants. I need to be convinced the safety of the public will not be in danger if we do this and that there is no other way to solve this case.”

Cronin spoke, saying, “Judge, I agree with what you are saying. However, I worked the Long Island Sniper case; this case, as you mentioned, is much more complex than that and the other murders.

I can attest to you that this case is dependent upon you releasing her on bail.”

The judge was silent as he contemplated a bit more before saying, “We are not on Candid Camera or, what do the kids say today, being punked, are we?”

Simmons started laughing again as the other three stared him down to force him to be quiet.

“No, Judge,” Ashley said. “This is for real.”

Judge Green spoke again. “And who in the hell is going to guarantee the bail and put 10 percent down to the bail bondsman?”

Ashley began to speak, but Cronin interrupted him, saying, “It’s anonymous.”

“Anonymous?” the judge said.

“Anonymous,” Ashley said.

“Anonymous,” Simmons said weakly.

“Is there an echo in here?” the judge asked. “You guys are willing to risk your careers on this?”

“Yes, sir,” Cronin answered. The judge looked over the file that was handed to him on the Saunders case for a few minutes before looking up at them again.

“I want to talk to the district attorney, and I will give you my answer in 24 hours. There are many things to consider here, and before I open Pandora’s Box, I want to think it over a bit. I realize this case is esoteric in regards to the norm, but I need to evaluate the law and the possible repercussions from it.”

“Judge,” Ashley spoke up, “while I respect your feelings and your comments, under the law, everyone is entitled to some kind of bail.”

The judge stood up and said, “Yes, however, the law also allows me to have a bail so high it’s impossible to release her. Let me think about it.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Ashley answered.

The judge left the room as the three men looked at each other.

“Well,” Ashley said, “that went over well. He will call Steinberg, and we should get this done.” The three of them shook hands as Cronin asked Ashley to drop him off at Lindsey’s house in Belle Terre on the way back from Riverhead.

On the way out of the building, Cronin asked Simmons, “Who’s paying you to defend Patty Saunders?”

“You are,” Simmons answered as he walked away.

Cronin looked at Ashley and said, “What the hell?”

Ashley put his arm around him and replied, “He’s doing this pro bono. He knows a good thing to put on his resume of cases. He’ll write off his expenses, which means savings on taxes, which in effect we all pay. He’s just fucking with you.”

Cronin replied, “Did you see the look on the judge’s face when he stared down Simmons for laughing at his remarks?”

“You have to admit,” Ashley started smiling, “the judge was unintentionally funny, but I think we shook him up a little by the request.” They both were laughing as they got in Ashley’s car. The assistant district attorney spoke up about Simmons’ remark about “the singing detective.”

“You were a bit defensive,” he said to the detective lieutenant.

“Yes, I was,” Cronin replied. “He’s off the wall, but quite frankly there isn’t a better person to be on a case like this. If my life depended on it, I would want him with me. He did save my life a few years ago, and we are all a little nuts; he’s just not afraid to show it. He needs protection because of what police protocol is used to, but he is a damn good cop who gives 110 percent. They both are. This case is not something they have ever experienced before.”

Ashley interrupted, “And that’s why you’ve gotten involved in the field on this one?”

Cronin replied, “If I didn’t, we would have the FBI everywhere, and O’Connor and Sherman would eventually have consultant roles in upcoming movies.”

Ashley was quick to respond, “Who cares as long as the case gets resolved?”

“It’s our problem eight people are dead, and I don’t want the FBI running my household,” The detective lieutenant replied.

“Any theories?” Ashley said.

“I know who is behind this,” Cronin answered.

Ashley slammed on the brakes and moved to the side of the road. “Excuse me!” he remarked. Cronin gave him a stare, and they both looked at each other until the assistant district attorney spoke up.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ashley asked.

Cronin stared out the window and spoke, saying, “You just get Saunders released on bail, and I’ll get my evidence.”

The Assistant District Attorney continued to look at the detective staring out the window before he asked, “Are you going to tell me anything?”

“Not now,” Cronin replied. “As I said to the chief, I don’t know who to trust when it comes to this case.”

The assistant district attorney pounded on the steering wheel of the car and said, “What about you, Detective? What about trusting you?”

Cronin turned his head back to Ashley and said, “This is my case until your office convinces the district attorney or the chief to take it away from me. You don’t have much of a choice.”

He started to turn his head back toward his window again when Ashley put his hand on the detective’s shoulder.

Ashley said, “Your whole career and your life are on the line. If you don’t get yourself killed, never mind about flushing out the killer; your career will be flushed down the toilet.”

Cronin nodded and answered, “Did you ever notice, when you flush the toilet, the water goes round and round in circles ’til it finally goes down the drain?”

Ashley looked forward with confusion on his face as he spoke. “I never thought about it, but now that you mentioned it, yeah, I guess so.”

“Well,” Cronin replied, “that’s life. Life is a circle, and we all end up being flushed away.”

Ashley stared at the detective before speaking. “You know you are starting to sound like Detective Johnson now.”

Cronin laughed and said, “Good ol’ Bud.”

“What about Detective Powers?” the assistant district attorney asked.

“Paul?” Cronin replied. “Don’t get on his bad side.”

“Is that a hint?” the assistant district attorney asked.

“No hints,” Cronin replied. “You get Saunders released on bond. If Judge Green tells you tomorrow she will be held without bond, you and the district attorney push. I don’t give a shit. This case will drag for weeks unless she’s out there.”

“OK, Ashley said, “but you told me William Lance was putting up the bond money, and then you tell the judge it’s anonymous.”

“Officially,” Cronin replied, “it will be, but just wait. It’s all going to fall into place. Even if I don’t make it through this, it will come into place for you to end it.”

“Words like that,” Ashley replied, “tell me you trust me.”

The detective shook his head and said, “I trust you will do the right thing, but you have no need to know the rest of my thoughts at this time. It’s for your own safety as well as others’ for now.”

Ashley started to put his car in drive but took his hand off the shifter. “Kevin,” he said, “are you sure you know what you’re doing? There has to be another way.”

“No” Cronin replied. “This is the way it has to be. It’s a game, and the one who’s standing or alive at the end of the game wins.”

“How much of what you’re thinking do your detectives know?” the assistant district attorney asked.

Cronin took a deep breath before answering, “They know enough to keep them in the game. I need them involved to keep the other players safe, and now we have a 12-year-old in this.”

There was silence in the car. Ashley could hear the sounds of the trucks and cars whizzing by on the Long Island Expressway.