by Allen Gates
“That was a waste of manpower,” he confided to Anne. “Anything show up on your end?” His cell phone rang and he sat and let it ring longer than usual smiling at Anne. “God, I love that tune,” he said as he answered. “Sanders on this end, oh, hi honey, what’s up?”
He glanced at Anne, who was mocking him from across her desk.
“Allie, I am aware that I promised Tad that I would be at his game! I know he would be disappointed; I will be there!”
Hanging up, he said, “Oh, oh, my wife’s back in town.”
Anne looked puzzled at his comment and his expression of childish guilt on his face at what he had said.
Walking over to the clue board, he stared at the victims pictures searching for anything that could be the one link they were missing that could bring this guy down. He turned and motioned for Anne to join him at the board.
“Try to put yourself into this guy’s mind-set and let’s ask him some questions.”
“What is he thinking? What’s driving him? How long, before he strikes again? More important, ask him how does he select these poor innocent victims?”
Anne noticed Lon’s face and his body language and realized his anxiety over these killings was real.
He turned back to the faces of the victims displayed along the top of the board. Staring at the most recent girl, he imagined her to be in her late twenties or early thirties.
“What does she have in common with the others, Anne? Maybe it’s something that she does not have in common with the others.”
Anne, not sure how to respond to his mental agonizing, continued to stare at the displayed images.
“What the hell does that mean, Anne; maybe it’s something that she does not have in common with the others?”
Turning away completely frustrated, he went into the Captain’s office to report on the previous night’s murder victim and to explain his need for early departure and where he could be reached if something came up.
On his way out he stopped by Anne’s desk and told her his plans and if she found it necessary, they could meet later. Anne shook her head disapprovingly as he reached in the box and grabbed another doughnut.
11
FOLLOWING THE PLAN with the utmost care, the senator pulled the car in an open twenty-four hour business parking lot. He had reported the car stolen two days earlier and had kept it hidden until this night. He parked in a lane that had several parked vehicles opened the door and retrieved his bag from the back seat and walked to the Lincoln Town Car parked two lanes over. The lighting in the parking lot was poor and when he saw no movement in the immediate area and no one entering or exiting the store, he felt safe that he had not been seen.
The plan is working perfectly he assured himself and inserted the key, started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot. The next phase called for him to go home and sleep until four o’clock in the morning. Then, he would phone the police and start the search for Marie.
“The plan is brilliant Mother and I believe it’s working to perfection.”
Turning into the gated drive of his estate, he felt his confidence growing and completely safe from ever being implicated in the crime he had just perpetrated. Totally at peace with himself as he reached over and grabbed the case, opened it and deposited the rubber gloves and locked it. Entering the foyer he felt a bit of remorse come over him, as the house now felt so large and hauntingly quiet.
He walked up the stairs and entered their bedroom. Marie’s things were visible all around the room giving him an uneasy feeling. Grabbing the bedside remote, he turned on the late news. Now he planned to relax on the bed until the time for the next step. Her voice startled him.
“Hello William. I’ve missed you.”
12
ARRIVING AT THE soccer field before the beginning of the game, Lon was able to catch his son’s eye and give him the thumbs up sign before continuing up the bleachers to the seat next to Allie.
“Hi beautiful, are you who I think you are, or could you possibly be the woman out of the erotic dream, I experienced last night?”
His wife blushed and smiled. “I know which one you hope is here, but forget it Romeo, you’re stuck with your wife sitting next to you. How does that fit into your plans, oh great one?”
“I am completely satisfied with the company accorded me,” he said and kissed her.
“Tad looks good out there don’t you think? I can’t believe how he’s growing up Allie.”
“Hello there,” broke the mood, and they watched Grandma and Grandpa’s slow approach up the bleacher steps to where they were sitting. Lon was intrigued with how much Allie and her mother looked and acted alike. He did his best to keep his concentration on the game, but his mind kept visualizing the faces of the victims and anticipating, maybe even hoping to hear the sound of “Dixie” and Anne asking him to return to the station. It never happened until the next morning at breakfast.
He picked up the phone, it was Anne and her voice was distraught.
“We have another one. This one is big time, Lon. I’m on my way to pick you up as we speak.”
Explaining everything as best he could to the family, Lon stepped outside on the porch to await Anne’s arrival. He watched her pull up to the curb and walked quickly down to the car. As he struggled to get his right leg inside he heard her snickering.
“You need to get a bigger car if you’re going to be hauling me around, partner.”
She pulled away quickly and continued driving at high speed while filling him in on the identity of the latest victim.
“Marie Radford, are you kidding me?” He stared ahead deep in thought trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing.
“This is bigger than big. A senator’s wife murdered. Wow. Where was she found?”
“Are you ready for this, Lon? She was found in a room at the Moonlight Motel a not so high class flea bag on the outskirts of town. That’s all we have right now, but we should be there soon. Can you even imagine the fun the press is going to have with this one? I can hear it now, how we are not protecting the public and now allowing a prominent citizen to be murdered.”
“Does the big guy know yet?”
“Yes, he’s all worked up and called this morning ranting and raving about us not finding this guy and told me in very strong language to get you on the phone and get our butts there pronto and to be extra thorough in our investigation because of the status of the senator.”
“What a guy,” Lon said. Then he thought why did he call her before me?
He looked over at her wanting to ask her that question to satisfy his ego. Instead he noticed her hair, dark and obviously styled by a professional. Her body, all five foot five of it was perfect. She wore very little lipstick, which he preferred and her eyes were large and blue.
She caught him staring and he felt slightly embarrassed knowing his stare had given him away. She accepted it as the compliment she had been waiting for.
13
THE NEXT MORNING at exactly four o’clock, the senator called the police station and questioned the desk on their docket of accidents to show his concern and to see if perhaps his wife may have been involved. When he was informed that she was not reported in any accident that had been investigated, he asked to be transferred to missing persons. Taking all his information, they informed him it was customary to wait forty-eight hours but because of his status, they would begin right away, in case it could be a kidnapping. Thanking them, he hung up and went back to bed. Sleep did not come, however, as he couldn’t erase vision of Marie’s final minutes from his mind.
The phone rang, startling him and as he picked up to answer, he dropped the receiver. It hit the night stand with a loud bang.
“Sorry, guess I’m a little jumpy. This is Senator Radford, who is calling?”
“It is quite understandable, Sir. This is Sergeant Potter at the 9th Precinct. I wonder Senator, if you could come down to the station and fill out necessary forms and go over a few details conc
erning your wife with the detectives? They need to get right on this.”
“I’ll be glad to do that. Give me a couple of hours and I’ll be there.”
Perfect, he thought, keep your wits about you and there is nothing to worry about. He showered and sat at the table on the back patio staring out over the pool to the hills beyond.
“I will miss her,” he said staring at the angelic marble statue where Marie had often stood and posed for photos.
14
THE BLUE LIGHT flashing on the dash and her tires squealing as they pulled into the motel drive, Lon turned to Anne half smiling and half grimacing.
“Wow that was some ride partner! Next time, no offense intended, I’ll drive.”
She ignored him, opened the door, and visually examined the structure in front of her. After Lon stepped out they moved to the front of the car, stood and stared.
“What was a woman like her doing in a dump like this, Anne?”
“We could assume she wanted a girl’s night out. Girls need them once in a while just like the boys, but to answer your question, we probably will never know.”
“Well okay then. I think after that roundabout answer to a simple question, it’s time to go to work. Got your gloves and the scene case?”
Snapping her gloves on as she walked, Anne nodded to a pair of Santa Barbara’s finest standing on each side of room 12. The door was open and she followed Lon into the room.
“Tell me that no one has touched a thing, Lon said to the cop in the room.”
“Everything is just as they were found, Lieutenant. The maid and I are the only people we know of that have been in the room. I sent the maid back to the office to avoid her having to stare at the body.”
They surveyed the room and Anne pointed out its neat but unclean appearance. The floor was covered by a heavily stained threadbare carpet and the drapes were torn and half off the rods. Being very careful not to disturb the smallest trace of a potential clue they moved around the room. There was nothing out of place, and completely clean of any left behind items.
Walking into the bathroom, Anne stared at the stool. The cleaning lady’s paper strip was still across the seat. A lot of good that does in a hellhole like this, she thought.
“He didn’t even use the stool, Lon. This guy seems to be aware of any miss step that could lead to his identity.”
Lon moved to the bed and stared down at the very attractive body lying there lifeless. He didn’t feel sad, he felt anger, both at himself for not having caught the SOB and the SOB for murdering this beautiful woman. He looked over at the policeman in the room.
“Alright Bill, you can go now. Good job in here, but I need you to stay with her car until it is picked up by the garage boys. It is your responsibility to be sure that nobody gets inside that car.”
“I understand, Lon.”
“Well, here we go, partner let’s document the scene.” Anne opened her notepad and prepared to write as Lon began.
“We have a white, no, make that Caucasian female, just to be politically correct. She has been identified as Marie Radford, wife of the distinguished Senator William Radford. Her outer clothing has been removed and is not on the premises. I see some bruising on her wrists and ankles indicating a struggle after being immobilized by tape. There are obvious red marks caused by tape being placed tightly across her mouth.”
They were interrupted by a loud voice outside the room and they recognized it as being the big guy.
“Hey Chief, what brings you here so early in the morning?”
“That’s real cute, Lon. Listen up you two; I need you to keep the lid on this mess until I give you the word. Senator Radford reported his wife missing around four-thirty this morning and is probably on his way in to file the missing report. Do your usual good job and get to the station as soon as you wrap up. I don’t have to tell you that we are going to be under the microscope on this one. This guy has a lot of notoriety and how we treat him is important to a lot of key people.”
Hearing their agreement with his comments, the chief walked to the bed, stood over the woman’s body shaking his head.
“What was she doing in this crummy room?”
“We asked ourselves the same question.”
“Do you think it was him?” he asked, still staring at the woman on the bed.
“If you’re asking was it the serial guy, we haven’t had enough time to determine that yet, Chief. We should know soon.”
“One more thing, Chief, we’re going to need a little space on this one while we figure out yes or no on the serial killer connection. We need you to keep city hall off our backs.”
“Alright I’ll do my best, but listen to me, I want you two to take your time and play it straight. We won’t have to worry about the overtime crap. For now, I’m out of here and I’ll wait for your update when you finish up.”
They signaled agreement then watched him turn and talk to the uniforms outside guarding the door before leaving the area. Lon looked at his partner and gave her a nothing to worry about signal and turned his attention back to the victim in the room.
“Anne, tell me anything and everything you see.”
“To start with, she has been stripped to her underwear, and like the other victims her clothes are missing. She is lying face down similar to all the others. My theory is the killer feels remorse after he has killed them and does not want to look at their faces.”
“You know Anne I think you may have hit on something with that theory. If we think back over the condition of the victim’s there had been no disfigurement in any form, in fact it seems he has been extremely gentle with the positioning of each. So, if we factor in your theory he may actually feel remorse, using your big word, for taking their lives.”
As Lon continued talking Anne was trying to imagine the feelings the killer may be internalizing as he stands over the women he has just murdered. She looked at him and shook her head in agreement hoping she had heard him correctly.
They followed each crime scene procedure to perfection as they surveyed the motel room and cataloged every detail. When they felt certain they had satisfactorily logged the scene, they were disappointed they hadn’t uncovered any clues that would directly identify the killer.
“We have to hope the lab will find something that is not visible to the naked eye. Snap the pictures, Anne, I’m going over to the motel office and spend a little time with the maid and the night desk clerk.”
A Santa Barbara emergency wagon pulled up as Lon stepped out of the room and he recognized the agent from the Coroner’s Office from the last crime scene.
“It’s too bad we have to meet under these circumstances, Marvin. We’re finished with the scene; everything is ready for you.”
“Hold up Lon, I have some information for you on the last victim. Give me a call when you finish up here.”
“Terrific, I’ll get with you later today.”
He walked slowly over to the office surveying the antiquated building and parking lot as he walked. He couldn’t think of a reasonable explanation for a sophisticated and attractive woman to be found in a hell hole like this.
As he entered the office he noticed the discomfort in the maid’s expression and understood, knowing from past experiences, how unnerving, discovering a dead body can be. He asked her and the desk clerk to sit in the small lobby chairs.
“My name is Detective Towers, and I need to ask you both some questions that you may have already answered to one of the other officers.”
“First big question is for you son, since you were on duty last night when all this took place how would you describe the person who registered in room 12?”
The young man hesitated for a second and then began with; “He was white, in his fifties I’d guess, I really don’t know that for sure.”
“I understand. How tall was he?”
“I would say he was about, oh say, six foot.”
“I need you to concentrate a little harder now and visualize h
im in your mind.” He waited for a time then asked. “Can you see him?”
When the clerk shook his head yes he said, close your eyes.
“Now that you have him in your mind, describe him. What was his physique, was he slim, overweight, fat, what do you remember?”
“I think you would describe him as overweight, but definitely not fat.”
“Is there anything else? How about his hair, was it blond, black, brown?”
“Blond, it was definitely blond.”
“His eyes what can you tell me?”
“He wore glasses.”
“If, you had to give an opinion of the guy, what one word would you use to describe him?”
He thought for a brief time and then said, “I guess I’d say, strange.”
“I want you to think and remember everything about him that made you describe him as strange.”
“He seemed too polished for a place like this, you know, his vocabulary and how he carried himself, and yet, his name I assumed to be made up like a lot of our guests. Brick Allen, you know, who has a name like Brick? There was another thing about him I thought seemed odd. His hair didn’t seem right and when he filled out the registration form, he kept adjusting his glasses. I remember that because he became fidgety and finally took them off and threw them on the counter, and they slid on the floor at my feet. He kept on writing and didn’t seem concerned.”
“This is good stuff, is there anything else?”
“I guess that’s it. Oh, wait, I also thought it strange that he looked in and waved at me every time he was near the office, when most men guests in this place try to stay unseen.”
Lon thanked him and then questioned the maid briefly. Her information was confined to finding the corpse and notifying the authorities. Lon was satisfied and returned to the room, where Anne was standing in a trance like state.
“I assume the photo session is over.”
“Yes and as you can see her body has been removed and I have been standing here trying to visualize what went on in here. There doesn’t appear to have been a struggle just like the others. It’s like he just talks to them, murders them, and departs. How is this guy enticing these women to the various locations? Is it randomly, or is he getting to know them, gaining their confidence, and luring them into his death trap?”
