TWENTY-THREE

Sam, wake up. Come on, Sammy.”

Sam opened his eyes to see his brother standing over him. Tom’s face was sheet white, his eyes wet, his expression one of total disbelief.

“What?” Sam sat up. “What’s happened?”

“Vic’s on the phone. It was Drew he went after.” Tears rolled down Tom’s face. “He got Drew.”

“Who got-” Sam’s heart stopped in his body as the meaning of his brother’s words became clear. “Where’s the phone? Is he still on the phone?”

Sam jumped out of the bed, grabbed a pair of cutoffs on his way to the door, and struggled to get them pulled up as he made his way downstairs. The phone lay atop the kitchen table, and he picked it up.

“Vic? You there?”

On the other end of the line, Vic was sobbing. “They found Drew, man. Sliced up like… I don’t know what like. Like that last guy over in Henderson Falls. He’s dead, man. Drew is dead…”

“Where is he, Vic? Where’d they take him, do you know?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“Where’d it happen?”

“I don’t know, man. All I know is that Drew is dead…”

County Memorial Hospital was the most likely place, Sam told Luke when he asked the agent to accompany him. For the second time in only a few days, Sam was on his way back to Henderson Falls.

“I don’t think you should be going off the farm,” Luke had said at first. “It’s one and done now for our killer. He only has to get to you, and then he’s finished with whatever twisted thing he’s got going on.”

“I’ve known Drew since we were four years old. We did everything together back in school. Played on the same teams, took all the same courses.” Sam smiled sadly. “Even went for the same girls. I’m responsible for his death. I have to go.”

“I understand why you want to go, and yeah, I’d do the same thing. But as far as being responsible for his death”-Luke shook his head-“that’s all on the killer. It’s not on you.”

Sam drove silently.

“Sam, you know what I’m saying is true.”

“What I know is that this guy is killing innocent people because of some grudge he has against me. What I know is that if I hadn’t come back here, Drew would still be alive. What I know is that I am mightily pissed off.”

“Pissed off is good. Pissed off requires action. Feeling guilty over something that you had no control over just means you’ve let the guy have control over you that he isn’t entitled to. Don’t give him that power, Sam. Keep the guilt focused on the killer. Don’t let him hand it off to you.”

Too frustrated, too angry, too emotional to continue the conversation, Sam turned the radio on softly. He could think of nothing else to say.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sam told Luke, “Get your badge out. They’re going to want to see something, and I don’t have anything to show them.”

“We’re looking for the medical examiner’s office,” Luke said at the information desk in the lobby.

“You mean Dr. Jensen?” the man behind the desk asked.

“Jensen’s the pathologist?” Sam asked.

The man nodded. “Downstairs, fourth door from the elevator.”

“Why the pathologist?” Luke asked as they waited in the lobby for the next elevator.

“Because he does the autopsies. In Nebraska, the county attorney is the coroner. He can investigate deaths and sign the death certificates.”

“Your county attorneys are also doctors?”

“No, but they are coroners, and that’s where we get into problems sometimes.” Sam looked around for an exit sign and found one. “Let’s take the steps. The elevators here have been slow since the day they were installed.”

“I feel as if I’m missing something. Go back to the part about the pathologist doing the autopsies?”

“Autopsies are only required in this state in cases of sudden, unexpected deaths involving young children.”

“But how do they establish cause of death if no autopsy is performed?”

“Sometimes they don’t. Nebraska has traditionally ranked high in number of deaths recorded as ‘undetermined’ cause.”

Luke was still frowning when they reached the stairwell.

“Yeah, I know. Fortunately, some of the doctors who do perform autopsies have taken classes in forensics. Dr. Jensen has the reputation of being one of the best in this part of the state.”

An orderly wandering the basement hall directed them to Dr. Jensen’s office. His assistant permitted them to wait in one of the autopsy rooms while Dr. Jensen was located.

“Haven’t done that one yet,” the doctor told them when he came into the room. “Will probably take a look at him later, but I don’t see the rush. The cause of death is obvious.”

“I think if you take a closer look, you’ll find he was strangled,” Sam said.

The doctor’s eyebrows rose. “He was stabbed, must have been fifteen, twenty times.”

“Postmortem wounds.”

“How do you know this?”

“We’ve been studying this killer for a while now.”

Dr. Jensen nodded. “All right. Leave your number,” he told Luke, “and I’ll give you a call as soon as I’m finished.”

“May I see him?” Sam asked before the doctor could leave the room.

“Why would you want to do that?”

“He was my friend.” Sam didn’t trust his voice to say more.

The doctor turned to his assistant and said, “Pat, take these gentlemen back to room one. But just for a moment. I may start that one a little sooner than I’d planned.”

Sam had tried his best to remain objective, to see the crime but not to dwell on the fact that this victim was a man he’d known all his life, one he’d called friend for as long as he could remember. If nothing else, seeing Drew on the table would fuel his anger at this unknown killer. Drew had been a good man, from all accounts a good father, a good husband. Why he had been targeted…

Oh, of course Sam knew why. Because the killer couldn’t get to Tom and was happy to hurt him in any way he could.

Jensen’s assistant opened the drawer and pulled out the shelf upon which Drew’s body lay. Sam had to remind himself that his old friend was no longer there, that he’d gone on to someplace beyond this existence, but found it hard to believe when the features were familiar ones.

“Where are the clothes he was wearing when he was found?” Sam asked.

The assistant shrugged. “I didn’t see any clothes. He came in just like that.”

“The police must have kept them,” Luke said. “They’re probably processing them right now.”

Sam cast a dubious glance in Luke’s direction but said nothing. With a heavy heart, he turned from the body and nodded to the young assistant. “Thanks. We can find our way out.”

As soon as they passed through the hospital doors, Sam took his phone from his pocket and had just started to dial Chief Dean Worth’s number when he saw the patrol car pull into the lot. He returned the phone to his pocket and met the chief halfway.

“Sam.” The chief shook his head. “You weren’t kidding about this guy, were you?”

Sam shook his head. “No. I wasn’t kidding.”

“Damned shame about young Novak. Damned shame. I’m on my way in to see him now. Want to make sure he’s cleaned up before his folks come over.”

“Chief, who found him?”

“The guy who opens up Jackson’s over there found him propped up against the back door when he got there this morning.”

“Jackson’s?”

“Clothing store over there on Prairie Avenue.”

“I’m assuming you took his clothes, whatever he had with him at the time, and had it all processed,” Sam said. “Could we get copies of your reports once they’re ready?”

“I had one of our techs go over the body earlier to see if we could pick up any hair or fibers that we can’t otherwise explain, but Drew wasn’t wearing any clothes.” Worth shook his head. “Nope. Naked as a jaybird when we found him.”

It took a second, but Sam got it. Clothe the naked.

Six down, one act left. And that one, he was certain, was being saved for him.