Free An Evil Mind--A Suspense Novel by Tim Kizer Page B

from her husband.
    Mark set down his fork. “Did he tell you his last name?”
    “No.”
    “Where did he get that knife?”
    “He found it near the place where Helen was killed. He said he didn’t clean it. He wants me to give it to the police.”
    “Did he witness the murder?”
    “I didn’t ask him about it.” Joan pushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “He used a voice changer.”
    “What else did he say?”
    “Nothing. Do you think he’s some kind of lunatic?”
    “You think he’s a lunatic?”
    “Why did he keep the knife? Normal people don’t do that.”
    “Sometimes normal people do strange things.”
    That was true.
    Chuck could be one of those murder memorabilia collectors she had read about on the Internet.
     
    4
    Before listening to the recording of Detective Aguero’s conversation with Edward Phillips, Mark did a reverse lookup of the number Chuck had called from on the Internet and found that it belonged to a pay phone.
    This could be a hoax, Mark thought as he opened the audio file sent by Aguero.
    Fortunately, it would be very easy to determine if it was a hoax: the real murder weapon should have traces of Helen’s blood on it.
    He would test the blood from the knife at a private DNA lab. And he would dust the knife for fingerprints himself so there could be no tampering.
    Would the police reopen Helen’s case if the fingerprints on the knife didn’t belong to Edward Phillips?
    They would certainly interview the person who had left the prints (if they managed to find him). If the guy confessed to Helen’s murder, he would go to prison, but if he said that he had found the knife in the street, picked it up and then dropped it (or told another story that didn’t involve murder), the police would have to let him go unless they proved that the fingerprints belonged to the killer.
    How do you prove that the fingerprints got on the knife during the murder?
    I’ll think about it when I receive the knife.
    What was he going to do if the person who had left the prints escaped conviction only because there was no proof that the prints belonged to the killer? He would kill the guy. Yes, he would take the law into his own hands.  
    I’ll make him confess to Helen’s murder before I kill him.
    Would Chuck wipe away his fingerprints before mailing the knife? Mark was sure that he would. Anyone with half a brain would have done that. Hopefully, he wouldn’t wipe away all of the killer’s prints along with his.
    If there was no match in the system for the prints on the knife, they might never find out the identity of Helen’s killer and that bastard would go unpunished.
    The thought of Helen’s murderer roaming free and having fun made Mark’s stomach turn over.
    What if the fingerprints turned out to belong to Edward Phillips?
    He would be pissed at Phillips for wasting his time, and he would do his best to make sure that Phillips was executed.
    When the recording of Aguero’s conversation with Phillips ended, Mark went to the living room and said to Joan, “When you receive the knife, don’t touch it. I don’t want you to mess up the fingerprints.”
    “Okay.” Joan took his hand. “If they find Phillips’s fingerprints on the knife, his appeal will fail for sure, right?”
    “I think so, yes.” Mark nodded.
    “If the fingerprints belong to someone else, will they reopen the case?”
    “I’ll make sure that they reopen it.”
     
     

Chapter 13
     
    1
    Phillips looked as dejected as he had two weeks ago. This time it gave Mark no pleasure.
    “I’m glad to see you, Mark.” Phillips tried to smile but managed only a grimace.
    “You haven’t had many visitors, have you?” Mark said.
    “It’s my birthday today. Did you know that?”
    “No. Don’t tell the others.”
    “Why?”
    “They’ll beat the shit out of you.”
    “Thanks for the heads-up.”
    Staring at Phillips, Mark remembered that when he was a child, he had been very nervous every time he blew out his