Cat and Mouse
By Terri D. Thomas
Part 4
"You know what happened to Brad?" Jason McCarthy asked, amazement in his voice.
Cassy nodded silently. She closed her eyes and gathered her strength. "Brad was killed because of. . .because of. . .."
Before she could say the word which would put blame on herself, her partner cut her off. "Cassy, we really shouldn't be talking about that case now."
Tom turned back to the distraught husband. "There's no reason to believe that Ollie Murdock had any ties to the death. There was no obvious sign of foul play." Jason narrowed his eyes, clearly not believing the explanation. Tom ignored the reaction. "Jason, I do need to ask you a question about something which was written in the missing person's report."
The man nodded. "It said that you and your wife had a disagreement the night before she disappeared."
Jason shrugged his shoulders. "It was just a typical husband and wife spat." His breath caught in his throat. "It was so. . .unimportant." He paused for a moment collecting himself. "We argued about a vacation we were going to take." He shook his head and turned away from the detectives. "I can't believe. . .I can't believe that we fought about that."
Tom glanced at Cassy. Her eyes were staring straight ahead, unfocused. He instinctively knew that she was reliving her past with Ollie Murdock.
Tom cleared his throat. "Cassy, do you have anything else?"
Startled from her nightmare images, she quickly turned to her partner. "Uh. . .no. nothing else."
Jason turned back to the detectives. "What if it was him? What if this. . .Murdock killed my wife?"
Tom spoke before Cassy could form a response. "Sir, as I said. There's no evidence to base that on. Let's not jump to conclusions." He stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on Cassy's shoulder. "We need to report to Harry. Let him know what we've found out."
Cassy, overwhelmed with guilt, absently nodded. She allowed Tom to pull her up from the chair.
Jason McCarthy stood, his face a mixture of anger, confusion and despair. "What's going on? Surely you have to believe that Sara's. . .death. . .has something to do with Brad's?"
Cassy started to speak, but Tom halted her a second time with a hand on her shoulder. He purposely kept his voice calm and steady. "We don't know what's going on here, but we intend to find out. Do you know if your wife had any contact with Murdock?"
Jason shook his head. "If she had, she didn't mention it. She rarely spoke about what happened. I still don't know all the facts."
Tom glanced at Cassy. Her face still showed signs of shock. He turned back to the husband. "Mr. McCarthy, we will need you to come to the Palm Beach morgue and identify your wife's body."
The man's eyes showed his fear. Tom's features softened. "Are you going to be okay? Is there someone we can call for you?"
Jason shook his head. "Sara's mother. . .she'll have to be told. I'll call her."
"If you need anything or if you can think of anything that will help us to find out what happened, please call me." Tom handed Jason his business card.
Tom followed Cassy to the Mustang. He could see the emotional turmoil in every step his partner took. She walked as if carrying a heavy weight.
He had not been in Palm Beach when the incident with Ollie Murdock occurred. He had been lying on a beach, hundreds of miles away, enjoying himself while his partner fought for her life. When he had returned from his vacation, he was shocked to have learned of the events surrounding Brad Kersey's death. And even though he knew he should not, he couldn't help but feel guilty for not being there when Cassy needed him most. Silently, he made a vow to Cassy that if Murdock had anything to do with Sara McCarthy's death, he would not let her go through the trauma alone. He would be here for her this time.
He held the passenger door open for Cassy. Once she was inside, he closed it. She had not said a word since leaving the McCarthy house. As he walked around the car to the driver's side, he caught her eye. "You okay?"
"He did this, Tom. He killed her."
Tom climbed into the car and started the engine. "You don't know that, Cass. There's absolutely no evidence that Sara McCarthy was murdered. For all we know she accidentally fell into the water and drowned."
"No. Murdock did this. I can feel it."
"Look, it's not going to do you any good to jump to conclusions, especially about this. Let's talk to Morton. Tell him what we've found out. See if he can find any evidence of foul play now that he knows that Murdock is tied to the victim."
Cassy nodded and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. Reaching across to Tom, she placed her hand over his. "Thank you," she whispered.
Tom winked and nodded. "Hey, that's what I'm here for."
"Sara McCarthy was Brad Kersey's wife?" Captain Harry Lipschitz exclaimed.
"Yeah. We couldn't believe it either," Tom said. He glanced out into the squad room to see if Cassy had returned from the ladies' room.
"How did Cassy handle it?"
"She's in shock, Harry. Seeing the woman's photo really hit her hard. And knowing that Murdock has alluded capture since escaping custody last year hasn't helped any."
"She thinks he's behind Sara McCarthy's death," Harry concluded.
"Don't you?"
"I don't like jumping to conclusions, Thomas. I want evidence before I start down that path. Right now we have too many other explanations for the death. Accident, suicide. . .her husband could have had a hand in it."
"Well, I don't like jumping to conclusions either, but I have a hunch that. . ."
"You know how I feel about hunches, Ryan."
Cassy's voice cut off Tom's response, causing both men to turn to the doorway. "Well, you know how I feel about hunches as well, Harry, but every instinct I have as a cop is telling me that Murdock killed Sara."
"Not good enough, Detective. I want you to be checking out more plausible explanations."
Cassy, fury in her eyes, spun on her heel and left the office. Tom pushed himself from the chair and made his way to the door. He paused for a moment and turned to his boss. "You really don't believe that Murdock is behind this?"
Harry thought for a moment, carefully considering his answer. "It doesn't matter what I believe. It's what I can prove that counts."
Tom nodded knowing that Harry was just as concerned about the possibility of Murdock being in the picture as Cassy.
"Keep an eye on her, Detective."
"Why would he kill her now," Cassy mumbled to herself as she read Morton's report.
"What?" Tom asked as he sat across from her at his desk.
"Why would he wait over a year to kill her? Why now?"
"Murdock?" Tom asked, already knowing the answer.
"Of course Murdock," Cassy growled.
"Cass, you heard Harry. Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's work this like any other mysterious death case. That means not eliminating reasonable possibilities in favor of one which is based on. . ."
"A hunch?" Cassy snapped. "You're a fine one to be telling me that. How many Thomas Ryan hunches have we investigated in the past? Huh?"
Tom sat back in his chair, trying to remain calm despite the aggressiveness of her response. "Cass, all I'm saying is. . ."
Cassy stood, pointing her index finger at him. "I don't want to hear it, Ryan. If you want to handle this as an open investigation with no suspects that's fine with me, but I'm not going to ignore the possibility that Murdock is out there." She turned and started to move to the exit, ignoring the audience in the squad room that couldn't help but be drawn to her loud voice.
"Cass. . .," Tom started to explain, but Cassy spun around, her words cutting him off again.
"No, Thomas." Her voice was even louder. "You weren't here. You didn't see what he did. . .what he tried to do. . .the mind games he played."
Tom said nothing. There was nothing to say. She was right. Tom pushed down the guilt that surged.
End Part 4
To Part 5