The Naked Face Read Online Free PDF Page A

course,” Judd replied. “Who reported it?”
    “The night watchman,” said Angeli. “Do you keep anything of value in the office, Doctor? Cash? Drugs? Anything like that?”
    “Petty cash,” Judd said. “No addictive drugs. There was nothing there to steal. It doesn’t make any sense.”
    “Right,” McGreavy said. “Let’s go.”
    In the elevator Eddie gave Judd an apologetic look. Judd met his eyes and nodded that he understood.
    Surely, Judd thought, the police couldn’t suspect him of breaking into his own office. It was as though McGreavy was determined to pin something on him because of his dead partner. But that had been five years ago. Could McGreavy have been brooding all these years, blaming it on the doctor? Waiting for a chance to get him?
    There was an unmarked police car a few feet from the entrance. They got in and rode to the office in silence.
    When they reached the office building, Judd signed the lobby register. Bigelow, the guard, looked at him strangely. Or did he imagine it?
    They took the elevator to the fifteenth floor and walked down the corridor to Judd’s office. A uniformed policeman was standing in front of the door. He nodded to McGreavy and stepped aside. Judd reached for his key.
    “The door’s unlocked,” Angeli said. He pushed the door open and they went in, Judd leading the way.
    The reception office was in chaos. All the drawers had been pulled out of the desk and papers were strewn about the floor. Judd stared unbelievingly, feeling a shock of personal violation.
    “What do you suppose they were looking for, Doctor?” asked McGreavy.
    “I have no idea,” Judd said. He walked to the inner door and opened it, McGreavy close behind him.
    In his office two end tables had been overturned, a smashed lamp lay on the floor, and blood soaked the Fields rug.
    In the far corner of the room, grotesquely spread out, was the body of Carol Roberts. She was nude. Her hands were tied behind her back with piano wire, and acid had been splashed on her face and breasts and between her thighs. The fingers of her right hand were broken. Her face was battered and swollen. A wadded handkerchief was stuffed in her mouth.
    The two detectives watched Judd as he stared at the body.
    “You look pale,” Angeli said. “Sit down.”
    Judd shook his head and took several deep breaths. When he spoke, his voice was shaking with rage. “Who—who could have done this?”
    “That’s what you’re going to tell us, Dr. Stevens,” said McGreavy.
    Judd looked up at him. “No one could have wanted to do this to Carol. She never hurt anyone in her life.”
    “I think it’s about time you started singing another tune,” McGreavy said. “No one wanted to hurt Hanson, but they stuck a knife in his back. No one wanted to hurt Carol, but they poured acid all over her and tortured her to death.” His voice became hard. “And you stand there and tell me no one would want to hurt them. What the hell are you—deaf, dumb, and blind? The girl worked for you for four years. You’re a psychoanalyst. Are you trying to tell me you didn’t know or care about her personal life?”
    “Of course I cared,” Judd said tightly. “She had a boyfriend she was going to marry—”
    “Chick. We’ve talked to him.”
    “But he could never have done this. He’s a decent boy and he loved Carol.”
    “When was the last time you saw Carol alive?” asked Angeli.
    “I told you. When I left here to go to see Mrs. Hanson. I asked Carol to close up the office.” His voice broke and he swallowed and took a deep breath.
    “Were you scheduled to see any more patients today?”
    “No.”
    “Do you think this could have been done by a maniac?” Angeli asked.
    “It must have been a maniac, but—even a maniac has to have some motivation.”
    “That’s what I think,” McGreavy said.
    Judd looked over to where Carol’s body lay. It had the sad appearance of a disfigured rag doll, useless and discarded. “How long