Two officers are then assigned to sit in the interview room with Ricci until his son shows up.
Commander Marshall contacts the Chief of Police to let him know the Candy Man Killer is in custody. As expected, the Chief is pleased the case is finally solved, but clearly upset it is one of the department’s own. The Chief and Commander then begin preparations for the press conference to be held later that evening.
In the meantime, Garcia receives word from Jackson that detectives have found the items Ricci described in the metal cabinet in his garage. Included with those items are two, still in the package, brand new Cardet kitchen utility knives. He also believes they have found some bloodstain evidence on the driver’s floorboard of Ricci’s car.
The Police Chief’s live press conference takes place at 7:00 in the evening. Garcia, other detectives, and staff members gather in the detective training room to watch on TV. Employees are shocked and disappointed the killer ended up being a department member, but they are also pleased to finally have the murderer in jail.
After the press conference, Garcia completes some final paperwork, then heads home. He can hardly wait to get home to hug his wife and kids. It has been quite a stressful couple of days.
◆◆◆
Epilogue
On Wednesday morning, Garcia is putting together the case file that will take a couple of weeks to organize when Commander Marshall calls him into his office.
“Sit down Juan,” says the Commander as Garcia walks in. “That was some nice work you did.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“However, you did violate a direct order.”
“Technically sir, you said not to bring my suspicion up again and I didn’t. I waited until I had proof.”
“No, you knew what I meant. You will probably receive some type of award for solving this case, but I can’t let an ignored order go unpunished. As I promised, after your case file is completed, I’ve arranged to have you transferred to the south Chicago Traffic Unit.”
Garcia doesn’t know what to say and simply stares at Marshall with disbelief.
Marshall isn’t able to hold it in for long before he breaks out in laughter. “I had you going there for a moment!”
Garcia exhales, “yeah, you sure did,” and then begins laughing himself.
Smiling, Marshall says, “You know Juan, I think someday you might make a mighty fine detective.”
“Thank you sir,” says Garcia smiling.
Wendy’s Secret Admirer
Detective Don Walker is just finishing his first cup of coffee when his phone begins to ring. Kind of early for a phone call, he thinks. After all, not much happens in Rockville, Michigan, a small community of approximately 14,000, located about an hour north of Grand Rapids Michigan. Sometimes Walker can go most of the day without a single phone call. When he is on the phone, it is usually him making the calls.
“Detective Walker,” he answers. After a short pause, “You’ve got to be kidding me! Yeah, okay, I’ll grab Steve and head right over.”
“Hey Steve!” Walker yells. “We need to head over to Lincoln High School; they’ve just found the body of a young woman behind the school.”
“What?” Replies Steve Baker, the only other detective in the Rockville Police Department.
“Yeah, you heard me,” says Walker. “We have to get going, Sergeant Thomas is at the scene and needs us to respond asap. He says it looks like a homicide”
It is 7:55 am on Friday, November 13th, and a bit colder than normal for this time of year. Walker grabs his winter jacket and looks for the crime scene kit, finding it in the storage closet. Baker adjusts the 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun on the right side of his belt and grabs a 2-way handheld radio from the wall charger and attaches it to his belt on his left side. Both detectives quickly walk out of the police department to their vehicle, a white unmarked Ford Explorer. Walker drives while Baker uses the car radio to advise police dispatch they are en route to Lincoln High School.
Neither detective says much on the way, but they are both thinking the same thing. A homicide in Rockville? The last homicide in Rockville was eight years ago as the result of a domestic dispute between an estranged husband and his wife. Walker was on the force at the time, but was working patrol and had little to do with the investigation. The husband was eventually charged and convicted of 2nd Degree Murder. Baker came to the department just six years ago, but did have some limited experience with homicides during his time with the Grand Rapids Police Department. Baker had been with Grand Rapids PD for eleven years, advancing to the Detective Bureau for his last three years there. During that time, he assisted with several homicide investigations. He left Grand Rapids to enjoy the quieter small-town life with his wife and two children, a son and daughter.
The drive to the high school is only about 3 miles. Officer Andy Garrison meets the detectives out front and directs them to the backside of the school, where Sergeant Ed Thomas is waiting and protecting the crime scene.
Lincoln High School, home of the Lincoln Wildcats, is in a residential section of the city on the corner of Pinewood and Locust street. The building was originally built in an L shape, with one side facing Pinewood to the west and the front side facing Locust to the north. The football and baseball fields are on the east side of the school with a long parking area bordering both the baseball and football fields along Locust Street. This lot is used primarily for teachers and school employees during the day. A second smaller parking lot is located on the northeast corner of Pinewood and Locust, across from the school. This lot is used primarily by students. Both lots are available for use during the evening for school events, meetings, football, and other sporting events. Further to the west and behind the school, tucked into the L-shaped corner, is a small courtyard and open, grassy park-like area with some picnic tables. Students often gather here during breaks or to just meet and hang out with friends. The baseball field borders this grassy open area.
Just to the south of the school grounds runs a wooded creek. This creek runs east to west behind the football and baseball diamond, and then along the backside of the open space adjacent to the school grounds. The trees and brush along the creek are normally lush and dense. Now that it is fall, none of the trees or bushes have leaves, but it is still difficult to see the creek through the dense brown branches of the now dormant foliage. A concrete walking/bike trail runs east and west along the creek and is often used by students who walk to school. A sidewalk runs north to south, connecting the back-courtyard area to this walking trail. Since smoking is not allowed on campus, some students go to this wooded area to hide while having a smoke, while others just go to sit along the creek bank and visit with friends. There are several benches in the grassy area, just north of the walking/bike trail.
Walker drives through the parking lot and gets as close to the open space as possible. The sun is just now rising and shadows from surrounding trees make it difficult to see. The detectives finally spot Sergeant Thomas standing along a bank of trees near the creek, and he is waving them over. Walker grabs the crime scene kit and they quickly start walking in the direction of the Sergeant. It takes them several minutes to walk the length of the baseball field and open area to get to where the Sergeant is.
“Don, the body is over here,” says Sergeant Thomas, as he points to a spot beyond a row of several trees and some bushes.
Being late fall, the sound of crunching leaves fills the air as they make their way through the trees and bushes to the bank of the creek. Frost is still on the grass from the cold evening. Other than their own, no footprints are visible in the frost. Upon arriving at the creek, Walker and Baker see the body of a young teenage female lying behind some bushes. She is lying on her back with her head toward the creek, about 5 feet from the edge of the bank, and her legs pointing toward the bushes. Her left leg is bent at the knee. It is obvious to both detectives that she has been dead for some time, as lividity has already set in. Her face is ashen, and she has long blon
d hair. She is wearing a white winter coat with a fur-lined hood, some type of yellow top, and jeans. She has one light blue New Balance tennis shoe on her left foot and white socks on both feet.
“Where is the other shoe?” asks Baker.
“I don’t know, haven’t found it,” says Sergeant Thomas.
“Okay then, do we know who she is?” Baker asks.
“We believe she is Wendy Spire, a junior student who was reported missing late last night by her parents,” responds Thomas. “She never came home Thursday night and certainly fits the description.”
Baker squats down to get a closer look at the body. He notes that her hair is tussled with pieces of dried grass and leaves intertwined in her hair. The top of her jacket zipper has been torn and he observes redness and bruising around her neck area, as well as some vertical scratches. In his mind, it appears as though she has been strangled and may have tried to get someone’s hands off her throat, resulting in the vertical scratches. Her pants appear to be undisturbed, so he doubts she has been sexually assaulted. A small brown leather purse with a long shoulder strap lies approximately six feet north of her left foot. Meanwhile, Detective Walker has gotten out his camera and begins to take crime scene pictures.
Baker tells Sergeant Thomas to cordon off the area with crime scene tape and start a search of the open space and courtyard area, looking for anything that could be evidence. Baker and Walker will handle searching the area immediately surrounding the body.
“You also need to call the coroner and get him out here to process the body,” says Baker. “And don’t forget to call the Chief.”
“We’re on it,” responds Thomas.
Baker takes care not to disturb the crime scene, knowing that any tiny piece of evidence can be important. After Walker is finished taking pictures of the body and immediate area, Baker puts on his latex gloves and picks up the purse by its strap, and resets it in an upright position. He then carefully opens the purse to find a student ID card tucked into one of the inside pockets. The name on the card is Wendy Spire and the photo looks like the girl lying at his feet. He also finds a cell phone, which he leaves in the purse.
“Steve” shouts Walker, “the Chief is here and wants to see the crime scene.”
“Walk her in, but don’t let her disturb anything. Bring her from the east side, as I think our victim was dragged through the brush in a southwest direction,” responds Baker.
Police Chief Cindy Carson has been with the Rockville Police Department for twelve years. She worked her way up from animal control, patrol officer, detective, sergeant, and finally Police Chief. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University. Town Council appointed her as Chief after the previous Chief retired three years ago. Both Walker and Sergeant Thomas had competed with her for the position, but Carson had displayed leadership skills throughout her time on the department and basically handled most of the previous Chief’s duties during his last year in office. She was also well known and liked in the Rockville community. While both Walker and Thomas were disappointed, they have come to appreciate how Chief Carson has handled the position. She provides direction but allows her employees to do their jobs.
Chief Carson walks into the crime scene and is taken aback by what she sees. Sure, she’s seen dead bodies before, but to see such a young victim dead in the woods from an obvious act of violence is disturbing. This does not happen in Rockville, she thinks. And, she knows this girl, Wendy Spire.
“What do we have Steve?” she asks.
“Best I can tell is she was strangled, probably sometime last night based on the condition of the body. It looks like she might have been dragged through this brush, probably to hide the body.”
“I know this girl,” says Carson. “She is Wendy Spire, the daughter of Joe and Becky Spire over on Worster Drive. Her parents were involved in the neighborhood watch program I facilitated when I was in patrol. They are such a good family; this is going to destroy them.”
“Do you want me to have someone sent over to tell them?” asks Baker.
“No, not yet. Let’s get the body out of here and then I will go over and tell them myself. I certainly don’t want them trying to show up here.”
“Okay,” states Baker. “I’ve got the Coroner on the way. Once we process what we can here, I will have him take the body for further processing and an autopsy.”
“The press already knows something is up,” advises Chief Carson. “I’ve gotten two calls from the town paper already, and once this gets out, I’m sure we’ll have reporters from Grand Rapids here in no time. This could get nasty. Would you like me to call the State Patrol and ask for some assistance?”
“Let’s see what we find here and what the autopsy tells us, then decide,” states Baker.
Within about 15 minutes, County Coroner Wilson Kolanski arrives on the scene. Walker meets him as he is walking toward the crime scene and fills him in on what they’ve got and what they currently know. He then walks Kolanski into the crime scene. Once there, Kolanski and Baker examine the body for any obvious evidentiary items, such as foreign fibers, hairs, blood, etc. Baker knows that any premature moving of the body could destroy such evidence. After not finding anything obvious, they decide to move the body, put it in a body bag, and load it on a gurney to take to the county hospital where the autopsy will be performed. Baker then collects samples of surrounding soil and plant material.
“Don!” shouts Sergeant Thomas, “I think we found something.”
Walker strides over to Thomas to see that he is holding a wide band gold ring with a flattened area on top. Engraved in the top of the ring are the initials A.L.
“Not sure if this is related, but we found it in the grass along the bike path,” says Thomas. “We took a photo and marked the location it was found.”
“Good find,” responds Walker, “let’s hope this is important.”
“Who reported finding the body?” asks Baker.
“A student by the name of Sarah Williams,” answers Thomas. “She was walking to school this morning along the path and something white caught her eye through the trees. She looked closer and thought it was just a coat. When she walked toward the creek, she recognized it was more than a coat. It appeared to be a dead person. She immediately ran to the school and told the Principle, Mr. Jenkins. He thought she had to be mistaken, so he went out to check himself. Once he saw the body, he immediately called us. It will all be in my report”
“Anyone touch anything?” asks Baker.
“They both said no.”
Prior to leaving the crime scene, Walker tells Sergeant Thomas to maintain control of the scene for now and assign a couple of officers to start asking students in the area if they know anything at all.
“Got it covered,” says Thomas. “I’ll see you back at the station later.”
Back at the station, Detectives Walker and Baker start to go over what they have. Photos are loaded into the computer and they start to examine and document the evidence collected. Looking at the photos, Baker points out the drag marks in the brush, leaves, and soil, indicating Wendy Spire was dragged at least part way through the brush to her final resting place. He then carefully examines the contents of the purse and pulls out the cell phone. The contents of the phone will need to be downloaded by a computer forensics expert. The County Sheriff’s Department has a computer specialist who can help with that.
News of the dead body has now been spread throughout the high school and the media has started to show up to ask questions. Given the police activity and disruption being caused in the school, Mr. Jenkins decides to cancel school for both Thursday and Friday.
At 11:45 am, Chief Carson arrives back at the PD to meet with Walker and Baker. She tells them she has notified the parents and as expected they are devastated by the news. Both parents are inconsolable. Wendy’s dad, Joe Spire, advised Carson that Wendy was supposed to be meeting a male friend named Aaron after orchestra practice. Wendy told them it
was just to talk and that he would walk her home. Given his emotional state, Carson did not push for more information. Carson had an officer pick up Wendy’s 13-year-old sister, Lisa, from the middle school to bring her home. She then called for victim advocates from the county to be with and assist the family in any way possible. Prior to leaving, Carson was able to talk to Lisa.
According to Lisa, Wendy had planned on meeting someone after school, apparently, a friend who had found Wendy’s lost yellow scarf. Yellow happened to be Wendy’s favorite color and she was upset when it had been lost or stolen. Wendy had orchestra practice after school for an upcoming concert and was to meet this friend after she got out of practice sometime around 5:30 pm. Wendy told her parents she would be a little later than normal and would be getting a ride home from someone named Aaron. Wendy never came home last night. Her dad called the police at 10:30 pm to report that Wendy had not come home, they could not reach her by phone, and they were worried something might have happened. Lisa told Carson that she should talk to Katy Anderson, as she was Wendy’s best friend and might know something more. That is all the information Lisa could provide. When asked about the discrepancy on how Wendy was going to get home, Lisa replied that Wendy had not been clear on what was happening last night.
Well ok, thinks Walker, at least we have a name of someone who may have seen or been with Wendy last night.
Chief Carson sighs, “this thing is starting to blow up. The press from Grand Rapids is now in town and there will be a live broadcast on the noon news. Once that hits, the whole town will be up in arms. We need to solve this quickly. Any luck with the phone?”
“I’ve got it ready to go to the county right now,” states Baker. “I’m going to grab a quick lunch then head over there. They know it’s coming.”
“And we’ve got the autopsy scheduled for three o’clock this afternoon,” says Walker. “I will be there to observe and take notes. We also have officers talking to students to see if they can dig anything up”
Behind The Lies Page 8
