Tracking the Butcher

by William Joiner

  Vanessa and Elgie chuckled at Michelle’s attempt at levity in such a bad state. Michelle looked at her Driver’s License.

  “So, that’s what I’m supposed to look like. I wasn’t a bad-lookin’ girl. I hope I’m gonna look the same one day. Let me see what else is in here. There’s lots of junk in here. I must have kept every piece of paper I ever had. No wonder this wallet is so fat.”

  “Is there anything you need?” Vanessa asked.

  “No, I really don’t know what I like or need right now. Maybe in a few days, I’ll feel a little better and remember a little bit more. Maybe Jennifer can tell me something. Or do I call her Jen? She can tell me.”

  When Jennifer Park arrived, Vanessa sat in one of two orange fiberglass armless chairs that were against the wall, Elgie sat in the other. Jennifer came to the side of Michelle’s bed.

  “Hey Michelle, I brought you your favorite stuffed animal—the six-inch teddy bear. You know, the one your father gave you when you turned twelve.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Jennifer, your roommate. I’ve known you ever since you got to Los Angeles. Don’t you remember?”

  “I really don’t remember anythin’. Thanks for the bear, though. It’s really cute. Is my father comin’?”

  “No sweetie, you told me your father died right after you turned twelve.”

  “What about my mom?”

  “I think she still lives in Cleveland, Ohio and you haven’t spoken to her in at least ten years.”

  “Why not?”

  “I think that’s something you should really hear from her.”

  “Can you give her a call?”

  “Sure, if I can find her number. Do you want me to bring you some clothes for when you get out?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what I like though. I guess you know better than I would.”

  “Ms. Park, I hate to interrupt,” Elgie said, “but there are a few things I need to let Michelle know.”

  “That’s okay, I’m in no hurry.”

  Jennifer stepped to the back of the bed and stood there while Elgie spoke to Michelle.

  “Michelle, I need to tell you some things that may be hard to hear, but you’ll hear them eventually, so I think it’s better that you hear it from me rather than be surprised by the media reports,” Elgie spoke quickly—like yanking off a bandage. Quick is probably better. “You were attacked in Hollywood by a man who killed another woman in West Hollywood. You were taken into an alley off Sunset Boulevard at about twelve-thirty this morning—beaten, stabbed, and left for dead. We all thought you were dead, but you weren’t. However, no one knew you were alive for about ten minutes. Then you coughed. That was shortly after I arrived.

  “Just so you know, the only reason we didn’t know you were alive is because the first report said you were dead. The people that found you said you didn’t have a pulse and the first police officers on the scene didn’t find a pulse either. We were waiting for the EMTs to come to declare you dead. That’s when you coughed.

  “The paramedics were called by the coroner’s investigator, and they treated you and brought you here. Doctor Biggs performed surgery on you. Your story has been on television, on the radio, in the newspapers, and on the internet. I withheld your name and location, but the reporters will find out who you are and where you are eventually. They’ll try to get in here to interview you.

  “Also, since you are not dead the man who tried to kill you, a man we are calling the Butcher may try to come after you. So, for those reasons, I am posting a police officer at your door, and there will be one there day and night. Do you have any questions?”

  “Shit, that’s a lot to digest at once, and I have a lot of questions, but I don’t know what to ask. I do have one question I can think of right now—what was I doin’ out on the street early like that? Do I work then?”

  “Would you like to tell her why she was out on Sunset Boulevard?” Elgie asked Jennifer.

  “No, you can go ahead and tell her what I told you.”

  “Alright, this may be hard to hear, Michelle. This information is not information that the media has, and you won’t hear it elsewhere. I think it might be better if you wait until you’re feeling better.”

  “No, I wanna hear it now. I don’t wanna be wonderin’ who I am if I can help it. Tell me the whole truth. I need it.”

  “Okay, you’re a prostitute, but you don’t usually work the streets. You work for an outcall escort service. You were out that night to make money to buy cocaine.”

  “Oh my God, why was I doin’ that?” Michelle asked.

  “I really can’t say. I don’t know.” Elgie said. “I do know that when you went out on dates from the escort agency you usually chose to date men who were only interested in having an actual escort. You had only a few regulars that you had sex with.”

  “Wow, I’m a drug-addicted whore with standards—that’s just great. I’m kinda glad I don’t remember.”

  Michelle turned to Jennifer and asked: “And what do you do?”

  “I work at the same escort agency you do. In fact, I got you your job there.”

  “You do drugs?”

  “No, I don’t do drugs. And you’ve only been using them for around three months.”

  “Why’d you get me a call girl job?”

  “Because you’ve been a prostitute since you came out here from Ohio—you were fourteen. When you turned eighteen, you asked me to help you get a job at the agency.”

  “Why was I out here alone?”

  “When you first got here you told me your stepfather, I think his name was Charles, yeah that’s it, Charles Lester molested you all the time for about two years. Your mother’s name is Ana, and your father’s name was Michael. That’s all you ever said about your past. I mean before you got to Los Angeles.”

  “I wanna talk to my mother. Can you call her for me? I don’t wanna talk on the phone. I wanna talk to her face to face. I want her to explain this shit to my face.”

  “I’ll look for her number in your room. If I can’t find it, I’ll try an internet search. I’ll do my best to call her today, and I’ll call you as soon as I get in touch with her.”

  “Thanks, Jen. Do I call you Jen?”

  “Not really, but you can call me that if you feel comfortable with it.”

  “Yeah, Jen seems more comfortable. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome—I’m sorry about everything else. I guess that’s why I wanted Lieutenant Reynolds to tell you.”

  “It ain’t your fault, I made my own bed and decided who to put in it.”

  “That’s a very mature way to look at things,” Elgie said. “And keep in mind, that you can always change your future. You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be. You can decide your own path in life. Also, I want you to keep in mind that we’ll do everything we can to catch the Butcher as quickly as possible. So that you, or anyone else, has to fear this man. I’m going to call Captain Greer and request several officers to guard your hospital door. We’ll stay until the first officer arrives. You’ll have officers posted on all shifts for around the clock protection. One last thing, prostitution is what you did not who you are. You can’t change the past, but you can write your own future.”

  “Lieutenant Reynolds is right,” Jennifer said, “You’re a good person and a good friend. I’m going to go on and head home so I can look for the phone number for your mother. I’ll call you as soon as I get a hold of her and I’ll be back tomorrow with some clothes for you.”

  “Thanks, Jen, I guess you’ve been a good friend. Sorry I got upset about my job.”

  “That’s okay, I understand it’s a shock, but Lieutenant Reynolds is right. You can make your future anything you want it to be. You’re a smart girl, and you can pretty much do anything you want to do. You don’t have to be or do anything you don’t want to be or do.”

  “Thanks, Jen. Would you call me later even if you don’t find my mother’s number?”

  �
��Sure, I can do that.”

  “Good, I’d like to talk to you about what my life has really been. I think I can take it. Maybe it’ll help.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Jennifer said. “When you come home if you want to, you could continue working for the agency just doing the legitimate escort stuff you used to like. Think it over, you need to have some money until you decide if you want to do something else.”

  “How am I supposed to be an escort or a prostitute lookin’ like I do? I’ll probably never look the same. And my body will have scars all over it. Who's gonna want to pay me for that? I better find somethin’ else; rather I want to or not.”

  “I know this all must be very upsetting for you,” Vanessa said. “Would you like to talk about it?”

  “Yeah, I think that might help some.”

  “Elgie,” Vanessa said, “would it be alright if I spoke with Michelle while we’re waiting for the officer?”

  “Of course, Honey, if she wants to talk.”

  “I wanna talk,” Michelle said.

  “Alright, I’m going to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Do either of you want anything?”

  “No, I already had some breakfast,” Vanessa said.

  “So, did I—at least I think I did,” Michelle said. “Either way I’m not hungry. Thanks anyway though.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Elgie left Michelle’s bedside and headed out the door to the cafeteria. Vanessa got up from the chair and stood next to Michelle’s bed.

  “Hi, Michelle.”

  “Hey V.”

  Michelle poured out what she knew of her heart, which was second-hand information. Vanessa listened and gave advice only when asked and even that was limited. These were things Michelle had to figure out for herself. After Vanessa and Michelle talked and cried for a while, the topic turned to what Michelle could actually do since she can’t go back to her previous vocation.

  “I don’t know how I’m gonna get a job when the only thing I got to put on an application is I was a prostitute. And I can’t use that escort agency as a reference. Everyone will know it’s a front for a call girl service.”

  “I can help you there,” Vanessa said. “I run my own business, I’m a financial planner. I have an on-the-job training program for inner-city youth, and you can be part of that. You’re just the kind of young adult the program was designed for.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “But you don’t even know me.”

  “I’m a good judge of character. Despite what you did—what you thought you had to do. You’re still a good person, and I hope that you can see yourself the way I see you. If you can do that, you can do almost anything you want.”

  “Thanks, V. I won’t let ya down.”

  “I didn’t think you would.”

  Elgie returned from the cafeteria.

  “So, did you two have a nice talk or are you still talking?” Elgie asked.

  “Yes, we had a great talk. Michelle is going to come work for me when she gets better.”

  “You made that decision fast.”

  “Actually, you made it.”

  “How is that?”

  “You made me see that she is really a nice person deep down,” Vanessa said. “That’s why she responded the way she did when you told her about the prostitution. Remember that on-the-job training program that I have?”

  “Yeah, I remember it.”

  “Michelle is exactly the type of person the program was designed for.”

  “That’s great. I’d rather see Michelle working for you than working for that escort service in any capacity. And you’re right. That was the whole purpose of the program, was to give youth a second chance.” Elgie continued onto another subject. “Let me give Sergeant Prescott at the crime scene a call and see if they’ve found anything else. I’m just going to step out into the hall. Oh yeah, Michelle the officer who’ll be guarding you will be here in about five to ten minutes.”

  “Thanks, Elgie. Thanks for everything.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Elgie pulled out his cell phone and dialed Sergeant Prescott. “Hello, Sergeant Prescott, this is Lieutenant Reynolds. Has your team gotten into the storm drain?”

  “Yes, but there was no evidence to be found except one of Ms. Chambers’ teeth. We also checked the dumpsters, and there’s nothing. Now we’re checking underneath the dumpsters.”

  “I was going to come over there and see how things are going.”

  “Don’t waste your time. We’re going to be leaving in just a few minutes.”

  “Well, I have to say I didn’t really expect you to find anything. They didn’t find anything in West Hollywood either. Well, they found some pubic hair, but they don’t think it belongs to the Butcher since he didn’t rape Audrey Simpson. They picked it up anyway on the off chance that he tried to masturbate after he killed her or while he was torturing her. There’s no root on the hair, so they can’t test it for DNA, but they can attempt a hair type and color match once we identify a suspect.”

  “Let’s hope that pans out. See you at headquarters. I’ll probably run into you there.”

  “Yeah, probably so.”

  When Jennifer arrived home, she immediately began looking for Michelle’s mother’s phone number. She started with the dresser drawers and found nothing. She then looked in the drawers Michelle had underneath her bed and found nothing. Next, she started pulling out everything from all the drawers and turned them over to see if something could be taped underneath. Once again, she found nothing. She then checked the closet. She put her hand in every pocket of Michelle’s coats and still found nothing. She then started looking in her shoe boxes. There were about ten of them.

  She pulled out the boxes and checked the eight that didn’t have shoes in them. Jennifer found that her roommate seemed to have saved everything in those shoe boxes. Then she found one shoe box that had mail, notes, and notebooks. Among them was an old address book. First Jennifer looked under ‘A’ for Ana. Then ‘C’ for Chambers. Then ‘L’ for Lester. Still nothing. She thought it might be under her mother’s maiden name, but she didn’t know what it was. Since she was stumped on the name, she decided to check the loose papers. After going through about fifteen of them, she finally found a phone number. The note just said mom and had a phone number. The number had a 216-area code, which is an area code in Cleveland, Ohio.

  Excited at the prospect of bringing Michelle and her mother together, Jennifer quickly dialed the number. She got an answering machine and felt disappointed. At the end of the message, the female voice identified as Ana said, “If this is an emergency, please call me…and provided her cell phone number.” So, Jennifer dialed that number.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, is this Ana?”

  “Yes, it is, who’s calling?”

  Jennifer was a little surprised because the woman on the other end of the line sounded older than she thought Michelle’s mother should sound.

  “You don’t know me, but my name is Jennifer, and Michelle wanted me to call you.”

  “Are you talking about my daughter?”

  “Yeah, that’s the Michelle I’m talking about.”

  “Where is she? I’ve been worried about her!”

  “Right now, she is in the hospital in Hollywood.”

  “Why is she in the hospital?” Ana sounded panicked.

  “She was attacked, but I can’t go into details. I can tell you that she has lost her memory, but I told her about the molestation she suffered at the hands of your husband. I also told her you and her haven’t talked as long as I’ve known her. Anything past that you’ll have to ask her yourself. She asked me to call you because she wants you to come to see her.”

  “Give me the phone number to the hospital, and I’ll call her.”

  “No, she wants to see you in person. She made that very clear.”

  “Alright, I’ll come to see her. I can catch a plane out tomorrow mo
rning.”

  “If you give me a call when you book your flight and tell me what time you’ll be arriving, I can pick you up at the airport and take you to see Michelle.”

  “That’ll be fine. In the meantime, just tell Michelle I’m sorry for everything, and she was right. Also, tell her that I love her. Would you do that for me?”

  “Sure, I’ll tell her everything you said.”

  Jennifer said her goodbyes and immediately called Michelle.

  “Hello Michelle, I got in touch with your mom, and she said she’d be here tomorrow. She wanted me to tell you that she loves you, she’s sorry for everything, and you were right. That’s the way she put it. You were right. I don’t know what she meant by that.”

  “All that’s nice and all, but I just wanna see her so she can explain to my face how she could let me get molested for two years and not do nothin’ about it. I mean she had to at least suspect somethin’. She can also explain why we ain’t talked to each other since I’ve been in California.”

  Chapter five

  After leaving the hospital, Vanessa drove so Elgie could check in with Captain Greer and told her about the lack of progress so far.

  “You better have more of a plan to generate leads than just canvasing the building,” Captain Greer said. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Well, I thought I would call the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station and find out if we can work together on an operation. You know, when they use female police officers to act as prostitutes to catch men for solicitation?”

  “Yeah, I think I’ve heard of that,” Captain Greer said sarcastically.

  “Well, I’d like to use that method to try to catch the two men identified from the Bad Trick List as violent and good suspects for our case. One pulled a knife on a girl. The other one beat a girl so bad that she was in the hospital for three days. Our perpetrator beat and stabbed Michelle Chambers as well as Audrey Simpson. Maybe the girls who were attacked can identify the men that attacked them.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. When do you plan to do it?”

  “Hopefully tonight.”

  “Okay, keep me posted.”