Текст книги "Detective Jason Strong: The Early Cases"
Автор книги: John C. Dalglish
сообщить о нарушении
Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
Chapter 1
Jason pulled into the driveway and got out. His wife, Sandy, was waiting for him when he got to the door. She was tall, almost the same height as Jason, with blonde hair and brown eyes. Jason loved the way she met him. She would stop whatever she was doing, come over to him and give him a peck on the lips. The kiss was always followed by a long hug. It was wonderful ritual that he knew was partly born out of her fear that he wasn’t going to come home one day.
They had talked about it when their dating had become serious. They met at a Sonic drive-in. Jason had pulled in for a Cherry Limeaid and Sandy was a passenger in the car next to him. She was ordering the same thing and a conversation started up.
Jason was enrolled in the police academy at University of Texas at Austin and Sandy was in her final year of teacher college. They met a couple times in the commons of the university for lunch and finally, two weeks later, went on a date. She had laughed when after the movies, he had taken her back to Sonic for a Limeaid.
From that day on, they remained inseparable and when Jason had received a job offer from the San Antonio Police Department, Sandy had taken a teaching job with San Antonio schools.
They were married the summer after they graduated and had never talked about the danger in Jason’s job again. He sensed she had dealt with it and accepted the danger as part of loving him. There was no more reason to discuss it. She would no more ask him to quit than he would ask her to give up teaching.
Jason still knew though, after every shift, she would greet him the same way. Sometimes the hugs lasted longer than others, but the greeting was always the same.
Today was one of those long hug days. Jason had been tracking a suspected serial killer in Springfield, Missouri. There had been guns involved and that always made it worse. In truth, he might be the one holding on a little longer. He had missed her and the strength he drew from her.
Still it was nice to be home and with her rather than facing Lieutenant Patton. Jason knew he had an issue to answer for but at least he got to be home for awhile before going to the station.
****
Way too early the next morning, Jason’s phone began ringing. He saw the station number on his phone and figured it had to be Lieutenant John Patton. Instead, the voice that greeted him when he answered was his partner, Vanessa Layne.
“Slacker, you awake yet?”
“I am now.”
“You coming in today? I’m tired of carrying everything while you’re off gallivanting cross country.”
He gave a small laugh and rubbed at his eyes.
“Gallivanting? Really? Is that what I was doing? Yes, I’ll be in. I’ve got an appointment with the lieutenant.”
“ Anything I should know about?”
“No. I’ll see you when I get in.”
He hung up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. Sandy rolled over and touched his back.
“You have to go?”
It happened she had no school today, some sort of teacher training thing, and Sandy had suggested last night that she would be willing to skip it if Jason stayed home.
“Yeah. Can’t put it off.”
She groaned and rolled back over.
He got up and got dressed.
****
Jason arrived at the station about mid-morning. He walked to his desk opposite Vanessa, who was busy filling out a report. She looked up and smiled.
“Welcome back, stranger.”
“Thanks. Have you seen the lieutenant?”
“He ran down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Said he’d be back shortly and you should wait in his office.”
He went over and took a chair in the Lieutenant’s office. Almost as quick as he got comfortable, the door shut behind him.
“Morning, JD.”
Jason's middle name was David and he had picked up JD in the academy. It had stuck.
“Good morning, Lieutenant.”
John Patton dropped into his chair. He was a big man who worked out almost every day, including his days off, and had muscles on his muscles. Brown hair that was receding, or as he put it, moving to his eyebrows and moustache. They were indeed bushy, and when the lieutenant was upset, his eyebrows would knit together to form a hedge. Jason noticed the hedge was visible this morning.
“Jason, you’ve put me in a tough spot. Your work in Springfield was first class but the records search you did for Michael Barton is strictly against department policy.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jason figured the fewer words the better.
“I’ve made the Captain aware of the search but not the results.”
Jason didn’t say anything but he knew he bore responsibility for much of what happened in the days after the search.
The lieutenant got to the point.
“You’re suspended with pay for 14 days.”
Jason let it sink in. It wasn’t the time off, that would be kind of nice, but the mark on his record may well hold him back for years. Still, he knew that John Patton had protected him. It would have been much worse if the captain knew all the details.
Jason stood.
“Yes, sir. I appreciate the consideration.”
“Okay, and JD, give your partner the news on the way out.”
“I will.”
Looks like Vanessa has two more weeks of carrying me.
He had no way of knowing that he would be off for less than a week.
Chapter 2
Jason Strong took Highway 368 out of his Terrell Hills neighborhood down to Houston street and then east to the police station. He and Sandy had moved there when he’d made detective. It was a nice neighborhood of newer homes and an easy commute for him.
He was headed back to work after only six days served of his suspension. The lieutenant had called him this morning and lifted his suspension because of the case that had just landed on his desk. Jason had jumped at the chance to get back to work and was on his way within twenty minutes.
His pager started going off five minutes after the lieutenant hung up. It was Vanessa. He had ignored the paging to get ready but she had kept at it right up until he pulled into the station parking lot.
He pressed the button to end another page and headed towards the station doors. He was almost there when he saw Vanessa coming towards him. She was tall and thin, some might say skinny, with long straight black hair and large eyes. They had been beat cops together and she was good, very good. She’d made detective before him and he was glad that when he’d made rank, they were assigned as partners.
Usually, she was smiling but that wasn't the case this morning. She started talking before he got to her.
“Why didn’t you answer my pages?”
“Good morning to you, too”
“Lieutenant says there's a body over by Canyon State Park. He wants us to take it.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I ignored your pages, he wanted me here as fast as possible.”
She wasn’t buying it.
“Whatever!”
He laughed. It was good to be working with his partner again.
“Why are we taking a case in a state park?”
“Lieutenant says it’s just outside the park, in the Stanton subdivision, and they’ve asked us to take the lead.”
“He give you any other details?”
By now Jason had turned around and was walking with Vanessa towards her car.
“Just that it's a female. Uniforms have taped the area off. Medical Examiner and forensics are on the way.”
They got to her car, a restored 1971 Dodge Challenger, and got in. She fired up the engine with a roar. Jason loved the sound of it. Vanessa's husband had restored it for her at his auto body shop.
Jason had been to the shop a handful of times and had seen several of the cars Rob had done for customers. He was good at what he did. Jason had a Ford Thunderbird he wanted Rob to tackle but the new house had used up all the fun money for now.
They were on the Highway 1608 loop heading north towards the suburb of Stanton. Even though it was a hot July day, they drove with the windows open and the air conditioning off. He knew Vanessa loved to let her hair blow and his comfort came second. Truth was he didn't mind. It reminded him of his college days.
Jason was just over six feet with sandy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore his dark sunglasses most of the time but, when he wanted information or wanted to get a read on someone, he would take them off. He could be very intimidating with his stare. He was muscular in an athletic way, not a body builder, but strong and very calm under fire.
Vanessa was his opposite. She was always going forward, most always talking, and ready for anything. She was also smart and the two of them complimented each other well. They made a formidable team.
She wheeled the Challenger around a sharp corner and came to stop at a stretch of yellow crime tape. The crime scene ran from the road back into the woods about two hundred yards, across another hundred and then back to the road. Jason could see the forensics team near the middle of the yellow box, bending over a form.
They got out, and even though they were well known to the officers, flashed their badges before ducking under the tape. Vanessa was pulling on latex gloves while they walked. She had gone quiet. For all the talking she did normally, at a crime scene she was the quiet one. Jason would ask most of the questions while Vanessa looked at the scene for things that seemed out of place or somehow askew.
They got up to the body and the forensics team stepped back. Jason nodded at the chief medical examiner, Doctor Leonard Davis.
He had first met Leonard Davis at the city morgue during his first year on patrol. Jason had gone over to meet a detective who had some questions, and had been introduced to the Doc.
The years hadn’t changed Doc at all. Jason remembered thinking the doctor was near retirement when he first met him. He still looked 65, with just a ring of gray hair around his head and extremely pale skin, from too many days in the basement morgue. He weighed on the heavy side of 250 pounds and could best be described as ‘lumbering’ when he walked. He might be the smartest man Jason knew.
“Doc, what have we got?”
“Female, approximately 25, been dead about two days.”
“Can you tell what killed her?”
“Appears to be single gunshot to the heart.”
The woman's body was naked and she was propped up with her back against a tree. A wine glass had been stood up in her right hand. Vanessa shook her head.
“What kinda sick shit is that?”
Jason squinted at the wine glass. It had a bloodstain on it. He looked at the medical examiner.
“Can you tell if she was killed here or dumped?”
Leonard Davis leaned over and pulled the body away from the tree.
“Look for yourself.”
Jason bent over and looked at the tree behind her. There was blood and tissue imbedded in the tree bark.
“You find a bullet?”
The medical examiner let the body resume it’s position against the tree and pulled a baggie out of his pocket, waving it at them.
“It's a 9 millimeter. Forensics lab will run ballistics when I get back to see if it matches anything on record. I wouldn’t hold my breath though, it’s pretty badly beat up.” He waved a second baggie. “Also found a shell casing. It might be more helpful.”
Jason took out a note pad and started jotting down information. Vanessa reached over with a pen and moved the wine glass in the sun.
“Is there any other blood, where this stain could come from?”
Doc Davis shook his head.
“No. The gunshot is the only wound.”
“So it could be our perpetrator’s blood?”
“Could be. Won’t know until autopsy.
“Any ID?”
“No, and a search of the area hasn't turned up any clothes or a purse.”
Jason looked around.
“Who found the body?”
One of the uniforms nearby pointed at a man in green fatigues and a ball cap.
“A hunter. That's him over there.”
Jason left Vanessa studying the scene and walked over to the hunter. Even though he hunted animals, and probably killed some if he was any good, the sight of a human body had clearly left him shaken. Jason extended his hand as he reached the man.
“Detective Jason Strong.”
“Mike Gilbert.”
They shook hands.
“You found the body?”
“Unfortunately. Couple hours ago.”
“Can I ask what you were doing back here off the road?”
“I like to hunt. This is one of my favorite areas.”
“It's July, what were you hunting?”
“Squirrel.”
Jason noticed there wasn’t any defensiveness in his answers.
“Okay, make sure the officer has your name and number. You can go after that. Thanks.”
Jason went back to Vanessa. He found her standing about thirty feet from the body taking in the whole scene. It was time to pick her brain.
“What do you think?”
“Well, he was clearly comfortable here. It's not that far off the road. Probably stripped her and raped her, if she was raped, somewhere besides this forest. We know she was shot here but it feels more like a dump site than like he spent a lot of time here.”
Jason was adding her thoughts to his notebook while she continued.
“The wine glass and posing of the body indicate a ritual or message of some kind. The choice of the victim may have been opportunity but the crime itself was clearly premeditated. Assuming she was raped, the final pose speaks more to why she was killed than the sex act itself does.”
Doctor Davis waved and pointed at the body. He wanted to know if they were done. Jason gave him a thumbs up and they started preparing the body for transport. Evidence bags were put over the hands and the dead woman zipped into a body bag.
Jason and Vanessa rounded up the uniformed officers on the scene and began a search line. They began at the road and walked slowly until they reached a point approximately fifty yards past the body. The only items bagged for evidence were two soda cans and a cigarette butt.
Jason didn’t think they would yield anything helpful because they were located pretty far from the body. The scene directly around the body was immaculate, especially for a forest, and it was clear the killer had taken his time making sure very little in the way of evidence was left behind.
Jason and Vanessa headed for the car.
****
Lieutenant John Patton was waiting for them when they got back to the station.
“What have we got?”
They were in the lieutenant's office and Jason had his notebook open. As he went over his notes, the lieutenant leaned back in his chair and listened intently.
When Jason had finished, he looked at Vanessa, then back at Jason.
“What's your next step, JD?”
“We wait for the autopsy report and, in the meantime, check our description against missing persons.”
Vanessa spoke up.
“I think the wine glass is not an afterthought but a signature. I'm gonna do a search for any similar crimes.”
John Patton's phone rang.
“Good. Keep me in the loop.”
He picked up the phone and the detectives went to work.
****
Vanessa sat down at her desk opposite Jason.
“I'm going to put together a description of the crime scene and send it out to all bureaus in Texas. I want to see if this matches something done elsewhere.”
“Makes sense. If it has occurred elsewhere, it almost certainly would be the same guy.”
Jason's phone rang.
“Hello?”
“JD, Doctor Davis.”
“Yeah, Doc. What have you got?”
“Ran the girls fingerprints through the data base and got a hit. Jennifer Samples, age 24, arrested on prostitution charges three times in the last year.”
Jason could hear the medical examiner flipping pages.
“Last known address was 224 West Dixon. No phone.”
“Thanks, Doc. Call me when you get the autopsy done?”
“You’re the first. Bye.”
Vanessa was working on the profile to send out and looked up from her notes as Jason hung up.
“Got something?”
“An address. Wanna go?”
“Sure. Let me get this on the wire and I'll meet you downstairs.”
Jason nodded, got up and stuck his head into the lieutenant's office.
“Got an address on our dead girl, we're going to check it out.”
The lieutenant didn't look up from his paperwork.
“Good.”
****
They arrived at the address the medical examiner had given Jason. It was a tiny house in old San Antonio and it clearly did not belong on the front of Good Housekeeping. Maybe on the front of Demolition Journal. It was white with a green roof and a small porch across the front. They avoided the hole in the bottom step and moved onto the creaky porch. Jason knocked.
No answer. He knocked again.
From inside some movement could be heard and eventually the door opened to reveal a short, blonde haired girl with bleary eyes. Her make-up from the previous night still on and smeared.
“Yeah.”
Jason showed his badge.
“I'm Detective Strong and this is Detective Layne. Mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“What about?”
“Does Jennifer Samples live here?”
The girl paused, looking from Jason to Vanessa and back again.
“Yeah, she's my roommate.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Why? Something wrong?”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Can we come in?”
The girl gave them a scared look.
“I...I guess so.”
She swung the door open and led the way into the tiny living room. Jason stayed standing while Vanessa sat next to the girl on the couch. She looked younger than their victim.
“What's your name?” Vanessa asked, softly.
“Barbie… Barbie Jenkins.”
“How old are you, Barbie?”
“Nineteen”
Jason was taking notes while Vanessa talked.
“There's no easy way to say this. Jennifer was found dead this morning.”
The girl caught her breath and tears welled up in her eyes. Jason saw her start to shake. She was too young for this life, like so many others, and it broke his heart every time he saw it.
Vanessa pulled a mug shot photo out of her pocket and showed it to the girl.
“Is this your roommate?”
The girl stared at the picture, tears running down her face. She nodded. Vanessa put the picture away.
“Can you tell us the last time you saw her?”
“We were standing with some friends three nights ago when a guy pulled up. Jenn approached him while the rest of us talked.”
“Where were you?”
“South Presa”
Both detectives were familiar with South Presa street. In an industrialized section of town, it was the largest area for prostitution in San Antonio.
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“What about his car?”
“Not really, except it wasn't a car, it was a pick-up.”
“Can you remember what kind or what color?”
“No, I didn't really look that close.”
“And you haven't seen her since?”
“No”
The girl had wiped her sleeve across her face and Jason watched as Vanessa touched the girl’s arm.
“I'm sorry about your friend. Do you know if she has any family we should contact?”
Barbie shook her head.
“She was from Palatka, Florida but she never talked about her family.”
Vanessa gave Barbie her card.
“If you think of anything else, will you call us please?”
They left the girl on the couch, clutching a pillow.
****
Back outside the house, Jason shook his head.
“That’s no life for a young girl.”
“It’s no life for anyone.”
“Of course, but when they’re that young, it’s so hard to understand.”
Vanessa knew what he meant, and like Jason, it made her angry. She focused on the investigation.
“It’s likely our guy is cruising, looking for a victim.”
“Yeah. It also seems he knows where to look.”
“Based on the last time she saw her friend, and the time of death the medical examiner gave us, it would appear our guy kept the girl about 24 hours.”
Vanessa looked back at the house as they drove away.
“Barbie. Doesn’t fit. That’s no Barbie doll life.”
Chapter 3
Jason was in first the next morning and sitting on his desk was the autopsy report on Jennifer Samples. He had been wrong about the victim being raped. A vaginal swab had produced no DNA and there were no signs of forcible intercourse.
He pulled out the post mortem diagram and examined it. She had ligature marks on her wrists indicating she had been restrained, Doctor Davis felt zip ties had been used, and as he had suggested at the scene, she was killed by a single gunshot to the heart.
The blood on the wine glass was the victims.
Vanessa had sat down at her desk and he didn't know she was there until she spoke.
“Morning, JD.”
He looked up from the report.
“Morning. Davis sent the autopsy report up.” He closed it and slid it to her while he summarized. Vanessa ignored it. She had a file on her desk this morning, too.
“I have a hit on my case file description I put out yesterday. It’s a case report from detectives in Austin. Six months ago, a twenty year old female was found shot once through the heart. The body was naked and propped up. In her hand was a bloodstained wine glass.”
Jason had moved around his desk to read over her shoulder. He looked at the photo of the Austin girl, then picked up the autopsy report from his desk. He showed Jennifer Samples picture to Vanessa. She was nearly a twin for the Austin girl. Dark Hair, Mid back length. Thin with big eyes. They laid the two pictures side by side. Taking into account the wine glass, a chill ran up Jason's spine.
Vanessa punched him in the arm. Jason groaned. She was up and moving.
“I told you, didn't I? I told you the wine glass was a signature. I'll brief the lieutenant and we'll head for Austin.”
Jason looked at the name on the Austin file.
Marcie Walker.
****
Vanessa read through the Marcie Walker file some more while Jason drove the hour and a half to Austin.
“She was found at Walter Long lake, east of the city. A 9 millimeter bullet and casing were recovered. The bullet had been lodged in the tree, just like ours. The blood on the wine glass was the victim's. They took a DNA swab but it was negative and there wasn’t any sign of rape. No fingerprints were found and the victim's clothes were never recovered.”
Jason suddenly remembered he hadn’t gone to Evidence to sign out their bullet.
“Did you sign out the bullet and casing?”
“Right here, zippered bag.” She flipped open the glove compartment so Jason could see. “I’m giving even money it’s a match for the one Austin PD has.”
“Seems likely. Doc Davis was right, though. Forensics said the bullet wasn’t good for much but verifying the gun caliber. The casing gives us the best hope of a direct match to the gun.”
Vanessa flipped the page and continued.
“Marcie Walker was a student at Austin Community College and had just started her sophomore year. She was from San Antonio, where her parents still live. She graduated from Lincoln High School.”
Jason took the exit off the highway and turned right onto 8th street.
“Is the parent’s address in the file?”
“Yes. West San Antonio.”
“We need to go see them when we get back to town.”
They pulled up at Austin police headquarters and parked. They were met at the front desk by Detective Nina Jefferson. She was black, short and stocky, with brown eyes and curly black hair. She carried herself with the air of an experienced officer despite not looking much older than 25. After introductions, they shook hands and started towards the elevator.
“Good trip down?”
Jason gave her a wry smile.
“It never is, thanks to the traffic. Coming into this city takes forever.”
Detective Jefferson laughed.
“We do our best to make you feel part of the crowd.”
Vanessa pulled out the zippered evidence bag.
“Can we get the ballistics guy to look at these?”
“Sure. We’ll drop them off on the way up to the fourth floor.”
****
The fourth floor, all of it, was Homicide. It appeared to be a quiet day, with just a few officers at their desks. One was reading a newspaper, while a couple others seemed to be intent on some paperwork.
Nina Jefferson took them across the floor to where two glass-paned conference rooms were and opened the door on the left.
“You guys can set up in here. I’ll get the remainder of the evidence that we didn’t send down to you guys. I’ll be back shortly.”
In less than twenty minutes, Vanessa and Jason had the Marcie Walker evidence spread out on the conference table in front of them. The extensive set of photos were almost mirror images of their own crime scene.
Jason had an involuntary shiver when he realized this guy was targeting women that resembled his partner.
Nina Jefferson came back into the room carrying the zippered evidence bag Jason and Vanessa had brought with them.
“It’s a match. Of course, you already knew the caliber was the same. What really cinched it was the bullet casing. The firing pin on the gun that your guy used has a nick on the right side.”
She showed the detectives a blown-up photo of the back end of the casing. The nick was clearly visible. She then pulled a second photo from behind the first. It had the nick in the identical location on the casing.
“This photo is of the casing from our killing. Same gun in both killings.”
Vanessa grunted.
“Yeah, seemed pretty likely after looking at these photos from the two crime scenes. That gives us victim description, ballistics and the posing of the body. It’s likely the same guy. The medical examiners report said she had been dead about a week when she was found. How long had she been missing before time of death?”
“24 hours, give or take.”
“I don’t see in here that you guys had any solid suspects.”
Nina sat down at the table and sorted through the file until she found the piece of paper she was looking for.
“We questioned all her friends from school and her job. We also looked for some kind of connection to the wine glass but found nothing.”
“Did you ever locate her missing clothes?”
Nina shook her head.
“We were able to determine what she was wearing when she was last seen because it was her work uniform. She was a clerk at 7-11 and was seen leaving with her smock on. She never made it home.”
“What about the wine glass?”
“Generic discount store type made in the eighties. We figured he picked it up at a flea market or garage sale.”
Jason got up and started to pace. He liked to process information out loud and let Vanessa comment.
“Okay, we have two murders, apparently by the same man, done six months apart. We don’t have any other crimes matching these two, that have been reported, in Texas. The two crimes are in different cities, suggesting that he either traveled from San Antonio to Austin for the first killing and did the second in his backyard, or the reverse. It’s also possible he has moved from Austin to San Antonio. We also need to consider that his business may bring him to both cities, and he lives somewhere else.”
Vanessa raised her hand like she was in school.
“Nina, how far off the beaten path was your victim found?”
“Oh, she was way back in the woods, pure luck she was even found at all. Some guys, who got lost doing one of those ‘cache’ searches, stumbled onto the body.”
“Well, that doesn’t mesh with our scene. It was close to the road, almost in the open.”
Jason stopped pacing and looked at his partner.
“Meaning what?”
“I don’t think our victim was number two, more likely three or four, at least.”
“You think he was too comfortable and practiced by the time he got to our victim?”
“That’s my gut instinct.”
Jason looked at Nina.
“Did you guys interview her parents?”
“Yeah, we drove down and gave them the news. They didn’t have a clue who would want to hurt their daughter.”
“I think we’ll go by and see them again. Maybe they’ve thought of something since then.”
“If they have, let me know.”
“Of course. Can you take us out to your crime scene?”
“Sure.”
****
They arrived at the lake about 45 minutes later. Nina was not kidding. The location was way off the beaten path. The killer, presumably not as experienced as he is now, could have taken his time to do the ritual exactly as he wanted.
The large tree still showed the scar from almost seven months ago. The bullet having passed through Marcie into the tree.
They left there and drove past Marcie Walker’s apartment and the 7-11 where she worked.
Jason noticed the distance between work and home for Marcie was less than half a mile.
“It would appear that he was waiting for her. There is not much time or opportunity for her to be taken.”
Nina agreed.
“That’s what we figured. While it could have been random, this neighborhood is not the usual area we find people cruising for victims.”
“No. Certainly not like where our victim was taken from.”
They pulled back in at the Austin PD and climbed out of the car. Jason extended his hand and shook with Nina Jefferson.
“Thanks for your help. We’ll be in touch.”
Vanessa climbed into their own car and waved at Nina.
“Thanks!”
Nina smiled and returned the wave.
“Have a safe trip back.”
****
Jason let Vanessa drive back to San Antonio. He used the time to make some notes about what they had learned and organize his thoughts. After a while, he realized he was hungry.
“Hey, you want to stop at Stumpies BBQ?”
“Ugh, not me.”
Jason thought she was going to throw up.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, fine. Just not hungry.”
“I thought you loved Stumpies pulled pork sandwiches?”
“I do. It’s just…well…I’m pregnant.”
Jason laughed out loud.
“No, really. You just not hungry?”
“I’m not kidding, I’m pregnant.”
Jason could see the little smile on her face that was a sure sign she wasn’t lying. She was excited.
“You really are! How long have you known?”
“About three weeks.”
“Well, you’re a great one for news!”
“Look, Jason, just keep this between us for now.”
He couldn’t help but grin.
“First of all, congratulations...”
“Thanks.”
“…but why the secrecy. This is great.”
“I don’t want to be treated any different at the station. I’ll be forced to drive a desk and I don’t want it to be any sooner than necessary.”
“How’s Rob?”
“He’s thrilled.”
“I bet. Okay, your secret is safe with me. Can we still stop at Stumpies? I’m starving.”
“Fine, just no onion rings!”
