CHAPTER 5
Starsky hung up the phone…fumbled through his pocket for another dime and lifted it back up to place another call. He let it ring six times before giving up and heading back to his car.
Hutch noticed the worried look on his partners face and watched as he fumbled nervously with his keys as he put them in the ignition.
“What’s the matter?”
“Miranda didn’t show up for work…and she’s not answering the phone.” Starsky told him as he drew his now trembling hand down his face.
“What do you make of it?” Hutch asked with concern.
“I don’t know…But I have a bad feeling.”
“Well…it’s lunch time. Why don’t we swing by her place and check it out.” Hutch offered. “I’m not really all that hungry anyway.”
The Torino pulled into a parking space in front of her apartment and the two of them climbed out and headed for the front door. It was unlocked and they could hear the sound of the television at high volume. Starsky pushed the door opened slowly and discovered Max…sitting on the couch in his pajamas…watching cartoons as if he were in a trance. He walked up to him slowly and knelt down to speak to him.
“Max…where’s Miranda?” Starsky asked in a soft voice.
There was no reaction to his question. His face remained motionless and his eyes remained fixed on the screen.
“Stay with him Hutch.” He said as he looked up at his partner.
Starsky began to check the rest of the apartment as Hutch took his place next to the child. He spoke to him in a calm voice in an attempt to bring him around. It was obvious to them both that the boy had suffered some kind of trauma.
As he waited for his partner to reappear…he continued to do his best to stimulate Max. Finally after commenting on the pattern of his pajamas and telling him that he had the same kind when he was a kid…Max looked at him.
“I’m hungry.” He said in a soft voice.
“You are huh…” Hutch answered him with a smile. “Well…I think maybe we can do something about that…but first you have to tell me where you’re mother is.”
“She’s in the shower.”
Hutch glanced back to see if Starsky had come out…but when he still didn’t see him he turned to Max and spoke as calmly as he could to try and disguise the worry on his face.
“Wait right here…I’ll be back in a minute.”
Hutch carefully entered the bedroom on the right to find it in disorder with toys and stuffed animals tossed about. The tiny bed was unmade and the blankets were hanging halfway off the edge. But there was no sign of his partner.
With his hand resting on his gun and the strap hanging from the holster…Hutch wasn’t taking any chances of being caught off guard. Starsky should have shown himself by now and he was feeling a little jumpy.
The hall bathroom was empty and there was only one door left. It was cracked a third of the way open as Hutch reached his hand up to push on it.
There was Starsky…sitting on the edge of her queen-sized bed…staring down at the floor with his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers shaking nervously as they hung between his legs. As Hutch approached him he could tell that something had shaken him up pretty good…because he had never seen him like this before.
“Starsk?” Hutch said as he leaned over and touched him on the shoulder. “What is it?”
“In there…” Starsky managed to say the words…as he pointed to the door that led to her private bathroom.
Hutch took a step towards it when Starsky called to him. “Don’t Hutch.”
He couldn’t obey his partner’s request. He had to know what was on the other side of the door.
The smell hit him first…the familiar sent of dried blood. The scene that unfolded before his eyes was one of the most gruesome he had ever witnessed. There was blood everywhere…on everything…as she lay halfway inside the stall. He could see her hair caked in a dried red heap on the floor and the contours of her body…but there was too much blood for him to determine weather she was face up or face down.
He closed the door quickly and turned away from it to lean on the dresser and catch his breath. He had shoved his fist into his mouth as he began to gag and was now glad that he hadn’t had a chance to eat beforehand.
“Jesus…” He said in between his gasps for air.
He coughed a little more and took a moment to gain his composure. Starsky hadn’t moved. He sat still staring at the floor with a dazed expression on his face.
Hutch couldn’t find the words to comfort his heartbroken partner. What could he say? All he could do was be there for him…and wait for him to react.
His mind and body felt numb. His thought process had all but stopped. All he kept thinking was WHY?…WHY?
The word slowly made it’s way to his lips as he was finally able to utter it.
“Why…Why did this happen? Why wasn’t I here? Why did I leave her alone? Why….WHY…..WHY!!”
His voice grew stronger as his temper flared. He rose to his feet quickly and began to destroy the room…breaking her bedside lamp and knocking all of her perfume and makeup off of her dresser and onto the floor. Hutch tried to restrain him but soon found himself thrown onto the bed as his fit continued.
He began to pound his fist against the bathroom door…as hard as he could until he broke the skin on his knuckles and they began to bleed. Hutch came up from behind him and grabbed him around the shoulders to stop him from injurying himself any further. His left hand was now throbbing and dripping blood and his energy was almost completely drained from his body.
His rage finally subsided as he leaned with his shoulder against the door cupping his hand against his chest…and allowed a steady flow of tears to stream down his face.
All Hutch could do was hold onto him as tight as he could and try to comfort him as he wept.
“Let go of it Starsk.” Hutch told him in a soothing voice. “I’m here…just let it go.”
He regained his composure after a few moments and Hutch was able to release his hold on him. He was still leaning against the wall when Hutch lifted the bedside phone and called the station. He only hoped that Starsky hadn’t destroyed any valuable evidence and he knew that Dobey would be angry with his partner for tampering with the crime scene.
By the time he hung up the phone, Starsky had recovered enough to speak to him.
“The door was standing open when I walked in…” he told him.
“Max told me his mother was in the shower.” Hutch said as he gave his partner a curious look. “He must have found her.”
“I wonder how long he’s been sitting out there…waiting for her.” Starsky asked as he placed his right hand over his eyes. “Christ…”
“I can’t begin to imagine what must be going on in his mind right now.”
Hutch told him. “But I’ll tell you one thing…what he did to Miranda…can’t
compare to what he’s done to that little boy out there.”