Helen remembered that bit of scripture too. “Proverbs again.”
And lastly:
Remember the Great Bear of the north.
“Don’t tell me,” Beck challenged. “You know that one too?”
“It’s a reference to Revelations—or I should say The Revelation of…St. John the Divine.”
“That’s uncanny. The same name of the hospital.”
“Yeah. But I don’t get the rest. Bible scholars have always referred to ‘The Great Bear of the north’ as a reference to Russia.”
Beck’s eyes drew wide with Helen’s. “Or maybe Dahmer isn’t referring to Russia at all—”
“North,” Helen whispered to herself. “The Great Bear of the north.”
“As in—”
“Matthew North.”
««—»»
So they were playing with her now—Dahmer and Campbell. Having a good laugh at her desperate plight.
Sons of bitches, Helen thought.
Matthew North was a prostitute, and so was Paone, the decedent. Both being in the trade of male prostitution, maybe they new each other. And the Bible reference—The Great Bear of the north—only completed the suspicion.
They’re dropping clues so easy it’s almost insulting, she reckoned behind the wheel of her Taurus.
It was night now—early evening. Winter bled the days quickly, like a vampire.
At a traffic light, she dialed Central Commo. “This is Helen Closs, Captain, Violent Crimes Unit. Get me the shift dispatcher.”
“Captain Closs. I’m Sergeant McGinnis, Central Commo Watch Captain tonight.”
“Sergeant, several days ago I—”
“Activated a one-way DF transponder, yes ma’am. We’ve been all over it here like stink on—- Like white on rice.”
“I need to know—”
Again, McGinnis interrupted. “Your search orders, ma’am, were for notification via a repeated-point-grid.”
“Gimme a break, Sergeant!”
“What I mean, Captain, is your orders indicated a notification call only if the subject’s vehicle traveled to the same location twice.”
Helen’s spirit’s lowered. “So I guess that hasn’t happened, huh?”
“No, ma’am, it hasn’t. If it had, we would’ve contacted you ASAP, as per your orders. We follow orders here at Central Commo.”
“I’m sure you do, Sergeant.” Suddenly she wanted a cigarette, an impulse dead for over a year. And a drink wouldn’t be bad now either. I’ll be a bar hound like Nick.
“Is there anything I can do for you, ma’am? I’ve got six duty personnel sitting here right now, and a couple million dollars’ worth of transmission equipment. We’re ready to roll on your command. Any previous grid-points you want, I’ll feed them to you right down to the sub-plats, the addresses—shit, Captain, with my DF board I can tell you which lane the guy’s in. I’ll tell you which side of the street he parks on, I’ll tell you when he changes lanes. If he stops at Dunkin’ Donuts to buy a French Twist, I’ll be able to tell you that, ’cos the guy’s on my board, and my board never makes mistakes.”
Helen almost laughed at the man’s sense of duty. “I appreciate your endeavors, Sergeant, but I need to talk to the owner of the subject vehicle right now. I have his address, I guess I’ll just drive there and see if he’s in.”
“But that’s what I mean, Captain,” McGinnis sounded off. “The owner of the subject vehicle is not at the logged address-plat. He’s on the road right now. He’s moving.”
“He’s in his car now, you mean?”
“Yes, ma’am. I sitting here watching the blip move as we speak.”
“Can you…” Helen paused. She wasn’t sure of the DF crew’s capabilities. She’d never had to use it very thoroughly before. “I’m on the road now, too, Sergeant. Is it possible for you to point me in the right direction of the DF subject’s vehicle?”
McGinnis laughed over the line. “Captain Closs, if you’ve got a lead foot, I can drive you right up his back bumper.”
“Okay, Sergeant. Do that. Right now I’m on DeMonter Boulevard. Where’s he?”
“Rowe Boulevard, heading—”
Shit! “I’m half a block from the Rowe turnoff. Which way do I turn?”
“North, ma’am.”
North, she thought. It was an evening of amalgams. The Great Bear of the north. North on Rowe Boulevard. All the while, chasing down a man named North.
“I’m there, Sergeant, heading north.” It was difficult to drive with the car phone crimped under her chin. “What’s he doing now?”
“Heading north, still north, ma’am. Just follow my lead and I’ll have you pulling up right behind him.”
Seconds ticked by. She thought she might’ve lost the connection. “Sergeant, you still there?”
“I’m still here, ma’am, and… He’s turning. He’s turning left on…””
“On what, Sergeant!”
“He just turned left on Chambers, ma’am. Take a left on Chambers. And…keep your eyes open for his vehicle, because he just parked.”
“Good job, Sergeant. Thank you for your expertise. I can take it from here,” she said, turning left on Chambers herself.
“Call me back if you need a pinpoint, a plat-grid. I’ll probably be able to give you the exact address.”
“Thank you,” she said, her chin crimping the phone to the point of ludicrousness. “I know his make and model. I’ll be able to see it on the street.”
Helen hung up, a kink in her neck. Chambers Road. Wait a minute, she thought. Chambers Road intersected Taylor Avenue, and Taylor Avenue was where—
That’s where…Tom lives.
It was too coincidental, wasn’t it? There was no way. Nevertheless, she sped down Chambers until she saw North’s Gold Dodge Colt. Parked precisely at the corner.
The corner of Taylor.
I do not believe this!
Helen pulled up and parked directly behind the Colt. Then she got out and walked to the corner. A hundred feet away was the entrance to Tom’s condo building.
No, no, no, she thought in grueling slowness as her heels ticked down the sidewalk. Just last week she’d seen Tom kissing a male lover on the steps of the entrance. And now—
Helen stopped stock-still.
A scene repeated in part. There he was, Tom, standing at the entrance, with Matthew North.
Helen viewed the entrance as if through gauze. No, Tom and North weren’t kissing. They were conversing, Tom with his hands in his pockets, North standing with a hip cocked, listening.
“Hey!” she shouted. Her frozen breath gusted outward.
Tom turned, a flabbergasted look on his face. North’s face, however, looked like the face of a kid caught shop-lifting.
Tom: “Helen, what are you—”
North stalked off. Under his breath, he muttered “Shit.”
“Shit is right, buddy!” Helen close to screeched. “And that’s what you’ll be in a world of if you don’t stop right there!”
North had tracked halfway across the front lot before he frowned, stopped, and turned. “What?” he asked, splaying his hands.
“What?” Helen was incredulous. “I just got the DA to drop charges on you, and this is how you repay me?”
North jerked his head, shot back a lock of dark hair. “Look, lady, I gotta eat, ya know? It’s a tough world, and, yeah, I got found another service to work for. But it’s just until I can get a legit job, I swear.”