John: The Senior Killer

by Robert Waggoner

  “Hi,” he said, “I brought you some dry clothes and maybe we would have lunch at the local eatery.” He handed her a bag and pointed at the low building where the restrooms were located. For Steve he had a pullover sweater and a light rain coat and a pair of slip on waterproof shoes. Wendy found a sweat suit and sweatshirt inside the bag along with some slip on waterproof shoes. A windbreaker jacket and she were good to go. She looked into the stainless steel mirror and gave up the thought of combing her short hair or applying some lipstick. Go natural girl, she thought.

  Brad drove the van to the new part of Bandon. The old town lying at the edge of the harbor where the Coquille River emptied into the Pacific Ocean. A small town she thought as they drove along the waterfront where small boutiques and other shops and restaurants were located. Brad turned right through town and up the hill to the new town where the supermarket and banks were located. A busy restaurant sat off to the side and that is where Brad parked.

  Inside she made for the restroom to comb her hair and after looking presentable she found them sitting at a table talking quietly. She looked around and noticed the look of locals rather than tourists sat busy talking about whatever locals talk about. She sat down and Brad smiled at her asking what she would like. He said, “The clam chowder is great and a crab sandwich is out of this world.”

  She looked at him and thought this was the most human like sentence she had heard him speak. “I will follow your suggestion and some coffee would be nice.” It turned out they all had the same thing and she was delighted he met them and stopped for lunch. “How did you know where we would be,” she asked with a raised eyebrow he noticed.

  “Ah, it is Steve’s famous walk. It’s too far for him to return and years ago he called me the first time he made the trek to the jetty.” Steve glared at him.

  “You know that isn’t true. I called you the first time to see if I was needed and you said two calls had come in. Then you suggested you come and get me and I agreed,” he said with a small sign with a grin. Brad rolled his eyes and Wendy laughed. Hot bowls of chowder arrived and Wendy loved the food. It reminded her of the East Coast and Boston. But the crab was much better here.

  They didn’t talk any business here as Brad was known but left alone. About the time they were finished eating a policeman walked in and up to the table. Brad introduced him as his brother-in-law who was married to Earie. Wendy noticed he was short and stocky, with a nice smile. He shook hands around the table and made some small talk and left. Wendy thought it a little strange he didn’t sit down and have some coffee, but maybe he was on an errand or something.

  Driving back to the roundhouse, as she called it, she took in the sights along the way down the Loop Road. New houses mixed with old weather beaten houses were scattered here and there along the road. Turning into a small dirt road they made their way to the parking lot after Brad opened the cable crossing the road at the end of the trees. The wind was gale force and they hurried to the house. Inside Sujin took their wet clothes and disappeared down the stairs. A warm feeling from the wood stove gave off warmth and comfort. Wendy sat down on the sofa and let out a relaxed sigh. Brad and Steve left for the basement and she sat alone until Sujin came back up and sat next to her. Sujin smiled timidly and said, “Are you comfortable here Wendy?”

  “Yes, very much so and if you are not careful I will be living here soon it is so nice and relaxing.”

  Sujin knew English American humor and gave off a laugh. “My husband likes your work and thinks you will be a big help on this case,” she said with a sincere look in her eyes.

  “I hope I can help. Even my parents back east are scared to go outdoors anymore and how much more here or in California are the old folks worried to death of the serial killer.”

  “Yes, and I’ve read your report and is there anything else you might think of to add to it after the last few days being on the sites and in his house?”

  “Sujin, I know one thing and after studying profiles until my eyes fell out is that they all have one thing in common: abuse at home when young whether physical or mental. The pig breeding book and if in his history of family reveals a location; we might find him holed up there or near there due to his loss of a ‘home’ so to speak.”

  “Mike located his family history and we are discussing it when you are ready to join the team in the basement.” With that they made their way downstairs. Billy who had taken advantage of the lunch break caught up with them on the way down smelling like stale cigarettes eliciting a sharp look from Wendy. He made no excuse and sat on the floor next to Sandy who had replaced Rocky inside for the afternoon shift. Sandy was no different and snuggled up to Billy. Dogs know who and what humans are. If a dog doesn’t like you it is for a good reason. Wendy knew that and that is maybe why he always had Rocky or Sandy with him.

  Brad led a formal discussion about the results of Mike’s history on John. He said, “Mike has located Johns’ fathers’ home. He has since found out his father raised pigs and the location is near the city of Olympia in Washington State. I think it prudent Mike and Wendy investigate this new information and maybe we can turn up a clue or two. Wendy gives us your thinking about this new development.”

  Wendy thought for a few minutes and said, “Simply put, the more we know about this guy the closer we can determine his geographical travels. What I mean is if he is familiar with the area around Olympia maybe he will decide to let the press cool down and the hunt for him wanes. He must know we are going all out to find him and what better place to go to ground would be in a familiar place. He’s two thirds there if we can take his ‘Catch’ me expression. I think it is likely he will let things cool down for a while. I’m ready and willing to go or do anything to help the team and in particular stop this guy from killing our grandmothers and grandfathers.”

  “Well, it is settled then. Mike and Wendy go to Olympia and for the time being we will stay here and work on our random numbers and word games. Meanwhile Steve will make the arrangements and notify the local FBI that you are coming,” Brad said standing up telling everyone the meeting is over.

  Chapter 6

  Two days later with the FBI and local law enforcement they found the farm of J.J. Mitchell in the Bald Hills near the town of Yelm. “It turns out a Mitchell lives there and it is assumed it was a brother or John himself,” Brad told Billy and Steve.

  Steve said, “How is that possible. You got me totally confused. I thought the brother was dead and then who is buried in the grave in LA?”

  “Well, you must have missed something while things were going on. We think that the guy in the grave is a missing man that looks like our killer John. He faked his death and imposture his brother for the life insurance. He’d set up an address and house in San Diego and when it came time to collect, John played the part of his brother. It was easy to prove with a SS number and a driver’s license obtained some time ago. The life insurance wasn’t a large sum. He was smart to not draw attention and collected the hundred thousand plus the sale of his house in LA. It was very neat and clean. That’s an overview and the particulars are in a report if you care to review.”

  Steve knew they were on the way to Olympia and left to pack his bag and call his superior. Brad called the airport and put the plane on standby while Sujin made ready their things. Billy took a quick shower and sucked down a fag in the shower with a powerful fan sucking out the smoke and steam. Clever he thought, but Brad already knew his trick.

  Wendy noticed this time Brad took Sandy and left a sad looking Rocky to take care of the home base. Sandy looked out the window at Rocky and maybe in dog language she gave him the nose thumb!

  It was late at night when they landed in Olympia. Steve left for Seattle for a meeting with his superior who had flown out after hearing they might have the suspect located.

  They stayed at the Edgewater in Olympia and left the next morning to the east where the Bald Hills formed the side hills of the Cascade Mountain Range. The FBI had staked the far
m out and when they arrived, was told all was quiet if squealing pigs indicated a quiet farm. Special agent Norm Nicks from the Olympia office led the team to the farmhouse door at eight am. A knock produced a very likeness of John Mitchell. Norm showed his FBI credentials and asked if they could come in. The man stood back and let Norm, Brad, Wendy and Mike in.

  The house was a mess and it looked like the pigs lived in the house. Paul Mitchell as he said his name threw papers and old clothes in a corner to make room in a broken down sofa for them to sit. A kitchen table and four chairs were piled high with cereal boxes and god knows what all. Brad and Mike moved two kitchen chairs into the living room and Wendy had made a place on a sturdy coffee table by moving a pile of trash while Norm in his tailored suit chose to stand. Paul sat down on the sofa on top of old clothes and waited for someone to say something. Brads first impression was the guy was a little retarded, but found out later it was only a game he played.

  Norm began the questions by reading him his rights and then asking him who owned this farm? Paul replied, “I do. My daddy gave it to me when he died.”

  “When did he die Mr. Mitchell?”

  “Oh, years ago.”

  “What year Mr. Mitchell?”

  “I can’t remember, he said looking up at the ceiling if the answer was stuck on the greasy looking ceiling with large water marks from a leaky roof.

  “Tell us if you have recently been to California.”

  “No, I don’t even know where California is”

  “Can you prove your whereabouts for the last few months?”

  A long time passed before he answered and rubbed his stubble on his chin and said, “The feed store in town knows me and I go there once a week for pig food in my daddy’s pickup truck.” Brad moved to Norm’s side and whispered in his ear.

  “Mr. Mitchell would you mind if some of our agents look around your farm and in your house?”

  He seemed to think about that and as if he didn’t know why he played the role well by looking around the room at the mess and said, “I don’t see why not. Watch out for the momma pig with little ones as she gets a little ornery if strangers come around.” Norm left to inform his agents to look for anything that was not part of a farm. Leave no pile of pig scat unturned he told them.

  Brad and Mike took the yes to mean to start looking for the place one might hide costumes and make up cases or bags. Paul sat there and didn’t move for two hours while the FBI looked in or under or over the complete farm. Brad and Mike looked for underground places like an old root cellar where someone could hide or things stashed.

  While they were looking, Wendy was asking him questions about his family and life here on the farm. Wendy reported later he answered all her questions like a person who lived here all his life; with nothing out of the ordinary. But, she added, that there was something not quite right about the too pat answers.

  Disappointed after stopping off in Yelm at the feed store and finding Paul did come once a week and usually on a Saturday. They checked the sales receipts going back for months and sure enough he had charged his feed every Saturday like clockwork. The salesperson told them at the end of the month they send the bill to the local bank and the bank deposits the amount in their account.

  Next they stopped at the bank to check the account of one Paul Mitchell. They found a six figure balance and learned from the manager when the daddy died of a farm accident he left a sizeable insurance policy to Paul the son. The lawyer set up the accounts for taxes on the farm and groceries from a local supermarket. Paul never needed to carry cash or write a check.

  Back at the motel the team sat around discussing the day’s events with Norm and his assistant special agent, Mark Lee. All eyes went to Brad and he took the lead by saying, “I looked closely at this hands and fingers. They didn’t appear to look like a farmer’s hand at all. Also there wasn’t much dirt under his nails and because his shirt sleeves overlapped his wrists I could tell if a scar was there or not. My gut tells me we were with John the serial killer and I did see your agents Norm getting some evidence to determine DNA. I’m glad now we sent agent Jones to Sacramento for the books. Get a hold of him and have him follow up on the grave site DNA. Also, let’s exhume daddy J.J and check his DNA; in addition, find out the lawyer who handled the estate. Mike what do you think?”

  “If it is John in real life he is one cool customer. Even if it is him all we have on the guy would be fraud of an insurance company. We don’t have a shred of evidence to tie to this bird. I’m holding out on committing who this joker is, but if it is him, how did he fool the feed store and how could he be in two places at one time?”

  “Easy Mike,” Brad said. “There is a brother and he was hiding somewhere on the property. They have had years to build a hiding place and if Wendy is correct in saying the father abused the kids, maybe he dug a jail type room somewhere and stuck the kids in it for punishment of some sort.”

  Wendy’s mouth fell open at the suggestion of what Brad just said. “Of course,” she blurted out, “it stands to reason. I’m a fool for not thinking about that.”

  Norm spoke up and said, “I will have the army fly over with a helicopter and use infrared heat source equipment to see if we can locate an isolated heat image besides the pigs and one person in the house.” He left the room to make a call and Sujin spoke for the first time.

  “Sandy never took her eyes off of him. Dogs know. ’

  “I think he is gone and to parts unknown to us at this time. I know,” as he saw Norm about to tell him they had a watch on the place, “that he has an escape route and by now you will find the real brother completely baffled. Norm, I suggest you get the person who is there now his DNA. We need to look at hospital records, death certificates and so forth.”

  Mike said, “I’m on the records,” as he left the room to contact Billy and research the county records and the father’s death certificate.

  Meanwhile Norm was in the corner using his cell phone. First he called the agent to check on the house. Take his picture and a sample of his DNA. Next he called the office and had them find out where JJ Mitchell was buried and dig him up with a court order. In addition, as he was in agreement with Brad on John escaping, told his office to put an alert out and stop each car for a search. Fax the description to all law agencies. There was only a couple ways out of the Bald Hills by pavement. One logging road was used by a timber company but it had a locked gate at the east end. Norm took no chances and had them call the sheriff's office to have someone sit on the locked gate.

  Brad looked at his watch and saw it was only about noon. He wasn’t hungry but they had missed breakfast. He thought it prudent to have something to eat and nodded at Sujin who knew what he was thinking. She took Sandy for a walk and told the restaurant to take orders from the people in the meeting room. She ordered for both Brad and her then took Sandy outside to let her do her thing. Sandy was on a leash; let the motel guests feel relaxed seeing the police dog. Sandy appeared to want to sniff the parking lot and Sujin gave her free reign. This was strange as she normally did her business and whined to go back where the action was. Sujin went on the alert and her senses became acute. Looking at a slow point to point 360 she took in what was normal and anything out of the ordinary. A few cars were coming in for lunch and no cars leaving. That was natural as it was lunch time. They passed the FBI van they had used earlier and made for the back of the parking lot. She looked at every parked car for human occupants. Nothing. Sandy, ears up, slowly moved toward a U-Haul van sitting against the back parking lot at an angle to cross ways to the parking lines. Sujin thought that normal as many people moving had similar vans and parked in the back because the vans were too big to park straight in.

  Sandy was not happy about the van and Sujin tried to see if there was anyone in the driver’s seat. Cautiously they approached the driver’s door when the motor started and the van took off, but not before she caught a glimpse of what looked like the suspect from the farm. Sandy gave a bark an
d looked at Sujin.

  Did he follow us to the motel, she thought. If so, he must have changed places with his brother very quickly. That would mean the secret room is under the house. To leave the house through the back and make his way to a hidden vehicle meant he had planned this from the beginning to find out who was looking for him. It gave her the chills thinking about it as they went back to the motel and lunch.

  Sujin went to the ladies room before having lunch with the team. Of course she memorized the license plate, but she realized it would lead nowhere. The rental place would have a completely different description of him or her that what he truly looked like. This was his turf and now he had a good look at who was in charge of the case and what really was his purpose of hanging out in the parking lot? Maybe he thought he could kidnap a member or the team? She would share this new development with the others as she made her way to a small meeting room where lunch was being consumed.

  She sat down next to Brad and he took one look at her and Sandy and realized something happened either in the motel or outside. He made no move to ask and waited until she was ready to tell the story. She ate her cold soup and baked trout like nothing was any different. Small talk was going around the table and that was when Steve, looking like he’d been up all night, walked in with a drawn haggard look. He took an empty chair as the waiter asked him if he would like some lunch. He told the waiter he would have whatever the lady was eating and bring him some fresh and not old coffee. The waiter saw the look in his eye and told him he would brew a fresh pot for him right away.