Fettering Shadows: A Jake Dalton Investigation

by Amy Shannon

  “Yes, but since we can’t confirm, only assume, we’re running DNA. The lab is also looking at missing persons reports. I’ve a feeling we’ll be getting more torsos ‘til this guy is stopped,” she stood up, setting her cup on the table. “Follow me and I’ll show you the bodies.”

  He stood up, setting his Stetson on the chair, and his cup on the desk. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Doc, are you all right?”

  She turned and looked into his eyes. “Just help me stop this guy. I’m not afraid of him,” she said through gritted teeth, as if she were trying to convince herself as well as Jake. “Jake, please.”

  He wanted to touch her cheek, but he put his hands in his jacket pocket. “I’ll do my best, Doc,” he picked up his go-bag and flung it over his shoulder.

  She opened the door and he followed her into the corridor. “It’s just down this hall. It’s not pretty and it smells terrible. You can wear a mask if you want.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he nodded, as she unlocked the door simply labeled Autopsy.

  Aggie led Jake over to the first table, where it was covered in a white sheet. She removed the sheet from the torso. “Breathe through your mouth,” she said.

  Jake tried to maintain his composure, but his mind flashed back to the last time he saw something this horrific. “Goddammit,” he whispered, and then his eyes met Aggie’s. “Doc, I’m sorry. I just remember the last one I saw, but it was slightly different,” he took his notebook out of his pocket and then set his go-bag on the empty counter. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take some stills for my records.”

  “Not at all. Can you do me a favor, though?”

  “Anything,” he said, taking his camera out of his bag. He loaded the film into the camera as she walked over to him.

  “Wow, that’s an antique. That’s an F, right?”

  “It’s a 1970s Nikon, and yes, it’s an F. I love it. It was my mother’s and after she died, I took it. My father wanted to sell all of her things, but some things, I took and hid. This is one of them. I love this camera.”

  “It’s really nice. I’ve got a few antiques. I haven’t really done any photography in a long time,” she sighed. “I take it you develop your own photos?”

  “Uh huh, in my basement at the house,” he sighed. “I made my own dark room.”

  “Must be nice,” she sighed.

  “You wanted a favor?” he wound the film until it hit 1 on the dial.

  “Uh, yeah, can you tell me what’s missing from the bodies?”

  He raised an eyebrow, “You mean like the arms, legs, and head? I thought that was obvious,” he smirked.

  “That’s not what I mean,” she smirked. “You know what I mean. Whatever was removed by the tech who processed, not the obvious limbs. You mentioned wax and hair before. Can you explain or tell me if there is other things missing?”

  “Well, I don’t have the other files here, but I can tell you from what I remember. Now, it doesn’t mean that what I saw on others was here to begin with, ya know.”

  “I get it. I do. There is somethin’ obviously missing, and I’ve been running my own tests, but I want ... I need to know that these are linked and that this is the same guy. Icarus. Or maybe this is all in my head. Maybe it’s not Icarus. Maybe it’s not my personal friggin’ stalker,” she sighed heavily. “Maybe I am what Lutz says...”

  “Hold on, Doc. Don’t do that,” he put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll figure this out. You hired me to do a job, and that’s what I’m fixin’ to do. Yeah?”

  “Uh huh, right,” she sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be like that,” he smiled. “Doc, we’ll get to the bottom of this. I swear,” he put his hand up and made a V with his fingers. “Scouts honor.”

  “You were a scout?”

  “No, not really,” he looked at his fingers.

  “Isn’t that the peace sign?” she smirked. “Or victory?”

  “Oh, I’ve no idea what these kids do these days,” he sighed, drawing an invisible cross with his fingers over his heart. “Cross my heart.”

  “I believe you,” she smiled. “I do.”

  He moved closer to her, and leaned in, lightly kissing her cheek. He quickly took a step back. “Ma’am,” he cleared his throat. “I apologize.”

  “For kissing my cheek or for calling me Ma’am?” she smiled.

  “Oh, right, sorry, Doc. I don’t even know if you mind that I call you that.”

  “I like it,” she smiled. “You’re the first one to call me that and not have me be your doctor or want me to look at some weird mole on your body.”

  “Well, I apologize for calling you Ma’am,” he smiled. “The kiss on the cheek was just ... I probably shoulda asked first.”

  “Well, you certainly do have manners, Mr. Dalton,” she smiled. “I liked it. If I didn’t, you’d know it.”

  “Well, uh, good, I think.”

  “Why don’t we get started before the noon shift arrives,” she said.

  He picked up his camera off the counter and followed her over to the first torso. He clicked the shutter on his camera a few times, and then stopped to take his gold pen out of his shirt pocket, write down some notes in his stenopad. Stab wounds on torso. Redness around wounds. Removal of head, limbs. “Can you turn her over? I’d like to see her back.”

  “Uh, sure,” she grabbed a pair of latex gloves out of the box and put them her hands. She carefully held on to the woman’s torso and rolled her on her stomach. “Looks like the limbs were removed with a manual saw, maybe a hand saw, or even something like a bone saw,” she pointed to one of the tools on her silver tray.

  “Were all the limbs removed the same way?”

  “Looks that way, and it was after death.”

  Jake took a few more photos and then wrote down some more notes. No wax, no hair. Hand drawn ink tattoo on lower back. Slight redness on the skin. No skin tearing. No stab wounds to back. He set his camera and stenopad on the counter and walked back to the table. “I happen to be at all of the crime scenes in Austin. As far as I know, the last body was left a few months before I left Austin. I’m not sure why, if this is Icarus, that he stopped. Either he moved and killed elsewhere or was in jail, or even found someone in his regular life to spend time with.”

  “What if he changed his signature or whatever? I’ve read crime books, a lot of them,” she said. “Not the crime or true crime books, but the real life profiler or criminal stories written by law enforcement.”

  “If this is your stalker, I’m guess he didn’t move on with someone else in his life, unless he was getting close to you, even if you didn’t know it.”

  “You mean I could’ve been friends with this guy or dated him?”

  “It’s possible, not sayin’ it happened, but it’s possible.”

  “Well, I haven’t dated in years. And I mean years. I did date sporadically, but it was usually a group thing, like with friends, or double dates. This stalker would scare the guy away or I just didn’t wanna go further than a first date. And even then, those guys were doctors or nurses. Not really someone outside the hospital.”

  “Oh, so you only date doctors?” he cocked an eyebrow.

  “That’s not what I said,” she diverted her eyes to the body. “I just worked a lot and work is where I met people. Now, you mentioned wax and hair on their bodies. I didn’t see any signs of wax or hair, but there is some discoloration on the body here,” she picked up a thin metal probe and pointed to the body.

  “The 15 victims in Austin had uncolored paraffin wax on the body. Paraffin wax has typical melting point between about 115° and 154 °F. There was no color or scent added to the wax, but it was poured on in layers, kind of looking like a wing.”

  “Icarus,” she whispered. “It doesn’t burn easily, though, does it? I mean the skin. Do you think it was poured on before or after the girl was dismembered?”

  “I guess to determine that would see if paraffin discolors the skin before and after de
ath. Doc, could you tell how these girls died based on the torso?”

  She covered up the torso with the white sheet. “There were five stab wounds on the torso, but they were done post mortem. The dismemberment was also done post-mortem. I think, and it’s my professional opinion, that somethin’ was done to the head or the brain, and whatever that was, was cause of death. I’ve checked the spinal fluid, and it contained water, regular tap water, you know, local water from the Clarksville Reservoir.”

  “Water? Like he poured water down their spines?”

  “There are a few things that could’ve been done to have this happen, and without their heads, I can’t confirm.”

  “Tell me what you suspect, based on your findings, of course.”

  “Boiling water lobotomies. I believe he poured hot or boiling water on their brains. I’m not sure how he accessed the brain, but the water seeped down into the spinal column and settled after he dismembered the girl. She had to have been alive for a while after that.”

  “She didn’t die right away?”

  “Based on the amount of fluid, if she died from that, she didn’t die right away. As I said, I can’t confirm unless I’ve got a head,” she sighed. “Sorry.”

  “You said you’re waiting on missing person reports to confirm identities?”

  “And to see how long from when they were taken to when they were killed. I reckon that may help determining how long these girls suffered before they were finally killed. Uh, do you wanna see the other girls?”

  “Yes, please, and I’ll take their photos, front and back, as well,” he walked over to the counter and picked up his camera. “I wanna see what else may be different with the three girls versus the fourth one that had the wax and hair, if there is any other difference.”

  Aggie walked Jake out of the Autopsy room, “Did you still wanna come over for supper tonight?”

  “Uh huh, I’d like that,” he sighed. “You live in town, right?”

  “Well, it’s a few blocks from Main Street. Ten fifty seven Hudson. My house is right by the footbridge that goes over the Herzog Creek. Well, I’m at the end of the dead end road.”

  “Sounds just like someplace you’d live,” he smiled, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see you later. I’ll bring my files and I’d like to take a look at yours.”

  She opened the door to her office. “Don’t forget your jacket and your hat,” she smiled. “I mean, Stetson.”

  “Yeah, my boss,” he grinned.

  “Boss?” she cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, I do get it.”

  “What?” he smiled.

  “The Stetson is referred to as the boss of the plains, right?”

  “Uh huh, it’s like my boss, kinda,” he grinned. “And thanks for remindin’ me,” he walked in the office, grabbed his jacket, draping it over his arm, and then held on to the Stetson. He walked into the corridor and tipped his Stetson before putting it on his head. “Doc,” he smiled. “I’ll see you tonight. Six?”

  “I’ll be there,” she smiled, watching him walk toward the exit and out the door. She headed back into her office, closing the door behind her.

  7

  Sully swaggered into the Agency, taking off his jacket and then sitting in the chair in front of Jake’s desk.

  Jake looked up from reading his file. “Make yourself at home,” he grunted, sarcastically.

  “Don’t be saucy with me, Dalton,” he snapped.

  “This is my office, Sully. So, what’s on your mind so bad that you forget common sense manners?” He closed his folder, placed it in his desk drawer, and leaned back in his chair.

  Sully leaned forward. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You were always about the manners, I guess you haven’t changed.”

  Jake shrugged. “So, what’s on your mind?”

  “I heard you were at the morgue.”

  “Uh huh, earlier today. Why?”

  “Lutz told me,” he sighed. “You’re gettin’ under the skin of the Chief?”

  “It seems I’m always there,” Jake sighed. “You’re the one who brought me in. And now? What?” He stood up, his eyes glaring at Sully.

  “I wanted you involved. I’m glad you’re involved, but you shouldn’t get in the way of law enforcement.”

  Jake slammed his fist on the desk. “Out!” he pointed.

  “What?” Sully stood up.

  “You come here, drag me into this goddamned crap, and now you’re telling me how to deal with this? How to handle law enforcement? I know Lutz better than you!”

  “He’s not like Meyers.”

  “Oh, like you know anything about Meyers,” Jake snapped.

  “I know that he was screwing Elaine and that’s why you two divorced.”

  “What the hell do you think you know about that?”

  “This is not about them. Dalton, just friggin’ relax. I came across this the wrong way.”

  Jake crossed his arms tightly. “You’re damn right you did. I put my other cases on hold just to deal with this. I’m not getting in anyone’s way. I actually think it’s the other way around.”

  “Seriously? What makes you think that?”

  “The bodies were processed and evidence removed prior to being sent to the morgue. That’s not protocol. The M.E is supposed to be called to the scene and she wasn’t,” he sucked lightly on his bottom lip and then stopped. He had to focus on Sully, on the case, not on Doc.

  “Ahh, I see,” he sighed. “I was gonna head back to Austin and let the locals handle these cases. I reckon you’re right to do this on your own, your own way, you don’t have so many protocols to follow.”

  “I follow protocols of the law. I’m still in law enforcement, just not for any specific agency.” Jake spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Didn’t mean to offend. Gees, you’re awfully touchy. Is it the case or the M.E?”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Not everyone is gonna be Elaine. If you like the good doctor, then do somethin’ about it.”

  “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Bull. Never mind. Dalton, it’s all right to be human.”

  Jake shook his head. “Back to the cases. I’ll work on my end. Are you stayin’ or goin’?”

  “I’m going back to Austin, but I may just be back.”

  “Does Janice know this?”

  “Uh huh, she does. We’re friends, that’s all,” he sighed. “Anyway, there may be a few leads there that weren’t visible ‘til now.”

  “His cooling off period?”

  “I don’t think he cooled off, and with the deets provided by Dr. Constantine, if her stalker and Icarus are the same, then I’ve another trail to follow, starting in Austin,” he extended his hand.

  Jake shook his hand. “Keep me apprised, will ya?”

  “You, too. Dalton, we’re friends, still right?”

  “Uh huh, friends,” he sighed. “I’ll see ya soon, partner.”

  Sully smiled. “It’s been awhile,” he turned toward the door and then stopped. “Dalton, why didn’t you tell me about Meyers and Elaine?”

  “I walked in on them, the day I got out of the hospital. I spent weeks in the hospital, and she made me believe it was because of the scar or my attitude after the incident, and because my career was on the line, but it turns out it was months of them screwing. Uh huh, my wife and my boss, screwing. Not somethin’ I wished to discuss, partner or not.”

  “I get it, but remember what I said, not everyone will be like Elaine.”

  “I know. I do, but the case comes first. Anything after that, well, I can’t think that far ahead.”

  Sully nodded and headed out the door of the Agency.

  Jake poured coffee into his Rangers mug and walked back over to his desk. He opened the file and began reading it.

  Jake looked up when the postman walked into the office. “Sal, it’s been a while.”

  “I know, but I switched my route, so now I can deliver the mail when you�
��re here in the office, in the afternoon, rather than when you’re closed,” he smiled, handing Jake a pile of envelopes. “Oh, the delivery system also changed around here.”

  “Oh?” Jake tossed the envelopes on the table. “Does that affect me or my mail?”

  “Well, all deliveries, you know the other package delivery systems will be delivered to the post office, and then I will deliver it to you. The only thing that will still be delivered right to you are messenger service deliveries.”

  “Oh, all right. Thanks for letting me know. Wait, why are you telling me this now?”

  He reached into his large blue mailbag and handed him a large padded envelope. “You got this package this morning. If there are any packages that are listed as urgent, I’ll go back and get them, or the post master will give you a call. It’s from the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety,” he turned toward the door. “Have a good day, Mr. Dalton.”

  “Uh huh, Sal, you, too,” he nodded and then stood up when his eye caught the man standing outside of his window. “Who is that guy pacing?”

  “Don’t know. He was out here when I came in. He was pacing, then, too.”

  Jake followed Sal out of the office, Sal continued on his route down the street, and Jake stared at the man, dressed in a dark brown suit. “Sir?”

  The man stopped and stared at Jake. “Uh, sorry.”

  “Why are you standing outside my agency?”

  “I heard you were lookin’ to hire.”

  “Where’d you hear that?”

  “Sully,” he looked down at his feet.

  “Liar,” Jake headed back into his office.

  The man, probably in his mid-20’s, quickly followed behind before the door closed. “I’m not lying, sir.”

  Jake sat down behind his desk, unlocked and opened his drawer, and pulled out his gun. He set it on the desk in front of him. “How do you know Sully?” he ran his finger over the grip of the gun, almost caressing it. He continued to maintain eye contact with the stranger, who kept shifting his eyes. “Sit down or I’ll shoot you.”

  The man gulped and quickly sat down on the chair, positioning it directly in front of Jake. “I heard of him. I don’t know him.”