Deadline by James Anderson Read Free Book Online Page B

a dark walnut desk
with a bank of video screens behind.
    Ian McDonald was a security guard who
monitored the comings and goings of people in the
building.
    He knew almost every staffer by name
and all visitors had to be cleared through lobby security before
admission to the building. The media attracted their fair share of
kooks and weirdoes. McDonald’s job was to screen them out before
they could gain access to reporters.
    “ Morning, Ian. How goes
it?” Cannon asked, stopping at the desk to chat.
    “ It’s been pretty quiet
since I came on duty at 7:30 a.m. The day shift is starting to
arrive.”
    “ Yes, well my day already
started bloody early. We had another Wolfman victim found this
morning. I’ve just returned from the crime scene.”
    “ My, this guy is one busy
character,” said McDonald. “He sure gets around the city. Where was
this latest victim found?”
    “ In High Park. An early
morning dog walker found her. It’s the usual MO – strangulation and
a missing tongue,” said Cannon.
    “ Maybe his wife’s a nagger
and this is his way of getting revenge,” quipped McDonald with a
grin.
    He was a fairly handsome looking man,
in his 30s, dark hair and a muscular build. He obviously works out
and keeps in good shape, thought Katie.
    “ That’s in very bad taste,
Ian,” she replied. “He’s one sick psycho.”
    “ There’s often a fine line
between genius and madness, they say.”
    “ Yes, well this creep is
well over that line. I have to go, Ian and get busy on the story.
See you around!” Cannon waved and headed for the
elevator.
    “ The sooner the better,
Katie,” smiled the security guard.

Chapter 18
    Toronto Daily Express 9:05
AM
    AS KATIE Cannon stepped off the
elevator on the third floor, she almost bowled over a small, mousey
looking man carrying an armful of stacked folders.
    Staring at her through an oversized
pair of large, geeky-looking black glasses was Thomas Philpott, the
paper’s librarian and researcher.
    “ Oh, there you are Miss
Cannon,” he lisped in a squeaky voice reminiscent of Truman Capote.
“I have that background material on the Wolfman killings you asked
me for.” He thrust forward a red folder jammed with news clippings
and other material.
    “ Thank you, Thomas. That
was quick work.” Katie answered politely, shaking off a bit of a
chill. She always found Thomas Philpott to be a bit creepy. He was
something of a loner surrounded by his dusty books and files in the
newspaper library.
    Philpott was certainly not the most
sociable person, but he was a treasure in digging up the most
obscure facts for reporters. Most of them treated him respectfully
to his face, but behind his back there were many who teased his
effeminate mannerisms. Most were convinced he was gay. Cannon
rather thought of him as asexual and probably still a
virgin.
    Cannon moved toward her desk in the
busy newsroom. Many reporters were already at their workstations.
Some were phoning contacts for news tips, others were typing on
their computers. A few people were sitting with their feet up on
their desks sipping coffee and reading the morning newspapers,
including the competition to see what stories they had.
    Katie booted up her computer and
immediately went to her overnight e-mails. There were 46 new
e-mails listed.
    About half of them were spam that
evaded the newspaper’s filtering system. She deleted the junk mail
and scanned through the rest.
    Many were comments from readers about
some of her stories, others news tips from sources, but then there
was one marked urgent that immediately caught her
attention.
    It was flagged Wolfman and time dated
at 7:03 a.m. today.
    As Katie read the message, her entire
body shuddered.
    News Bitch:
    The first thing we do,
let’s kill all the lawyers – Shakespeare, Henry VI Part
2.
    I’ve made a start with the
female law bitches in victim #8. Her tongue will join the others in
my collection of silenced whores who do not know their