The Blue Executions (34 page)

She removed two pieces of paper from the files and offered the
m over to the reporters.  They were both handwritten tests from a health class that Wahl had taught years earlier.  McGregor retrieved the photo which he had taken with his cell phone of one of the first letters the Blue Executioner had sent him.  The three of them compared the handwriting.

“Son of a bitch, you’re right,” Pantangelo declared.  He gave McGregor a playful pat on the back.  “I’m going to have to start putting some more faith into your gut feelings.”

Instant satisfaction came over McGregor.  He was undoubtedly correct but the bigger question in his mind was why would the police department go through this entire charade?  They must know as well that they don’t have the Blue Executioner in custody. 
What was their angle for lying
?

“So you were correct then?  Mr. Wahl is not the cop killer
?” Lopez inquired.

“Definitely not; take a look here.”

Lopez walked from around her desk standing over McGregor’s shoulder.  “Look at the way Wahl closes his o’s but the person who wrote me the letters does not.  Look at the way the double ll’s are connected in the letters or the tails on the lower case g’s.  These are two totally different handwriting samples; no doubt about it.  You don’t have to be a handwriting expert to see the differences between the two writing samples.”

Looking up at the principal, “Would it be okay with you if I made a copy of this?”

“I have to be honest with you detectives.  I never liked Charles Wahl; he seemed like a creep.  Before I became the principal, I taught English here.  Charlie gave me the creeps at staff meetings, but the truth is that if he is innocent, I wouldn’t want him blamed for murdering police officers.” 

Lopez picked up the papers from the desk in front of the men and walked over to the copy machine. 
She carefully placed them side by side and pressed a button.  The machine came to life.  After burning off a copy of each she held it out to McGregor.

McGregor accepted the papers but Lopez held on just long enough to make a point.  “I don’t mind giving you this if it helps clear an innocent man
, but you gentlemen have to make me a promise…my name stays out of this.  I can’t afford to be involved.  If anywhere asks where you got these old tests, it was from a former student of his.  Do we have a deal?”

McGregor and Pantangelo gladly agreed.
  “Look for the article by the weekend.  I need a little more time to look into some other leads.”

###########################

Chapter 18

One week after the funeral was hardly enough time for the emotional wounds from losing Laurie to heal, yet Galvin knew it was best for him that he got back to work.  He agonized over the fact that he knew Laurie’s death was directly related to him.  He had been pretty sure that their relationship had been kept a secret but somehow the Blue Executioner had killed her anyway.  As Galvin reflected, he decided the hardest part of the week had been meeting Laurie’s parents on the day of the funeral.  He didn’t even know if they knew about him or not—either way, he was certain they didn’t know that their only daughter had been murdered because of her relationship with him.

Galvin’s mind was adrift as he
pushed through the Monday morning debriefing.  Having been assigned to the Blue Executioner Task Force was an honor.  Some of the best detectives in the city were assigned to the case.  In fact, Galvin had come to learn that he was the only one among the two dozen detectives who was not a
First Grader
.  That didn’t bother Galvin.  Whether or not he ever got promoted to second or even first grade detective took a back seat to catching the animal that had killed Laurie.

He also knew, although he was a pretty good detective, the most logical reason
that he had been assigned to the case was because he was the only one who had ever laid eyes on the murderer, not due to his detective skills.  The promise of a promotion if the case was taken down in a timely manner was also a nice incentive, but again it could not be as rewarding as placing handcuffs on Laurie’s killer.

The only downside at all to the transfer was the travel.  Galvin went from a fifteen minute ride from his Bayside home to South Jamaica to a much
greater commute.  The Blue Executioner Task Force was based out of the Chief of Detective’s office in One Police Plaza in lower Manhattan.  The rumor was that Chief Santoro wanted to be kept as close to the investigation as possible.

Having sat in traffic for the better part of two hours this morning, Galvin decided he would be taking the Long Island Railroad and the subway system for as long as he remained assigned to the task force.
  All he could think about was Laurie.  The guilt that he endured was agonizing.  He would make sure her killer was caught if it were the last thing that he would ever do.  That was a promise that he made to her as her knelt down in front of her casket only a week earlier.

Since it was Galvin’s first day assigned to the Task Force (and his first day back at work in over a week), once the debriefing had ended Galvin decided to go over the case file.  He hoped fresh eyes would see something
that the other detective’s hadn’t.  He knew of course that this was a long shot but he had to try.  His Uncle Pat had always taught him to look at all of the details—even those that seem minor.  He taught him that any good investigator will know every detail of his case inside and out.  Although they never worked together, Galvin had learned a great deal about being a detective from his uncle.

Galvin spent the better part of the morning reading through the case files and examining the crime scene photos and sketches from each scene.  When looking at Laurie’s crime scene photos, he was determined to keep it clinical; to see it as another murder but his emotions got the best of him.  He took the folder into one of the interview rooms and
silently wept to himself.

Having dissecting the case, one document at a time, Galvin grew frustrated.  Each time that he thought he had spotted a potential lead; there was a
DD-5
, or complaint follow-up, from one of the detectives closing it out.  At least he was confident that those who were working the case longer than him were doing a good job.  Still, he had to keep looking.  There must be something that everyone else had overlooked; but he had no clue what that something could be.

Galvin walked back to his desk and signed into the
FINEST
computer system.  He once again began viewing arrest photos of white males in their thirties and early forties—something he had done for almost eight hours the day of Laurie’s murder.  It was tedious work but Galvin prayed if he came across the man’s photo that he would recognize him.  So far he had no luck.  As painstaking as the task was, if it led him to identifying Laurie’s killer, it will have been well worth his time.

Galvin loosened his tie a
s it just occurred to him that he was wearing the same suit he wore on the day he testified in front of the grand jury; the same suit that Laurie said was her favorite.  He could feel the tears begin to well up once again but he was determined not to release them.  He continued searching through the pictures, silently promising Laurie that he would bring her killer to justice.

*

Immediately following the morning debriefing, Ray Santoro entered Chief of Department, Eddie Courtney’s office.  Santoro had promised that he would keep Courtney advised on a daily basis of all developments in the case.  Courtney was seated behind his large cherry wood desk sorting through paperwork when Santoro had entered.

“Morning Eddie, I just wanted to let you know that Detective Galvin started today.”

Courtney nodded his head.  “Finally. Didn’t we transfer him to the Task Force over a week ago?”

Santoro pulled up a black leather chair, “Yeah Eddie, nobody has said anything but I get the feeling there was something between Galvin and the A.D.A.; he seems to be taking her murder
pretty hard.  I made some phone calls and there may be some teeth to my theory.”

“Jesus Christ!”  Courtney slammed his hand down on his desk, inadvertently knocking a picture of his grandchildren over.  “That’s just what we fucking need,” he exclaimed as he picked up the picture.  “Now we know
why this sociopath went after her.  This has to stay between us…the last thing we need is the A.D.A.’s blood on the department’s hands because she swayed a jury to protect her boyfriend.  Could you imagine what the press would do with that?  Is Galvin acknowledging the relationship?”

Santoro shook his head.  “No Eddie.  He seems to be fine with pretending there was no relationship there and I feel we should
do the same…for everyone’s sake.  I can’t even imagine the guilt that Galvin must be feeling if it is true.”  Santoro paused and took a deep breath before he continued.  “Speaking of the press, I’m sure you saw McGregor’s article over the weekend.”

Courtney’s face instantly reddened.  “That son of a bitch; I’d like to kick him in the balls.  He goes and writes an article like that after we promised him an exclusive.  He stabbed us right in the back and made us look incompetent.
  The phone hasn’t stopped ringing in the
DCPI’
s office.”

“What are you having the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information tell the press when they call?”

Courtney took of his glasses and set them on top of the pile of paperwork on his desk.  “What
can
I say?  McGregor has us cold.  Our only saving grace is that Wahl had kiddie-porn on his computer, so at least we didn’t arrest an innocent man.  I told DCPI to offer a no comment and to refer them to my noon press conference.  I’ll tell them that Wahl is not the murderer but he is a part of the investigation and that he arrest was not a mistake.  Then I’ll give them the old ‘I can’t say anymore at this time for fear of jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation’.  I’ll tell you one thing, I have half a mind to have McGregor’s press card pulled.”

Santoro held a hand out to his boss.  “Relax Eddie, you know you can’t do that.  That would generate a whole lot more bad press for you and the department.
  You’d make a martyr out of him.  Could you imagine the stories the press would run if you ever did that?”

Courtney agreed.  “I know
…I wouldn’t actually do it. I’m just so pissed at the guy right now.  He comes in here all high and mighty about how he wants to make sure that the police know what’s going on but then he prints this article which not only makes us look bad, but also lets the killer know that we are on to his game.  Maybe if he let it go unreported, the Blue Executioner would have gotten sloppy or we could have developed a new lead.  Now the guy knows we’re not buying his frame job and he’ll be as careful as ever.”

“
When the Blue Executioner killed Bando we already had Wahl in custody, so he already knew that we wouldn’t think that we had the right guy.”

“I guess you’re right.  Still, McGregor did cross us.
”  Courtney began to relax a bit.  He took a deep breath before continuing.  “Is there anything else, Ray?”

“Actually
, there is.”  Santoro felt uncomfortable bringing up the topic.  “There’s one more thing about Galvin that I think you should know.”

Courtney recognized the uncomfortable look on his longtime friend’s face.  “Well, out with it.  What else about Detective Galvin?”

“His uncle is Pat Dempsey.”

The mere mention of Dempsey’s name filled Courtney with rage.  Courtney could feel the fire in his face this time.  “Patrick
, fucking, Dempsey!  Could this day get any shittier?  Why the hell should I care who his uncle is Ray?”

“Calm down Eddie.  We both know that Dempsey is one of the best detectives on the job.  With Galvin being a legitimate target of the
serial killer, I think he would be more than willing to come on board to the task force.”

Courtney stood up; his chair tumbling backwards.  He pointed an accusatory finger in Santoro’s face.  “Are you out of your friggin mind Ray?!  I’d sooner resign before a
llowing that scumbag to work any real police cases again.  He’s lucky I didn’t take grade away from him; I would’ve too, had it not been for his union.”

Santoro kept calm and spoke in a soothing tone.  “Eddie, you are letting emotions get in the way of what would be in the best interest of the job—and
the case.  Besides, Kristen is doing great since she left the job.  She’s a partner in a law firm now, isn’t she?”

Courtney took a deep breath.  The
mere mention of his only daughter’s name did have a calming effect on him. Still, he was not ready to forgive Pat Dempsey, who not only embarrassed him, but more importantly called his daughter a coward in the public eye.  “I can’t do that Ray.  You know that.”

“Eddie, hear me out.”

Courtney immediately cut him off.  “Do you know the embarrassment Kristen was put through; the shame Dempsey put on my family?  Her partner was only grazed, nobody got seriously hurt and the collar was made.  There was no reason to throw her under the bus the way he did on the stand.  Her picture was in the papers as the cowardly officer who hid behind the police car while her partner was engaged in a shoot out.  No fucking way does Dempsey ever work a case again as long as I’m still on the job.  That’s final!”