Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  A college kid was sitting behind the counter, playing games on his phone.

  I flashed my badge when he looked up. “We’re needing some information. A woman came through here last week and now she’s missing. Have you seen her or anyone that made you nervous?” I pushed the phone closer to him on the counter.

  He got up from his chair and took a look. “Nah, I haven’t seen her. Usually when guys checks in, they just tell the chick they’re meeting what room to go to.”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow. This kid had just admitted that hookups happened a lot, and I was willing to bet that most of them weren’t legal.

  “What happens if a car isn’t moved after the next morning? Do you leave it out there, or have it towed somewhere?”

  “I’m not in trouble, am I?” He was a little more cautious now that we were still hanging out.

  “No, but we’re trying to find this woman, and her car might have some clues for us.”

  “Oh, well, the long-term parking is in that empty lot. A lot of people will park there and then car pool to their destination. I mean, nobody rents it out or anything. It’s just kind of an unspoken agreement. If we had a vehicle left here and all the rooms weren’t rented, then we’d check it out. A week later, yeah, we’d tow it because we only have so many spots for true customers.”

  “Thank you. So, if you weren’t a local, you would park in the regular lot because you wouldn’t know about the back one, correct?” I gave him an encouraging smile.

  “That’s what I said, lady. Locals are the ones that use it, or to hide their cars while they sleep at someone else’s house.” He glanced down at his phone. “Can I go back to playing?”

  “Yeah, sure. You were a big help.” Ryan nodded toward the door.

  “We’ve got to check out that long-term parking. If he got them to his vehicle and then knocked them out, he could move their car into long-term parking and not have to worry about disposing of the car.”

  “Let’s see if Agent Watson found anything.” Ryan walked back over to get in the car.

  “It sounds like this guy might have local connections, and might be parking cars in other places as well. I think he does a lot of traveling, so no one notices him moving back and forth. Like a local person that you’re used to, but not someone you’d invite to dinner?” I’d started thinking out loud when Ryan and I had teamed up.

  “So, you think he’s a trucker, or maybe some delivery guy?” Agent Watson had caught up a little bit.

  “I’d say delivery guy with a route up and down the highway. A trucker wouldn’t be as well-known, and they’re generally gone for days at a time.”

  “He has to have a home base, or maybe more than one where he moves the girls once he has them.”

  “Bingo.” Agent Watson fist pumped the air.

  “We’ve got three vehicles that fit the description of women drivers under thirty. They all have Aries birthdays listed on their driver’s licenses. I’m going to send this over to Agent Perez and have her add these to the board. They’ll send someone to check on their home addresses and see if they’re home.”

  “If we can get a list of missing women, then maybe we’ll get a hit on them before he kills them. The last one listed doesn’t have a birthday until tomorrow.”

  “We’re seeing things in sets of threes or fives. I don’t think he’s using a place more than a couple of times to keep down the issue of discovery.”

  “You think because we found three cars, as well as Tasha’s, that means he’s done using it? That’s only four.” Agent Watson scratched his head, puzzled.

  “No, I think one of those other cars from out-of-town is one of his victims. It just isn’t registered to her. We should run any plates that are from out-of-town, and call to see if they have daughters in the right age range.” My gut was saying that he’d moved on, because Tasha was last week, and these others were probably dead, or would be before we could find him.

  “Can we do this somewhere that has food? We can ask a few of the waitresses or townsfolk of places that people use to park around here or off the highway. Nothing like a local to know all the good spots.” Ryan rubbed his stomach as it growled.

  “Sounds good to me. And then we can follow the highway to the next larger town. I don’t see him doing this in a smaller one, because there would be too many questions. Even at the local motel, people generally know what’s going on in a smaller town,” I agreed. And now that he’d brought up food, I was suddenly starving.

  “It has to be a place with Wi-Fi so we can do some searches while we eat,” Agent Watson added.

  “Perfect. Lead on, Watson.”

  Chapter 7

  Leslie

  Our theory turned out to be a good one, and the last car was registered to the brother of a missing woman.

  “I hate having to do phone calls like that, because he’s never going to see her again,” I bemoaned, being made the bearer of bad news.

  “You don’t have any hope of her turning up?”

  “No. These killers are completely focused, and don’t have any extra room for error. If it’s your birthday, and they’ve set their sights on you, then there’s a ninety-nine percent chance you’re going to die.”

  “That’s very pessimistic. I know things happen, but you’re saying that we can’t catch this killer. You’re way too young for that,” Agent Watson scolded.

  “Not really.” I glanced at Ryan, who I knew felt the same way. “We’re not going to stop trying to save lives. There isn’t even a suspect at the moment. How can we save them if we don’t even have a direction to look in?”

  “If you think we’re pessimistic now, then come back in a few months if this continues. We’re going to be downright depressed. I already feel like we can’t win, but I’m going to keep trying, because if I don’t, then my friend died for no reason.”

  “Um, ma’am, could you answer a question for us?” I stopped the waitress when she brought the check. “We were wondering, what’s the next city that caters to tourists farther down toward L.A.?”

  “That would be Paso Robles. It’s one of the larger towns, but there are several that are much smaller as well. They all have a few places for tourists, but the bigger ones have a few more choices.” She collected the card from Agent Watson. “Were you looking to stay somewhere tonight?”

  “We were thinking of somewhere that had overnight or long-term parking in case we wanted to stay on the beach for a few days. I’d hate to have the car towed just because we were out enjoying the sunshine.” Ryan slid an arm around the back of the booth behind me.

  “King City and Paso Robles both have an airport with long-term parking if you need to park one car for a few days. I hope that helps. I’ll be right back with this.”

  “Guess we can check out whichever comes first and stay in the larger one for the night. That was a good idea to ask the waitress. I don’t know why my boss is trying to keep you guys from helping. You’re both smart and have a unique perspective,” Agent Watson complemented.

  “Unique perspective and we’re smart.” I winked at Ryan. “I think he just described the strange cousin that you barely acknowledge.”

  “In Texas, we call it thinking outside the box. I hate to think like the killer, but you do have to think of every possible scenario.” Ryan grinned at Agent Watson’s discomfort.

  “Look, can you forget I said that? It’s refreshing to have people that aren’t trying to play by the rule book. Criminals don’t follow the FBI guidelines, and we’ll never catch them if we don’t at least consider other possibilities.”

  “So, what did you do to get you put on babysitting duty?” I asked as we put up the computers and got ready to leave.

  “I suggested that we let you both onto the team. Agent Perez disagreed, but I went over her head. Since I was so strongly in your corner, she said I was responsible for you, and would have to prove myself to her again.” He ducked his head sheepishly.

  “Hey, if you’re on our side, t
hen call me Ryan. Detective sounds so stuffy.” He held out his hand to Agent Watson.

  “Agreed, but only if you call me Gavin.”

  “Done. Now, to do our best to prove Agent Perez wrong.”

  “I don’t know if that’s possible,” Gavin confessed.

  “Ha! Now you’ve given me a challenge. I may not be hopeful that we’ll catch this guy before he kills more women, but I can guarantee that we can prove Agent Perez wrong. I have a psychic on call, and we can use her to our advantage.”

  “Really? You have to tell me about this psychic while we drive.”

  “Her name is Flora…”

  ***

  After searching both towns, we didn’t find any abandoned cars belonging to the dead women. That either meant that he hadn’t made it to these towns yet, or he’d covered his tracks a little better.

  We were just about to check into a hotel when Gavin got a message from someone at Seaside.

  “They’ve found a cabin in the woods that looks to be abandoned at the moment, but would be the perfect spot for our hunter. It’s also owned by Urban Energy,” Gavin informed us, heading back to the car.

  “Did Perez ask for us to be there?” I asked, incredulous that they’d found it.

  “Nope, which is what will make this much more special. I can’t wait to see her face when we get there.”

  “How quickly can we get there?” I was gauging how long I could sleep for.

  “We’re still two hours away, just in time for them to get some prints and evidence. It’s the best of both worlds. We let them do all the dirty work, and then we get to help nail the bastard to the wall.” Gavin had obviously gotten his confidence back.

  “I’m all in. Can I buy a pillow from the hotel before we leave?” Both of them looked at me. “What? Can’t a girl be comfortable if she’s going to nap in a moving vehicle?”

  They ignored me, and I settled in to get a little rest before the inquisition started.

  Evidently, Gavin had someone that was keeping him appraised of what was going on. There were spies in the FBI. It was good to know in case we needed information in the future.

  While the land might have changed hands, it was the home of a long-time hermit named Tom Prings. When we pulled up, there were still lots of FBI vehicles and people moving around.

  A truck pulled up behind us, but didn’t have anywhere to go when he realized that we were turning around as well.

  “Hey, do you know what’s going on?” He tried to play it casually, but I was pretty sure that we were looking at Tom, whose home the FBI had invaded.

  “We were looking for Tom Prings. Do you know him?” I asked through the open window.

  “Yeah, I’m Tom. I don’t get many visitors ’round here. How can I help you?” He looked completely taken aback when the three of us got out of the car with guns drawn.

  “Hey, now, w-what’s going on?” he stuttered, hands raised.

  “Will you get out of the vehicle and keep your hands where we can see them?” Gavin commanded.

  We were just back-up, and let him take the lead.

  “I’m just going to mosey up to the cabin and see what Agent Perez thinks of our friend here,” I called to the boys as they put the cuffs on our find.

  Everyone stopped as we got closer.

  “Well, look what the cat dragged in.” Agent Perez tapped a foot impatiently as we walked closer. “Who’s this you’ve got? It wouldn’t be the man we’ve been looking for the past two hours, would it?”

  “I didn’t have a chance to tell these lovely people before they put cuffs on me that I’d just went to town for groceries. I have no idea what’s going on, or why the FBI is in my house,” Tom protested.

  “We’ve found all sorts of hunting tools and cages out back. There’s human blood in a few spots, and the only thing we don’t have is the buried women that you’ve killed.”

  “Killed? I haven’t killed anyone.” Tom looked around frantically. “Was someone murdered?”

  “Put him in the van, and let’s get him a lawyer. We don’t want to take any chances on someone missing a step and screwing up a conviction later,” Agent Perez ordered the two agents standing next to her.

  She walked over to one of the cars and got inside. As she pulled up next to us, she stopped. “Agent Watson, are you coming to help interrogate him?”

  Bewildered, Gavin looked at us. “Yes, ma’am.” He threw the keys to Ryan. Shrugging as he got into the passenger side, Agent Perez sped off down the dirt road.

  “I’m going to go get Tom’s truck and pull it up to the house. If he has groceries, then anything perishable will need to be put away.” I started walking down the drive, trying not to breathe in the cloud of dirt that Agent Perez had left behind.

  “Why would you do that if he’s guilty?” Ryan asked, falling in beside me.

  “The verdict is still out on that. No sense in groceries going to waste. Plus, I don’t think he’s the one we’re looking for.” I opened the truck and hopped in, using the keys that had been left in the ignition.

  Ryan pulled the car we’d been driving down and parked it at the end of the line of cars. He hurried over to help me carry the brown paper bags of groceries inside.

  It was the first that we’d seen of the ‘crime scene’, and there was fingerprint dust everywhere. I found the cabinet that I’m sure Tom called the kitchen. An old fifties style fridge hummed as it kept the groceries cold. He hadn’t bought a lot of food, and most of it was canned goods. If he was a hunter as he claimed, then I was sure that most of what he ate was fresh.

  “Ready to see if this is the right guy?” Ryan asked.

  “Yep. I don’t think he’s the killer. He didn’t even buy enough groceries to feed more than one person very long. There isn’t anything here that says he’s got money to travel around. I’m going to bet that he hasn’t been out of town in years.” I got in the front seat and buckled up. Ryan would try to make up for lost time so we wouldn’t miss anything that Agent Perez asked.

  “What about the human blood they found?”

  “I’m going to say that it was planted, or it was his. We may have brought him in, but I can’t wait for Agent Perez to figure it out.”

  “Wow, you don’t like her, do you?”

  “Nope. When you take your position and make those around you feel like crap just because you can, that’s not cool.”

  “Well, we’re here, so you can go save the other agents from the big bad wolf,” Ryan teased.

  “You know what? I’m glad that you’ve gotten your sense of humor back. It’s nice to be talking to someone who’s back in the game.”

  “Sorry about that. I just had to get my head clear, and having that near miss last night kind of shook out some of the cobwebs. It doesn’t do me any good to worry about how I might or might not have been able to save my old partner when I need to have my current partner’s back.” He shrugged. “I’m good.”

  “All right. Make sure that I don’t get any scratches, because we might just have a cat fight.” I made clawing motions as I walked into the sheriff’s office.

  Most of the agents and sheriff’s officers were out working at Tom Prings’ cabin. Agent Perez and Gavin were alone in the room with Tom, and a quickly acquired lawyer. The sheriff was standing in the hall, watching through the two-way mirror.

  “Where did you put the bodies?” Agent Perez slapped the pictures of the missing women on the table. Mixed in were pictures of the autopsied bodies, along with photos of missing women who fit the profile.

  “The only bodies I work with are the animals I hunt. I don’t kill humans, and certainly not any women. If you weren’t all up in my face, I wouldn’t even be talking to you. I don’t like the way women twist things around and make it all your fault, just like you’re doing now.” Tom moaned into his hands.

  “Tom, you have a record for hurting people. They kicked you out of school for it. Animals went missing, and I’ll bet if we talked to people, they’d all hav
e a story about how you were the reason. There might even be a few rumors about girls that went missing.”

  “He didn’t do most of that. It was his brother,” Sheriff Turner whispered.

  I bit back a laugh. He didn’t like her either.

  “Does his brother live here?”

  “No. He moved away years ago. I’ll bet Tom doesn’t even know where his brother is these days. Now, his cousin Sebastian didn’t do too bad for himself, but they’re the only ones left of the Spring family that aren’t tied up in the mill. At least Sebastian was able to hold down a job. Tom couldn’t find work anywhere if he tried.”

  “I thought Tom’s last name was Prings?”

  “It is, but he changed it after his parents died. He didn’t want anything to do with the Spring family. Something happened with his parents, and they were killed in a fire. His brother left the next day, and we haven’t seen or heard from him again.” The sheriff banged on the glass. “If his lawyer isn’t going to stop her, then I’ll have to. Tom wouldn’t hurt anyone. The only things he’s ever killed have been for food.”

  “She’s not going to like that.” A wide grin spread across my face as we watched him shut it down.

  “Agent Perez, either you charge him and we put him in a cell, or you let him go,” Sheriff Turner warned her.

  She shoved a finger into his chest. “If you wanted to be in charge, then you shouldn’t have called us. It’s now under our jurisdiction, and I’m not done questioning him.”

  “I beg to differ. Tom has been a model citizen for years. Now, if it was his brother, that would be a different story.”

  Tom’s head came up at the mention of his brother, but he quickly lowered his eyes to the table.

  “I haven’t had a problem with Tom, ever. He minds his own business, and even when others try to rile him up, he doesn’t stand up for himself.”

  “How do you explain all the money we found under his bed?”

  Sheriff Turner pushed her out of the way and took a seat across from Tom. “Tom, where’d you get the money under your bed?”