The Case Files of Dr. Randall Herringwick
The Case of the Abducted Nudes
Chapter Two - Master Carpenter
CASE FILES - PERSONAL NOTES - PATIENTS 187 & 188 - DAY TWO
Jasper Reynolds was a bear of a man, well over six feet tall and easily 250 pounds. His dark head was shaved, and the effect gave his intelligent eyes a certain sinister air. He led us up the stairs of the third-floor walk-up and down a dark hallway, giving the wood panel door a sharp series of raps, three short and two long. We waited only a few seconds before the portal was opened for our admittance.
"Anything new?" he asked the man inside.
The operative shook his head as he put on his coat. He looked tired. "Nope. He's still in there. You need me to stick around?" It was obvious that he was really hoping for a negative response to that question.
Reynolds grinned. "Naw. Get outta' here. The office'll give you a call if we need you tonight. I got this."
Loretta and Margaret drifted over to the window, which had venetian blinds pulled down all the way to the sill, with the exception of a single slat, which had been removed. Duct tape covered the long horizontal gap, but a set of binoculars filled one portion of the space.
"Use those," Reynolds told Margaret. "Is that the car you saw?"
She sat in a chair in front of the instrument and pressed her eyes to the device. "I can't tell. I'm terrible at identifying types of cars. It's the same color." She paused, staring. "It's so far away! Is Gina in there? Have you seen her?"
"This is as close as we could get for a proper stakeout on such short notice. As with most things, the movies have got it all wrong. There's absolutely nothing that's more conspicuous than two men sitting in a car doing nothing. And no, we haven't seen her yet, but we've got a positive ID on him. And we have a witness that puts a girl that matches her description in the building with him. We're assuming it's her, though she's exhibited no distress. Our witness said that she seemed comfortable being with him."
I hadn't taken a look yet, but I had a feel for how far away we must be from our "target" by the size of the binocular-and-tripod setup. I had picked up a thin folder from the dining room table and was flipping through it. "Is this all you've got on the guy?"
"We're only twenty-four hours in on this one, Doc," he answered defensively. "Give our research team time, and they'll come up with more. Right now, we know that he's Serbian; but for some reason, he's taken a Russian name. He does have a degree ... our equivalent of a Masters Degree ... from the University of Belgrade. He's not licensed in the U.S., since he's never applied; and apparently, he's never practiced medicine, though everybody seems to refer to him as 'Doctor.' We've followed your instructions explicitly. No police involvement, and we're only interested in getting the girl back ... not with anything that's going to be used by a prosecutor. But things don't really add up here. Not in my mind, anyway."
I flipped the folder back onto the table's surface. "Like what?"
"The guy operates out of Jersey. Most of his ... uh ... acquisitions for the various syndicates come from the New York area. He seems to have come up here specifically for this snatch. From Ms. Tooey's description, he'd obviously already incapacitated the girl somehow ... we still don't know how he did it or what he used." He paused and studied me openly. "But you do, don't you?" I only gave him a tight smile in answer, and he continued. "Anyway, since he already had her subdued, why the hell didn't he take her back to his home turf? Why did he stick around here?"
I shrugged. "Spite. He knew that Margaret lives here, and he intends to ... um ... program the girl and then flaunt his achievement in front of the person he believes wronged him. It makes perfect sense, actually. And, for the price he demands for his ... um ... accomplishments, I would expect him to keep the women in several different locations. I'm guessing that he's rented this place under an assumed name?" Reynolds nodded. "And, I'm sure there are other places ... maybe several between Boston and New York."
"There he is!" Margaret shouted. "That's him! He's walking toward his car!"
The private detective gave her a rather undiplomatic shove to the right and pressed his eyes to the binoculars. "This could be our best opportunity," he said without looking up. "I really should call the office and ask for backup, but if you guys are willing, we could go try to get our girl right now. Up to you, Doc."
I hadn't expected this ... not this soon. "Do you have any idea where he's going or how long he'll be gone?" I queried.
"No, you didn't seem interested in the guy himself, so we decided not to put a tail on him if he left. Like I said, we can wait ... or you can go in and look around yourself while I stand watch."
"Now!" Margaret said firmly. "If there's any reason to believe she's in there, I say we go now! She's been with that monster too long as it is!" She was already out the door and sprinting down the hall. I grimaced to let Reynolds know that I wasn't too keen on this course of action, but I followed her, and we made our way back to his car.
The drive was only a couple blocks across an area that was mostly commercial storage buildings and seemingly devoid of human activity. In front of the structure (it was the first time I'd actually seen it, since I hadn't had a turn at the binoculars), Reynolds went to his vehicle's trunk and took out something that appeared to weigh a great deal. It was about four feet long and cylindrical, with handles on top. The man was built like a linebacker, though, and he hefted the thing up to the imposing front door, which I'd already tried and found to be locked. With a single swing of the thing, the door crashed inward, its lock twisted and useless. Reynolds then reached inside his coat and withdrew one of the biggest pistols I'd ever set eyes on.
"I'll be here if you need me," he said in his rattling baritone. "Don't waste time, if you can help it." He picked up the battering ram with his free hand and began lugging the device back toward the car.
Margaret and Loretta were already inside. Once again, I found myself following a group that I desperately wished I was leading instead. Despite the fact that the place appeared deserted, I didn't want to cry out to the women, who were already busy trying various doors that connected to the hallway we found ourselves in. None of them were locked, but each led to a dead end: a broom closet, and utility room, a small deserted office, and one huge, massively empty warehouse storage area. The door at the end of the hallway opened on a set of stairs; and once again, Margaret never hesitated before racing upward, taking the steps two at a time. It was a LONG stairway, and it dawned on me, as I rapidly lost my breath trying to keep up, that the storage space was several normal stories high, and that any additional office space was along the top of that area. Sure enough, when I finally reached the required elevation, my only option was to double back into another hallway that went in the opposite direction, and a row of windows overlooked the warehouse space below.
