Playing With Fire Read online

  “Dad hired some security, and they’re on their way right now. They’ll stay until you catch this guy.”

  “Good. Call if you need anything.” Jim stood, and Barty did as well. Jim bent down and kissed his sister on the cheek. They left and found Paul waiting for them outside.

  “The captain said that they’ve located the brother. He’s in Philadelphia, and they’re sending officers over to check on the story. They are also working with us to locate Gardener.”

  The excitement between the three of them was palpable, but Barty was concerned with Jim. He’d been working this case for a while now, and it had taken a turn toward the personal and gotten close to his family. He was worried. The signs of stress were there.

  “Good. I hate times like this when parts of the case are out of our control.”

  “Me too,” Paul said. “But the entire city is on edge over this, and Philly PD doesn’t want this to spill over, so the captain said they were anxious to help.”

  “Okay, we’ll meet you back at the station,” Jim said, and Barty got in the car. “When are you supposed to teach again?”

  “I had a lecture planned for tomorrow, but it’s covered,” Barty answered as Jim pulled away from the curb and raced back to the station. When they arrived and were inside, Captain Westin motioned them into his office.

  “Dead end,” he said evenly. “Philadelphia is sending over the statements, but Gardener’s brother confirms that he did have a party and that his brother arrived about ten minutes after our gunman opened fire. Short of taking a helicopter from your sister’s to his brother’s, there is no way he could have been our shooter.”

  Jim seemed to deflate in front of Barty’s eyes. “Then we’re back at square one.”

  “No, we aren’t,” Barty said. “It just means that the low-hanging fruit didn’t pan out and we need to look deeper. There is something here, and your sister could have spawned jealousy or the need for revenge in someone else.”

  “But where do we start?” Jim asked.

  “Universities are hotbeds of politics and jealousies. If someone is a superstar, then they get first shot perks and funding for their projects that others don’t, so they flourish while other’s projects languish or die from lack of money. Then there is the appointment to department head. Some schools elect their department heads, which leads to politics. Deidre was appointed, so that means that others were passed over. Mason was passed over, but he dealt with it and was able to move on. There could have been other people who put their names forward. Remember, our shooter thinks he’s the best and that the world owes him. That doesn’t have to be the case.”

  “So all of this could exist in our shooter’s mind,” Jim said.

  “Most of it does. The slights and overlooks are in his mind, and they have subtle influences in the real world.”

  “So our shooter may have put himself forward for department head and been rejected out of hand,” Jim observed, and Barty nodded. “So we need to find out everyone who put themselves forward.”

  “I requested that from Philadelphia, and they are getting it for us. It would be needed to build our case regardless. But it’s more difficult than that. We need to dig further into Deidre and find out if there are other people who might have a grudge against her,” Captain Westin said. “I’m going to put Paul….”

  “No,” Jim said firmly. “I need to do this.”

  “Jim…,” Captain Westin cautioned very clearly.

  “No. This is my family. Would you let someone else handle it if this happened to your sister or brother?” Jim stared, and finally Captain Westin nodded.

  “But you need to have backup.”

  “I’ll be there,” Barty said. “People don’t like to think that anyone could want to hurt them. Deidre is more likely to tell Jim things than she is another officer. The family has been through a lot, and Jim already promised to see his nieces tonight, so he can talk to Deidre without alarming her too much.” Barty wasn’t lying, but he said what he did with more confidence than he might ordinarily have had.

  “Don’t bullshit me,” Captain Westin told him, and Barty took a single step closer.

  “I’m a psychologist who agreed to help you, not one of your officers. I’m still willing to help you, but not if you speak to me that way.” There was a touch of the bully in the captain. Maybe not in a bad way, but he was used to getting what he wanted. “Nor will I have my expertise or honor questioned.”

  Captain Westin clearly hadn’t been expecting that reaction.

  “I told you what I would do. After all, you’re the ones who brought me in and you are the reason I’m—”

  Barty was interrupted by a forceful knock on the door, and then it opened.

  “There’s a call coming in from the same number as the last message. It’s being routed to Jim’s voice mail.”

  The door closed, and Barty felt the tension in the room spike instantly.

  “Just stay here,” Captain Westin said and picked up the phone. He put it on speaker, and Jim entered his access code.

  “You were lucky yesterday,” the same mechanically altered voice said. “I missed both your expert and her daughter on purpose. As a warning. Things need to be made right, or the next time I won’t be so forgiving.” The message ended.

  “That’s interesting,” Jim said.

  “I don’t buy it.” Barty asked them to replay the message and listened to it again. “It’s short, and he’s afraid. That comes through even with the distortion. He’s also lying. He can’t take failure, so he has to cover it up.” Barty smiled.

  “He also admitted to who his targets were. That at least confirms that our suspicions were right,” Jim said, and Barty nodded.

  “We’re on the right track.”

  “So what’s the next move?” Captain Westin asked.

  “First thing, we need to realize that the game has changed. He isn’t hitting his targets. The patterns we observed are pretty much out the window now, and it isn’t likely he’s going to return to them. He’s escalating even more, and desperation is going to follow soon. He tried and failed, so next time he’ll see to it that he doesn’t. So he’s even more dangerous than he was before.”

  Barty felt cold and wanted to hide somewhere. Knowing he was the one mentioned in the message was creepy, even as he did his best to keep some distance to maintain a clear head.

  “What’s the object of his obsession?” Jim asked, and Barty listened to the recording again.

  “Definitely Deidre. Even with the distortion, he couldn’t keep the scorn from coming through when he said ‘her.’ And to an extent I think me. It doesn’t tell us much more than that. But I think that’s enough. We need to dig into her promotion and how things are doing at work.”

  “Get a list from her of the people she works closest with. This has to be someone she has regular contact with.”

  “I’ll talk to her tonight,” Jim agreed. “My father has already hired security for the family.”

  “I’d also recommend that they stay at home until we can solve this case. They’re still in danger, and just because he didn’t get a shot at her at the party doesn’t mean he won’t try again.”

  JIM LEFT the office with Barty following. He’d done a lot of that lately.

  “Jim, you need to get some distance,” Barty said once they were again alone in the conference room.

  “How can I? First I pull you into this case and you get shot at, and my niece—a complete innocent—gets targeted as well. I want to rip this bastard’s nuts off and feed them to him for lunch.” Jim’s neck muscles bulged, and he pounded the table. Barty took a step back to stay out of the way while Jim let off some steam. “You can talk about distance all you want, but it’s my family being targeted. How in the hell would you feel if it was your family? But it isn’t, is it?” Jim asked, and Barty remained silent.

  After a few seconds, Barty turned and left the room. He stomped to the coffee area and poured himself a cup. He’d had eno
ugh of anger and resentment for now. Jim could rant all he wanted. Barty’s family was still a sore spot after all these years.

  He stayed away while he drank some coffee and then returned to the conference room. “Are you ready to be civil instead of snappy?”

  Jim didn’t answer. He leaned over the table, clutching the edges.

  “Where are we going to start?” Barty asked.

  “Do you think it’s possible that the shooter was at the party?” Jim asked. “I think Deidre said that everyone was there except Mason. So if we can plot their movements, then maybe we can figure out who’s missing.”

  “Okay. Then call her and get a list of the people in her department. We can try eliminating everyone we can before we see her tonight.” Barty didn’t get any closer, but he watched Jim’s shoulders slump. “We can’t do this by pulling into our shell.”

  “I’m not, but… I went into this to protect people, and I can’t even protect my own family.”

  “None of them were hurt, and that’s because of you and your fast thinking. So don’t add guilt to this. None of what happened is your doing, so keep your head in it so we can figure this thing out.” He wasn’t usually very good at pep talks, but Jim seemed to get a boost, so maybe he’d done something right.

  “Let me call Deidre,” Jim said and left the room.

  Barty sat in one of the chairs, thinking about how much things had changed for him and what was likely to happen once the shooter was caught. Jim would be assigned to new cases and go on to help make the streets safer, and Barty would return to the classroom. Even after last night, he wasn’t sure what would happen between the two of them. They came from different worlds in a way. Well, he could tell himself that, but the truth was, he wasn’t convinced that he was interesting enough for someone like Jim.

  “I got a list from her,” Jim said, and Barty jumped, deep in his own thoughts at the interruption. “There are ten members of the department including her, and we’ve already eliminated Mason. So that leaves eight of them. We can start with the statements and see who else can be accounted for and go from there. Look for references from two people, and we’ll feel good about removing them from the list.”

  “Sounds good.” Barty could feel they were getting close. Jim made a copy of the list, and Barty began going through the witness statements. He’d read them once so there were some people he felt he could eliminate, but he found his sources and noted who could place each person during and after the shooting. “These people were together and apparently talking to your father when the shots broke out.”

  “These three were together, and they all corroborate it. Granted, it would be better if it were someone else, but I doubt they would collude to protect the shooter. We can eliminate Mason and Deidre, so that leaves Amy Corrigan, Stewart Hoskins, and Daniel Foster.”

  “Amy is mentioned in this statement, and in her statement, she said she was in the restroom when she heard the shots. It’s possible it’s a lie, but why would the shooter come back to the party? So the two remaining are Stewart and Daniel. I remember Stewart—he was a bit of an ass—and I spoke briefly to Daniel at one point. So I know they were both at the party,” Barty explained.

  “Okay. Let’s speak with both of them and see if we can find out where they were.”

  “Shouldn’t we start with Deidre tonight? She might know when they both left,” Barty asked.

  “Yes, and we should see if she can corroborate anything with Amy just to be thorough. I don’t want to miss anything.” Jim sank into one of the chairs and began going through what they had all over again, and Barty stayed out of his way and let him do what he needed to. Every now and then Jim would look up and scan the room, stopping when he turned to Barty, and then he’d go back to what he’d been doing.

  Barty didn’t know what to think about it all, and he sat quietly for part of the time and then opened his laptop to try to do some of his own work.

  THEY LEFT the station in the early evening and went to speak to Deidre. He and Jim had developed a specific list of information they hoped to get from her. When they arrived, both girls raced down the stairs. Meghan practically jumped into Jim’s arms, and Mindy stood as if waiting her turn. Barty was surprised when she tugged at his pant leg and lifted her arms. He picked her up, and she grinned at him.

  “It looks like you found a friend,” Jim said when he noticed.

  Barty didn’t really know what to do with her, but she seemed content and eventually put her head on his shoulder for a few minutes.

  “Come on, sweetheart,” Deidre said and gently lifted Mindy into her arms.

  “We have a few things we need to know,” Jim told Deidre.

  She nodded. “I should have known this was more than a social visit.” There didn’t seem to be any heat in her voice, but maybe disappointment. “Franklin, can you take the girls upstairs?”

  “I have them,” Colleen said, and both girls went with their nanny.

  “I’ll be up to tuck you both in,” Deidre said as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. Once they were out of sight, she turned and motioned toward the living room.

  Jim went inside, but Barty hung back. He was feeling out of sorts and on edge and had been for hours, but he didn’t understand it. Deidre’s voice pulled him out of his woolgathering.

  “Ask your questions, and then I have some of my own.”

  “Amy Corrigan,” Jim prompted as Barty joined them and sat on the edge of one of the wingback chairs.

  “She’s pregnant and having a tough time of it. I was surprised and pleased she came.”

  “I remember her,” Barty said. “She kept excusing herself.”

  “She’s at that stage where she can’t stay out of the bathroom, poor thing. She isn’t really showing too much yet, but she’s having some issues.”

  Jim nodded, and Barty checked that name off their suspect list. “Did you see Daniel Foster leave the party? We are trying to place him. Barty spoke with him a little, but—”

  “What’s going on with this fascination with my colleagues?” Deidre asked, interrupting Jim. “I want to know why you’re digging into my life.”

  “Because we have reason to believe that you may be the focus of our shooter’s obsession and we’re trying to rule it out if we can.” The coldness in Jim’s eyes surprised Barty, but thankfully it didn’t last long. “I’m trying to help keep you, Franklin, and the girls safe, so please answer the questions.”

  “Daniel and his husband, Felix, were here, and I remember sitting with them for a few minutes while we all waited for the police to question us. They sat pretty much where you are now and waited.”

  Jim turned to Barty, who was wondering why they didn’t have a statement from them. That piece of information alone raised questions, and Jim left the room.

  “He really is trying to help,” Barty said. “I know it’s very hard to keep reliving and talking about this again and again, but we do need your help and your memory.”

  “Does he really think it’s one of Deidre’s colleagues?” Franklin asked, coming into the room.

  “It’s possible. We’ve….” Barty paused. “You need to trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and this is just as hard for him as it is for you. If Jim could spare you all this, he would.” He turned when Jim came back into the room a few minutes later.

  “The statements were misfiled,” Jim said with relief, and what Barty figured was also a bit of embarrassment. “Thank you for placing them. It was a big help. This is the last question. Do you know when Stewart left the party? We checked, and no one took his statement. He wasn’t mentioned in anyone else’s statement either.”

  Deidre paled, and Franklin took her hand. “Stewart?” she said, her eyes and mouth hardening. “So help me God, if he did this, I will tear him apart.” Hatred, pure and violent, bloomed in Deidre. Barty saw it.

  “Calm down, sis,” Jim said. “We don’t know it was him.”

  “He’s the last one on your list, right?” She gr
owled like a mother bear protecting her young.

  “We’re trying to investigate,” Barty said levelly to diffuse the anger. “Why the reaction?” he asked, trying to return the focus to Deidre. “You pounced on his name and barely reacted to the others.”

  “Stewart is useless, and I’ve been working with the administration to review his performance. He doesn’t teach well, his student reviews are deplorable, and his research is nonexistent.”

  “So you’re in the process of having him terminated? Is he tenured?” Barty asked.

  “Yes, he was granted tenure by a flawed committee of his cronies four years ago. I was the holdout vote on the committee, and I wrote a dissenting report that nearly scuttled the entire thing. Of course, it went through, but now his cronies are out of favor and keeping their heads down.”

  “So you’re out to get rid of him and he knows it?” Jim asked. “How long has this process been going on?”

  “The previous department head started it before he retired, and Stewart figured that with the change in management, the whole thing would die, but I’ve been pushing it harder, so he’s angry and scared. But he doesn’t do anything differently. If he’d take his work to heart, he could be a fine educator, but he’s lazy and thinks the world owes him something.”

  Jim and Barty exchanged quick looks. “Is he a smart man?” Barty asked.

  “Some might say brilliant, but he won’t do anything he doesn’t have to. The thing is that Stewart could be a superstar if he’d actually work at it. Some of his theories are insightful, but he wants to put them out there and let others prove them or do the work to support them. Then he wants to take the credit, and that doesn’t work.”

  “So he left before the shooting?” Jim asked.

  “He didn’t say good-bye or anything, but that was the last I saw him. He wasn’t exactly a popular person at the party. He has the personality of a porcupine, and yet he envisions himself as a ladies’ man. That’s another problem—Stewart doesn’t seem to understand the boundaries between himself and his students.”