Cat and Mouse

By Terri D. Thomas

Part 17

"So what makes you think Tom went to Riviera Beach?" Cassy asked her captain.

"I have a hunch that Murdock gave Tom information which would link Jason McCarthy to his wife's murder and that Tom is foolishly acting on it as we speak."

Cassy grinned. "A hunch? You, Mr. Hunches-Are-A-Waste-Of-Time, have a hunch?"

"Don't push it, St. John," Harry warned. "It doesn't matter what I think about hunches. Your partner, though, acts on them all the time. And whether I want to admit it or not, he's usually right. If he has a hunch that Jason McCarthy is involved then I'm not going to ignore it now."

Cassy's grin faded. "Harry, I realize that Jason McCarthy seems like a prime suspect right now, but we can't ignore Murdock. That's what he wants us to do. I know he's trying to throw Tom off the track for a reason. He's going to set Tom up. He's going to use Tom to get back at me. I'm just sure of it."

Harry sighed. "I know how you feel about this, Cassy. . ."

Cassy cut him off before he could finish. "No, Harry. You don't know how I feel. Murdock killed a man I cared about and then tried to frame me for it. Then he tried to kill me. The man is sick. And now he's using my partner to hatch some new scheme. He's going to hurt Tom just like he did Brad, just so that he can get even with me. I can't let him do that again. . .not again."

Tom pushed the doorbell for a fifth time. He started to have doubts that Jason was inside. He leaned over and peered through the large picture window into the living room. There was no sign of movement from within.

"Great," Tom mumbled to himself. "He knows we're on to him and split." Before Tom could pursue that line of thought further, the living room light flickered on and the front door opened a few inches, a chain preventing it from opening any farther.

"Jason?" Tom confirmed, a hint of relief in his voice. "It's Sgt. Tom Ryan."

"Huh. . .?" the man mumbled, clearly confused, sleepiness evident in the word. He cleared his throat and coughed. "Do you realize what time it is, Sergeant?"

Tom gave the man a look of regret. "I'm sorry, Sir, but new evidence has arisen and I needed to confirm it as soon as possible."

"It's about Sara?" the man asked, eyes clearer.

"Yes."

The door closed and Tom could hear the chain of the lock slide free. Jason pulled the door open and allowed Tom to enter.

As Tom turned to face the man, McCarthy's eyes widened. "What happened to you?" he asked, pointing to Tom's bruised face.

Tom shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing much. Just had a run in with a shoe."

"Ouch," the man commented. He motioned for Tom to have a seat on the couch. Jason took a seat across from him.

"I've been doing a background investigation, trying to find something which might provide a lead in your wife's death. There are some things that I've run across that I need to have clarified," Tom lied.

"Leads? What leads? I spoke with the local police yesterday and they said that the man who killed Brad also killed Sara," Jason countered.

"Well, yes, that's a possibility. But there are some discrepancies with that scenario that don't add up. They are sufficient to lead me to believe that someone else might be responsible for her death."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "How can the facts not add up? My wife was brutally murdered. Pictures were taken of her body. . .notes were sent confirming that the man who killed her also killed Brad."

Tom tilted his head. "How do you know that?"

"The police told me."

"Oh," Tom nodded. "Well, while it's true that all of those things happened, we still have doubts about Murdock's involvement."

"Why?"

"Let's just say there's other information which has come to light during the investigation."

"Like?"

"Like the fact that your wife received a rather large payout from a life insurance policy on Brad's life."

"Really?" Jason seemed surprised.

"And yet when the police did a check on her finances it showed that she didn't have much more that a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in her name when she died."

Jason said nothing. Tom pulled out the insurance paper from the file he held. "Does this look familiar?" He handed Jason the copy of the policy and check.

Jason frowned as he read the form. "No, it doesn't."

"Really?"

"Really," Jason responded flatly. He examined the paper closer. "Sara and I had just started dating when this check was issued. She never told me anything about it. Maybe she thought it would change things between us if I knew."

"You're kidding, right? You didn't know that your wife inherited over a million dollars from a life insurance policy?"

"No, I didn't," Jason answered simply. "She didn't have it when I married her and she never mentioned what happened to it."

Tom narrowed his eyes, suspicion held in the orbs. Jason stood up and walked over to the bookshelf, staring at his wife's picture. "Look, I've had. . .credit problems. . .of my own. Do you honestly think that if I knew Sara had that kind of money I wouldn't have asked her to help me take care of my own debt?"

Tom shook his head. "I think that you are much more cunning than I originally gave you credit for," he responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tom smiled and stood. "Oh. . .nothing." He took a few steps towards the man and then stopped and looked him square in the eyes. "By the way, I've discovered that you've had a very interesting past."

"Oh?" the man commented.

"Yeah. It seems that you've had a lot of bad luck in the marriage department. Your first wife died in a hit and run, your second, in a mugging. And now Sara? Tragic. . .just tragic."

Tom could see a tint of red creep into Jason's face. The words were hard when he finally spoke. "Look, you bastard, don't you dare talk about my. . .my wives like that. The things that have happened were horrible. . .absolutely horrible. I loved each of them. . .and they were. . .taken away from me."

Tom shook his head. "Do you really think I can't see you for what you are?"

Jason's eyes widened. "You think I killed them?"

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to come to that conclusion. Three wives. . .three violent deaths. That's just a little too coincidental for my taste."

Jason took a step forward towards the cop. "Don't!" the man warned.

"'Don't' what, Jason? Don't accuse you of their murders?"

Jason raised his fist towards the detective. Tom reached out and grabbed it, holding it firmly in place. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You're already in hot water here."

"I didn't kill Sara!" he yelled, his voice shaking in rage. "I didn't kill any of them," he spat.

"Then what happened to Sara's money? How come she inherited a million dollars and all of it's gone now? Answer that for me," Tom demanded, his voice firm, his hand still holding Jason's fist.

"I can't. . ." the man screamed. "I didn't know!"

"Don't bother with the innocent act, Jason. I'm not buying it," Tom growled. "I promise you, you won't get away with this. I know you framed Murdock."

"What?" the man exclaimed as he pulled his fist from Tom's hand. "You think I framed Murdock?"

"Didn't you? You worked on the police department computers. You had access to Murdock's case file. You knew exactly what it would take to make us think that Murdock was involved in your wife's death." Tom paused, letting the accusation sink in. "You killed his father, too, didn't you?"

"What? Whose father?"

"Murdock's?" Tom answered. "You knew that facts surrounding Sara's death might not be enough for us to pin the murder on Murdock. However, if someone else in Murdock's life died, with the same notes and the same pictures linked to their death, then we'd have no choice but to hang the whole thing on him. So you killed his father."

"You're nuts," Jason argued.

Tom shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. . .but I'm still right about this."

Jason's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to let you do this to me."

Tom made a decision. It was time to play his trump card. "Let me ask you something, Jason," Tom continued. "Have you thought about the bigger problem here? Do you realize that you have just tried to frame a homicidal maniac for your wife's murder? And worse than that, do you realize that he knows you did that?"

The fury in the man's eyes immediately left and was replaced with fear. "What do you mean?"

Tom let out a small laugh. "Who do you think gave me the information in that file? Your local cops?" Tom waited for an answer. None came. "Nope. They didn't suspect you, especially once Murdock's name entered the picture." Tom shook his head. "In fact, we didn't suspect you in the beginning. There was only one person who knew for sure that Murdock didn't kill Sara. . .and that was Murdock himself. He's the one who put me on your trail." Tom smiled triumphantly at the man as he watched Jason's face blanche.

"Murdock gave me that file. He's the one who provided me with the information about your marital history and the insurance policy." Tom took another step towards the man. "Do you honestly think that he's going to let you get away with framing him? Or worse yet, for killing his father?"

Jason shook his head. "If you'd do your job, that wouldn't be a problem. Murdock killed my wife. . .killed his father."

"Murdock doesn't seem to think that's the case. He thinks you did it and isn't that the important thing right now?" Tom reasoned. "I think you'd better do some hard thinking about your future, Mr. McCarthy. "

Jason McCarthy slumped against the bookshelf, defeated. "He knows?" he whispered.

"Yep. He knows it's you. Now, if you come clean and tell me what really happened, I'll take you into custody and protect you from him. Believe me, he is not the type of person you want to have mad at you. Furthermore, from what I know about him, he's probably on his way here now to make sure you pay for what you've done to him."

There was a moment's silence as Jason McCarthy debated his future. Finally he sighed. "Okay. I did it. I killed Sara."

"And Burt Murdock?"

"Yeah. I thought. . .I thought it would be a good way to throw the suspicion off of me." The man closed his eyes. "I had read about what happened to Brad Kersey. I did a background investigation and decided that Sara would be a good mark. . .easy money. All I had to do was siphon off the cash without her knowing. It was just a matter of faking a few statements, diverting a few investments. Sara trusted me. She never questioned what I told her. When it was time to. . ., well, I knew it would be simple to get what I wanted and keep the evidence from leading to me. Murdock was a built in scapegoat." McCarthy glanced at Sara's picture. "It wasn't hard to get close to her. She was really hurting. . .she needed a shoulder to cry on. I gave her that."

"And then you killed her."

The man shrugged his shoulders. Tom felt nausea rise in his stomach. "And Murdock's father?"

"I needed someone tied to Murdock that would cap it for me, someone that only Murdock would have a motive to kill."

"So you picked his father?"

The man shot a guilty look at the detective. "I debated about using your partner. It was clear from Murdock's records that he had a vendetta against her. But I. . .I didn't want to kill a cop."

Tom couldn't help the skeptical laugh that arose. "You're joking right? You'll kill your wife, but you have problems taking out a cop."

"I didn't want every police force in the state up in arms because one of their own was taken out," the man spat. "Murdock's father was a clean target. He lived alone. He had no one in his life. He was even estranged from his son. He was perfect for what I needed."

"You're a real piece of work, McCarthy," Tom growled. "Part of me is tempted to just leave you here and let Murdock take care of you."

Before Jason could respond, the front door swung open. Both men spun around in surprise. "I'd love to do just that. . .but that would ruin the game," Ollie Murdock interjected as he stepped into the room, a sadistic smile on his face.

End Part 17

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