The Promise (19 page)

He could feel Elie’s body relaxing and her breathing returned to normal. He looked at her, with her mascara running down her face and dabbed it with some more Kleenex.

Then, he asked her, “Did any of the other students witness this tirade of Verna’s?”

Elie nodded in the affirmative. He asked her another question, “Do you believe she was just venting out of grief and anger or do you think she is truly dangerous?”

Elie just looked at him blankly.

Gallagher stood up and called in Officer Simpson. “Jerry, we are going to take a little trip over to the Colony school. I want you to call a second car for back up. Let’s go!”

He smiled down at Elie and encouraged her, “Go wash your face. I’ll deal with your roommate. It will all work out okay. Trust me, partner.”

“One other thing, Mike,” Elie whispered.

“Yes?”

“Dr. Morgan has a ring on his right hand. It has the same raven icon on it we have seen before.”

Gallagher whistled, “That little bird does get around, huh?”

              Elie smiled up at him. But, the look on her face was less than assured. She was terrified.

Chapter Twenty-s
even--cover Up?

             
As Gallagher signed the visitors’ sheet at the Colony he felt a sense of trepidation. He wasn’t quite sure what he was getting into here.

He brought another officer with him as back up and there was a second patrol car parked in front of the school with two more officers. He was taking no chances. He asked Dr. Morgan for the right to interview Verna Oden concerning her brother so as not to raise any suspicion involving Elie.

As he and his fellow officer climbed the stairs to the second floor, he was impressed with the dark redwood walls and the classy hardwood floors. It was a beautiful facility.

But, then again, it was one of the top private schools in the South.

              He knocked at the door as he unhooked his holster safety latch and had his gun ready just in case. The door opened and a sweet looking girl answered in a soft voice, “Yes?”

              “Hello. My name is detective Gallagher and this is Officer Daly. We are looking for a Verna Oden.”

              A friendly face greeted them. “I’m Verna Oden. can I be of assistance to you?”

              “Ms. Oden, I wonder if we could talk to you for a few minutes. Would that be okay?”

The girl smiled shyly. “Yes, please come in.”

              Gallagher was pleasantly surprised, but he was also wary. After all, Elie had been under the impression that Verna was normal, too.

He quickly scanned the room and noticed that both beds were made. There were no bags packed on Verna’s bed. No scissors on the desk.

This was a little confusing to him based upon Elie’s description of events. “It is nice to meet you, Verna. It is my understanding you are moving out today?”

              Ms. Oden looked surprised. “Moving out today? No, I haven’t made any plans to go anywhere at this point. Who told you that?

              Gallagher was careful in wording his next statement to the girl, “I believe it was Miss Neville in student services.”

             
Verna was now the one to be confused. “Miss Neville is in South Carolina this week. How did you talk to her?”

              The detective felt he was backpedaling on oil,

“Did I say, Miss Neville? Forgive me, with all that has happened around here lately, I am getting my names mixed up.

What I really came here to talk about was your confrontation with your roommate, Bree Kelly, and to see if we can straighten all this out so everyone feels okay about it.”

              Again Verna acted confused. “I had a confrontation with Bree?”

              “Yes. Didn’t you have an, uh, argument with your roommate earlier today, Miss Oden.”

              Verna smiled warmly, “I didn’t have a confrontation with Bree today. In fact, we have never argued. We get along great. Besides, even if we did have a fight, why would this be a police matter?”

              Gallagher looked over at his fellow officer and back at the girl. He had no clue what to say next.

This was nothing like he had expected it to be. He started feeling a little foolish. Obviously, the girl was lying, but she was very good at it.

“Uh, Miss Oden, you didn’t lose your temper and threaten Bree with a pair of scissors earlier today? The scissors part would bring the police to your door…”

              Elie’s roommate began laughing, “This is a joke, right? She peered around the two policemen out into the hallway and spoke pointedly, “Bree? Are you out there? Come on, this is hilarious.

Are you actors?”

              Michael Gallagher had done a lot of interviews with criminals. He had interrogated murderers, rapists, thieves, all the hard-boiled felons imaginable, but he had never come up with a cool customer like Verna Oden.

She was completely calm, looking him right in the eye, warm, friendly, upbeat, laughing, denying and deceitful as hell.

              “Bree is not out there, Miss Oden. This is not a gag. She is scared to death of you. She said you screamed at her in a threatening way and tried to stab her with your scissors.

She also said as she was running away, you yelled more threats at her from the window in front of several witnesses on the lawn.”

Gallagher went over and looked out the window at several girls playing sports and relaxing in the sun below. He turned back to face the roommate.

              Verna Oden sat there innocently. She shook her head from side to side and looked so sweet it was hard for the detective to imagine her hurting a moth, much less a human being.

Finally she spoke, “Mr. Gallagher, I am under a lot of pressure. I adored my brother. The memorial service was really difficult for me. It was like, really hard. I will never get over him being gone.

But, I never yelled at Bree, I love her to pieces and I don’t even own a pair of scissors.”

              Unbelieving, Gallagher asked, “Mind if we look around, Miss Oden?”

As she assented, the detective and his officer searched the entire dorm room. They found nothing unusual.

No scissors. No packed clothing. Not even a suitcase. As they wrapped up their search, there was a knock at the door. It was some of Verna Oden’s friends.

Verna waved at them, “Hi guys! Greeted Verna. “I’m kinda busy right now! Can you come back later?”

Before the girls could leave, Gallagher asked them, “Were any of you out on the lawn earlier today?

Several of them looked at each other and nodded yes.

The detective asked them further, “Did you see or hear anything unusual from any of the windows, as in someone yelling at someone?”

Nope.

Gallagher let them leave.

              “Miss Oden, we are sorry to take up your time. I’m sure Bree will be back later today and you two can, um, patch things, uh, well, talk about what did or didn’t happen here.”

              Verna laughed, “It has been pretty crazy lately. My heart is deeply saddened with the loss of my brother. But, I will do my best to make Bree comfortable. She is the best roommate I have ever had. I hope she’s not mad at me.”

              Gallagher reassured her, “No, she’s not mad, probably a misunderstanding. I will pass on your message to her. Have a nice evening, Miss Oden. Thanks for your cooperation.”

As they walked back down the hall they were met by Dr. Morgan who greeted them warmly. “Hello Detective Gallagher. My secretary told me you were here. Did you get the answers you wanted?”

              The detective looked at Dr. Morgan in the eye and asked him point-blank, “Was Verna Oden moving out today? Did you see her bags packed when you spoke to Bree Kelly earlier?”

              The Headmaster looked surprised. “I know that Verna Oden is upset by all that has happened and she loved her brother very much, but she has not indicated to us she is going anywhere, at least not at this time. Her room looked normal when I was there with Miss Kelly.

Why do you ask?”

              Gallagher, now realizing he was in the Twilight Zone of Academia just shook his head.

“We had heard from a reliable source that Verna Oden was leaving town and we just wanted to question her on some background concerning her brother before she left.

It’s not a big deal. Nice place you have here. I’m impressed”

Morgan smiled, “If there is anything I can do for you as a follow-up to what happened to my dear friend, Malcolm Oden, please do not hesitate to call me.”

              Mike Gallagher smiled thinly and walked down the stairs he mused to himself,
“If Allison Taylor was taken by these people he realized how tough-minded they were.”

They were scarily good at keeping secrets. Maybe it was time to pull Elie out of there for her own safety.

              One thing he did notice, however, was the ring worn by Dr. Morgan on his right hand. It was a raven. Just like Elie had described it.

He glanced back up at the headmaster still watching him, “By the way, interesting ring you have. Is that a crow?”

              Theotis Morgan smiled, “No, actually, it’s a raven. My favorite poem is, “Nevermore,” by Edgar Allen Poe. This ring is a reminder of his genius.

I wish I could have met the man. He was fascinating.”

              The detective responded, “Yes, I’m familiar with the poem and the man. He seemed to have mastered the dark side.”

              The headmaster nodded, “Ah, yes. And, don’t we all have that dark side, Mr. Gallagher.”

              Gallagher had a thought “
The question is, was it dark enough to make Allison Taylor disappear?”

He headed out through the glass doors into the refreshing sunlight as determined as ever to find Allison Taylor and to bring her perpetrators to justice, especially, if those involved had anything to do with the Colony school.

Chapter Twenty-eight
--elie’s Response

             
As Gallagher apprised Chief Parker about his interview with Verna Oden, the girls on the lawn and Dr. Morgan, his boss murmured ominously, “We have our work cut out if the Colony is involved in this case and my gut tells me it is. Allison Taylor was a member of The Promise there.

That group is based in that school. It sounds as though Dr. Morgan either supports or runs it and since Ms. Taylor has vanished, he and those girls are my main suspects at this point.

We need someone there to infiltrate that group. I think Elie is more talented than the other girl I placed there, but, she has had several unfortunate experiences up to this point and it may be counter-productive to leave her there.

What do you think, Mike?”

              The detective shook his head. “I honestly don’t know what to think. I just don’t know. I think we should ask Elie what she wants to do before we make a final decision on this one.”

              Chief Parker buzzed his secretary, “Please ask Elie Larsen to come to my office.”

He turned to face his detective, “This just gets curious and curiouser.””

Gallagher smiled, “That’s one way to put it. I could also say it just gets worse and worse. We are looking at a pretty thin list of clues, it has been three weeks since the Taylor girl vanished and now our undercover girl has almost been raped, murdered and had her life threatened a second time.

It’s not exactly Capraesque is it, Chief?”

              Parker shrugged somberly, “No, it’s not a Wonderful Life.”

Gallagher was philosophical, “But, the evening is young. We have a long way to go before Christmas Eve.

Parker asked him, “Speaking of which, who played the character of Santa Claus in the original movie, “Miracle on 34
th
Street? It’s been driving me crazy. I can see his face, but his name escapes me, Mike.”

              “Edmund Gwenn,” answered the detective. “The mother was played by Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood played the little girl. And, here’s a bonus answer for you.

The boyfriend who falls in love with O’Hara and is the lawyer who represents Santa Claus is John Payne. It will always be a classic movie. I love it more than all the remakes. None of them come close to it. I watch it every Christmas Eve.”

              As he finished his statement, Elie walked in the door. “Did you want to see me, Chief?”

              “Hello, Elie, yes. Gallagher and I were talking about your future at the Colony school. We wanted to see how you felt about going back there and resuming your undercover work?”

              Glancing over at Gallagher, she asked, “What happened when you talked with Verna, Mike?”

              The detective didn’t pull any punches. “She denied everything, Elie. She said she loved being your roommate, she told me she never threatened you and was not moving out.

I did a search and there was no suitcase or scissors anywhere in the room. I interviewed several girls who had been on the lawn all morning and they denied hearing anything that you described to us.

I even talked with Dr. Morgan and he denied ever seeing packed bags on Verna’s bed and he informed me she was not leaving the school and never had any plans to do so.”

              Elie stood there getting redder and redder as Gallagher finished each statement. Finally, she exploded, “This is wrong!

I was there. Everything I told you about Malcolm Oden and Verna was true. I can’t do this anymore, Mike. This hurts too much. I have always been a straight shooter with people. I have always played by the rules. I have never lied or cheated or manipulated anyone to gain any advantage and I have always worked for everything I got. If this is what police work is all about, I need to find a new career.”

              Gallagher added, “But, you were right about the raven ring on Dr. Taylor’s right hand. It was there. They covered up just about everything.”

              Elie turned away from him and looked out the window. 

              Chief Parker addressed her, “I respect you, Larsen. You have gone beyond your call of duty here. I would understand, as would Mike, if you wanted a reassignment.

It would not be fair to continue putting you through these unfortunate and deceitful circumstances. We have a missing girl here. We believe that the Colony is a prime player in her disappearance. It is going to require a person with unusual courage and law-enforcement skills to be our representative over there.

Only you can make the call. It is going to get a even more dangerous as time goes on because I fully expect us to get closer and closer to the truth of what actually happened to Ms. Taylor. As we get to the heart of the problem, your life is going to be on the line as well.

Take some time and let me know what you can handle. If you want to return to Quantico or stay here, Mike and I will respect any decision you make, Elie.”

              Elie nodded slowly, “I’ll get back to you by the end of the day.

She turned and walked out of the office. Both men looked at each other with a look of chagrin on their faces.

She was their main hope to infiltrate the school. She was the person who was close to the Promise group that had possibly abducted a young woman.

If the girls at the Colony were responsible for Allison Taylor’s disappearance, would Elie be their next victim?

Chapter Twenty-nine--john Buckman

             
“Mike, we got a report from England about that dead professor…”

              Chief Parker slapped a file folder on Gallagher’s desk. “It looks suspicious to me. After reading the file, I could see his demise going either way, maybe a homicide, maybe a suicide.

The main problem is that there was never an autopsy performed. So, all we have is speculation. Unless we go over there and dig up the corpse, interview all his friends and family and do some serious investigating, we will never know how he passed away.

All this information tells us is that he was in good health and he had no hints in his medical history which would lead to him to die like he did.”

              Gallagher studied the medical report submitted by Buckman’s personal physician. “Hmm, it says here that Buckman had allergies.”

              The Chief laughed, “Yeah, I have allergies, but they aren’t going to kill me. I do sneeze a lot, mostly dairy. I love cheese, cheddar, brie, Swiss and my favorite, Monterey Jack.”

              “Chief, if you’re given the wrong medication with certain allergies, you can die.”

              “But, that would show up in the body wouldn’t it, Mike?”

              “They didn’t perform an autopsy on him, remember?”

              “That’s why you are the homicide detective and I’m just the chief of the police department who needs to retire!”

              “Your mind is fine, Chief. But, this report is disturbing. I think we need to follow up on it and see if his death was unnatural. This may be a significant link to the Taylor girl’s disappearance.”

Do you want to go to England, Gallagher? Is that what you’re thinking?”

              “Not at this point, boss. But, I would like to call Buckman’s physician. His name is Dr. Wells Thumbley, how British is that? I love English-sounding accents. My favorite was Cary Grant. I could listen to his dialect all day. He was the best.”

              “Yeah, I liked him, too. What was that movie where he was in a wheelchair and he saw that murder in that Hitchcock movie.”

              “You’re thinking of Rear Window,” Chief. But, it wasn’t Cary Grant, it was Jimmy Stewart. The killer he observed from his window was Raymond Burr who later became Perry Mason on ‘Ironside.’ Ironically, Burr wound up playing a character in a wheelchair. How ironic is that?  How do I dial England?”

              “Call an international operator. Dial 00.”

              Gallagher dialed the operator and was connected to Dr. Thumbley at a small office in Devonshire, just outside of London. As the phone rang, he thought to himself,
“This is a long-shot,”
but, he had to try it.

He had to do everything he could to find Allison Taylor, or at least uncover any information that would reveal what happened to her.

He heard a distinct British accent, ”Dr. Thumbley’s office, please hold!”

The detective glanced at his watch and muttered to himself,
“Sure, I can hold, it’s only $1.50 a minute, take your time.”

After several minutes, the voice was back, “May I be of assistance to you?”

Gallagher responded, “Yes, this is Detective Gallagher from the Athens police, uh, Athens, Georgia, police department calling for a Dr. Thumbley, is he available?”