Karen Rose - I’m Watching You

„You were as much a victim as anyone else in this whole nightmare,“ Mia insisted.

Kristen’s chuckle was mirthless. „Tell that to the families of all the people Owen murdered. I think they’d see it differently.“ She lifted her eyes to the wall behind the computer where several framed certificates hung. His Chicago certificates were all for volunteer work with the develop-mentally disabled. He’d taught woodworking and stone carving and metal shop at the local community center where Leah had socialized. His Pittsburgh certificates were for outstanding service during his thirty-year career as a police officer. A single medal hung in the middle of all the certificates. Owen’s Purple Heart. He’d been wounded serving as a Marine in Vietnam in 1965.

„I still can’t believe it,“ Kristen said, her voice nearly toneless. „I can’t believe he was a cop. I still can’t believe he killed all those people. But he did. And he said he’d do it again.“

Mia took the notebook from Abe’s hands, scanned the final letter. „Well, at least he told us almost everything before he was interrupted. All the pieces are starting to fit.“

„What pieces?“ Spinnelli asked from the doorway. He, too, looked grim. „What’s in the notebook?“

„A letter to Kristen,“ Abe answered. Kristen was still numbly staring at the certificates on the wall. „He explained a number of things, like the fact he was born Robert Henry Barnett but he changed his name in the early sixties due to some ‘unpleasantness’ in his family.“

„That was right about the time of the murder of the boy who stabbed Colin Barnett to death,“ Mia said. „The hat-maker, Miss Keene, said she’d always wondered if Robert came back to avenge his brother’s death. It makes sense that he did.“

„He was a Marine in ‘Nam,“ Spinnelli said, then his eyes settled on the Purple Heart on the wall. „But I guess you figured that out already.“

„How did you know?“ Abe asked, still watching Kristen who still stared at the wall.

„We got a match on the prints from Kaplan’s garage.“ Spinnelli stepped up to the wall to examine the certificates. „Owen Madden got an honorable discharge from the Marines after one tour in ‘Nam, came back to the States where he got a job as a cop. Commendations out the ying-yang. He retired five years ago and bought a cop bar in downtown Pittsburgh. I called his old CO, who said about three years ago he up and left with no explanation. One day the bar was open, the next there was a for sale sign in the window.“

„He’d found out about Leah,“ Kristen said quietly. She turned away from the wall, her expression carefully reserved. It was her way of holding on to the last thread of her control, and Abe couldn’t fault her for it. „Leah’s mother was dying of cancer and was afraid of who would care for Leah when she was gone. She hired a private investigator to track Owen down. Apparently he’d come to Chicago twenty-three years before and met Leah’s mother. He was only here for a week or so, but in that time he met Leah’s mother. They had a short affair, but when the week was over, he had to go back to Pittsburgh.“

„Twenty-three years ago,“ Mia mused. „He was back in Chicago for the funeral of his parents and sister, Iris Anne. Remember, Miss Keene thought she saw him, but he never acknowledged her when she called his name.“

„That makes sense,“ Kristen agreed dully. „Apparently Leah’s mother got pregnant, but she didn’t know where to find Owen. He never planned to come back to Chicago. She finally found him right before she died. Leah had already been through the trial and was starting to sink into depression. Her mother was afraid of what would happen when she was gone.“

„Well, he got involved in his daughter’s life way too late,“ Spinnelli said tightly, looking at the certificates recognizing Owen’s volunteer activities. „How did you meet him, Kristen?“

Kristen shrugged. „Pure chance. I was upset over a case I’d just had to plead down and I’d gone for a walk to clear my head. I walked into Owen’s diner and we started to talk. I never had any clue he was Leah’s father. I never had any clue he’d been a cop.“

She said it like she thought she should have. „Why would you?“ Abe asked reasonably. „He ran a diner, served food. Why would you think he was a retired cop?“

Kristen shook her head. „I know up here that I couldn’t have known.“ She tapped her head. „But knowing it down deep is something entirely different. Anyway, apparently Leah got more and more depressed until Owen moved her to an apartment away from the city to give her a change of scenery. To keep her from having to walk the same streets that she’d been walking the day she was raped. He got her a place up in Lake County, not too far from the Worth property you found.“

„But it was too late,“ Mia added. „Leah ended up committing suicide.“

„The trauma we were looking for,“ Spinnelli said.

„How is the little girl?“ Kristen asked. „Kaplan’s daughter? She’s been weighing on my mind all day.“

Spinnelli clenched his jaw. „From what they can get out of her, she didn’t see her father killed. They don’t think she saw his body, just Madden. He was bloody and crazy. That’s what she keeps saying. Bloody and crazy.“

„She’s traumatized for life,“ Kristen murmured, guilt blatantly obvious on her face.

„It is not your fault,“ Abe said firmly.

„How did he know about his uncle, Paul Worth?“ Spinnelli asked.

Kristen shrugged. „He didn’t get that far. He stopped while he was writing about how he drugged me and copied my database from my hard drive. He must have gotten a call from Zoe Richardson, because that’s who he was looking for when he came into the warehouse.“

Spinnelli’s expression became even grimmer, his bushy mustache bunching as he frowned. „He may have gotten a call from someone saying she was Richardson, but it wasn’t Richardson.“

Kristen closed her eyes. „She’s dead.“

Spinnelli hesitated. „Yes.“

„How?“ Kristen asked.

Spinnelli exchanged a glance with Abe that spoke volumes. This was not something Kristen needed to know. At the prolonged silence Kristen opened her eyes. „ Tell me .“

„Conti killed her, Kristen. That’s all you need to know.“

Kristen’s eyes flashed. „How did she die? Dammit, Marc, I have a right to know.“

Spinnelli sighed. „She suffocated.“

Mia frowned. „Suffocated? But – “

„Jack, are you done here?“ Spinnelli interrupted. „Because I need to schedule a press conference and I’ll need a summary of everything you’ve found. Kristen, there was a stack of books on Madden’s nightstand. He stuck a sticky note with your name on the top of the stack. Poetry, I think. Keats and Browning. Mia, will you take Kristen to look through them?“

Kristen regarded him steadily. „It doesn’t matter if you tell me or not, Marc. Sooner or later one of the reporters will find out and all I’ll have to do is watch the ten o’clock news.“ She left the room, Mia at her heels. When they were gone, Spinnelli sighed again.

„When news broke that both Edwards and Conti were dead, we got an anonymous tip that if we stopped them from burying Angelo Conti, we’d find a missing person. Luckily the ground is so soggy from the thaw that they couldn’t get the diggers out to the burial plot.“

Abe grimaced as Spinnelli’s meaning hit home. „No.“

Spinnelli nodded. „Yes. Kristen’s right. This will be all over the news sooner or later. I’ll leave it up to you how you tell her. Now, get her out of here and get back to your family. How is your brother?“

Abe checked his watch. „They should be letting him go home any minute. I’m taking Kristen home.“