What Have You Done(57)
There was silence for a moment, and then Sean spoke. “So what happens now?”
Phillips pulled his middle drawer open and came away with a yellow legal pad. “You write down everything you know about what’s happened up to this point. This is going to be your official statement. When you’re done, you can go back to the control room and help the team track your brother down.”
“And we bring him in like I said.”
“Just like you said. I don’t want fanfare, either. I’m trying to keep this professional. As professional as I can, anyway.”
Sean pulled at the shield that hung around his neck and slid the pad closer to him. He unclipped a pen from the inside of his jacket pocket and started writing. This would be the most important statement he’d ever make if he was going to stay on the outside to help bring Liam in. Any missteps and IA would find it. His story needed to be airtight. Don’s too.
“Never thought I’d be doing this,” Sean said.
Phillips rose from his seat and walked around his small office. “Never thought I’d see it. The whole thing just stinks. I knew this kid. I looked into his eyes. We’ve shared meals together. I never would’ve thought he could be capable of something like this. Never.”
“You know what happened with my mom when we were kids, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s all I can think of. Maybe crazy is passed on. In a gene or something. Like blond hair or diabetes. Maybe he got Mom’s gene, and one day he snapped.”
Phillips stared out onto his Homicide Division. “Maybe. But God help me, I thought he was a good man. I thought he was one of us.”
“Me too,” Sean replied as he finished writing his first sentence. “Me too.”
44
Dr. Cain’s reception area was empty but for the nurse working behind her desk. Liam held his head in his hands, waiting for Gerri to arrive back from a meeting. His pants were soaked from hiding in the storm drain and dripped onto the carpet. He was cold. The nurse at the desk kept staring at him, and he suddenly became aware of how vulnerable he was. He scanned the floor and took note of the exits at both the stairs and elevators, something he’d never thought he’d ever have to do. But he was on the run now, and he couldn’t wait for Sean to call. He had nowhere else to go.
“Am I ever on time?”
Liam looked up and saw the doctor approaching. He forced a smile and stood on legs that were still weak. “Not that I’ve ever seen. Thanks for seeing me last minute.”
“Why are you all wet?”
“I’ll explain inside.”
“Okay, come on in.” Gerri turned to the nurse. “Dorothy, hold my calls.”
Dorothy nodded and went back to whatever it was she was doing at her computer.
Gerri walked into her office and shut the door. When they were alone, she dropped her bags and hurried toward the windows, shutting the blinds, one at a time. “What are you doing here?” she whispered. “Christ, Liam, you’re wanted for murder.”
“You know about that?”
“It’s all over the news. Why are you here?”
Liam fell onto the couch and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and wanted so badly to sleep. He could feel his mind wandering. “I need help. The truth is I can’t remember anything about last night, and I couldn’t remember anything about the night Kerri was killed.” He paused for a moment, trying to find the words. “I was the father of that baby, and I was having an affair with her. The night she died is all a blank. Like that suppression you were telling me about.”
Gerri grabbed a towel from her closet and tossed it to him. “You were talking about you the other day?”
“Yeah.”
“Liam… I… I don’t know what to say. Do you really think you could be capable of doing those things we saw in the pictures you showed me?”
“I didn’t, but that doesn’t seem to matter now. Two murders point to me, and I can’t remember where I was for either of them. It’s gotta be me, as much as I can’t believe it. I must’ve had one of those psychotic breaks. That’s the only explanation at this point.”
Gerri pulled a file that was sitting on her desk and opened it. “I did some digging after you left. This girl who was murdered, Kerri Miller. You said her head was shaved?”
“That’s right.”
“Have you found the hair?”
“No.”
“Interesting.” Gerri walked over to where Liam was sitting. “Look, it’s absolutely possible you committed these crimes and don’t have any recollection of them, but something’s not clicking.”
“What do you mean?”
“When it comes to the human mind, all bets are off, and there have been plenty of cases documenting people who’ve committed vicious acts with no recollection of committing them, but the head shaving changes things. The way I see it, the guy who killed Kerri Miller revels in the fact he can cause so much fear and intimidation in his victim. When we spoke last, I explained how cutting the girl’s hair and hanging her was a power trip. He wants to remember the process. He wants to remember all the details. He’s not going to let himself forget. The killing is what he gets off on. He took the hair as a trophy because he didn’t want to forget. This isn’t the act of a killer so traumatized that his mind suppresses the events. It doesn’t make sense.”