Killer Takes All

CHAPTER 61

Sunday, March 20, 2005

7:35 p.m.

The next minutes passed in a blur. Malone called for an ambulance and a crime-scene unit. Informed dispatch of a fatality. Tony and Stacy led the two women outside to a car.

Moments later, Spencer joined them. “Everyone’s on their way. Including an EMT unit.” He turned to Kay. “Do you feel strong enough to answer some questions, Mrs. Noble?”

She nodded, though Stacy saw her clasp her hands in her lap-as if to keep them from shaking. Or keep her strong.

“He was crazy,” Kay began softly. “Obsessed with White Rabbit. He bragged about how smart he was, how he was playing us all. Even Leo, the Supreme White Rabbit.”

“Start at the beginning,” Spencer said softly. “The night he abducted you.”

“All right.” She glanced at Alice with concern, then began. “He came to my door. Asked if he could speak with me. I let him in. I never thou-I never-”

Her voice cracked; she brought a hand to her mouth, visibly fighting for control. “I fought him. Kicked and clawed. He hit me. I don’t know what with. Next thing I remember, I was in a car trunk. Tied up. We were moving.”

“What happened then, Mrs. Noble?”

“He brought me here.” She swallowed hard. “He came and went. He told me about…about killing-”

Alice began to cry. Kay put an arm around her shoulders and drew her daughter closer.

“He bragged about how he had taken out the King of Hearts.”

“Leo?”

She nodded, eyes welling with tears. “Sometimes he just rambled.”

“About?”

“The game. Characters.” She wiped at the tears on her cheeks. “Killing Alice was his goal,” Kay said. “He set it up to watch her character kill one player after another. Then when they were all eliminated, he’d kill her.”

The woman looked at Stacy. “You eluded him. He couldn’t kill Alice until you were out of the way.”

And Alice was the bait to get her out here.

“There were other Alices,” the girl said quietly. “I wasn’t the first.”

Spencer’s mouth tightened. “Where? Did he say?”

They both shook their heads. Kay caught her daughter’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “But she was the ultimate. The Alice. He found us through news stories and online interviews.”

The EMTs arrived. Tony helped Kay and Alice to the ambulance.

Stacy watched them a moment, then turned to Spencer. “How’d you get here in time? We’re two hours from your stomping grounds.”

“You’re not as good a liar as you think you are.”

“The busboy dropping the pan of dishes?”

“Nope. Your promise not to do anything stupid. Got the okay to install a GPS tracking device to your SUV.”

“How’d you get a judge to okay that?”

“Fudged the facts.”

“I suppose I should be pissed.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Funny, I’m thinking I’m the one who should be pissed.” He leaned toward her, lowered his voice. “That was a pretty dumb stunt. You know that, right?”

She could be dead. She would be, if not for him. “Yeah, I know that. Thanks, Malone. I owe you.”