Cora Jones and the White Mask (The Cora Jones Series Book 1)

by Tracy Pulinka

  CORA JONES AND THE WHITE MASK

  by

  Tracy K Pulinka

  Prologue

  The fog hung low and thick over the ground. It was a cold Saturday morning in September. A light, misty rain fell on the mourners as they gathered in the graveyard to say their final good-byes. The family, friends, and colleagues of Inspector Robert Grady huddled close together and watched as he was lowered into his final resting place. They would all gather later at his home for a small luncheon where they would tell stories of his life and laugh together to ease the pain of his loss. Inspectors Charles Burke and William Drake planned to honor his memory and talk about the great thing he did while working for Scotland Yard; all the lives he saved and all the criminals he brought to justice, keeping the streets of London safe. Then, Charlie and Billy planned on dropping some news. It was their job to tell the rest of the squad who was chosen to taken Robert’s place on the team. As they looked at each other standing on the edge of the cemetery, they knew that their announcement would leave some people more upset than they already were, making a bad day even tougher to deal with. They knew that the days that lay ahead of them were going to be very, very difficult.

  Chapter One - The Announcement

  “So then good ol’ Robert grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me yelling, ‘Have you lost your bloody marbles mate?’ When he let me go, I straightened my jacket out, fixed my tie, looked him straight in the eyes and said, ‘I lost them a long time ago actually, and my parents still search around the house for them from time to time.’ He gave me a strange look and then burst out laughing.” Charlie looked around the room at all the people who were smiling because of his story, some were even chuckling. “A few days later when I came into work, I found a sack of marbles on my desk with a note that read, ‘To replace the ones you lost.’” He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, “That sack of marbles still sits on my desk and it will stay there until the day I retire.”

  Charlie’s eyes fell on Robert’s widow, Martha, sitting in the corner. She seemed comforted to know that she had so many friends to help her through this tough time. He couldn’t begin to imagine how hard this was for her, and it was only going to get harder. It hurt him to think of the pain she was going to feel when she was going to have to face every day without him. She looked pleased though, as she listened to everybody tell their stories, it seemed to ease the pain a little as she shared with everyone their happy memories of Robert. Charlie took a drink and looked over at the clock; their little get-together would be coming to an end soon, so he wouldn’t be able to stall much longer. He let out a long sigh and looked over at Billy. Billy gave him a nod and Charlie cleared his throat. “While I have everybody’s attention, I have an announcement to make... Do any of you here remember Dorian Jones? He was a member of our team; he retired about ten, maybe fifteen years ago... Well the decision has been made to bring in his daughter, Cora, to fill in the gap left by Robert’s passing.” Charlie could already see by the looks on peoples’ faces that there was about to be a huge confrontation, and in a matter of seconds the words started flying.

  “Cora? She’s only what twenty-five?”

  “Wasn’t she raised in the U.S.?”

  “She hasn’t been in this country in at least ten years.”

  Charlie almost lost his temper, “Now just hold on a minute! Everybody please, cease the comments and questions. First of all, Cora is twenty-eight. Dorian and Natasha got divorced when she was thirteen and then yes, Natasha did take her to America. Her last visit was six years ago, and before anything else is said, I would like to point out that she was valedictorian in high school and the top of her class at the police academy. She’s been working as a detective for almost two years now and...”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me right? This ‘as seriously got to be a bloody joke!” The rude interruption came from Sergeant Alexander Murphey in the back of the room. “I mean honestly, who does this girl think she is coin’ in ‘ere and akin’ over out of nowhere?”

  “Alex please, she’s not taking over. She is simply filling the empty space on our team. Initially the Chief Superintendent asked Dorian himself to come out of retirement, but when he refused and mentioned that Cora was a detective too, McCoy asked Dorian if she would be interested in moving back here and taking up the position.”

  “Well it’s not too late to find someone else. We can find a more qualified individual to...”

  “I regret to inform you Alex, but the arrangements have already been made,” Billy stood up and came to Charlie’s aid.

  “But she’s just a kid! How can...”

  “Enough Alex!” Charlie rubbed his temples, “Cora will be in on Monday. Everybody wanted as smooth a transition as possible so that everybody and everything can try and get life back to being as normal as it possibly can be. I’m sorry Alex, but her name is already on the desk.”

  Alex stood up and grabbed his things, “Fine, if you guys want to trust some inexperienced little girl, than go right ahead. As for me, I think I will call in all those vacation days I’ve accumulated and take a long trip.” He headed for the door, “I’ll see you guys in a couple of weeks when you realize she can’t handle the job.”

  “If that’s the case, then don’t bother coming back Alex, because we don’t really need to deal with your bullshit right now.”

  “Well fine then! You can all kiss my fuckin’ arse and go to hell!” Alex slammed the door as he stormed out. All eyes in the room were on Charlie and Billy.

  “Well, that went well,” Billy said, “Think we can find a quick replacement for him now?” Charlie didn’t hear him; he was on his way across the room to Martha.

  “I’m so very sorry about all that. You didn’t need that kind of thing right now.”

  “It’s all right Charles, I know how Alexander is. Robert told me many stories about him and his attitude.” She tried to give him a smile, “Do me a small favor, when Ms. Jones gets settled in, please bring her by, I’d like to meet her.”

  “Of course ma’am, I’d be glad to.” He kissed her cheek and walked back over to Billy. Billy was staring out the window, it was really pouring outside. It was four o’clock in the afternoon and the sky was black. “I knew Alex would give us some trouble, but I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

  Billy put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder, “Just wait ‘til Monday when we get back to the office and Cora comes in.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel a bit sorry for her, so much pressure... You know people are going to explode every tiny mistake she makes and then sit back and wait for her to fail and try to get rid of her,” Charlie paused and gave a sigh, “Billy we gotta help her out. Until she proves to everybody else that she’s worthy, she’s only going to have us to rely on.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right mate. I hope her first case is an easy one...”

  Chapter Two – Monday

  Monday morning Charlie arrived at the office before the sun came up. He sat down at his desk to find a new case file waiting for him along with a note that for the time being, Cora was to be his partner. He began to read the file and immediately had to put it down. This one was not going to be easy. He hoped Cora would have the mind and stomach to see this through. As the sun rose and the hands moved around the clock, the desks in the office began to fill up, until there was only one left. Charlie stared at the empty seat. Then at a little after eight o’clock the door opened and Dorian walked in, followed close behind by his daughter.

  Charlie couldn’t help but stare. Last time he saw Cora she was but fifteen, still a
child, but oh what an image time had produced. She was tall and lean with sensuous curves. She had short, golden blonde hair and eyes like a stormy sky. His eyes followed her as she sat down at the desk next to him and tried to make herself comfortable. Then a hand came to rest on his shoulder, “Hello Charles.”

  “Dorian! How good to see you old man. This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

  “Well besides trying to make my daughter more comfortable, I heard about what happened with Alex, so I thought I would lend a hand. I’ll be sitting in at his desk for a while until he either decided to suck it up and be a man or they find somebody to replace him. By the way Charles, this is Cora.” Dorian gestured towards her and she stood up.

  “It’s nice to see you again. It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

  “Indeed it has. It’s been so long your father feels the need to introduce us though we’ve never met before.”

  Dorian Laughed, “Oh yes that’s right! I brought her by here a few times before. How silly of me to have forgotten! How old were you then dear, about thirteen?”

  “I believe I was fifteen actually. It was my first visit back after moving to the states with Mom.” Dorian nodded and walked away.

  “Still a touchy subject after all this time?” Charlie asked.

  “Unfortunately,” Cora sighed, “So I understand that I’ll be your partner for a while.”

  "Yes you will. But don't worry, I don't bite."

  She laughed and his heart skipped a beat, "That's good, but that's not what I'm worried about."

  "My dear you have nothing to worry about. You will do fine." They both smiled and she sat down.

  "So, what do we got?"

  "What?"

  "My first case Charlie," Cora smiled and rolled her eyes jokingly.

  "Don't you want to get settled a bit first?"

  "No, I want to get to work. I think there is a lot of pressure on me and I want to show everybody that I'm capable of this job."

  "Cora, you've got nothing to prove to anybody...but I understand what you mean, and this first case might be exactly what you need." Slowly he passed her the file and sat back while she read.

  "When did this come in?"

  "Found it on my desk this morning. I think the first body was found a little after midnight."

  "First body?"

  "Yes, unfortunately, Billy told me about five minutes before you arrived that they found another one. They think it might be older than the first, but it's hard to tell until we get the M.E. reports."

  "Same M.O.?"

  "Same everything, right down to the very last detail."

  Cora continued to read, "We are definitely dealing with an extremely disturbed person. No sexual trauma?"

  "No, none. I found that odd as well. It's usually a given in cases like this."

  "You said everything was the same. Does that include the description of the victim?"

  "Yes, so far. Both victims appear to be Caucasian women with dark brown hair. Again we have to wait for the M.E. reports to know if everything else about them matches."

  "Right then. Any idea who they are?"

  "No, not yet. We haven't had any matched through missing persons or reports made to us, but it hasn't even been 24 hours. It's quite possible the families of these women don't even realize they are gone yet. We might get a match through dental records or from fingerprints if they are in the system." Cora handed the file back to him. He finished reading it, having had trouble with it earlier.

  "Charlie, what kind of weapon was used to..."

  "We don't know yet, but whatever it was, our killer had a very steady hand."

  Cora paused and looked over at her father, then she stood up and grabbed her coat. "Come on Charlie let's go."

  "Go where?"

  "The crime scene for the first victim of course, and then maybe the second if we have time and forensics is done processing it. Plus I have some research to do."

  "Research? On what?"

  "Places where a person can purchase costume masks."

  Charlie smiled at her and grabbed his coat, "How very clever Ms. Jones, I wouldn't have thought of that. Any other suggestions?"

  "Only that we refer to this case as the 'White Mask Murders'." Charlie nodded, and they headed for the door.

  Chapter Three - The Crime Scenes

  The first crime scene was located in the back of a narrow alleyway between two abandoned buildings and shadowed by a tall brick wall that closed off the far end. It couldn't have been more out of the way and unnoticeable. When Charlie and Cora arrived, there were still a couple of officers there waiting. "Right then gentlemen," Charlie said, "First things first, what do we know about the person that found the body?"

  "Well sir, apparently a young woman who lives on this street was chasing her dog, who had broken loose from his leash. She said he's usually a very good dog, and assumed that he broke loose because he smelled something, and as she came down the alley and the dog was growling at something she thought she was correct in her assumption and then was all to horrified to find the body there. She called the police immediately from her mobile, and the first responders found her sitting on the sidewalk holding her dog when they arrived."

  "Is she alright?" Cora asked.

  "She's fine now, just very upset and feeling sorry for the poor dead girl." Charlie noticed that Cora had out a small notebook and was jotting things down.

  "Anything else boys?"

  "Yes, actually there is. There was a young man that came snooping around here earlier. He didn't ask any questions, so I didn't think he was a reporter, but he was looking around at everything. He never got too close though and he left on his own before I had a chance to ask who he was or what he was doing here."

  "What did he look like?"

  "Well he was white, tall, and well built. He had on a hat, but from what I could tell his hair was black and a bit wavy. Also, he had on sunglasses, so I don't know about the eyes"

  "Thank you," Charlie looked at Cora, "Think we should be suspicious?"

  "Suspicious, yes; but worried, no. Not unless he keeps showing up during the investigation."

  "Alright then," Charlie turned to the officers, "When we are done here, you boys can leave." The officers nodded and Charlie began inspecting the scene. "Noticed anything yet Cora?"

  "Yes, much. First and most importantly, there is almost no blood here at all, just a couple of spots around where the head was laying, which tells me the victim wasn't killed or mutilated here."

  "Well the initial sweep of the scene turned up no fingerprint, so there is nothing we can do there, also, no fibers or any kind or trace evidence of any kind, not a single hair or eyelash or anything. The report stated it looked as though the body was placed into the position she was found in. So, I would say that you are correct, this isn't the scene of the murder, just a dump site for the body." Charlie lit a cigarette, "Well I can honestly see no reason to stay here, it seems there's nothing left to find. Let's head on over to the other location and see if we have any luck there."

  Cora looked up at the sky, "Let's be quick about it then, it looks like it's going to rain."

  As they pulled up to the second scene, the raindrops were beginning to fall, and they could both see that it could almost be considered a wasted trip. Everything looked the same, exactly everything, right down to the alleyway and the brick wall. No new information was gathered when they spoke to the officers and nobody saw that mysterious man that was mentioned before. "Surprise, surprise," Charlie sighed, "Cora do you notice anything at all? I don't."

  "Actually Charlie, I think the fact that everything is the same, right down to the very last detail is something. It's a definite that they are connected and the same person committed both murders. Someone very methodical, maybe even OCD. Whoever did this took the time to make sure everything was perfect. He or she must have been planning for ages to make sure that everything would go perfect and they wouldn't be seen. The identical crime scenes offer a
n insight to the killer and provide the basis for a psychological profile."

  "You sound like those guys from that American show Criminal Minds."

  "One of my favorite shows actually."

  Charlie scratched his head, "I've investigated serial murders before, but never have I seen two scenes exactly the same. It's simply baffling." He headed back to the car, "Come on kid, there's nothing to do here, and it looks like the heavy stuff is about to start falling. Let's go see the M.E, maybe she can offer us something new."

  Chapter Four - The Medical Reports

  "Are you sure you don't want to get something to eat first?"

  "I'm sure Charlie, I want to speak to Olivia first. Then we can go to lunch."

  "Perhaps it’s a good thing you haven't eaten yet, you might have lost your lunches after seeing these bodies," Olivia said as they walked in, "Then again, maybe you should have, because you might lose your appetite."

  "So it's really a lose-lose situation," Charlie said.

  "I'd say so." They followed Olivia into the morgue. "Brace yourselves."

  "That bad huh?" Cora asked.

  "Worse than anything I can remember seeing throughout my career. I could wrong, but I really don't think I've examined anything like this." Olivia pulled the sheet back from the first victim. Charlie had to look away. It was much worse than he had imagined. Cora laid her hand on his arm and gently pushed him aside. "I'm surprised at your reaction," Olivia said, "I thought you would turn away before Charles."

  "I guess years of American horror movies have had their affect on me. I've seen some pretty brutal stuff on the silver screen, it's almost desensitizing. I guess the shock and emotion comes when you step back and separate film from reality, and realize that the person before you was once a living, breathing human being and not just a character." Cora took a long look at the body that lay before her, and shook her head. Charlie finally joined her side and tried his best to look as well.

  "So Doc," he took a deep breath, "What do we got?"