Читать книгу The Michelangelo Murders - Aubrey Smith - Страница 6

Shelby’s heart almost jumped out of his chest when Salinas said the call was for him. His hands started to perspire and a horrible sense of doom rattled his body. He prayed it wasn’t Michelangelo. It took all the willpower he could muster to walk over and pick up the receiver that hung like a death noose. He was sure everyone in the room was staring at him, but when he glanced around they were all listening to Dr. Salinas, who was saying something about an EMI by the neurophysiology department to check for brain stem-evoked response.

The phone receiver felt cold in Shelby’s hand. Slowly, he lifted it to his ear. He held his breath. “Shelby,” he said.

“Captain, I just saw the news conference and you did well,” the voice said. Shelby sagged with relief as he realized it was the chief and not Michelangelo.

“Assistant Chief Davenport is sitting here in my office with the mayor and has briefed us on the situation. I’m calling to let you know we have decided that until this deranged psychopath is apprehended, you are relieved from all of your other assignments and you will head up the investigation. I’ll arrange for you to have whatever you need. We’ve got to stop this madman before this situation gets any further out of hand, understand? Do whatever it takes.”

“Yes, sir. Right now I think the only change I’ll need to make is to transfer Esquivel from the night shift. Give us a couple of days to run background investigations on the victims. That should provide us something to tie this together. I’m sure there’s a connection and I doubt it’s very well hidden.”

“All right, Captain, it’s done,” the chief said. “Now, I want you to be sure to work with that woman doctor from Atlanta and the security chief from NASA. What’s his name? Audi Duke? I’ve already had a call from our senator in Washington. He’s very interested in what’s going on here. Senator Mitchell is very involved in the space programs. They’re even going to name a shuttle mission after him. This investigation is important and I want it handled right. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir, very clear.” Shelby hung up the phone, a little ticked at the chief’s last remark. He realized he would now have to coddle two non-police personnel, and he thought, I really don’t have time for them now. He usually liked the chief, a man who had worked his way through the ranks to become chief of police of the fourth largest city in the country. Shelby knew becoming chief was something to be proud of. He also knew the chief was being touted as the next director of the FBI.

Shelby got himself a cup of coffee and returned to the table where everyone was now listening to Kendrick. He wondered what kind of doctor she was and thought he’d have to ask her sometime.

She was asking, “Dr. Salinas, do you expect any of these men to recover?”

“I just don’t know. It seems that somehow the virus has caused the brain’s network to fire signals to the wrong neurons. In a normal situation, the brain’s neurons send signals along a predetermined route. In a word, they telegraph the next neuron down the line. The neurons always talk along the same route to the same neuron. This brain virus has caused the normal paths to be blocked and now the neurons have their wires crossed and are firing signals to the wrong neuron. That has caused the brain to be confused and short-circuited the network. Does that make sense?”

Everyone nodded and seemed to understand. “Dr. Salinas, is there any way that any of these people can communicate with us?” Shelby asked.

“I doubt it. No, I’m sure that’s impossible for now. But, to be honest, we don’t have any idea what tomorrow may hold. I’d guess that in a day or two, all of the HBV patients will die. Even if one should linger, I don’t think he will regain consciousness. They’re dead now in almost every clinical respect.”

“Except that they’re alive,” Kendrick said.

Salinas looked at her thoughtfully, then continued. “Yes, that’s true, Dr. Kendrick. But, as you know, the brain stem regulates the heart and all life-support systems. Now these men somehow have a super-active stem. How long this will continue, I don’t know. Nobody does. Any improvement would be painfully slow.”

“Yes, Doctor, but we’ve seen improvement in patients ten years after injury.” Kendrick was leaning forward into Salinas’s face and he shifted nervously and moved back. She looked up and to her left as if she were thinking, then said, “I think you’ve done everything exactly right. You cooled the brain, you followed every known procedure. It just bewilders me why the left side of the brain seems completely dead and the right side shows all that activity. Of course, if Captain Shelby is right and they are injected over the phone, that would explain the transmission through the right ear. Most people are right-handed, so they hold the phone in their right hand to their right ear, unless they are writing. The right ear connects to the left-brain quadrant. Why not? That’s as good an explanation as we can come up with here at the hospital.”

Shelby was self-conscious that everyone had turned to him. Dr. Kendrick, you’re beautiful. “I know it sounds too weird to be true,” he said, “but I think that’s exactly what has happened. I don’t know how or why, but I really believe we’ve got a crazy man, a mad scientist, who somehow has the ability to scramble a human brain, and I think he does it over the phone.”

“You mean reach out and touch someone? This is your brain on long distance?” It was the first time Shelby had heard Duke say a word and he did not like what he heard. “Captain, I don’t mean to be sarcastic but, come on, there’s no way someone can infect people with a deadly virus over the phone. I think you and I should leave the medical diagnosis to the doctors.”

Shelby looked into Duke’s cold black eyes, eyes that shone with confidence and defiance. He did not like to be belittled and didn’t hesitate with his response. “Mr. Duke, maybe you’re out of your league in this investigation. Maybe you should leave this to the police department.”

“Captain, I am a professional. Twenty years with the FBI and now I’m chief over a nine-hundred-man security department. How many men do you oversee, Captain?”

“Hold on, gentlemen,” said Kendrick. “We’re getting off to a bad start here and it’s not necessary. We each have our own expertise and that’s why we’re part of this team, to find out who or what is causing this Human Brain Virus to attack. Now let’s get on with it.”

The next two hours were spent going over every detail each investigator could provide. Salinas explained the medical situation at the hospital and gave a dim prognosis as to any recovery of the victims. Duke went over the phone system at the Johnson Space Center and said he was looking into any connections between the six men. “So far, I’ve found none.”

Kendrick discussed what she felt they should look for. “Water contamination, food bacteria, or an air-transmitted virus. Electrical and digital viruses are out of my league,” she said. “We’re looking for classic food toxins. Right now we’re running every test known to man on their blood samples. If that doesn’t pay off, then we’ll look at standard poisons such as arsenic and cyanide, followed by household poisons and medical poisons. Drugs of some kind could cause this, as well as industrial pollutants. Way down on my list are fungi and poisonous plants, but who knows? Mr. Duke, could you provide me a list of any pesticides that are being used at the Space Center?”

Duke nodded and wrote in his notebook. He didn’t look up as Shelby started with his part of the briefing. Quickly Shelby went over his findings about computer viruses and spoke in detail about the call. “Maybe it’s only a joke of some kind, but I’m afraid it’s the real thing.” He closed by telling them that the chief and Senator Mitchell were very interested it the case and that he had been assured the investigation had top priority at the department.

No one said anything for a few seconds, then Salinas gave a tired grunt and stood. “I’ve still got rounds to make and a class to teach tonight,” he said. “Let’s meet tomorrow in the main conference room about noon. Is that okay with everyone?”

“Agreed, noon tomorrow.” Shelby was first out the door. He had made the first turn on his way to the parking lot when he heard a voice behind him. “Captain Shelby, do you have a minute?”

By now he knew the voice. It was Kendrick. “Captain, I’ve got a couple of questions I’d like to ask you. Can I buy you supper? We can let Atlanta pay for it and, to tell you the truth, I hate to eat alone.”

“Sure, I know a nice place where we can get some decent food,” Shelby said with a strange sensation of embarrassment. Although it had been six years since his wife Mary died, he felt guilty about a dinner date with Dr. Kendrick.

“I knew you’d know a good place. In my travels for the Center, I’ve found that policemen and truckers always know the very best places to get food. Policemen know where the food’s good and free. Why is that?”

“They teach us that in the academy. Sack dragging 101.”

They both laughed as they left the hospital. Shelby opened the door for Kendrick and quickly walked around to the driver’s side. She had the door unlocked for him and he got in, started the car, and drove to the street before asking, “Texan, Mexican, or Chinese?”

“In Georgia we’re plenty proud of our barbecued pork. I hear you all think barbecue beef is the better way to go. Think we can find a place that serves up spare ribs and cold beer?”

She’s beautiful, bold, and brilliant. A dangerous combination, Shelby thought. “Yes ma’am, I think I know just the place. The County Line’s got great ribs.” They turned west on Holcombe and then right onto Main. Soon they left the medical complexes and passed Rice University on their left, then Hermann Park with its woodland beauty loomed to their right.

As the Crown Vic weaved in and out of heavy traffic, Shelby became aware that someone was following them. He slowed and they slowed. He sped up and they sped up. He turned onto Montrose and the car lights followed about two blocks behind them. Keeping a careful eye on the car in the rearview mirror, he told Kendrick, “We’re being followed.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. He’s been on our tail since we left the hospital. I’m going to call for a marked unit to make a stop on him. Then maybe we’ll be one large step closer to solving this mystery.”

Another turn onto Richmond, then he called, “One-oh-three, any unit in the vicinity of Richmond and Montrose, respond for officer assistance.”

“Ten-Henry-seventy, I’m on Bissonnet. Go ahead.”

“Ten-Henry-seventy, I’ve got a tail, blue or black Lincoln. We’re just passing St. Thomas University, westbound. Request that you stop and detain vehicle and its occupants until I can get back and ID the subjects, copy?”

Ten-Henry-seventy was clear. “I’m about ten blocks from your location at this time. Should be in position in two or three minutes.”

Suddenly the dark car turned off and disappeared on a cross street. “He’s monitoring the channel,” Shelby mumbled to Kendrick. “Who can do that?”

“How do you know he’s monitoring your radio?”

“As soon as we started talking about him, he turned off. Yeah, he’s on the channel.”

The radio broke, “One-oh-three, I’ve lost him. Did you see which way he went?”

Shelby pulled over to the curb and waited for the blue-and-white unit to pull beside him. Then he hollered out the window, “Look, the guy’s got a scanner. Drop off a few blocks and see if he comes back. If not, just let it go. Keep a watch on the parallel street to our right, Colquitt. He might be smart and follow us from one street over. I don’t know who or what the deal is, so be very careful if you make a stop.”

Shelby pulled away from the curb and continued west. The blocks slipped by and no car. At Buffalo Speedway, Ten-Henry-seventy turned left, back to Bissonnet, and was gone. They were alone. Against who or what, Shelby had no idea, but he was sure they hadn’t seen the last of the dark car. He took the Glock 9mm from its warm hideaway under his left armpit and laid it on the seat next to him. Just in case.

They didn’t talk much for the next several minutes. Shelby watched the mirror and Kendrick turned to watch each intersection. When they parked at The County Line, Shelby said, “I think maybe we lost him. I’m not going to check out over the radio, but I’ve got a pager so they can get me if I’m needed. I’ll give the office a call from the restaurant.”

Once inside they both seemed to relax. She’s really very nice, he thought. After Shelby called his office and they ordered, he said, “This was one of my wife’s favorite places to eat. Mary loved barbecue.”

“Are you divorced?”

“No. She died a little over six years ago. Died of breast cancer. We went to Milby High School together and married two years after we graduated. She was my first love. Actually, my only love. We started going steady when we were freshmen and she’s really the only girl I ever dated. Well, almost. We had a fight our senior year. We broke up for a week or so. I asked another girl to a basketball game just to make Mary mad.”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah, I guess. We were going steady again the next day.”

“It’s obvious she meant a lot to you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over her dying. There’s been a real void in my life since she died. I haven’t dated much at all. I’ve kind of become a recluse.”

Heather Kendrick was the first woman Shelby had felt comfortable around and to talk with since Mary had died. As they ate and talked, he learned that she had been married but divorced three years earlier.

“I thought I’d found the perfect life,” she said. “A match made in heaven that turned into a living nightmare when Shawn, that’s my ex-husband, got hooked on drugs. I met him in medical school and everything was wonderful until he…I’m sure you’ve seen a million junkies.

“I tried everything to help him, but he only got worse. Violent. When he broke my nose and cracked my jaw, I left and haven’t looked back. He’s in a federal drug rehab treatment center in Kansas. Got caught forging prescriptions to keep his habit alive. I feel sorry for him, but any love I had for him died three years ago.”

“You were both doctors?” Shelby asked.

“Both doctors. I completed my medical residency in New Orleans and was immediately hired by the Disease Control Center in Atlanta. It’s a good job and a chance for me to do what I enjoy best about medicine, investigation and research.”

“What’s that?” Shelby asked.

“A chance to discover the root causes for so many illnesses that are spread by contaminated food, water, and careless people. I know that may not seem like much, but early in medical school, I found that I was not cut out to poke and probe around in people. Even though I tried to force myself, I was miserable until finally I accepted the fact that I would never practice medicine as I’d planned. My dreams of being a family doctor in the rural south were over. I just didn’t have what it took.

“For a while I even thought about dropping out of medical school and becoming a lawyer, but then I met Shawn. He was a first-year resident and the most handsome man I’d ever met. Gosh, he was funny, witty, and, as he so often said, he was going to be ‘the best surgeon in the whole world’.” Kendrick looked down at her plate, thinking. When she looked back up, she was smiling. “Suddenly, I was in love and determined to be the second-best surgeon in the whole world. All of that was before he decided he needed a little pick-me-up from time to time, and way before he became a mainline junkie.”

She went on to tell him that even though they had been married for two years, Shawn had encouraged her to take the job in Atlanta. “He said it would only be for a while and if necessary, he’d move his practice to Atlanta. ‘After all, they’ve got operating rooms in Atlanta,’ he’d said. He promised he’d fly down every other weekend. Said it would be like we were still on our honeymoon every two weeks.

“I was apprehensive, but Shawn made it sound so good, and it was something I really wanted to do. I noticed Shawn had become moody, but still I had no idea that he was already hooked on drugs, and I certainly didn’t know about Tommy. He was Shawn’s homosexual lover.”

“He had a male lover?”

“It was thirteen months after I’d taken the job in Atlanta when my little playhouse caved in. My whole world came tumbling down. I knew something was wrong even before that horrible day in July when Shawn called me. He’d already stopped coming every other weekend and usually discouraged me when I told him I’d catch a plane to New Orleans to be with him.

“I can hear him now. ‘Maybe you ought to get yourself tested for AIDS,’ he told me callously that July fourth. I was confused and kept asking him why. That was when he told me that his friend Tommy had AIDS. He said he was going to be tested the next day and that I should also.

“I was such a fool. It took awhile for me to finally understand what he was telling me. When he said, ‘Heather, you need to understand, Tommy and I are lovers,’ I thought I’d die. I couldn’t breathe. I just collapsed right there on the kitchen floor.”

Shelby watched in silence as a tear rolled down the side of Heather’s face. She took a deep breath and continued. “The next day I flew to New Orleans to confront Shawn. That was when he almost beat me to death. I can tell you the next few months were the worst of my life. The HIV tests, the divorce, and then Shawn’s arrest for forging prescriptions to get his and Tommy’s narcotics.”

She told Shelby that she had thought she wasn’t going to make it. “But somehow I did. Thank God, neither Shawn nor I had the HIV virus,” she said. “I heard Tommy died two years ago and Shawn’s in a rehab center for drug dependency treatment.”

Abruptly, Kendrick changed the subject and for the next two hours, they talked about everything but Shawn. They ate and they laughed. Finally, Shelby pushed his plate away and said, “These ribs look like buzzards have had a picnic. We’ve polished the bones.” He was in a wonderful mood. Stuffed with barbecue and being with someone he enjoyed, he had almost forgotten about the dark Lincoln.

Outside, Shelby peered into the night, watching the shadows as they walked to the car. Nothing, maybe I was wrong about that Lincoln. The moon had risen and cast a bright yellow glow over the parking lot as he unlocked the car door and opened it for Kendrick. Most enjoyable meal I’ve had in years.

The radio was alive with radio traffic. “We’ve got a patrolman shot. Get an EMS unit and hurry!”

“What’s his condition?” the dispatcher asked.

“Shot in the head. He’s still sitting in his patrol unit. I think he’s dead.”

“EMS and a sergeant’s on the way.”

“He’s dead. No pulse.”

“His unit?”

“I was just driving by and saw his overhead flashers going and stopped to see what was the matter. It’s Ten-Henry-seventy.”

Shelby felt real terror race through every nerve in his body and then there was anger and sorrow. He locked the door from the inside and drove away, his eyes on the rearview mirror.

Kendrick was silent. He knew she heard and understood what was happening. He waited for her to say something and then he saw it…they were being followed again.