Scrabble Spells Murder
Chapter 14
14.1
The door to Ironside's office opened and Katherine Deneurve walked in and came down the ramp. She looked around but did not see Robert Ironside.
"Mark?"
Sanger walked out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a towel. "Good morning Katherine."
"Where's Robert?"
"He's in the shower. Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?"
Katherine smiled at him. "Thank you Mark. That would be nice." She took a seat at the main table and waited.
Mark returned shortly, bringing with him a pot of coffee and two mugs marked with the seal of the San Francisco Police Department. He set a cup in front of Katherine and poured the hot liquid into it. He set another cup down but did not pour any coffee. As Mark headed back to the kitchen, Ironside wheeled into the main room.
"Skip breakfast, Mark. Just pour me a cup of coffee," the detective called out gruffly.
Katherine stood to greet him. Ironside's look soften when he saw her. He smiled as he approached her. Taking her hand, he kissed the back of it. "What brings you here this morning?"
"Suppose you tell me what is going on? I ran into Eve and Ed downstairs. They were headed this way until they saw me. Then they seemed to head in the opposite direction... away from your office. I got the feeling they did not want to be around when you told me something."
Ironside would have been concerned if this had been Barbara asking this question. But Katherine was different. She was better equipped to handle what he was about to tell her. She would not like it but she would understand his thinking.
He told her about Fran and what had transpired in the sewer. He did not leave out a single detail. Ironside knew that Katherine would see through it if he did. When he finished he watched her for a reaction.
"Isn't there another way to do this, Robert?"
The detective shook his head. "If there is, I don't know what it would be."
Ed, Eve and Carl entered the office and came down the ramp. When Mark heard them come in, he joined them at the main table with their boss and Katherine.
"Chief, we have been thinking. We know you are not going to allow any of us at the scene but what about putting a police sniper in the area? We have guys on the force that are ex-special forces. A couple of those are snipers," Ed suggested.
"He would not have to be anywhere near the place where you are to retrieve the clue. He just might be able to spot the Hacker and identify him for us," Eve added.
"And he could keep an eye on you in the process," Carl said.
"So, you are willing to take a chance with Fran's life?" Ironside asked, looking at each one of them.
"No, we are not, Chief," Ed said. "We are not going to interfere with what you have to do. We could see to it that you are protected and if he decides to shoot at you, our sniper just might be able to take him out."
"We do not want to interfere with you," Eve said, "but we do want to take every precaution to protect you and to try to find this man if he shows up there."
Everyone became silent and waited for Ironside to respond. After what seemed like forever to his staff, he finally spoke up.
"Who are these snipers that work for us?" Before anyone could answer, Ironside said, "Lt. Stan Edie and Sgt. Julius Britz."
Carl rolled his eyes. He never could understand why the chief asked them a question when he already knew the answer.
"That's right, Ed said. "How did you know?"
"I read personnel files," Ironside answered.
"So, what do you say, Chief?" Mark asked.
"How do we know Edie or Britz is not the Hacker?" Ironside questioned.
Eve smiled as she saw the look on Carl's face.
"If you read the personnel files, you know the answer to that," Carl said in frustration.
The chief looked at Lt. Reese. "But do you know?"
Again, Reese rolled his eyes.
"Do you have something in your eye, Lieutenant?" Ironside demanded to the smiles spreading across the faces of his staff.
Suspecting that the chief already knew the answer to this question as well, Carl answered him anyway. "We know because he has no computer training beyond turning on the computer," Carl responded, sarcastically.
"And what if the Hacker sees this sniper?" Ironside questioned.
"He won't," Ed said. "These guys would not have been snipers if they were not able to get in and out without being noticed."
"Chief?" Mark said again.
"Alright, but tell your sniper if he is spotted, he will wish he had never been born."
"I sometimes wish that myself," Mark said with a smirk on his face.
Ironside gave him a stern look and then changed the subject. "I want a list made up of each attempted killing."
"What kind of list?" Eve inquired.
"He looked at her and said with sarcasm, "Now just what kind of list do you think?"
When Eve said nothing, Ironside looked from one officer to the next one. They stared back at him with blank looks.
"Come now, children! Do we all agree someone in this building is the Hacker?"
Everyone nodded. "Then what will that list have on it?" Ironside asked his staff.
Ed looked up and smiled as he understood where the boss was going with this. "You want a list of every employee in the building that was not working when the attempts were made."
Ironside grinned. "Thank you Sgt. Brown for restoring my faith in my staff."
"Then you will want a list of people who were off duty when the commissioner and Ben Stein were attacked and when Fran was taken," Eve said.
"Now that is called detective work," the chief responded.
"We need to do something else with that list," Carl spoke up.
"Very good, Lieutenant, what would that be?" Ironside said softly prodding his detective.
"Anyone that is on all three of those list needs to be checked to see if they have rented an apartment or house near any of those manholes," Eve interrupted before Carl could answer.
"See how easy it is when you think," Ironside said, again in a soft voice.
Carl rolled his eyes for a third time. "Which officer are we going to use? Which one is the better shot?"
"Britz , Ironside answered quickly. He turned to Sgt. Brown and said, "Ed, make sure Britz understands he is to locate the Hacker and photograph him unless he fires at me. I don't want some innocent citizen shot by mistake; he is only to shoot if he has a clear shot. Is that understood?" Brown nodded.
"Alright, get going. All of you," the chief ordered.
Everyone filed out of the office leaving Mark and Katherine sitting at the table.
"I better go and leave you to your work," Katherine said. She reached over and touched Robert Ironside's cheek. "Please be careful, Robert."
He smiled at her and put his hand over hers. "I will."
"Call me when it is over," she said.
"I will do better than that. Why don't you come here for dinner tonight," he suggested.
"I would like that." She bent down, kissed him and then left the office.
Mark remained sitting at the table. Ironside could feel his eyes on him. He knew what his aid was thinking. "The answer is no, Mark. You cannot come with me."
"I could ride in the back of the van."
"No!"
"He will not know I am there." Mark insisted.
"No! "
Frustrated and not willing to give up, Mark kept pushing his boss, "Chief..."
"I said no, Mark. We are taking chance enough having a sniper in the area. I will not take any other risk," he snarled. Then he softened his voice. "I appreciate your concern but this is Fran's life we are talking about. I have known her all her life, Mark. I sent her in there. I have to get her out of this unharmed. He won't hurt her until he decides to kill me. I have to do it this way."
"Until he kills you? How do you know that is not his intention right now?"
"Because he wants to beat me. He has not done that yet. Not one of the people that he has targeted is dead yet. No, Mark. He will not kill me. Not yet."
"He could have killed Fran if he had wanted to," Mark pointed out.
Ironside almost winced at Mark's words. He knew he was right. Fortunately, the Hacker had other plans for her. He intended to use her to try to keep Ironside in line. "I know that. But he didn't."
"But that doesn't mean he won't in the future."
"Which is exactly why I have to do things this way. I can't take the chance, Mark. I don't intend to play by his rules but we have to be careful."
"Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?" Mark asked him.
"No, Mark. I am going to go and change into a sweatsuit. I see no sense in ruining a suit."
Mark only nodded. He knew there was nothing further he could say or do to change his boss' mind. He didn't like it but he was helpless to change it. He watched as Ironside wheeled himself up the ramp and disappeared into the bathroom.
14.2
Fran checked the windows for a third time. She knew there was no way she was going to get out through those windows. At least not with anything she had found in either the bedroom or the bathroom.
If she got out of this alive, she knew she was in for a big lecture from the chief. She should not have gone into that apartment without backup. Now she found herself in a mess.
She walked around the bedroom looking for anything that could help her. What she found was Vincent had removed anything that could be helpful. She sat down on the bed, frustrated with her situation. How was she ever going to get out of this?
She put her head in her hands. Realizing that she was feeling sorry for herself, Fran got off the bed. She could not just sit here and wait for the chief to rescue her. He had no idea where she was. Fran had not been able to leave any clues for him to follow. If she was going to get out of this situation alive, she had to help herself.
She went back to the windows. Standing on the chair, she inspected them for the third time. They had been boarded up with extremely thick screws were large and she had no doubt that they were long and well embedded into the cement wall. Without any tools to help her, removing the panels from the windows was next to impossible.
Fran went back into the bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and inspected its contents. It contained everything you would expect to find in a medicine cabinet. Of course, there was one exception. She could not find a razor. Since one would expect that a man would shave his face or a woman, her legs, Fran assumed that Vincent had removed any razors from the cabinet. In fact, it seemed he had removed anything that would be helpful to her.
She went back into the bedroom. Looking at the stands beside the bed, she smiled. Vincent had failed to remove the lamps that were placed there.
Fran went immediately to the lamp on the right side of the bed. She moved the stand and pulled the plug from the socket. Picking it up, she realized it was not very heavy. She was concerned about its effectiveness as a weapon. Since it was all she could find to use, it would have to do. She would wait for Vincent to return.
14.3
Mark wheeled Chief Ironside to the van. No words were spoken between them. Both men knew there was nothing to say. Ironside could not allow Mark to go with him and Mark knew he could not convince him to change his mind.
The young man pushed the button that lowered the lift. Ironside turned his chair and backed onto the tray. Mark pushed the button and the detective was lifted into the air.
Sanger walked around to the driver's side of the vehicle. He tapped his knuckles on the door and looked into the eyes of his boss. Ironside nodded at his aid, started up the van and pulled out of the police garage.
The drive to the Golden Gate Bridge gave Ironside time to reflect on the people who worked for him. He knew that Mark was not happy about this decision not to let him come along. The concern in his eyes had moved the detective.
Maybe it was because everyone on his staff knew that he would take the same precautions if they were the one in Fran's position, he was confident they would not interfere. These people were not just his subordinates. They were his friends... his family. As much as they wanted to protect him, he knew each of them would follow his orders. All of them knew that Ironside would gladly give his life to protect any one of theirs.
After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, he pulled the van to a stop. The chief remove the map the Hacker had sent him. Taking his time, he studied it. He looked up at the Bay. Recognizing the landmark, he looked over the terrain. It was not going to be easy maneuvering his chair beside the Bay. He entered the lift and pushed the button.
Ironside began wheeling his chair down the slope towards the water. He looked around to see if he could spot the sniper. Satisfied that the sniper was well hidden, he headed further down the slope.
14.4
Fran resigned herself to having to wait until Vincent returned. She could find nothing that would help her remove the boards from the windows in order to escape.
She wished that Mark was with her. She doubted the lock on the door would hold up with Mark's talent for picking locks. Unfortunately, she could not depend on him either.
She wondered what the chief was doing to find her. Although, she could not depend on him to save her, she certainly knew he would be trying. Just maybe he would fine some little thing that would turn into a clue as to where she was. In the meantime, she had to help herself. Right now there was no other way.
There were footsteps coming toward the room she was in. It could only be Vincent. Fran hurried over to the bed where she had placed the lamp. She picked it up and scurried back to the door. The police woman stood on the opposite side that the door opened. Raising the lamp over her head, with the bottom portion raised in the air, she waited for her captor.
Fran listened as she heard the key turn in the lock. The door swung open and Vincent, with his back to her entered the room. Fran swung the lamp with all of the strength that she could muster. It crashed down on the back of Vincent's head.
To her disappointment, he did not go down. She decided to take advantage of the fact that he was dazed. When he turned around, Fran kicked him in the groin and ran out the door.
She had no idea which way to go since she had been unconscious when they arrived. Officer Belding glanced both ways looking for a stairway. When she did not spot one, she headed for the only other door in the basement.
As she arrived at the door, she grabbed the knob and jerked it open. Running up the stairs as fast as she could, she could hear that Vincent had recovered and was in pursuit.
She immediately spotted the front door. Frantically, she raced toward it. When she turned the knob and tried to pull the door open, it would not budge. It was then that she noticed Vincent had nailed the door shut. She turned around to see an enraged computer technician coming at her.
Fran grabbed a hall tree that was standing by the door. She swung it at Vincent and made contact. This time he went down. Jumping over him, she headed for the back of the house. There had to be a back door.
Vincent did not stay down for long as she could hear him behind her. She grabbed the trashcan and threw it down behind her. Without looking back, she continued toward the back door.
Mortimer tripped over the trashcan and fell to the floor. Swearing loudly, he scrambled to his feet and chased after her.
As she reached her only means of escape, she grabbed the doorknob and opened it. Just as she was about to race out the door, she felt herself being yanked back by the hair. Vincent threw her to the floor violently.
"You bitch! I should kill you for this. If I didn't need you to keep that crippled boss of yours in line, I would do exactly that." He reached down and grabbed her by the hair. After yanking her back on her feet, he began dragging her back to the basement door.
As they reach the entrance, Fran kicked him in the shins. Mortimer yelped but did not let go of her. Instead he threw her down the stairs.
Fran tumbled and rolled downward. She hit the bottom and slid across the floor to the other side, hitting her head on the wall. Everything went black and she passed out.
14.5
Ironside decided that he had taken his chair as far as he dared. He would never be able to get it back up the slope. Removing the arm, he slid out of the chair onto the ground. He began crawling toward the bay.
Upon reaching the water, he slipped into it and began swimming to the designated spot on the map.
Ironside took a deep breath and dove down into the water. The Hacker had chosen a section where the water was not very deep. As he reached the bottom, he began searching for the bottle. Unable to locate it and running out of air, Ironside swam back to the surface.
He took another deep breath and dove back under the water. This time he swam further to his left. Still unable to locate the bottle, he had to return to the surface for air. He repeated this process several times changing the region to search.
After more than a half an hour of searching, he was beginning to wonder if a bottle had been placed under water at all. He returned to land to recheck the map. After having done so, he crawled back to the water and headed slightly further out then he had been.
This time he was successful. He spotted a wine bottle and swam over to it. There was definitely a paper of some sort inside. He reached down to pick up the bottle. When he removed it from the bottom, he sprung a trap that had been set. It had been embedded into the bottom to prevent him from swimming to the surface. Pain shot through his right wrist.
Letting go of the bottle, Ironside attempted to free his wrist from the trap. It's teeth dug in and he could see blood floating from the wound.
He was beginning to run out of air again. He tried again to remove the trap from his wrist. His lungs were beginning to burn. He had to get air soon or he would drown.
Had he been wrong about being the Hacker's next target?
TBC...