'John Doe,' Barrow said softly.
Highsmith walked around the chair so he could see the seat. It was covered with blood. He felt queasy. In addition to the three fingers, Doe's genitals had been missing and Randy did not want to be the one who found them.
'I'm not certain who has jurisdiction here,' Barrow said as he walked around the chair. 'Call the state police.'
Highsmith nodded. He looked for a phone. There was none in the front room. There were two rooms in the back of the house. One was a bathroom.
Highsmith opened the other slowly, afraid of what he might find.
There was barely enough room in the bedroom for a single bed, a dresser and an end table. The phone was on the end table.
'Hey, Ross, look at this.'
Barrow came into the room. Highsmith pointed to an answering machine that was connected to the phone.
A red light was flashing, indicating there were messages on the machine.
Listening they skimmed through a few messages before stopping at one.
'Mr. Oberhurst, this is Betsy Tannenbaum. This is the third time I've called and I'd appreciate it if you would call me at my office. The number is 555-1763. It's urgent that you contact me. I have a release from Lisa Darius giving you permission to discuss her case. Please call anytime. I have an answering service that can reach me at home, if you call after hours or on a weekend.'
The machine beeped. Highsmith and Barrow looked at each other.
'Oberhurst is hired by Lisa Darius, then he's tortured and his body ends up in the pit at Darius's construction site,' Barrow said.
'Why did Lisa Darius hire him?'
Barrow looked through the door at the open filing cabinet.
'I wonder if that was what Darius was looking for his wife's file.'
'Hold it, Ross. We don't know Darius did this.'
'Randy, say Darius found out what was in his wife's file and it was something that could hurt him. I mean, if he did this, tortured Oberhurst, cut off his fingers and dick, it was because that file had something in it that was dynamite. Maybe something that could prove Darius is the rose killer.'
'What are you getting… Oh, shit. Lisa Darius.
He couldn't get at her before, because he's been in jail since we discovered the bodies.'
Barrow grabbed the phone and started dialing.
The Oregon Supreme Court sits in Salem, the state capital, fifty miles south of Portland. The hour commute was the only thing Victor Ryder disliked about being a Supreme Court justice. After — all the years of seven-day work weeks and sixteen-hour days he had spent in private practice, the more leisurely pace of work at the court was a relief justice Ryder was a widower who lived alone behind a high evergreen hedge in a three-story, brown and white Tudor house in the Portland Heights section of the West Hills. The view of Portland and Mount Hood from the brick patio in the rear of the house was spectacular.
Ryder unlocked the front door and called out for Lisa. The heat was on in the house. So were the lights.
He heard voices coming from the living room. He — called out to Lisa again, but she did not answer. The voices he heard came from the television, but no one was watching it. Ryder switched off the set.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ryder called out again.
There was still no answer. If Lisa had gone out, why was the set on? He headed down the hall to the kitchen. Lisa knew her father always snacked as soon as he got in the door, so she left notes on the refrigerator.
The refrigerator door was covered with recipes and cartoons, affixed to the smooth surface with magnets, but there was no note.
There were two coffee cups on the kitchen table, and the remains of a piece of coffee cake on a cake dish.
'Must have gone off with a friend,' he said to himself, but he was still bothered by the TV. He cut a piece of coffee cake and took a bite, then he walked to Lisa's room. There was nothing out of place, nothing that aroused his suspicion. Still, justice Ryder felt very uneasy. He was about to go to his room to change when he heard the doorbell. Two men were huddled under an umbrella on the front steps.
'justice Ryder? I'm Randy Highsmith with the Multnomah County district attorney's office. This is Detective Ross Barrow, Portland Police. is your daughter in?'
'Is this about Martin?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Lisa's been staying with me, but she's not here now.'
'When did you see her last?'
'At breakfast. Why?'
'We have some questions we wanted to ask her. Do you know where she can be reached?'
'I'm afraid not. She didn't leave a note and I just got in.'
'Could she be with a friend?' Highsmith asked casually, so Ryder would not see his concern.
'I really don't know.'
Ryder remembered the TV and frowned.
'Is something wrong, sir?' Barrow asked, keeping his tone neutral.
'No. Not really. it's just that there were two coffee cups on the kitchen table, so I thought she was entertaining a friend. They'd been eating a piece of coffee cake, too. But the TV was on.'
'I don't understand,' Barrow said.
'It was on when I came home. I couldn't figure out why she'd leave it running if she was talking with a friend in the kitchen or leaving the house.'
'Is it normal for her to go out without leaving a note?' Barrow asked.
'She hasn't lived at home for some time and she's been staying in the house at night since Martin got out.
But she knows I worry about her.'
'Is there something you're not telling us, sir?' justice Ryder hesitated.
'Lisa's been very frightened since Martin was re leased. She talked about leaving the state until he's back behind bars.'
'Wouldn't she have told you where she was going?'
'I assume so.' Ryder paused, as if he just remembered something. 'Martin called Lisa the night he was released. He said there was nowhere in Portland she would be safe. Maybe he called again and she panicked.'
'Was he threatening her?' Barrow asked.
'I thought so, but Lisa wasn't certain. It was an odd conversation. I only heard Lisa's end of it and what she told me he said.'
Highsmith handed the judge his business card.
'Please ask Mrs. Darius to give me a ring the minute you hear from her.
It's important.'
'Certainly.'
Barrow and Highsmith shook hands with the judge and left.
'I don't like this,' Barrow said as soon as the front door closed. 'It's too much like the other crime scenes.
Especially the TV. She'd have turned that off if she was going out with a friend.'
'There was no note or rose.'
'Yeah, but Darius isn't stupid. If he's got his wife, he's not going to broadcast the fact. He could have changed his m.o. to put us off the track. Any suggestions?'
'None at all, unless you think we've got enough to pick up Darius.'
'We don't.'
'Then we wait, and hope Lisa Darius is out with a friend.'
