by BJ Wingate
Across town from where her storage was, Vanessa found a small semi-full bar to go into. She wandered in and headed to the far end of the bar. There were a few empty tables in the place, but most were full of both men and women talking and drinking. It wasn’t quite as late as she usually did this, but it would have to do. She simply couldn’t stay still any longer.
Ordering a sloe gin fizz, Vanessa paid and sipped the drink for a time. She looked around the bar as she did and noticed at least four men checking her out. Two were with a woman so she disregarded them. One of the other two was large, and not in a good way. He was fat and sweaty looking. Again, she disregarded that one and turned her attention to the last one. This one was not handsome at all, but he had decent features. A little paunch but that was to be expected these days, and he was alone. He sat at the bar a short distance from herself, nursing a drink and smoking one cigarette after another. Chain smokers often smelled of smoke, but she could handle that.
When the man was almost done with his drink, Vanessa ordered him another one and sipped her own as she watched him. When the drink was put in front of him and the bartender told him who had gotten it, he turned, lifted the glass in salute to her and sipped it. Then he got up and meandered down to where she was sitting.
“Hi,” he said softly. “This seat taken?” Without waiting for her acknowledgment, he settled on the stool next to her. “Thank you for the drink.” He sipped it again then looked at her. “May I ask the name of so beautiful a woman?”
Vanessa giggled the way an empty-headed blond might. “Vanessa. And you are?”
He smiled. “George.” He seemed about to give her a last name as well but hesitated. “So, what is a beautiful woman such as yourself doing in a place like this?”
Vanessa laughed for real at that one. “Now that is a pickup line I haven’t heard in a very long time.”
George grinned. “It was a bit cheesy wasn’t it.” He chuckled. “At any rate, you just don’t seem the sort to come here too often.” He hesitated. “Plus, you look a lot like someone I used to know.”
Vanessa sipped her drink and watched as George did the same. “No, it’s my first time here. I was wanting something cold to drink, and this place looked interesting, so I came in. As for knowing me, I’m sure I’d remember if you did.”
George smiled and toasted her with his glass. “Well, I am glad you decided to stop in. Extremely glad.”
For the next hour or so, Vanessa got George to talk about himself. He told her about his failed marriage, about kids that didn’t come see him too often, and about a dead-end job that he wished he didn’t have to go back to. Every time he asked about her, she would ask another question about him and get him going again. Time marched on and as Vanessa watched, people started leaving the bar. The fat man that had seemed interested in her was replaced by two men who sat together and whispered, often glancing in her direction. The others that had sat at the tables left one after the other. Finally, the bar was half empty and Vanessa leaned in close to George.
“Would you like to get out of here?” Vanessa kept her voice low and sultry. George stopped for a minute then downed what was left of the drink he had at the moment and nodded.
“Definitely.” George said quietly. Together they got up and left the bar behind. George had a small apartment not too far from the bar. He told Vanessa as they entered that his wife got the house, so this was what he was reduced to. Vanessa nodded sadly and looked around. Not much in the way of decorations. One framed picture on a table of George with two small children. She knew from what he had said earlier that his kids were mostly grown now so the picture must be from a happier time. The furniture looked well used and was a little dusty. When George motioned, Vanessa followed him to the bedroom where he sat almost falling onto the bed to pull off his shoes.
Vanessa still had her purse in hand and watched George quietly. The last man had gotten blood all over her. Without a coat to throw over her dress or another to put on, she would have to leave covered in blood. Unless she could get his back to her. She smiled and offered to help him get undressed and he accepted. When he grinned and stood up, she turned him to face the bed and he laughed as she reached around to undo his shirt buttons. Together they were almost making a game of it. Then she managed to get a hand into her bag, removed what she carried and leaned her head on his left shoulder as if for a kiss. When he obligingly leaned his head back toward her, she reached with her right hand and slit his throat with the knife she always carried with her.
When George gasped and grabbed for his throat, Vanessa shoved him face down onto the bed and stood there watching as he partially turned over, staring at her with an expression of astonishment and disbelief on his face. And that was how he died. Eyes wide open staring at where she was standing.
Making sure she didn’t touch anything anymore than she had to, and wiping those things off as she went, Vanessa cleaned the knife, slipped it into her purse and let herself out of the apartment. Going to her car she retraced her steps back to the storage, changed clothes once again and went home.
Eleven
Standing in the bedroom doorway of the victim’s small apartment, Jessica looked at the body lying on the bed, the blood-soaked sheets under him, and the cast-off shoes off to the side. He was positioned as if he had fallen face down but turned over part way to look at the killer in disbelief. His shirt was partially undone indicating that he was either preparing for bed when he was taken unaware, or he had been getting ready for something else. Was this another indication of a woman as the murderer? Tony moved up next to her and leaned one arm against the door frame opposite her.
“So, we have another one.” He said quietly. Jessica only nodded as she watched Connor move around the body, side-stepping the man with the camera who was taking shots of the crime scene. At one point they both stood up straight, stared at one another, then went back to work.
Jessica sighed. “Starting to appear as if we do have a serial killer on our hands though we can’t release that information yet.”
“No, we can’t.” The voice behind them had Jessica and Tony both turning around. Captain Murphy stood there looking between them at the scene in the bedroom. Jessica stepped back a little to give him a better view.
“Captain, we don’t often see you at crime scenes,” Jessica said. “What brings you to this one?”
Captain Murphy glanced at Jessica then back to the room. “Curiosity for the most part. I keep reading the reports and wanted to get an idea just how bad all of them have been.” He nodded as Connor glanced up and nodded at the captain. “So, Connor, is the MO the same?”
Conner stood up, moved out of the camera man’s way and headed over to where Jessica, Tony and the Captain stood.
“Same MO, thin knife blade, right-handed and from over the shoulder. Again, the killer was shorter than the victim, so he had to have leaned back slightly.”
Jessica nodded. “Anything else?”
“Well,” Connor shrugged as he looked at the body. “He had to have been very drunk. I can still smell the alcohol on him. Oh, and it happened probably a little after midnight last night. Of course, I won’t be able to say for certain until I get him back to the lab.”
Captain Murphy rubbed his chin. “How was the body found so soon? If he lived alone that is.”
Connor turned to face the captain again. “Apparently, he had a meeting with the ex-wife concerning her alimony payments and, when he didn’t show up, she got mad and came here looking for him. Says she had a key to the place so let herself in. Rather odd I think but oh well. She is outside with a uniform now.” Connor shook his head. “She didn’t seem too shaken up about him being dead, but I seriously doubt she could have done it.”
Tony frowned. “Why do you say that?”
Connor smirked. “The uniform she is with outside? Still has some of the vomit on his shoes where she lost it. Apparently for the second time. We found some in the bathroom commode as well.”
The man taking the pictures signaled he was finished and left the room. Two other men came in with a stretcher and body bag to remove the victim. Everyone else, other than Connor, moved to the living room of the apartment to give them room. Soon the stretcher was taken through by the two men with Connor following in their wake.
At the door, Connor hesitated and looked back. “I’ll let you know if I find anything else on the victim once I get him downtown.”
Jessica and Tony both nodded. Captain Murphy glanced around the small space and saw the picture.
“Must have been happy once.” The captain nodded toward the picture and Jessica glanced over.
“Certainly looks that way Captain.” Jessica walked over to the table where the picture sat and looked around it. “Nothing appears to have been disturbed here.” Then she frowned. “Was he robbed? The last few were.”
Tony shrugged. “Forgot to ask Connor about that. Guess we’ll find out later.”
“Any indication if the killer was male or female?” The captain looked back at Jessica as he spoke.
“Still could have been either a woman or a short man. Until we learn more about the victim, we won’t be able to say for sure.” Jessica sighed as she said that. A woman serial killer would definitely make the evening news if that turned out to be true.
Captain Murphy sighed. “Okay, see if anyone heard anything or saw anything unusual. Use some of the uniforms to knock on doors and whatnot. I’ll see you both at the station later.” With that the Captain left the room and, they assumed, headed back to the precinct.
Jessica watched the captain go through the front door of the apartment and turn to the right where the stairs were. A minute later they could vaguely here the main door close behind him as he left the building.
“Now that was odd. Since when does the captain get ‘curious’ about a crime scene?” Tony was still staring at the door as he spoke.
Jessica turned toward the bedroom again. “I have no idea. Maybe this reminds him of a case he was involved with once upon a time or something.” Entering the bedroom, which had been dusted and gone over with a fine-tooth comb by Connor and the CSI team, Jessica tried to envision the murder happening.
“Tony come here.” Jessica waited till Tony walked up next to her and took his arm to position him in front of herself. “Let’s see. From what Connor said, the man was standing about like this, the killer was behind him. Now, why would he tilt his head back if there were someone behind him? Wouldn’t he just turn around?”
Tony thought for a minute. “Move your head to my left a bit.” Jessica did it and Tony leaned back. It only took a moment for them to both get it and say almost in unison…
“A kiss. He was about to kiss someone, or at least trying to.” Tony moved away from the spot, but Jessica stayed put.
“It still doesn’t mean it’s a woman. For all we know he was into men and that was what ended his marriage.” Jessica glanced over at Tony as he nodded.
“Could be. Wish we had more information, a witness, anything!” Tony shoved one hand through his hair and sighed. “We keep coming up empty and I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.”
Jessica nodded then left the bedroom and headed out of the apartment with Tony not too far behind. On the way she grabbed four uniforms and sent them to the other two floors of the building to knock on doors and ask questions of the residents. She and Tony took the floor they were on and soon finished with all that. No one had heard or seen anything unusual. One woman, the one next door to the victim, did say it wasn’t unusual for the man to return home after midnight.
Just before they started, the uniform from downstairs, the one that had been with the victim’s ex-wife, came up to say she had asked to go sit in her car and had driven off in a huff. Jessica couldn’t blame her. She collected the woman’s name and address from the officer and put it in her own book. They could go see her a bit later.
Two hours later all of the residents that lived in the building had been questioned, as well as the two buildings on either side of it. The uniforms that had taken the other floors came up almost empty-handed. No one claimed to know the victim much more than to nod at on the stairs or just outside. He had been quiet, solitary and a bit standoffish, or so most of them said. No one had seen anything the night before but the woman who lived just below the victim had heard the man’s shoes hitting the floor and that was all.
Jessica was about to give up when she happened to look across the street and saw an elderly woman sitting by a second-floor window. Catching Tony’s arm, she headed in that direction.
By luck they caught the manager out at the mailboxes removing the name of a tenant who had just moved out. When Jessica asked about the elderly woman on the second floor, he told them the number of the apartment. She and Tony went up and knocked on the door.
“Yes? Who is it?” The voice from within was female and elderly sounding. “I don’t open my door to just anyone you know. Too much violence in the world.”
Jessica smiled. “Mam, my name is Jessica Roberts. I’m a detective who was just over across the street. I think you saw myself and my partner a few minutes ago. Do you mind if we come in and ask you a few questions?” For several minutes they waited in silence. Finally, they heard what sounded like several locks being undone from within.
When the door finally swung open, the elderly lady inside was short, bent shouldered and had a rolling walker that she leaned on somewhat heavily. Her grey hair was curled around her head and glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. She moved back to let them enter.
“I did see you two down on the street.” She said as she peered at them both. Her voice was a little gravelly as if from little use. “A lot of hullabaloo going on over there. Something happen?” She turned from the door and went to a chair in her small, neat apartment to sit down.
Jessica and Tony entered the small but nicely kept apartment and eased onto the couch facing the woman.
“Thank you for letting us it.” Jessica said quietly. “First can I ask your name please?”
The woman nodded. “Hazel O’Reily. I’m seventy-one years old as of last month. People said I wouldn’t make it this long.” Hazel laughed at that one.
Jessica smiled as Tony hid his grin behind one hand. “Well, I think you look quite good for your age, Ms. O’Reily.”
Hazel leaned forward a bit. “Call me Hazel my dear. That or Mom. A lot of the younger people around here call me that. Or gram.”
Jessica nodded still smiling. “Thank you, Hazel. Now, last night were you by any chance sitting at your window? It would have been around midnight or close to it.”
Hazel seemed to think about it. “Well, normally I’m in bed by ten but last night I did happen to doze off in my chair.” She nodded toward a rocking chair that stood by the window. “I woke up when I heard a car door slam. I watched a couple of people go into the building across the street. Didn’t see ‘em come out though. I had had to get up and go use the pot if you get my drift.” She laughed again.
Jessica grinned. “I do get your drift. The couple that you saw go in, was it a man and a woman? Two men? Or what?”
Hazel shrugged. “Looked like a man and a woman from a distance but I only saw them from the back. These days it could have been two men or two women for that matter. I do know the man had brownish hair and the woman – if it was a woman – had long blond hair. Know that cause the streetlight reflected off it.”
Jessica nodded as Tony took over. “Any idea how tall either of them was?” Tony sat forward as he spoke for the first time.
Hazel switched her gaze to Tony and studied him for a time. “Hard to say at this distance. And I was looking down too so that makes it even harder.” Hazel shook her head. “The man wasn’t as tall as you, I’m pretty sure about that.” She sighed. “Wish I could help you young’uns more but that’s all I got.”
Jessica nodded as she put her notebook away. “You did help us. Thank you, Hazel.” As she and Tony stood up t
o leave, Hazel lifted one hand.
“Can you tell me what happened? I just have the awfullest feeling about it all.” Hazel sat there staring up at Jessica.
Jessica hesitated a moment. “All I can tell you right now Hazel is that a crime was committed, and we are working on solving it. And that the information you just gave us might help with that.” Jessica smiled at the old woman and then left the apartment with Tony. They stood in the hallway for a minute until they heard the locks being done up inside before leaving the building to head back to the precinct.
Twelve
Alyson’s days were still the usual routine, nothing ever seemed to change there, but her nights were starting to bother her. She fell asleep a lot earlier than she had before and seemed to be sleeping longer. Two days in a row she woke up late and ended up getting to work late. That was unusual enough that the manager asked her if something was wrong. Did she need a few more days off? Was she getting ill? Of course, Alyson told him that no, she didn’t think she was getting sick again, just very tired lately and no, she didn’t want time off.
Every day, when she went home, Alyson would fix a small meal, drop onto the couch, turn on the TV and basically pass out. It was becoming very annoying. During the day that Friday, she called and made a doctor’s appointment for the following week. Her head hurt too she noticed. She turned in extra early that night, falling into bed around nine and going to sleep almost immediately.
* * *
Vanessa went shopping. A few stores were open late, so she picked up a few things that she felt she needed and a couple that she just wanted. She had gone back to the two ATMs that she had visited before, used Duke's cards again and withdrew another five hundred dollars from each. She was careful to wear almost the same outfit and wig she had the first time just in case she was seen. She was keeping the money at the storage unit hidden away in a corner. Well, some of it at least. She had most there and close to four hundred in the car itself hidden under the rug on the passenger side.
