Chapter Two
Police, fire trucks and paramedics sped to the scene in record time, even though Maggie knew it was too late. Tears were slipping down her face as she watched them hoist Darlene down from the fire escape using a ladder from one of their fire trucks. Her head looked like a lifeless mop as they carefully removed it from the makeshift noose made out of a cord.
She cried into Garrett’s jacket, wanting to see Darlene as she was taken off, but she quickly looked away, unable to handle the river of emotions gushing through her. The cold wind whipped and howled at her ears, making a mockery of her scanty outfit. She hadn’t known from where or how Garrett had appeared, but she was grateful that a man she had instantly trusted was there by her side.
More tears slipped down her face as she said lowly, “She was all I had. No family. No other friends. It was just me and my friend Darlene.”
A police officer then approached her and nodded his head in a short hello. “Ma’am,” he said. “I’m Officer Langley. I’d like to ask you a few questions if you would give me a bit of your time.”
Still stunned, and feeling most of her energy drained from her body, Maggie shook her head loosely in silent agreement to do what the officer said. She tightened the arms folded around her waist and then decided to say something. “Anything you want,” she said hoarsely. “Just let’s get this over with. I’m sure you’ll want a statement.”
Langley nodded and there was concern eminent in his focused eyes. “Did you know this woman?” he asked first, obviously noticing the tears on her face and worn, jaded expression.
Garrett touched her arm and said, “If you want I’ll wait for you.”
Maggie felt relief overwhelm her, and gratefully said, “That’s so kind of you. Would you please? I know I’ve only just met you…”
“It’s no problem at all,” he said, peering into the face of the officer who looked like he was beginning to get impatient. “Will it be long, sir?”
“No,” he said, “But I would also like a statement for you. Were you present when the body was discovered?”
“No,” he said. “I heard Maggie scream and I came running. It turned out that it was the same woman that I had met moments earlier at Schackley’s down the street. Honestly I had no intention of following her, but apparently we were headed in the same direction, because when I heard her scream I just went running, and I hadn’t far to go.”
“I knew her,” Maggie burst in, realizing that she hadn’t answered Langley’s first question. He looked up at her words. “She was a friend of mine. When I saw her dangling from the fires escape I instantly knew it was her. I recognized her clothing.” Not sure how much she should explain and what she should reveal about her prostitution, Maggie shifted uncomfortably, looking from Garrett to the officer. Not wanting to reveal it to either man, Maggie considered her options. She realized that her desire to get justice for her friend far outweighed any risk of legal entanglements, but still not wanting Garrett to know, she turned to him and said, “Do you mind if I speak privately with the officer? I won’t be long. There are some things that I would like to discuss with him alone.”
Garrett nodded understandingly, backing away from the two and ducking away to speak to another police officer. Langley was a quiet, thin man appearing to be in his late forties, with pepper-gray streaks protruding at the temples of his dark, amber-brown hair. He eyes were kind but focused, perhaps even a little bit skeptical. She measured him quickly as a man that would probably not indict her for prostitution, but on the other hand she couldn’t be sure how reasonable a person he was. “If I am going to reveal something pertinent to the case, something that might put me in a little bit of trouble, is there any way that you can guarantee that I won’t get into trouble?” she said directly, eying his reaction.
“That depends,” he said, “on what we’re talking about.” He looked her up and down and she could imagine that he knew what she was about to tell him.
“I’m a prostitute,” Maggie said blankly, holding her hands out to her side as though in faith that she was doing the right thing. “Darlene was as well. About an hour and a half ago I was standing across the street from her and we were both hustling for customers. Around seven-thirty I noticed her get into a sleek black convertible with its top up. I never saw the driver but I assumed she was getting into the car with a would-be customer. When I found her hanging from our building over an hour later, there was no one around. Sir, am I going to be charged with anything?”
“That one of your customers?” he asked, nodding in the direction of Garrett, who was standing close to the curb smoking a cigarette.
Maggie shook her head vehemently no. “What he said. We just met each other in the bar. There was nothing salacious about it.”
Then he seemed to consider things over in his mind. Maggie noticed the wedding band on his ring finger and could imagine that he was a little preoccupied with thoughts about his family. “I’m not going to charge you with anything,” he said, “but I would certainly like it if you could give a statement down at the station, and I would like to ask the same of your gentleman friend. Tell me,” he said, lowering his voice a little, “since you say you just met this man a little while ago, did you begin to suspect him of anything? Were you suspicious at all about his character? That’s not a long time for having known someone, and then he mysteriously shows up at the scene of a crime to comfort you. A little bit convenient if you ask me, and quite a distance away from the place where you met. Is there any reason you might suspect he followed you?”
She hadn’t thought about that. Certainly she didn’t think that he had. Quickly accepting it as a coincidence, she shook her head again. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I trusted him as soon as I met him. He had offered to buy me a drink, but I was running late and I gave him my telephone number instead. I may not know him very well, but it didn’t strike me as odd that he was the one to come to my aid when I screamed. He could very well have been heading in my direction.”
Langley leaned forward. “I understand that this may be very difficult for you. I can only imagine the shock at finding your friend like this. I notice that you are upset, and I promise I’ll be brief and quickly return you home. We offer some counseling, if you feel that you need it.”
Maggie shook it off, rubbing her arms. “I don’t need any counseling,” she said.
“Had you noticed that she was feeling upset lately, maybe depressed?” he then asked.
What kind of a question was that? “No, of course not. Darlene has never been depressed one day in her life. She has always been a cheerleader, always with a sly smile on her face. It is beyond what I could ever comprehend.”
“Well, we do need to rule out a suicide. One thing that bothers us is that the apartment she went into was vacant; we’ve questioned the building manager and all evidence points to breaking-and-entering. The door was busted in when we got there. If Ms. Madding was in fact the victim of a violent crime, then it looks like our perpetrator took her by force into the unit, kicking the door down, then knocking her over the head before hanging her from the rafter.”
“Mr. Langley…” she said.
“Please. Call me Sam. I have a patrol car waiting to escort you to the station, if you’d like to come now.”
Maggie looked over in Garrett’s direction and realized that they were about to get separated. Feeling that it was a lost caused, she agreed with Sam and he gently took her in the direction of his cruiser.
The folks at the police station were happy to supply her with warm cups of coffee and powdered donuts, as many as she liked. With the warmth and new fullness in her belly, she felt refreshed and more than able to comply with their list of questions. She met detectives Harlow and Madison, two balding men each about a foot in height apart. Sam came in to check on her during the interview and asked if she might like something more substantial than powdered donuts to relieve her appetite. She realized a moment later that he was asking her to dinner, and before she could refuse she heard a low rumble in her belly, begging for a meal after she’d gone an evening without any, only a few hot toddies and some bar mints.
She was surprised to see Garrett also at the station. He was talking animatedly with the man behind the front desk. Unfortunately she was unable to say hello, as she was tied up in the interview room, but she remembered that he had her telephone number, if he ever wanted to call her. I’ll just leave it up to Fate, then, she thought, and if he wants to he wants to.
They wrapped up their interview and Sam approached the room, his face solemn. When they were alone, he said, “I would put a hold on prostitution for a while, if I were you,” he said. “It looks like this is a repeated event. Three other women have been found in the past week, all prostitutes, beaten and hung from a wire. As close as he came to you, I’d be worried for your safety if you were to continue.”
Maggie felt the bottom of her stomach go out and then her eyes dulled, dragging her gaze across the floor. “I won’t. There’s no way I’ll be doing that with a serial killer on the loose.”
“--Who has a pension for prostitutes,” Sam pointed out. “And besides having been the officer duty when you found her, I feel protective of you. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you. And I’d also like you to stay away from the streets at night now. We’re sending out an alert to the public that a bad guy may be out there on the loose. If he’s seen you and knows that you were a prostitute, then perhaps he’d want to come after you even though you’re not doing that anymore.”
Maggie shook her head as though she were drugged, beginning to feel reality set in. How could something like this have happened? She had just seen Darlene, smiling and flirting with men. It was beyond comprehension. She simply couldn’t accept that she was gone.
It was the middle of the night before they were done, and as she sleepily dragged out of her chair, she went into the main room to search for Sam. He came out a minute later, putting his coat on. He helped her on with hers and said, “Well, shall we go? I know of an all-night diner close by here.”
She nodded her agreement, feeling a lack of energy that slowed her muscles and pulled at her eyelids. Sam was a nice man, she thought. When she had first met him, she hadn’t been so sure of him—she thought maybe he was going to get her into some trouble. But ever since he had first questioned her, he had been nothing but support and sympathy. Maggie got the feeling that he was the sort of man that would do anything to break a case—but he wasn’t going to compromise the feelings of those involved. She liked that about him. They walked side-by-side to the parking lot, and he unlocked a Jetta four-door from a distance. He opened the passenger’s door for her, and she swung her legs over the side of the car and nestled into her seat, fastening the seatbelt around her.
Sam got in quickly, checked his mirrors and started the car. “It won’t be a long drive,” he said. “I know you’re probably famished.”
Maggie watched the trees and houses go by silently from her seat. She was itching to change out of her blue sweater and short leather skirt. As confused as she was by the day’s events, Maggie began to feel a spark of anger. How could anyone have done something like this? she thought. Whoever the criminal was, she felt tricked and betrayed by him. He had no right to come into their lives and take someone so beloved to her… and she wanted to stop him. More than anything she wanted to fight the bastard who had done this to them… and win.
Sam was looking over at her gently, every now and again checking to see if she was okay. “Don’t fall asleep on me now,” he said, adjusting the car’s heat, and she realized that she had been about to nod off. The all-night diner was lit up like a highly decorative Christmas display, oodles of neon lights glittering on and off advertising the restaurant’s name and 24-hour service. The bright lights woke her up in a start, halfway illuminating the night sky in a halo around the building. Her stomach gurgled in anticipation that it was about to be fed.
They got out of the car, and her knees were a little bit wobbly, but she managed to make it to the front of the restaurant just as Sam opened the door for her. A pleasant-looking waitress approached carrying menus. She had a plump, rosy face, rectangular spectacles, an apron, and pepper-gray hair pinned back in a low chignon. Her nametag read “Ella,” and she smiled at them brightly as they came in. “Table for two?” she asked cheerily. Ella was no doubt used to the late shift. Maggie imagined that her employer valued her late-night pep.
Sam mumbled his agreement, flicking his eyes concernedly over at Maggie. When they had both found a booth, she knew that he was going to say something to her. “Been a rough night for you?” he asked, and Maggie smiled at the question. She felt comforted that he had been thinking about her.
“It’s funny. I still can’t seem to get it into my head that Darlene is gone. The way I feel right now, I may be badly in need of sleep, but it’s almost as though nothing has happened. I can imagine going home and everything will be just the way that it was before.”
Sam folded open his menu, scanned the first page and then looked up at her. “I have to apologize for all the red tape. On top of what you’ve already been through tonight, you’ve had to deal with all of our lengthy procedures. I’ve been in this line of work for a long time, but I have never been able to forgive how cold the system can sometimes be. Unfortunately, it’s necessary, but if there’s anything I can do to help you with the aftermath, I’m here for you.”
She forced a smile and realized that he was putting forth a lot of effort. She would emote more if she could, but all of her nerve-endings and muscles felt cramped up, cold. If they had met at a different time and under different circumstances, Maggie imagined that she would be highly attracted to this man. She valued the friendliness and the caring that she was already able to observe in him, and then there was also the spark of chemistry that she felt welling within her. “What can you do?” she said emotionlessly. “She may not have been family, but we were close. Almost too close. And just imagine that I did not have any other friends. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. And moreover, there’s a killer out there that I have to be wary of. Never in my life have I been through something as shocking and as terrifying.”
Sam’s deep brown eyes warmed at her. “I understand that you’ve just been through something horrific. As terrible as I feel about the loss of your friend, though,” he said, “I would feel even worse if something were to happen to you. I really want to make sure that you’re protected. And enough of that awful lifestyle—maybe it’s a little signal that you should be done with it and moving on to other things.”
Maggie’s eyes dulled, an almost sultry look to her expression of disdain. Her “lifestyle” was not something she really cared to discuss with Sam yet, especially since he was the officer who could have had her arrested when she confessed it to him. She decided to remain mysterious for the time being, and only reassured him, “I will not be doing any of those things any time soon.” She played with the napkin on the table. The waitress approached and Sam ordered eggs, ham, and a pot of coffee for the both of them. She ordered French toast with a side of bacon. “Speaking of danger,” she began, lifting her chin up a bit, “Just what kind of details do you know so far about the killer? Is there anything that I might need to know?”
He leaned in closer to her. “The perpetrator in question has struck three times. All three of his victims were prostitutes. All three of them were struck over the head and hung by a wire. He strikes after dark, preferably well into the evening. The three women in question were last seen loitering on a main Cincinnati sidewalk, hustling for prostitution clients. Professionals are generally referring to him as “The Sidewalk Stalker,” for his tendency to stake out victims before he makes an attack.
“What leads you to believe he follows people before he picks them up?” she asked.
“In a previous case a man was seen circling around several times before picking up the victim. We have some good leads, like the make and model of his car. One witness says she saw a man with an average build and dark hair.”
“I would certainly like to see this person caught,” she said, just as their late-night breakfasts arrived. A shiver ran through her, and she said calmly, “And to think how close I came to him.”
He nodded his head, taking a sip of his coffee. “You’re a lucky girl to be walking away from this unharmed. I just hope that the word gets out before anyone else is hurt.”
“Do you think whoever this was will be caught?” she asked, hoping that Sam would answer yes. She didn’t know how she would take it if the criminal were to walk away, unpunished.
“Our staff is on it at all hours of the day,” he said. “Sooner or later, and I’m hoping sooner, we’ll catch him.” Maggie felt as though she wanted to run and hide from this man. She couldn’t understand where the urge came from, or what the underlying cause was, but all she knew suddenly was that she had had just about enough of talking with him for the evening—as though he were watching her carefully, hoping to incriminate her. Now with a full belly, she thought of an excuse to leave Sam’s presence.
“It’s late,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to appease my hunger, but I just think that I might turn in for the night. Thank you for a thoroughly great meal. You’ve been nothing but kind to me this entire time.”
Sam nodded slowly, looking a little bit disappointed in his eyes. “It is late. But you can reach me any time if there’s anything that you need. Remember, you’re not to blame here. Go home and get some rest.”
Maggie wandered out of the restaurant after Sam paid, feeling confused and a little frightened, and started to head home.