The Executioner

Ninety-Four

Captain Blake entered the room without knocking. Her makeup seemed a little heavier than normal, and Hunter deducted it was to hide the dark circles under her eyes.

‘Is this for real, Robert? Is Debbie Howard the second victim?’ She tilted her head towards the pictures on the cork-board.

‘There’s a good possibility, yes. But I need the case files before I’m able to say for sure.’

‘They’ll be here soon,’ the captain confirmed. ‘A prosecutor with the DA’s office?’ she shook her head disapprovingly. ‘The shit will certainly hit the fan once the chief of police and the mayor hear about this.’

‘For now we’re only checking leads, captain,’ Hunter said calmly. ‘No one has to hear about anything.’

‘Since you made the front page of the Times yesterday, the chief wants a daily report from me on this investigation. He wants to keep an eye on us, the “Mystic Cops”, as I’m sure so does the mayor.’

‘So give him a report. Does anyone know you requested the files in connection with our investigation?’

The captain shot Hunter an arctic look. ‘I’m not that dumb, Robert.’

‘So we don’t have to tell them, at least not yet.’

‘Are you asking me to lie to the chief of police, Robert?’

‘No, captain, just to manipulate the truth for a day or two.’

The captain glared at Hunter and then Garcia. ‘What’s your problem with authority and following rules, detective? Have you forgotten that we answer to the chief of police and the mayor? I’m not sure how William Bolter used to run this department, but lying and disobeying your superior’s orders will no longer be officially sanctioned. Not as long as I’m captain. If we get confirmation that Debbie Howard really was our killer’s second victim, it will make the report.’ She paused. ‘So what have we got so far?’

Hunter told her about the graduating pictures from Gardena Senior High and their meeting with James Reed.

‘And this Peter Elder, the priest’s old high school buddy, he’s in CCI in Tehachapi?’ she asked.

‘A homicide crime scene that the cops messed up,’ Hopkins confirmed. ‘He should’ve been in San Quentin.’

‘I’d like to talk to him ASAP, captain.’ Hunter consulted his watch. ‘How fast do you think we can get a prisoner’s interview request?’

The captain sighed, looking at Peter Elder’s file. ‘Elder is in a maximum-security prison – Secure Housing Unit, Robert. Visitation privileges are few, if any. I’ll need to send a formal request to the warden. Even if I overstress the urgency of it, it’d still probably take at least twenty-four hours.’ She returned the file to Hunter’s desk. ‘I have a very good friend in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation board, who might be able to speed things up. But how do you think this Peter Elder can help? He’s been in prison for-’ She made quick eye contact with Hopkins.

‘Fourteen years,’ he confirmed.

‘My guess is that he hasn’t seen his old school friend for at least that long.’

Hopkins checked his report. ‘That’s right, captain. His visitation records show only one name, his mother, and that stopped five years ago when she passed away.’

Hunter rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. ‘We already know that Amanda Reilly and Debbie Howard were school friends,’ Hunter pointed to the picture of the four girls together. ‘But we’ve still to make a connection between the girls and a young Father Fabian. We know they didn’t know each other from school, but look at this, captain.’ Hunter called her attention to the large LA neighborhood map on the wall. ‘Those pins indicate where Amanda and the young priest lived when they were teenagers, not that far from each other.’ He picked Debbie Howard’s report from his desk. ‘Debbie lived in the same street as Amanda.’

‘You think they were a gang?’ the captain asked.

‘Something like that.’ Hunter nodded and leaned against the edge of his desk. ‘But the only way I can confirm that is if we find someone who knew them when they were young. Someone who was a good friend, maybe part of the gang.’ He pointed to Compton High’s yearbook. ‘Peter Elder is that someone.’

‘And if he confirms your assumption, what do you get?’

‘Motive.’

Everyone stood still. All eyes on Hunter.