CHAPTER 21 ~ CORNERED

Catherine arrived at work refreshed and hopeful for better results in her investigation. She dropped her things at her desk, went to the break room for a cup of coffee, and found Joe getting his own cup.

“Morning, Radcliffe.” He glanced her way. “Get any sudden inspiration last night that might help us find the slasher?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.” She inserted her quarters into the vending machine, continuing, “You said that Jason Walker has been under police surveillance since this investigation began, right?”

“That’s right,” he concurred, nodding. “Twenty-four-hour surveillance.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking. The Protectors headquarters is a very old building. What if there’s a passage in it, maybe through the basement, which gives direct access to the subway line? He wouldn’t even need to leave the building to play the role of slasher.”

“You thinking search warrant? Because I don’t think you’ll find grounds for one.”

She collected her coffee, and they left the break room.

“Then perhaps I should research the building itself,” she propounded as they walked toward his office. “Maybe the original plans will reveal something. We know he has motive and means; opportunity is a matter of showing he could have gotten around the surveillance and his alibi could be fabricated. That would mean whoever is covering for him is complicit.”

“Well, doesn’t take much of a stretch to believe that.” Joe opened his office door. “Keep digging. Let me know what you find out.”

Catherine smiled, pleased, then went to Edie.

“Good morning, Edie. You’re looking lovely on this fine morning. Did you have a good night?”

“What do you need now, Cathy?” asked Edie with a resigned sigh.

“Edie!” Catherine adopted a hurt look. “I can’t greet you, and tell you that you look nice, and ask you about your evening without wanting something from you?” She looked away, saying half to herself, “And here I thought we were friends.”

“All right, all right,” Edie conceded, grinning, “I’m sorry. Thank you. You look lovely, as well. I had a decent enough night. How was yours?”

“Very good.” Catherine smiled, dropping her gaze to the floor, remembering Vincent holding her. Then she looked back at Edie. “Listen, I need a favor.”

Edie laughed softly, shook her head, and rolled her eyes. She turned to her computer and began typing.

“And how may I be of service to you today?” Edie affected solicitude.

Catherine grinned, saying, “I need information on the building that the Protectors use as their headquarters. How old is it? Are there any plans for it? Are there any news stories about it? The full run-down.”

“Got it.” Edie glanced at her. “This may take a while.”

“Understood. Thanks.” Catherine smiled, then headed for her desk.

* * *

Jace stared out the window in his office, watching the people exercising and training on the gym floor, wondering how much Catherine Chandler knew.

If he’s real, he thought, and she knows him, what if he knows about me? If they were looking at a map, what if he figured out about the subway access from this building? I will not go down for protecting people! I don’t like it but… guess it’s time to put an end to… the Subway Slasher. He watched Red and Suki enter the building for their planned meeting, heading for the stairs to his office. Have to play this careful. They wouldn’t understand.

Crossing to the door, he opened it to admit Red and Suki, watching them climb the last few steps.

“Did you see us come in?” Red asked.

“I was watching for you.” Turning back into the room, Jace went to his desk and sat down. “Close the door, please,” he requested as Red followed Suki in. He watched Red comply, then waited until they took the two chairs before his desk. “So, we need to discuss what you saw last night at Ms. Chandler’s apartment. I assume you brought Suki up to speed?”

“He did,” she replied. “What do you think of her knowing about this guy for all the time she’s been acting like you’re crazy for espousing the myth?”

“I can hardly fault her for trying to protect him. Still, I think this charade has gone on long enough. I want to meet him.”

“Why?” Confusion laced Red’s tone.

Jace looked at him, holding his gaze for a moment, then replied, “I’m curious about him. And I want to know what he thinks of the Subway Slasher. Maybe we might be able to come to some kind of alliance. We both want to protect innocents.”

“You really think you can befriend that thing?” Red posed, sneering. “That it would help us protect people?”

“Don’t let your fear of him drive you to degrade him, Red,” Jace admonished, watching his lieutenant bristle at the implication. “He’s clearly intelligent and competent. That’s human enough to be called he. As for whether or not he’d help us, we won’t know ‘til we ask.”

“How do you plan to manage that?” Suki inquired. “He appears to remain well hidden.”

“Catherine Chandler, of course.” Jace looked between them. “I want you two to go pick her up, bring her here. I’ll… convince her to tell me how to find him. And she won’t leave until she does just that.”

Red and Suki peeked at each other, then back at Jace.

“You want us to… go pick up an A.D.A.?” Red’s dubious tone colored his words. “Just like that? How are we supposed to do that?”

“Quietly, of course.” Jace smiled at him. “Get her when she’s alone. You have a cab. Maybe position yourself to pick her up somewhere. Just make sure she’s inside before she knows it’s you.”

“All right.” Red’s expression remained doubtful, but he nodded. “We’ll bring her here. This might take a while.”

“We may not even be able to get her today,” contributed Suki.

“Try.” Jace looked between them, watching them share another brief glance.

“What do we tell her about why we’re bringing her here?” asked Suki.

“Tell her the truth. Tell her I just want to talk.”

“Understood.” Red stood up, noting Suki rising, also. “But it may take all day. We’re gonna need time to do this right.”

“Just don’t take too long. My gut tells me Ms. Chandler may be close to… finding the Subway Slasher. We don’t want that.” He saw understanding light their features before they nodded at him and left his office.

* * *

Halfway through the day, Edie came to see Catherine at her desk.

“You buying lunch?” Edie asked.

“You have news for me?” Catherine took some change from her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, then stood up. “Let’s go.”

Edie led the way to the break room. Catherine held change out to her for the sandwich vending machine, which she inserted one coin at a time into the slots, wryly shaking her head.

“Why is it whenever you’re paying for lunch I wind up here?” Edie cast a sardonic look around the break room.

Catherine smirked, replying, “If you found out about that building, we’ll have lunch at Four Seasons.”

Edie huffed a laugh, collecting her food and putting it in the microwave as she rejoined, “That’s all right. The pleasure of your company and a microwave cheeseburger is more than enough.” She smiled at Catherine, who grinned back, then pressed the buttons on the microwave, giving an exaggerated sigh. “Push-button food, push-button job. Soon as they come out with push-button men,” she gave a quick snap, concluding, “I’m set, babe.” She leaned a shoulder against the cupboard the microwave sat atop and crossed her arms, grinning at Catherine.

Catherine laughed, walking around Edie to the beverage vending machine and purchasing a coffee.

“The place was built in 1887,” Edie stated of the Protectors building. “I can tell you right now, if the city has plans on it, it ain’t in nobody’s computer.” She shook her head, looking over her shoulder at Catherine, who stood leaning against the beverage machine, her attention on Edie.

“Could you find out anything about its history?” inquired Catherine, playing with her change. She collected her coffee as Edie paused, retrieving her food from the microwave.

Edie responded, “It was a seedy rooming house for fifty years before the Protectors turned it into kung fu central.” They took their purchases to the table and sat down. “Originally, it was a cheap hotel… for sailors. Seaman’s Safe Haven.” She unwrapped her burger. “I found mentions in a couple of old newspaper indexes… just the name.” She frowned dismissively, shaking her head, and glancing at Catherine. “Even still, the stories aren’t on computer yet.” She noticed Catherine’s frown of concentration, huffed a laugh, and shook her head. “Don’t look at me, girlfriend. I don’t go looking through those musty old files. You know dust makes my eyes water.”

“Edie,” Catherine smiled, determined, then rose and gently tapped her fist against Edie’s shoulder, “I love you.” She took her coffee and left the break room.

“Hey,” Edie called after her, “who’s going to pay for my dessert?”

Catherine went to Joe’s office, seeing him on the phone through his interior window. He glanced at her, then waved for her to enter. She opened his door and stepped in as he finished his call and hung up.

“Whaddya got, Radcliffe?”

“Edie found out the Protectors headquarters was built in 1887 and there are a few mentions of it in old newspapers. I wanted to let you know I’m going to the archives to see what I can find. This may be the lead we need to show opportunity for Jason Walker.” She smiled, adding, “I just didn’t want you to come out to the main room and wonder where I was.”

He smirked and nodded, then became serious, saying, “Listen, Cathy, you be careful. I don’t trust Walker. If he thinks you’re coming for him, who knows what he’ll try. If he is the slasher, and he attacked a cop…”

“I’ll be careful. If I find something useful, and I have the time, it might be worth it to check public records for the original floor plans.”

“One thing at a time. I’ll be here late tonight, so please come check in, let me know what you find, before you go home for the night.”

“I will. I have a good feeling about this, Joe.”

“I hope it pans out.”

She nodded once, then returned to her desk, gathered her things, and left the building.

* * *

“What do you think of Jace wanting us to bring him Catherine Chandler?” Suki asked Red as they sat in their cab outside the courthouse watching for their prey. Both had removed their white captain’s hats, to be more inconspicuous.

“I think it’s risky. Almost as risky as wanting to meet that… guy Catherine was talking to last night. If he’s right, and she’s found some way to link him to the Slasher’s activities, I think it would be better to quit while we’re ahead. But, he’s the boss. If he thinks this can help or in some way keep protecting innocents, I guess it’s worth a try. What about you?”

“I agree with you on all counts. Who knows? Maybe this guy will see our point and step up helping to keep people safe. It’d be nice if the scum out there feared attacking people enough to stop doing it.”

Red turned his head toward her and saw her lip quiver. He reached over and took her hand. He smiled softly when she looked at him, feeling her grateful squeeze of his fingers.

“Whatever the case,” Suki continued, looking out the windshield again, “as you said, he is the boss.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, then Red pointed toward the doors, saying, “There she is, coming down the steps.”

“I see her. Looks like she’s taking a taxi somewhere.”

They watched Catherine climb into a cab. When it pulled away from the curb, they followed it to the Bennett Historical Library, Journalism Archives department.

“What could she be doing here?” Suki wondered when Catherine left her ride and entered the building.

“Let’s give her a few minutes, then maybe you go see if you can figure that out.”

Red parked where he could see the front door, then Suki got out and made her way inside. A few minutes later, she came back.

“She’s just looking through old newspapers,” Suki said, leaning in the window Red rolled down for her. “I’m going to position myself outside the door. When I see her coming, I’ll signal you to pull up to the curb. I doubt she’ll look for a different cab when one is waiting right there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

Catherine entered the archives building and went to the service desk, where stood a kind-looking gentleman with salt and pepper-colored hair, wearing business casual attire. He smiled as she approached.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“I hope so. I’m researching an old hotel called Seaman’s Safe Haven. I was told there are some news stories about it that I might be able to find in your archives. The stories would be prior to 1935.”

“Oh, ma’am.” He chuckled. “Anything that old, you’ll have to go through the books to find. They won’t be on our computers yet. However, I can tell you which books you’ll need to look through.” He wrote a few notes on a pad of paper, then looked at her. “Come with me.”

He led Catherine to a medium-sized room. Bookshelves, along the walls and free-standing, created aisles around the perimeter. Wheeled carts, holding books on angled shelves, stood scattered around the room. A large, bar-height table, stools pushed under it, occupied the center. Tall filing cabinets played sentry beside the door. A clock hung on the wall near the door.

“You can do your research here,” he informed her. “Wait a moment and I’ll bring you some books to start with.” He left, returning a few minutes later with a book slightly bigger than a full sheet of newspaper and about four inches thick. “Here’s the first one.” He set it on the table before Catherine and smiled. “I figure one at time is probably plenty. I’ll check back and bring you the rest as you need them.”

“Thank you.” Catherine eyed the book, huffed a sigh, and opened it.

The book comprised copies of old newspapers, arranged by date. The first held the most recent articles from the year Catherine gave the attendant. She skimmed the columns of articles, only half reading the titles, keeping cursory track of the time. The attendant checked on her often, bringing more books. A while later, two books awaited perusal on Catherine’s left, one inspected book sat on her right, and one lay open before her. The attendant waited to bring more books but continued checking her progress.

As evening approached, Catherine finished skimming the second book in the stack on her left; still no articles about the building. The attendant brought in another book. Catherine sighed wearily, closed the book she had finished, slid it to the right, and pulled the new book before her. She opened the new book, wondering whatever possessed her to start this venture.

A quarter of the way into this book, Catherine’s search succeeded; she found an article from 1888, the year after the hotel opened, titled, “DREADFUL MURDERS IN SEAMAN’S SAFE HAVEN.” The subtitle declared, “TWENTY SAILORS THOUGHT SLAIN – CULPRITS ESCAPE THROUGH SECRET TUNNELS – BYRNES PROMISES ARRESTS.” A drawing of the hotel front sat between the headline and the article.

“Through secret tunnels!” exclaimed Catherine. She pounded her fist over the article, pulled her notebook and pen from her purse, and noted her findings.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” the attendant asked, coming in only to see her collecting her things.

“I did.” Catherine smiled at him. “Thanks so much for all your help.”

“No problem.” The attendant started collecting the books she had examined.

Catherine made her way outside, approaching a taxi parked beside the curb. The engine started before she reached the door.

“D.A.’s office on 64th,” Catherine told the driver, climbing in the backseat.

A push from behind shoved Catherine across the seat. Suki Hanson sat beside her and Red Thompson drove. Neither wore their white caps, preventing Catherine from quickly identifying them. She reached for the street side door, finding it locked, as Suki grabbed her coat.

“Don’t even think about it, Ms. Chandler,” Red said. “I know you’re good, but you don’t want to go up against the two of us.”

“Just take it easy and nobody’ll get hurt,” Suki said. “Jace just wants to talk.”

Red drove off before Catherine could do anything else.