CHAPTER 3
On the way back to the Consulate, Fraser telephoned the 27th with the details on Ed Voight that Kellie had given them. He left instructions to call them as soon as Voight was tracked down.
At the Consulate, Constable Turnbull came running down the hall when he heard Fraser's key in the lock. "Oh Constable Fraser, I was wondering where you'd got to!"
Ray sniggered, "Is Fraser grounded now?" Fraser frowned.
"Oh no of course not, Sir, I apologise Sir, its just that I was expecting you earlier" explained Turnbull.
"I'm sorry Turnbull, Detective Vecchio and I were delayed." He noticed Turnbull looking at Kellie. "This is Kellie, um, I'm terribly sorry I don't even know your last name. I apologise for my rudeness."
"That's OK" smiled Kellie, "I'm Kellie Ashbury."
"Miss Ashbury will be staying here tonight" continued Fraser, "She is in need of our protection."
"Welcome to Canada Miss Ashbury! Have you eaten yet this evening?" Turnbull enquired.
"We were hoping you would be kind enough to rustle up one of your delicious pasta meals, Constable," said Fraser. Turnbull nodded profusely and hurried off to the kitchen.
"Come and sit down" said Ray, leading Kellie to the sofa in the large reception room. He helped her take off her coat and piled up some cushions so that she would be comfortable. Fraser followed them in with Kellie's bag. He put it down and removed his belt and red tunic, then he took Kellie's coat and Ray's jacket and went back out into the hallway to hang them up. He went into the kitchen to see if Turnbull needed any help, which he insisted he didn't and then Fraser filled three glassed with water carrying them carefully back to the other room. The door had partially closed and Fraser pushed it open with his foot.
"Ray," began Fraser "I was thinking perhaps we should..." but he stopped as soon as he realised that Kellie was sobbing in Ray's arms. "Here, you may want to drink this," he said quietly as he put the water down on the table, before glancing at Ray and beating a hasty retreat. Ray seemed to have this situation under control, he thought.
"I'm sorry Detective" whispered Kellie between sobs.
"Sshh, it's OK and please, call me Ray."
"Do you think I'm going crazy?" she asked him.
"No! Not at all" replied Ray, "you're just scared, that's all. It's OK."
"Constable Fraser doesn't believe me, does he?" Kellie said, wiping away her tears, "I heard you talking in my apartment."
"That was probably my fault" said Ray, a little sheepishly, "I said some dumb things. I'm sorry. I'm not good with pain and dentists and all that kinda thing, makes me grouchy. Y'see Fraser likes to see things in black and white, he likes facts and evidence and all that stuff. Sometimes it's like he can't see past procedures and rules, but we're both gonna do everything we can to help, I promise ya, OK?" Kellie nodded.
Just then Fraser poked his head around the door. He was carrying a tray with three bowls of pasta. "Is everything alright?" he enquired.
"Yeah, thanks Fraser" replied Ray, looking to Kellie for confirmation. The young woman smiled.
"Well in that case," began Fraser, setting the tray down on the table "here we have three portions of rigatoni with sauce a la Turnbull." Ray pulled a face. "Ray, there's no need to be rude" scolded Fraser. He handed one bowl to Kellie and another to Ray, then before he sat down himself, he looked earnestly at Kellie. "Miss Ashbury, I can assure you that I do believe you. I believe that you fear for your life."
Kellie glanced at Ray. "Super Mountie hearing" explained Ray, pulling at his own ear for emphasis.
She smiled at Fraser. "Thank you," she said. They ate their meals without saying anything else, other than small talk. Kellie commented on the cushions, Ray mad a joke about Turnbull's apron and Fraser told an Inuit story about teeth.
When they'd finished, Turnbull came in and took the bowls away. Kellie hadn't eaten a lot, but at least she'd eaten something, noted Fraser. "I'll be going now Sir" said Turnbull to Fraser, "I have my shift at the soup kitchen."
"Thank you Turnbull" said Fraser, "the meal was delicious". Turnbull beamed with pride and then left. Ray watched him go. That guy makes Fraser look normal, he thought.
"Kellie" began Fraser, turning to face her. "We 're going to need some information from you. At the moment we have very little to go on. Can you tell us about Ed Voight, about your relationship. What reason does he have for wanting to harm you?
"I don't know" replied Kellie. "We met at work, he was a courier and he was really nice to me. We dated for about four months, that was it, it wasn't serious really."
"Kellie, look, I need to ask, did you sleep together?" asked Ray, not wishing to embarrass the young woman.
Kellie nodded. "Only a few times" she replied, quietly. "I stayed at his place a few times and he stayed at my apartment for a couple of weekends. I thought we were getting serious, y'know? Then he just turned up at work one day, about five or six weeks ago and told me it was all over. I couldn't understand it. I was really down for a while, but Angela was kind to me and she helped me get over it and I thought I'd never see him again. We have a different courier guy now."
"And he gave you no clear indication for why he wanted to end your relationship? Was he aggressive towards you?" asked Fraser.
"No," replied Kellie, shaking her head. "He just said we weren't right for each other. I don't know what went wrong? Anyway, a couple of weeks ago he showed up at my apartment. I didn't want to let him in, I was getting over him, but he pushed past me and just stormed in. He said horrible things to me." Kellie was crying again now. "He told me I was worthless and stupid and I deserved to die. Then he just left. I had an attack then, too. My first one in ages."
Ray put his arm around her shoulder again. "I'm sorry we gotta put ya through this" he said, gently, "but we need to know everything." Kellie took a deep breath and nodded.
Fraser spoke now. "You say you've suffered from anxiety attacks in the past." Kellie nodded again.
"When I was thirteen I was in a car accident. I was trapped in the wreck and they had to cut me out. After that I had my first attack in the hospital and then I used to get one every now and again for about five or six years. Not that many, but just if I was really stressed, y'know?" explained Kellie. "The silly thing is, when I'm having one, it's like half of me knows exactly what's happening and I know all I have to do is breathe and relax, but the other half of me is so convinced that something terrible is going to happen, like I'm going to die or something? It sounds crazy."
"Not in the least," assured Fraser, "that is the nature of these types of attacks. Did you ever tell Voight that you suffered from them?"
"Yes," replied Kellie, "he told me once that he broke his leg skiing so I told him all about my accident too."
"Did he ever do or say anythin' y'know, weird or suspicious when you were together?" asked Ray.
"Like what kind of thing?" Kellie was trying to think.
"Think back, try to remember," encouraged Fraser, "was there anything he did that, with hindsight, seems a little out of place or unusual?" Kellie closed her eyes.
"I dunno" she said shaking her head. "He used to buy me all these weird little presents, but that was kinda sweet. Some of them were a bit odd though."
"What kinda things?" asked Ray, "y'mean like kinky things?"
"Oh no," Kellie laughed, "I mean like teddy bears and little books and pens."
"Doesn't sound weird to me?" shrugged Ray.
"Well he kept giving me shark things, like books and pictures and little toy sharks" continued Kellie "which was odd because I'd already told him I'm terrified of sharks. He said I needed to face my fears. He used to give me matches too, loads of them, in all different types of packaging."
"Matches?" said Fraser, puzzled, "but you don't smoke and you have an electric stove?"
"Yeah" agreed Kellie, "told you it was weird."
"What about the letters?" asked Ray.
Kellie shuddered. "They were..they were..." she said quietly. She couldn't quite think of a word to describe them. "He wrote really violent things, about what he wanted to do to me, I mean."
"Were they handwritten?" enquired Fraser.
"No" replied Kellie, "he did them on a computer, but I know they were from him. He wrote some really personal stuff, about, well, about personal things. He sent some to work and some to my apartment, but I couldn't bear to see them, so I burnt them all. There were phone calls, too. He kept calling me at work and saying things, saying he was going to kill me."
"We should get Frannie to contact the phone company, get the call records" said Ray.
"I agree. Anything else at all you can think of that was strange?" encouraged Fraser.
"No" replied Kellie, shaking her head. "Oh wait, he once cancelled a dinner date just as we arrived at the restaurant. We were literally walking through the door and he suddenly remembered he had to be somewhere else? I never really got an explanation for that one. He just left me to get home by myself."
"That wasn't very chivalrous" noted Fraser. He was thinking about everything Kellie had told them. "You mentioned your family, do they live in Chicago?"
"No, my folks moved to California a few years ago. They love the hot weather, but I can't stand it," she explained, "and I hate sharks" she added with a smile, "so I stayed here with my sister, but now she's married and she lives a couple of hours drive away." She yawned suddenly.
"You must be exhausted, I'll get you some bedding," said Fraser, standing up. "You need to rest."
Fraser went to his office and returned moments later with pillows and blankets. "I'll be in my office if you need anything. Dief, this way." He pointed to the door, but Diefenbaker refused to move. "I'm sorry" Fraser said apologetically, "I think he feels a little overprotective towards you."
"He can stay if he wants to" smiled Kellie, "he makes me feel safe." Diefenbaker moved a little closer to the sofa and Kellie patted him on the back.
"Don't worry about a thing" reassured Ray, getting up to follow Fraser, "we're gonna catch this creep. Um, sweet dreams, er, what's that thing about bed bugs...Fraser?" but Fraser had already left the room. Now I sound like a total jerk, thought Ray. He shook his head, grinned like an idiot at Kellie and quickly followed Fraser out to his office.
