The Kill

CHAPTER 16

Zack and Olivia didn’t talk much on the ride back from the Davidsons’. By the time they’d brought Amanda and Brenda back to the house, it was after noon. They went to the station, where the sketch artist shared her work, but it was too vague for the news media to use. The man could have been anyone, and the artist wasn’t confident that Sean had remembered enough detail.

The only thing Sean described well was the tattoo. When Olivia saw the sketch, she knew without a doubt that it was the same tattoo as on the man who killed Missy.

Brian Harrison Hall had the identical tattoo on his arm.

“The man in California who was just released had a tattoo just like that,” Olivia said. “A witness identified him by his tattoo.”

Zack looked at his copy of the sketch. “Blue eagle. California-” he glanced at the board. “That was thirty-four years ago. The first victim.” He paused, looked at Olivia. “We’d talked about how this killer probably doesn’t work with a partner, but what if he and this other guy-what did you say his name was? Hall?”

She nodded, not surprised that Zack remembered.

He tapped the tattoo sketch. “Okay, let’s think this through. Let’s assume that Hall was innocent-and I’m betting he was. If he suspected our guy, he would have said something about it, agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“So Hall is innocent, but it’s too damn coincidental that two men of about the same age and build, with the same tattoo, in the same town, with access to the same truck didn’t know each other.”

“You mean they might have known each other even if Hall had nothing to do with the murder?” It clicked. It made sense.

“Exactly.” Zack stood, paced. “Let’s say, because of the tattoo, that they served in Vietnam together. Hall got out when?” He grabbed a file and started flipping through it.

“April 10, 1972,” Olivia said, taking the file from him. She didn’t want Zack to see all the details in the file. She’d only written the victims’ first names on the white board.

If he delved too deep, he’d see that the first victim shared the same last name as her.

Zack looked at her in awe. “Good memory.”

She didn’t comment. She’d memorized Missy’s case file.

“I’d bet our killer served with Hall in Vietnam. Maybe they were released about the same time. Maybe there was bad blood between them.”

“Are you suggesting that our killer set Hall up? Framed him?”

“Anything’s possible at this point. But I think we have to go with the assumption that they knew each other, and that gives us something to go on.” He picked up the phone and dialed an extension. “It’s not going to be easy to get military records, but I think your people can probably get them faster.”

Into the phone, Zack said, “Chief? Travis here. Look, I think we need to contact the Seattle bureau. I meant to call you this morning, but with looking for Amanda Davidson… yeah, right… Two things. First, Agent St. Martin and I have a theory that our killer served in Vietnam and was discharged around April 1972-say between the end of 1971 and October 1972. Second, remember the marks on the victim’s forearms? Doug Cohn talked to several labs last night and the same marks appear on their victims. Twelve punctures. We need some expert guidance to help figure out what they could mean.”

Zack listened for a moment, then said, “Okay, you call and set it up, then have them contact me and Agent St. Martin and I’ll debrief them on what we’ve uncovered so far.” He hung up.

“You know,” he said, “after the chief puts in the request with Seattle, you should probably work as the liaison with your people. I don’t have a problem with it. I’ve met a lot of Feds who jerked this department around, but you’ve been fantastic. I wouldn’t have had half this stuff if you hadn’t brought it in.”

“I-” What could she say to that? She took a deep breath. “Zack, I think I should explain-”

“Hold that thought-I have an idea.”

“What?”

“Get Hall to cooperate.”

She blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“The guy who was just released. I’ll bet he knows exactly who we’re looking for. Even if he hasn’t thought of it, he’ll probably come up with a name if we ask the right questions-such as, did you know anyone who served in Vietnam who was in Redwood City with you? A lot of those guys would have hung out together. The atmosphere sucked for the military back then. I’ll bet he knows him, or can give us a couple of names of guys with a similar tattoo.”

Olivia didn’t know what to say. Yes, the idea was brilliant. Hall most certainly would have names. But the thought of her seeing him after she’d testified against him, back then and every time he came up for parole, terrified her.

But it had to be done. It was the biggest lead they had.

“I’ll call the district attorney’s office and ask them to get in touch with Hall’s lawyer,” she said.

“While you do that, I’m going to talk to Doug Cohn and see what’s going on with the lab files on those twelve marks.”

Zack walked by and squeezed her shoulder. The gesture was intimate as his fingers massaged her neck. “We’re close, I can feel it. Keep it up, and when we catch this bastard I’m treating you to dinner overlooking Lake Union.”

Then he left.

She let him go. She could have stopped him, told him exactly why she was here, but she didn’t. She was simply buying time.

In her notebook, she looked up the number of the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office, where Hamilton Craig was the D.A. She got passed from office to office, and finally someone told her he was unavailable and could they help her?

She didn’t want to talk to someone she didn’t know, so she hung up and found Gary Porter’s cell phone number.

Gary was the cop, now retired, who’d investigated Missy’s case and had come to every parole meeting to speak against Brian Hall’s release. He’d not only supported Olivia each time she testified against Hall’s parole, but had been the father figure she didn’t have during the original trial. Her own parents were so grief-stricken and distraught, they barely knew she was in the same room, let alone what she’d gone through telling the prosecutors and judge what happened the day Missy disappeared.

No matter what transpired with this case, even if she lost her job or her friends or Zack’s respect, she would never regret her decision if she saved Amanda Davidson from the emotional pain she’d suffered as a child.

Gary answered on the third ring.

“Gary, it’s Olivia St. Martin. How are you?”

“Could be better.”

“What’s wrong?”

He paused. “Didn’t you get my message? I left one on your home phone and at your office two days ago.”

“No. I didn’t. I-I’m not in Virginia right now.”

“Hamilton Craig was shot and killed. The police think he surprised a burglar in his house.”

“Hamilton? He’s dead?”

She rested her forehead on her hand, her skin suddenly clammy. She couldn’t imagine the vibrant district attorney who’d been larger than life to her as a child-dead. That was why she’d received the runaround at the district attorney’s office.

“The funeral is this evening.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“If you weren’t calling about Hamilton, why did you call?”

“There might be a lead in Missy’s murder.”

Long silence. “Oh?”

“I’ve been sort of unofficially helping on another case that has striking similarities to Missy’s. We think maybe Hall knew Missy’s killer.” She explained about the tattoos, what the Seattle witness saw, and Zack’s theory that the killer had served in Vietnam with Hall and perhaps had set him up, or at least knew him when he stole his truck.

Gary didn’t say anything for a long time.

“Gary?”

“Are you in Seattle now?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know you’d retained your field agent status.”

She didn’t respond.

“You don’t have to say anything. What do you want me to do?”

“I got the runaround at the district attorney’s office-they didn’t tell me about Hamilton-and I don’t have any other contacts there. I need someone to contact Hall’s attorney and see if we can interview him.”

“You?”

“Either the detective I’m working with, or someone down there. Not me, not personally. I know I can’t be anywhere around it. But I think Hall will cooperate, don’t you? Wouldn’t he want to know if someone set him up to go to prison?”

“You’re right, Hall will bite. Are you coming down too?”

“I-I doubt it.” She wanted to, but as soon as the local FBI stepped in, she’d be ordered back to Virginia. “But I’m going to try. I just won’t sit in on the interview.”

“I’ll contact Hamilton’s office and pass along the information. I’m sure they’ll help. How can I reach you?”

“My cell phone. Or better yet, have them call Detective Zack Travis of the Seattle Police Department.” She gave him Zack’s contact information, said goodbye, and hung up.

Olivia buried her face in her arms and breathed deep. Her life was spiraling out of control, but they were so much closer to finding Missy’s killer. That counted for something. Even if Zack sent her back to Virginia, or Rick Stockton fired her, she couldn’t discount what she’d brought to the investigation.

She had to focus on that.

The phone on the conference table rang. “Hello?” she answered.

“Liv, it’s Zack. Get down to the lab. The genius Doug Cohn just figured out what the marks mean and you’re not going to believe it.”