Tracking the Butcher

by William Joiner

  Tracking the Butcher

  By

  William Joiner

  Copyright © 2019 William Joiner

  All rights reserved. This includes the right to reproduce any part in any form. However, reviewers are welcome to us brief passages with their review of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter One

  He walked up to the barricade tape that blocked the street to protect the crime scene. The officer lifted it to allow him and his two partners in. He walked with each foot firmly planted to the ground as he turned the corner into the alley with his partners slightly behind him. The wind blew his black trench coat back showing his midnight blue cashmere suit, matching tie, and freshly polished pair of black shoes. All three carried black umbrellas. After he turned the corner into the alley, he saw the girl’s battered body on the far side of the dumpster on his right. The body was sitting up and leaned away from the dumpster covered with a makeshift tent made of a six-feet high ten-by-ten wire frame with a blue tarp covering the sides, back, and top. He was met by a sergeant and his partner.

  “Good morning, Lieutenant Reynolds.” They had to shout to be heard over the pouring rain.

  “Have we met, Sergeant?”

  “No, sir, but you’re well known in the department. For good or for bad, a lot of officers know who you are.”

  Lieutenant Elgie Reynolds looked around on the ground near the body.

  “This alley is clean—I like a clean crime scene. Unfortunately, this rain is coming down like someone is giving the city a shower. It’s probably washed away our evidence—if there was any. By the way, what are your names?”

  “I’m Sergeant Pool, and he’s Officer Neil.”

  “Okay, you already know I’m Lieutenant Elgie Reynolds,” Elgie then pointed to the officers behind him, “he’s Doctor Lucas Connors, and she’s Detective Quinn Kim. Officer Neil, I want you to stand by that drain in the middle of the alley and pick up anything and everything before it goes down the drain and put it in an evidence bag. Sergeant Pool, I need you to get with Detective Kim and tell her what initial statements your witnesses made. Those are your witnesses in the back seat of your patrol car, yes?”

  “Yeah, that’s them.”

  “Doctor Connors,” Elgie said, “re-interview the witnesses. Please separate them first. I look forward to seeing your interviewing skills in action. Sergeant Pool, is that kid over there the coroner’s investigator?”

  “Yes, sir, that’s him alright.”

  Elgie thought the kid looked about twelve or maybe that was just because he was looking through middle-aged eyes.

  Elgie walked over to talk to the coroner’s investigator who was about to put a sheet over the victim’s body.

  “Hey kid, would you hold on for a minute. I need to get a photographer to take some pictures before you put the sheet on her.”

  “Sure sir, whatever you say.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Coroner’s Investigator Andrew Long.”

  “Okay, Investigator Long, I’m Lieutenant Reynolds. I have to request a photographer from the LAPD Technical Investigation Division. It shouldn’t take long to get one out here. Have the paramedics been here to declare the victim dead?”

  “No, they were called away to a traffic accident. The dispatcher said they would get someone out here as soon as possible. She said the paramedics are real busy because of the rain. Car accidents, people caught in floods, that sort of thing. In the meantime, I’m just waiting. I haven’t examined the body, but I did notice that she has marks on her wrists that look like they’re from handcuffs. And has at least fifteen stab wounds that I could see. She may be leaning on some of them plus all the blood makes it hard to tell without a close look. I can’t do that until the paramedics declare her dead.”

  “What’s with her face?” Elgie asked, “I can see it’s swollen from here.”

  “Her face was beaten severely, but only on the left. Weird, huh?”

  “I’ve given up on being surprised by what people will do to each other. Back to the handcuffs, that explains why she didn’t fight back. He must have gotten the cuffs on her and then started torturing her.”

  When the photographer arrived, he took a full body shot and close-ups of the woman’s face primarily the left side. He also photographed the cuts through her jacket that corresponded to her stab wounds on her chest and abdomen. He closely photographed the back of her head where there were several knots that Elgie thought looked like she had been hit with a blunt object rather than a fist. A fist wouldn’t do that much damage.

  When the photographer completed taking photos, Investigator Long covered her with a sheet. The paramedics had not arrived. Then Elgie heard something.

  “What was that?” Elgie asked.

  “What was what?” Long asked.

  “That sound. It sounded like a cough, but I didn’t see anyone cough.”

  “All I hear is the rain.”

  “Maybe I’m just hearing things—no, I’m not, there it is again.”

  “I heard it. It’s probably just gas from the body,” Long said.

  “No, it’s not, I know a cough when I hear one.”

  Long went over to the body and pulled the sheet off her face. He saw her lower lip quiver.

  “Oh shit, she’s alive! What the fuck, how can she be alive?”

  “I don’t know,” Elgie said, “but she is.”

  Sergeant Pool and Detective Kim overheard the conversation and ran over to the body. Long pulled out his cell and called 911. The 911 operator dispatched an ambulance.

  “A girl who I believed was dead, now she’s alive,” Long said. “The reporters are going to have a lot of questions I can’t answer.”

  “The paramedics didn’t pronounce her dead,” Elgie said. “Investigator Long, would you go through her pockets to see if she has any identification?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Long found her wallet in the left front pocket of her pants and handed it to Lieutenant Reynolds. Elgie put down his umbrella allowing the heavy rain to hit his face making it hard to see. He spoke as he looked through the wallet.

  “If I find any ID it may not look like her since her face is so swollen. Some of her teeth are missing as well. They probably ran down the drain along with most of our evidence, if there was any. I’ve found her driver’s license.” Elgie knelt down beside the woman and held the ID next to the girl’s face. “Her name is Michelle Chambers. Well, Ms. Chambers, I guess Friday the thirteenth is your lucky day. You could be dead.”

  Doctor Connors and Detective Kim had returned from their respective duties.

  “I’m assuming you both got the information we need?”

  They both said they did.

  “Okay, we can go over it later. Right now, the girl’s what’s important.”

  Three
minutes after Ms. Chambers was found to be holding on to life, the sounds of the ambulance’s siren blasted through the pouring rain. Andrew Long went to the street to meet the Paramedics.

  “I’m Paramedic Jameson, Judy Jameson,” said the paramedic that exited from the rear of the ambulance. “My partner is Joseph Emory. Is the patient bleeding heavily?”

  “No, there’s very little blood, most of the movement I see is more consistent with the rain water washing the blood from her sweater and jacket. I guess that’s why I didn’t notice she was still alive.”

  “That’s probably because of the cold and the freezing rain. Her heartbeat was probably faint and her breathing shallow. If you weren’t looking for her to be alive, you wouldn’t notice it. Where is she?”

  “The body—I mean Michelle Chambers is on the other end of the dumpster on your right.”

  “We better go get her out of the rain,” Paramedic Jameson said.

  Jameson went to the back of the ambulance, removed the Gurney, and rolled it over to Ms. Chambers, got her on it and into the back of the ambulance.

  Inside Jameson worked frantically as the rain pounded the roof providing additional tension she didn’t need. She removed the sheet, cut and removed Michelle’s clothes exposing the wounds on her abdomen and lower chest, dried and cleaned her wounds, and used gauze to stop the bleeding or at least slow it down.

  She worked not to save Michelle’s life, but to patch her up well enough to get her to the hospital still breathing. It would be up to the doctors to take it from there. Judy Jameson had been doing this for more than three years now—patching up patients with gauze and good luck. She saved some but they died at the hospital, some were saved by surgery, and others didn’t survive the trip. Judy hoped this would be at least a clean ride.

  Jameson prepared to fight for Michelle’s immediate survival armed with gauze and an Automatic External Defibrillator. Jameson put more gauze on Michelle’s wounds; she bled through. Then Judy prepared for the real battle. She connected the AED’s electrodes to Michelle’s chest. The machine’s lights said Michelle’s heartbeat was irregular. She needed a shock.

  “Stand back, Emory, I’m going to administer a shock.”

  Michelle’s chest raised as if she was jumping up.

  “Shit, what was that?” Emory asked.

  “That’s normal when a patient is shocked. I know you’re new, but you had to have seen that on TV?”

  “Yeah, but I thought they just made that stuff up, you know, for drama.”

  “Guess what? It’s not. The AED says I have to give her another shock. Stand back.”

  “Do you think she’s gonna make it?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to try. Once she’s stabilized, it’s your job to get us to the hospital before the cuts and beating kill her. Do you think you can do that?”

  “That’s what I’m here for. I’m just the driver, that’s what I do.”

  “Okay, her heartbeat is regular now, but it’s still faint. Take the wheel and get us to the hospital.”

  “Right, Judy, I’m on it.”

  After the ambulance left, Lieutenant Reynolds spoke to the uniformed officers.

  “Sergeant Pool, you and Officer Neil each take one end of the alley to protect the crime scene?”

  “Sure, sir.”

  “The Scientific Investigation Division should be here in a few minutes. You two remain here until they’ve completed their evaluation of the crime scene. Once they’re finished, you’re free to leave just leave the tape in place. I’d like to limit exposure to the alley in case we need to come back to the scene to collect further evidence once the rain stops.

  “I also want you to call your watch commander and tell him Lieutenant Reynolds would like some uniforms to canvas the condominium building across the street and find out if anyone saw anything. The assailant, the girl, the attack, anything and report to me. Here’s my card, they can reach me on my cell phone. Have you got that?”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll pass the information on.”

  “Detective Kim, Doctor Connors, and I are going to Huntington Hospital to follow up with Ms. Chambers.”

  As they drove to the hospital, Elgie thought about the fact that Sergeant Pool knew who he was. He thought that was because his suspension had become common knowledge. He figured Kim and Connors knew too but probably didn’t know why. Elgie thought about whether he should tell them or not. He decided that this was the time to talk about the issue before they got too far into the investigation. If they wanted out, now was the time.

  “Guys, you already know I was suspended, but you don’t know why. You have every right to know who your supervisors and co-workers are and if they pose a threat to you personally, your fellow officers, and /or the department.

  “I’ll give it to you simple. I was drinking heavily after my partner was murdered. I went to rehab and go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on a regular basis. I have been on desk duty for the last three months following my discharge from the addiction treatment center. This is my first assignment since I’ve been back. Do either of you have any questions?”

  Doctor Connors was well educated, and it showed in his speech. Elgie thought either he was trying to flaunt his education or was just in the habit of speaking that way. He thought it was most likely the latter.

  “I have no further inquiries,” Doctor Connors said. “Do you Detective Kim?”

  Detective Kim was Korean but raised in Texas, and she spoke with a Texas drawl.

  “Naw, I don’t have any questions either. I think it’s all pretty clear.”

  “In light of what you’ve just heard, if either of you wants off the case that’ll be fine. I’ll explain it to the Captain.”

  “No, I wanna finish this case,” Detective Kim said. “And I’d like to keep on working with you after this case if I can.”

  “I concur on both accounts,” Doctor Connors said.

  “Good, that’s out of the way. Now, what I need to know is what’s going on with our witnesses and what they stated to both you Doctor Connors and to the first responders. Detective Kim, would you start by telling Doctor Connors and me what Sergeant Pool said about the witness’s statements?”

  Kim gave Elgie a rundown on the events of the morning according to the homeless man that found the body, Willie Randall who is known as Raggedy Willie.

  “Raggedy Willie found Ms. Chambers at around twelve-thirty this morning and hollered for help,” Quinn said. “He told Sergeant Pool the first person to come to the window was on the third floor, but that man closed his window and turned off the light. Then Warner James came to his window, came out, saw Ms. Chambers, thought she was dead and called emergency services.”

  “Did Mr. James know Mr. Randall before this morning?” Elgie asked.

  “Yeah, he told Sergeant Pool that he knew him because he goes through the trash dumpsters at the condo building all the time. Then Sergeant Pool said he was going to talk to the guy on the third floor as soon as he has the chance. He wants to know what he saw and why he closed his window.”

  “Great,” Elgie said. “Okay, Doctor Connors, you interviewed both of our witnesses separately. Do you have any additional insights?”

  “Yes, sir, I asked Mr. Randall about his mental condition. He was aware of his diagnosis which is bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Which means he has extreme mood swings and during these mood swings he also has auditory and visual hallucinations. With his mental illness and the fact that he found the body, a case could be made that he’s the killer. I don’t believe that because he’s just not organized enough to plan a murder and leave no evidence.”

  “Good work, Doctor Connors.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Do you have any additional information about Warner James?” Elgie asked.

  “No, his only desire concerning this case was to provide limited information and stated he had to depart for his place of employment. In his brief statement, he informed me that he know
s Mr. Randall fairly well and he has never been known to engage in any type of violent behavior even when provoked. Mr. James believes there is little chance Mr. Randall could have committed this crime. I also inquired about Ms. Chambers. He had never observed her in the area.”

  Chapter Two

  Elgie, Kim, and Connors arrived at Huntington Hospital approximately eight minutes after the ambulance.

  “May I help you?” asked the vocational nurse at the front counter.

  “Yes, I’m Lieutenant Reynolds, this is Detective Kim and Dr. Connors. We’re here regarding a victim of a violent assault, Michelle Chambers.”

  “Yes, the head nurse is expecting you. Please have a seat, and I’ll let her know you’re here.”

  Elgie’s cell phone rang. He answered, “Lieutenant Reynolds.”

  “Lieutenant, this is Sergeant Pool from the Chambers crime scene. I just wanted to let you know that one of the officers canvassing the condos talked to this guy on the third floor who saw our victim being followed by a man about six-feet tall in a long black coat and black gloves. He says he didn’t get a good look at his face. He said he passed the girl when he was on his way home, which is why he was still awake at that time.”

  “Okay, thanks for the update, Sergeant.”

  “Certainly, sir.”

  “That’s our suspect, six-feet tall with a black coat and gloves. That really narrows it down. Maybe someone else saw him. Got a better look.”

  The head nurse came out to see Elgie and company in less than five minutes.

  “Hello, I’m Madin Wood, head nurse on your victim’s case.”

  Elgie introduced himself and his colleagues. “I know Ms. Chambers was in pretty bad shape when she came in, so what are her chances of survival?”

  “If she makes it through surgery, she’s likely to make a full physical recovery. But she may suffer some brain damage. It depends on how long the brain was without sufficient oxygen. ”

  “How would this brain damage manifest itself?” Doctor Connors asked.

  “It could be anything from trouble speaking or walking to memory loss. There’s really no way to tell until she wakes up.”