William Kienzle - Chameleon

But Tully, in inviting Koesler to attend, was following the same hunch he’d had throughout this investigation: That the priest could provide a Catholic insight that might elude the police areaof expertise.

“Are we sure of the bullet?” Moore asked.

Tully nodded. “I just got the report from ballistics a little while ago. Just before you got here. A head wound; same gun.”

“Wow!” Mangiapane exclaimed. “Record time.”

“That’s what we haven’t got-time,” Tully commented. “Father Koesler, is there any chance this Father Bash could have had a vital interest in the possible closing of Church schools or parishes?”

Koesler pondered the question briefly. The pause was largely pro forma; he was quite certain of the answer. He slowly shook his head. “Not to the best of my knowledge, Lieutenant. Oh, he undoubtedly had an opinion on the question, although I have no idea what that opinion might have been.

“But he would not be intimately affected in either event-whedier the institutions were closed or allowed to remain open. He was not in the parochial ministry. By that I mean he wasn’t attached to any parish. At most, he probably helped out at some parish on weekends. Again, if he did, I don’t know where. His prime concern would have been in relaying the decision to the news media. In effect, I guess you could say he probably didn’t care what decision was made as long as he had that decision in hand in enough time to dish it out to the media.

“As far as I can see, Lieutenant, that thread we had going to link the murders broke when Father Bash became a victim. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Tully said. “It was my theory. You told me what you knew of the first three and I came up with the idea. The problem is it puts us back on square one. And an added problem is that the perp seems to have changed his M.O.”

“His M.O.?” Moore said. “How’s that?”

“The first three killings,” Tully explained. “They all took place at night … with Donovan, early in the morning, actually. Both Hoffer and Foley were killed near eleven at night as each one was walking his dog before retiring. In each case the killer picked his time carefully. Of all the times and places he could have picked for Donovan, he struck late at night, ’cause she had a habit of doing a lot of her work in the evening and she frequently got home very late. Plus, at that hour, not only could he depend on her coming home alone but there likely would not be anyone around to witness the killing.

“He was right about everything but the victim. No way he could guess that one particular night would be the one and only time the nun loaned an outfit to her sister. So he got the wrong one. But it was a one-in-a-million chance. The important thing is that the perp had himself pretty well protected.

“The same in the next two killings. Both men had a steady, dependable habit of ending the day about eleven by walking their dogs. In both cases, that’s exactly what both did. In both cases it was late at night on a pretty predictably empty street.

“In every case-in all three killings-his careful preparation paid off: All three were killed at his convenience. The victims were faithful to their schedules. It was most unlikely anyone would be around to witness the killings. If by chance he had spotted anyone coming home or passing by unexpectedly, he could just have walked away and done it some other night. None of the habits these people had were going to change. If anything prevented him from killing them when he originally intended, all he needed to do was come back another night.”

“I see where you’re headed, Zoo,” said Moore. “The Bash killing doesn’t have any of those elements.”

“Not one,” Tully continued. “How could the perp know what Bash was going to do today? According to his assistant … what’s his name …?”

“Meyer. Robert Meyer,” Mangiapane supplied.

“Meyer. According to him, Bash suggested the Pontch Wine Cellars right out of the blue. Bash ate there frequently but by no means so regularly that it could be predicted. But the killer either followed him or waited for him in that alley. The more likely probability is that the guy was either in the restaurant or waiting outside. By the way, while I’m thinking of it, get some of our people to do as complete a make as possible on who was in the Pontch this afternoon. Joe Beyer knows his clientele pretty well. See if he recalls Carson or Stapleton-or if anybody can identify either of them as being there.”

Both Mangiapane and Moore noted the instructions.

“To get back,” Tully resumed, “the perp, as I figure it, followed Bash up Washington Boulevard. When he got to that alley, the perp checked out the area and when he didn’t see anyone, he shot Bash and escaped down the alley.

“But just look at the difference: It’s not at night; it’s in broad daylight. The perp hasn’t done his usual thorough surveillance; he’s winging it for the first time. And he’s taking a huge chance that someone-maybe looking out one of the windows-could be. a witness, possibly even recognize or identify him. Now what does all this mean for us?”

A slight smile played at Moore’s lips. “He’s getting desperate. He’s not being cautious. He’s in a hurry.”

Tully nodded. “Something like that. For whatever reason, he went against his M.O. And that’s something we’ve got to figure out: Why? He improvised and still got away with it. We got to make sure if he improvises again, we’re there to make sure he isn’t lucky again. Or …” One of Tully’s worst fears in this case seemed to be coming true. At this point the only thing that made sense was that more than one killer was out there; that two-or more-crazies were operating, using the same gun, but, obviously, if one wanted to consider this latest killing, not the same M.O.

There was no help for it; they’d have to proceed on the basis that they didn’t know which basis to proceed on: Was there one killer with two M.O.’s, or two or more killers with God knows how many M.O.’s?

Tully looked at the others, the three who had already invested so much time, effort, and brain work in this puzzle. He threw this latest ingredient into the pot. Koesler looked first startled, then thoughtful. Oddly, neither Moore nor Mangiapane changed expression. At first, Tully thought their lack of response was due to the newness of the hypothesis, but Mangiapane’s low-keyed, “Great minds run in the same channels,” followed by Moore’s smile of accord, gave him to realize that, in the words of countless comedians, the feeling was mutual, and that his two chief assistants had indeed been operating on the same channels.

“Well,” Tully concluded, “whichever, or whatever, or whoever is carrying out these killings, I repeat: We’ve got to make sure the perp isn’t lucky again. And, speaking of luck, have our guyshad any?”

“Some,” Moore.said. “Talking to some of the friends and associates of Carson and Stapleton, it seems that both those guys have something going for them. We haven’t found anybody yet who can be specific, but several acquaintances have said that Carson has been bragging about something he’s been doing diat will shake things up in the local Church. And, oddly, Stapleton has been doing somewhat the same. Only he doesn’t seem to be braggings-maybe threatening is a better word. And whatever it is that Stapleton’s doing he claims is going to affect the whole damn Church-worldwide.”

“It’s not possible, is it,” Koesler asked, “it’s not possible those two could be working together?”

“Anything’s possible,” Tully observed.

“Do they have alibis for this afternoon?” Mangiapane asked.

“They seem to have come up short again,” Moore said. “Carson is on suspension from the post office. He claims he was home at the time of the shooting. Stapleton was driving to a meeting downtown, alone. There’s no way to substantiate either claim. It’s just their word. But, so far, that’s it.”