CHAPTER 23
What Dan had forgotten was that Slate, the one who had adopted the original Andrew Slate’s identity, wasn’t a choir boy. His run in with the law before he changed his name and identity gave him access to a criminal underground grapevine that functioned wherever he went. It was not that difficult for him to devise a way to get the license plate of the supposed drunken driver’s car that had spoiled his stalk that night. A short time later a mysterious enveloped arrived in his mailbox which contained a copy of Dan’s driver’s license. Slate immediately saw that it was the picture of the same man who had attacked him in his home and the one the police had asked about when they stopped by and showed him the photo in their robbery investigation. He had denied having any knowledge about the man to them and had said he injured his leg when he slipped on a wet kitchen floor. He wanted the opportunity to confront Dan himself.
It had now been some time since his last stalk and kill, and the murderous rage was starting to build up inside him. What better way to release his tensions than to commit a murder right under the eyes of the police and to have their help in removing the body. Although he’d be unable to use his favorite instrument to do the act, he’d still be able to satisfy that inner voice that compelled him to kill.
There was no way that Slate was going to be wandering all over town trying to find Dan in an unguarded moment, not with this game leg. Second, he knew that in his fight with Dan in the hallway, they were both fairly evenly matched, so a physical confrontation was out as well. Unlike Dan who had a moral steak within him, Slate wasn’t bothered by such an inconvenience, so his mind was able to explore all areas to catch his prey. The answer was simple: bring Dan to him.
Since the police were already looking for a burglary suspect, finding Dan’s body in Slate’s house wouldn’t be a problem. All Andrew had to say was that the burglar returned, Slate had to use excessive force to defend himself because of his injured leg, and society would cart the body from the premises for him; he might even get a medal if he played his cards right. Even if the cops found Dan to be innocent, Slate could say he didn’t know; and in the excitement in the darkness of the house, no one would blame him.
A check on the social networking sites brought Slate all the information that he needed about Dan, more than enough to formulate a plan. Since he now suspected that Dan wasn’t at that stalking scene by accident but was either trying to warn the potential victim or was following Slate himself, then that meant that Dan knew something about Slate’s activities. Andrew also started to add up small things that he had noticed but hadn’t paid much attention to in the past. The black van that used to park down the street in the same spot every day was no longer there following his accident. Was it because somebody knew he wouldn’t be going outside any more? The key under the flower pot near the back door had been moved, and there were no jimmy marks on the lock meaning that Dan had used the key to gain entrance the night he was attacked. It wasn’t just a random break in. How did he know where it was? Why wasn’t anything taken during the pretend robbery? It seemed that the only reason the two men had was to injure Andrew, and they focused on the leg meaning they wanted him to have to remain cooped up in the house. That’s when he became suspicious that if he was being followed, was there electronic surveillance equipment being used inside the house? He’d watched enough television spy shows to know that cameras and microphones could be easily planted; the trick was how to find them without letting the people watching know.
Andrew had seen the Will Smith movie Enemy of the State where the hero was bugged every possible way. In his paranoia, Andrew began to think that maybe that was happening to him as well. In the film, Smith uses the surveillance to his own advantage; and Andrew decided he would do the same.
Slate started to analyze the situation and tried to guess just when all of this came about. If Dan had been working for the police, then he’d already accumulated enough evidence to have Slate arrested on murder charges; so scratch that he was working with or for the cops. What other reason could there be to keep tabs on somebody? National Defense? No, Andrew knew he had absolutely no ties to any government secrets. Suspicion of a crime? Andrew’s only crimes were murder and he had already ruled that possibility out. Jealous husband and divorce proceedings? That, too, could be ruled out since he hadn’t had a relationship in over a year, and that one wasn’t serious nor with a married woman. The mob? Andrew had no links to organized crime. There didn’t seem to be a reason for the surveillance that really mattered.
Puzzled about the reason, Slate decided to try a new tact: discover the cameras or microphones without making it look too obvious. As he stumbled around the house pretending to get things, Slate focused his attention on any place where a camera might be hidden. Within five minutes, he gave up. Knowing that modern technology had made the new cameras as small as a button, that is if current TV shows could be believed, he quickly realized there were thousands of places where a tiny object could be hidden successfully. Looking for these devices wasn’t the answer. That left only one sure way to lure Dan to him: tell him he knew he was being watched.
Since Slate needed Dan to show up at night to advance the burglary story, he decided to wait until late evening to spring his message. In the meanwhile, he knew he had to devise a weapon that would look natural to the police. It had to be something a person would find in an instant, but he also wanted it to be able to deliver a fatal blow. Since Slate wanted the body to be discovered in his bedroom and since he knew the murder had to be committed right there because he didn’t have the strength to haul a body around in his condition, it had to be an object that would seem natural in such a location. A knife was out of the question as was a gun, since he didn’t own one any way. If he was being watched, then bringing a foreign object into the bedroom would alert Dan in advance. He couldn’t swing a baseball bat with enough force to do the job because he couldn’t pivot on his leg, and a hammer might appear to be too convenient to some sharp detective. As he tried to recall what was already in the bedroom, he finally settled on the letter opener on the desk in the corner. While it wasn’t sharp, it was pointy, long, and strong enough to kill a man; plus, it was something that would be naturally found on the desk.
No comments:
Post a Comment