Ghost of a Chance

14 The List

It was almost nine when Alex managed to drag himself out of bed the next morning. He usually had trouble waking up, but today it felt like his eyelids had been glued shut and he had that same cotton feeling in his mouth as last night. A suspicious man would have suspected that the good Doctor had put something other than medicine in that urine-colored cocktail.

Alex was a very suspicious man.

He hoped Iggy had the coffee pot still on the stove but was disappointed when he finally managed to get dressed and down to the kitchen. The only thing waiting for him was a handwritten note from his mentor saying that he was going out to the museum to get a line on the strange pictogram runes.

The Lunch Box didn’t open till noon, so Alex rode the crawler all the way to his office before stopping by the lunch counter of the five and dime across the street. Four cups of black coffee later, he climbed the stairs up to his office.

“There you are,” Leslie said, looking exasperated. “I’ve been calling your place for half an hour.”

Alex looked her up and down for any sign of something amiss, but found none.

“Having a lodger seems to disagree with you,” he observed.

“Hannah was a delight,” Leslie said, giving him a stern look. “This, however,” she said, picking up her copy of the morning paper and dropping it on her desk so Alex could see the front page. “This is a problem.”

So Called Ghost Killer Claims Another Victim, the headline screamed. Alex perused the article but there were precious few details, other than the victim’s name, Paul Lundstrom.

“I take it Mr. Lundstrom is on your list?” Alex asked, putting the paper back on the desk.

Leslie nodded and handed Alex a folded piece of paper. He opened it and found a neatly-written list of about thirty names. Four had been crossed off — the names of the ghost’s previous victims. As Alex read down the list, he found the name Paul Lundstrom.

“This is it,” he said, slapping the paper with the back of his hand. “This is the connection the Police have been looking for.”

Leslie grinned at him.

“And we found it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alex said. “Or at least it won’t matter to the cops. I’ll be lucky if they don’t throw me in the cooler, but he’s got to see this.”

Leslie looked shocked.

“They wouldn’t arrest you after we did all the work for them?”

“Oh, wouldn’t they,” Alex laughed. “I bet Detweiler would arrest me if I brought in the ghost himself, wearing handcuffs with a signed confession.”

“I’m thinking you should give this to Callahan,” Leslie said. “Oh, and if you’re going to get thrown in the slammer, I’m going to need bail money.”

Alex pulled the money Barton had given him out of his pocket and handed it over. He was tempted to keep back the twenty that Anne Watson had paid him, but with a sigh he passed that over as well. He had no idea how much the train had cost Leslie to the Hamptons, though he was relatively sure he didn’t need to reimburse her for dinner.

“Wow,” Leslie said as he piled bills in her hand. “I need to go out of town more often. That’s quite a haul.”

Alex explained about the Lightning Lord’s missing motor and Anne Watson’s insisting that he find her husband’s killer. Leslie listened as she logged the cash into the strongbox, then reimbursed herself for the trip. Before she finished, Alex took two bucks and the loose change out of the box.

“I’ve got a lot of running around to do today,” he explained, tucking the money into his pocket.

“That’s enough to get my landlord off my back,” Leslie said, locking the box and putting it back into the desk’s bottom drawer. She smiled wistfully. “Just not enough for cigarettes.”

Alex sighed and took the pack he’d bought yesterday out of his pocket. He dumped about half of them out onto his hand and passed them over.

“Thanks, kid,” Leslie said, dropping the cigarettes and the cash into her purse. “You’re a doll.”

“Remember that if you have to bail me out later,” he said. He tucked the list Leslie had given him in his shirt pocket, brushing against the flask. Remembering that he hadn’t yet had any this morning, he checked his hands. They weren’t trembling badly, but they were trembling.

He swore under his breath and took a swig from the flask. Grimacing, he agreed with Dr. Kellin’s assessment from the night before — she hadn’t improved the taste.

Replacing the flask, he checked his hands, but nothing seemed to have changed. He knew that alchemical concoctions took time to work, but it was human nature to look anyway.

Pushing his shaking hands from his mind, he checked his rune book. It looked like all of his runes were there, as well as the note Anne Watson had written him, giving him permission to go through her husband’s records.

Alex felt guilty for not remembering his promise to Anne, but Leroy and the people on the ghost’s hit list were literally on borrowed time.

“All right,” he said, putting on his hat. “I’m off to get arrested. Hold down the fort till I get back.”

“I hate to bring this up,” Leslie said in a voice that clearly indicated that she didn’t mind bringing it up at all. “But what are you going to do to find Hannah’s husband?”

Alex paused, then shook his head.

“I’m up against a wall with that,” he admitted. “I still don’t know what the people who took Leroy want with him. If I can figure that out, I can find him, but right now I’ve got nothing.”

“Well, think about it while you’re on your way to the police station,” she said, giving him a supportive smile. “And try not to get shot today,” Leslie called as he stepped out into the hall.

Good advice.

A gaggle of reporters, all clamoring for information on the ghost, clogged the cavernous lobby of the Central Office of Police. Alex used the commotion to get to the elevators without anyone paying particular attention to him.

Lieutenant Callahan’s office was to the right off the elevator and then down a hall that ran along set of offices. Alex had never been to Detweiler’s office, and he hoped he wouldn’t pass it on his way.

Callahan’s office was a glassed-in room with file cabinets along one side, a couch at the back, and two chairs sitting in front of a squat, plain desk. Piles of folders and loose papers covered the desk along with a new model telephone with both the speaker and the receiver in one handset. A stained coffee cup sat atop a stack of papers and brown rings revealed that this was the cup’s usual spot. The only thing missing from a quintessential policeman’s office was the man himself.

Alex considered venturing out into the bullpen to look for Danny, but he didn’t want to run the risk of encountering any of Detweiler’s people before he had a chance to talk to Callahan.

The couch in Callahan’s office was up against the hall-side window, so Alex laid down on it to wait. This made it impossible for anyone to see him from the hall.

“What are you doing in my office, Lockerby?” Callahan’s voice startled him. “You know that if the Captain sees you in here, he’ll have me lock you up on an obstruction charge.”

Alex hadn’t intended to doze, but he must have, since he didn’t hear the big Lieutenant come in. He made a mental note to speak to Jessica about the power of her mentor’s sleeping draughts.

“Lieutenant,” he said, sitting up on the couch. “I was beginning to wonder if anybody worked around here?”

“Funny,” Callahan said, dropping into the chair behind his desk. “I’m not surprised you managed to get up here,” he said, shuffling papers around on his desk until he found what he was looking for. “You always manage to turn up in the damnedest places.”

Alex grinned at him and moved from the couch to one of the two chairs in front of the big man’s desk.

“You say the sweetest things, Lieutenant,” he said.

Alex hadn’t noticed it before, but up close, Callahan’s face was drawn and his eyes were bloodshot. Apparently Alex wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been sleeping well.

Till now, he reminded himself.

“Cute,” Callahan said, closing the folder he’d been looking through. “We’ll see how cute you are when Detweiler catches you skulking around. Word has it he’s offered a bounty for anything he can use to lock you up.”

“You know me, Lieutenant,” Alex said, dropping the folded-up list of names on his desk. “I love to make an impression.”

Callahan rolled his eyes as he reached for the paper.

“The only impression around here is going to Detweiler’s size nines on your butt. What’s this?”

“That’s a list of people the ghost has targeted for death.”

Callahan raised an eyebrow and perused the list.

“Okay,” he said, dropping it on his desk. “What makes you think the ghost is after these people?”

“Seth Kowalski,” Alex said.

“The first victim, so?”

“He was the County Assessor for Suffolk County from eighteen-ninety-seven through aught-nine.”

Callahan picked up the paper again and held it up.

“And that relates to these people how?”

“Everybody on that list worked for Kowalski when he ran the Assessor’s office.”

Callahan looked the list over again.

“Where did you get this?” he asked. “You sure it’s legit?”

“I got it from the current Assessor out in Suffolk County,” Alex said. “Name’s Randall Walker. He can confirm it.”

Callahan stared at the list for a long time before speaking.

“This could be a coincidence,” he said, clearly playing devil’s advocate.

Alex didn’t think for a minute that someone as sharp as Callahan believed in coincidence. He shrugged and decided to play along.

“Maybe it is,” he said. “But if I didn’t give this list to you and someone on there got bumped off, I could be up for a complicity charge. And if I gave the list to you, and you didn’t do anything and someone on that list got killed…”

“Yeah,” Callahan said after a long minute. “Remember that explanation. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

He picked up the phone on his desk.

“Tell Detweiler I want to see him,” he growled into it.

Alex sat back in the chair, crossing his legs and lighting a cigarette. He knew he’d just delivered information that might make Detweiler’s career, but he didn’t put it past the Lieutenant to have him arrested just for spite. He took a long drag on the cigarette to calm his nerves.

The door opened behind Alex and he turned. Detweiler in his rumpled jacket stood in the doorway, the stump of a cigar clutched in his teeth. He looked like an unmade bed, with hair flying wildly and bloodshot eyes. The ghost case was clearly running him ragged.

“What is it, Callahan?” he said. “Some of us have work to…” He stopped short when he caught sight of Alex and his tired face turned red. “I thought I told you I’d arrest you if I caught you up here,” Detweiler sneered, reaching for his cuffs.

“Sit down, James,” Callahan growled.

Detweiler looked like he was about to tell Callahan exactly where to put that remark, but as he looked up at his counterpart, something made him stop.

“All right, Callahan,” he said in an easy voice. “I’ll give you one minute to convince me why I shouldn’t run in your boy here and report you to the Captain.”

“Take a look at this,” Callahan said, handing the list of names over.

“Where’d you get this?” he asked after looking it over.

“From Randall Walker,” Alex explained. “He’s the Assessor for Suffolk County.”

“And he knew all four victims?” Detweiler said. “Is he connected to these other people?”

“No,” Callahan said. “All of these people worked for Seth Kowalski back when he was the Suffolk County Assessor.”

Detweiler looked at the list again, more critically this time.

“So, you think the ghost is after these people,” he said at last. “That the fact they all worked for the first victim, Kowalski, isn’t just a coincidence.”

“That’s how I figure it,” Callahan said.

Detweiler looked up from the list with a suspicious expression and turned to Alex.

“You get this list from your friend at The Midnight Sun?”

Alex almost burst out laughing, but managed to control himself. Laughing at the exhausted Lieutenant was a surefire way to get locked up.

“No,” Alex said, being careful to keep his voice friendly and snicker free. “I dug this up myself.”

“I thought I told you to drop this case,” the portly Lieutenant sneered.

“You did,” Alex said, puffing on his cigarette. “But then I remembered that I don’t work for you.”

Detweiler’s face turned red and he reached for his cuffs again.

“It’s a good thing Alex kept digging,” Callahan interjected in his take-charge voice. “If the ghost is going after people on that list, not only can we protect them, but we’ve got a good chance to catch this maniac.”

“Oh sure,” Detweiler said, turning his anger on Callahan. “I notice you didn’t go to the Captain with this yourself. You want me to take charge of this so if it blows up I’ll look like a monkey.”

“What are you talking about?” Callahan said. “I gave it to you because it’s your case.”

Detweiler slammed the paper down on Callahan’s desk.

“Are you telling me that you didn’t do this because the name Nancy Sinclair is on this list?”

“Who?” Alex and Callahan said at the same time, leaning over to see the name at which Detweiler pointed.

The portly Lieutenant looked back and forth between them before throwing up his hands.

“You know, for a couple of smart guys, you dummied up pretty quick,” he growled. “Nancy Sinclair. Now called by her married name, Nancy Banes.”

“Wife of Mayor Claude Banes?” Callahan said with raised eyebrows.

“The same,” Detweiler confirmed.

“That’s why you thought the list came from that hack at the Sun,” Alex said, finally understanding. “His paper’s been trashing the Mayor’s wife for months.”

“And you expect me to believe you didn’t know?” Detweiler said, glaring at Alex. “If I run with this, we’ll have to put extra guards on the Mayor. The papers will have a field day and I’ll be public idiot number one if nothing happens.”

“Or,” Alex pointed out, “if you ignore the list, the Mayor will make sure you rot if his wife gets killed.”

Detweiler crumpled the paper in his hands.

“It’s a nice box you’ve put me in, the both of you,” he growled. “If this is a bum steer and I end up looking the fool, I’ll make sure they put you away, Lockerby. I’ll make sure they throw away the key.”

“You’re welcome, Lieutenant,” Alex said with an easy smile. “Just don’t forget to mention my help when the mayor gives you the key to the city.”

Callahan struggled to hide a smirk so hard he looked like he might pop his collar button. He managed to master himself before Detweiler looked back at him.

“Callahan,” he said, nodding at the big man, then he turned toward the door but stopped. “If you find out anything else about this case, scribbler,” he growled at Alex, “I’d better be your first call. Got me?”

Alex put his hand over his heart with a wounded expression.

“Of course, Lieutenant,” he said. “My word of honor.”

Detweiler looked like he wanted to comment on what Alex’s honor was worth, but he apparently thought better of it and stormed out of the office.

“You’d better run while you can,” Callahan said to Alex once Detweiler was gone.

Alex had a sneaking suspicion he was right.

“Can’t,” Alex said. “I promised Danny to look over that list of thefts and see if anything pops.”

Callahan dug through the folders on his desk for a moment, then extracted a thick one and opened it.

“Here,” he said, handing Alex a single sheet of paper. “That’s a list of everything missing and where it was taken from,” he said. “I’ll have Danny call your office when I see him; now get going. I don’t want to have to explain to that secretary of yours why you’ve been locked up. She’s scary.”

Alex chuckled at that. Leslie had managed to get information out of cops for him before, mostly by being gorgeous. When that didn’t work, however, she’d use the force of her considerable, take-no-prisoners personality.

“Terrifying,” Alex agreed, folding up the paper and tucking it into the back of his red rune book. “I’ll make sure Danny gets this back to you.”

“Go,” Callahan said as a commotion erupted at the far end of the hall.

Alex skipped the elevator and made for the stairs, disappearing through the exit door just as Detweiler and a pair of uniforms rounded the far corner of the hallway, heading for Callahan’s office.