Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  She accompanied me to the door. “If something changes, I’ll let you know. For the moment, the evil I’ve felt is in a holding pattern, waiting for a chance to do more, but they haven’t yet.”

  “Thank you, and I’ll try to keep my personal stuff to myself so that you don’t have to feel you need to offer me advice.”

  “Friends do that for each other no matter if they have the ‘gift’ or not.”

  “True. Stay safe, please.” I turned back to call after her, but she had already shut the door.

  “Now to face Ryan, but I have a pretty good idea what he’ll think of this visit,” I muttered under my breath.

  Chapter 9

  Ryan finally joined me in the break room, and his ears were steaming.

  “We’ve been working our butts off, and the brass has the balls to think they could have solved this faster or that we’ve missed something. Sorry, I’m just pissed.”

  “Don’t apologize, you’re right. We have to go back over everything and see what we missed.” I knew that sometimes you just had to be angry for a while, especially when there was no way to work through it.

  “Start at the beginning? Which means a trip to the morgue, and it might as well be now. Let’s go.” He took off, and for once, I meekly followed. There was always a time and place to speak up, but right now there wasn’t really any point in poking an angry bear.

  “Did you find out anything from those old guys?” He didn’t pause or slow his stride, which I really appreciated.

  “Sort of. She was the person doing the good deeds. She’d cleaned up the complex and was keeping the drug dealers and gangs out for a price. I called Joe while you were out and asked him to check on our side for any kind of good deeds that would make sense as a link between victims.”

  “At least you know enough to work without having someone hanging over your shoulder, telling you what to do next.” He peeled out of the parking garage with a vengeance.

  “Why don’t I ask the questions this time and see if I can spot something different?” I was feeling bad for anyone that had to be in close contact with him for the next few hours, myself included.

  “Sure, why not? You might find something. That’s the benefit to being new, you see things that some of us would overlook because it seems too obvious.”

  The Ft. Worth morgue was similar to the Dallas one, but unlike those on TV, this one was aboveground, and had quite a few employees working. Ryan made his way straight to the M.E.’s office.

  A quick rap was all he gave before he entered, not giving anyone a chance to tell him no. “Laura, this is my temporary partner, Leslie.”

  “I see that, and I’m so sorry. He didn’t tell you the connection. I’m Ryan’s cousin, which is why he doesn’t feel the need to actually knock like a civilized person. Good thing I wasn’t having a nooner.”

  Ryan smirked. “It’s three in the afternoon, and by definition, a nooner should be done around the noon hour, which is how it came by its name.”

  I just shook my head at his answer. “Honestly, we were hoping that you might have matched the wounds with a murder weapon. We’re just groping blindly in the dark, and we haven’t found today’s body yet.”

  Laura took her seat again and waved to the chairs in front of her desk for us to sit in. “I’ve narrowed it down to a baton or nunchuks. They’re both the right size, but most people that carry a baton use plastic, and this was definitely wood. It’s not easy to hide those when doing a delivery, and I doubt he was carrying it around where the victims could see it. Other than that, there isn’t any evidence that links anyone to these murders. I wish there was.”

  “Thank you, Laura. We’ll get out of your hair and go over each one of these from the beginning again.” I rose and hoped that Ryan would as well.

  “Bye, Laura. Maybe we can make lunch next week if these murders slow down.” He didn’t wait for her reply, but stalked out of the room.

  “His manners could use some work, but I know how it feels to be helpless.”

  “Yep. I’ll keep an eye on him.” I pulled the door closed behind me.

  If this afternoon was any indication, it was going to be an all-nighter.

  ***

  Ryan addressed the group that was gathered in the conference room. “Let’s start at the beginning. Steve, you’re up.”

  I raised my hand before he got started. “Can each one of you also update if you have the information about what kind of good deeds they did?”

  “Why’s that important?” Steve questioned flippantly.

  “We think it’s part of the pattern. I just got done interviewing some witnesses, and this needs to be added to the list.”

  “Okay.” Steve looked at the detectives gathered in bewilderment.

  “Our first person was killed on January 20th. She was brought flowers, and the card is the same as the others. Hit with a long wooden blunt instrument.”

  Ryan interrupted this time. “The M.E. says it’s nunchuks. This is a well-thought-out murder. We’re pretty sure that he has nothing personal against these ladies. He might not have even met them.”

  Steve took the update and continued listing each victim. “We have twelve dead now, all with the same M.O. The only thing that’s different is the type of women he’s targeting. The victims could have been rich or poor, it seems to make no difference. They were all committed in daylight, but some of the ladies weren’t discovered until a day or two later, making it harder to form a pattern.”

  “Thank you, Steve. Leslie, can you update us on what’s happening in Dallas? For those that don’t know, this is a joint task force, and you will treat Leslie with the same respect that you would me. Just because our chiefs had a beef, doesn’t mean that we can’t work together and catch a murderer.” He nodded at me to stand in front of the board.

  “We have at least seven that have been killed, and there may be a few out there that one of our teams didn’t recognize or know about because we’re close to the sign of Aquarius being over. This is linked to the zodiac symbol, but we just aren’t sure what the message is yet. Most of the victims had few family ties, or their spouses weren’t around when they were killed. Each one of ours were philanthropic and working in some way to help effect social change. I believe that’s why we had a few people that were on the more wealthy side. They gave to groups that needed their financial help, even if they weren’t volunteering personally. Someone has to pay for the services to continue running.” I looked at those gathered, and most were paying attention. There were a few that weren’t too involved.

  “She sounds like that psychic woman that came in raving about good versus evil.”

  I took a deep breath, trying to ignore what he’d said.

  “This man is targeting women who are old enough to be on their own, but he seems to stop before they hit their fifties. I thought when February hit that the murders would stop, but the signs go from the twentieth of each month until the twentieth of the next one. So we’re on the twelfth of February. We have eight more days if he sticks to the pattern.” I went and sat back down.

  “All right. Now I’m going to open the floor to the craziest theories and ideas. If we throw enough at the wall, something might stick.” Ryan fixed his gaze on Steve. “Do you have any thoughts about how we might catch this guy?”

  Steve sat up from his slumped position and ran a finger over the tip of his nose. “Personally, I think this guy is crazy. He just gets his kicks from taking flowers to women that have wronged him and he whacks them over the head. I mean, who chooses nunchuks as a weapon?” he scoffed.

  “He’s too controlled to be a rejected suitor. There’s no way someone who was mad at the victims could only strike one blow as he’s doing. He might be crazy, and probably is, but he’s in charge of the situation,” Ted commented from across the table.

  “I suggest that we pull up a list of all the birthdates for women that are under fifty in our areas. We could narrow them down by a few things, such as they don�
�t have children and they do good deeds. We can buy a list from an internet site, and then double check their social media pages.” Ted followed up his comment with a workable idea.

  “Agreed. We’re going to split this into two teams. Those that narrow the list down and pass the names onto the other team for them to look them up on social media. I think each of these women at least had their sign listed somewhere for him to find them so easily,” Ryan ordered.

  “Seriously a waste of time,” Steve grumbled.

  “Does anyone else have any reservations about this form of investigation?” Ryan questioned sternly.

  The room filled with a chorus of “No, sirs.”

  “Very well. Go get started. Leslie, you can use my office until I get in there. Steve, please stay behind.”

  I bit my lip, trying not to smile. I might not know Ryan very well yet, but I was certain that Steve was about to be very uncomfortable for the next little while.

  It was a good time to find out if Ford had come up with any information on Noah that would help tie him to these murders.

  “Ah, it’s the love detective. I’m afraid that I don’t have a lot of news for you. He has been at his job on most of the days that these murders have taken place. The one lady that you mentioned did happen to have an intimate moment with him, but from what I can tell, it ended amicably.” Ford’s deep voice sent chills down my arms. How could he be so sexy over the phone?

  “Does he have an assistant that’s a man, or a best friend that would do anything for him?” I had sudden thought. He might not be the one doing the murders, but he could be ordering them.

  “The only person I’ve noticed with him is his driver. They seem to have a very close relationship. I’m not sure that his driver isn’t someone his parents have watching him. He’s very rich, and they could have hired him as a bodyguard.” Ford paused for emphasis. “His best friend isn’t allowed in the club anymore because he was too violent. Glen Roberts, I believe. I can text you his information shortly.”

  “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem, doll. I might need you to return the favor one day.”

  The line disconnected and he was gone.

  He was gone, but he’d left me with a few clues that would allow me to work with what might lead to a suspect.

  ***

  Time flew by as I gathered information on Noah Preston and his friend Glen Roberts. It wasn’t hard to find the name of his driver, Bob Spencer as well, and I was so busy running them through the system that I didn’t hear Ryan come in.

  “Did you find something?”

  I looked up. “Close the door, please.”

  He frowned at my request, but did it.

  “I’ve been watching someone that was connected to one of our victims. He’s a part of the famous Black Tie Club in Dallas. We interviewed him, but he said he wasn’t the boyfriend, but they had sex a few times. Something about him has nagged at me, though, and I’ve been keeping an eye on him and trying to find out more about him.”

  “Continue.”

  “A C.I. was recommended for me to talk to, and he was going to find out some information about Noah and Susan, our victim. Noah seems to have alibis for all or most of the murders. It’s almost like he knew about them and made sure that someone knew his whereabouts so he wouldn’t be blamed. The thing is, I saw him over here at the apartment next to one of your other victims, so I put a small GPS on his driver’s hat.”

  Ryan’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t stop me from explaining my crazy idea.

  “What if the driver or his friend are the ones doing the killings? He could be disposing of all the extras that could be a problem for him. He’s on track to being promoted from Manager to an Executive position in the Urban Energy Company sometime next month. He couldn’t take a chance that his alternate lifestyle would come out and ruin his promotion.”

  I pointed to the screen in front of me. “His bestie, Glen Roberts, was kicked out of the club for his more violent tendencies. He doesn’t have the wealthy parents or position that Noah does. He could easily have been paying his friend to do this and no one would suspect them.”

  “Okay, I do have one question. Why would he use the zodiac signs and have a body count of at least twenty?”

  “I think he’s trying to cover all of his indiscretions, or take out those he considers a threat to his future plans. This guy is in his mid-thirties. It wouldn’t be that hard to have racked up at least twenty or thirty at his age. These women would be the ones who would show up when he goes to run for office in twenty years and cries that it wasn’t consensual.”

  “Where is his friend at the moment?”

  “He lives in the garage apartment of Noah’s house.” I tried not to jump up and down in my chair.

  “Interesting. This would take some proof before we could bring them in because of the amount of backlash from Noah’s family. They’re certain to put all the blame on Glen.”

  “Exactly. If he’s as good a manipulator as I believe he is, then he’s managed to make Glen think they’re in it together. How does a shift in surveillance sound?” I hadn’t done one of these in a while, and it wasn’t really fun, but if it caught these guys, then I was all for it.

  “I’ll make some calls and see if we can coordinate so that you have the jurisdictions and they won’t give you any hassle for suggesting it.” Ryan picked up his desk phone to start making calls.

  “I’m going to run to the ladies room, but I’ll be right back.” I closed up my computer and packed my bag, taking it with me. Even though I trusted Ryan, you never knew what could happen, and I didn’t like to leave things I was responsible for out of my sight.

  A voice drifted to me as I came out of the office. “He’s just getting him some and doesn’t like that I don’t agree with his ‘partner’s’ ideas. They shut the door, and we all know what that means.”

  Unsure of what to do, another voice chimed in, “Steve, you’re disgusting and mad. He dressed you down for being disrespectful to a fellow officer. If he were to hear you now, you would be on desk detail and working holidays for the next year. I’m not telling him, but if this continues, I’ll have to report your attitude about female officers to someone higher than Ryan.”

  “Don’t threaten me, you little…” Steve trailed off as someone else walked by. “You’re just as bad as she is, which is why you chicks stick together.”

  “Steve, just consider yourself warned. I’m tired of it, and just because we both have different equipment than you, doesn’t mean that you can voice your thoughts out loud to us.”

  I stood there, just out of sight, and wanted to cheer, but I knew that I would have to walk past them to reach the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, I kept my eyes in front of me and almost ran to the restroom so that I didn’t make contact with either of them.

  Washing my hands a few minutes later, a woman walked in and stopped before going into a stall. “Watch yourself around Steve. He’s mad, and he’ll be looking for anything to get you and Ryan into trouble. Ryan got promoted before he did, and Steve has been after him ever since. Steve’s mouth and views of his co-workers are the reason that he hasn’t been promoted yet.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll watch my back.” Giving her a tight smile, I dried my hands and walked back out to find Ryan headed in my direction.

  My stomach gave a little flop. Down girl. He’s handsome, but off-limits. I didn’t want to give Steve any more ammunition than I already had.

  “They approved it, so we’re supposed to meet your partner, Joe, in an hour to fill him in on what’s going on.” Ryan fell in step with me and walked out of the office, unaware of the hate-filled eyes watching us.

  ***

  Joe met us at the desk and we all convened in the conference room. I had sent the map of the GPS coordinates to the printer so that we could see where the driver had been over the past few days.

  “This is where Urban Energy is located, and
this is his home. So all the points in between the two are various stops that they’ve made. We have no way of knowing if Noah or Glen were in the car with the driver, Bob. Do any of these fit the locations of the murders?”

  Joe held up one of the pages next to the larger map.

  “The car wasn’t at any of these over the past few days. In fact, it didn’t even leave the area to go to Ft. Worth.” Joe continued to look at the two and compare them.

  “Well, crap. I thought it would lead us somewhere.”

  “At least this rules out the driver for most of it, but if he was at the parking garage and left the car there, then it wouldn’t show on the GPS.”

  “I didn’t track his car. I put the tab on his hat, which is the one thing he would wear while doing his job every day. If he wasn’t wearing the hat, then we couldn’t track his whereabouts.”

  “I went ahead and acquired warrants for their vehicles. If any of them go to where a delivery van is parked, then we’ll have them. It’s for any vehicles that are registered or being used by one of the three men.” Joe held up three separate papers that were all signed and ready for us to implement.

  “Bob, the driver, has already seen me, so it has to be one of you two that puts it on the vehicle.”

  “I’ll do it, and two of you go over and see if you can put the trackers on any vehicles that Glen might be using. We know that Noah should be at work, but Glen could be there so be careful. You might have to wait a while for him to leave the house.”

  I knew that Joe wasn’t particularly thrilled to hang out in car waiting to follow someone.

  “Have there been any murders reported today?” I questioned.

  “Not yet, but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, just that no one’s found a body,” Ryan interjected.

  “All right. Let’s go so we can catch Glen if he goes straight home,” I urged.

  “She’s still so new.” Joe shared a chuckle with Ryan.