Murder Mysteries #5

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  Inside was word for word what Stacy and Angie had written. When she had read it through once Stacy thought it sounded a little demeaning to the killer and might make him very angry. Be that as it may, it looked good to her.

  Stacy looked up as Sharon came in. "Stacy, my phone is ringing off the hook. It's the press from all over the nation. What should I do?"

  Stacy could see Sharon was truly overwhelmed by what was happening. "Tell the press I'll have a press conference at 5 pm in front of our building." Sharon nodded and left. Stacy wondered if she had made the right decision. She picked the phone up and called Connie.

  "Good morning Stacy. Nicely written article. I approve a hundred percent. Now what is next?"

  "The press is all over us like a blanket. I put them off by saying I'd have a press conference at 5 pm. Did I do good?"

  "For the time being I'd say yes. Nothing we can do but bide our time. Let's talk later."

  Chris McGoogle was in his office reading the newspaper as usual. At first he had caught the headline caption and then when he turned the page and began reading, a slow burn crawled up his body. He was sitting on the edge of his chair glaring at the written words about him. When he was finished reading, he first thought about killing the Marshall bitch, but then he would lose his someone special and the purpose for sharing his motives with her. Then he remembered his words about a profiler.

  It did not register at first, but then the second time through, was amazed how true the profile of him was. This shocked him to view almost the perfect picture of somebody they have never seen before. The only thing missing was his vocation and home address. This needed some more thought. Ten minutes later, he slowly was regaining his fortitude. He thought out loud, 'I'll make this hit and take a break.' His last thought before a customer walked in was that the Marshall had asked if he wanted a face-to-face discussion. Even though he felt her equal, he was not sure that he could hold his own arguing with her about a specific issue.

  Chris felt empowered after the customer left. He told his secretary that he would be gone for the rest of the day and to close up at 5 pm as usual. First he went by his plumbing warehouse and put his rifle and cleaning stuff in his trunk. For his disguise he would be Alex Webber. A scalp cap showing a ring of hair over the ears and bald on top would set the appearance. Next were horn rim glasses and a moustache. Casual dress with a cover story of a freelance writer and photographer, were well thought out. A half dozen pawnshop cameras were readily available. Some magazines with Alex Webbers name on articles were in a brief case.

  He left the warehouse and drove up old 99E instead of the I-5 freeway. He stopped in Albany at a used car lot that he could access on foot. He found what he was looking for and paid cash for an old, but in good shape van with dark windows and a sliding door. He drove off happy and after transferring his things, drove on up to Salem become more confident every minute.

  In Salem he had a late lunch around 3 pm. His mark would be at the supermarket around 4:30 as she usually left early on most days. It was a rare day when she didn't stop at the supermarket.

  Double check Time line……..Back from this point

  I make it two days after the first kill and just a couple days before Christmas.

  Loren Holley left work at her usual time. She drove off to stop by the supermarket for something for dinner and a look see at a new golf magazine. She had dropped some serious hints about a new set of clubs for Christmas.

  Loren drove carefully to the supermarket. She parked in her usual place about half way between the street and the store. A little exercise was in keeping with her routine. She never saw the dark colored van follow her to the store. The van parked sideways to her car about seventy yards away. Chris parked at a slight angle so nobody would see his rifle barrel sticking out of the side of the van. Actually the barrel would only stick out about four inches but he didn't want anyone seeing something out of the ordinary.

  He watched Loren walk quickly into the store. It usually took her about twenty minutes to shop on an average day. Chris made ready his tool kit for the assassination upcoming. Previously before he left, he ejected the casing from the first kill. On the way up the two-lane highway, when nobody was coming or following him, he pitched the empty into the ditch that was used to irrigation.

  While he waited, he thought about a response to the profile challenge he had offered in his first mail. Of course he must keep his promise or appear as a real flake. Meanwhile, he kept an eye on his target that should be retuning in just a few minutes. He smiled proud that he wasn't breathing hard nor did he feel his heart pounding. It was surprising how relaxed he was.

  Her she comes, he said inside his head. The safety was off. He had on light cotton gloves that would be disposed of afterwards. He saw Loren wheel her cart to her car. She would put the groceries in the trunk. The she would open her driver's door. But she would never open that door again in her lifetime. When she shut the back door and faced the front of the car, Chris would put a bullet into her heart.

  Loren placed her two small bags of groceries into the back seat. Then she turned to open her driver's door when she was driven backwards a few feet landing on her back next to her car. A woman with two kids was pushing her cart to her car when she saw Loren fall back onto the parking lot. The woman, Hilda Brisbane saw the older woman lying on her back. She pushed her cart faster telling her two kid to hurry up. When Hilda looked down she saw the woman staring up at the sky with unmoving eyes. A small amount of blood had run from under Loren's coat Hilda took out her cell phone and dialed 911.

  Chris slid the door shut. Placed the rifle in a cardboard rifle box, covered it with a blanket and drove slowly out of the parking lot. He motored down to Albany where his car was. He parked the van, transferred his tools, locked up the van and vowed he would come back tomorrow and pick it up. He would ride the bus to Albany. He smiled thinking how smooth the operation went. Now it was time to draft his profile and send it to the reporter who had written the article for the Oregonian.

  -15-

  Stacy was preparing for the press conference in her office when the Executioner struck for the second time. She looked at her watch seeing it was just a few minutes before 5 pm. She gathered her notes and went to the large conference room where both Sharon and Emma had made seating arrangement for the media. Extra lights had been added because this press conference would be almost live via TV.

  Dan had found a podium from someplace and as Stacy walked in the conference room, he smiled standing beside the shiny wood podium. Stacy smiled back and nodded to Silas Martin of the Oregonian newspaper. While walking to the front of the room, the noisy chatter turned to silence.

  Another surprise was a speaker system that Dan had installed to strengthen her voice. Stacy was not given to speaking vociferously. Upon seeing the small mike she again smiled at Dan. Without any formalities she looked over the ten or so press folks and said:

  "I'll not apologize for not being more open or specific in the assassination of Sheriff Demmit. The fact of the matter is we are just in the early stages of this homicide. Here is the time line. I received an e-mail on the sixteenth from an unknown sender telling me he would kill or murder a person and he dared me to catch him. Believe me when I say we took the e-mail very seriously. Upon the advice of my superior and from a government profiler, we drafted a response which was read by our local news media. On the eighteenth I received a second e-mail. He, as we know it is a male, decided to play out his threat to murder someone that was high profile and had a long career. It appears the killer wants workers who have years of seniority to retire to let the younger folks build their retirement base.

  To show me his prowess he assassinated Sheriff Demmit on the ninetieth. The murder weapon is a high-powered .243 rifle with a sound suppressor. We are calling for the public to try and recall if anyone saw a van sitting on the street between the restaurant and the church. At this point we've little evidence to go on. He calls himself the Executioner and thr
eatens to strike again before Christmas. Okay, I'll open the room up for questions…………… "

  Stacy looked over at Dan who was waving his arms and pointing to his cell phone. Stacy's cell was on the podium turned off. She reached down and turned it on. It jingled immediately. "Super he struck again in Salem at a supermarket parking lot. The city police called me and asked me to call you as they were cognizant you were giving a press conference. I don't know who the vic is but from what was told to a police officer from a witness that the vic was knocked backwards onto the ground. No sound was heard. She was shot in the heart like the sheriff was. I'm on my way as we are talking. I'll meet you there. I'll send the location shortly."

  Stacy had never said a word and all eyes were on her. She sat her phone down. Looked at Dan and then cast her eyes over the press. She said: "It isn't confirmed yet, but it's entirely possible the killer struck again in Salem. I have to go and am sorry that I don't have anything further to report. Thanks you for coming." She quickly walked out with Dan right behind her. He went to get the vehicle and Stacy her black bag. Emma was set and ready to go. Stacy told Sharon when the press had gone, lock up and go home.

  On the way up I-5 to Salem, Stacy was talking from the back seat to Connie back in DC. Connie had received the news via Rory's office and after contacting the local Salem police found out the victim's name. "Stacy, like the sheriff this government worker had many years of service. Her name is Loren Holley. Her husband Glen Holly is an attorney at a small firm. The report from the witness states she was coming out of the supermarket with her two kids pushing her cart. She saw the victim putting her groceries into the backseat of her car. When she turned to open her driver's door, she said the woman flew back a few feet landing on her back. The witness hurried to see what had happened and when she looked down at the woman she saw her lifeless eyes staring up to the sky. A small home was evident in her coat in the middle of her chest. The witness said she backed away and called 911. She didn't hear a shot or any other unusual noise."

  "Thanks Connie. That's leaves us with another crime scene without any evidence I'm guessing. Well, let's see what happens when we arrive. I'll report to you later. I'm afraid of the press now that it's only a few days until Christmas."

  Stacy sat in silence for a while thinking what a shocking Christmas for all residents of Oregon. All would be thinking about where this crazed killer would strike next. Anyone with upwards of thirty years of service, with the pension fund budging, would be thinking they would be next. Actually, as they passed Albany with Salem not far away, a mass retirement was surely be seen come this holiday season. The irony would be that the killer would see the fruits of his labor unfolding before his eyes.

  Stacy's cell jingled. Rory said, "I'm on site Super. A nice looking woman near sixty or there abouts, has be murdered with the same MO as the sheriff. Hilda Brisbane witnessed the murder, but didn't see where the shot came from Her eyes were on the victim. This is getting rather scary Stacy. How do we catch this person. He's like a ghost. I see it as a game of wits now between you and him. What's your thinking if anything?"

  "I feel numb and without any path to follow towards catching or stopping him from continuing his slaughter of innocent people. I think, off the top of my head, we need to sit down with the profiler and Connie to formulate a written attack to the killer. If we could get him to agree to a sit-down meeting and discuss what makes him angry, we just might see him give up for mental help. But, I'm just guessing Tall Man. I see we just exited the freeway and we'll be with you shortly."

  -16-

  It always sent a shudder down her body when a crime scene was clearly evident. Stacy detested the vehicles with their emergency lights flashing after they had parked. She had yet to understand why the driver never turned the flashing lights off. Dan had no trouble finding the crime scene as yellow tape was fluttering in the wind surrounded by blue, red and yellow flashing lights drew spectators by the handful to that area. The curious were secretly hoping to see some gore to report to their friends later. Mother's with kids held a hand in front of their eyes so as not to subject the little ones to the tragic scene under flashing lights. People's heads were dodging back and forth trying to see around the many uniform police officers standing guard looking or trying to look the part of guardian.

  Stacy, Dan and Emma had on their necklace showing off their official capacity to cross the newly yellow barrier to discuss the incident with others of equal authority. Rory was one of those official investigators. He stood talking to a Salem homicide detective. Stacy walked up and was introduced to Ed Windworth. Stacy took an immediate dislike, as he was snarly and cocky. Rory was doing his best to enlighten Ed Windworth to the fact this was a federal case and not the responsibility of Salem's City Police.

  Stacy moved around Rory and Ed to look at the victim who lies on the cold blacktop covered in a dark tarp. Stacy bent down and lifted a corner to view the face of the victim. Dan and Emma both were looking over her shoulder. They saw a late fifties or early sixties woman unremarkable from thousands of others. Dan said, "Her name is Loren Holley. I'm going to snoop around Stacy and see if I can find where the shot came from."

  "Good idea Dan. I'm sure when Ben gets here he'll join you," said Stacy standing up. She saw Ed Windworth walking off in a huff. She smiled thinking maybe his boss recalled him to the office. Rory came over he said:

  "Where do they get these guys anyway? You'd think it was his mother laying there dead. It took his lieutenant to get it through his thick head he wasn't wanted or needed." They both saw the coroner pull up with the red lights flashing to add to the party. Both Rory and Stacy moved out of the way.

  As they moved away, Silas Martin from the newspaper asked Stacy, "May I be so bold to inquire as to who the victim is Stacy?

  "Her name is Loren Holly Silas and she's a government worker is all we know at this point."

  "Thanks and I'm there when you need me Stacy. I appreciate the heads up and so does my editor." Stacy saw him scurry off with his phone in one hand and fingers flying over his screen.

  While shuffling from foot to foot, Ben walked up with a grim look on his face. "Evening fellow investigators. What or where might the shooter have been stationed?"

  "Dan is over across the parking lot," said Stacy pointing with her finger. Ben took off to snoop for some evidence.

  "Here comes the pathologist. He looks typical for a person in his line of work. How can anyone smile going about the job of probing a dead person. It really takes all kinds to make this world go around."

  The introductions were made and Dr. Cecil Rhodes said, "A rifle shot to the heart Marshalls. She never knew what hit her; if that's any consolation. From what I know it's the same MO as Eugene and when I extract the bullet, I'll send it down soonest I can along with my report to the new Medical Examiner in Eugene."

  "Thanks Dr. Rhodes. I guess this homicide is number two to his credit."

  "These types of killers are very hard to catch or stop Marshal. I wish I'd some good advice, but you are privy to the best information in the world with whom you work for."

  They watched him walk away with bent back due to his vocation. Strangely, Stacy thought that if she were in or doing a job, get a table that fit the posture. Rory said, "Super, what are we going to do next. If you don't need me I'm going home. This makes me sick."

  "Go home Tall Man. I'll call Connie and fill her in with what little we know. Maybe Dan and Ben will find something for us to go on."

  Emma was talking to the only witness. Emma asked, "Hilda I know you had your eyes on the person who was shot. But maybe out of the corner of your eye you might have seen a van driving slowly out of the parking over there," Emma pointed towards the side of the large parking lot that served not only the supermarket, but other stores as well.

  "For sure Emma I was focused on the person who moved backwards very quickly. Hum, let me see—yes, I did look up and around. My first thought was finding some help like a police car or a sec
urity person. Let me close my eyes Emma and keep a watch on my kids please."

  Emma kept an eye on her kids and then Hilda said, "You know a dark brown van left the parking lot. I could be mistaken but I thought I saw a stripe running along the top half of the van. But I'm not sure at all. I'm sure it didn't have any side windows."

  "This helps a lot Hilda. I've your phone number and if you think of anything else, call us please." Emma hurried over to Stacy and gave her the report. Stacy smiled and said:

  "Good job Emma and maybe we can put the word out for a van with a dark stripe down its side." Stacy watched the coroner's van take the victim to the morgue. She went strolling over to where Dan and Ben were. She noticed the crowd was leaving now that the body had been removed. Stacy shook her head at the public reaction to a tragic crime.

  Ben looked up and said, "Nothing here and Dan is over at the shops asking if anyone saw a van parked about where we are now."

  "The witness said she thinks the van was dark brown with a dark red stripe running down the top half of it. No windows on the side. That's all she noticed."

  "Let's see if we can canvas all the used car lots from south Salem to Eugene for a recent sale of a van. It's a remote chance, but what else to we have to go on," said Stacy.

  Driving back south to Eugene was a quiet and demoralizing ride for all of them. Dan was concentrating on his driving rather than letting is mind drift off with thoughts of the crime scene they just witnessed. Emma was working hard to find a way to canvas hundreds of used car lots for a mystery brown van with a stripe on it. In the back seat Stacy was thinking how to discuss the latest crime with her boss Connie. What she did know was the conversation would be without much substance other than a report on the assassination. What they all needed was a plan to capture or stop this killer before he struck again.