by CM Sutter
“So you think it was him for sure?”
“I don’t know, Amber. Lance survived, but maybe it was just dumb luck. The attack was likely interrupted by the couple coming out of the building. When do you work next?”
“I have off until Friday night. Why?”
“Good, I’ll make a call. We’re going to start your self-defense classes tomorrow night.”
I pulled into the garage, and we stepped into the quiet house. All of the lights were dimmed. Mom and Bruce had obviously turned in since it was close to midnight. In a whisper, I said good night to Amber and went to bed. I lay there feeling as if the safety of our city rested entirely on my shoulders. This killer was targeting me through other people, and I didn’t know why. Tomorrow, I’d start my own profile of Dime. I’d dig into his psychotic mind and try to figure out the connection he thought he had with me.
Throughout the week, we’d gone over everything we had so far. Nothing was found at the apartment complex or the barn where Melissa was killed. We concluded that the lack of the signature dime at the apartment was only because the killer was interrupted. The attempt on Lance’s life was going to be attributed to Dime, just like the rest of the attacks.
We addressed the public again, asking for help in apprehending the killer. We stressed that if anyone noticed a suspicious person or activity going on, for them to call either the North Bend PD or the sheriff’s department. We were also looking for an SUV with a possible broken right taillight.
I called every auto repair shop in the county. So far, nobody had brought in an SUV that needed the right taillight replaced.
A call came in from Melissa Mately’s mother on Thursday. She thanked us for confirming through dental records that the body found at the barn was indeed Melissa’s. Her request to have Melissa cremated and the ashes sent to Iowa was honored. I spoke to Perry Adams too. He informed me that Elise’s funeral would be held on Saturday at Myram & Frank Funeral Home here in town. I told him that a few of us would be there.
Friday during lunch, I went downstairs to the tech department and asked Todd to pull up the driver’s license photos of the two David Ingles in Kentucky and Oregon on his computer. I studied their faces and noted the height, weight, and age of each man. Their descriptions didn’t match the profile we had put together of Dime. I closed out the program and returned to the bull pen.
Jack and I finally left for the day at five o’clock and headed out the door. “Do you want to go somewhere for a beer? Amber is working tonight, and Mom and Bruce said they were going out for dinner and a movie. It’s just going to be Spaz, Polly, and Porky keeping me company otherwise.”
“Sure, I don’t have any plans.”
“Good, I need your take on a few things that have been bothering me anyway. I’d rather keep my personal opinions just between you and me for now.”
“Yeah, sure.” Jack gave me a concerned look. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure. Something has been weighing heavily on my mind. Let’s go somewhere quiet where we can talk.”
“Chelsie’s?”
“Yeah, I’ll follow you.”
A crunch sounded under my shoe as I neared my car. Instinctively, I turned and looked back to see what I’d stepped on.
“Jack, come here and check this out.”
Jack was in his car and ready to leave when he heard me call out to him. He got out.
“What do you have?”
I motioned him over. “Take a look.” I knelt over what appeared to be broken pieces of plastic. Jack joined me and picked up a shard.
“This looks like taillight plastic.”
“I thought so too. Is there any way to tell what kind of vehicle it came from?”
“Probably if it was larger and had a model number on it. These few shards are pretty small.” Jack scanned the parking lot. “Todd’s car is still here, and so is Kyle’s. Let’s get their opinion.”
We went back inside and took the stairs to the lower level. Both men were closing up their respective doors for the night.
“Hey, guys, I thought you left,” Kyle said.
“We almost did until I stepped on this.” I held up a piece of red plastic about half the size of my pinkie finger. “Is there any way to tell what kind of vehicle this came from?”
Kyle took it in his hand, Todd came over and inspected it too.
“Looks like a piece of taillight plastic. No numbers on it and no definite contour. I don’t think it’s possible, Jade.”
Kyle looked at Todd, waiting for his opinion. Todd shrugged.
“If we had a model number, I could run it through the database. It’s unlikely we could find out anything with a piece this small. Is that the largest piece you have?”
“Unfortunately yes. How about parking lot video?”
Todd raised his eyebrows. “That could take forever. It’s a public lot, Jade. A lot of cars come and go, and people park anywhere they want. We don’t have any set time frame to look at?”
“No, sorry. I’m just thinking out loud. Okay, good night, guys. Hopefully I won’t see you until Monday.”
I told Jack I’d follow him, and we left. Chelsie’s was a quiet bar and grill at the intersection of Main Street and Poplar. I wanted to avoid the loud, Friday night crowd so we could do some private brainstorming. Nothing else seemed to be working.
The waitress approached our table. “Hi, folks, what can I get you?”
“You hungry?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Jack asked for two menus, and we each ordered a beer.
“You and Amber started the self-defense classes a few nights ago, didn’t you?”
I grinned. “Yeah, she’s a quick study, that’s for sure. If I’m not careful, she’ll kick my ass soon.”
“Doubt it, but the class is a good idea. You never know when a self-defense technique might save your life.”
I agreed. I began telling Jack about my concerns as we sipped our stouts. We’d already placed our food orders.
“When did all of this craziness begin?” I asked to get the conversation going.
“Three weeks ago that we know of.”
“Right. I got promoted from detective to sergeant in criminal investigations last month, and a week later the bodies started popping up in our jurisdiction. The whole female-authority thing has been stuck in my head since we put together the press release.” I rubbed my temples. “I’m afraid my mind has been going nonstop since.”
“So what does your gut tell you, Jade?”
I looked around. “I’m afraid to even say it out loud.”
Jack took a gulp of beer. “You think Doug is good for this, don’t you?”
I nodded, afraid my voice would crack. I cleared my throat. “Apparently you do too. What do we really know about him? I mean other than him being the ME for years.”
“I know he’s a loner and has a chip on his shoulder about his ex-wife. He’s antisocial outside of work, yet he’s a good medical examiner. He’s always on time and at the scenes. His whereabouts are usually accounted for.”
“We don’t know what he does when his workday is over, though. Have you ever been to his house?”
“Never, have you?” Jack asked.
“Nope, and he’s lived there forever. I believe that’s the house he was raised in.”
“The house belonged to his folks? Where are they now?”
“No clue. Doug does drive an SUV, you know.”
Jack checked the time on his cell phone. “It’s seven thirty. By the time we’re done with dinner, it will be after eight. Do you want to do a drive-by of his house? Maybe he’ll be home.”
“Sure, but we can’t just knock on his door without a reason.”
“We don’t have to. If his vehicle is parked in the driveway, we can at least check to see if the taillight is broken. We have to tread lightly. Doug is an odd duck, for sure, but we have absolutely nothing on him. We can’t ruin someone’s reputation based on him being w
eird and antisocial. He’s still a very competent ME.”
“I know, but things are coming together that can’t be explained. He cracks his neck and mutters. He’s probably the right build and strong enough. He’s kind of weird and short tempered at times, and he’d definitely know how to avoid detection.”
“True, but other than the weird and short tempered part, that could easily describe me.”
The waitress brought our meals, and we ate quickly—we had someplace to be.
Chapter 44
Since neither of us had ever been to Doug’s house, we had to go back to the station to find his address. I pulled the door handle and entered the bull pen, Jack right on my heels. Jamison and Horbeck sat at their desks, doing busywork.
Jamison looked up from his desk when we walked in. “What are you guys doing here?”
I kept quiet, figuring Jack would take the lead. He responded for both of us as he cut through to the file room.
“We just need to check on an address. Brainstorming, you know?”
He didn’t want to get into a conversation with either of the detectives. They might ask too many questions.
Horbeck’s ears perked up. “Really? Need some help?”
I made small talk to keep both men distracted. “Nah—we’re good, thanks. Slow night?” I peered over Horbeck’s desk to call his attention back my way.
Horbeck leaned back in his chair, almost lifting the front wheels off the floor. “Yeah, quiet so far. I hope it stays that way. There is a full moon out tonight, you know.”
I grimaced. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”
Jack returned and gave me a nod. “See you guys later.”
Jamison smirked. “I hope not.”
We headed back to the parking lot. I looked up at the bright full moon just because Horbeck mentioned it. I hadn’t even noticed earlier, and now I hoped it wasn’t a bad omen.
“How are we going to do this? Neither of us can leave our cars in the lot. Somebody might wonder why we aren’t inside.”
“Yeah, good point.” Jack scratched his chin. “Follow me to my house. We’ll leave your car there.”
“Got it.”
Jack’s house was less than ten minutes away. He lived in a three-bedroom bungalow on Hawthorne Street. Most of those homes were built in the forties, and they looked nice and cozy. The neighborhood was quiet with mostly single people or empty nesters living there.
Jack stopped in the street and waved me around him. He opened his window and called out, “Park in the driveway. That’s fine.”
“Okay.” I pulled in, parked, and got out. With a tap on the key fob, the car beeped, the lights flashed, and it was locked. I climbed into the passenger seat of Jack’s Charger, and we were off, heading south to Jackson City. The drive would take only fifteen minutes.
“Here’s his address.” Jack handed me the slip of paper he’d written it on. “Plug it into your cell’s navigation in case we ever need it again.”
We took the exit ramp into Jackson City. The navigation led us down several streets. We followed Main Street for five blocks, turned left onto Adams Street and another left onto Temper Way. According to the navigation, his house was the sixth one on the right.
Streetlights were few and far between. We were close to the edge of town, with a city park between Doug’s house and the vast country farm fields to the east. Jack drove slowly, watching for Doug’s address.
“It should be the next house on the right.” Jack pointed and lowered his head to look out the passenger side window as he drove slowly forward.
I felt as if I needed to whisper even though it wasn’t necessary. “The house is dark,” I said, whispering anyway.
“Maybe he’s already in bed.”
I checked the time. “It’s only nine fifteen. Maybe his car is in the garage.”
Jack parked three houses beyond Doug’s and got out.
“Where the hell are you going?” I asked, my voice becoming raspy. My mouth felt as dry as the desert—I needed water.
“Wait here. I’m going to look through his garage windows to see if his car is inside.”
“Fine, but hurry and stay in the shadows.” I unbuckled my seat belt and turned to see him running toward Doug’s house. My neck was stretched to its limits as I watched over my shoulder. The lack of streetlights didn’t help my anxiety. By the time Jack passed the second house, I couldn’t see him anymore. I waited and watched my surroundings.
The sound of running footsteps getting closer told me Jack was returning. I watched until I saw him again and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Anything?”
“Nope, he isn’t home.”
“Damn it. I’ll remember to check the taillight on his vehicle Monday morning, that’s for sure.” I refastened my seat belt, and we headed back to North Bend.
“Do you want to come in?” Jack asked when we reached his house. “It seems like your mind is going a hundred miles an hour.”
“It is. For some reason, the name David Ingles sticks in my craw. I don’t know anyone with that name personally, but something is definitely off.”
“We can do a little more detective work over a beer. Come on in.”
“Okay. I probably can’t sleep anyway.”
I had been in Jack’s house only a handful of times and chuckled to myself how neat and clean he kept his home. His mother had taught him well.
“Beer or coffee?” He headed into the kitchen and stood by the refrigerator.
“Better make it a beer unless you have decaf. I don’t want to be awake all night.”
“No decaf in this house. I only drink leaded.”
I smiled. “A beer sounds great.”
Jack reached into the refrigerator and pulled out two stouts from the door rack. I noticed a few items on the shelves, but most of the refrigerator was empty.
“You fasting?” I asked, giving him a small grin.
“Yeah, probably as much as you are. You look like you’ve lost a few pounds.”
“Hmm… thanks for noticing.”
Jack handed me a can and a glass, then sat down across from me at the kitchen table.
“A can and a glass, just like Dime ordered his beer at Eddy’s.” I popped the tab and listened to the hiss of the cartridge in the can. The thick, creamy head was my favorite part of this rich, dark beer.
“Okay, so what bothers you about the name David Ingles?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s actually the name that throws me. I need to write things down as we talk so I don’t lose my train of thought. Got any scratch paper?”
“Sure.” Jack rose and went to the first drawer at the end of the kitchen cabinets. “Does everyone use the end drawer as their junk drawer?”
“I do. I think it’s mandatory.”
He handed me the pad of paper and a pen, then took a seat in the chair next to mine. I wrote down the name David Ingles. I remembered that neither of the driver’s license photos of the two guys in the system looked at all like our suspect might look. I wrote Doug Irvin below David’s name.
“That’s it! I know what’s been bugging me this whole time. The initials are the same.” I slid the sheet of paper over to Jack.
“Son of a gun, Jade, I think you’re on to something. Wait a minute.” Jack took the pen and added ME, as in medical examiner, after Doug’s name. “What do you think? Doug Irvin, ME. Use his initials only and see what you get.”
I wrote them out and got DIME. I dropped the pen to the table and rubbed my forehead. “Jack—Doug’s the killer. We have to do something, but how are we going to prove it? His name and title don’t automatically make him a killer. We have to run this by the lieutenant.”
Jack checked the time—eleven o’clock. “First, we have to get our ducks in a row. We can’t present this to the lieutenant yet. Let’s make an outline of sorts. We need to compare Doug to the vague descriptions of suspects we got from people. We need a motive too. If we call the lieutenant half-cocked and try
to present our weak ideas as evidence, we’ll lose Doug as a suspect. It’s only circumstantial at best.” Jack grabbed two more beers. “Let’s get busy. We need enough to go on or we’ll never get a warrant to search his house.”
Chapter 45
“Do you think this is enough to present to the lieutenant?” I squeezed my temples and handed Jack the sheets of paper we had compiled over the last few hours.
We had put together a profile and possible motive, making Doug our most probable suspect. We carefully went over every bullet point we’d listed and added what we’d used as our basis for the information.
“I think this should do it, but what we really need is to see his vehicle.”
“He couldn’t have replaced that taillight yet unless he left the county. I called every repair shop in Washburn County and told them to flag all SUVs that come in to have the right taillight replaced. They’re supposed to call us immediately, and I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“He either fixed it himself or it’s still like that, that is, if Doug really is the killer.”
I looked at the clock again—two a.m. “Do you feel confident enough to call the lieutenant?”
“Yes, do you?”
“Absolutely.” I pulled my cell out of my purse, ready to dial the lieutenant, when it rang. “Hang on, it’s Amber. I told her to call me every night she closes Joey’s, especially since she had that scare with Sean last week.” I picked up. “Hey, Sis, how was your night?”
“Busy. I made a ton of tips tonight. I swear I’m giving up on men, though.”
I chuckled. “Really, why’s that? You’re young, beautiful, and have an outgoing personality.”
“Thanks. Anyway, remember that guy I said has been hanging out here lately? The older guy that I thought was crushing on me?”
“Yeah, I remember you mentioning him. Did he replace you already with someone closer to his own age?”
“Worse than that. The jerk sat here for the last four hours schmoozing me up, taking up all of the time I could have been gabbing with the regulars, plus he was the last one to leave. I just wiped down the bar and saw that he left a measly dime as my tip. What an asshat!”
