The Devil's Deal, page 10
part #3 of Deadly Deception Series
“Has he behaved strangely? I mean stranger than usual, like he was absent, or maybe experienced mood swings, anything that can be traced back to some sort of mental illness or a burnout?” Jonas asked.
“Mental illness? No, of course, not, but he was quite restless like…” she tried to find the words to explain Giorgi’s behavior.
“Like someone was after him?” Jonas proposed.
She remained silent for a moment, understanding where Jonas was heading with that sentence. “Do you think that he found out who the killer was and this one threatened him? Maybe even was blackmailing him?”
“That is one option, but we do not have any evidence about it, so don’t take it too seriously. We are trying to form a hypothesis before we can even get close to the reality,” Justin explained trying to ease her mind.
“It is not that I am taking it too seriously, but it might fit within the puzzle. Follow me and see if I am wrong. Giorgi investigated the murder of an escort that was attacked in a hotel, the perfect scapegoat was found as Ethan Jackson was the last person to see her alive. After a long examination of the evidence, nothing conclusive came out of it, except that for sure he wasn’t the killer,” she started to explain. “Now, the guy who killed the prostitute, knew that nothing was over and soon the Police would have found something that would lead back to him. Just for a moment, think about someone who is in a position that cannot afford being charged with murder. Some politician or a public figure, or perhaps a member of a criminal organization that doesn’t need any additional publicity shed on them. Would this person use his influence to ‘convince’ Giorgi to give up the case?”
“I’ve got a question for you, why did you decide to become a lawyer? I would kill to have you in my Department,” Jonas smirked.
“So, you also think that this is a feasible theory?” she replied excitedly.
“I am not sure, but surely it makes sense,” Justin said taking out his agenda. “Let’s write down all the possible theories we might come up with. We’d better look at them in a couple of days to understand whether we have been carried away by the excitement to find a possible solution to this mystery or not.”
Justin stood up from the couch and went to take a seat in a chair at the dining table, to be more comfortable writing.
He started to write down notes about what they had been discussed so far, including the first hypothesis of Giorgi having stepped over something bigger than himself.
He then glanced at Janet and Jonas, who remained silent, trying to figure out another possibility.
“I am wondering whether we might also consider the chance that Giorgi realized that his search was fruitless, and to avoid admitting that he decided to quit, he made up an order coming from his supervisor. Giorgi is a very proud person; he would never admit defeat on a case. For this reason, I might also think that he gave up. He found himself at a dead end from which there wasn’t any decent way out, at least not without feeling the shame of failure,” Jonas replied, standing up and starting to walk around the room.
Justin continued to take notes, trying to add every single detail.
“I have to agree this could also be a possibility. I know Giorgi would try everything to show that it wasn’t his fault if he didn’t achieve the result he aimed at,” added Janet.
“What if the Lieutenant lied to us and it was he who killed the prostitute?” Justin challenged continuing writing.
“Why? Being a Lieutenant, he would have had the chance to drop all the investigations from the start. He would have been the one to arrive and get the ball rolling on the case. Why let an officer like Giorgi start the case if he was the murderer?” Janet shook her head, finding the hypothesis implausible.
“What if it was an accident? What if he wanted to have sex with the girl and he killed accidentally?” pursued Justin.
“Then there wouldn’t be even a case!” Jonas exclaimed.
“Oh, you bet there would. Think about the main titles of the newspapers; think about his career, his personal life… Think about the consequences of an accident that involves a prostitute, the Lieutenant of the Police and a murder. This is a sort of scandal that, at least in the States, you always hope to avoid, if you want to live in peace,” Justin insisted. “I have no idea how it works here in Georgia, but don’t tell me that it would have been easy and there wouldn’t be any case.”
Janet and Jonas glanced at each other and had to admit that Justin had a point.
“Hmmm… write it down, we will analyze it in a couple of days, and if it still makes sense, we might think of also moving in that direction,” replied Jonas.
“Hold on, what do you mean moving in that direction?” Janet wondered. “Do I need to remind you that you are out of your jurisdiction? You cannot start an investigation, not officially or unofficially for that matter.”
“We are not going to open a case, don’t you worry,” explained Jonas. “What I meant is that we might use this information to get something out of Giorgi. I want to solve the situation with my cousin, I’m not interested in finding the murderer. As far as I am concerned, I have enough crimes waiting for me back home to get involved in this one.”
Although this case is starting to be so interesting that perhaps I will indeed move in the direction of reopening the case and investigating it. I know I am out of my jurisdiction, but we are talking about the involvement of a citizen who belongs in my jurisdiction, so in theory, this case concerns me, Jonas thought
“What if instead, it was the American tourist who was the killer?” Justin postulated.
“No!” Janet exclaimed. “He wasn’t involved, and that is a fact that has been extensively proven already, forget about that path.”
She stood up, trying to make her point, “we have analyzed the DNA, the traces of the shoe prints in the restroom, those of the possible assassin, who dragged the body of the poor girl from the restroom to the storage room. The only evidence was that Mr. Jackson had sex with her, he left the restroom, and probably she remained there to fix her makeup. One thing that I recall now about the investigation is that we concluded that there was another man in the restroom, who must have waited for Ethan to leave. When he was alone, he probably killed her,” she started to remember. “I need to check the dossier once again, but I think that there were some signs of a fight like she started to defend herself. We need to get this material if we want to have a better chance to understand…”
She paused a bit looking at them, “Oh no! I know what you are trying to do here, you are not even by chance going to see that dossier. Just trust me when I say that Ethan Jackson is innocent.”
“And so is the Lieutenant, with all probability. If it was an accident as we thought before, why he was hiding in the restroom of the hotel?” Justin said as he started to get really interested in the case.
Jonas shook his head, “Janet, you are right, we are going too far. We are not here to investigate the case, but to understand whether there is something behind Giorgi’s sudden change of mind. Now we know that it wasn’t an order coming directly from his supervisor, so there must be something else. Nevertheless, for how enthralling this case might be, we’d better at this point ask Giorgi directly, because this is only about him. Let’s not lose sight of this.”
“You are right, and besides, I am no longer even working in your Department, so I should be left out of this entire discussion,” considered Justin. “However, if you want a suggestion as a friend, you should think about getting in touch with Ethan Jackson. Not only him, but I’d also suggest you get in touch with every patient Dr. Wright has had in treatment ever since the murder occurred. I might be wrong, but there is something strange. Whether there is a whole organization aiming to discredit Dr. Wright’s reputation just to get their hands on the results of the research, or if that’s not the case, we need to understand if the murder and the missing people are connected.”
“Do you think that there is an organization that is targeting Dr. Wright, by killing prostitutes in other countries?” puzzled Jonas. “I don’t get it.”
“The prostitute in question was connected with one of the patients of Dr. Wright during his therapy. He was accused of her murder,” Janet pointed out.
“Exactly,” exclaimed Justin. “I guess that this is mostly a case that involves our Department rather than Giorgi or the Tbilisi Police. It might be that the choice of the country was just casual.”
“So, this starts more and more becoming a case concerning the US…” mumbled Jonas.
“We need to talk to Giorgi, at this point we cannot keep this hypothesis to ourselves any longer,” proposed Janet, grabbing her phone ready to call Giorgi.
“Wait,” urged Jonas. “Don’t call him right now, I will talk to him when the time is right, I need to figure out a way to bring the topic up in conversation. We cannot tell him right now that we called Lieutenant Sabari to inquire about his strange behavior.”
“Hmmm… perhaps you’re right. I think we all started to get too excited about this situation,” she giggled amused.
Justin finished writing his notes, and then glanced the clock. “Wow, it’s getting late, look at that, it is already ten to nine! How about going out for dinner? I’m starting to get hungry.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m also feeling a bit hungry,” admitted Jonas. “Where are we going to eat?”
“I think I will just eat something quick here and go straight to sleep,” replied Janet yawning. “Tomorrow I have to go to work, and I need to get up early.”
“I will take a couple of days to observe him, and as soon as I pinpoint the right time for a chat, I will talk to him,” Jonas reassured. “I will keep you informed of any updates. Also, I will start thinking of a way to open a case on Dr. Wright’s possible enemies or rivals without drawing a lot of attention.”
“Take care and good night,” Justin said over his shoulder as they started to walk towards the door.
“Thank you and good night to you too!” She greeted back.
As soon as she was alone in her apartment, she started to think about the chat they just had, and things started to be more muddled in her mind. She wasn’t sure that it was a good idea talking to Jonas and Justin.
“I should have imagined that they would have started to get too interested in the case and wanted to know more than is typically allowed to a foreigner,” she said aloud as she walked to the kitchen. “I am wondering whether they will be able to open a case in their country and whether it would be better to have the two countries involved in solving the case…”
She opened the fridge hoping to find some leftovers to warm up, “I really don’t have any desire of cooking dinner,” she whispered as she searched the fridge. She grabbed a Tupperware container and peeked inside, “Hmm… yesterday’s fish, better than nothing,” she shook her head, placing the box in the microwave.
“What do you think about this case?” Justin asked as they were walking the streets, looking for a nice place to have dinner.
“What do you mean?” Jonas wondered.
“I mean are you really intending to open a new case about what happened to Ethan Jackson? What would your reasoning be behind it?”
“I am wondering, first of all, whether I will be able to get in touch with any of the other patients, we might need another warrant to get our hands on his archives,” Jonas sighed.
“You didn’t answer my question,” insisted Justin. “Getting a warrant won’t be difficult, the problem is to find a feasible reason to ask for it. Last time, there was the case of Carolina Lynn, but she is not missing any longer.”
Jonas stopped walking for a moment like he got petrified or stricken by the most enlightening idea. “You know what? I am now reconsidering what you had said before about the fact that none of us has seen Mrs. Lynn, not even her sister,” Jonas said suddenly turning his gaze to Justin.
“Well, she spoke to her on the phone... Are you trying to say that Carolina never called her sister and perhaps she is involved in her disappearance?”
“No, most likely she really had a talk with her sister, before she was killed.”
“What?” Justin yelled, “We do not have any proof that she is dead.”
“I might be overreacting on this one, but it might be just enough information to reopen the missing person's case of Carolina Lynn. In this way we can have access to Dr. Wright’s archive, including the personal records of his patients,” Jonas explained.
“Now I can see what you are aiming to do,” replied Justin lightly nodding. “That might be a great idea, so we can finally also have a chat with all the other people who were involved in the therapy with her, including those who had dropped out of the program,” Justin exclaimed with a bright smile on his face.
“Indeed, and we can get access to all his patients.”
“Well now for sure we need to talk to Giorgi, but first things first, I am starving,” declared Justin entering the first restaurant he found on their way.
Chapter 7.
For the first time in his life, Dr. Wright could not tell whether there had been any holiday, nor when it started and finished. What he could tell was that finally, the small resort was ready for the therapy and in just a couple of days, Mr. Mendoza would arrive, Dr. Wright considered taking a final walkthrough of the facility, checking the modifications that were made to the surveillance camera and alarm system, and the preparation for the details of the murder.
“Something I haven’t asked about yet is the identity of the victim. I am glad I do not have to take care of that choice, and with the new implementation on the hypnotic routine, I will never have to step in to finish the victim,” He said loudly, as he reached the hall where the small desk for the reception was located.
Suddenly a noise coming from the outside attracted his attention, and as he turned his gaze to see from where it came from, he noticed Gabriel’s car parking in the yard in front of the entrance.
He was surprised to see him coming, more than anyone else, he was expecting to see Prof. Doyle. Dr. Wright followed Gabriel with his eyes, almost keeping his breath.
“Good afternoon Dr. Wright,” greeted Gabriel. “I have to deduce from your expression that you weren’t waiting for me. Am I interrupting something?”
“You are not interrupting anything,” Dr. Wright assured. “Although, I wasn’t expecting to see you any time soon. To be honest, I was sure I wouldn’t have seen you again, after the last therapy test, Mr. Mendez.”
“I just came to make sure that everything is ready for the therapy to start,” he said looking around the interior of the building. “I also wanted you to feel reassured that we do have a victim. I don’t know her name, but she is a young prostitute, and I believe she ran away from home a long time ago, so there won’t be many people searching for her. Besides, the murder of a prostitute is something that doesn’t draw any attention.”
“This was exactly what we thought when we chose the prostitute in Georgia…” Dr. Wright reminded him, suggesting that even in that case they should have been extra careful with concealing the corpse once the murder was perpetrated.
Gabriel ignored what he said, and started to walk towards the lobby; Dr. Wright followed him, without any intention to say anything.
“Nice place!” Gabriel observed, looking around at every detail of the building. “Can you show me around?”
“Sure,” Dr. Wright replied briefly, “follow me.”
Dr. Wright started to walk towards the rooms set up to host the patient, Prof. Doyle, and himself. Then he showed him the room that was converted into a lab and another that would serve as his personal office, where he could analyze the progress not just of his patient but also of the plan.
“We also have a nice meeting room where we can meet and discuss the progress and plan eventual changes. Since it is located between my office and Prof. Doyle’s lab, it would be the perfect location also for those days when our client will call us.” Dr. Wright explained.
“I think you have chosen the best location, just like last time,” Gabriel considered, quite impressed with the choice.
“Yes, the location seems perfect and since the fishing season hasn’t opened yet, we won’t have prying eyes lurking around the property.”
“I do not have much to say, and I hope that this is the last connection I will ever have with the murder,” said Gabriel with a sigh.
“Who is going to bring the victim here?” Dr. Wright wondered.
“I guess Mr. M. can figure out this small detail. Otherwise, I guess that would be my duty, and then I will move away from this country, just to be sure that my involvement will be over.”
“I understand your feeling, and if I were you, I would probably think the same. I really hope we will reach the final formulation without any accidents on our way. I got as scared as hell last time when Officer Sheen suddenly appeared in the hotel inquiring about a missing person,” Dr. Wright admitted.
Gabriel nodded, “Well, I think I will leave you be for now; although, it seems like there isn’t much of anything left to do but wait for when the test will start.”
“Good luck,” wished Dr. Wright, mostly talking to himself.
Gabriel didn’t reply, he just left waving his hand as he walked to his car.
Dr. Wright remained looking at him driving away until it was no longer possible for his eyes to follow the car, then, with a sigh, he resumed his walk to the office, where he went through the notes he’d been collecting so far during the previous sessions.
The therapy itself was going to be a success that was out of the question, his biggest dilemma was whether Mr. Mendoza would have remembered anything about the murder.
Dr. Wright stood up and started to pace around the room, this always helped him to focus and think better than sitting down the desk. “All the models we have ran on the computer and the trial have been tested with other patients, and very small details have worked perfectly. Nevertheless, one thing is causing the brain to erase small details or memories, another is to force it to erase a murder committed the evening before. So far, whenever we didn’t push with speed of the test timeframe, we never had problems, if we exclude the small exception of Laura Jefferson…”
