Hutch heard enough. Coming around the doorway, he raised the Magnum, ignoring his protesting knuckles. As he did he heard Starsky's voice, from inside the house.
"Better
guess again, Sherlock!"
"BOTH OF
YOU!" Hutch hollered. "Hold it right there!"
There was a
long, pregnant pause, then Ted O'Brian let out a roar of rage and attacked
Cleve Harlan.
A rattling crash of furniture and fixtures exploded through the house as Starsky yelled at Ted to stop. From Hutch's right, apparently hiding in the kitchen, the dark haired detective hurtled out and tackled O'Brian. Hutch scrambled forwards as the three men tangled. In the ensuing mayhem, Harlan managed to get free of Ted's grasp, who struggled furiously with Starsky. He, literally, was climbing up the man's back. Rolling away, he scrambled to his feet as Hutch tried to gain the room. He abruptly pulled out a snub nosed .38, dodged past the two combatants and confronted Hutch in the hall.
Suddenly the world seemed to confine itself to that small space as both Hutch and the Professor aimed their weapons at each other.
"Kenneth Hutchinson." Harlan breathed, staring at the intense blue eyes of the towering blonde before him. Harlan shifted, favoring a leg.
"Drop
the weapon!" Hutch ordered. Harlan smiled, oily and slowly.
"I don't think so! You wouldn't dream of killing me now, Sargent! You are the one I've been most anxious to avoid, and I wondered how long it would take before you showed up!"
"I don't know what the hell kind of game you are playing Harlan, but it stops here! Drop the weapon!" Hutch growled, low and angry.
"What will you do if I don't? I fully intend on leaving this house and stopping Theodore in there of letting his 'father' be buried in the lake. You should help me out, it's illegal to dispose of corpses in that way."
"You lost all your chances pal, when you just admitted to trying to kill my partner and my wife!" Hutch snarled.
The wall next to them suddenly shook as the two men fighting inside slammed into it. Starsky let out a yell of anger, as Ted suddenly spun him out of the room. The detective clung to his back, one arm locked firmly around O'Brian's neck, the other trying to grab his eyes. Ted crushed him bodily into the corridor wall and stumbled into Harlan. Harlan in turn was knocked foreword, causing Hutch to fling himself against the wall to avoid being knocked over entirely. Priorities took over.
O'Brian hollered in rage and pain as Starsky succeeded in clawing at his face. Harlan dashed past Hutch as Ted spun Starsky his way. Hutch grabbed hold of Ted's arm, ducked under and wrenched it around behind his back as Starsky began to slide off. Together both wrestled the man to the floor. Starsky grabbed his other arm, jerking it around to join the other. Both had their knees in his back, pinning him to the floor. Ted bellowed, beyond reason, still struggling furiously as Starsky reached behind him and ripped out his cuffs.
"You got him?" Hutch gasped, hearing the satisfying click of metal on one of Ted's wrists.
"Yeah I got him!" Starsky snarled in disgust.
"I'm after Harlan!" Hutch snapped, snatching his Magnum awkwardly up off the floor, where he'd dropped it. "He's armed! Headed for the docks!"
"There's a path to the right!" Starsky shouted, clicking the other cuff on, as Hutch took off. "And I'm right behind ya!" He slapped the back of Ted's head.
"I'll take care of you later!" He growled, stumbling to his feet as he begun to run after Hutch. He skidded to a halt at the door. What did Ted say about the body being on the boat?
He spun back around, pouncing on the handcuffed man, hauling him up off the floor and slamming him back into wall. With his nose inches away and his finger in his face, Starsky snarled.
"Listen up bright boy, and listen fast! You're mighty damned lucky you ain't sportin' a limp right now and I'm in a forgivin' mood! You want an opportunity to nail Harlan's hide to a wall? Then you better listen!"
"We're going down to that dock on the lake, and you're gonna show me which boat you put your dad on! `Cause if we don't get to the right one, Harlan will! You got me?"
Breathing heavily from the exertion, Ted looked at Starsky, then nodded.
"C'mon!" Starsky snapped, grabbing his arm, together they
stumbled out the door, taking off after Hutch.
It was a breakneck run down the old trail, as Hutch stuffed the Magnum away, running full tilt after Harlan. The Professor had a few seconds more lead on him and had gained the parking lot before Hutch. Despite the limp, he moved exceedingly fast, spurred on by the pursuing detective. He was across the street and scrambling down the ramp on the dock when Hutch cleared the trees, hitting the parking lot and pushing himself for all it was worth.
Harlan leaped into the first boat, pausing just long enough to turn and fire a wild shot at Hutch. Hutch threw himself forward, tucking his shoulder in and rolling as years of training had taught him to do, coming back up instantly on his feet, barely breaking stride.
In the trees, Hutch faintly heard Starsky hollering his name, but the sight of Harlan in the boat made him move a little faster. He wasn't about to let him get away.
Harlan
had picked a fairly large cruiser, and had dove into the cabin, frantically
searching for the ignition and barked out a laugh of triumph as he saw the keys
dangling there. To Hutch's horror, the engine suddenly kicked over as Harlan
fired it,
wrenching the wheel, ignoring the rope tying it to the dock which snapped as he gunned the vessel foreword.
Hutch saw his only chance and took it as Harlan's boat leaped ahead. Hutch gave it all one last effort, running hard down the dock as Harlan barely cleared the last boat. With an angry yell, Hutch hurled himself off the end of the pier.
For a moment it seemed he just hung there, then he slammed bodily into the port aft corner of the boat, barely getting an arm over the railing, as the lower half of him fell into the water. Hutch suddenly found himself clinging desperately to the boat's side, as Harlan roared the engines.
To his
horror Starsky saw the whole thing as he and Ted emerged form the trees.
"HUUUTCH!" he hollered again, dragging the wildly stumbling Ted after him.
When they reached the ramp, Starsky abruptly spun Ted around, frantically keeping one eye on the rapidly departing boat, and wrenching his pistol from his holster. He stuffed the end of it in Ted's ear.
"IS THAT THE BOAT HE'S ON?" Starsky hollered, watching as Harlan swung the boat wildly, obviously realizing Hutch was dangling off the back.
"NO!" Ted hollered back. Starsky dragged him down the ramp, shoving him ahead, digging in his pocket for the cuff keys.
"WHICH ONE?" Starsky demanded, stuffing the point of the pistol in Ted's back.
The
three boats left all danced wildly in their places from the activity of the
first boat.
"Lead one!" Ted snapped back, stumbling forward. Fumbling awkwardly a moment, Starsky halted next to the boat in question.
"You're gonna get in there and you're going after that boat, or so help me, I'll blow you're ever loving head off!"
"The keys are in the house!" Ted protested.
"THEN HOTWIRE IT!" Starsky yelled back unlocking one side of
the cuffs, he shoved Ted into the boat, snagging the dock line and wrenching it
loose from it's mooring. Aiming the pistol directly at his prisoner, he jumped
in after him, rocking with the madly bobbing craft. He hauled him into the
cabin, keeping his Beretta trained on him. Leaning down Starsky reached
up under the ignition console and jerked down the wiring.
"GET MOVING!" He barked.
Ted didn't argue.
Hutch
tried to haul himself upwards, trying to use some of the momentum from the swerving
boat to gain him access to the deck. Already he had gone under once as Harlan
swerved the boat, but the death grip Hutch had on the rail wouldn't be broke.
Harlan had fired another shot at him, causing Hutch to purposely dunk himself
back in the water. Realizing he had only
one chance, Hutch timed the next swerve.
As
Harlan whipped the boat inwards, trying again to dislodge him, Hutch used the momentum
to swing himself, sliding down the rail to the back and the steps leading onto
the deck. Praying fervently that he'd miss the propeller, Hutch swung himself
around.
Starsky to his relief, saw Hutch swarm up over the back of the boat, but instantly flattened himself behind the large holding tank positioned in the middle portion of the deck, where the bait, ice, and catch's were stored. His hearing barely made out the faint sounds of gunfire. Ted had hot-wired the boat and they were in fast pursuit, cutting a hard angle across the now choppy lake, going after Harlan.
"Try and get up along side of him!" Starsky shouted, ducking as a huge spray of water splashed up over them. Ted veered in towards the other boat.
Waiting his chance as they grew nearer and nearer, Starsky moved out onto the starboard side of the craft. He distinctly heard another gunshot as he watched Hutch drawing his legs in behind the holding tank. He began to fire his own pistol, drawing Harlan's attention and gunfire on himself.
Hutch
heard the Beretta going off and risked a quick glance around. How many shot's
had Harlan fired? He looked over the side seeing the chase boat growing closer,
and his partner deliberately making himself a target for Harlan's gun. He had
only seconds to move as he saw Harlan taking aim in the wheelhouse. He
scrambled to his feet…
Harlan
barely saw the moving detective, as he clutched at the engine levers and fired
out the port side door of the cabin. He saw him too late. As he swung around to
fire at him, Hutch tucked in and slammed him into the console, grabbing for the wrist holding the gun. A mad wrestling
match ensued as the two men grappled for the gun. Hutch wrenching him away from
the engine console and back out the cabin door. Immediately
the engines slowed as the levers were jerked back. Stumbling from the suddenly
cessation of movement Hutch fell on top of the Professor, landing on him as
they hit the deck. Hutch grabbed hold of the wrist he already held in his left
and began slapping Harlan's gun hand into the deck.
"C"MON!" Starsky yelled as Ted drew closer to the port
end of the boat. "C'MON!!" He began to scramble onto the bow. As they
came in close, Starsky leaped…
One last hard slam, loosened the gun from Harlan's fingers as Hutch shoved a knee in his stomach. Harlan gasped in agony, the gun sliding across the deck then over the side of the boat. Hutch grabbed hold of the front of his shirt, nearly choking the white haired man as he half lifted him off the deck. Harlan desperately grabbed hold of Hutch's arms.
"This is for my wife!" Hutch snarled, wrenching his right arm free. He drew his fist back and let fly, slamming the Professors head into the deck. "And this is for my partner!"
He
belted him again.
"And this is for ME!"
His
fist flew.
"Hutch!" Starsky yelled grabbing at the blonde's arm as he drew back for another. "That's enough!"
Hutch looked up at Starsky, the angry snarl still on his face. Under his other hand, the professor limply rolled, his lip and nose bleeding, unconscious. Hutch looked down at him, then shoved him away in disgust. He was about to draw his hand back to him, when Starsky's grip on his wrist turned into a vice.
"Okay, okay!" He snapped angrily as Starsky stepped in close to his partner, turning as he came. He reached down and abruptly jerked Hutch's fingers straight, resetting two now fully broken digits on his right hand.
Hutch's yell of rage and pain echoed around the lake.
"What the hell are you doing!!?"
"You broke your damn fingers, dummy!" Starsky snapped at him, holding up his hand. He fished into his back pocket, hauling out his red handkerchief. He had it field dressed in seconds, then let him go.
"Hopefully that compound won't bleed all over everything!"
Hutch looked at his hand, then up at Starsky, who was leaning over Harlan, checking him out.
"Gimme your cuffs." He said gruffly, flipping the professor over. Hutch reached behind him awkwardly, freeing his own pair of handcuffs, and handing them to Starsky. Pulling his legs around, Hutch sat back against the cabin wall, cradling his hand to him and watching Starsky secure the man. His shoulders suddenly sagged at the release of tension.
"How'd you get here?" he asked.
"Recruited old Ted. Speaking of…" Starsky looked up and around. Hutch watched the look of disbelief spread across his partner's face as Starsky threw his arms up in disgust.
"Will you look at this! Look at this! I don't barkin' believe this!"
Hutch, frowning, slowly climbed to his
feet and looked.
Almost
directly across from them, stood the old ruins of the former home of Charles
and Hallie Illingsworth, barely visible, crumbling under its cloak of greenery.
Not far from their slowly moving boat, Ted had anchored his, several hundred
feet from shore. Both detectives watched in open mouthed shock as Ted O'Brian,
cradling the blanket shrouded body of his father, slowly lowered him into the
water. Holding him one armed, he pulled a heavy anchor off the body's top, let
it slip under the surface, then let the body of his father follow it into the deep
dark waters of Bow Lake.
By the time the two detectives reached him, Ted O'Brian was sitting on the deck, sobbing.
"Dad didn't know." A very different Ted said softly, setting two glasses on the bar counter before Hutch. They had returned to shore, O'Brian meek and gentle as a lamb, Harlan still unconscious, deposited safely in the back of the Bronco. As they waited for the reinforcements to arrive, Ted let them into the lodge and began to take care of the two. Hutch sat huddled under a blanket, his hair tousled and matted, looking and feeling worn out, the pain had slowly began to return to his hand. He kept it up, hoping to lessen the throbbing.
Starsky shook his head, still not quite accepting what he was hearing. Ted shrugged.
"His cancer was driving him insane with the pain. I just couldn't see telling him she had been found in the state he was in. He's been dying like this for months."
"And his last wish was to be buried in the lake with her?" Hutch asked. Ted nodded.
"Dad became a little more lucid these past few weeks just before he died last night. He told me the whole story over again. I've no proof of what really happened, so it'll end up being my word against his." He said with contempt aimed at the other man. "And I know I have a heap of trouble heading my way for burying him out there, but he was my dad, and it's what he wanted."
"You
knew you were adopted?" Hutch asked gently. Ted smiled slightly.
"Yeah, I
knew. Dad told me years ago."
"You mind telling us what your dad said to you about Hallie Illingsworth?" Starsky asked, pacing slowly behind Hutch, refusing to sit. Ted smirked slightly at him, nodding his head.
"She was my mother, by Charles. He died in Sept. of 1940, on the island of Ilo-Ilo in the Phillipines. I have his medals in the company safe in my office. I also have my birth certificates there. And mom's letters to my dad before she died."
"And
just how did she die?" Hutch asked pointedly.
"Cleve Harlan strangled her. He hated Charles and he hated dad. He was a little too protective of Hallie, didn't think anyone would be good enough for her. He was a master manipulator and he was loosing one of his puppets. When she married the Captain, he was so angry he refused to come up here to see her wed, or come around for the birth of…" Ted smiled slightly, and shrugged again.
"Dad and Charles were the best of friends, and when Dad died, Dad naturally took it upon himself to look after Hallie and me. Well, he had just lost his wife, and she was grieving too. He asked her to marry him, wanted to look after her and the baby. Do the honorable thing. Hallie agreed. Then Harlan found out. They had a terrible fight and he strangled her with a knotted up old piece of rope. Only he wasn't alone when he did it."
"Gerald
O'Brian witnessed it?" Hutch asked. Ted nodded.
"There's a notarized statement in a safe deposit box in Spokane that Mark Miller, one of dad's friends, notarized for him."
"Wait a second!" Starsky interrupted. "If Harlan killed her, why didn't he end up with you? How'd you end up being raised by O'Brian?"
"Bribery." Ted replied simply. "Dad knew that Harlan was a promising student at Washington State University with an enormous career opportunity ahead of him. After seeing what happened, he told him that if he didn't allow him to adopt me, he'd turn him over to the police and destroy his career, and his life."
"Why
didn't he just turn him in and let justice take it's course?!" Hutch
protested.
"What were the chances in 1940 of a widower being able to adopt a baby? Gerald O'Brian wasn't thinking of anything, but of Charles and Hallie Illingsworth's son." He looked a little more like the angry defensive Ted as he continued.
"That man gave me my life! He did everything for me. He loved me like his son, and raised me. He taught me everything I know about running this lodge. He was the best father a son could ever have! He knew he was letting Hallie's killer walk free, but he didn't care so long as he could have me."
"And
Harlan agreed?" Hutch asked.
"He didn't have much choice." Ted replied, calming down. Both men could see that this was the more natural Ted.
"But the knowledge that he had a witness as his career continued to climb kept eating away at Harlan." Ted continued. "He began causing trouble where he could, especially so as not to reflect on him. He'd manipulate people to do his dirty work. As the years passed, Dad's health grew worse, the strain began to take its toll. He got cancer. Then your wife found Hallie in the lake. I couldn't tell Dad. I just knew I had to keep Harlan away from him long enough for him to die. Your wife coming around asking questions…" Ted looked at Hutch, apologetic.
"I couldn't let her keep doing that. Then Harlan surfaced and I knew he wanted to get at Dad one last time."
"There's
still a whole lot of this thing that just doesn't add up!" Starsky
grumbled.
"None of it does." Ted replied. "Family matters sometimes get so ugly, they never make sense again. All I know is that Gerald O'Brian loved me enough to raise me as his son, and I vowed I would do anything for him, even after he died. He was my dad, and I loved him." He dropped his head, and heaved a sigh.
"Harlan, seeing he had an opportunity to remove his only witness to the murder, tried to manipulate my wife, because of her disabilty, into helping him out." Hutch commented. Ted looked up at Hutch a little surprized, then nodded as he thought about it.
"That
would be Harlan's style."
"And not getting his way with Starsky, he decided to take you out." Hutch added, turning his head slightly towards the pacing Starsky.
"It's sick, but it all adds up, don't
it?" The brunette commented.
"Well with you being attacked by Harlan in the barn…" Hutch said.
"Was that the barn that caught fire yesterday?" Ted asked. Hutch looked up at him intensely.
"Who in this county hasn't heard about it?" he asked sourly. He felt Starsky's hand grip his shoulder a moment as he walked past him. Ted looked at him, swallowing uneasily.
"News
last night said someone was in it."
"Well
not quite." Starsky responded. "His wife was nearly trapped
inside."
"Man," Ted breathed. "I'm sorry to hear that." Hutch looked at him for a moment, then sighed relaxing his shoulders.
"The other day you were threatening her bodily harm." He said. Ted snorted softly and smiled as a hand reached up to his throat.
"Yeah well, you know who got the better of that deal." He looked at Hutch, then reached out a hand to him.
"I apologize for all that, Sergeant. I've no excuse other than the stress of watching my dad die these past 18 months. Please, accept my apology." Hutch looked hard into Ted's face, then lifted his injured hand. Ted grinned, and switched hands.
"This doesn't stop the fact that you're under arrest." Hutch said gripping the offered hand.
"No, I realize that and I'll take my lumps, but your wife? She was just trying to do her job I suppose."
"What job?" Starsky asked. "Ali can't work as a cop anymore, her brains are a little too scrambled!" Starsky joked. Ted watched Hutch roll his eyes, and sensed the long time partnership lurking under the surface. Starsky paused in his pacing hearing the approach of sirens.
"There's
the Cavalry." He looked at Hutch. "Which hospital, pal?"
"Spokane." Hutch replied. Starsky blinked.
"That's
three hours away!" He protested.
"If they're gonna have to pin this thing back together, I might as well share a room with my wife!"
Starsky
looked thoughtful a minute, as Hutch stiffly rose from the counter.
"Will
they let you do that?"
Many hours later, Starsky slipped silently into Ali's room. She had hardly moved in the hours that they had been gone, and he was a little alarmed at Ali's appearance. She looked too pale and dark circles marred her eyes. The IV and O2 tubes were still attached and she appeared to be asleep, but as he settled into the chair next to her bed, she frowned.
"Will you go away?" she whimpered, refusing to open her eyes. "I'm all right, leave me alone." Starsky looked a bit hurt then realized who she meant.
"I'm not the nurse, schweethart." He drawled. Ali sucked in air, trying to curl into a tighter ball, then reluctantly opened her bruised and tired eyes. She took a few moments to focus then realized who it was.
"Dave?"
"Naah,
I'm the night nurse." He cracked.
"They
won't leave me alone, keep waking me up." She mumbled.
"You've
got a concussion, Al, they got too."
"I want to go home." She grumbled. Starsky smirked. Didn't they all? She blearily gazed at him, trying to think through the drug induced fog.
"Where's Kenny?" she asked. Starsky grimaced a bit, leaning forward, resting an arm on the bed. Her ice blue eyes focused a little more.
"Dave…" she started. He raised a calming hand, taking hers in his other.
"He's fine Al. He's broke two of his fingers in a fight, but he's fine. Doctors are patching him up right now, he should be up here in a few hours."
"Broke…fight? What are…"
"Ali!" Starsky grinned at her. "Enough of the questions! He's fine, told me to tell you he'll be up as soon as they're through with him."
"How'd he break his fingers?" she softly protested. Starsky looked at her, his face glowing as he beamed his million watt smile.
"Well,
let me tell you an interesting story…"
*17
Let me tell you an interesting story! Sometime during the early
1980's I read a local not having saved it. Praise the Lord though I did write
down the names of two people involved. One is Professor Harlan McNutt, of Port Angeles, Washington. The
other is Hallie Illingsworth.If memory serves me correctly, this took place
during the 30-40's on a spectacularly beautiful
lake on the Olympic Peninsula called Lake Crescent. This
place has been a world renowned trout fishing lake and its lodge was the place
Roosevelt stayed in when the peninsula was declared a National Park. It has the
distinction of being one of the few Temperate Rainforests left in existence.
Lake
Crescent has the reputation of not giving up it's dead, and is a very deep, very
cold lake. This story was told by Dr. McNutt, who has collected an interesting
history of the region, if I recall correctly.
In the
30'-40's, Hallie Illingsworth lived and worked in the area. One night she came
up missing and for a long time afterwards, suspicion fell on her husband that
he had beaten her to death. There was however no evidence and no body. That was
until several years passed. A fisher man on the lake saw an unusual object and
upon investigation saw to his horror, the semi submerged body of a woman,
resurfacing from a lake that didn't give up it's dead. Further examination
revealed that the woman had been murdered and that her body had saponified. The
reaction of the lake's chemical balance, the deep cold waters, and the body fats
had literally turned her body into soap.
An
investigation turned up the husband who confessed that he had indeed killed his
wife.
For many
years this story has hung around me begging for a story to go with it! And so,
here it is. To the family's of the McNutts, and Illingsworth, if they happen to
read this, I sincerely hope this doesn't cause pain. It is a fascinating story,
and I only wish that I can find the original article to read all over again!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: For
those who know and understand, I dedicate Ivory to Beulah. You're missed, babe.
To Dee, my longsuffering beta reader and friend, after
smearing me in red ink to last a lifetime! THANKS, MOM!!!
To Lin, ITS DONE!!!!!
And Pebs, I sure hope this is worth it all!