Shock Treatment Read Online Free PDF Page B

and her eyes welled with tears. “I swear to God, I thought it was for real! It was like something out of a horror movie. I’d never been so scared in my entire life. I thought he was going to chop me to pieces!”
    Brass took a Kleenex from his pocket. Crying victims and suspects were par for the course. “Okay,take your time,” he said a little more gently than usual. Catherine wondered if he was identifying with the poor girl. She recalled that he had once shot and killed a fellow officer by accident. That was something you never forgot. He handed her the tissue. “Whenever you’re ready.”
    Jill needed a moment to recover. She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. She wiped her nose on her sleeve. “You know what happened next,” she said between sniffles. “I pulled out my gun and shot him.”
    That was the part Catherine didn’t get. “You always bring a gun to a job interview?”
    â€œNot usually,” Jill admitted. “But . . . I’ve been getting these horrible phone calls lately, threatening me.” She shuddered beneath her blanket. “In fact, I got a call just a couple of hours before I left my apartment tonight. No way was I going out after dark without my gun.”
    Catherine exchanged a look with Brass. Maybe this case wasn’t as straightforward as it first appeared.
    â€œThese calls,” Brass asked. “Any idea who’s making them?”
    â€œOh yeah,” Jill said. “I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure it’s my psycho ex-boyfriend, Craig. He’s a real creep, started stalking me after we broke up. For a second tonight, I honestly thought that chainsaw guy was Craig.” Anger flushed her ashen cheeks. “He always loved that slasher movie crap. Should’ve tipped me off that he was no good. I even had to get a restraining order against him. You can look it up. His name’s Gonch. Craig Gonch.”
    â€œWe’ll do that,” Brass promised. “Can you recognize his voice on the phone?”
    Jill hesitated. “I’m not sure. It sounded like him, sort of, but it was all whispery, you know, like he was trying to disguise it or something.” Her face curdled in contempt. “Sneaky S.O.B.”
    â€œWhat about caller ID?” Catherine asked.
    â€œNo luck,” Jill said glumly. “He blocked it somehow.”
    That information would still be on file with the phone company, Catherine knew. With any luck, Archie could track down the source of the calls. Unless the caller used some sort of disposable cell phone.
    â€œDid you save any of the calls?” Brass asked.
    â€œYou bet I did!” she declared. “In case I needed to get another restraining order.”
    â€œGood,” Catherine said. “We can get copies off your voice mail.” She made a mental note to look into subpoenaing the ex’s phone records as well, if it turned out that there might be more to this shooting than met the eye. The anonymous calls might have been just a coincidence, but, if nothing else, it sounded like they were a contributing factor to what happened tonight. If that was really why Jill had brought a gun to the club.
    They couldn’t rule out the possibility that Jill had shot Matt Novak on purpose.
    â€œLet’s get back to the actual shooting,” Brass suggested. “You had no idea who was attacking you when you fired at Mr. Novak?”
    â€œNovak? Was that his name?” Jill started to fall apart again. Tears gushed from her eyes. “Oh myGod, that poor guy! I can’t believe I really killed somebody!”
    Brass offered her another tissue. “What about when his mask came off? Did you see his face?”
    â€œYes, unfortunately.” She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the image. “I’m never going to forget it!”
    â€œDid you recognize him?” Brass asked.
    â€œNo.” She hesitated. “I