璇玑之心刃·冷血悍将-第130部分
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‘Ex…Navy; Vietnam vet。‘
‘Do you have any reason to believe that he‘s a drug user; sir?‘
‘Not a chance;‘ Rosen answered; a slight edge on his voice。 ‘His physical condition is too good for that; and I saw his reaction when we found out that Pam was using pills。 I had to calm him down。 Definitely not an addict。 I‘m a physician; I would have noticed。‘
The policeman was not overly impressed; but accepted it at face value。 The detectives would have a lot of fun with this one; he thought。 What had appeared to be a simple robbery was now at least a kidnapping as well。 Wonderful news。 ‘So what was he doing in that part of town?‘
‘I don‘t know;‘ Sam admitted。 ‘Who‘s this Lieutenant Allen?‘
‘Homicide; Western District;‘ the cop explained。
‘I wonder why they had an appointment。‘
‘That‘s something we‘ll get from the Lieutenant; sir。‘
‘Was this a robbery?‘
‘Probably。 It sure looks that way。 We found his wallet a block away; no cash; no credit cards; just his driver‘s license。 He also had a handgun in his car。 Whoever robbed him must have missed that。 That‘s against the law; by the way;‘ the cop noted。 Another officer came in。
‘I checked the name again …1 knew I heard it before。 He did a job for Allen。 Remember last year; the Gooding case?‘
The senior man looked up from his notes。 ‘Oh; yeah! He‘s the guy who found the gun?‘
‘Right; and he ended up training our divers。‘
‘It still doesn‘t explain what the hell he was doing over there;‘ the cop pointed out。
‘True;‘ his partner admitted。 ‘But it makes it hard to believe he‘s a player。‘
The senior officer shook his head。 ‘There was a girl with him。 She‘s missing。‘
‘Kidnapping; too? What do we have on her?‘
‘Just a name。 Pamela Madden。 Twenty; recovering doper; missing。 We have Mr Kelly; his car; his gun; and that‘s it。 No shells from the shotgun。 No witnesses at all。 A missing girl; probably; but a description that could fit ten thousand local girls。 Robbery…kidnapping。‘ All in all; not that atypical a case。 They often started off knowing damned little。 In any case; the two uniformed officers had mainly determined that the detectives would take this one over almost immediately。
‘She wasn‘t from around here。 She had an accent; Texas; somewhere out there。‘
‘What else?‘ the senior officer asked。 ‘e on; doc; anything you know; okay?‘
Sam grimaced。 ‘She had been the victim of sexual abuse。 She might have been a hooker。 My wife said … hell; I saw it; evidence of scars on her back。 She‘d been whipped; some permanent scarring from welts; that sort of thing。 We didn‘t press; but she might have been a prostitute。‘
‘Mr Kelly has strange habits and acquaintances; doesn‘t he?‘ the officer observed while making notes。
‘From what you just said; he helps cops; too; doesn‘t he?‘ Professor Rosen was getting angry。 ‘Anything else? I have rounds to make。‘
‘Doctor; what we have here is a definite attempted murder; probably as part of a robbery; and maybe a kidnapping also。 Those are serious crimes。 I have procedures to follow; just like you do。 When will Kelly be up for a real interview?‘
‘Tomorrow; probably; but he‘s going to be very rocky for a couple of days。‘
‘Is ten in the morning okay; sir?‘
‘Yes。‘
The cops rose。 ‘Somebody will be back then; sir。‘
Rosen watched them leave。 This; strangely enough; had been his first real experience with a major criminal investigation。 His work more often dealt with traffic and industrial accidents。 He found himself unable to believe that Kelly could be a criminal; yet that had seemed to be the thrust of their questions; wasn‘t it? That‘s when Dr Pretlow came in。
‘We finished the blood work on Kelly;‘ She handed the data over。 ‘Gonorrhea。 He should be more careful。 I remend penicillin。 Any known allergies?‘
‘No。‘ Rosen closed his eyes and swore。 What the hell else would happen today?
‘Not that big a deal; sir。 It looks like a very early case。 When he‘s feeling better I‘ll have Social Services talk to him about …‘
‘No; you won‘t;‘ Rosen said in a low growl。
‘But…‘
‘But the girl he got it from is probably dead; and we will not force him to remember her that way。‘ It was the first time Sam had admitted the probable facts to himself; and that made it all the worse; declaring her dead。 He had little to base it on; but his instincts told him it must be so。
‘Doctor; the law requires …‘
It was just too much。 Rosen was on the point of exploding。 ‘That‘s a good man in there。 I watched him fall in love with a girl who‘s probably been murdered; and his last memory of her will not be that she gave him venereal disease。 Is that clear; doctor? As far as the patient is concerned; the medication is for a post…op infection。 Mark the chart accordingly。‘
‘No; doctor; I will not do that。‘
Professor Rosen made the proper notations。 ‘Done。‘ He looked up。 ‘Doctor Pretlow; you have the makings of an excellent technical surgeon。 Try to remember that the patients upon whom we perform our procedures are human beings; with feelings; will you? If you do so; I think you will find that the job is somewhat easier in the long run。 It will also make you a much better physician。‘
And what was he so worked up about? Pretlow asked herself on the way out。
C8
CHAPTER 8
Concealment
It was a bination of things。 June 20 was a hot day; and a dull one。 A photographer for the Baltimore Sun had a new camera; a Nikon to replace his venerable Honeywell Pentax; and while he mourned for his old one; the new camera; like a new love; had all sorts of new features to explore and enjoy。 One of them was a whole collection of telephoto lenses that the distributor had thrown in。 The Nikon was a new model; and the pany had wanted it accepted within the news…photo munity quickly; and so twenty photographers at various papers around the country had gotten free sets。 Bob Preis had gotten his because of a Pulitzer Prize earned three years before。 He was sitting in his car on Druid Lake Drive now; listening to his police radio; hoping for something interesting to happen; but nothing was。 And so he was playing with his new camera; practicing his lens…switching skills。 The Nikon was beautifully machined; and as an infantryman will learn to strip and clean his rifle in total darkness; Preis was changing from one lens to another by feel; forcing himself to scan the area just as a means of keeping his eyes off a procedure that had to bee as natural and automatic as zipping his pants。
It was the crows that caught his attention。 Located off…center in the irregularly shaped lake was a fountain。 No example of architectural prowess; it was a plain concrete cylinder sticking six or eight feet up from the water‘s surface; and in it were a few jets that shot water more or less straight up; though today shifting winds were scattering the water haphazardly in all directions。 Crows were circling the water; trying occasionally to get in; but defeated by the swirling sheets of clear white spray; which appeared to frighten them。 What were the crows interested in? His hands searched the camera case for the 200mm lens; which he attached to the camera body; bringing it up to his eyes smoothly。
‘Sweet Jesus!‘ Preis instantly shot ten rapid frames。 Only then did he get on his car radio; telling his base office to notify the police at once。 He switched lenses again; this time selecting a 300mm; his longest。 After finishing one roll; he threaded another; this one 100…speed color。 He steadied the camera on the windowsill of the tired old Chevy and fired off another roll。 One crow; he saw; got through the water; settling on …
‘Oh; God; no 。。。‘ Because it was; after all; a human body there; a young woman; white as alabaster; and in the through…the…lens optics; he could see the crow right there; its clawed feet strutting around the body; its pitiless black eyes surveying what to the bird was nothing more than a large and diverse meal。 Preis sat his camera down and shifted his car into gear。 He violated two separate traffic laws getting as close to the fountain as he could; and in what was for him a rare case of humanity overing professionalism; slammed his hand down on the horn; hoping to startle the bird away。 The bird looked up; but saw that whatever the noise came from; there was no immediate threat here; and it went back to selecting the first morsel for its iron…hard beak。 It was then that Preis made a random but effective guess。 He blinked his lights on and off; and to the bird that was unusual enough that it thought better of things and flew away。 It might have been an owl; after all; and the meal wasn‘t going anywhere。 The bird would just wait for the threat to go away before returning to eat。
‘What gives?‘ a cop asked; pulling alongside。
‘There‘s a body on the fountain。 Look。‘ He handed the camera over。
‘God;‘ the policeman breathed; handing it back after a long quiet moment。 He made the radio call while Preis shot another roll。 Police cars arrived; rather like the crows; one at a time; until eight were parked within sight of the fountain。 A fire truck arrived in ten minutes; along with someone from the department of Recreation and Parks; trailering a boat behind his pickup。 This was quickly put