CHAPTER FIVE

Beth was already up at five am with a pot of coffee supplied by the hotel kitchen staff.  She was studying all of the motions submitted by the attorneys and making notes in the margins.  Damn, I really need my law books and quarterlies and a fax and a clerk she thought.  And Jose’s cheerful face she thought with regret.  She fished out her phone and called the number Mrs. Juarez had given her.

“Hello,” she addressed the voice that answered, “This is Judge Able.  Is this Mrs. Jose Juarez?” she asked. 

“This is her sister, Elaina, she’s finally lying down.  I hope she’s sleeping.”

“Don’t wake her Elaina, just tell her I called when she wakes up and that I’m thinking of her and the children.”

“I will, Judge, and thanks for calling and coming yourself last night.”

“Jose was special to me Elaina and I’m grieving too.”

“I will tell her you called Judge.”

The phone rang as soon as she disconnected and it was the chief, “I hope you’re at the hotel,” he said.

“Yes, I’m trying to work without my law library or clerk.”

“If you go to your office take Matt with you
,” he said, and added, “I’m calling with the latest news.”

“We have some partial prints of a hand and some shoe prints in the blood in the garage and at your car,” he paused, “No finger prints for getting his I.D., just good evidence for the trial.”

“Hold on, Judge, I have a call coming in…”

When the chief came back on line he was cursing a blue streak, “Someone claiming to be the killer sent a message to the newspaper, it’s on its way to the lab.”

“I’ll meet you there,” the judge said and called Matt and told him the news. 

“Meet me there?” she asked.

“You got it,” he answered.

I got the b***h teacher. I got that uppity n***** clerk. I got the sp*c in his pretty uniform. Guess who is next? The Avenger.
Matt and the judge stood reading the note printed on the blackboard.

“It’s him,” the judge said, “What do you think, Matt?”

“I agree.”

“Chief, send an officer to the school and get a list of all of her students going back at least thirty years and run it against employees in the courthouse and the hotel.”

Matt offered, “Get a separate list of all of the students who didn’t go on to high school.”

“Have you determined what kind of shoes he was wearing yet?” she asked.

“Red Wings we think and we found a green button stuck in the blood in the garage,” Lowe said.

“The janitorial staff at the hotel and courthouse wear dark green uniforms, let’s get a list of all of the janitorial staff from human resources” the judge said.

“Do you have a picture of the button?” Matt asked.

“Lowe, let’s send someone over to unobtrusively check out the buttons on the men’s uniforms at the courthouse and the hotel,” the chief said.

“Check out who does the laundry and check with them,” the judge said, “Easier and it won’t alert our perp.  He’s probably noticed that he’s missing a button.”

“What have they found on the note itself?” the judge asked Lowe.

“We’ve dusted and no prints but the envelope may have DNA,” Lowe said.

“I think we’re closing in,” the chief said.

“Before he strikes again, I hope,” Matt offered.

“A clerk came in with the list of janitorial staff from both the hotel and courthouse.”

Lowe took the two lists and projected them on to a screen trying to line them up alphabetically. 

“Let’s scratch out the obvious female names and make a list of all the male janitors. We have the social security numbers so let’s run that and concentrate on the twenty five to thirty five year olds first,” the judge said.

An hour later they had a list of five and the judge called the school and got a little pushy with her title and was given a clerk who looked up the five names. 

“Run the name George Snyder,” the judge said, “He had Mrs. Devaney as a teacher and he’s a janitor at the courthouse,” the judge said.

“Got him,” one of the computer techs said.  He ripped off a sheet and handed it to the chief.

“Petty crimes, traffic violations, frequent address changes, runs out on his bills and rent…” the chief said.

“Let’s find him and keep tabs on him,” the judge said.

“We can stop him for any obvious violations,” the chief said.

“Good,” she said, “But warn them to have plenty of back up, he may bolt.”

“He probably will run,” Matt said, “You want to check out the address, judge?” he asked.

“Let’s go, I can’t get anything done without my chambers and a clerk,” she said.

“Don’t do anything foolish,” the chief said, “Remember to call in back up if something goes down.”

They drove to a rather unpleasant part of the town and parked in a visitor parking area in front of the apartments across the street from their target address. 

The carports for their target ran parallel to the apartment building which was at a right angle to the street. 

“I don’t see his car,” Matt said.

“From the way the numbers run he must be upstairs,” the judge said. 

They had spent hours in surveillance in the early days and fell easily into the pattern again.  They watched for about two hours and decided to call in an unmarked patrol car to take over and then went back to the chief’s office. 

“Anything new?” the judge asked.

“He’s due at work in an hour,” the chief said.

“He won’t show,” the judge said, “He thinks he’s holding four aces, king high.  He’ll keep playing until we catch him.”

Matt agreed, “He’s on a run.”

“Chief it wouldn’t hurt if you told your men at the hotel to be especially alert tonight if he doesn’t show for work,” the judge said.

“I plan on going over myself and to give a pep talk,” the chief said, “This guy is dangerous.”

“You have people in the parking garage?” Matt asked the chief.

“Yes, we’re spread thin but everything we discussed is covered,” the chief said.

The phone rang and the chief answered, “O.K.,” he said, “Let’s party.”

He turned to Matt and the judge, “He didn’t show for work and the patrol car says he hasn’t been home.”

Lowe came in with an evening newspaper and the note was in giant print on the front page.  The headline said, “Serial Killer Stalks Our Streets.” Gory stories recounting the three murders filled the special edition with wild speculation meant to sell newspapers but actually inciting panic among the readers.

“I hope no one on the jury gets a copy of this,” the judge said.

“The second two murders prove he’s not just after jurors,” Matt said, “But who’s thinking reasonably at this point?”

“Hmm, maybe he has a total of fifteen targets in mind and we mistakenly assumed he meant the jury because his first target was on the jury,” the judge said.

“That means he could be anywhere in the city,” the chief said.

“I think the fact that he left Jose Juarez’s body in the judge’s car means something,” Lowe said.

“So do I,” Matt said, “I’m staying on your sofa tonight,” he told the judge.

“I’ll give you a key to the connecting room so it looks a little more appropriate,” the judge said.

They all laughed and Lowe went back to the lab and the chief, Matt, and the judge headed for the hotel. 

When they got out of their cars in the garage the judge said, “Let’s grab a bite in the dining room before we go upstairs,” I’m starving.

Matt and the chief agreed.  The chief had been living on coffee and donuts all day and a steak sounded great.   

They enjoyed dinner together and then went up in the reserved elevator so the chief could talk to his officers.  The judge decided to make the rounds with the chief and let them know how much she appreciated their hard work and diligence while Matt went on to the judge's room. 

A few of the officers remembered the judge from her days in homicide and the rest knew her by reputation.  Her courtroom was always a favorite with the officers. She shook hands with all of them and had personal comments for the ones she knew. 

When they finished rounds she asked the chief, “Night cap, chief?”

“A quick one,” he said following her to her room.

They were all sitting with a Jameson when the chief got a call, “Yes?” he said.

An officer reported to the chief, “We’ve got a guy climbing the old fire escape on the hotel chief.  He’s up to the sixth floor and moving fast.”

“The snipers have him?” the chief asked.

“In their sights,” he reported.

“Let’s give him an opportunity to surrender, turn on the search lights and let him know we have him.”

The chief turned to them, “Get into the hall and keep down, we have a climber on the fire escape.”

In seconds the search lights were sweeping the building and a bull horn was calling on the perp to surrender. Matt and the judge went out into the hall and the jurors were beginning to stir as the bull horn woke them.  They were frightened and the judge was glad she was there to calm them.  They wanted to leave the hotel but the judge told them they were safer in their inside rooms.  She and Matt took them all to one large room and the judge explained what was happening.

“He’s after you isn’t he judge?” J-2 asked.

“Probably,” the judge said, “And as far as I can recollect I don’t even know him,” she responded. 

Blake who had been putting the make on the redhead, J-2 since the bazaar and failing miserably decided to try and use this to get out of his duty, “Don’t you think we’ve all been through enough?” he asked the judge, “Especially the ladies,” he said.

“This lady is quite ready to serve,” the redhead said, “I’m losing thousands a week but it’s worth it for Grace and the others who have suffered from this and the men out there who are protecting us.”

“Here, here,” the others said and raised their bottled water in a toast.

Just then they heard the crash of glass and a gunshot.  They waited to see what had happened and in about a half hour the chief came in and the judge introduced him.

“It’s over ladies and gentlemen.  Our killer is dead and you can all sleep in peace tonight.  I’ll leave the police in place until you all feel safe but we have our man,” the chief said.

They all applauded including the judge who could get back to her office and complete her work on the motions before her.

That Monday the judge had the honor of offering the eulogy at Jose Juarez’s funeral. She rose and went forward, stopping at Jose’s casket before proceeding to the lectern.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will speak in Spanish so that Jose’s wife and many of you can understand what I say.”  A ripple of pleasure rose from the congregation. She looked over the large crowd gathered to honor Jose. 

“I don’t know all of you and I haven’t known Stella and the children for long but I did know Jose Juarez for years and he was a fine man.  He was a co-worker and a friend who was often on special assignment to me at my request because he was willing, able, and brave.” She paused, “I miss him terribly because he was a cheerful presence in the courthouse as well as being an excellent bailiff. I can’t say enough in his behalf except that he died in service to the justice system of this country and that he was a hero.”

She stepped down and returned to her seat to join her parish congregation in honoring Jose Juarez.
(C) August 2013 Karen MacEanruig