Chapter Fifteen

They left the hospital and headed back to the house, once again trying to put all the pieces they had together.

First, they knew the real Harold Gleason had died. But Angela had discovered that after a deep dig, so if Dr. Forbes had decided there was no way he was hiring such an aggressive and obnoxious individual, it might not have been discovered when his job application was checked. He had to be traveling with an American passport that was a damned good forgery.

Whoever he was, he was changing his appearance at will. So...

Had she met him at the bar the night before? Had she been his personal target? If she hadn't gone racing after Jordan, might he have tried to lure her out to the darkness?

She sat at the table with Daniel and Luke as they tried to determine their next moves.

"We do have people looking for the car," Daniel said.

"Right. And thanks to the security tape, we know the car—if not the man in it—belongs in a certain enclosed community," Luke commented.

"Should we—" Daniel began.

"Go door to door and ask people if they own the car?" Carly queried. "Is that within the law?"

"Just knocking on a door and asking a question is," Daniel said.

"But if the car isn't visible, we'd need a warrant to ask what kind of vehicle was being kept in a garage," Luke said. "And, of course, these people will lie."

"And we're getting nowhere with the phones we've taken from the Burke and Hare ground crew, right?" Daniel asked.

"The only real connection we have there is Lily Connoly. And while Campbell and MacDuff have managed to keep her in custody, she does have a solicitor. She's now claiming that she merely found a number for a man who would supply connections for sex workers," Luke said. "We have no proof she was corresponding with someone who is chopping people up."

"It's the world over," Daniel commented dryly. "The technological age allows us so much, great possibilities on facial recognition, DNA, fingerprints. And then when you have a burner phone, you're just at a dead end."

"They're still trying to determine where all the burner phones were purchased," Luke said. He looked at Carly and said, "I think I may take another go at Lily Connoly, even with her solicitor present. There has to be a way to crack her. And something Keith MacDonald said may help me with that. Lily is mean, stubborn, deceitful and so much more. But she also has pride and a sense of superiority. I may work on that."

"All right," Carly said. "And I may work on this Rusty Teller person and try to use some of the tech Daniel is talking about."

"No moves without telling me what is going on," Luke warned her. "Lily knows something—we must find out what it is. I'll be at the station."

Daniel nodded. "I'll go with—"

"No, it's daytime and I'm heading straight into the station. MacDuff and Campbell are there, stay with Carly."

Carly laughed softly. "Luke, we're in a house that has the most sensitive alarms known to man."

"Right. But you won't stay here—I know you. So, the two of you stick together," he said.

She had her phone out even as she watched him go. Daniel watched her in turn as she called Angela and told her about the orderly, Rusty Teller.

"I saw him, along with other people, the first time I went to the hospital. But when we talked to him today about Dorothy Norman, I just thought his supposed emotion was over the top. We can't go by death threats. Apparently, people working with her respected her for what she did, but they also hated her."

"All right. Rusty Teller. On it. We're still trying to figure out who might be playing the role of Harold Gleason," Angela told her.

"Well, he's a changeling, for one," Carly said. "They thought he was in a car in front of the hospital today, but when security went out to talk to him, he appeared to be someone else. Angela, I'm going to get the security tape to you. Do you think—"

"I can try with no problem," Angela assured her.

Daniel, of course, was listening to the conversation.

"I'm calling security at the hospital," he said. "We will get that tape immediately, and you can get it to Angela."

"We should have it momentarily," Carly told her.

She went on to tell Angela the latest on Lily Connoly and also that Jordan was now being held because evidence had been found in his Edinburgh home.

"But we don't believe it for a second. He's been here—with us—when certain things regarding this case were happening," Carly told her.

"But this Burke and Hare case has many, many players," Angela reminded her.

"True. But I trust my instinct, Angela. Gut feelings. Can they be wrong? Yes, but they are usually right. Anyway, at this moment, Luke is trying to find out what more he can get from Lily Connoly. Daniel and I are here, at our headquarters house, trying to put some pieces together."

When she ended the call, she looked at Daniel.

He looked back at her. "Lily Connoly, Rusty Teller, the people who were..."

"His pawns?"

"Aye. Take Abdiel. I think, for him, the concept of being forced back into a situation where he might be endlessly tortured was the catalyst. Terror for her children drove Marjory Alden. Jared Stone is a bit of a different story, but according to him, he doesn't know more. He gave us Lily, but the way he is in interrogation... He was in it to get paid. He doesn't have a great sense of empathy for others, but now in order to save his own skin, I think he'd give someone up if he knew how. He was just a procurer. We keep stopping the pawns in the game, but the king and queen are still on the board," Daniel said.

"Luke is hoping he can trip up Lily Connoly," Carly said.

"I can't just sit here," Daniel murmured. "There must be...something we can do, somewhere we can go."

"I was at that exhibit a few days back, studying the skeleton of William Burke. Do you want to see what's going on over there?" Carly suggested. "That will take us for a walk through the Royal Mile and..."

"The streets behind St. Giles' after, or maybe a stroll through the cemetery, or...why not dinner at Kevin's?" Daniel suggested. "And maybe by then, something will break. And maybe we'll find Keith MacDonald, and he'll have made a discovery behind a few doors we can't just shift through."

"There's a plan for you!" Carly said. "Let's do it!"

They left the house and walked down the Royal Mile. Even now, the streets were busy with people. It was technically early for dinnertime, but it seemed that the many restaurants were full and the day was active and bright.

They reached the exhibit, and Carly found her way back to the display that featured the skeleton of William Burke.

"How fitting!" Daniel said. "He killed people for dissection. He was killed—and dissected. But..."

"I think I know what you're talking about," Carly told him. "According to Keith, and we have no reason to doubt him, Hare was the real aggressor. I mean, Burke might have been, hmm, needy enough to think that murder was okay. After they sold the corpse of the fellow who died of natural causes...apparently the next victim was ill, and they were afraid his illness would spread, possibly ruin their business as a guesthouse. Since the fellow had one foot in the grave, that probably didn't take much. I don't know. Maybe Burke really was the cold-hearted bastard who was just capable of being a fine entertainer when he chose, but he was inwardly devious."

"What about Hare?" Daniel asked.

"Well," Carly said. "Hare was, again according to Keith, a rough and rude idiot who might have done the most horrible things. Yet, he walked away free."

"Because of his testimony," Daniel said.

"Kind of appalling, but from what I learned as a kid, the law wanted someone to pay and that was one way to at least get one of them. Hare's life was ruined—" Carly said.

"But he had a life."

"True. And apparently, Dr. Knox's life was ruined, too—" Carly began.

"And the wives had to know about it! But they left court with the verdict of not proven, which doesn't mean not guilty or guilty, just that they couldn't prove it. It just all seems so very, very wrong."

"Well, killing people is wrong. I wonder if what you're saying is what Luke is using with Lily Connoly. He may be trying to convince her that someone will pay while someone else walks away," Carly murmured thoughtfully. "Or..."

"Or? She is stubborn and proud, so proud. Maybe he's going to use that. Maybe. All right, we've stared at bones long enough. Dinner?" Daniel asked.

"Kevin's? It's a plan."

"And...though I really do like you a lot, I think you should sit by yourself."

"Hey! I was about to say the same thing!" Carly assured him.

"A plan in action," Daniel said, smiling.

"I'll let Luke know. I won't call him as he may be in with Lily Connoly. I'll give MacDuff a heads-up of where we're going to be."

She did so. And the two of them headed for Kevin's for dinner.

Arriving at the police station, Luke was let in to a pleasant surprise. Mason Carter and Della Hamilton had finished working in France.

They had just arrived in Scotland and made it to the station before he had headed in to see Lily. They met with him, MacDuff and Campbell in the observation room.

They were down a man, Jordan Dowell, and getting Jordan out of his situation had been added to the plate. But now there were two Krewe members with them. Mason was acting field supervisor for the Blackbird division of the Krewe of Hunters, and Della was his second-in-command. Mason was a man of Luke's own height, cutting a strong presence just by standing there. Della, at his side, was a brilliant agent, trained to be powerful in movement and with her mind.

Luke explained quickly where they'd gotten that morning. Angela was working on digging out facts regarding suspicious people, while Daniel and Carly were working to put the puzzle pieces together.

"And you're going to speak with Mrs. Connoly again. Do you think you can get something out of her?" Mason asked.

"I think I know how to play her," Luke said flatly. "She's proud. She's an elitist, and she truly thinks herself above all others. She's a hell of an actress, except we've blown through her act already. So...local police are working on finding the car that may or may not have been driven by our obnoxious, dead doctor impersonator. They found a parking emblem on the car, and they're patrolling the area looking for it."

"Maybe we would be most useful looking for the surgery you believe is now in one of those houses," Della told Mason.

"If you're good here, we'll get on that," Mason told Luke. "We'll catch you up on the lingering events in France from our last case later."

"If we can find that surgery, we can cut it down. Although when they're angered, these people ensure very bad things happen that aren't part of the money-making plan," Luke said. "Police Scotland is on it, but they can't just burst in on houses."

"A waiting game," Mason said.

Luke nodded. "And there were two other children found with Marjory's kids. We can't find their parents. I can't help but think their parents might have been in medicine and they're prisoners, too. Or worse if they might have discovered that the kids were no longer being held. Campbell has seen that they are cared for and will be until... Well, here's hoping the parents are found."

"We know about the decapitation of the nurse," Mason assured him. "And about the kids. Jackson has kept us up to date, of course. For now, we'll get moving. And we'll let you do the same."

They headed out.

Luke looked into the observation room where Lily Connoly had been brought.

Lily Connoly had no problem speaking with Luke, as long as her solicitor, Adam McCormick, was at her side.

The man was dignified to an extreme. He warned Lily not to answer questions without consulting with him first. Then Lily snapped she had hired him, she'd tell him when he should speak. Luke sat back and let them hash it out. McCormick was trying to be calm and dignified; Lily was not giving a rip.

But eventually, they both fell silent and looked at him.

"I just want to give you every opportunity to help us in order to help yourself," Luke said.

Lily groaned. "We've talked and talked. I've told you I'm innocent."

"Yes, but you also told us you were innocent of having an affair. Sorry, of hiring a man just for sex. And that proved not to be true at all. We know you spoke with the same people—" Luke began.

"Proves nothing," McCormick assured him.

"I've already explained that. You ruined my life and my marriage. Yes, I hired the gigolo," Lily said. "And that's it!"

"But where did you get the number that you were calling?" Luke asked.

She stared at him. Then McCormick whispered to her, and she seemed to dismiss his words of warning, whatever he was saying.

She smiled sweetly at Luke. "Off a bathroom wall," she said.

"What bathroom wall?" Luke asked.

She let out a groan and waved her hand in the air. "What bathroom wall? Hmm. Let me think. I'm afraid that it was a long time ago. I don't remember."

"And you think a jury will believe that?" Luke asked.

"A jury?" McCormick said. "I'm telling you, when we speak with a judge, we will have Lily quickly out of here. These charges of conspiracy to commit murder are ridiculous. What you have done here is horrible. You're crucifying a woman because she had sexual needs and never wanted to hurt a husband who couldn't fulfill them, and so she hired a lover. I will see to it that she will not be railroaded!"

"I'm sorry. She has been charged, I'm afraid," Luke said.

"I will have her out shortly!" McCormick assured Luke.

Luke felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He excused himself and looked at it. He'd received a group text from Angela, and it was a long one.

At Carly's request, she had traced the name Rusty Teller and through his picture on file with the hospital, she was able to put him through facial recognition.

Rusty Teller was not Rusty Teller. He was Vince Randolph, born and raised in Arkansas, arrested for armed robbery, sentenced to five years and part of an escape just two years into his sentence.

He then seemed to disappear from the face of the earth.

But that wasn't exactly the surprise part.

The surprise was that he was a second cousin to one Lillian Jefferson Connoly, who had wed Ewan Connoly in the United States. Like Vince Randolph, Lily had been born in Arkansas, in the same town as her cousin Vince, and while he had been much younger, she had known him and his family well before she had left America for Scotland.

Luke kept his head lowered, thinking with amusement that Lily must have very carefully cultivated her Scottish accent.

He kept reading.

Police Scotland would be picking him up. At the very least he was guilty of having entered the country under an assumed name.

He looked up at her. "How's your family, Lily?" he asked.

"My family?" She shook her head. "My husband has turned his back on me. When my son in the US finds out about this, he'll turn his back on me, too."

"I didn't mean them," Luke said. "What about the rest of them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your family. The one you were born into—back in Arkansas."

She let out a long sigh. "Christmas cards, birthday cards... I have been gone from the United States a long, long time. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom."

"Well, have you seen your cousin?"

Her expression changed almost instantly. He had her.

But she held silent for a minute and feigned ignorance again. "I don't know what you're talking about," she told him.

"Ah, come on! Blood is always thicker than water," Luke said.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, no? Really? You know nothing about a man calling himself Rusty Teller and working at the hospital as an orderly?"

He could see it. She could act—but she also had a tell. Her facial expression changed.

"I do not know a man named Rusty Teller."

"Well, I think that you do. But maybe you're thinking of him as Vince Randolph."

"Still don't know what you're talking about," Lily told him.

"Oh, Mrs. Connoly, please," Luke said, shaking his head. "Suddenly, you don't know anything about your family back in Arkansas?"

She sat in silence for a minute. McCormick leaned over to whisper to her, and she pushed him away.

Luke let out a long breath. "I am so glad your solicitor is with you, Mrs. Connoly. Because there are things that we now know. You have been in contact with someone that Jared Stone was also in contact with. In fact, the person who told Jared Stone when to get a man or woman inebriated and out to the street so a van could come by and sweep up the victim for the purpose of murder. You got that number off a bathroom wall. Of course. Odd that it's the same number that calls for murder. Hmm. And now you have a relative from your hometown who is working here under an assumed name. But you know nothing about it?"

McCormick whispered to her again. She might not want to talk to Luke without her solicitor, but she didn't seem to want to listen to McCormick, either.

"What is he doing?" she asked at last. "I heard he was coming from America and then I heard nothing more."

"I don't think that's true," Luke said. He leaned closer to her. "I think he came here especially because you asked him to come. And I think he took that job as an orderly at the hospital specifically because you asked him to do so. And he reported to you from the hospital."

"Don't answer that," McCormick warned her.

Lily ignored him, staring at Luke with narrowed eyes.

"Vince was a horrid little child. He did not come here as an adult because of me in any way, shape or form. I did not know he was at the hospital—I didn't even know he was in the country—you know, I mean, I heard he was coming, but...um..." Lily told him, shrugging as if things just happened.

"Such a strange coincidence!" Luke said.

She shrugged. "Prove otherwise."

"Well, here's the thing. The police are picking him up right now. There's going to be a chance for one person, the one person who tells the truth about the other. Now, do I think your second cousin is the brains behind any of this? No. But then again... I don't think he's as cool under fire as you are, Lily. And I think he'll tell us all kinds of things. He is a strong enough looking young fellow, and maybe good at his job. And he's probably not bad with playing out a ruse—like the others working in the hospital, he whined about Dorothy Norman. And like the others, he was horribly upset about the way she died. He cried real tears. He hadn't liked her, but he'd have never, never wanted anything so brutal and heinous to have happened to her."

McCormick tried to speak to her again. Lily stretched out her arms, yawning.

"You are boring me. And if that boy comes out with anything against me, it's a lie."

"Why do you say that everyone else lies—and then it's proven that their lies are the truth?" Luke asked her.

"You haven't proved—"

"Oh, but we have, Lily!" Luke said. "I'm trying to help you here. I don't think you're the brains, the great manipulator, the murderer himself. I think you're a pawn, being used—"

"No one uses me!" she snapped.

"No one ever wants to believe or accept that they're being used," Luke interrupted. "But we know a man claiming to be Harold Gleason—that's the name of a man who was an esteemed surgeon but died several years ago—is here, in Scotland. We know he used the dead man's name and pedigree when he applied for a job at the hospital. But despite those credentials, he was turned down for a job at the hospital because he had a true god complex. Now, we believe he's turned his fury against the establishment, and that spurned him into a murder-for-money scheme. Of course, he doesn't need to worry about the health of his donors since he kills them for whichever organ he needs, and he sells those organs on the black market. We think your cousin keeps you informed about events at the hospital, and you then inform your master."

"I answer to no master!" Lily snapped.

"Mrs. Connoly!" McCormick snapped.

"Don't you tell me what to do again!" she shouted to McCormick.

McCormick threw up his hands.

"I...quit," he said. "Mrs. Connoly, I seriously advise you to shut up and get a new counsel and don't talk anymore until you do!"

He stood and a guard opened the door for him and he walked out.

Luke stared at Lily.

He started to laugh and he leaned toward her again. "Do you know what I think?"

"Not really."

"Well, I'm going to let you know anyway. You want to think you're the power behind everything. And while you don't carry out any murders yourself, you want to believe you're the orchestra's conductor behind everything that happens. You want to think that, but you are not the brains behind the operation. You, like the others, follow the orders of the master."

"I follow no master!" she screamed, rising, slamming her hands down on the table. "I answer to no man, ever, not now, not ever! I am the brains!"

"No," he told her. "You were the money to get it off the ground. Now you're just a pathetic peon in a grand scheme that intends to leave you in the dust. You could do some good for yourself and give me the name of the puppet master, or..."

She began to backpedal quickly.

"I'm not the brains. I'm not the brains. I'm just too smart to blindly follow anyone else, and I didn't do a damned thing, and you will pay!"

Luke's phone buzzed again, and he sat back and looked at it.

He grinned at Lily Connoly.

"Well, well...cousin Vince is in the house! We're going to need to find out just what he can tell us. Are you the puppet or the puppet master? Somehow, I think we're about to find out!"