The Ties That Bind Read Online Free PDF Page B

crime,
FitzGerald?" Sam Firgus said, his voice booming above the others. Be
alert, Fiona warned herself, recovered enough to appear credible. The very word
"sex" was enough to conjure up lascivious tabloid revelations.
    Fiona's immediate instinct was to offer what was expected,
the traditional "no comment." But it was obvious that the elements of
the scene and its ramifications had already begun to leak like a sieve. She
decided, instead, to be guardedly and selectively factual.
    "We found the body of a woman in her twenties.
Multiple stab wounds."
    "Was the woman nude?" a lady radio reporter
asked.
    "Yes."
    "Was she raped?"
    "Can't say at this time."
    "Do you think it's the work of a sex deviant?"
    "Too early to tell," Fiona said. "We will
await further lab tests."
    "Do you know who the woman is?" someone asked.
    "Yes. But we won't be announcing it until next-of-kin
are notified."
    "We understand she was tied spread-eagled to the
bed," Firgus said. There was an image that would warm the heart of the
media hounds.
    "I'm not prepared to comment on the position of the
body."
    "Come on, FitzGerald, level with us," Firgus
pressed.
    Fiona stayed calm.
    "Sorry," she said. "Nothing must interfere
with the integrity of the investigation." She noted Gail's approving nod
as she stood silently beside her.
    "Any political connection?" Firgus pressed,
obviously seeking some further titillating angle that would send the story
soaring into the national and international press.
    "We have no leads at this time to connect anyone with
the crime."
    "Who is that woman with you, FitzGerald?" Firgus
asked. There was simply no way for Gail to be unnoticed.
    "My partner, Detective Gail Prentiss," Fiona
said.
    "Interesting," Firgus said. Fiona hoped that he
would not raise the gender issue. He didn't.
    The questions persisted for ten minutes more, with Fiona
offering little information, deliberately trying to make her answers flat and
uninteresting. Unfortunately, this one was a standout even in the murder
capital of the United States. Worse, it had explosive implications, known only
to Fiona. But there was just enough titillation to assure the Eggplant of
further harassment, both from the media and his superiors.
    In the car heading back to headquarters, Fiona could not
ignore the turbulence in her mind. Vivid memories washed over her with
hurricane force, memories she could not avoid.
    "Any theories, Fiona?" Gail asked.
    "Not yet," Fiona lied. "You?"
    "Has the feel of a serial killer with an elaborate modus
operandi ."
    Elaborate? Fiona shrugged, determined to appear
noncommital. Could it be him? she asked herself, as the images of that day
rushed back at her.

4
    The vividness of these images were staggering in their
similarity, especially after having been wrapped in the thick fog of denial for
nearly two decades. Not that it hadn't surfaced in different guises during that
time, mostly in unpleasant and painful recall.
    On those rare occasions when the memory did surface, it
always came disguised in dreams, mostly nightmares, sometimes remembered on awakening,
the faces blank, the bodies distorted. Only the pain was chillingly real. Yet
she had learned to quickly eradicate even these fleeting remembrances from her
mind. Until now.
    Farley Lipscomb was her father's lawyer then, a man of
awesome dignity, tall, confident, self-assured, the kind of man who could read
the label of a candy bar and make it seem like he was dispensing the wisdom of
the ages. Fiona's parents seemed to be in the company of the Lipscombs often.
    Letitia Lipscomb was, even then, in the mainstream of Washington's social life. Wealthy in her own right, she had the wherewithal to entertain
lavishly in her lovely home off Massachusetts Avenue in the heart of Embassy
Row. She had her sights set on becoming one of Washington's most important hostesses
and was obsessive in her zeal to collect Washington's big-fish celebrities.
Fiona's father, the senior senator from New York was, of