CHAPTER FIFTEEN
My first call that morning was to FBI Agent Janet Long. When she picked up, I was smart enough to thank her one more time for dinner before launching into my question.
“This is going to sound a little strange,” I said, “but bear with me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Somewhere in your bureau, there’s an agent or two who are aware of several unsolved homicides throughout the Midwest.”
There was a brief silence on the line.
“Yes,” she said. “More than one or two agents, actually. What about it?”
“All women, all multiple stabbings. I know of cold cases in Cleveland, Metro Chicago, and Milwaukee. Are there more?”
“Alex, what are you getting at?”
“Look, you know I was involved in that case in Detroit. The woman who was stabbed in the train station.”
“That’s the case you were telling me about at dinner. With the killer who’s getting out soon.”
“Right. But let’s just suppose for a minute that he didn’t really do it. If you happened to add Elana Paige to that list of unsolved stabbings… I mean, I can’t help thinking that would be something useful to whoever’s tracking those other cases.”
“If it’s the same killer, yes. Of course it would. It’s usually one case that breaks the whole thing. That one time he makes a mistake of some kind.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Just to get it straight,” she said, “you’re talking about the man who was convicted of killing that woman in the train station, right here in Detroit. The man who confessed to the crime. That’s the case you’re talking about.”
“Yes.”
She stopped talking again. I could hear her tapping away at her keyboard.
“Elana Paige,” she finally said. “In Detroit. That was before the other murders.”
“I was wondering if that was the case. So yes, maybe that’s the one time he made a mistake. If it was his very first time.”
“But just because it was a multiple stabbing, that doesn’t necessarily connect it with the others. Especially with a confession and a man in prison. Who obviously couldn’t have killed anyone else while he was in there.”
“That’s my point, Janet. If Darryl King confessed to a crime he didn’t commit…”
“I’ll pass this along to the right person,” she said. “If there’s an angle here and it helps break these other cases, then everybody will be happy. But you have to promise me something right now.”
“What’s that?”
“By giving it to me, you let it go. Are we clear?”
“Even if I wanted to,” I said, “what could I do? These are major cases in other states, going back years.”
“Something tells me you’d find a way. So promise me.”
“I promise. I just wanted to let you know. That’s all.”
“Okay,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
“Will you at least let me know if you guys find something?”
“Yes. You’ll be the first person to know, outside the bureau.”
One more silence. Maybe both of us realizing that there wasn’t much else to say. We didn’t make another dinner date. We didn’t even say “See you soon.” I just thanked her and told her to take care of herself.
As soon as I ended the call, I had a brief debate with myself. Then I dialed Detective Bateman. I wasn’t breaking my promise to Janet. I was simply following up on the conversation we had on his boat.
Bateman answered the phone.
“Arnie,” I said, “this is Alex McKnight.”
“Alex, good to hear from you again. Good seeing you the other day, too. We should do that again sometime.”
“I’d love to. But that’s not why I was calling. Actually, I just wanted to ask you one question.”
“Shoot.”
“Is there any chance I could finally see that confession some time?”
Nothing for a long moment. Phone silences were apparently going to be the theme for the day.
“You know, I had this feeling when you were here, and I was telling you about it… You were doubting even before you got here, weren’t you?”
“I admit, I may have been.”
“Hearing me tell you how it all broke down, that didn’t settle it for you?”
“It’s one thing to hear about it after the fact,” I said. “It’s another thing to see it and hear it yourself.”
“Well, first of all, why are you thinking about this now? It was a long time ago. If you had any doubts…”
“I honestly haven’t thought about it at all,” I said. “Not until I got the call about him getting out.”
“So now, looking back, even though you weren’t there to see it, you feel like you need to tell me it wasn’t a clean confession. Is that what I’m hearing?”
“Look, I know it was a big case for you. We all wanted it to be solved, but-”
“We all wanted it to be solved,” he said. “So we solved it. You were the one who ID’d him, for crying out loud. How can you even be saying this now?”
This is going beautifully, I thought. This was such a great idea.
“I know this is out of the blue,” I said. “Let me try to explain why I’m thinking this way.”
“I told you I was sorry, Alex. You should have made the arrest. You should have gotten the big award, too. We both should have been up there. Even if I had to wait for you to get back on your feet.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Stop right there. This has nothing to do with who got credit. Will you please give me one minute to explain?”
“Yeah, sure. You just came up with some new evidence that would overturn a conviction based on a sworn confession.”
“Arnie, come on.”
“I’ll call the prosecutor. We can schedule the hearing. I’ll get up there myself and tell everyone it was all bogus. Then I’ll give back the award. Would that do it for you?”
“Listen to me…”
“No, thanks. I’ve heard enough. Have a nice life, and maybe get some help, huh? I think you got a real problem letting go of old grudges.”
I didn’t get in another word before he hung up. I stood there looking at the phone, too stunned to even be mad. Then I got over it.
“If you weren’t already half crippled,” I said to the phone, “I’d come down there and kick your ass.”
The next couple of days were tough for me. I don’t have much of a talent for putting things out of my mind. I just tried to stay busy. The cold weather was right around the corner, so I started getting cabins ready. There were windows to seal up. One of the woodstoves was on its last legs, so I spent an afternoon with Vinnie, putting in a new one.
“You’ve been thinking about something else all day,” he said when we went down to the Glasgow Inn. “It’s a good thing I helped you with the stove. You probably would have installed it backwards.”
“I’m trying to keep my head here in Paradise,” I said. “I’m really trying.”
But it was getting harder with each passing hour, not easier. I’d be doing something around one of the cabins and I’d suddenly have this vision of a woman lying on a cold floor, all of the blood drained from her body. I hadn’t seen any of these other crime scenes, of course. Not in Cleveland or Chicago or Milwaukee, or wherever else this same killer may have struck. So some part of my mind would make up the details and all of a sudden it would be right there, right in front of me. I was starting to wonder if I’d keep seeing them for the rest of my life. That would surely drive me insane.
Leon was no help, because he was just as compulsive as I was. Maybe even more so, if that were possible. I went down to the Soo Brewing Company a couple of days after his late-night visit. He was standing behind the counter, looking like a man who hadn’t slept much.
When he had a break, he came over and sat down next to me on the old couch. He was carrying a folder. I didn’t have to ask him what was inside.