Scrabble Spells Murder

Chapter 19

19.1

Katherine woke up to the sounds of birds chirping outside her bedroom window. She glanced at the clock and realized that it would chime very soon as it would be time for Robert Ironside to return to the city and his job.

She glanced at the sleeping detective who was softly snoring. Quietly and slowly she slipped out of his arms. She smiled, remembering the activities of the previous night. He was now hers... completely. She had it all!

Katherine shut the alarm clock off before heading into the bathroom. She would allow Robert to sleep until it was absolutely necessary to wake him. Since he had no fresh clothes to put on, she had set the alarm to allow him time to go back to his office to shower before starting time.

After showering, dressing and applying her make-up, Katherine headed for the kitchen to fix breakfast for her overnight guest. She was aware he did not care much for eggs, although he would eat them if served. She preferred to prepare something he would enjoy. She went to work in the kitchen to cook him some oatmeal with a dish of fruit and a glass of orange juice. He might as well get use to eating healthy as she wanted him around for many years to come.

19.2

Vincent Mortimer was awaken by the garbage trucks as they moved through the streets. He certainly did not have to worry about putting out garbage bags as he was again staying in some stranger's home. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and went over to his computer. He lifted the lid to the laptop and booted it up. Knowing it would take a couple minutes to be ready for use, he decided to go to the bathroom for a nice warm shower. The computer would be ready when he came back. He saw no reason to hurry; he might as well get ready for another day of planning the murder.

Mortimer had not gone to check on Fran Belding the previous night. He supposed he should have taken her something to eat but it really did not matter as she would be dead soon anyway. Why waste his hard-earned money on her? He could stop on the way to McDonald's and pick up some breakfast. In the meantime, he could take a shower to bring him fully awake.

Vincent had to make plans today on how he would kill Ironside's favorite nurse who happened to be a nun as well.

Stepping into the shower, he allowed the water to beat down on his face and then the rest of his body. Its warmth helped to ease his aching muscles.

He thought about the one-word clue he sent Ironside. He could not help but chuckle at the thought of him and his staff panicking over not receiving the other two clues to the upcoming murder. Ironside was smart but he would never even think that the one-word clue represented all three clues. He was confident that the crippled detective would spend all his time trying to figure out the who and not worry about the where and when. For if he knew the who, he would simply assign police officers to protect her. What Vincent enjoyed the most was Ironside would not know which one of the three the clue was for. There would be that doubt in his mind that if he assumed it represented the who, someone would be killed at the where and the when. Only the murder actually happening could excite him more. This time the hacker was all but certain of the kill.

He stepped out of the shower, dried himself with a towel and reached for the bathrobe he had found on a hook on the back of the door. Now that he was fully awake from his shower, he would go check his laptop to make sure Ironside was behaving himself. He would then get out of this house. Being a hacker had its advantages. He had hacked into the Post Office computer to check for addresses that had halted mail delivery because of vacations or business trips. Moving around daily would make it harder for the police to find him. Not that he was really worried about it as Ironside simply had no way of locating him since he could not trace his movements.

Vincent opened the closet and removed clothes to put on. The man that lived in the house was slightly bigger than he but he could make due with his wardrobe. He grabbed enough clothes to last him for two or three days just in case the next house belonged to a woman. He certainly could not wear a woman's clothes without drawing attention to himself! He picked up the duffel bag he had placed on the bed and stuffed the clothes inside.

Satisfied he was now ready for the day's activities, Mortimer walked over to the table where his computer was waiting for him to check on Ironside.

19.3

The former chief of detectives opened his eyes. He reached out for Katherine, only to discover her side of the bed was empty. Ironside grabbed for his wheelchair, pulled it to the side of the bed and transferred into it. He wheeled to the chair where his clothes had been placed, collected them and headed into the bathroom.

Katherine was busy in the kitchen setting the breakfast table. She removed one of the kitchen chairs to make way for Robert's wheelchair. Breakfast was just about ready. She would have to wake him now if she was to give him enough time to dress and join her at the table.

When Katherine turned around to return to the bedroom, Robert Ironside wheeled into the kitchen. "Robert, I was just coming to wake you. Did you sleep well?" She smiled at him.

"Like a baby!" He grinned back at Katherine and wheeled directly to her. She bent down while he placed a hand behind her neck, pulling her into a passionate kiss. When they parted, he looked into her eyes and repeated the kiss once again. Katherine smiled and ran her index finger down the side of his jaw. "You better sit down to breakfast or you will not have time to eat it."

"I am sure it will be delicious but it could never top last night." He took her hand and kissed it.

"In that case, you will have to come back and stay the night again," she offered.

"You can count on it," he responded by kissing her hand again and then wheeling his chair to the table.

Katherine put breakfast on and sat down beside him.

19.4

Ed and Eve entered the office at the same time. He looked around, noticing that the office was missing the boss. "Where's the chief?" he asked as he poured a cup of coffee before walking over to his co-workers and sitting down.

"He's at Katherine's," Mark replied.

Eve and Ed looked at each other and smiled. Nothing further was said on the subject.

"Has Colin Mullen called regarding the trace yet?" Eve inquired.

"Not yet," Mark responded.

Ed got up and walked over to the chief's computer. Checking his email, he saw one from Sister Agatha. He did not need to read it to know what the contents of it said. The trap had been set. Now they just had to wait and see if Mortimer took the bait.

The phone rang. Eve, being the closest to it, reached for it and said, "Maybe it's the chief." She picked it up and greeted the caller, "Chief Ironside's office."

"Eve, it's Colin," the voice said excitedly. Mortimer has not logged into his computer. The trace has gone through. We know where he is!"

Eve picked up a pen and pad from the table and said, "Give me the address, Colin." She wrote it down and thanked him before hanging up. "The trace went through."

"Let's go," Ed ordered. "We'll call the chief on the way." The three of them raced for the door.

19.5

Ironside and Katherine had finished breakfast. As he reached her front door, he stopped and looked up at her. "I really enjoyed being with you."

She smiled at him and said, "Me too. I look forward to the next time."

Ironside's cell phone rang in his pocket. He reached in, removed it and checked to see who was calling. When he saw that it was Sergeant Brown, he answered it immediately. "Yes, Ed."

"Chief, Mortimer has not checked his computer. The trace went through." He gave Ironside the address. "We are on our way there now."

"I'll meet you there," the chief told him. "Call in all available units. I want the place surrounded. And Ed, I want him alive."

"Yes, sir," Ed said and then hung up the phone.

19.6

Vincent Mortimer finished stuffing the last of the clothes in his bag and then went over to his laptop. He logged into Ironside's computer and the email account appeared on the screen. When he saw one from Sister Agatha, he opened it. He smiled when he saw that she had turned down a dinner invitation from Ironside to be out on the boat. It had been easier than he thought it would be to find out when she would be aboard. He made a mental note of the date and then switched to the main screen of Ironside's computer.

A warning screen came up and blocked the main screen. "The son of a bitch! He had me traced! You will pay for that, cop!" he shouted. He closed the lid of the laptop but opened it again when he realized they had traced him not to the house but to the laptop's location. As fast as he could, he broke the connection to Ironside's computer so that they could not continue to trace his laptop.

He once again closed the computer lid, grabbed his duffel bag and raced out the back door. He was glad that he had scouted out an escape route in case it would be needed. Mortimer headed for the manhole that was less than a quarter of a block away. Shoving the computer in the bag, he threw it over his shoulder, removed the manhole cover and started down into the sewer. He put the cover back in place and descended down into the darkness.

19.6

Police cars began arriving down the street from the house Mortimer had just vacated. Ironside pulled his van up next to Ed Brown's vehicle, got in the lift and lowered his wheelchair to the ground. He spotted Brown and headed right for him. Ed met him halfway.

"We have the house surrounded, Chief. He won't get away this time," Ed informed him.

Carl Reese joined them. "Our boys do not spot any movement, Chief."

"Ed, you and Carl go in after him. Carl, take a couple men with you. Enter the house from the front and back. Eve you go with Ed. Remember, I want him alive. Shoot him if you have to but don't kill him."

His officers nodded in acknowledgement and left him. Following his orders, Carl selected two men to go with them. It was decided that Carl would go in the front and Ed and Eve would enter by the back door. All of the officers headed down the street trying to stay out of sight when possible.

Carl took up a position near the front door and waited for Ed and Eve to go around to the back. Ed texted Carl to let him know when he and Eve were ready. Lieutenant Reese gave the go ahead to enter. Both front and back doors were kicked in and five officers entered the house with guns drawn. After a thorough search of the house, they found it empty.

Ed called the chief in the van. "Chief, we missed him. He's gone."

"Damn it!" Ironside cursed. "Ed, are there any manholes in the area?"

Ed looked at Carl who grumbled, "Not again."

"I don't know but we will find out." Brown and Whitfield headed out the way they had come in. Carl took his men and went back out the front checking the street in front of the house. Ed quickly came upon the manhole that Mortimer had disappeared into. Speaking into the police walkie-talkie, he said, "Chief, we found one about a quarter of a block down the street."

"That is where he went! Follow him!" Ironside ordered. "Carl, join Ed and back him up! Eve, stay on the surface in case he tries to double back."

After voicing a few curse words, Carl took off for the manhole Ed had discovered.

Ironside was on the police radio immediately after speaking to Brown and Reese. "This is Ironside. Vincent Mortimer has entered the sewer system." He gave his location and then ordered all manholes with in a two mile radius covered by police. Mortimer was to be captured the minute he reappeared on the surface.

Carl caught up with Ed. "How do we know which way he went?"

"We don't," Ed answered. "We can cover more ground if we split up. You go back that way," he said, pointing behind him, "and I'll continue this way."

Carl groaned but left Brown and headed deeper into the sewer. He could not believe this was happening again. Why couldn't this damn hacker stay on the surface of the streets like any other crook?

Impatiently, Ironside waited in the van for word from Carl or Ed. He turned to Mark and ordered, "Call headquarters and find out if Colin Mullen can trace him. If he is on the move then he is using a laptop computer."

"Wouldn't he have disconnected it from your computer the minute he discovered the trace?" Mark asked.

"We won't know until we check, will we?" Ironside snarled.

Mark called headquarters and asked for Mullen. After a short conversation, he turned to Ironside and informed him, "Colin says the connection has been terminated."

"Damn it!" Ironside roared again. He grabbed the police unit and called for Brown. When he got him on the line, he demanded, "Any sign of him, Ed?"

"Sorry, Chief, nothing. I just talked to Carl and he has not been able to find him either," Ed told him. "Eve said he has not doubled back.

"Keep searching," Ironside growled and cut the connection.

Nearly two hours later, not one officer had seen Mortimer come out of any of the manholes that were being covered. Frustrated, Ironside slammed his fist against the side of the van. "How did we lose him?"

After another hour, he called off the search.

When they arrived back at the office, Ironside went straight to his computer. There was a message on the screen. Vincent Mortimer had hacked into his computer while they were gone. This time Ironside did not need Colin Mullen to check it. He knew the connection had been broken the second Mortimer finished the message.

All bets are off now, Ironside. No more clues. I will pick the victims and you will read about it in the paper. That will be your punishment for attempting to trace me.

Ed, Eve, Carl and Mark joined him at the computer. "We have to stop him, Chief," Ed said.

"We will. He now knows when Sister Agatha will be on that boat. We will be ready for him," Ironside said. He wheeled back to the table and stared straight ahead. Just how did Mortimer know the sewers so well? He seemed to be able to slip down in them and disappear. "Ed, find out if the city's computer that contains the entire sewer system has been hacked into. If it has, the next time he goes down there, I want to know where he is headed."

"You got it, Chief" Ed answered.

"Carl, check the Post Office and find out how many houses have turned in requests for no mail delivery. I want to know the closest manhole to each of them."

"Yes, sir."

"Eve, you get a list of every manhole in the city."

"Okay, Chief." Eve headed for a phone

"And, Ed, Carl... take a shower. I don't know which one of you smells worse," Ironside said, crinkling up his nose.

19.7

Vincent Mortimer reached his destination. He had travel six miles past the house he had stayed at. He was tired and smelled of sewage but at least he had eluded Ironside. That thought made him smile. The smile left his face almost as soon as it had appeared. Ironside cheated and he cheated in a big way. He had ignored his warning about tracing him.

Vincent was mad at himself for not putting a warning sound on the computer to let him know if someone had placed a trace. It almost led Ironside straight to him. How could he be so careless? The truth was he had not expected Ironside to trace him. He honestly thought the man's ego was so big that he would depend on solving the clues to save the victims and hope to catch Vincent at the scene.

With Ironside tracing his computer, it showed just how desperate he had become. Vincent was beating him and he knew it. That one word clue had forced him to panic! Vincent laughed as he pushed the manhole cover up and over slightly. He peered out and did not see anyone in the street. He had picked a secluded area where another house was empty. This one he knew was a family of four and they were on vacation. Vincent did not care where, he only cared that they left the house empty.

He climbed out of the sewer, pushed the manhole cover back and headed for his next hideout. When he arrived, he looked around the house, found the bathroom and showered. He reached into his bag, pulled out clean clothes and threw the dirty ones in the family's hamper. He laughed at the thought of them arriving home in two weeks. That hamper would really reek. They would probably never get the smell out of it.

He went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, removed a beer and twisted off the cap. After taking a drink, Mortimer pulled out some lunch meat, cheese and mustard. He would make himself a sandwich.

He wondered just how much Ironside knew. Who had run the trace for him and had he been in his computer long enough to find out who he was? Vincent was not that far from where he was holding Belding. He decided she was not going to get any food until after dark. If Ironside knew who he was, then he would have put out an APB on him and every cop in the city would be trying to locate him. He would take food and check on Belding later. Maybe he would even kill her. What did he need her now for anyway? Her captivity certainly had not stopped Ironside from having him traced.

He went back to the bedroom and turned on the television before reclining on the bed. He would just relax the rest of the afternoon and when it was dark, he would go back, kill Fran Belding and send Ironside a message where to find the body.

TBC...