In both cases, the authorities had ruled out any connection to the first three Angry Jonny attacks.
Jessica didn’t have the time or emotional reserves to feel anything for the victims or their families. Too worn out to even chastise herself for her complete lack of empathy. Their deaths should have been the silver bullet. A pair of random sacrifices meant to free Dinah from the indifferent hands of the state.
And Jessica was growing more angry by the day.
Picking up her coffee, she marched outside and sat on the bench next to Casper. “OK, one more time?”
“Fifty more times if you like.” Casper took a sip of his Red Bull. “I’m just saying –”
“Just do your thing. Make me see it.”
Casper rubbed his hands and leaned back. “Second verse, same as the first. Dinah Titus left The Cardinal at an unknown hour with Eli Messner. She dropped him off at his home, changed into the clothes she had been wearing to work earlier. She drove to her apartment to get the chloroform, before driving to Trinity Park, where she entered through the back door –”
“The only footprints were Davenport’s, muddy tracks that led from his car to the front door, then from the front door to the back door. His shoes were found in the kitchen, right next to the back door.”
“No footprints,” Casper agreed. “Dinah then approached the victim, who was asleep on the couch, and covered his mouth and nose with a chloroformed rag.”
“No chloroform found in either her apartment, or her car.”
“Her ex-boyfriend, Carlton Walsh, whose address she used to redistrict you to Brookside High, works at the Center for Human Genetics at Pantheon. He says he keeps chloroform handy for putting injured animals to sleep – squirrels, rabbits. Says one time he even euthanized a deer someone had hit with their car. In an interview, he told the police that Dinah was very touched by this. She’d asked him for her own bottle so that she could also –”
“That was almost two years ago. The shelf life for chloroform is anywhere from six months to a year,” Jessica pointed out.
“For the safest use. For Dinah’s purposes, I doubt she had the safety of her victims in mind.”
“Where’s the evidence?”
“On Davenport’s couch, where skin samples were found with Dinah’s DNA.”
“I can testify, along with numerous witnesses, that Dinah had physical contact with Davenport just a few hours before he was attacked.”
“Which nobody at the scene reported until the next day, including you.”
Immaterial as that was, Jessica found herself glaring at the sky, looking for someone to blame for her own mistakes. “Davenport could’ve easily gotten some of her skin under his fingernails, wiped it off on the couch.”
“The police didn’t find any traces of DNA on Davenport’s person.”
“They found skin samples under his fingernails.”
“With no complete chromosomal chain to match the couch. It could be anybody’s skin.”
“Reasonable doubt?”
Casper shook his head. “Doubtful...”
“What about the DNA found on the third victim? The skin samples found on Dr. Lazenby’s clothes doesn’t match with Dinah’s.”
“The mystery DNA doesn’t match with anybody’s on record either… want to know how far the one-armed man defense will take you in court? Dinah’s not even being charged with that offense.”
“But if it can be proven that the same person was responsible for all three crimes, couldn’t that –”
“Exactly the opposite,” Casper interrupted. “The more all three crimes are related, the more likely that at some point, they’re going to pin those crimes on Dinah. They may never be able to prosecute, but if Dinah is found guilty, they could easily pin the other ones on her. Might never make it to court, but that don’t count for much.”
Jessica felt herself slipping under. “But she was drugged, she says she can’t remember and –”
“Can’t prove it, Jessica. You just can’t prove it. The police pulled over two business students who had just left The Cardinal. They were driving erratically, brought in on DUI. Their drug-screening tested positive for GHB, fine. Not too bad. It proves that someone was spiking drinks that evening, but Dinah didn’t get tested soon enough to catch it.”
Jessica wiped her palms on her sweatpants. “So it’s hopeless?”
“I told you from the beginning… This is going to see trial. It never wasn’t.” Casper turned in his seat, faced Jessica. “You’ve known it for a while now. Why don’t you just tell me what you were really hoping to find?”
“Shit!” Jessica stood up, took five livid steps into the parking lot. “Shit, shit!”
She scanned the cars, an abandoned restaurant across the street. Stared hopelessly at a family of four seated on a nearby wall, children sticky with red and purple popsicles. Traffic lights, gutters, she sent her eyes back to the skies, silently begging for information that simply wasn’t there.
“Jessica?”
With sneakers scraping against the ground, she returned to the bench.
Casper raised his eyebrows.
“I was looking for him,” Jessica admitted.
“I figured as much.”
“I wanted to see if I could figure out…” After so many dead ends, it sounded foolish. “I’ve been sitting. Night after night, writing in this red, college-ruled notebook. Every detail, every idea, every angle.”
“And the less success, the more you started banking on this. On proving Dinah’s innocence?”
Jessica nodded.
“There’s nothing in these reports that’s going to help…The cops stopped looking for Angry Jonny the second they figured Dinah was their man.”
“It was stupid of me to think I could.”
“You’re going to have to try harder.” Casper stood up. “I don’t know what you’ve written in that book of yours. You say every angle, every idea… how about every possible suspect?”
Jessica shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Every suspect?”
“Let this be my only warning. If you really want to know who’s behind all this, it’s going to take you some ugly places. Angry Jonny is someone who knows you. And if that’s the case, you need to take a good look at everyone you know.”
“So what’s the play? What’s my first step in that direction?”
“Don’t trust nobody...” Casper smiled, reached for his Red Bull and took a sip. “Right after you get your laundry and I give you a ride home. Starting then, of course.”
Jessica smiled unevenly.
Returned to her dryer. Watched the clothes tumble, zippers and buttons clattering against the steel interior. Hypnotic thoughts repeating Casper’s question over and over.
How about every possible suspect?
She opened the door, batted at socks trying to escape as the dryer came to a halt. Threw her clothes into the basket, and took one last look around. There were a few recognizable faces by the washers, force-feeding wrinkled bills into the change machine. She absently wondered if they were wise to the magic that came with Tuesdays at the Orion Laundromat. Without asking, there was no way to tell if any of them knew something the rest did not.
“Looks like I’m going to start coming here on Wednesdays,” Jessica said out loud.
She hoisted the basket and went to catch her ride home.
Chapter 41: In Through The Out Door.
Jessica had just finished sweeping up a family of dead wasps off the floor when Chaucer called.
“I’m outside. On my way to visit Dinah. You want to come with?”
“It’s the weekday, Chaucer. No visitors allowed.”
“I’m meeting her lawyer down there. Meter’s running, in or out?”
Two minutes later, Jessica was out the front door, greeted by the screech of power tools. Construction was moving along at a steady clip. Buildings M and J were littered with debris, the twisted remains of casement windows, and in some cases
, even the kitchen sink. The past two weeks had seen a mass exodus. Not a day gone by that didn’t find at least one U-Haul parked outside, as tenants trudged back and forth, ants dismantling their hill.
Chaucer reached across the passenger seat and opened the door for her. “Goddamn!” he yelled over the scream of a buzz saw. “Don’t this let up even for a minute?”
“Nope,” Jessica said, strapping herself in.
“How are you sleeping?”
“Like shit.”
“Not your most clever reply.” Chaucer swung out into the street. “Any more problems with management?”
“I’ve got a nest of wasps outside my goddamn window. Called the new maintenance guy twice, hasn’t stopped by once. If I were allergic, I swear I’d get my ass stung and risk dying to sue those assholes… What’s the score, Chaucer? Why are we going to see Dinah?”
“I’ve just been visiting with Dinah’s ex.”
“Carlton Walsh?”
“That’s the one… Guess what I managed to boost from his fridge?”
“Bottle of chloroform?”
Chaucer smiled. “I like a good gut, Jessica. Been growing one myself, but how did you know –”
“It was all in the police reports. Why are you so surprised?”
“Well, that’s not all… Seems like he’s got more to say than the police managed to get out of him.”
“Such as?”
“Such as Dinah went to visit him the same night Angry Jonny went to visit Jason Castle.”
“Say that again?”
“Claims she came over at around two-fifteen in the morning. She was upset about something, but Carlton wouldn’t say what it was. He says she stayed there until three in the morning.”
“And how does that help us?”
“If we can narrow down the time that Jason Castle’s home was broken into, it might give Dinah an alibi.”
“So what?” Jessica asked. “She ain’t on the hook for what happened to Castle.”
“Anything that can prove that she wasn’t involved in the other two assaults can only help us. If this goes to trial, and the defense can prove every Angry Jonny attack is the work of one person… it might help sway the jury.”
“I just spent two hours with Casper, told me that kind of information is useless. Who cares who visited Carlton before or after any of the attacks?”
“Even if it was Eli Messner?”
“You’ve got my attention.”
“I showed Carlton a picture of Eli, asked if he’d ever seen him. He said no at first, but I could tell he was dancing around the truth.”
“So what, you rough him up? Make him talk?”
“Got beaten to the punch on that one…” Chaucer slowed for a red light, came to a stop. “Forgive my wordplay. Carlton had bruises on his face, a mother of a cut on his nose. When I asked him again – and again, and again – if he had ever seen Eli, Carlton finally admitted that Eli had stopped by the day after Angry Jonny attacked Davenport…”
Jessica kept it to herself. Eli had basically moved in with her since the arraignment. He had slept in Dinah’s bed. He had made coffee for both of them, driven her to work. He had even helped with the added expenses that came with single income. The progression had been so natural, Jessica had almost forgotten to keep on her toes.
“What did Carlton have to say about Eli?” she asked.
“Touchy subject. Seems as though Eli has some kind of issue with the men in Dinah’s past. Carlton tried to keep it vague as he could, but let me tell you... whole time he was talking, that bruised face of his kept looking any which way but mine.”
“Here’s something else,” Jessica said flatly, putting an uneasy two and two together. “Carlton works at the Center for Human Genetics. Which is where Dr. Lazenby’s been working since leaving Generation Insurance. I didn’t think much about the connection because Carlton’s just a lab tech, and Lazenby’s a suit. There just wasn’t enough. But the center’s right around the corner from the stadium, where now we also have – ”
“Eli Messner. The police probably haven’t connected Eli or Carlton with Dr. Lazenby –”
“Because they don’t give a shit about anything other than getting Dinah thrown in prison.”
Chaucer nodded. “So I figure you might want in on what’s about to go down.”
“Green light.”
Chaucer took a right and began driving parallel with the railroad tracks.
Dinah had been moved to the Verona County Detention Center, just a couple of blocks away from the Police department. The seven-story building was a white, concrete horseshoe. Its flat, rectangular wings were connected at one end by a perfectly square building, something a child would throw together with a set of wooden blocks. A passing motorist might wonder why the majority of the windows were mere slits, lengthy dashes across each floor of the featureless exterior. But prison would probably rank towards the bottom of any word association. Its immediate proximity to the ball park, performing arts center, and newly renovated offices only served to cloak its true purpose. Hidden in plain sight.
They parked around the corner and walked up to the front gate.
The cult of Angry Jonny had staked their signs of solidarity all along the grass strip by the sidewalk.
Jessica and Chaucer signed in at the gate and received two visitors passes. The lobby was painted several hues of soothing greens. Another checkpoint led to another security station, and another sign-in sheet.
“We’re here to see Dinah Titus,” Chaucer informed the guard. “Her lawyer said he’d be meeting us down here. His name –”
“Uh… The guard shook his head. “Dinah Titus?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Says here she’s being released.”
Chaucer and Jessica exchanged a look. So accustomed to setbacks that they weren’t sure how to respond.
“Being released?” Jessica asked.
The guard gave his thick neck a couple of scratches. “That’s right. Orders came straight from the DA.”
“Released.”
“If you’d like to sit and wait.” He pointed with his pen to a metal bench welded to the floor. “She ought to be coming through here soon enough.”
Jessica sleepwalked her way to the bench and sat down with her hands folded obediently in her lap. Chaucer joined her. All set to speak, when Jessica cut him off:
“Let’s not jinx this.”
“Right, right.”
Five minutes passed.
Ten minutes.
At twenty, a buzzer sounded above the metal door to the left of the security desk.
And there was Dinah, fully processed. Orange jumpsuit replaced with her work digs, as though she’d just wrapped a particularly long shift at the prison bar. In her arms were the socks and underwear Jessica had brought her the day after her arraignment.
The spell was broken.
Jessica ran across the room and hurled herself against Dinah. The two of them lurched back a few steps, undergarments falling to the ground as they embraced. Rocked back and forth in the frigid air.
“What the hell, Blondie?” Jessica mumbled against her neck. “I got to find out from the security guard?”
“Only found out around an hour ago.” Dinah pulled back, took a good look at her niece. “Figured you must have pulled off some kind of miracle.”
“Didn’t pull off dick… It’s been one long nightmare on the outside.”
“Inside’s not much different.” Dinah sniffed, bent down to collect her clothes. “What I really need right now is a drink.”
“Whatever you want. Beer, wine. A pint of gin for Miss Dinah Titus.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Chaucer stayed several steps behind as they walked outside. The guard opened the gate for them. Dinah stretched her neck out like a turtle, pale face grinning at the sunshine. Took the threshold in one large, exaggerated stride, and stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Wha
t the hell’s all this?” she asked, motioning to the signs.
“Hallmark’s new line of Angry Jonny cards.”
Chaucer placed a hand on Jessica’s shoulder.
Jessica turned to follow his somber gaze back towards the prison.
Leaning against the wall were Detectives Randal and Donahue.
“What are you two doing here?” Jessica asked.
Randal approached Dinah and gently relieved her of the clothes she was carrying.
Donahue followed suit, removing the handcuffs from his belt.
“What’s going on?” Jessica asked, instinctively blocking his path.
“I’m sorry, Jessica.” Donahue removed the cuffs from his belt. “Clarence Davenport died in the hospital this morning… I’m going to need you to step aside, please.”
Chaucer took Jessica by the shoulders, gently moved her into a slow retreat.
Her sneakers dragged against the ground, knees ready to buckle.
Donahue brought Dina’s arms around back, cuffed her. “Dinah Titus, you are under arrest for the murder Clarence Davenport. You have the right to remain silent. If you choose to waive this right –”
Randal handed Jessica the pile of clothes. “We’re going to have to take Dinah back to the station, book her all over again. Murder charge doesn’t come with bail, but as soon as we process her, you can go and visit. We’ll let you know about the arraignment as soon as we can.”
Jessica could see his lips moving, slight signs of life behind the police-issued sunglasses. Words distorted. She caught sight of Dinah’s face before it disappeared into the back of a blue Chevy parked down the block. Eyes robbed of light, no fight left. One minute of freedom now replaced with the prospect of life in prison.
They hit a wrinkle in time, and Randal was stepping into the driver’s side.
Jessica took a few wounded steps forward, straining to catch one more glimpse of her aunt.
The tinted windows calmly informed her that there was nothing left to see as the car sped away.
Chapter 42: Liar’s Poker.
Jessica had a plan: Eli would walk in and find her sitting at the living room table. Lights low. A hefty pour of Jack Daniel’s waiting for him. Jessica would gently kick back one of the chairs out from under the table. Motion for him to sit. Give him the eye, let him sweat it out. Tick-tock, then asking him what he had been doing at Carlton Walsh’s house the day after Davenport had been found bound and mutilated.