Stay in Touch

Chapter 7

Dear Rick,

I considered what Dr. Murray believes about my mother's murderer being a contract killer. It made me wonder if Bracken would be the only one who's ever hired him. Unless Bracken recruited him right out of the military, he might have had other jobs. If he did, there might be more, yet undiscovered homicides, with his signature M.O. Mike tells me that some of the gangs in the city employ monsters like that to do their bidding. He's helping me put out feelers to cops who might know. If I can tie my mother's murderer to unrelated killings, it may be easier to track him down without alerting Bracken, but I haven't found another one of his victims yet. Mike and I are meeting with some of his buddies at a bar after our shift tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers.

I remember reading about Dr. Murray in the acknowledgments of one of your books. You said your mother nicknamed him Dr. Death. If what he found leads to my mother's killer, it will be more like Dr. Life. If you talk to him, tell him he has my thanks.

You were right about my father going after a corporate fat cat, but there's more to his suit. It is not about a product being defective, more about it working too well. There is a small company, almost one of those garage startups, that developed a method for printer manufacturers to detect when consumers are using someone else's ink instead of shelling out a lot more money to buy the brand name stuff. That in itself might not be negative. I know I've had printouts screwed up by lousy ink and had to replace a cartridge. I wouldn't have minded a warning.

What the technology my father is suing over does is insidious. It completely disables your printer, so you have to buy a new one. That's cost consumers, businesses and institutions a lot of time and money - way more than the price of a happy meal. If he wins, the settlement should be substantial. Most of it will go to the parties in the suit, but Dad should get to keep a good chunk of it for his efforts. That would help his practice a lot. I really want to see him succeed, not just for the money, but because it will give him a reason to feel that he's done something worthwhile for a lot of people.

I'm not surprised that Alexis knows exactly what she wants to wear and is stubborn about it. That attitude isn't unique to redheads. I went through a lot of clothing stages including a ten-month long grunge period. My mother just let them pass as part of growing up. I thought my father looked relieved when I dressed, as he put it, "like I'd been sleeping in a boxcar." I guess he figured it would keep the boys away. It didn't. I was dating a grunge musician. The kid eventually got over both grunge and me and joined the Marines. I think he has a crew cut now. My father might even like him better. It will be a while before you have to worry about Alexis dating, but she might fall prey to the fashion judgments of her classmates in a few years. That could be a rough time for both of you. When I was going through it, I was terrified every time I put on an outfit, that my girlfriends would say it was lame. My grunge phase ended that for good, so I suppose, all in all, it was a positive experience.

I was even a model for a summer. I was earning money toward a motorcycle, and I thought modeling would be easier than waiting tables. It wasn't. Standing in front of a camera hour after hour and trying to keep just the expression the photographer wants, is exhausting. And the worst part of it was that strawberry shakes and hamburgers were off the menu. Starving just to be featured on the pages of a magazine was not how I wanted to spend my life. From the way you've described Alexis, she's probably too independent-minded to strive for the kind of unrealistic image created by a fashion spread. I hope so.

Stay in touch,

Kate


Dear Kate,

I've been doing some research on other murders, besides the names your mother cited, that your mother's killer might have committed. I already had my references lined up because I use them to help me come up with plausible scenarios for my books. There are a lot of accounts of stabbings, but very few of them appear to have been carried out with any professionalism. They are mostly muggings or drug deals that went bad or as you've mentioned before, tragic outcomes of domestic disputes.

I found one that at first glance might have appeared to be a falling out among thieves. The victim was one Finn Rourke, the alleged leader of the Westies. As you probably are aware, that's the Irish gang that regards Hell's Kitchen as its turf. I won't know for sure until Dr. Murray gets a hold of the autopsy report, but it sure looks to me like Finn was taken out by your mother's killer. He was stabbed multiple times in an alley right behind his own pub. Apparently, he was out there having a cigar, something his wife had forbidden. The bar was full of his own people, but no one saw or heard anything. None of the rival gangs claimed credit.

And here's the thing, and you may already know this too. Finn Rourke never allowed drugs in his territory. He was into gambling and various protection rackets, but not drugs. Since Finn met his maker, drugs have invaded the neighborhood he so fiercely guarded. There have been multiple overdose deaths, as well as an increase in thefts that addicts may be committing to finance their habits.

My theory is that a dealer or a network of dealers was looking to expand sales into Rourke's domain. They couldn't do it with Rourke in charge, so they hired someone to take him out; someone they could disown if he was caught. He never was identified. Rourke's homicide is a cold case the police appear in no hurry to solve.

Kate, if you – or Mike – can get some word from the streets as to who is dealing drugs in Hell's Kitchen, you'd be a step closer to your mother's killer. I know it's a long shot, but it has to be easier and maybe even safer than trying to make a connection to Bracken. I'm sure the Westies would love to know who killed Rourke. They might even be helpful. You'd just have to keep them from killing the murderer first if they figure out who it is. Not that he doesn't deserve it. If the State of New York still used electric chairs, I'd be happy to watch him fry in one. But while the wielder of the knife may have been the hands, if Bracken was the mind behind them, it will be hard if not impossible to nail him if the stabber is taken out before he can give him up.

I will pass on your thanks to Dr. Murray. And thank you for your insights into my daughter's behavior.

I'm going to keep reminding you to be careful, Kate. Even if you're not tangling directly with Bracken, we are still talking about extremely dangerous people. Considering how many victims die of drugs, it's clear that those who foist them on society would not hesitate to eliminate a cop or two. Be well and be safe.

Stay in touch,

Rick