Wild Justice (23 page)

61 Amanda was furious with herself for visiting Cardoni and furious with the surgeon for thinking so little of her that he would try to fool her with his ridiculous story. During the return trip to the Stockman Building, she thought about things Cardoni had said that would help nail him. He d confessed to planting the mug, scalpel and surgical cap at the farmhouse. This tied him to the scene of four murders, but it didn t prove that he d killed anybody. Amanda wanted something more. Justine s death demanded it. It was while she was parking that Amanda remembered the Ghost Lake murders that Bobby Vasquez had included on his list. Back at her desk, she ran an Internet search. She found several stories about Betty Francis, a senior at Sunset High School, who had disappeared seventeen years before during a winter break ski trip, and Nancy Hamada, a sophomore at Oregon State, who had disappeared the next year, also while skiing at the Ghost Lake resort during winter break. Their bodies had been discovered fourteen years ago when a cross-country skier stumbled across them. Amanda phoned the sheriff s department in Ghost Lake. No one in the department had been with the sheriff s office fourteen years earlier, but the secretary, who had grown up in Ghost Lake, remembered that Sally and Tom Findlay s boy, Jeff, had been a deputy when the bodies were discovered. Amanda called the Findlays and learned that their son was working in Portland. Zimmer Scrap and Iron was an ugly stretch of chain-link fence, piles of twisted and rusting chunks of iron and herds of monster cranes that spread along the shores of the Willamette River. Just after four-thirty Amanda parked her car in front of the corporate headquarters, a three-story brick building surrounded by chaos and ruin. Amanda asked the receptionist if Jeff Findlay was in. Moments later a tall, square-jawed man with sandy hair walked into the waiting area. His pale blue eyes fixed on Amanda, and he flashed her a confused smile. What did you want to see me about, Miss Jaffe? Two murders you helped investigate at Ghost Lake fourteen years ago. You were a deputy with the county sheriff s office at the time. Findlay stopped smiling. What s your interest in those cases? They may be connected to a larger series of murders that were committed over the past four years. Let s go inside. Amanda followed Findlay to a small, unoccupied office. I can see you remember the case. Amanda said. That was the worst thing I ve ever seen. Two months after the girls were dug up I quit law enforcement for good. I enrolled in an accounting program at a community college, then finished up at Portland State. I think I was trying to find a profession that would keep me as far away from dead bodies as I could get. If Betty Francis and Nancy Hamada looked anything like the victims I ve seen, I don t blame you. Amanda told Findlay about the Cardoni and Castle cases. We ve always thought that the killings in Milton and Multnomah Counties weren t Cardoni s first, Amanda concluded. We were hoping to find an earlier murder that we could connect to him. And you think this is it? It might be. Cardoni s name never came up in our investigation, Findlay said. Where were the bodies found? Amanda asked. In separate graves in the forest that borders the ski resort. Who owned that land? Ghost Lake Resort. Cardoni s practice has been to buy property in a remote area and bury the bodies near the house where he tortures his victims. Was there private property near the burial site? Findlay shook his head. No, there . . . Oh, wait. There was a cabin a couple of miles away. Funny thing is, there was a double murder at the cabin a year before we found the bodies. We looked hard for a connection, but the only one we could find was that all four murders were during winter break. Did the double murder at the cabin involve torture? Not that we could tell. The cabin was torched and the bodies were badly burned. If I remember, the medical examiner concluded that the man had been bludgeoned. Amanda frowned. There was something very familiar about this case. Who were the victims? she asked. One was a young woman. She d gone up to the ski resort with her boyfriend and disappeared. Or at least that s what the boyfriend said. They were having problems. We interviewed several witnesses who heard loud arguments on the evening the woman disappeared. The popular theory was that she d been upset with her boyfriend, met the guy who owned the cabin and gone off with him. The boyfriend finds out, goes to the cabin, kills them and burns the place down. Trouble was, we never had any evidence to support the theory, so no one was ever arrested. A thought flickered through Amanda s mind, but she could not hold on to it. Do you remember the names of the victims? No, but I seem to remember that the man was a lot older than the woman. I think he was an attorney with a Portland firm. The blood drained from Amanda s face. Are you okay? Findlay asked, concerned by Amanda s ash gray coloring. Amanda did not answer. It dawned on her suddenly that she knew the name of the attorney who died at Ghost Lake, and, just as quickly, she understood the significance of her dream about the blood-filled coffee mug. The meeting with Jeff Findlay had taken half an hour, and it took another hour before Amanda was sufficiently composed to return to the office. Frank was still working at six o clock when she knocked on his doorjamb. Hey, princess. What re you working on? Amanda asked, to see if she was in control of her voice. Frank leaned back and folded his hands across his stomach. You know that drug bust in Union County? Amanda nodded. We ve picked up one of the defendants. Amanda forced a smile and sat down across from her father. Outside, the lights of downtown Portland shone bright, but storm clouds covered the moon. Thank God for the rising crime rate, huh? It does help pay the rent, Frank said. How come you re here after quitting time? I wanted to ask you something. Shoot. Remember the night I picked you up at the airport? The day after I found Cardoni s hand? Frank laughed How could I forget? It s not every day a father gets a call from his daughter informing him that she s discovered the amputated limb of a psychopath. I guess it was a memorable occasion. Anyway, on the ride back I told you about finding Tony with Justine Castle and you said that Tony might not be the best person to get serious with. What made you say that? Why do you want to know? Tony and I, we ve gotten pretty close since he returned from New York. Frank s eyebrows went up. When you said that about Tony, four years ago, he was leaving Oregon and I didn t see any reason to press you. But now . . . I mean, is there some reason you don t like him? No, I guess I just didn t like him hurting my little girl. Frank smiled ruefully. You know, it doesn t matter whether that little girl is five or twenty-five when you re her father. Frank paused. So, how serious is this? Amanda forced a smile and shrugged. I don t know, Dad. But there was nothing specific, right? Frank hesitated. Then he sat up straight. You know that Dominic, Tony s father, was one of my original law partners? Amanda nodded. Dom was in my study group in law school. So was Ernie Katz. We called ourselves the Three Musketeers because we were all young guys with families who were working our way through night school. Dom was the life of the party, the hardest drinker, the one who always wanted to go for a beer. I never understood how he could always be on the go without collapsing, but you do that sort of thing when you re young and never think about it. Nowadays they have names for Dom s problem: bipolar disorder, manic-depression. We just thought of Dom as an iron man, and we rarely saw him when he was down. Once we formed our partnership it became obvious that Dom had problems. His wife left him and Tony when Tony was in high school. There were rumors that he was abusive to both of them. Tony was pretty wild by then. I helped him out of two scrapes in high school, and I was able to keep his record clean. When he went to Colgate I hoped that being away from Dom would help him get his life together. Dom was very smart and he was a good lawyer when his motor was going, but he was arrogant and lazy. He was also a heavy drinker and a womanizer. He cost us two good secretaries before we caught on. You were a sophomore in high school when Ernie and I asked Dom to leave the firm. It was a bad scene. Two days later a detective came to the office. It was winter break and we were supposed to go skiing, but I had to call off the trip, remember? Amanda nodded. Dom had a cabin in the mountains Near Ghost Lake, wasn t it? Frank nodded, and Amanda felt sick. The detective told us that it had burned to the ground. Dom and a young woman were inside when the fire started. The police determined that it was arson. Where was Tony? Amanda asked, using every ounce of will to keep her tone casual. He was in Mexico for winter break. I m the one who had to phone him and tell him that his father was dead. Frank shook his head sadly as he remembered the call. So you talked to him, you spoke to him? Not right away. If I remember, I left a message at his hotel asking him to call. I think he got in touch a day or so later. Then he flew home. What does his father s murder or his problems have to do with you not liking Tony? You can t blame him for his father s sins. Frank thought for a moment before replying. What Tony s done, becoming a doctor, is admirable, but growing up the way he did can affect a young man; it leaves scars. Sometimes they re permanent and they prevent a man from ever figuring out how to relate to a woman. Tony s father was a drunk and a womanizer, and he was physically abusive. That s the lesson he taught Tony. When you told me he was dating you and seeing another woman at the same time, it made me think of the way Dom treated women. Amanda stood up. It was all she could do to keep her legs from shaking. Thanks, Dad. I ve got to go now. Sure. I hope I didn t upset you. No, I m fine. Amanda flashed a smile and hoped it masked her fear. Then she turned and left the office, fighting hard to keep from running.

62 The orderly on duty outside the secured ward looked up when two men wearing white coats over casual clothes got out of the elevator. Dimitri Novikov and Igor Timoshenko were arguing about this year s prospects for the Seattle Mariners. They both carried cups of coffee. Timoshenko had a stethoscope around his neck. The guard relaxed. That s when Novikov pressed his silenced pistol against the guard s temple. Please ring for your friend who is inside, Dimitri asked politely in barely accented English. I will be lowering my pistol as soon as you do, but my companion is also armed and he will kill you if there is any trouble. As soon as the guard pressed the button, the weapon disappeared. A moment later a face pressed against the bulletproof glass in the door to the ward. We re here to examine Dr. Cardoni, Novikov said into the intercom next to the door. Then he turned to Timoshenko and continued to press his position that the Mariners had no chance of winning their division. Their relievers are pathetic, he said emphatically. He was midway through listing the earned-run averages of the team s relief pitchers when the door opened. He stopped arguing long enough to press his gun against the orderly s stomach. One word and I will kill you. Lead us to Dr. Cardoni s room. The orderly s eyes widened. He turned without speaking and started down the corridor. He was so frightened that the pfft made by Timoshenko s silenced pistol did not register. Timoshenko closed the door to the ward, locked it and followed Novikov and the orderly. On the other side of the door, blood from a fatal head wound spread over the surface of the guard s desk. Timoshenko and Novikov were Russians who lived in Seattle. Martin Breach had used their talents before for special jobs. The previous evening they had met Art Prochaska in a video arcade in Vancouver, Washington. Prochaska had paid them $25,000 and promised another $25,000 if they delivered Vincent Cardoni to Breach alive and relatively unharmed. He had given the Russians a floor plan of the hospital and a detailed diagram of the secured ward. An elevator inside the ward was used to move prisoners. An ambulance driven by another Russian was parked outside a ground-floor door of the hospital. All Novikov and Timoshenko had to do was gain access to Cardoni s room, sedate him and take him down the elevator. Breach did not care how they accomplished their task as long as they delivered their package. The policeman who was sitting outside Cardoni s room was surprised to see two doctors following the orderly down the corridor. He knew the schedule by heart, and no one was supposed to be examining the prisoner at two o clock in the morning. The officer stood and took one step forward before Timoshenko shot him in the forehead. Blood from the exit wound splattered across the window in the door to Cardoni s room. The orderly made a half turn, but he was dead before he could complete it. It was always best to leave no witnesses. Novikov took the orderly s keys and opened the door. He put his pistol in the pocket of his white coat and withdrew a syringe. The room was dark, but Novikov could make out a large shape under a blanket and sheet. He moved quietly, not wanting to wake Cardoni. Prochaska had made it clear that there would be no more money if Cardoni was killed or badly injured, and Novikov did not want to have to explain failure to Martin Breach. Cardoni s blanket covered him from head to toe. Novikov was standing over the bed before he could make out the top of the surgeon s head in the darkened room. The Russian pulled the covers back slowly. He was leaning down to inject Cardoni when the surgeon plunged a bedspring through Novikov s ear and into his brain. It was the same bedspring he had broken off from the underside of his bed and spent hours straightening and sharpening in the dark while planning his escape. The hypodermic fell to the floor and shattered. Cardoni propped up the Russian, who twitched for a moment before becoming limp. Timoshenko glanced down the hall, then looked through the window to see how his partner was doing. Novikov s body was bent forward, shielding Cardoni from Timoshenko, whose view was partially obscured by the blood that had spattered across the window in the steel door. Cardoni slid out from under his attacker and lowered Novikov s body onto the bed. He found the Russian s weapon while Timoshenko was figuring out that something unplanned had occurred in the darkened room. Cardoni shot the Russian while he was charging through the door. When Cardoni was certain that his assailants were dead, the surgeon stripped Novikov, who was closest to his size and whose clothes were unstained by blood. In a few minutes Cardoni was dressed in street clothes covered by a doctor s white coat. A stethoscope was draped around his neck. He took the elevator to the ground floor and walked out of St. Francis Medical Center. Sean McCarthy s call awakened Mike Greene from a deep sleep at five-thirty. He had been bleary-eyed when he picked up the receiver, but the news of Cardoni s escape acted like a double shot of espresso. Greene was so distracted that he recalled little of the drive through the darkened streets of Portland. The first thing that did make an impression was the large bloodstain that covered the desk outside the secured ward. He shivered involuntarily as he walked through the law enforcement personnel who jammed the corridor outside Cardoni s room. Sean McCarthy was talking to a fingerprint expert. A policeman and a man in an orderly s clothes lay on the green linoleum floor in pools of blood a few feet from the detective. Greene smelled the dead men before he saw them. He looked up so that the bodies were only in his peripheral vision. As soon as he spotted the deputy district attorney, McCarthy walked to meet him. Let s get out of here, McCarthy said. I need some coffee. How did he get away? Greene asked as soon as they were in the elevator. We re not sure yet. We found five bodies. We ve identified three of them: the orderly who mans the desk in front of the elevator and the policeman and orderly who were found outside Cardoni s room. Here s where it gets weird. There are two dead men in Cardoni s room. One man was shot as he came through the door. He was dressed like a doctor, but he was holding a pistol with a silencer. The techs think it s the weapon that was used to kill the cop and the two orderlies. The second man was killed with a sharpened bedspring. Cardoni worked it off the bottom of his bed. The second man is only wearing underwear, and we found Cardoni s hospital gown on the floor. We assume Cardoni s wearing the dead man s clothing. Was the guy a doctor? We don t know, but no doctors were scheduled to visit Cardoni and no one from St. Francis has been able to identify either man. The elevator doors opened. McCarthy bought two coffees from a vending machine while Greene took a table in the deserted cafeteria. One interesting thing, McCarthy told the DA after taking a sip from his cup. Cardoni had a visitor yesterday afternoon, Amanda Jaffe. What was she doing with Cardoni? Her firm represented him when he was charged in Milton County. Maybe he wants her to continue the representation. There s no way the Jaffes could do that, Mike said. She s a witness, and he murdered one of the firm s clients. There s a clear conflict. Have you talked to her? I phoned her apartment, but her answering machine was on. Have someone go there. It s a long shot, but Cardoni may have said something to Amanda that will give us a clue to where he s gone. Before McCarthy could answer, McCarthy s partner, Alex DeVore, walked into the cafeteria. We ve got an ID on the two men in Cardoni s room, he said. Dimitri Novikov and Igor Timoshenko, Russian Mafia from Seattle. What were they doing down here? McCarthy asked. Remember the Colombians who tried to move in on Martin Breach two years ago? I still have trouble eating when I think about the crime scene, Greene answered. The word is that Novikov was in on that. So you think Breach brought in out-of-town talent to do Cardoni? Breach never forgives and he never forgets, McCarthy answered. Mike Greene s pager started to beep. He took a look at the number on the screen, then pulled out a cell phone and dialed immediately. Amanda? It s Mike. We ve got to talk. She sounded upset, almost near tears. I can t right now. I m at St. Francis. Cardoni s escaped. What! How? We re not really certain. We still have to talk. Please. What I have to say may be more important than the escape. I find that hard to believe. There s a possibility that Vincent Cardoni is innocent. Come on, Amanda. Cardoni murdered Justine Castle almost under your nose. We ve got five dead men here. The man is a homicidal maniac. Listen to me closely, Mike. Before a patient has surgery the hospital draws a blood sample. You have to find out if there was any trace of sedatives, anesthetic or tranquilizers in Cardoni s sample. If his blood wasn t tested for those substances, I want you to run one and tell me the results. If the test results are what I think they ll be, you ll change your opinion.