Scrabble Spells Murder
Chapter 8
8.1
Katherine clawed at her assailant's grip with her fingers. Even though she knew that his intent was to kill her, she did not panic. Dropping her left hand to her purse, she opened the latch. With her right hand, she worked her fingers between the Hacker's fingers and her throat. She sunk her fingernails into his fingers.
The Hacker cried out in pain. Keeping one hand around her throat, he used his other hand to remove hers. He had not noticed that she had reached into her purse.
Katherine fumbled around inside her purse until she located the mace. She knew she would not last much longer. Her oxygen had been cut off and she was beginning to black out. She found the mace, slipped the top off with a fingernail and removed it from her purse. She pointed in the direction of the Hacker's face. She pressed down on the top and sprayed it directly into his eyes.
Katherine felt his grip loosen immediately. She turned around and continued to spray the mace into his face. The Hacker backed away from her with his hands over his face. Katherine took advantage of the situation. She picked up her dropped briefcase and ran towards her car. Without looking back, she reached into her purse and removed her car keys. Without slowing down or missing a step, she hit the button that would automatically unlock the car door. When she arrived at the car, she opened the door and slid into the seat. Katherine slammed the door shut and locked it. She quickly put the key in the ignition and started the car. Throwing it into reverse, she slammed her foot on the accelerator and backed the vehicle out of the parking spot. Katherine put the car in drive and drove away.
She again reached into her purse and removed her cell phone. She dialed Ironside's office and waited for an answer.
"Chief Ironside's office," Mark answered.
"Mark, it's Katherine. Please, I need to speak with Robert."
Mark could hear the urgency in her voice. "Katherine, are you alright?"
"Yes, I am alright. Please let me speak to Robert."
"Of course, he's right here."
Katherine waited momentarily until Ironside came on the line.
"Yes, Katherine," the chief answered.
"Robert, I think I just saw him," she said excitedly.
Ironside could hear the tremble in her voice. "Katherine, are you alright?"
"Yes, Robert. I am fine now but I believe I just ran into your Hacker."
"What are you talking about? What do you mean you ran into him?"
Katherine told him what happened when she came out of Dr. Stern's building.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Ironside asked her.
"Yes, Robert, I'm okay."
"Katherine, I want you to come straight to my office." He continued to talk to her softly to calm her nerves. When he hung up from speaking with her, he contacted the nearest patrol car to follow her to his office.
In the meantime, the police were dispatched to the doctor's office in hopes that they would spot the Hacker.
"I never should have allowed this," Ironside roared. "We should have found another way to communicate with Ben."
"Chief, we had no way of knowing that he would be there," Mark said.
"She is not a cop, Mark. I should not have allowed her to do it. She almost paid for my mistake with her life!
"We should have considered he would be watching Ben's office. The man will know that Katherine will tell me what happened. He will know that I will figure out who he is after with his presence there. If he believes that I sent Katherine there, then he could very well either change his victim or chose another time and place to go after Ben. We have probably lost the opportunity to catch him."
Mark decided not to pursue it any further. Nothing that he could say would make him feel any better. Unfortunately, he was right about the Hacker probably knowing they would figure out who he was after.
8.2
The Hacker bent over the sink as he rinsed his eyes under the tap. Damn that woman! His eyes burned. He could hardly keep them open long enough to rinse them. He wasn't sure how he had driven his car back to his apartment.
Had she seen his face? She was not facing him when she sprayed mace into his eyes. He knew that he had put his hands to his face immediately. But had he done it before she had turned around? If not, then she definitely had seen him. He had underestimated her. He had not expected such resistance from a woman. Then again, she was Ironside's woman. He should have known better.
There was no doubt that Ironside would now know that the doctor was his target. He never should have approached her. After all, the game was much more exciting if he did not know if Ironside had figured out the clue or not.
If she had seen him, Ironside would definitely have a policed artist sketch him. If that happened, it was all over for him. That cripple would definitely recognize his face in a sketch.
He could no longer stay here. He had to find somewhere else to crash. But, right now he could not see. His vision was blurred. His eyes stung and watered. He could not seek medical attention for his eyes. How would he explain it to a doctor? He had no choice but to wait until the effects of the mace had subsided. He would have to decide what to do about Ironside's woman.
Right now, he was unable to do anything. All he could do was wait until his eyes cleared.
8.3
As soon as Ironside heard his office door open, he turned his wheelchair towards it. When he saw Katherine enter he wheeled to the end of the ramp to meet her there. She bent down and he took her into his arms.
"I am alright, Robert," she said as he held her tightly to him.
When he let go, he took her hand and led her toward the main table in his office. Ironside guided her into the chair. "Did you get a look at him?"
Katherine shook her head. "I am sorry, Robert. After I sprayed him in the face with mace, he put his hands to his face. I did not get much of a look at him at all. All I can tell you is that he was about five feet ten inches tall with dark curly brown hair. As soon as I sprayed him, I picked up my briefcase and ran for the car. I did not stick around to see if I could get a look at him. Maybe I should have waited until I saw his face before I ran."
"No, you did the right thing. Your safety was the most important thing. I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to you."
"He will know that you know his target is Dr. Stern."
"There isn't anything we can do about that," Ironside said. "We will have to wait and see what his next move is. In the meantime, do you have that list of ex-cops that are working at the University?"
"Yes. I left my briefcase case at the door."
"Mark! Would you get it please?"
Mark Sanger went up the ramp, to the door and picked up Katherine's briefcase. He returned to the table and set it in front of his boss.
Ironside flipped the latch on the briefcase and opened it. He slid the case in front of Katherine. She reached inside and pulled out the paper with the list of names that Ben had given her. She handed them to Ironside. "This is it."
The detective studied the list of names carefully. All eight of the ex-cops that were on the list had been excellent police officers. Each one of them would be an asset if the Hacker decided to go ahead with his plan to kill Ben.
His office door opened and Ed and Eve walked in. They came down the ramp and sat down at the table with Ironside and Katherine. Ironside looked at his officers and asked, "Well?"
"Benny Dodson's computer has been compromised," Eve informed him.
"Hacked into?" Ironside surmised.
Ed nodded in confirmation. "I told him not to remove the trace that the hacker put in his computer."
"Will he comply?" Ironside inquired.
"I put him on the city payroll," Ed answered.
"What exactly did you tell him to do?"
"Nothing other than he was not to remove the trace. He knows that he cannot work for anyone else until I had spoken with you."
Mark asked, "What are the chances that this is someone else that is hacked into his computer?"
"A coincidence?" Ironside asked.
Eve looked from one of her colleagues to the others. "I suppose it's possible."
"I don't believe in coincidences," Ironside disagreed. "Let's assume for one minute that it is the Hacker that has hacked into his computer. What does that tell us?"
"That he knows more about the police department than the average individual," Ed said.
"And what can we conclude from that?" Ironside queried. When his staff remained quiet, he snapped, "Come now, children! What does that mean to you?"
"It might mean that it is someone inside the department," answered Eve.
"But who in the department other than Vincent could hack into the computer system?" Ed wondered.
"I think we need to find out," Ironside ordered, "and do it quietly."
Ed nodded. "Consider it done, Chief." Ed left the office.
"Eve, I want you to find Benny a secure computer to enable him to hack into mine." Ironside reached for the phone. "And do it quietly."
"Yes, sir." Eve got up and left the office as well.
"Mark, excuse us please." Ironside never took his eyes off Katherine as he spoke to Mark.
Sanger headed for the door. "It is time to make the daily inspection of the van."
Ironside, his back to the door waited until he heard the door shut. He took Katherine by the hand. "We need to talk."
"I figured as much since you just sent your entire staff out of the office. What is on your mind, Robert?"
"I already lost one woman because of the danger my job has placed her in. I will not allow it to happen again."
"You are forgetting that it was my idea that I talked to Ben for you."
"No, that has not escaped me at all. In fact, it is the reason for this conversation," Ironside said. He was silent for a moment. He wanted to approach the subject without angering her or hurting her feelings. He needed to make her understand that she was far important to him to take chances with her life.
"Katherine, you have become the most important person in my life. I could not stand to lose you..."
"You did not lose me and you won't," she interrupted.
"No, but I could have. You were lucky to have gotten out of that situation unharmed." Katherine was about to say something but Ironside squeezed her hand. "Please, Katherine, hear me out." She nodded and remained silent waiting for him to continue.
"I allowed you to go to Ben but it was against my better judgment. You are not a police officer..."
"Neither is Mark," she pointed out.
"No, he isn't, but he has been living among police officers for some time now. He is studying law and I am hoping that eventually he will forego the law career and become a police officer. He has the makings of a good one.
"You, on the other hand, have not been living among the police and you have no training whatsoever. Sending you into a dangerous situation was reckless on my part and it is not going to happen again."
Katherine tried to speak again but Ironside put the finger of his other hand to her lips to silence her. "I know what you are going to say. I send Eve and Ed into dangerous situations all the time and..."
"And Mark."
Ironside sighed. "Ed and Eve are trained police personnel and they are paid to do a job. You are neither."
"And neither is Mark but you allow him to do the job on occasion."
"Mark is a man." Ironside regretted the words as soon as they left his lips.
Katherine raised an eyebrow but before she said anything, he leaned in and kissed her. "That is one advantage you have over Mark. You are much more beautiful," he said, attempting to take his foot out of his mouth.
"Robert Ironside, don't think that you can get away with that remark by kissing me... as pleasant and nice as it was." She smiled at him. "However, as much as I would like to continue this argument, I admit you do have some valid points. It is just that in this particular case, I should not have been in any danger in the first place. It is quite by accident that the Hacker was there."
"That is the essence of the problem. A seemingly safe situation can turn into a very dangerous one as you have just experienced. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. Not to mention, on a more selfish note, that I do not want to live the rest of my life without you."
Katherine squeezed his hand and ran the fingers of her other hand down the side of his face. "You will never have to do that. I am afraid, Chief Ironside that you are stuck with me for the remainder of your days. That is your punishment for letting me fall in love with you."
Ironside smiled and kissed her again. "That is a punishment I will gladly endure. Now are we in agreement that you are never going to become involved with any of my investigations again?"
"Well..."
"Katherine!"
She laughed. "Alright, I will stay out of your police work." Her smile contained a hint of mischief. "I guess I will have to take up playing bridge. Could your Aunt Victoria use another player? They play on Tuesdays, don't they?"
Ironside closed his eyes and shook his head as Katherine laughed. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I will, however, continue to be your sounding board if you so chose to use me."
"You can be my sounding board. After all it was your suggestion that helped me solve the current clues."
"I doubt that, Robert. I just gave you someone to talk to. I am sure you figured it out on your own."
Ironside kissed the back of her hand. "Your just being there helped me solve it."
Katherine smiled. "In that case, you are going to become even more famous as a detective. Because I intend to always be there for you."
He returned the smile before saying, "I am going to hold you to that." Then he leaned in and kissed her again.
8.4
Mark pulled Ironside's van up in front of the University. The weekend had gone by quickly. And even though they had spent every waking hour trying to discover the identity of the Hacker, they were no closer.
Eve had been able to secure another location for Benny to hack into the Chief's computer. Commissioner Randall wasn't exactly happy about having to pay Benny Dodson the amount of money it would take to keep him from his other work with the government. But as usual he gave in to chief Ironside.
Ed had spent the week checking out the technical qualifications of those at headquarters. He had discovered that there were several police officers that were capable of hacking into a computer. However, none of them seemed likely suspects. Nonetheless, the chief ordered Ed to check into each one of them.
Ed had not yet completed his report. One thing he knew for sure was that when you worked for Robert Ironside, the report better be through and you better have anticipated every question that he might want answered. For those reasons, Sgt. Brown was making sure that when he handed that report to Chief Ironside, he could be sure the chief would be able to eliminate all five officers or be in the position to recommend which ones would need further investigation and to have a tail assigned to them.
Ironside wheeled onto the lift. He pressed the button and was lowered to the ground. Mark met him as he wheeled off the lift. Ironside looked up at his young aide and said, "This is as far as you go, Mark."
"Chief, I am not a cop. The Hacker could not possibly worry about me being with you."
"I cannot take that chance, Mark. He said I had to do this one alone. Alone does not mean with you. So get back in the van and go join Ed and Eve."
"Chief..."
"That's an order, Mark." Ironside wheeled away from him without looking back.
He didn't like it but he knew he had no choice. Once the chief made up his mind, he would not change it. Mark walked around the van and got behind the wheel. Reluctantly he pulled the vehicle away from the curb and drove away from the university.
8.5
The center was packed with people. They had come from all over the state of California to listen to Dr. Ben Stern give his lecture on spinal cord injuries. The Hacker sat in the back of the center completely confident that he would not be spotted by Ironside.
He had no doubt that Ironside had found a way to bring in some kind of security. Although, he knew that he at least heeded his warning about bringing in the police as he had not spotted one single officer from headquarters.
He did not trust Ironside. He was a clever detective and would have someone among the audience looking out for both him and the doctor. But it didn't matter. He had no intentions of going after either one of them inside the center. The only reason he was here today was to be sure that Ironside was following the rules. Actually, he hoped he wasn't. For if he could catch him, then he would be able to kill the next victim without sending Ironside a clue.
Once the program began, the Hacker decided it was time to leave. Hanging around would only increase the chances that he would be discovered. Ironside would never guess that he would not make the attempt in the center. The Hacker smiled and thought about the bomb that he had placed in the doctor's car. He had to be in place when Stern got into the vehicle. Then he would set off the bomb by remote control. Once the bomb went off and the confusion began, he would be able to slip past the police he was sure that Ironside had positioned far enough away from the University to not be noticed.
The Hacker left the center and headed for the exit. As he reached it, the door opened and Wayne Morton walked in. Then it hit the Hacker what Ironside had done. Morton was an ex-cop who worked on the university campus police. The Hacker grinned and said, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I am trying to help the chief determine who the Hacker is. He thought I might be able to recognize him. So far I have drawn a big fat blank."
"Just what are you doing here, Wayne?" the Hacker asked him.
"That is just like the chief. He always figures everyone is on a need-to-know basis. I guess he figured you didn't need to know. It doesn't matter now though. He has the campus police watching out for the doctor and himself. When this guy makes a move towards either one of them, we will get him. You can count on it."
"No wonder I have not spotted any police here. I was beginning to worry about the chief."
"You should know better than that. The chief never goes anywhere unprepared."
The Hacker knew what he had to do. This man had seen his face and knew who he was. He obviously could not let him live. He glanced behind them and spotted a partially opened door. He pointed at it and said, "Hey, Wayne, that door should not be open. Don't you think we better check it out?"
The former lieutenant looked behind him. "You are right, it is open. You stay here. I better go check." He pulled his gun and turned toward the door. When his back was turned, the Hacker glanced down the hall to make certain that there wasn't any witness, removed a knife from his jacket and plunged it deep into Morton's back.
Dragging the dead ex-officer to the open door, he threw him into the room and shut the door. The Hacker then walked out of the building.
TBC...