The Night School Strangler
Chapter 7
Ironside was up bright and early the next morning. He had not tried to engage Mark in conversation when they got back from the murder scene. He doubted that the young man had any patience for anymore questions. Ironside had lived with Mark for some time now and he had learned to read his moods, probably better than Mark could read his.
The chief entered the kitchen to the smell of bacon, which probably meant Mark was cooking eggs as well. He really was not in the mood for breakfast. Coffee would have been sufficient.
When he arrived at the main table, he could see Mark getting ready to put the eggs in the pan.
"Mark, if those eggs are for me, don't bother. I am not really hungry."
Sanger put the eggs back in the refrigerator. He placed the bacon on one plate and pulled down two mugs. After filling them with coffee, he carried both mugs in one hand by the handles. In his other hand, he held the plate of bacon.
Mark set the bacon on the table and then set one of the mugs of coffee in front of Chief Ironside. He sat down to the chief's left and grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate. Without a word spoken between them, they drank the coffee and nibbled on the bacon. Neither man seemed to have an appetite for even bacon.
Ironside glanced at Mark every so often to see if he might be ready to talk about Kimberly's death. He would not rush him but he would not let him sit and stew either. It was not healthy, and Mark had a history of going off on his own in situations liked this. He would have to be extra watchful to make sure Mark did not do what he did last time a girl he had dated was murdered.
The door to the office opened, Ed Brown and Eve Whitfield walked in and came down the ramp. They grabbed coffee from the kitchen, and headed back to the main table. Under usual circumstances, the chief and his officers would exchange good mornings, but today he understood they were silent in respect to Mark.
The door to the office opened and Commissioner Randall walked in. He too failed to say anything, walking into the kitchen, he poured himself a cup of coffee. Heading to the table he sat down, fully aware that Ironside kept a scrutinizing eye on him.
Finally, the commissioner spoke up. "Mark. You must know how badly everyone feels about Kimberly."
"I do, Commissioner, but I don't want sympathy, I want this creep caught and behind bars where he belongs," Mark said.
"Which is exactly why I am here." He turned his attention from Mark to Ironside. "Bob, I called Carl Reese into my office this morning rather early to let him know that my decision does not reflect on the job he has done on this case. He has not had much time to investigate it. However, I can't let that have a bearing on my decision. As soon as word got out about this latest killing, I have had a call from every City Council member. They are worried about a panic. They want this man caught and put behind bars before he kills again. Now I know Carl is an excellent investigator, but I need my best man on the case. That is you. So, as of right now, I am ordering you to take over the investigation immediately. Don't bother to give me any hassle because you don't like moving in on another detective's case. I think Carl was happy to have you take over."
Mark studied his boss. Randall was right, he did not like interfering with another detective's case unless it was one that he held an interest in for one reason or another. He was ready to argue his reasons for wanting the chief involved. As it turned out, it would not be necessary.
"Dennis, this is one you couldn't keep me away from. So unless you have something else to add, we have work to do."
Ed smiled and noticed Eve was doing the same. How many men got away with practically kicking their boss out?
Randall stood up. As he headed for the door, he call out, "Good luck, Bob. Catch this maniac before he kills again."
After he left the office, the room became silent as Ed, Eve, and Mark waited for the chief to start issuing orders.
"Ed, get over to the college. I want campus security on duty every minute that school is opened. They need to have their people working in a rotation. I don't care if they don't get a day off. Go to the dean and work out a schedule. And make sure they are not in uniform and in places this killer would not expect. Maybe we will get lucky and catch him in the act.
"Eve, I want that list of students that have been in class every time a murder has been committed."
Ed and Eve got up and headed out the door. Mark headed for the door as well.
"Just where do you think you are going?" Ironside said to Mark.
All three of them stopped and looked back at the chief. Mark told him, "I am going to help."
"No, you are not. You are staying here. You two get going," he ordered Ed and Eve.
Mark walked back to the table and sat down beside Ironside. "Chief, I have to be involved. He murdered Kim. I want to help catch him."
"Mister Sanger, you are not a cop. In fact, you decided you want to be a lawyer, not a cop."
"Chief, come on," he protested.
"Now you listen to me. I don't want a repeat of what happened the last time your date was murdered when I called you away from her. You just about blew the entire investigation."
"That is not going to happen again, Chief... "
"That's right, it's not going to happen again," Ironside agreed, "because you are staying out of this one completely."
"Chief, he killed Kimberly. I have to be involved."
"You are not a cop. You already interfered by questioning a potential suspect."
"Interfered? Why wasn't he questioned, why didn't they enlist his help?" Mark asked angrily.
"Carl Reese is an extremely effective detective. He doesn't need your help or your advice," Ironside said, attempting to keep his voice calm so that the disagreement would not escalate. He wasn't sure he was succeeding as his temper was rising.
"I know that, Chief. But this investigation is going way too slow. This maniac has killed several women and we don't have a clue who he is or how to stop him."
Ironside shook his head and muttered, "deja vu."
"What did you say?" Mark said.
"Nothing. Why is it you are so level headed until you become emotionally involved in a case? There isn't one of us that doesn't feel for you. You have got to understand that everything is being done that is humanly possible to find this man. Unfortunately, we cannot look into a crystal ball, see who is doing it and say abracadabra to catch the guy. You have to be patient. You can't expect to find him immediately. It would be nice if we could, but these sorts are always very cunning.
"We went through this once before, remember? Mark, so help me, if I have to, I'll put you in a cell for the duration of this investigation. I understand your feelings, I really do, but I cannot have you interfering with an investigation."
"Chief, he killed Kimberly."
Ironside said nothing for the moment. He remembered telling Ed or Eve that if this had happened to a woman he had been seeing, the city of San Francisco would have thought they were having an earthquake. He understood how Mark felt, but he could not allow him to go off on his own investigating a serial killer. It was far too dangerous as Mark could not carry a weapon to protect himself. Yet, he had allowed Mark to become involved in many of their cases. Maybe it was not such a bad idea to allow him to be involved in this one. He simply had to find a way to curb his appetite for vengeance. Mark had learned a lot about investigating in his time working for Ironside. If he could keep him under control, he might be an asset at that.
"All right, Mister Sanger, I am going to allow you to help with this one. You will need to understand the ground rules immediately. There will be no going off on your own to investigate anything. You will be working directly with me. Where I go on this, you go. If you have ideas on how to handle this case, I am willing to listen, but you are taking orders from me. I am telling you up front, you disobey my orders just once and I will put an end to your involvement immediately regardless of your explanation. Is that clear?"
"It's clear," Mark replied.
"All right then." Ironside turned back to the paperwork in front of him.
Mark watched him for a moment. His boss's silence finally got to him. "Well?"
"Well what?" Ironside said, looking up at him.
Mark had to refrain from rolling his eyes. "Well, where do we start?"
"We start by waiting until Eve and Ed have had a chance to complete their assignments. Then we will decide where to go from there."
"That's it?" Mark asked incredulously.
"Are you questioning my judgment?" Ironside growled.
"Of course not, I just thought..."
"You just thought what?"
"I just thought there was something we could do at this end," Mark responded.
"There is. We wait."
Sanger looked at his boss and shook his head. He turned around and went into the kitchen to make a new pot of coffee.
*
The night school strangler sat at the kitchen table holding his head in both hands. His headache was monstrous. Why did he have these headaches? This one had become completely unbearable. He knew what would happen when they got this bad. He could not listen, he had to ignore the voice. That voice would encourage him to do bad things. He did not want to do bad things, he just wanted the headaches to go away.
He had been to so many doctors, but none of them had been able to determine why the headaches got so bad. He did not tell them that when they got bad, a voice started talking to him. That voice was an evil voice. He knew he shouldn't listen to it, but the only way to lessen the headaches was to follow the advice of the voice.
The night school Strangler never remembered what he did. He only knew that after the voice talk to him, he would read in the paper about another murder, or at least hear about it on the campus. He couldn't possibly be responsible, could he? No, he would never hurt anyone. He had found out that Kimberly Gilmore had been strangled and left in Robert Ironside's van. He liked Kimberly. He would never hurt her. He just couldn't believe he was capable of what the voice kept telling him to do. Yet every time it did, somebody ended up dead. Maybe he should go to the authorities and turn himself in. He had thought about it after the second murder. Yet, he had not been able to bring himself to do it because he wasn't a murderer. He just couldn't do that. He knew it couldn't be him. It was only a coincidence that a woman was murdered after the voice told him to do so.
He would make another attempt to set up an appointment with the doctor's office. He had to find out why the headaches were so bad.
"You don't need an appointment with the doctor. There is nothing wrong with you. You simply need to keep doing your job. Women do not belong in the work world. There is no reason for them to go to school. They are polluting the system. You must keep eliminating them from the school. It is time for you to remove another one. You must do so tonight. Do you understand?"
The night school Strangler grabbed his head with both hands. He shook it back and forth. "No, I will not do that. I will not kill anyone. You cannot make me."
"Oh but I can. You do want the headaches to go away, don't you? There is only one way that will happen. You must eliminate another woman from the college. Once you have done that, the headaches will subside. You will do so tonight or the headaches will get worse."
The voice disappeared. He heard no more from it. His headache was driving him to distraction. He picked up the phone and dialed his doctor's office. He must get help with these headaches. He could not listen to the voice. He could not do as it asked. He would not do it. His only hope was that doctors would help him. He had to try again. He was afraid of what would happened if he didn't.
*
Sergeant Ed Brown was directed to the Dean's office of the college. He knocked on the door and heard a voice say, "Come in."
Brown open the door and entered the Dean's office. He pulled his police credentials out of his suit coat pocket and showed them to the dean. "I am Sergeant Ed Brown of the San Francisco Police Department. I would like to talk to you regarding the strangulation murders that have been going on here at the college."
Dean William Westerfield stood up and shook Ed Brown's hand. "Well, it is about time. When is the police department going to stop these murders?"
"That is exactly what we intend to do. I am here to solicit your cooperation in doing so."
"Our cooperation? We are not the police. It is your job to stop these murders, not ours," Dean Westerfield snapped.
"Dean Westerfield, we intend to stop them, what we are asking for is your cooperation."
"Just exactly what do you expect us to do? Find this man?"
Through the years, Ed Brown had met many people that took adversarial positions with the police department. Although, it was sometimes hard to be patient, Sergeant Brown always tried to remember that he represented Chief Robert Ironside in situations like this. He would hold his temper and remain calm. Perhaps much calmer than Chief Ironside himself would be if he were here right now. The chief did not suffer fools lightly.
"No, we do not expect you to find him, we will do that. What we are asking is that campus security be put on full alert and all security officers be working every our this institution is open."
Dean Westerfield looked at Ed Brown with an incredulous expression on his face. "Do you have any idea, sergeant, what that would cost this institution?"
"Do you, sir, have any idea how many lives could be lost if security isn't put on full alert. Do you want me to tell Chief Ironside that you consider the money more important than people's lives?"
"Now just a minute, Sergeant. I didn't say that. All I am saying that it will be extremely expensive to have all of our security working at the same time."
"Hopefully you will not have to do it for long. The chief wants them in plain clothes. He will avoid taking his next victim if the campus security is in full uniform."
Westerfield sat forward in his chair. "That is insane! He will go after our female students if he doesn't see those uniforms."
"How would you expect us to catch him if he doesn't come around. By putting the campus police in plain clothes, he will try again. They will be there to stop him. We are also going to put police officers in plain clothes around the campus. We want to make sure that every remote area of the campus is covered. He is not going to walk into one of the classes and try to strangle a woman. He's going to do it in remote areas where there are no people, such as the parking lot while classes are in session."
"Why don't you just use the police? It is their job anyway."
Ed was doing his best not to lose his patience with the dean. "We do not have enough police officers for the city of San Francisco, and put them at the college as well."
"But you expect us to spend the money for all of the campus security to be on duty during all hours that classes are in session."
"In Westerfield, it was your school. We are trying to help stop this maniac. But if you refuse to cooperate, I will go back and tell Chief Ironside. The killings at your school are not going to quit until we stop this man. You can either cooperate or you can take the responsibility for women that are murdered. What do you want me to tell him?"
"Tell him to stop this maniac!"
Brown ignored him and asked, "Will you cooperate or not?"
"You're not giving me much choice, are you?"
"Quite frankly, no. The police officers who will be on duty here will be doing it on their own time. They will be working beyond their regular shifts. Please provide Ironside with a schedule." Ed stood up and headed for the door. Just before he left, he turned around and said, "We will be in touch."
*
The headaches were getting worse. The Night School Strangler could not stand the pressure in the back of his head. It was driving him crazy. He had already taken triple the recommended dosage of over-the-counter painkillers. They had not helped him at all. In fact, his headache had only gotten worse.
"When are you going to learn the headaches are not going to go away until you do what you are supposed to do? The women are causing your headaches. Punish one of them and your headache will go away. They have no business in a man's world. You already know that. Do something about it! Shall I remind you of what it was like?"
The Night School Strangler closed his eyes. He could no longer stand the pain. It was more than he could bear. A vision in his mind began to form. He and his mother were in the kitchen. His mother was yelling at him.
"You are both as useless as a person can be. I should have stayed on birth control. You're just like your father. Both of you are useless. "I should have known what he would produce."
She slammed the back of her hand into his face. He fell backwards into the wall. Sliding down the wall, he sat on the floor and cried.
"Stop that sniveling! If it weren't for you, I could have been at work earning money. Instead I have to stay here at home with you. First it was your father stopping me from working. He made me stay home. No woman should have to stay at home just to raise a kid, especially a useless one." She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to his feet and slapped him across the face. She shoved him up against the wall again, only this time he did not go down. That seemed to infuriate her, and she slugged him in the face with her fist. "I will not be confined to this house because of you. You can fix your own dinner, I am going out. I am going to go back to school and learn a trade. I am tired of the low paying jobs being the only thing I can get. Behave yourself or I will beat you when I get home."
After she left, he opened the refrigerator and looked in. There was one half gallon of milk and several bottles of beer. There was no other food in the refrigerator. He went over to the kitchen table and pulled a chair in front of the refrigerator. Reaching the freezer handle, he pulled the door open. It was stacked with TV dinners. He was so sick of TV dinners. His friends said they never ate them. Their mothers stayed home and cook their meals. In fact, not one of them had a mother that worked outside the home. None of his friends had mothers who had gone to school. Their mothers did not beat them. They were happy because they stayed home and took care of their families. They knew their place.
His father had always told him that a woman's place was in the home. It was her job to take care of the family and his job to bring home the bacon. He missed his father terribly. He had died of a heart attack while fighting with his mother over her constant nagging about going to school so that she could get a job. His father was adamantly against it. They fought about it all the time. Whenever they did, as soon as his father left the house, his mother would beat him.
Why did his mother not want to stay home like other mothers and take care of him? Why did she want to go out into a man's world, that's what his father called it? Since he had died, she had gotten one job after another, but she was never satisfied. Now she wanted to go back to school. But she did not belong at school, his father had said so on many occasions.
She had gone out again. He knew that when she came home, he would suffer another beating, and all because she would not stop trying to be part of a man's world. If only his mother would realize that she was a woman and learn her place in the world, she would be much happier. He would find a way to make sure that she never got to enter a man's world. She had to be put in her place. He would be the one to do it just as soon as he got bigenough to teach her her place.