by BJ Wingate
Jessica waved the pen in the air for a minute. “Not so. Okay, first Mary Jacobson, the woman in the bar. The bartender said a woman sat with her before leaving the bar with her. She could have gotten friendly with Mary Jacobson, gone home with her in case her husband was there to help her maybe? Saw the knife on the stand, did the deed and put the knife back to implicate the husband.”
Jessica glanced over her notes. “The young man in the park, Reggie. He might have accosted her and instead of running she made it seem she was into it perhaps. Gets him into the trees, he has his back to her, and she slits his throat. Since it was done from behind, she could just walk out of the park without showing any signs of what she did. No blood on her anywhere.”
Tony was nodding and sipping his coffee as he listened.
“From what Connor has discovered, Duke would have been next on her hit list. How or where she picked him up or rather let him pick her up is anyone’s guess but still, a man taking a woman back to his trailer for a little fun? Sounds reasonable. Then she slits his throat in the kitchen. Now that time she had to have gotten blood all over her. But she is in a trailer. She could take a shower, maybe find some of his ex-wife’s clothing in the closet. Puts on some new clothes then decides to drag him to the bedroom. Why? I don’t know but maybe to conceal this one for a time? Has to be a reason.”
“Money.” Tony stated then sipped the coffee again. “Each of our victims were robbed. She needs cash for whatever reason, so she robs them of their cash.” He frowned. “Come to think of it, each of the victims were missing cash from their wallets but not their credit cards. We didn’t find any credit or debit cards at Duke’s trailer.”
Jessica nodded. “So, maybe she found out he had a lot of money in the bank and took his card to withdraw it. And to get it all she would have to go back several times.” She tapped the pen against her chin. “We need to get his financial records as soon as we can to check on that.” Tony nodded and made a note on his pad. Jessica returned to her notes.
“Then we have George Billings. From what I was able to learn about him, he tended to run around on his ex-wife before they divorced which is why they split in the first place. Could be someone he ran around with at some point?”
“Could be.” Tony said as he dialed his phone. Vaguely Jessica heard him put in a request for Duke’s financial info as she continued to go over her notes.
“William Flynn doesn’t quite fit the profile and yet he does. The timing of all these killings is about two to three weeks between each as well. Maybe our killer was just getting bored, and Flynn was convenient.” Jessica made a note of that as she spoke more to herself then to Tony by that point.
“Then we have Calvin Douglas. Out with his friend Robert drinking and having fun. They meet someone, Robert being a good husband, heads for home leaving Calvin with our killer. They go back to his place, she excuses herself for a few minutes, returns and murders him.” Jessica was getting into this now. She was starting to see a pattern and that was how she worked.
“The final guy though, Charles Lawrence. He doesn’t fit anywhere.” Tony was looking over the notes as well by then. “He was done in a parking lot. Why a parking lot?”
Jessica thought about that for a minute then her eyes lit up. “He knew her.”
Tony’s eyebrows rose as he watched his partner. “Why do you think that?”
Jessica grinned. “Logical conclusion. Think about it. She goes to this bar to find her next victim. Charles is there. He sees her, watches her walk out of the bar and follows. Maybe he confronts her in the parking lot on the way to her car and to shut him up she does what she has been doing, she slices his throat. He tries to go back to the bar for help and she pulls him back, so he dies there in front of her. Even if she got blood on herself, she was close to her car so she could get in and take off. No one would see her.”
Tony nodded. “Makes sense. Now the only problem is we don’t have an accurate description of her.”
“That is what I’m hoping to get out of Robert Carver.” Just at that moment Jessica’s phone rang and she answered it.
“Hello. Yes, I did call you Mr. Carver. Can you come to the station? I have a few additional questions for you. The sooner the better Mr. Carver.” Jessica sat and listened for a minute then smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Carver. We’ll be here.” She hung up the phone. “Robert Carver just made arrangements to head down here in like fifteen minutes.” She looked over at her partner. “We’re getting close. I can feel it.”
Twenty-Five
Robert Carver arrived at the station twenty minutes after speaking with Jessica Roberts on the phone. He was nervous but wanted to help as much as he could. Briefly he wondered just how much good he would be able to do but he would answer the detective’s questions and see what happened. Calvin had been a good friend and he wanted to see justice done.
Robert was escorted to a conference room rather than an interrogation room. He was mildly surprised by that but felt relieved at the same time. A few minutes later Jessica Roberts, her partner Tony and a uniformed officer entered the room.
Jessica set the file she had been compiling on the table and smiled at Robert. “Thank you for coming down Mr. Carver. Before we begin, would you like some coffee or water or something?” She waited as he shook his head.
“No, thank you.” When Robert said that the uniform nodded at Jessica then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Jessica sat at the table across from Robert and opened her file. “When I talked to you at Calvin Douglas’s house, you said that you and he had been out the night before drinking. Is that correct?”
Robert nodded. “Yes, it is.”
Jessica smiled. “Can you tell me about that night? What you did? Where you went? Who you met?”
Robert nodded again and sat up straighter in his chair. “Of course.” He started talking about how Calvin and himself met up when they both got off work and started bar hopping. Robert had called his wife and told her that Calvin was feeling down and that he was going with him, and she had seemed to understand. Calvin had had a bad time of it after his wife ran off on him, so this was Robert’s way of supporting him. He told them how at one bar they had more or less met up with several of their friends and stayed longer than usual.
Then, around midnight, they had wandered into this one bar that was quiet and dark and the only bright thing in the place had been this one woman sitting at the bar alone. Robert had thought maybe she was a hooker from the way she was dressed but Calvin didn’t seem to care. He wanted to talk to her, so they had both gone and sat with her and talked for quite a while. Then Robert had excused himself and gone home.
Jessica listened to the entire story, letting him get it all out. “Mr. Carver, can you describe the woman you met for me?”
Robert nodded. “She was sitting on a bar stool, so I don’t know how tall she was, but she was really built. She had on this tight red dress that left little to the imagination and to be honest what I saw the most was the expanse of thigh that she was showing. The dress had ridden up almost to her hip and she didn’t seem to mind. She had blond hair that sort of brushed her cheeks, maybe a little longer. Umm… oval face, red lipstick to match the dress I assume.”
Jessica nodded. “What color were her eyes? Do you remember that?”
Robert thought for a minute. “I … I’m not sure. It was like they changed a bit. My suit that I had on was blue and for a time I thought her eyes were blue but now I’m not so sure.”
Jessica thought about that one. “Could her eyes have been hazel? That eye color tends to reflect other colors making them seem to be different at times.”
Robert nodded. “Yeah, maybe. I just know they were interesting. And Calvin couldn’t seem to get enough of looking at her. I remember thinking that either he was going to have the time of his life after I left or end up with a second ex-wife if you get my meaning.”
Jessica nodded. “I understand.” She closed up the file. Robert Carv
er had been there close to an hour giving her the info she needed. “Do you think you could work with our forensic sketch artist to give us a picture of that woman?”
Robert nodded then frowned. “Is she the one that killed Calvin? A woman?”
Jessica hesitated so Tony answered instead. “We aren’t sure yet but, if this woman can give us more information, we need to speak with her as soon as we can.”
Robert nodded again and remained where he was. Jessica and Tony left the room and arranged for the sketch artist to go in.
Returning to her desk, Jessica looked at the notes again. “We need to talk to the people that were in that bar where Charles Lawrence was killed. Someone had to have seen something prior to his killing.”
Tony nodded. “Agreed. The uniforms got all of the patrons addresses so I guess that means we are going on a road trip.”
Together, the two headed out to go talk to several people from that bar.
* * *
Three hours later Jessica and Tony had not learned anything of much interest. Each person they spoke with had said they saw a woman in the bar but every one of them described her differently and none matched what Robert Carver had said. They still had two people left to talk to though so pulled up in front of what appeared to be a two-story walkup. Together they headed up to the second floor and knocked on apartment two-C. When the door opened, they were looking at a middle-aged man wearing pants and a white sleeveless t-shirt.
“Yeah? What do you want?” The man’s voice was gruff and gravelly sounding.
Jessica consulted her list. “Mr. Abrams? Peter Abrams?”
The man nodded frowning. “Yeah, that’s me. What do you want?”
Jessica smiled. “You were at the bar where a Mr. Charles Lawrence was killed the other night. We would like to discuss that with you if we may?” She waited as the man seemed to think about it.
“Yeah, sure. You better come in. I got nosy neighbors here.” Peter Abrams stepped back, opening the door wider for them to enter the apartment.
The place was small and dimly lit. Beer bottles littered the coffee table in front of the couch and a few lay on the floor. The TV was tuned to a sports game which Mr. Abrams turned off before he sat down in an armchair.
“So, what do you want to know about Charlie?” Peter Abrams looked from Jessica to Tony and back again as they sat down on the couch.
Jessica glanced at Tony then looked back at Peter. “You knew the deceased?”
“Charlie?” Peter said. “Hell, yeah I knew him. All my life to be exact. He was my stepbrother.” Peter belched without bothering to excuse himself. Jessica thought about the suit the victim had been wearing and the way this man was dressed. Two very different men and, most likely, two vastly different lives.
Jessica opened her notebook. “You and Charles Lawrence were in the bar together I take it. Did you meet up like that often?”
Peter shook his head. “Nah, I called and asked him to meet there that night. He sometimes helped me out with cash you know?” He scratched his shoulder for a minute then reached for a half-empty bottle of beer that was on the table. “He was giving me all kinds of excuses why he couldn’t then he just shut up and sat staring at these people at the bar.”
Jessica nodded. “What people?”
Peter shrugged. “Well, more like one person. There was this woman sitting up there. Short green dress that sort of shimmered you know? And reddish-brown hair. I never seen her before, but Charlie sure acted like he had. Didn’t say that exactly though, just sat and stared sort of.”
“And then what happened? Why did he leave the bar?” Jessica was sitting on the edge of her seat waiting for his answer.
Peter shrugged. “She got up and left. When that woman walked out of the bar, Charlie jumped up and left. Didn’t say a word to me either just took off like that.” Peter guzzled the last of the beer in the bottle. “Never did give me any money neither.”
Jessica exchanged a glance with Tony, and he nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Abrams, for taking the time to talk with us. If we come back with a picture later do you think you would recognize the woman?”
Peter eyed Jessica and Tony for a minute. “Could be. What’s in it for me?”
Tony narrowed his eyes. “I would think helping to find your brother’s killer would be enough.”
Peter waved his hand as he got up and headed toward his kitchen. “Step-brother. But, whatever.” He opened the refrigerator and pulled out another beer. “You can see yourselves out right?” He twisted off the top and drank from the bottle. Jessica and Tony stared for a minute then left the apartment without another word.
Twenty-Six
Back at the precinct, Jessica consulted her board and added in the notes she had been accumulating. She marked off what she knew of the times for the various murders, their order and so on and sat on the corner of her desk looking it over. Tony had, as usual, gone for more coffee. She reached behind her for the bottle of water she had picked up on the way back. Something about Peter Abrams small apartment had left her with a dirty feeling and she had needed to clear the dust out of her throat. She took a long sip then glanced to her right as Captain Murphy came walking over.
“So, any new leads?” The captain looked at the board as well and waited.
“A few. I had Robert Carver come in for a formal statement and I’m fairly sure now that we do have a female serial killer on the loose.”
Captain Murphy nodded. “How sure?”
Jessica took a deep breath. “Almost positive. Like eighty-five percent positive.” She stood up and started pointing out the new info she had added and explained how and where they had gotten it all. By the time she finished, the captain was nodding, and Tony was standing to the captain’s right.
“Sounds like you have almost figured it all out. Do you need a profiler to help you find the person? Or do you have an idea who it might be.” Captain Murphy faced Jessica as he said that last and she realized that she did have an idea.
“I do have a possible suspect. There is only one problem. Her personality doesn’t match that of a serial killer. Not that I’ve seen anyway.” Jessica crossed her arms over her chest as she frowned at the board. “Unless …”
The captain tilted his head a bit. “Unless what?”
Jessica stared at her shoes for a minute before meeting her captain’s eyes. “Unless she doesn’t know she is doing it.”
Both Tony and the captain stared at Jessica. Then they glanced at one another for a minute.
“Think about it. What if what we have is a split personality. A woman who is normally meek and mild but turns into a psychotic killer for whatever reason.” Jessica looked from Captain Murphy to Tony and back again. “Well, it is possible. I’ve been doing a lot of research about female serial killers. There isn’t a lot because they just aren’t that common. But at least four cases involved a woman with a split personality. It is possible.”
Tony rubbed his jaw. “Makes sense to be honest. Most women don’t kill the way this one does but a woman with another personality might. All the good parts in the meek personality and all the killer instincts in another.”
Captain Murphy didn’t look entirely convinced. “Okay, let’s say you’re right. How do you go about catching her?”
Jessica looked at her board. “I do have an idea about that, but I’ll need some uniforms to go undercover so to speak. Quite a few of them. Maybe in their off-duty time.”
The captain lowered his head as he thought that one over. “Let me talk to the commissioner about it and see what I can do.” He nodded. “Good work so far.” With that he turned and headed back to his office.
Tony moved over to Jessica’s side. “Let’s hope your idea works. We need to catch this woman and get her off the street.’
“Yeah, I agree.” Jessica sat back at her desk and took a long sip from her bottle of water.
* * *
Alyson Harding was about to explode or at least that was how it felt. She had g
one out to do some shopping and decided to check her bank balance before she did. What she found had her thinking she must be going insane. At some point in the last two weeks, three hundred dollars had been deposited to her account and she had no idea where it had come from or who could have made the deposit. She removed her card from the ATM, put it back in and ran the balance again. It came up the same. Taking her card out she walked to her car and sat there staring at the bank for a good ten minutes. The bank was still open, so she drove around to the drive-thru and when it was her turn smiled at the girl waiting on her.
“Hi, I just have a very quick question. Do you keep records of who deposits money into an account?” Alyson waited for the girl to say something.
“We don’t keep an actual record but most of our staff can remember if it hasn’t been that long ago. Is there a problem with a deposit?” The girl at the window asked politely.
Alyson debated how to word this. “Well, someone made a deposit to my account recently and I’m wondering who it was. It was for three hundred dollars?”
The girl smiled. “I do remember that. It was right here at the window. Is the money missing or something?”
Alyson shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Who made the deposit?”
The girl frowned. “You did mam. You pulled in and deposited the money right before closing time. You don’t remember doing that?”
Alyson started to shake her head but thought better of it. Instead, she smiled. “Oh yes that’s right. My … my birthday money from my mother. Guess it slipped my mind. Thank you.”
The girl smiled relieved that she hadn’t made a mistake. “You are most welcome Ms. Harding. Have a nice day.”
Alyson drove off and went to do her grocery shopping. Three hundred dollars. She had deposited three hundred dollars and she had no memory of it. She had no idea where the money had come from either and that scared her. She took her groceries home and put it all away before sitting on the couch and rocking for a good half hour.
