Текст книги "Detective Jason Strong: The Early Cases"
Автор книги: John C. Dalglish
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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
Chapter 7
It was late afternoon and the sun was just sliding below the buildings on South Presa Street as Norman made his third loop looking for her. He finally spotted her standing with two other girls.
There you are!
He slowed to a stop by the curb and rolled down the window. One of the girls walked towards him. She was short and blonde, with red lipstick that needed refreshed. She smiled.
“Need something, mister?”
“Not from you.”
“What’s the matter, don’t like blondes?”
“Something like that. Ask your friend over there to come talk to me.”
The blonde looked over her shoulder.
“Which one?”
Norman continued to stare ahead.
“The tall, dark haired one.”
The blonde turned and walked back to her girlfriends. Norman saw the dark haired one look towards the truck, step on her cigarette, and walk over to him.
“Hi, sweetie. Can I do somethin’ for you?”
“Possibly. Want to go for a ride?”
“You got money?”
Norman reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. She smiled.
“Okay. Let’s go for a ride.”
She got in the truck and waved to her girlfriends. Norman put the truck in gear and drove away.
****
Rob was doing some tuning on Vanessa’s car, so Tuesday morning Jason picked her up. When they got to the station, they found the Medical Examiner’s report on the golf course and dog search victims.
Jason scanned it with Vanessa looking over his shoulder. He stated the obvious.
“Except for the time of death, they are near duplicates.”
“Yeah. We have a serial killer who knows exactly what he wants.”
“They got a DNA swab off the golf course girl but the dog search had too much deterioration Like the others, it was negative.”
Lieutenant Patton leaned out of his office.
“Can I have a minute?”
He didn’t wait for an answer but went and sat back down. Jason and Vanessa went into the office, Vanessa closing the door behind them.
John Patton scrunched his eyebrows together, forming the familiar hedge across his forehead. It happened whenever he was forced to deal with something he didn’t like.
“What have we got on this wineglass nut job?”
Jason had brought the case file with him. He opened it.
“We have four confirmed victims. All killed in the same fashion, three killed in and around Canyon State Park. The fourth victim, who is actually the first known case, was killed in a similar location, outside of Austin.”
The lieutenant held up his hand for Jason to stop.
“Let’s back up and start with the first victim. We need to whiteboard this and make sure we are all on the same page.”
He dipped his head towards Jason.
“Your friend, Devin James, called asking questions. He wants a briefing and local TV has also requested information. The Chief wants a news conference this afternoon and he wants it to go smoothly. I’ll lead but both of you are going to be there.”
Vanessa groaned and rolled her eyes. “Great!”
She got up and went over to the large, white, dry erase board on the wall. Picking up a marker, she wrote the name of each of the victims across the top of the board. As Jason began to read out details from the file, she filled them in under each name. The heights varied from 5’7” to 5’9’. Each girl weighed within two pounds of 130. Their ages spanned 19 to 24 and all had mid-length, black hair. Jason continued to read and Vanessa write.
“Cause of death in all four was ‘gunshot to heart’. No rape and no DNA retrieved from three of four victims.”
The phone rang and the lieutenant picked it up.
“This is Patton.”
He listened, looking at Jason.
“Yeah, JD’s here.”
John Patton started nodding and finally hung up.
“That was Davis. He said his guess of three months, on time of death for Vicky Costa, is pretty close. Alright Vanessa, continue.”
Jason watched as she drew a long broken line below the columns.
FEB/Walker–MAY/Costa–JULY/Samples..AUG/Burns
She turned and looked at the lieutenant.
“This is the approximate timeline of death for each victim relative to each other. It’s clear that either the spaces between known victims are yet to be filled in with new names or else our guy is getting more active.”
“What’s your hunch?”
Vanessa came back over to the desk and sat down.
“My gut tells me that he is stepping up. Other than victim one, all have been found in the same area. The search dogs didn’t find others and I doubt he has two dumping grounds.”
“Okay. Jason, it’s pretty clear what his victim profile is. Any ideas why he’s chosen this particular look?”
“I think the first victim has to be the key. I think she might be the trigger.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”
“She’s the oldest case we know of and she wasn’t here in town. Until we get something that leads us in another direction, I think we should focus on people and places relative to her.”
John Patton looked at the board, then at Vanessa.
“You agree?”
“Yeah, makes sense. She went to high school here, so he may have followed her, killed her and then returned to San Antonio.”
“Okay. I’ll call the press conference for 2:00. Meet me back here at 1:45”
“Yes, Sir.”
Chapter 8
The Press conference was held outside the front doors of the police station. Lieutenant Patton stepped to the podium at precisely 2 PM. Behind him stood the Mayor, Chief of police,
Doctor Davis, and the two detectives.
The lieutenant looked out over a ring of microphones towards three cameras, and ten or so reporters. He began with a statement.
“The City of San Antonio, in conjunction with the City of Austin, is conducting an investigation into the death of four young women. All four appeared to have been killed by the same individual.
We are following several leads and are asking for the help of the public. If you see anything suspicious, please call. We believe each of these women were snatched from a public place.
No effort is being spared in the search for this man. We ask for the public’s vigilance and cooperation in our investigation.”
He looked up from his notes and scanned the crowd.
“Questions?”
Devin James stood up, rather than raise his hand, and spoke over the other reporters.
“What information do you have on the victims?”
“They are between the age of 19 to 24, with black hair, and ranging from 5’7” to 5’9” tall.”
“That’s a pretty specific description. Do you know why he’s targeting these women?”
“We have a theory but I won’t discuss it.”
Devin James was not ready to yield the floor.
“Why is Austin involved?”
“The first victim that we know of was found in Austin.”
“That you know of?”
“Yes. We’re not ruling out the possibility of a victim or victims that we are not aware of.”
“How were the woman killed?”
“Gunshot to the heart.”
Another hand came up and the lieutenant took the opportunity to get away from James. He answered it and several other questions before passing the podium off the Mayor.
****
Norman sat in his plaid recliner watching the news conference. He was drinking an orange crush soda. It was his favorite on these special days. The girl was tied in the bedroom, all her clothes removed. The news conference had pre-empted his afternoon watching of “Mayberry RFD” but he had seen something that stopped him in his tracks. He had immediately sat down to watch.
As the Mayor stepped to the podium, he walked in front of a female detective standing in the back. She was 5’ 7 or so, thin with black hair that fell to the middle of her back.
There you are!
The mayor was reassuring the public and made reference to the two fine detectives that were leading the investigation.
Jason “something” and Vanessa Layne.
He needed to get closer to Detective Vanessa Layne.
****
Jason and Vanessa were relieved none of the questions had been directed at them. Neither liked the limelight and felt it could compromise their ability to do their job.
As they walked back into the station, Jason overheard a blonde talking to Desk Sergeant Connor. Dave Connor is long time friend and a gunshot had relegated him to a desk job. The girl was clearly upset with the answers he was giving her.
‘I don’t care if it requires 48 hours for her to be considered missing, I’m tellin’ you she’s in trouble.”
The desk sergeant tried to be patient.
“I’m sorry, maam, but that’s the law.”
Jason gestured to Vanessa that he would catch up with her and walked over to where the blonde was standing. She was tall, a little over weight and, when she turned around, he could see her red lipstick was smudged and her eye make-up was running down her face from crying.
“Excuse me, miss...?”
“Donald….Brooke Donald”
“Miss Donald, is your friend a man or a woman?”
“She’s a woman. Stephanie Morris. We walk together, if you know what I mean.”
“I understand. Do you have a picture of her?”
“Sure. I tried to give it to this ape but he wouldn’t take it.”
Jason gave his friend a knowing smile and took the picture from Brooke.
His pulse quickened.
“How tall is your friend…Stephanie, did you say?”
“Yes. Stephanie Morris. She’s about 5’8”, like me.. We share clothes.”
“I’ll take it from here, Dave.”
Jason introduced himself and had Brooke follow him up to Homicide. Vanessa saw him come in and raised an eyebrow in his direction. He asked Brooke to sit next to his desk and then pulled out a pad, sitting down with her.
“Okay, Brooke. Where do you and Stephanie like to ‘Walk’ together? ”
“South Presa”
“And when was the last time you saw your friend?”
“Around 5:30 or 6:00 last night. We were talking by the road when a guy pulled up in a black pick-up with a white bed topper. I went over to talk to him but he said he wasn’t interested. Asked me to send Stephanie over.”
Vanessa was listening in.
“Did he ask for her by name?”
Brooke turned and looked at the questioner.
“Whose she?”
“That’s my Partner, Vanessa Layne.”
Brooke turned back to Jason.
“No, he didn’t call her by name. Just said ‘tell the tall, dark haired one to come over’.”
“What did he look like?”
“Average guy, I guess. Don’t know how tall, seein’ as he was sittin’, and he never looked at me. Just kept starin’ straight ahead. White, dark hair, maybe mid 20’s.”
“Do you think you could give a sketch artist a try?”
“Sure, but I don’t think I remember much detail.”
“I’d like you to try anyway.”
“Okay. Now?”
“Yes. I’ll get him up here as quick as I can.”
****
The sketch artist did his best, but Brooke wasn’t much for description. True to her word, she didn’t remember much detail and Jason was forced to admit, he looked like a white guy with dark hair. Not much help.
Brooke had tried her best, in between requests for help finding her friend, and Jason assured her that he would file the report and start the search. He didn’t tell her why he was willing to move on her case ahead of the 48 hour rule.
Jason and Vanessa both felt they weren’t looking for a missing girl but their next crime scene. They thought their killer had taken Stephanie Morris.
The fact that the pick-up had a white bed topper was new information and it narrowed the search. The problem was that vehicle records don’t list bed toppers and the number of black pick-ups in the greater San Antonio area was huge. Still, each piece of info helped.
They thanked Brooke for her help and the picture of her friend that she brought with her. They got a description of what Stephanie was wearing and promised to call if they found anything.
Vanessa sat at her desk looking at the picture of the missing girl while Jason walked Brooke out to the parking lot. When he came back, she looked up at him and Jason could tell she was feeling the strain. She spoke for both of them
“Man, I hope we’re wrong about this one.”
Chapter 9
Norman waited patiently for the red light to change. He didn’t hear any noise from the back of the pick-up and he liked it that way. Only once had there been a necessity to stop and re-secure one of the girls. That had been Marcie Walker and he had made sure it had not happened again.
The light turned and he headed around the west side of Canyon State Park. He had seen the pictures on TV of the service road and knew it was likely being watched or locked, or both. There was an unmanned archery range down a gravel road and being that it was summer, no one was likely to be there. It wasn’t archery season and there were no lights to shoot by. It was just getting dark when he pulled up.
He sat in the truck for nearly a half hour to make sure there wasn’t any activity. He’d passed a loggers truck parked about a mile back but figured they would have gone home by now.
He got out and went around to the back of the truck. Lifting the topper hatch, he found the girl laying on her side staring at him. He loved the fear in her eyes. Grabbing her taped ankles, he dragged the naked woman towards him. She tried to kick but it was useless.
Once he had her on the tailgate, he slit the duct tape around her ankles and made her walk in front of him towards the woods. The girl was frantically looking for a place to run, someone to save her but she was there alone, just her captor behind her.
They entered the woods and had walked about 50 yards, when Norman decided it was far enough.
“Stop here.”
He turned her around and forced her to sit by the base of a large tree. Her hands were tied in front of her and she started to whimper through the tape over her mouth.
Norman reached into a bag he was carrying and pulled out a wine glass, setting it down near the girl. Next, out of the bag came his 9 millimeter pistol. The girls eyes got huge and she tried to get up but Norman pinned her to the tree with his foot. The time in captivity had taken most of the fight out of her, and she slumped back, resigned to what was coming.
Norman took the gun and placed it against the girls chest, directly over her heart. He watched as she pressed her eyes closed, waiting.
****
Joe stumbled over a root, falling forward and the chain saw he was carrying went sailing.
“Damn! I told you it was getting too dark.”
His buddy, Jonathon, helped him to his feet.
“Oh, stop your whining. We needed to finish the last tree so it could be brought out tomorrow.”
“Yeah, well, it won’t do us much good if we’re dead from falling on our own saws.”
“Whatever! Just watch your step and take your time. You sure the truck was back this way?”
“Oh, great, now we’re lost!”
“Shut-up!”
“I will when I want….”
“No, shush! Look over there.”
Joe stared out towards the direction his friend was pointing. Through the growing darkness he could see someone sitting against the bottom of a tree.
As they struggled to make sense of the scene in front of them, the standing figure removed something from a bag and laid it on the ground. Next he removed something else that looked to Joe to be a gun.
“Is that a gun?”
“I think so.”
The figure on the ground tried to get up but was pinned by the foot of the standing person. They watched as the gun was put to the chest of the pinned person.
Jonathon had been crouching but now he stood up.
“Hey!”
****
Norman held the gun to her chest. He had not heard anyone coming and as he pulled the trigger, a voice reached him.
“Hey!”
As the gun went off, he flinched. The girl slumped over. Norman searched the woods for where the voice had come from. Unable to find the source, he quickly cut the zip tie from her wrists and pulled the tape off her mouth. He didn’t take time to pick up the wine glass, he just ran.
He didn’t hear the girl moan.
****
Jonathon heard the gun go off and dove for the ground. Joe was already there. They stayed low and watched as the man gathered some things and ran for the road.
When it was clear he was gone, the two loggers got up and moved over to where the girl was. It was almost completely dark and the men dropped their saws as they ran.
When they reached the tree, they found a young girl slumped over moaning. Blood poured from near her shoulder. Joe pressed on the wound while Jonathon called 911. He kept looking towards where the man had run, hoping he didn’t come back.
“911. What is your emergency?”
“I’m in Canyon State Park, near Archery road, and a woman has been shot.”
“Is she still alive?”
“I think so but there’s a lot of blood.”
“Where was she shot?”
“Looks like in the chest or near the shoulder. My friend is keeping pressure on it.”
“I’m sending help. Was this an accident?”
“It didn’t look like it. My buddy and I walked up to see this guy shoot her.”
“Alright. Can you get to the road to flag down the EMT’s?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Jonathon looked down at his friend. Joe looked very pale, almost like his blood was draining as fast as the girls.
“I gotta go to the road.”
“Why?”
“Help is coming, I have to wave ‘em down.”
“Okay. Hurry.”
Jonathon took off at a dead run for the road. He risked running into a tree and knocking himself out, but his adrenaline wouldn’t let him slow down. The ambulance appeared a few minutes later and he stood in the road until it’s headlights were on him. It stopped and a flurry of activity led to Jonathon taking two EMT’s, carrying a stretcher, to where his friend and the girl were.
“I’m back, Joe.”
Joe looked scared.
“I don’t know if she’s still alive. She stopped moaning a few minutes ago.”
“It’s all right, Joe. The EMT’s will take care of her.”
The men moved in and started assessing the girl. Joe got up and walked over by Jonathon. They both stood there, watching silently. Jonathon was praying quietly under his breath. Joe looked at him.
“I was doing the same thing the whole time you were gone.”
Jonathon put his arm around his blood covered friend.
“She’s in God’s hands now.”
****
Jason’s phone rang. He squinted at the clock.
1:00 am.
“Hello.”
“Jason, this is Patton.”
“Yes sir..”
“There’s been a shooting. The victim’s description matches your missing girl.”
“Stephanie Morris?”
“Yeah.”
“You said shooting… is she still alive?”
“Just barely. She’s at SAG”
“I’m on my way.”
Jason hung up. His heart was pounding. A survivor could put a face on this guy, assuming it was the same killer. He called Vanessa. Rob answered.
“Hello?”
“Rob, this is Jason. Sorry to wake you. I need to talk to Vanessa.”
He heard some rustling and his partner came on.
“What’s up, Jason?”
“The lieutenant called. There’s been a shooting and it may be our guy. The victim matches our girl, Stephanie Morris. She’s at SAG”
“I’ll be ready in fifteen.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
Chapter 10
San Antonio General Hospital, or SAG as locals refer to it, was on the west side of town between Seaworld and Lackland Air Base. They arrived and parked in the main lot.
They showed their badges at the desk and were informed Stephanie Morris was in intensive care on the second floor. They took the elevator up and when the doors opened, Jason was relieved to see two uniformed officers guarding Stephanie Morris’ room. He walked up to them and showed his badge.
“Has she had any visitors?”
“Just one, that girl sitting over there.”
Jason looked over in the direction the officer pointed. Sitting alone was Brooke Donald. Jason turned to Vanessa.
“I’m going to talk to her. Can you see if you can find the doctor?”
“Sure. Be back soon.”
Jason walked towards Brooke and she gave him a half-hearted wave when she recognized him.
“Hello, detective.”
“Hi, Brooke. How you holding up?”
“Okay. She came out of surgery about an hour ago but they said I won’t get to see her until this afternoon at the soonest.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure the officers know that you’re allowed in when the doctor clears it.”
She gave him a slight smile.
“Thank you. I knew something wasn’t right. I kept hoping I was wrong but when the phone rang during the night, I wasn’t surprised.”
“If it helps, Stephanie may be the key to catching this guy. If she’s seen him and can describe him, we’ll get him. I promise.”
“I know you will. Thank you, detective.”
Jason saw Vanessa coming down the hall.
“Will you excuse me, Brooke?”
“Sure.”
Jason patted her on the hand before meeting Vanessa down the hallway.
“Did you find the doctor?”
“Yes. Surgeons name is Mary Nance. She operated for five hours.”
“What’s the prognosis? Is our girl gonna make it?”
“She said that the bullet missed the heart, hit the shoulder blade and bounced around until landing near her spine. She got it out but doesn’t know if she will have any paralysis.”
“Poor girl. When does the doc think we can talk to her?’
“Dr. Nance said the girl lost a lot of blood and will likely be in an induced coma for at least 24 hours, maybe 48.”
“Well, I guess we wait. We need to interview the two guys that found her and go to the scene. Let me tell Brooke what we know and we’ll head out.”
Jason spoke to the officers and then went over to where Brooke was sitting.
“She’s doing okay. They’re going to keep her sedated for at least 24 hours.”
“Okay.”
“Do you need anything? A ride?”
“No. I’m just going to stay near her for a little while longer.”
Jason gave her a smile.
“You do that. Stay as long as you want. I’ll check with the doctor to see if you can sit in the room.”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
****
Jason spoke to the surgeon and got permission for Brooke to sit in the room. He took her in before going downstairs to find Vanessa. She was in the lobby and hung up her phone as Jason approached.
“Lieutenant gave me an address for each of the guys that found her. North part of the city. They’re loggers, cutting for Weyerhauser. They were at the end of their day when they stumbled onto the girl.”
“We need to visit them, but first, you want to take a ride to the woods?”
“Sure. We need to get out there before they clean it up.”
“Works for me.”
****
The scene was well lit when they arrived but didn’t yield much in the way of evidence. The wine glass had been bagged for evidence. The killer had left nothing else behind, as usual. Officers at the scene had interviewed the two men who found the girl. Jason and Vanessa reviewed the notes.
The sun had started to come up and Jason was hungry.
“Wanna get a bite before we go interview the loggers?”
“Sure.”
Jason drove them to an IHOP and, after some eggs and coffee, they left for the first loggers house. It was Joe’s and he answered their knock on the door with no apparent surprise.
“Yes.”
“Joe Dixon?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Detective Jason Strong and this is my partner, Detective Layne. We’d like to ask you some questions about last night.”
Joe stepped back and opened the door for the detectives to enter.
“Sure, come in.”
Joe, like his name, was average in every way. Average height, average build, average brown hair, etc. He led them into a small living room. A beer sat keeping an easy chair company. Joe sat next to the beer.
“I told the cops everything I could remember, last night.”
Jason took a chair across from Joe but Vanessa remained standing. She opened a pad to make notes and let Jason ask the questions. It was their routine. One asked the questions and watched the face of the person they were questioning while the other observed the surroundings and took notes.
“I haven’t had a chance to read the report but we like to follow up the next day, anyway. Just to make sure nothing occurred to you.”
“Okay. I don’t mind. I called in today, didn’t feel like working. Nothing has come to mind but I’m glad to help.”
Joe took a sip of the companion beer and leaned forward.
“How’s the girl? I tried calling the hospital but they won’t tell me anything.”
“She’s doing okay. The doctors put her in a drug induced coma while she heals. You almost surely saved her life.”
Joe was clearly uncomfortable with the idea that he was some sort of hero. Vanessa was impressed with his quiet demeanour.
“Detective Strong is right. You most likely saved that girls life.”
“I just did what my friend, Jonathon, told me to. He was the calm one.”
“You’re both heroes to that girl.”
Jason turned the man’s attention back to the details.
“You said you were walking back to your truck after cutting wood. It was kinda late, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, I was chewin’ Jonathon out for just that when I fell. He helped me up and we had gone just a short distance farther when we saw them. Actually, Jonathon saw them and pointed them out to me.”
“What exactly did you see?”
“This guy standing over someone who was sitting against a tree. Then things just took on a life of their own. Jonathon yelled at him, a gun went off and we dove for cover. When we got up, he was gone.” He paused. “That poor girl. It was awful.”
“Could you describe him or his vehicle?”
“It all happened too fast. I didn’t get a good look at either one.”
Jason looked at Vanessa. She just shrugged and put away her notebook. Jason took out his card and handed it to Joe.
“Do you know if your friend is home as well?”
“He is. He called in, too.”
“Joe, thanks. You think of anything, please call.”
“Sure. If you get a chance, let me know how the girl’s doin’.”
“You bet.”
****
The stops at Jonathon’s went the same. It was clear that these two men had been thrown into a situation that was as bad as any they could imagine. They had done above and beyond what could be expected from any normal person, so it did not surprise Jason when Lieutenant Patton gave them the news.
They had just returned to the station when the lieutenant waved them into his office.
“The mayor wants to present those two men with medals from the city.”
Vanessa, however, was surprised.
“Shouldn’t he wait until they make sure she’s going to make it before doing a publicity stunt?”
“The mayor’s people are telling him that she’s going to be fine.”
“The mayor’s ‘people’ are idiots.”
Jason smiled. Vanessa was not one to prance around an issue. Still, it did seem too soon. Jason still hadn’t had a chance to talk with her, never mind knowing if she was going to be ‘fine’.
“Has anyone talked to her doctors since this morning?”
The lieutenant shook his head.
Vanessa volunteered to call and went to her desk. Jason looked at the lieutenant.
“When do they want to do the medal ceremony?”
“Day after tomorrow, 2 pm.”
“I guess Vanessa and I will be required to attend?”
“If I gotta go, you gotta go.”
“Who made that rule?”
“Me. Deal with it.”
Jason laughed as Vanessa hung up and came back over.
“Her condition hasn’t changed. She’s still stable but unconscious. I told them we want to know the second she comes around. Apparently, they’re going to keep her under while she heals some more.”
Jason understood but it was still frustrating.
“Did they say how long before they will let her wake up?”
She shook her head.
“The nurse said it just depends on her progress.”
Jason was tired, they had been up since 1 am.
“Well, nothing to do but call it a day. I’m going home. Sandy has the grill warming up for me.”
Vanessa was worn out, too
“Sounds like a plan. Goodnight, JD. See you tomorrow, lieutenant.”
“You two be back here bright and early tomorrow. We’ll need to prep for the mayor’s ceremony.”
The two detectives rolled their eyes and headed out.
****
Norman watched as the two detectives came out of the station. They walked together until the man reached his car and got in. The female detective waved and laughed at something that was said, before continuing on to her car.
Norman was sitting in a gray Malibu, not his truck, since he figured that by now they would be onto that vehicle. The sun was starting to go down, Norman’s favorite time of day, but he would not be going to South Presa street tonight. He had a different mission this evening.
Detective Vanessa Layne pulled out of the lot and into traffic, Norman following about ten car lengths behind her, with a car between them. They drove for nearly twenty minutes before she turned into a subdivision on the south side of the city. When she pulled into her driveway, Norman kept going and circled the block.
Coming back around, he stopped at the end of the street. The detective had already gone inside but Norman didn’t care. He was there to look over the house and to look for an advantage.
The house was two stories with white vinyl siding and a gray shingle roof. The front lawn was mowed but little time had been spent on landscaping. The exception to that was planted along the side of the driveway.
A large hedge ran from the sidewalk all the way back to the side of the house. It appeared to have been put up for privacy from the house next door, and it would be perfect for what he needed.
The sun was almost down and people were coming home in a steady stream. He needed to leave before he was spotted. He took a final look and started his car.
