Murder at Saint Mary's

Chapter 14

14.1

"Damn it!" shouted Robert Ironside. "Police protection means the police are supposed to protect the man!"

"Chief, this man was a pro. One shot between the eyes through the windshield. Sir, you know if a professional wants to kill someone, it is extremely hard to protect that individual," Duffy told him.

"I don't give a damn how hard it is to protect him. He is useless to us dead!" Ironside complained.

"Yes, sir." Duffy knew when to shut up. Saying any more would only bring on more wrath from the chief. He did not like bad news. Duffy knew it was not really directed at him. The chief was just blowing off steam.

"You can be heard all the way down the hall," Ed Brown said as he entered the chief's room. "Are you trying to blow your cover, Chief?"

"Ed, he might not fall for my cover. He could choose not to come anywhere near this hospital."

"I don't think that will happen," Brown said.

Ironside looked at his lead detective. "And why not?"

"Because he has to come after you now. Chief, we got a break. Prentis' garage roof is very slippery. I slid off it and so did Harry. If we did…"

"The killer could have as well," Ironside finished for him. "In other words, he lost control of the rifle, dropped it and did not have time to retrieve it."

Duffy smiled. "Does he always take the fun out of telling him good news?"

"Always," Ed replied with a shake of his head.

"Well… what about fingerprints?" Ironside asked.

"A perfect set of prints. Unfortunately…"

"Unfortunately, they don't match anything in the database."

"Right," Ed said.

"Doesn't matter, Ed. He has now made two major mistakes. We have the murder weapon that killed Prentis with his fingerprints. When we catch him, we have him dead to right."

"When we catch him," Ed reminded his boss.

"We'll catch him. He has to make an attempt to kill Sister Agatha, Mark and me. He can't leave three witnesses alive. And, I want that rifle put under police guard and I don't mean the evidence room. That is the first place he would go to get it."

"Already done," Ed said.

"Where is it?" Ironside asked.

"In the commissioner's office under lock and key," Ed replied.

"Good. He won't be able to get it from there." Ironside frowned. "I just wish we could identify this man."

"It doesn't matter, Chief. He has no record anyway. He is finished as a hired killer. He will be added to the database. His face will be known."

"Has that ever stopped a hired killer before? We have a dozen of them identified and they are still out there killing. No, Ed. We have to stop him here and now."

"Dr. Witt has every doctor identified that is treating Mark and Sister Agatha and that goes for the nurses as well. No one is going to get near them," Duffy said.

"He will find a way to get in, Duffy," Ironside said. "Now what other way could he get in?"

"Cleaning crew?" Ed asked.

"That has been taken care of as well. Only approved personnel will be allowed in and one of our officers must be in the room with them," Duffy told them.

"Ok, so he can't get in as a doctor, nurse or cleaning crew. What other way could he possibly get in?" Ironside asked.

"I don't see how he can," Duffy said.

"I do," Ed said.

Ironside smiled. He could always depend on his staff to come up with what others could not. "How, Ed?"

"As a police officer."

"Exactly. And we are going to let him."

"Chief, I don't like this. If he gets into your room…"

"Ed, we have been through this. Would you rather let him get into Mark's or Agatha's room?"

"Of course not. But now that we know what he looks like; we can pick him up as soon as he enters the hospital," Ed replied.

"We could but we are not going to. Look, Ed, we have to catch him in the act of trying to kill me."

Brown was shaking his head. "We have him. We have the murder weapon with his prints on it. He won't beat this rap."

"I want him on all the other killings. If he attempts to kill me in the same manner, it will implicate him in the other murders."

"It is not solid proof, Chief."

"No, but it is a start. I expect you to find out how he was profiting from this and you don't have much time. Our killer is going to want to finish this and get out of San Francisco. I want him nailed before he gets the chance."

Ed didn't like it but he knew once the chief made up his mind, he was too stubborn to change it. "Alright, I'll find the connection." Brown turned to leave the room but suddenly turned back. "Chief…"

"I'll be all right, Ed." Ironside assured his detective.

Ed nodded and left his room.

14.2

Robert Duvalier rubbed his eyes. He had been going through the file for the Revolution for several hours. Why could he not find out who this man was? He had only grown more certain that he knew him from his time with the Revolution. But, why would a man like that have anything to do with the Revolution? A professional would not bother with something like that. There was no money to be made or was there? "Frank!"

Frank Rousseau looked up from his desk at the sound of his name. He got up and walked over to Robert. "Yes, what is it?"

"Do you remember when there was a contract out on you and the police thought it was the Revolution that put it out?" Robert asked.

"Yes, I remember. We were unable to tie the contract to the Revolution."

"That is because the Revolution did not put the contract out on you or so I thought."

Frank sat down beside the young man. "What are you saying, Robert?"

"I think I know where I have seen this man before," he said, tapping his finger on the sketch Eve had provided him.

"Where?"

"He was with Pierre Fougère. He was introduced to me as…Morgan… something. Morgan… why can't I remember his last name?" Robert rubbed his temples.

"Are you saying this man is a professional?" Frank asked.

"I didn't believe so at the time. He was supposed to keep you away from the target area. At least that is what I was told but I think he was to do much more than that."

"Do you think he was the one who held the contract on me?"

"He shot you, didn't he?"

"We don't know that. In fact, we have never been able to find out who did shoot me," Frank reminded him.

"Frank, we need your file on the shooting."

Rousseau went to the filing cabinet, pulled out the file and dropped it on Robert's desk. "There it is. Everything we have on the shooting."

Robert tore into the file. He leafed through one sheet of paper after another until he came to the one he was looking for. "Here it is!"

"Here what is?" Frank asked. "Robert, you are not making any sense."

"When this all went down, remember you pulled me into police headquarters?"

"Yes, of course I remember. What are you getting at?"

"You were shot with a high-powered rifle."

"Yes, but he missed killing me when a bomb went off down the street."

"Instinctively, you ducked and he hit you in the shoulder."

"I know all this, Robert. Get to the point."

"When you questioned me, you kept asking me what I knew about a man named… damn it! What was his last name?"

"I questioned you about the man because we found a business card that had a name on it with the word consultant below it. The card was beat up and dirty. We concluded that it had nothing to do with the shooter," Frank answered.

"What was the name on the card?"

"What difference does it make? I told you, it had nothing to do with the shooter," Frank argued.

"Just tell me the name," Robert insisted.

Frank shook his head. "I don't understand why this is so important to you." Rousseau rifled through the paperwork until he came upon the business card. "Here it is but I am telling you it had nothing to do with the shooter." He handed the card to Robert.

Robert looked at the card and a big grin broke across his face. "This is it! This is the man's name that Pierre introduced me to. Morgan Haynes. Frank, I am betting this is the man my father is looking for… the same man that just missed killing you!"

"I will get the ballistic report. You get your father on the phone," Frank said as he headed away from Robert's desk.

14.3

"Robert, are you sure of this?" Ironside asked his son.

"Yes, Papa. I am positive. The man in the sketch is the same man I was introduced to by Pierre Fougère. We now know he was contracted to kill Frank but missed."

"Hit men don't miss, Robert," Ironside said.

"Well, this one did. He missed Frank and he missed your sister Agatha. Frank is checking with Officer Whitfield on the ballistic report and as soon…" Robert stopped as Frank was approaching his desk.

"Put him on speaker," he instructed Robert who did as he was told.

"Bob, I just talked to Officer Whitfield. We have a match. The same rifle that fired the bullet that hit me also fired the shot that killed Dr. Todd Prentis."

"Good work," Ironside said.

"Not on my part. Robert ran this one down."

Ironside grunted. "Of course he did. He has my blood running through his veins. He has no other choice but to be a detective and a damn good one at that."

Robert smiled. "Papa, you be careful. You hear me?"

"I will. Thanks for your help, son. Good job." Ironside hung up the phone.

14.4

Morgan Haynes headed back into police headquarters. He went to the basement where the evidence room was. When he arrived, he could only see one officer behind the window. He pulled out a ticket he found in the policeman's uniform. It was a claim check for evidence. He had filled it in and signed Ironside's name.

"Ironside asked me to pick up the rifle in the Prentis murder case."

"Ironside?" the officer asked skeptically. "He's in the hospital in serious condition."

Haynes laughed. "Yes, that is what the papers said, isn't it? You know the chief, he has misled the people before in order to catch a killer. Remember what he did when he was trying to protect Sanger?"

"Yea, I guess the chief has done that on occasion." The officer scrutinized the ticket. "This doesn't have a claim number on it."

"That's because Sgt. Brown had not communicated it to the chief. Ironside told me to tell you if you had any problems with it, you are to call him at the hospital. I can get you through to him." Haynes lowered his hand to the service revolver at this waist. It would be much easier for this cop to find it but he would kill him if he had to and look for it himself.

The officer looked at the ticket again and said, "No, I guess that won't be necessary. This is signed by the chief. Wait, Sgt. Brown picked that up a while ago. He must not have told the chief that either."

"I guess not. Man, I could not get a hold of Brown earlier. Neither could the chief. That is the reason he sent me after it. You don't suppose Brown mentioned if he was taking it to Ironside?"

"No, he definitely was not. He said something about taking it to Commissioner Randall's office for safe keeping."

Morgan smiled. "Thanks, buddy. You just saved me a tongue-lashing from Ironside. See you later."

Haynes left the evidence room and went back into the police garage. He went to the dispatch officer. "Hey, they told me there might be a change in vehicle tonight. Which one am I in?" He flashed the police identification, being careful to keep his thumb on the picture of the officer.

"No changes that I have heard about. You are in," he check the roster, "number twenty-four."

"Thanks. Sometimes I think those guys don't know what they are doing up there." Haynes headed for the police cruisers and walked past each of them until he came upon number twenty-four. He got in, started the engine and pulled out of the police garage.

When he arrived at the Hall of Justice, he parked the cruiser in parking reserved for police cars and went into the building. Arriving at the elevators, he got in and pressed the commissioner's floor. It stopped on the next floor and two officers got in. "You going down?"

"No," Haynes replied. "Up." He pointed his index finger upwards.

"That's no good." Both officers got back off. He rode the rest of the way with no further interruptions.

Morgan Haynes walked leisurely down the hall to Commissioner Randall's office. He checked the door to be sure he had the right office. The commissioner's name was as plain as day on the plate which was in the middle of the door. Haynes opened the door and went in. He walked up to the secretary and said, "Officer Conners to see Commissioner Randall."

"I am sorry, Officer, but the commissioner is not seeing anyone today without an appointment, especially not this late."

"He'll see me. Chief Ironside sent me."

"Chief Ironside? Well, just a minute." She pressed the button to the commissioner's office. "Commissioner, Officer Conners is here to see you. He said Chief Ironside sent him." She listened for a moment and then said, "The commissioner will see you now."

Haynes smiled and said, "Thank you." He walked past her desk and opened the door to the commissioner's office.

"Officer Conners, what can I do for Chief Ironside?"

"He would like the rifle in the Prentis killing."

Commissioner Randall looked at the officer with a wary look. "He did not call me about that."

Haynes shrugged. "I just follow orders, Commissioner. You know how it is."

Randall reached for the phone. "I will just call him and confirm that if you don't mind."

Haynes pulled out the service revolver from the holster. "Actually, Commissioner, I do mind. Hang up the phone." He pointed the gun at Randall as the commissioner did as he was told.

"You will never get out of this building," Randall said.

"Oh please! I walked in here, took this uniform, a police cruiser and now I am going to take that rifle. I will walk out just as easily. Now where is the rifle?"

Randall pointed to the closet. "It's in there."

"Get it."

Randall got up, walked over to the closet, took the rifle out and handed it to him. Haynes pointed the gun at Randall's head and then realized it was the service revolver belonging to the police officer he had killed. It was not silenced. He could not shoot it in this building. "Call your secretary and send her on an errand. Then tell her you will be leaving for the rest of the evening." When Randall hesitated, Haynes said, "Do it, Commissioner. If I have to fire this gun in this building, your officers will swarm this office. If that happens, I assure you they will find a dead commissioner and a dead secretary. Now do as you are told."

Randall picked up the phone. "I need you to take that report over to Chief Ironside's office, the one with my official signature. You may go home from there. I am going to finish up here and then go home for the night." Randall hung up the phone.

"Now turn around, Commissioner." Randall did as he was told to do. Haynes raised the gun and hit Randall on the back of the head with the butt of the gun. The commissioner fell to the floor.

Haynes dragged Randall into the closet. He picked up some rope that was thrown in the corner of the closet and tied him up. He then pulled a handkerchief out of the pocket of the uniform he was wearing and gagged him. He shut and locked the door.

Haynes opened the door slowly into the reception area of Randall's office and peaked out. His secretary was gone. He grabbed a large brown bag he assumed the gun had been carried in and placed it back into it. It fit perfectly. Haynes left the office, rode the elevator down to the first floor, went out the front door and drove away.

14.5

Sgt. Ed Brown pulled into the police garage. Eve Whitfield was waiting patiently for his arrival. Ed reached over and opened the car door and Eve slipped in. "We have the name of the man doing the killing," Eve told him as she handed him a paper with the name written on it.

Ed turned his head and smiled. "Good work, who is he?"

"I can't take the credit. Robert Duvalier identified him from the sketch I sent him."

"How about that. The chief's son…"

"That is not all, Ed. Once we had the name and could put it with the sketch, our overseas connections are sure he is the hit man that everyone calls 'Satan'. They say he is more ruthless than the 'Angel'. Up until now they did not know his real name."

"Angel, Satan… can you believe the names these killers come up with?"

"Ed, I am worried about the chief. If this man goes after him…"

"I know but the chief won't budge on this one," he sighed.

"Then we better make the connection and get back to the hospital to protect him. Where are we going to start?"

"Back at San Francisco General. I want to talk to Roberta Foley and find out if the hospital bills of the deceased have been paid and if they have by whom?"

They rode in silence to the hospital. When they arrived, Ed parked the car and turned to Eve. "Let's split this up. Call Peter Witt at Saint Mary's. You should have no trouble finding out if the insurance companies paid off on the deaths of the murder victims. I want to know if they have and which insurance companies." Ed left Eve and headed into the hospital. He rode the elevator to the floor Roberta Foley was working on. The chief never did get a chance to speak with her so Ed figured he would start with her. He found her easily. "Hello again," Ed said with a smile.

"Sergeant Brown, isn't it?"

Ed smiled again. "Yes. I was wondering if you could help me."

"Sure, what do you need?"

Ed explained what he wanted as the nurse listened. When he was finished, she said, "Let's go in the office. I don't want to get you the information where someone can see us." Brown followed her down the hall and into a small office. She sat down at the desk and began typing. Within a few minutes, the printer was spitting out a sheet of paper. Roberta took the paper off the printer and handed it to Ed. "Is this what you need?"

Ed glanced down at the paper and grinned. "This is exactly what I needed. Thank you. You may have just gone a long way in helping to break this case wide open." He left the office and headed back to his car. When he arrived, Eve was still on the phone. She had a pad of paper in front of her. She was writing names and insurance companies on them. When she had completed her list, she thanked Dr. Witt and hung up her cellphone.

"We hit the jackpot, Ed. Take a look at this." She handed the paper to him.

Ed read down the list. "Well, isn't that a coincidence. Every one of the bills have been paid by the same insurance company and I bet they have set a record for having paid this fast." Ed picked up the phone and dialed Chief Ironside's room at the hospital. He waited for the gruff voice to answer.

"Hello," Ironside said.

"Chief, Eve and I have some interesting facts for you." Ed gave him a rundown on what they had discovered.

"Good work. Now, I want you to check on a hunch for me. Call Robert in Montreal and have him find out if Morgan Haynes has an account in his name. If he does, find out if that insurance company has paid into that account," Ironside ordered.

"Chief, I can't believe he would be stupid enough to have an account in his own name," Eve said.

"Stupid enough, Eve? No. But arrogant enough, yes. This man doesn't think he can be caught. He doesn't think anyone would check into anything as simple as an account in his name. He has to have an account somewhere and I have a hunch it is in Canada."

"Okay, Chief. Anything else?" Ed asked.

"Yes, get back here as fast as you can. This man is going to try to kill me tonight."