Scrabble Spells Murder
Chapter 16
16.1
"I don't understand this," Eve said. "So far, the clues have come in threes. Why does this one only have a one-word clue?"
Ed Brown stared at the clue on the table. "Could the one clue give the answer for the victim and the place?"
"This is insane!" Carl exclaimed. "How are we going to figure out who he is going to kill with a one-word clue?"
Robert Ironside stared at the paper on the table in silence. Ed could be right. One word might represent two of the where, when and who, but Ironside did not think so. This was Mortimer's way of changing the rules.
He had to follow them but Mortimer did not. At least that is what Vincent thought. Well, Ironside was not about to play by his rules. If he did, Fran would die and so would the person that this clue represented.
It was time to make him play by his rules. He continued to stare at the clue.
"Chief?" Eve said, trying to gain the boss' attention.
Ironside looked up from the clue that remained on the table in front of them. "Something is not right," he said as he returned his attention back to the table. He stared at everything for a couple of minutes and suddenly it all fell into place.
Carl had not worked with Ironside on a daily basis as the others had. Otherwise, he would have left the detective to his thoughts. "What's not right? This is not much different than what we have been receiving. We have a clue this time that is only a one-word clue. That is the only thing that is different. One word must represent two things."
Ed stood up and stared at the clue on the paper and the Scrabble board in front of them. "The chief is right. The pattern is the answer to who."
Eve saw what the chief and Ed had already picked up on. "Of course!"
Carl stared at her and grumbled, "Of course, what?"
"Carl whom did he go after first?" Ironside asked, raising his voice.
"The commissioner," Reese replied.
"A cop. And who did he go after next?"
"Dr. Stern."
"Medical personnel. And next?"
"Fran, of course."
"And you don't see a pattern there?" Ironside asked the lieutenant.
"A cop. A doctor. A cop," Reese said. "Are you saying he's going back to a doctor this time? If this keeps up, there's not a doctor in San Francisco who is going to be willing to treat you."
"If it is a doctor, how do we know he won't go after Ben again?" Ed asked.
"He won't," Ironside replied.
"I am not so sure," Eve countered. "He feels that you followed the rules when you saved the commissioner, so he is probably safe. But, he also feels you cheated with Dr. Stern, so he might consider him fair game.
"What are you thinking Chief," Mark asked his boss.
"Right now we have each clue on the Scrabble board as one word for each victim, BIRDCODHALL, BOATGOLDHEAL. Suppose we separate them by a space?" Ironside suggested.
"But Vincent put them on the Scrabble board as one long word... run together," Ed remarked.
"I believe that was to throw us off," Ironside told him. "Suppose we put a space between each word. Do it for our first clue for Commissioner Randall."
Ed reached to the Scrabble board and move the tiles around putting a space between each word.
BIRD COD HALL
"Now the second clue was BOATGOLDHEAL. Let's go down this time and build them off the other clues. Put BOAT under the 'B' in BIRD. then put GOLD around the 'O' in COD and HEAL on top the 'L' in HALL."
Ed moved the first two and then looked at Ironside. "Which 'L'? The first one or the second one?"
Rather than answer his detective, he looked at him and said, "Which one would you build it over?"
Sgt. Brown stared at the Scrabble board. "When we built BOAT off BIRD, it is the first letter and when we built GOLD off COD, it is the second, so I would say that we would build HEAL off the first 'L' in HALL, which is in the third position...that is if you want to continue the pattern."
"Very good, Sergeant," Ironside said. "I think he is setting a pattern for a reason. Therefore, that is exactly where I would build it."
Ed changed the Scrabble board to reflect the rest of Ironside's directions.
"Alright, if we do that, then I don't see how the new clue fits in," Carl observed.
"It doesn't," Ironside agreed.
"Then what we have done can't be right," Eve said, confused.
"Can't it?" Ironside questioned his officer.
"Well no, there is no way to build off of the current letters on the board with this new clue," Mark agreed.
"That doesn't mean what we have done is incorrect," Ironside said. "Take a look at that board. Mortimer never intended for this new clue to be used on the Scrabble board, otherwise he wouldn't have sent me into the San Francisco Bay to get it. Again, he is only using it to confuse us. The next clue is actually already on the board with what is there. It is the pattern that gives us the clue."
Everyone studied the board but no one spoke up. Ironside waited for his to detectives to figure it out. When no one said anything, he finally showed them. "Look at the first word clue, 'BIRD' and the word we have built off it, 'BOAT'. That is the new clue. It would not mean anything until we figure out who he is after. The next word we built GOLD off COD. It is the second clue. And for the final word clue HALL we built HEAL from that one. You have to combine the two in each case for the new clue."
"In other words, what you are saying is that each one that we have built from the clues is providing the new clue. Is that right?" Eve asked.
"Obviously, but what does it mean?" Carl inquired.
"You have to understand the way Mortimer thinks," Ironside said. He pointed to the third combination of clue words. "The combination of HEAL and HALL tells us who he intends to kill.
"HEAL... HALL. That fits into the pattern of cop, medical, cop, medical," Eve pointed out.
"Exactly, Ironside confirmed. "What would a HEAL HALL be?"
"A hospital!" Ed surmised.
"Then it is someone the chief knows in one of the local hospitals," Mark guessed.
"That's right, Mark," Ironside told him.
"I still am not convinced that he will not go after Ben Stern again," Eve said, shaking her head.
"Because, Officer Whitfield, if you put the other two combinations together, you know it is not Ben."
Ed stared at the Scrabble board. "COD and GOLD... Isn't there a fishing event called the Golden Cod?"
Ironside grinned. "That is correct, Ed, and that tells us when."
"But the Golden Cod fishing Contest is the second through the fifth," Carl said. "How do we know which date is the right one? And what about the final clue?" Carl asked.
"The final combination, which we have is the BIRD BOAT combination." Ironside pointed to the far left side of the Scrabble board. "That is where murder is to take place which helps with the HEAL HALL clue. You need to solve them together to understand where and who."
Ironside waited to give his detectives time to solve the final piece of the puzzle. He doubted, however, that they knew this information.
"I'm stumped," Mark said.
"So am I," Carl added.
Ironside looked at Ed and Eve. "Well?"
"It is probably a boat with a bird's name. Someone you know that works in a hospital has a boat that contains the name of a bird," Ed offered.
With that information, Eve smiled. "I know who it is and what boat. Don't you remember, Chief? Sister Agatha invited you to go out on her boat. She owns a boat called Thunder."
"Thunderbird," Mark said.
Ironside smiled at his pretty detective. "I did not think anyone knew about her boat."
"Since we know who and where, all we have to do is set up the when," Reese chimed in.
"Which is exactly what we are going to do," Ironside nodded in agreement.
Mark picked up the clue from the table that Ironside had removed from the bottle. He crushed the paper in his hand and headed for the wastebasket.
"Mark, bring that back here!" Ironside ordered.
Confused, Mark said, "But I thought it was created to throw us off."
"From Sister Agatha," Ironside said, "but not from the other murder."
"Other murder?" Eve questioned.
Carl took the paper out of Mark's hand. "Fran."
"That is correct, Lieutenant. In case he fails to kill Sister Agatha, he will kill Fran instead and claim I failed to solve the real clue, which of course is not true. But he will kill Fran anyway."
Carl put the paper clue back on the table.
TWENTY-FIVE
"TWENTY-FIVE, what could that possibly represent?" Mark asked.
"Fran is 25 years old," Eve said.
"That gives us the who," Ironside said. He pointed at the clue. "Are the manholes in the city numbered?"
"Yes, they are," Carl answered.
Ed stepped to the phone and called the city of San Francisco's water department. When he came back to the table, he carried a list with him. He sat down beside Ironside.
"Manhole number twenty-five is in the same vicinity that Carl and I were searching. Mortimer could have easily slipped out with Eve through that manhole."
"What about postal deliveries? Have any been canceled in that area for vacations," Ironside demanded.
"Yes, there are four within a three block radius," Ed replied.
"Who lives in the closest one to the manhole?" Ironside asked.
Brown checked his list. "The James Winters family. They are on vacation in Europe," Ed told him.
"How will we ever get authorization to get in?" Eve asked.
With his arms folded across his chest, Mark spoke up, "We don't need it. I know them. We can get in."
Chief Ironside doubted that Mark knew the family at all. He did not doubt, however, that Mark could get in. He knew what he meant by this. Ironside didn't like it but none of them could enter the house without some kind of proof that Fran was there. They would never be able to get a search warrant.
The former chief of detectives was about to make a decision he would regret the rest of his life if it went bad. "I want you to go to that house. You will take a service revolver with you and give it to Fran, if she is there. Then you will leave."
With an incredulous look, Mark shook his head. "You really don't expect me to leave her, if she is there, do you?"
"That is exactly what I expect you to do. If we rescue Fran, then Mortimer will realize we figured out the entire clue. I can't allow that to happen. This is our chance to set him up."
"As much as I hate to agree in this particular case, the chief is right," Ed said. "If Mortimer goes back to kill her, at least she will be able to defend herself."
"I don't like it," Eve complained. "There is always that chance that he will catch her by surprise and kill her before she gets a chance to use the gun. Isn't there a better way?"
"If there is, now is the time to share," Ironside said looking directly at her. He waited but Eve Whitfield offered no alternative. "We must be sure the case holds up in court. There must be no doubt that he is the Hacker.
"Alright then, Carl you will go with Mark to the house. You will not go in, is that clear?"
"It's clear," Carl responded.
Ironside turned to Mark. "You will wait until Mortimer is on duty before you go to the house. When you get there, you will take a service revolver to Fran and explain the situation to her. Any questions?"
Sanger shook his head, indicating he had none. "In the meantime, we will work out how we are going to set up Mortimer. Does everyone understand what they are supposed to do?" Ironside asked his staff. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"You won't get it done standing around here," Ironside snarled, when no one moved right away.
"Let's go, Mark," Carl said. "Mortimer is on duty right now."
Ironside wheeled his chair over to the desk, reached into the drawer and pulled out a service revolver and ammunition. He wheeled back and handed it to Mark. The young man left the office with Reese.
16.2
Lieutenant Carl Reese pulled his car to a stop across the street from the James Winters house. "I can't believe the chief has authorized this."
"I am not a cop, Carl. I can do things you guys can't."
"It is breaking and entering no matter how you look at it," Carl said.
"Call it what you want. I call it protecting Fran."
Reese shook his head. "Just go do what you have to do."
Mark got out of the car and crossed the street. He went around to the back of the house. Pulling a tool out of his pocket, he opened the screen door. Sanger put it in the lock and began working it around inside. Within only seconds, the lock clicked and Mark opened the door.
He pulled out the service revolver that Ironside had given him. He began moving through the house. Checking each room for signs of Fran, he continued until he had checked every room on the main floor. Since the house did not have a second floor, the only place left to check was the basement.
Mark located the door to the basement or what he figured was the basement and found it locked. Once again, he used his tool to unlock the door. He descended the stairs quietly and cautiously even though he knew that Vincent Mortimer was working. It was never determined if he had an accomplice.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed there was more than one room. The doors of all three rooms were closed. He checked the first one and found that it was not locked. He opened the door and went in. The room was empty.
Mark proceeded to the next room, which was also unlocked. He opened the door to another empty room. That only left one more.
When he arrived at the door, he turned the knob expecting to find that door unlocked as well. However, the knob did not turn.
"You really are a lousy host, Vincent. I could use something to eat," Fran shouted from the other side of the door.
Relief spread as Mark called out, "Fran!"
"Oh my God! Mark, is that you?"
"Hang on, I'll unlock the door." Mark work the lock for a matter of seconds before it sprung. He opened the door and Fran flew into his arms.
"Am I glad to see you! How did the chief know where to find me?"
"Vincent's clues. You know there is not much in the way of puzzles the chief can't figure out."
"Vincent? You mean he knows that Vincent is the Hacker?"
"He knows and he is going to try and set him up."
"Has he chosen his next victim?" Fran asked him.
"Sister Agatha. He is alternating between a cop and someone in the medical field, and of course, friends of the chief," Mark informed her.
"Well, let's get out of here before he comes back."
"I am afraid you're not going anywhere."
With a puzzled look on her face, Fran said, " What do you mean I am not going anywhere?"
"The chief figured out the pattern that Vincent was setting up on the Scrabble board. It is how he discovered that Agatha is the next target. But he also forced the chief to go into the San Francisco Bay and retrieve a clue that he had placed in a bottle. That was the one that told us he intends to kill you if he fails to kill Agatha. He intends to make sure someone dies this time."
Fran's eyes widened. "And he wants me to stay here?"
"Fran, if you leave before he goes after Agatha... " Mark started to say before she interrupted him.
"Then Vincent will know that the chief has figured it all out," she finished for him.
"That's right," Mark confirmed.
"Then I guess I'm staying. Please tell me the chief is going to provide me with some way to protect myself."
Mark handed her the service revolver. He reached into his jacket and removed some ammunition. He handed it to Fran. "This guy is crazy. Don't take any chances. If you have to shoot him, do so."
"I do not understand. I know enough to put Vincent away. So why is the chief doing it this way?"
Mark shrugged his shoulders. "I guess he wants to catch him in the act. And until I found you, we didn't know what you know."
"But now that you have, I still don't understand why he just doesn't arrest him based on what I know."
"Because right now all he has him on is abducting you. We have to be able to tie him to the murders and the Scrabble game. If he is caught in the act trying to kill Sister Agatha using this Scrabble game, then the chief has him tied to the murders of those police officers."
"But what about his computer? Wouldn't that tie Vincent to the Scrabble game?"
Once again, Mark shrugged his shoulders. "The computer in that apartment you went to self-destructed and we were unable to retrieve anything from it. I guess the chief thinks he will do the same with any other computer we might find. He wants to make sure we have an ironclad case."
"How long do I have to stay here?"
"Just a couple of days, maybe three. The chief will make sure that Vincent is working three out of the four days found in the clue."
"Okay, tell the chief I'll stay put. But do you suppose you could go get me something to eat?"
Mark smiled. "If you'll settle for fast food."
"Even fast food will taste good about now."
"Okay, one burger coming right up."
"Make it two and an order of fries."
16.3
The phone in Ironside's office rang. Eve walked over to the closest one and picked up the receiver. "Chief Ironside's office."
"Hi Eve, this is Chris in the computer crimes department. I have a message to call the chief."
"Yes , Chris. He wants you to make sure that Vincent is working three out of the four following dates..."
"I don't know if that's going to be possible. He has not reported to work for his last two shifts. Nor have we heard from him. We have tried calling his house and his cell phone. He is not answering either one."
Eve thanked him and hung up the phone. She turned to her boss and said, "Chief, we have a problem."
TBC...