by Jet MacLeod
“What?”
“We gotta go. Where you at? I’ll pick you up.”
“What?”
“We have a case. Get ready. Where are you? I’ll just pick you up!”
“Tabitha’s,” Sam answered.
“Good, I’ll be there in five. Be ready. He’s hit again.”
“What?!?” Sam finally questioned, fully awake and sober.
“Did you not understand the first two times?”
“Sorry, LT, I was asleep.”
“Sam, damn it, get dressed. He struck again. We have to go,” Grace commanded.
“Got it, LT. I’ll be ready. Five minutes, I’ll be outside, waiting,” Sam replied.
“Okay, we have to get Cormack on the way, too.”
“Gracie, calm down. We got this. I’ll be waiting.”
“Good,” Grace said and then hung up.
She reached out to her dash and flipped her lights on. She dropped her cell into the cup holder. She was speeding. She knew it, but she was running code. The only thought she had was that this time they would find more. They would find enough. And, this time they could nail him. This time she would get him.
Chapter Sixteen
Tabitha watched as Sam jumped out of the bed. She knew better than to question Sam’s haste. She knew it had to be important. It was probably a case.
“Sorry,” Sam stated.
“For what?”
“This,” Sam replied, flatly.
“You’re a cop. I understand. Don’t worry about it. Go and do your job.”
“You’re sure,” Sam stated, scrambling to get her clothes.
“Sam, it’s fine. You aren’t my first Bobby. Grab a shirt from over there. Stop worrying about me and get dressed. I’m sure that Gracie will be here shortly.”
“Yeah, she must have been in the neighborhood.”
“Doesn’t surprise me.”
Sam looked at Tabitha quizzically, but didn’t ask anything. She finished getting dressed. She checked her Glock as she holstered it. Sam walked back to the mattress and Tabitha.
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry, again. Give me a kiss and get outside for Gracie to pick you up. Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl. I can handle myself,” Tabitha said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Sam answered before she kissed Tabitha.
“Now, go before I don’t let you.”
“Do you want me to come back after?” Sam asked her.
“That, my dear, is up to you,” Tabitha replied.
Sam kissed Tabitha, again. She walked through the apartment and was at the front door, when Tabitha caught her. She spun Sam around.
“Good luck, Detective Wannamaker,” Tabitha said, giving Sam another kiss and shoving her out the door.
Sam laughed about it as she walked down the sidewalk to the parking lot. She glanced over the parking lot for Grace’s truck. Grace flashed her lights at Sam. Sam walked over to the truck and got in.
“You ready for another one?” Grace asked as she got settled in the seat.
“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“Nope, the only person who does is our perp. Well, until we nail him. Been working on the program pretty hard lately. You might need to take a break and come back to it. You know get a fresh look at it in a few days. Something may have come to you by then to help tweak it some more,” Grace stated.
“I’ll take that under consideration.”
“Sam, I just don’t want you to burn out so fast.”
“Why, Grace? You burning out on me? Afraid I will too?”
“Not really.”
“Then, what is it?” Sam asked.
“I’m not sure. I am just worried about you, Rookie. It’s my job.”
“Sorta, but it is really the captain’s.”
“On more than one level,” Grace added.
“That much is true.”
“Look, this was my first big case with the LSO and French is bugging out on me. I need to have a partner I can rely on. Don’t get me wrong. I love Frenchy, but he has seen too much. He has earned his desk job. I worry about you though,” Grace explained.
“Grace, look, I’m good. I’m handling it. I knew the job was going to be hard. It beats sitting behind a computer all day.”
“When it doesn’t, you let me know,” Grace told her.
“Don’t worry. I will. Same goes for you, LT.”
“Deal,” Grace stated.
Grace pulled up to the scene. She counted the cruisers and started counting men. She saw uniforms rolling out the tape. Then, she saw Gregor at the door arguing with David.
“Rookie, go check the yard. Cormack, go save David. I’ll deal with Gregor and then meet y’all in the back.”
All three jumped out of Grace’s truck. Cormack and Grace walked up to the front door. Grace watched Sam walk thru the gate into the back yard.
Cormack didn’t even introduce herself. She grabbed David by the sleeve and forced him into the house. She didn’t even give Gregor time to stop her. He was screaming at her to come back. She just gave him the finger in response.
“Careful, Gregor,” Grace told him.
“What do you want, O’Shea?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“I’m here to work my case.”
“Your case? I got the call. This is mine.”
“Actually, you were the one on call. But, the captain called me in because we believe that is another victim of the Lakeside Rapist. You can go. I’ve got this.”
“I’m not leaving, O’Shea. This is my case. I’m in charge,” he replied.
“Wrong answer. I’m in charge. This is my case. No wonder Smith asked for a transfer. You’re an idiot,” O’Shea told him and then grabbed the next uniform that walked by, “Officer…McCain, please escort Detective Gregor off the premises. His services aren’t needed or required. He has no business here.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Gregor fumed.
“Officer,” Grace stated, “Please.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer replied, taking Gregor by the arm and leading him away.
Grace knew that he would fight her. He’d probably even go to Danica about the situation. A lot of good it would do him. It would just give Danica another reason to desk him. He was too old school for his own good. He just needed to retire before he was forced out.
Grace waited until she saw him drive away before she entered the house. She found David hard at work in the bedroom. She let him work as she headed outside to the backyard where Sam and Cormack were working.
“Find anything?” she asked joining them.
“A bloody foot print,” Sam offered.
“Right size?” Grace asked.
“Should be. Might even be the same tread. Won’t really know for sure until I compare the pictures back at the lab,” Cormack answered.
“You know Mom is going to call later, right?” Sam asked Grace.
“Yeah, but it won’t be about Gregor. Trust me on that one, Kid. Your mother and I have an understanding about him.”
“Which is?” Cormack asked.
“I don’t hurt him and we stay out of each other’s way.”
“So?” Sam inquired.
“I had him removed. I didn’t hurt him. Hell, I didn’t even touch him. It isn’t his case. He was in the way. He left.”
“Remember that when HR calls tomorrow,” Cormack replied, walking away.
“Not worried, the captain will deal with him. He was forewarned that it was my case. Maybe his conduct will force his retirement.”
“If we could only be so lucky,” Sam added.
“Gracie! Come here! You have to see this,” Cormack yelled.
Grace and Sam joined Cormack in the new area of the yard. Grace pulled out her flashlight and pointed it at the ground near Cormack. An inquisitive look crossed all of their faces.
“Is that—“ Grace started.
“Mud. Yep, it’s mud, lake mud to be exact. Wanna test it?”
“Absolut
ely,” Grace replied.
“What’s up with the mud?” Sam asked.
“It helps us establish his point of entry to the yard. Hopefully, it’ll tell us where on the lake he is from. If we can establish that, then we can find his point of origin.”
“Now, all those lake shots are making more sense.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna wait until sunrise to take those pictures. I’m going inside to see how David’s doing. Holler if you find anything else,” Cormack said, finishing her collection of the mud and heading to the house.
“Make sure Gregor didn’t ruffle his feathers too bad,” Grace called after her and was waved off in response.
Sam took some more pictures of the muddy print. She added some notes to her flip pad. Grace looked over her shoulder and smiled.
“You’re catching on quick to field work, Rookie.”
“What can I say? I’ve had some good teachers,” Sam replied, “Plus, I read your notes from the earlier scenes. It helped me feel like I was there. I could visualize the scenes.”
“Know why I do that?” Grace asked her.
“Nope.”
“What if I’m not there at the trial? What if I can’t testify? What if the case goes cold, but gets reopened in fifteen years?”
“Then someone else can explain everything and why things were done?”
“Exactly. That is why notes are so important. That is why you do all of your paperwork immediately, while everything is still fresh. It not only helps you while you are reviewing the case, but future detectives and the prosecution for the case. Notes and evidence, they are a detectives best friend when it comes to solving a case,” Grace answered.
“Got it. Take really good notes. Anything else I should write down now?”
Grace looked over the scene, again. It was another lake entrance but it still didn’t give a motive or reasoning why he was coming in by boat. The mud could help them figure out where he was coming from. The mud and the bloody footprint would give them his path through the yard. She couldn’t see anything else at the moment.
“We’ll wait for morning and look again. Right now, I want to go inside and see what David and Cormack are working on in the bedroom. Just a warning, it’s a bloody mess in there,” Grace answered.
“Wasn’t it last time?”
“It’s worse. His control is gone. I haven’t seen one this bad since last year when it all started.”
“Great.”
“Yeah, it looks like his escalation is escalating.”
“Grace?”
“What’s wrong, Rookie?” she asked as they went inside to the bedroom.
“You want to kill him, don’t you?”
Grace stopped. She stared at Sam for a long moment. She looked at Sam quizzically while she thought of the answer.
“I’m sure we all do, Sam.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you mean. Yeah, I guess I do. But, I can tell you one thing, Sam. I won’t. I promise. I won’t.”
“Good. Let me. If it comes to that, it’s my shot,” Sam said.
“Well, let’s hope we never have to worry about that, Rookie.”
“Just remember that if it does, it is my shot. That way no one can ever question your motives. I’m not sure that I would be a good witness for you if they tried you. Just don’t take a shot at the guy, okay?”
“I got it, Sam. I won’t take a shot. I promise. You promise me the same thing, though,” Grace replied.
“What?”
“You won’t take the shot either,” Grace stated.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I have to be. I’m being serious, Sam. You can’t take the shot either.”
“I’m not talking about a pop shot, Grace. I’m saying if for some reason this guy gets stupid and draws on us. Then and only then, would I even think about taking the shot and then and only then if I had to do it. I want the guy alive. I want him to go to prison. It would be fitting for him to get life with no possibility of parole.”
“Why is that?” Grace asked her.
“You do know what happens to rapists in prison, right?”
“Oh, right, that would be fitting.”
“We have to catch him, first. So, let’s figure out where he screwed up, shall we? Let’s go look at the bedroom,” Sam said.
“Just remember that it’s a bloody freaking mess.”
“I remember the last one.”
Sam and Grace made their way back into the house. They made their way into the bedroom. They found David and Cormack taking pictures.
“Hey, Cormack, ME already get the body?” Grace asked her.
“Yeah, I just released it.”
“Get a cause of death?”
“Knife wounds to the femoral and carotid arteries.”
“She bled out, fairly quickly,” David added.
“That’s semi-comforting. Were there other stab wounds? Anything else we need to know about the body before we get the ME’s report?” Sam asked them.
“Over kill with the stab wounds, unknown count. Most of the stab wounds were post-mortem. There were maybe three or four that were peri-mortem. Other than that, you’ll have to wait for the ME,” Cormack told them.
“Noted. There is a lot of spray,” Grace replied.
“So far, I’ve counted eight downward stab wounds and five upward.”
Sam turned to study the walls. She was counting the blood trails and studying the blood patterns. She could see the eight upward trails correlating with the downward stabbing motion. She even found the five that came up from the floor, consistent with an upward stabbing motion. But, there was more.
“Cormack, what are these?” Sam asked.
Cormack, Grace and David came over to the wall. They all looked at the wall. Cormack and David leaned closer to the wall.
“Slashing?” David asked Cormack.
“Looks like. Hey, Grace, ask the ME about slashes across the body. Probably about six across the torso,” Cormack stated.
“Will do.”
“Already got a lot to ask,” Sam added.
Grace shook her head, but smiled. She was proud of Sam. Sam was catching on quick and it was obvious that she was going to be an adept detective just like her mother was. She was proving to be a good addition to the team. Grace reminded herself to give Danica her thoughts on Sam as her partner. She had to admit they were working very well together. She only hoped that they continued to do so.
“So this guy stabbed her five times probably putting her down on the ground. Then he stabs her again eight times. Somewhere in all of that he catches her in the carotid and one of the femoral. But, why slash her?” Grace asked.
“She is already on the ground. You’ve already stabbed her at least twelve or thirteen times. Does she suddenly put up a fight? What changed while she was lying there, dying?”
“Cormack?”
“What’s up, Grace?”
“Can you test the spray patterns for DNA?”
“Each one?” Cormack asked.
“Yeah, at least the ones that you can discern.”
“Alright,” Cormack answered and then told David, “Make sure that we have really good pictures and thoroughly catalogue each spray pattern and sample. Get me two samples per pattern.”
“Grace, got a theory?” Sam questioned.
“Yeah, I’m hoping she got a piece of him.”
They all stopped and looked at her, then, back at the scene.
“Me, too,” Sam and Cormack both stated.
David just continued his cataloguing and photographing. He didn’t say much as he worked. He was just trying to get everything done so he could get to bed. It was then that something caught his eye.
“Cormack, she was about three foot from the bed, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, David, why?”
“Look under the bed,” he stated.
They all hit the floor near the bed. Sam and Grace on the far side. Cormack was looking
for the foot of the bed.
“Is that—“ Sam started.
“Could that be—“ Grace started.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. David, hand me a bag and some tongs. I can’t reach it. Could he be that stupid?” Cormack mused.
David handed her a pair of rubber tipped tongs. She took the evidence bag from him. Grace reached out and grabbed a camera to documents their collection.
“Well, Cormack?” Grace asked, getting impatient.
“ Looks like a hunting knife. It’s a bowie knife in nature approximately six inches in length. Nice wood inlay, means it’s expensive, probably custom made. Very lethal and very likely our murder weapon,” Cormack answered as Sam helped her bag and tag it.
“Can you rush it?” Grace asked.
“I’ll start running everything as soon as I get back to the lab,” Cormack said.
“Good,” Grace replied, absentmindedly, staring at the room.
“David, can you make sure you upload your photos as soon as you can?”
“Yeah, Sam, I’ll do it when we get back. Why? What’s up? Did I miss something?” David asked.
“Doubt it. I just want to compare them to the previous scenes. I want to see what stays the same and what changes. My specialty is computers and photos. Maybe I can manipulate the photos and see something that we missed,” Sam stated.
“Watch the word ‘manipulate.’ Defense lawyers will eat you alive with that. Make sure all you do is alter the size or you can explain what you did. Be ready to recreate it, too,” Cormack warned.
“I know that. I’ve testified before. I learn really quick,” Sam stated.
“I can attest to that,” Grace replied.
“Okay, guys, y’all can go. I’ll call you when I’m done at the lab. I’ll get someone out her to get the lake pictures in the morning. Go on home. There is nothing more you can do right now,” Cormack told them.
“You sure?” Grace asked.
“I don’t mind staying if you need the help,” Sam added.
“Go on, you two, and rest. We got it from here. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, you have to tell me twice,” Sam stated.
“Call me as soon as you find something,” Grace said as Cormack waved her off.
Chapter Seventeen
Grace and Sam sat at a Waffle House. Sam was watching Grace nurse her coffee. Grace seemed to be lost in thought.
