Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1)

by Renee Benzaim

  "And all of you be careful to check for shoe prints of any kind. I know it's dusty here, but we can fix and cast them."

  Annie walked with Laine to the site where the body had been found.

  "Annie, it doesn't look like there's any blood in the dirt under or around where the body was laying. Of course, we'll pull dirt samples and have them analyzed. But look, here's another dead black widow spider in the dirt. How strange. I could be wrong, but I thought the farmers sprayed these fields to keep the spider population down. Maybe it was already dead in the dirt when the perp put the body here. And it seems fairly obvious that this is a dump site, not the original location where the victim died."

  Annie looked around. There wasn't much more for her and Tom to do. The Deputy Coroner had taken charge of any evidence he found and accompanied the body to the morgue.

  "OK, Laine. I'll leave you to your investigation. Call me as soon as you have any information. First priority is determining who this female is, and how and why someone dumped her here. The forensic pathologist who does the autopsy can determine the time and cause of death and then we can decide what to do next."

  Annie walked back to where the two deputies were who questioned the men who found the body. "Did you get any useful information?"

  "No, they don't speak English. Even if they did, they didn't have a lot to say. They had proper ID, so they're not illegals. They work for one of the farmers in the area. We'll join in the canvas of the neighborhood and knock on doors, but there aren't a lot of homes around here and I don't think anyone driving down South Fairfax before dawn would see much."

  "What about the man they flagged down?"

  "Deputy Kamaguchi talked with him briefly and got his contact information. He drives down this road every morning on his way to work in Lamont and has never seen anything suspicious. I asked him what the two men told him, and he basically told me the same information that we got from them."

  "Thanks, guys. Could you get copies of your written reports to me as soon as possible? I'd like to review them this afternoon."

  "Sure thing, Detective."

  * * *

  Laine turned to her crew when they gathered around their vehicles to regroup after doing their preliminary search through the vineyard. Her pride in her team was evident. They were all professional and did a thorough job while still maintaining respect for the bodies of the victims.

  "Tell me what you've found so far," she said.

  Mike Everett spoke first. "The location itself doesn't look like it will yield much, but one can never tell. We did isolate one footprint next to a vine. I took close up photos and Olivia did a video tape. I don't know how someone could have carried the body here and left no other tracks."

  "George, when we get back to the office, go online and see what the weather was like last night. Was there any wind is the main thing I want to know. If so, any tracks out in the open blew away, while the one next to the vine was protected. I'll fix the track and work on getting a cast right away.

  "Olivia, did you notice anything in particular while you videotaped?" Laine asked.

  "Just the lack of any tracks leading to the body. I thought it was strange also, but I didn't factor in any wind overnight. Also, I had no way to judge how long she was here."

  "Merilee, did you find anything else?"

  "Only the one tire track along the roadway. It appears an irrigation pipe or valve broke or malfunctioned and that side of the road was briefly flooded. Someone drove over the wet area."

  "Is it still wet, or has it dried out?" Laine asked.

  "It's still damp, so it hasn't been too long since the water flooded the roadway."

  "Olivia and I already took our pictures and video," Mike said.

  "Good. We'll get the tire track cast right away," Laine said.

  "George, what about you? Did you find anything?"

  "Nope. I didn't find any tire tracks or foot prints in the areas I checked."

  "OK, let's do a grid search now and look for whatever else we can find. Look carefully wherever you are going to put your foot before you take a step. There might be small pieces of trace evidence, and we don't want to overlook anything. Also, remember that the victim had pierced ears, but was only wearing one earring when the body was found. So keep an eye out for any jewelry you might find."

  The team went into the vineyard along the path that Deputy Baker had marked out, and then spread out and began their grid search. Around the area where the body was located Laine found several leaves that appeared to be from olive trees. She bagged these for later study.

  Laine sprayed the boot print and the tire track so they would be stable enough to cast. After they set up sufficiently and wouldn't disintegrate, she cast them.

  They didn't find a lot of evidence to process, but they would do the best they could with what they had.

  * * *

  "What exactly do we have?" Annie said to Tom after they returned to their vehicles.

  "Not a lot," Tom said. "No ID and no clothes will make it harder for us to identify her. Maybe something will turn up with her fingerprints. I sure hope so.

  "I wonder what happened to her left earring. Do you think it just fell off somewhere or that the person who put her there took it as a souvenir?"

  "That's not unusual," Annie said.

  "I'll check with Laine later today to see what she found. If there are any other foot prints or tire tracks, Laine's team will find them."

  Tom and Annie took a few more minutes to survey the crime scene from the side of the road, while Tom snapped some overview photos.

  Mature vineyards dotted this stretch of South Fairfax Road, and the hot, dry weather this time of year resulted in vines covered with dust. They looked like they were close to harvest.

  "Looks like a good harvest," Tom said. "I've always liked the smell of grapes on the vine when the weather is hot. Take a deep breath, Annie. Isn't that great?

  Annie took a deep breath, enjoying the pungent odor.

  "I wonder what they use these grapes for. I doubt they're wine grapes, but you never know."

  "Raisins?" Annie said. "Someone must grow grapes to make raisins. I saw a factory once - I think it was up by Sanger - that boxed up those raisins in the little red boxes that all kids love to tote in their lunch boxes."

  "Could be, who knows?" Tom said. "I'm sure our 'Jane Doe' could care less."

  "I like raisins," Annie said, "Especially in oatmeal cookies."

  She turned and walked to her car.

  "I hope somebody comes up with something quick," Annie said over her shoulder. "The Sergeant isn't going to like it if this drags on."

  * * *

  As Annie drove away from the crime scene, she thought about her history with her partner, Tom Weston.

  For almost three years they had worked as partners assigned to the Robbery/Homicide Unit at the Kern County Sheriff's Office in Bakersfield, California.

  Annie started her career in Mena, Arkansas - her hometown - as a Deputy Sheriff and advanced rapidly. As far back as she could remember, her goal was to work in the field of law enforcement. She loved detailed work and applied herself. She rapidly ascended the ladder of success at the Polk County Sheriff's Department.

  She made Detective in just three years, working white collar crime, and stayed at the Sheriff's Department for four more years.

  Being ambitious, and wanting as much experience and exposure to different types of crimes as possible, she frequently checked the law enforcement websites online looking for opportunities. When she read about the job in Kern County, California, she applied and acceptance came quickly. When the job offer arrived, she packed her belongings, said good bye to her not-too-happy family, and drove west towards the Golden State.

  For two years she worked the Rural Crime Unit, and then she moved to Robbery/Homicide when her original partner, Sam Perkins, retired.

  Now, at the age of 33, she was one of the top detectives in the Robbery/Homicide Unit.

>   Her partner, Thomas Weston, had transferred to Robbery/Homicide about the same time as Annie, and they were assigned as partners.

  Tom, who turned 35 on his last birthday, had been a detective for thirteen years. His last assignment was in the Drug Enforcement Unit.

  * * *

  Just before Annie arrived back at the office, her cell phone rang.

  "Avants," she said.

  "Detective, this is Deputy Hermosillo, one of the first responders. I'm back at the scene with Deputy Baker. KGET and KBAK, with their media vans, satellite dishes, and talking heads just arrived at the crime scene. They're disappointed that you aren't here and they want some kind of statement. What should I tell them?"

  "We'll have a statement for them after the pathologist finishes his preliminary exam of the body. Just tell them we have an unidentified female Hispanic victim with no obvious injuries. For the moment, it isn't classified as a homicide or natural causes. That's about all the information we can give them at this time.

  "The Sheriff will issue a press release later today. Make sure Deputy Baker lists these people on her Crime Scene Log Sheet and don't let them trample the crime scene."

  "Roger that, Detective."

  * * *

  "OK, guys, we've just about finished up here," Laine said to her crew. "Wrap it up and head back to the office. I'll catch a ride back with Deputy Baker. There's just a few things I want to think about before I stop for now."

  When the TI van had pulled away, Laine stood at the perimeter of the scene and looked around carefully. Then, she walked around the perimeter, stopping at each side and followed the same procedure. She never knew for sure what she was looking for, but if something was out of the ordinary, she usually spotted it.

  Deputy Hermosillo had already left with Deputy Melendez to help canvas the surrounding homes and businesses. Deputy Baker and Deputy Nielson stayed at the entrance to the crime scene, bringing the logs up to date and guarding the perimeter until relief units arrived. Then they would return Chief Laine to the TI office next to Kern Medical Center.

  "Deputy," Laine said as she approached Deputy Baker, "you were a first responder. Was there anything weird or out of place that you noticed. Any cars in the vicinity, or people on foot?"

  "The only vehicle in the area was the pickup truck of the man who called 911. I always listen for other vehicles when I'm protecting a crime scene, and the only vehicles that arrived were other patrol units, your vehicle, Deputy Coroner Schillings, the morgue van, the Deputy District Attorney, and the detectives.

  "Something feels off to me," Laine said. "Why was the victim nude? Why were there no signs of trauma? Why hadn't the blow flies arrived? Where did she die, and how?"

  Another deputy patrol unit arrived to protect the scene from the curious and relieve Deputy Baker.

  "Deputy, after you return me to the office, can you come back here and find out who would have turned off the valve that broke and left the dirt wet where we found the tire track? I think we need to get that information to the detectives so they can talk to the maintenance person. If they know what time he repaired the line, or turned it off, that might help the forensic pathologist determine when the body was dumped here. Also, there's an off-chance that he saw something or someone."

  "Sure, Chief," Deputy Baker said as they walked towards her unit. "I'll have someone run a check to see who owns this vineyard and then we can proceed from there."

  CHAPTER THREE

  When Annie and Tom returned to their office, they immediately knocked on the Sergeant's door.

  "Come on in," Sgt. Collins called out. She hung up the phone and motioned for the detectives to sit in the chairs opposite her desk.

  After they relayed what they knew so far, the Sergeant sat with her fingers steepled under her chin. She reached over and took a sip of her coffee. "This stuff tastes terrible," she said as she pushed her cup away. The aroma, however, was driving Tom and Annie to distraction, as they didn't take time to eat breakfast, or have coffee, before going to the crime scene.

  "We will do a Press Conference this evening at 6:00 PM. I'll have the Public Information Officer call the media and set it up. Tom, you're good with words. Draft a press release that we can hand out so the Sheriff won't have to answer a lot of stupid questions. Actually, he probably won't want to field any questions at this point in time," the Sergeant said.

  "We're going to have one of our sketch artists make a rendition of the face of the victim from the photographs that Tom took. We can attach the sketch to the press release. Maybe someone will come forward who knows the victim, or at least saw her around town," Annie said.

  "Good idea," Sgt. Collins said. "Bring me the draft of the Press Release and a copy of the sketch as soon as you have them. Who are you using to make the sketch?"

  "I put a call into Sarah Freemont," Annie said.

  "Good. She does precise work. Oh, by the way," Sgt. Collins said. "I got a call from the District Attorney's Office. They assigned Jesse Greyeyes to this case. We don't want to make any mistakes with this one, do we?"

  "I saw a different Deputy DA at the crime scene," Annie said. "What happened?"

  "The DA knew that she was going to assign this case to Jesse, but he wasn't available. So, she sent a 'placeholder' to make sure someone from her office was there."

  Annie and Tom looked at each other and shook their heads. Inwardly, Annie groaned.

  * * *

  In the meantime, when Tom heard that Laine found what appeared to be olive tree leaves at the scene, he decided to return and take another look. His confidence in Laine and her TIs was high, but he liked to check things out for himself. Over the years, he did this routinely and it became an ingrained habit.

  He seldom found any evidence that the technical investigation team missed, but he felt negligent if he didn't take this hands-on step and look the scene over for himself.

  The scent of the ripening grapes hung heavy in the late afternoon heat, and he inhaled deeply as he looked around. The air was hot and dry this time of the year and small particles of dust floated in the air from an almost unseen breeze. He talked for a few minutes to the deputies parked at the scene to keep it secure. There were a few 'lookie-loos' who drove by, but no one stopped.

  He then checked along the side of the road where Deputy Baker found the tire track that Laine photographed and cast. There wasn't much left to see, and he knew Mike's photos would most likely be in his inbox the same day.

  That being done, he again walked the path to where the body was found. Flies and other insects were now buzzing around the area. Eventually he came across the site of the one boot print. He took pictures of what he could still see.

  Next, he carefully walked around the site looking for anything that didn't seem appropriate for a vineyard. He saw the location, with the little flag marker, where Laine found the second black widow spider and the olive leaves and twigs. He took pictures of these locations.

  He knew Laine took soil samples from around the body and the location of the tire track and boot print. He could see her numbered flags at each location. He stooped down and crumbled a pinch of soil between his fingers. Dry as a bone.

  She is thorough, I'll say that much, Tom thought, but then, I didn't have any doubts about that. She's as thorough as she is beautiful.

  Tom frowned. Now, where did that thought come from? Her beauty doesn't have anything to do with her competence.

  Tom and Laine had worked together for a long time, but it never occurred to him to think of her in a romantic context. But now that little germ of thought invaded his brain.

  I wonder. . . hmmm, maybe I'd better just stop this line of thought right now.

  Merilee had given him the name of the owner of the vineyard and he called to see when the pipe had ruptured and been repaired. The incident had happened about 10:00 PM the evening before and the owner hadn't seen anything unusual at that time.

  When he finished up, he put his camera away and headed back to t
he S.O.

  * * *

  As Annie was about to go to lunch, her phone rang again. She wasn't happy to see the caller ID said the District Attorney's Office. She almost decided to ignore the call, but she didn't do business that way.

  "Detective Avants."

  "Hi, Annie. It's Jesse. In case you haven't been notified, I'm assigned to the case that came down this morning - the one you and Tom are investigating."

  "Yes, Jesse," Annie said, "the Sarge broke this good news to us after we returned from the crime scene."

  Jesse hesitated. He could hear the reluctance in Annie's voice and knew she wasn't thrilled with his assignment.

  "Well, I had an important Court appearance this morning, and I couldn't get to the crime scene while it was being processed. I have to be back in Court this afternoon.

  "So, I have a favor to ask. Could you and I get together during lunch so you can bring me up to speed on what you observed at the crime scene? I know this is short notice, but there are no breaks in my schedule with this other trial going on. Would you be free - and willing - to meet for lunch - your choice?"

  "Uh, I don't know Jesse. . .can't you get an update from the other Deputy DA who was there?"

  "Well, I could, but she's already left for lunch and probably won't be back before I have to be in Court again.

  "Please, Annie, no pressure. I won't have another opportunity to start getting up to speed on this case, and I have to eat lunch. So do you. I'll try to keep our conversation strictly business, I promise."

  Jesse hesitated, and then said, "Well, maybe not all business. I did go visit my sister in Calistoga this past weekend, like we discussed earlier, and I wanted to tell you about that."

  Annie laughed. "Jesse, you make it sound like we're the battling Hatfields and McCoys. Lighten up."

  "Well, I know I embarrassed you at the FoxFire Inn, but you asked for it. And I was just trying to make a point, even though it came off rather heavy-handed. You do have human feelings underneath that steel magnolia exterior," Jesse said, with a laugh. "But we've already talked about that and that's the reason I went to visit my sister."