Chapter 14

As she pulled into the driveway of the small two bedroom Cape Cod she turned the ignition off and sat for a moment going over her mental check list. She had seen to the incineration of the duffle bag and it's contents and had made a deposit to Betty Dixon. At the all night car wash in the next town over she had thoroughly vacuumed the car to removed any traces of Clyde Rogers. There was nothing left to do but take a nice long shower and get a few hours sleep. She was getting super horny. She would have to do something about that after she got up.

Just one more and done. The real one this time.

It amazed her how easy it was to move around unnoticed or at least unremembered. If you dressed as a homeless person or a bag lady no one wanted to look at you. It was like the disfigured or the amputee. People looked away so as not to be faced with the unpleasant realities of their lives. Oh, well. It had worked to her benefit so she shouldn't complain.

And now for that shower.

As he swam to the surface from the deapth of his dream, he had dreamed he was fucking Helen Hopkins as she was brandishing a straight razor screaming she was going to cut his balls off, Chip wondered what the hell all the noise was about. Then he realized it was his phone ringing.

"Hello," he barked. Who is this.

"Get up sunshine."

"Jesus Christ Moses it's not even 9:30 and this is Sunday for Christ sake. I was up late last night."

"And you're probably going to be up later tonight. We have another one."

"Another one what?"

"Another hanging guy. This one over at First Baptist Church."

"Holy shit."

"Yea. Get dressed. I'll pick you up in twenty minutes," Moses said and hung up.

First Baptist was the largest church in the city. It had a thousand and more members. The mayor was a member. The Chief of Police was a member. Half of City Counsel were members. Most of the movers and shakers in the financial and business community were members. And the Governor was a member. It was to say the least a church with clout. Enough that the events of this morning had rousted most of the public servants from their warm beds this fine Sunday morning.

First Baptist took up a city block with another adjacent one half city block for overflow parking. It was surrounded by estate like grounds tended by two full time gardeners. It had a regulation basketball gym where the church league games were played. There was a pastor as well as an assistant pastor, who was paid more than any other pastor in the city. There was a full time director of Sunday School programs. It fronted on but was set back from Augusta Avenue. It had a Latin style cross high over the main entrance that could be seen for several blocks in any direction.

The right reverend Baskerville Jerome Adams had been the minister at First Baptist for twenty-two years. He was a world renowned theologian and well known and respected throughout the religious community in the United States. He was provided with a sumptuous home in the best part of town, two automobiles for his families use, college scholarships for his three children and a princely stipend for his services.

In the early hours as seen through the dim light it appeared to many that Christ had been hung naked upon the cross upside down. Two drunks observing the scene swore off for life. It wasn't until members of the Sunday School staff arrived that the first calls came in. After that it became one constant call. Sally at the 911 Call Center was threatening to quit.

The first uniforms to answer a call both being Catholics pulled over, parked, got out, knelt, cross themselves and prayed. After they had regained their composure they approached to a point below the cross and once they stopped shacking they realized what they had.

As more and more people drove by they stopped and got out of their cars to stand and stare at the sacrilege. As soon as the press got wind of what was going on they went into their usual feeding frenzy and advanced on the church en masse. It was all the uniforms, and there were many, could do to hold back the gathering crowds. It was into this cluster fuck that Moses and Chip arrived.

They had been summoned from their day off by the Chief of Police who had been summoned by the Mayor who had been called by the Governor who had been called by Reverend Adams. Because they were working the other two hanging man cases they were brought in to add this as another challenge to their investigative skills.

When they arrived at the crime scene it was like a three ring circus. There were cops directing traffic some distance from the block where the church was in order to try to divert cars bringing children to Sunday School from the scene. With the aid of three uniforms acting as battering rams they were able to get through the swarm of humanity. An event like this had brought out all the kooks. There were those dressed in sheets with signs advising that the end was near. Others saying that Christ was risen. There were still others saying that the mixing of the races had brought this on. Chip spotted two hookers working the crowd. One going with a guy to his car the other giving a hand job under cover of a raincoat. Moses and he rolled their eyes and proceeded to the front of the church.

When they got there what they saw was a naked man hanging by one leg from the cross over the doorway. With his arms spread the way they were he looked like an inverted cross himself. There was blood that had run down the face of the cross and puddled beneath him on the ground. The whole area was a mess. It was easy to tell the cause of the blood and the incipient cause of death. Another guy with no cock and no balls.

They could hear the distant sirens of a fire brigade and the meat wagon which ment the M.E. was not far behind. How the hell they were going to get the fire boys in here to take the body down was anybody's guess.

"Let's go inside and see what they have in there."

All the lights were on inside and the rheostats turned to high. The forensics guys were working behind the altar where there were several items of mens clothing more or less in a pile.

"Any ID anywhere, Howie?"

"Yea. The wallet has a drivers license of one Clyde A. Rogers, 2324 Hampton Court here in the city. It also contains money and three credit cards. There are business cards for Clyde A. Rogers for Jetson Futuristics with a downtown address."

"Any idea how he or they got in? I don't see any broken windows or doors."

"Yea. One of the guys found a door with a piece of tape over the lock so that when the door closed the lock didn't catch. They bagged it for prints. What do you want to bet it comes up clean. Whoever is doing this is damn good about cleaning everything. Either that or they wear gloves. Look at this area. We know at least one of them was here but it's as if the place has been vacuumed. We are dusting the door where we found the tape and the vestry door because it was open and we are told that it was closed after the last person left yesterday. And the front door of course."

"Thanks Howie," Moses said as he and Chip walked back up the aisle to the outside of the church. As they got there Annie was coming up the walk.

"Well, I see you two got a special invite as well. John called me this morning at home and told me to get my ass over here since I had caught the other two "balless wonders" as he called them. I can't do anything until the fire boys get him down. They were trying to get their equipment off the truck and through the crowd as I came in."

As the three of them were talking Chip's cellphone rang. "Who the hell could that be he said looking at the number. Excuse me while I take this," he said as he walked away to a quieter area as he answered the call.

When he came he had a look of amazment on his face. "What's up Chip," asked Moses.

"That was Helen Hopkins! Can you believe it. She was calling from this area code on a pay phone. I could tell from the number."

"Yea, but that could be anywhere in this part of the state."

"Yes it could. But it puts her close enough to have done this and driven from the area to where she is."

"What the hell did she call for?"

"She said she heard from her mother that we were anxious to talk to her and that she was going to see her lawyer tomorrow and that she would call us again after that either tomorrow or the next day. Then she hung up."

"Well damn. What do you think?"

"Hell I don't know what to think."

They moved aside so the fire boys could get in and get the body down.

"We all know the cause of death but is there anything else you can tell us Annie?"

"Nothing you don't already know. But I've been told to get right on this and stick with it until our office has done everything possible to give you guys what you need. And to do it today. So, we will get our stuff to you ASAP. How's that for service."

"Sounds good Annie. Chip and I are going back to the squad and see what we can put together. Just give us a call when you have everything ready and we'll send someone to pick it up. Forensics has been given the same kind of order as you so we might have it all together today. Thanks Annie."

"Chip can I see you for a minute?"