by D. K. Hood
“Yes, at the time of the statement it was correct.” Turner smiled at her. “Not after the statement. I went to see my wife to comfort her after our daughter’s death.”
Anger rising, Jenna glared at the self-righteous man before her. “You told me you hated her for leaving you.”
“That’s hearsay, Sheriff and you know it.” Cross leaned back in his chair. “You’re two strikes down, let’s go for three, huh. I’d like to be home for dinner and the judge will only hold a bail hearing before five.”
Sure she could hit the home run, she took out a copy of the DNA report and slid it across the table to Sam Cross. “During Jeanette Turner’s autopsy, a mark consistent to a backhanded slap from a hand wearing a ring was detected. If you’ll look at the images? After executing a search warrant, Dr. Turner’s ring was swabbed for DNA evidence and tissue was detected. Subsequent DNA tests revealed a match for Jeanette Turner. Our evidence puts Dr. Turner at the crime scene at the time of the murder and the victim’s DNA was found on his ring. We have a strong case.”
“You don’t.” Turner gave her a smug smile. “I hit her all the time, that’s why she left me. That blood could have been there for six years. I take off the ring when I wash my hands. You have nothing. I was with a patient and it will take a court order for you to discover his name. If you do, he will confirm my whereabouts.”
“I think that’s strike three.” Sam Cross went to rise. “The judge is waiting for us for a bail hearing but you have nothing for the DA to take this to court.”
“We will be presenting more evidence as it comes to hand for his trial—and he will go to trial.” Jo’s voice sounded strong and confident. “DNA degrades after time and Dr. Wolfe will be able to verify if the blood sample was fresh. The DA will be more than willing to make a deal with the young person you have tried to hoodwink into protecting you. I’m sure with my report and Dr. Wolfe’s evidence, the DA will proceed.”
“Honestly, Sheriff, you need to come up with something better than that nonsense.” Turner spread his hands wide. “Only I know the names of the people who come to my sessions and the young man in question wouldn’t speak to you anyway. I’m not giving you his name and you don’t have enough evidence against me to obtain a court order to open my files.”
“The FBI have ways of finding people, Mr. Cross, and trust me my team doesn’t fail.” Jo’s lips flattened. “And as smart as you believe you are, Dr. Turner, you can’t fool me. Trust me many have tried but in the end I’m always right.”
Nodding in agreement, Jenna stood. “We will escort the prisoner to the hearing and I will be opposing bail.”
“Good luck with that.” Cross chuckled. “Dr. Turner is a pillar of the community and not a flight risk, Jenna. Why do you bother when you know you can’t win against me?”
Jenna forced her lips into a smile. “I don’t think so. I guess we’ll be letting a court decide.”
Fifty-One
Kane led the way into Jenna’s office and went straight to the coffee machine and set about making a fresh pot. When Jenna came in behind him, closed the door, and slammed her paperwork from the bail hearing on the desk, he turned to look at her. “I know you’re angry about Dr. Turner getting bail but the DA hasn’t dropped the charges. He still believes we have enough for him to proceed to trial.”
“That’s if we can produce enough new evidence.” Jenna dropped into her chair and stared into space. “Do you think it’s too late to ask Wolfe to re-check the DNA samples?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Lately, he gets no time at all to spend with his girls.”
Turning to lean against the counter, Kane shook his head. “Nah, they’re used to him being at work. When the caseload is light, he spends tons of time with them. Call him.” He straightened and headed for the door. “What we need to do is to find patient 124. We know he is a student at the high school and Dr. Turner referred to him as ‘the young man’.”
“Yeah, he tripped up there, didn’t he?” Jenna held up a hand. “Wait up. Jo is convinced Turner is as guilty as hell but for now, we’ll leave the evidence finding to Wolfe. We need to concentrate on the cheerleader murders and find out the name of patient 124. I’m convinced Dr. Turner has something he’s holding over him and 124 is the key to unlock the mystery of the murders. I’ve kept Jo and Carter in the loop and Jo is going to discuss the case with Carter and see what they can do to help.”
“I’ll ask Rio if he can do some overtime tonight and assist us as well. We can’t ask Jake.” Kane turned to face her and placed both palms on the table. “I agree with your findings, patient 124 has to be involved in the cheerleader murders and is the person who helped carry Jeanette Turner down the stairs. I figure we start looking at guys on the football team. It’s more than likely it’s one of them, as someone close to the team was stealing their underwear. If someone had been hanging around the locker room, I figure Wyatt Cooper would have said something. Guys notice if someone is watching them, especially in a locker room.”
“We only have lists of students who were at the festival.” Jenna stood and went to the counter and pulled out cups. “They were all over town at different times. What data are you planning to use?”
Kane smiled. “It’s not who was there, Jenna. It’s who was missing.” He walked to the door and pulled it open. “Zac is like a computer and he can do things much faster than either of us because his brain works differently. You call Wolfe and I’ll talk to Zac.”
“Get at it.” Jenna pulled out her phone.
Kane headed to the deputies sitting in their booths, both reading the autopsy results. “Hey, I need a list of the members of the high school football team. I’d like to run a comparison against our files to see if anyone was missing from the group in town on Wednesday night.” He looked at Rowley. “I don’t expect you to work back, Sandy is your priority right now.”
“She hates the food at the hospital.” Rowley frowned. “I’m guessing they’ll let her come home tomorrow. I’ll grab her some takeout and spend some time with her and then come back if you need me. She’s happy to watch TV and sleep right now.”
“I don’t know how long this will take. Spend time with Sandy and I’ll call you if all hell breaks loose.” Kane turned to Zac. The young deputy had his own responsibilities at home as well and they’d work around them if necessary. “Are the twins okay with the housekeeper?”
“They’re sixteen and yeah, Mrs. Jacobs has a tongue like a whip.” Zac chuckled. “She’ll make sure they’re okay. They understand my hours aren’t predictable. I’ll call and tell them I’ll be late.” He smiled at Kane. “You’ll have horses to tend as well.”
“I’ll go and tend the horses.” Carter walked up behind Kane and slapped him on the back.
Kane sucked in a breath as his wound screamed in protest but he didn’t react. He turned to Carter and smiled. “I thought you’d come to help with the case.” He bent to pat Zorro, Carter’s dog.
“I’ve read over what you’ve got so far and I do my best figuring around horses.” Carter moved a toothpick across his grin. “I’d ask to take your ride but Jenna’s will do as well. I’m guessing you don’t have a portable device to disable your alarm system and open the gate?”
“Nope.” Kane shook his head. “It would be too easy to misplace. Jenna’s in her office, ask her for the keys to her cruiser.” He glanced at his watch. “Grab some takeout on the way back from Aunt Betty’s. It’s going to be a long night. Put it on the department’s tab.”
“Sure. Catch you later.” Carter strolled into Jenna’s office. He followed Jenna out a short time later and headed for the door, whistling with Zorro walking close to his side.
“Bring your things and work in my office.” Jenna turned back and sat behind her desk. “Help yourself to coffee.” She looked at Kane, pulled a jar of cookies from her bottom drawer, and pushed them toward him. “I called Wolfe and he is pretty sure the skin and blood he used to extract the DNA are fresh but he is going to prepare comp
arison tissue samples that will hold up in court.” She sighed. “He’ll call back in an hour or so. He also mentioned searching for Touch DNA.”
Kane poured coffee, added the fixings, and sat down. “Yeah, I’ve been reading about that process, now Wolfe is able to extract DNA from fingerprints on anything, including skin. I figure he’ll see if he can find any trace of Dr. Turner’s DNA on his wife’s face. He slapped her that’s for sure.”
“I’m aware of Touch DNA as well.” Zac poured a cup of coffee and took it to the desk. He sat down. “Everyone’s skin loses cells and the new process identifies them as trace DNA, so really we’re all shedding skin like dandruff and don’t know it.” He smiled. “In principle a person could shake hands and then take a knife and murder someone. The new process might find traces of DNA from both parties on the handle. I wonder if it’s going to make DNA evidence harder to prove?”
Kane shrugged. “I’m sure the forensics team will be able to distinguish between dead skin flakes and the oil found in fingerprints or fresh blood but I guess it could make a case for reasonable doubt.”
“Ah, Sheriff.” Rowley stepped into the office. “I’ve added the names of the football team to your files and the latest team images. I’ve also added the images of the cheerleading squad and names as well.”
“Thanks.” Jenna smiled at him. “Yes, they do seem to hang out together. Thanks, Jake. It’s five-thirty. You’d better head home, or to the hospital. Give Sandy my best.”
“Will do.” Rowley backed out the door.
Kane sent information to the printer and it whirred and chugged, spewing out documents. “I’ve made hard copies of the lists. It will be easier as we don’t have Bobby Kalo to run them through one of his programs.” He stood and went to the printer. “Who is missing from the lists?” He handed them around.
“From what I recall, everyone returned to the gym after Laurie went missing.” Jenna stared at the sheets of paper. “That was a specific question. We all asked if people recalled anyone missing.” She tapped the sheets into a pile and looked at Kane. “That was a question Rowley asked each kid at the high school as well. Not all of them could remember Wyatt Cooper being with them all the time because they broke into groups and some of them had their girlfriends with them.”
“Hmm, so Wyatt Cooper is a maybe?” Zac was scanning the lists back and forth and lifted his head. “If you only concentrate on the nights when the murders of Becky Powell and Jeanette Turner took place, we can condense the missing people down to a few possibilities.” He pointed to the images. “The guys moved around town mainly in twos or threes and some had girls with them. We know Wyatt Cooper and Becky Powell are missing at times during both nights and moved between groups of friends. If you look at the cheerleaders, we have two girls not mentioned after the initial sightings before eight on both nights, Verna Hughes and Marlene Moore.”
Kane leaned over the lists. “If Verna Hughes was in town, she’d have been there with Cory, her brother. We have two sightings of the pair of them on both nights and they seem to hang out together. Verna is a very dominant personality and has issues with the other cheerleaders. She doesn’t try to hide her dislike of people.” He looked up at Jenna. “They live with their mother and Cory’s father left not long after they had adopted Verna. It’s not a stable environment, they could slip nicely into our suspects’ profiles.”
“I’ve found one moving around as well.” Jenna tapped the photograph. “Dale Collins, the quarterback. Remember him? He runs the kiosk at the gym for his aunt on cheerleader practice days.” She ran her finger down the lists of people the other players remembered being with on the night of the murders. “He was there and then not mentioned. He could’ve slipped away, murdered Becky, and then gone back to his friends.” She combed fingers through her hair. “He was chatting to Marlene Moore and Laurie at the gym if you remember.”
“He’s the quarterback.” Rio leaned back in his chair and grinned. “If he looked like a dog, the girls would still think he’s a catch. The few I’ve known have shared the love around. He could have been with any number of girls at the festival. He’d be very popular.”
“Yes, I do remember high school.” Jenna sighed. “The vehicles seen at the crime scenes or involved are all different. If we could just find a single link, we’d catch patient 124.”
Kane smiled. “By process of elimination, we’ve cut the list down to five possible but I still don’t trust Stan Williams. He would have been floating around town. He has images in his apartment taken at night during the festival.”
“So, a shortlist of six.” Jenna sipped her coffee. “All hearsay.” She stared at Kane. “Let’s keep digging. I want to know everything about these people, family, parents’ occupations, and what grandma cooked for dinner last Sunday. Get at it.”
Fifty-Two
A cool evening breeze drifted through the window of his truck as he slid into a space opposite Aunt Betty’s Café. His heart picked up and raced at the sight of Vicky Perez sitting in the window, staring at her phone. He’d offered her supper but she’d never eat her last meal and after his girl had finished with her, Vicky would be unrecognizable. He scrubbed both hands down his face and then slapped himself. Terror and excitement mingled, like an evil twin tearing him in all directions. A voice in his head kept nagging him that watching his girl kill was wrong, but he pushed it away and embraced the insatiable hunger that roared its approval.
Becoming his girl’s puppet had happened slowly and now he was trapped in her web, like a black widow’s willing mate waiting to be eaten. She both scared him yet fascinated him and he craved to be with her. The murders had dragged him closer to her and excitement thrummed through him whenever she was near, but did he trust her? Would he be her final victim? He’d seen her eyes when she killed, always hungry for more. An ice-cold shiver ran down his back and chill bumps crawled up his arms. He shook his head. “No, I don’t trust you.”
Worried by speaking aloud she might hear him even though she was miles away making the barn ready, he looked around and then pulled out his phone. He’d been late on purpose and deep down inside wished Vicky hadn’t waited for him to arrive but his girl had set the scene and he had no choice but to act it out. He stared at the cheap phone, which only contained Vicky’s number. After watching the cop shows on TV, he understood how easy it was for the sheriff to obtain phone records and he’d insisted on using a burner for this part of the plan. He’d called Vicky to make a date and they’d spoken often over the last twenty-four hours. He’d explained about his stalker and the need to keep their meeting secret. He smiled. It had been so easy to convince the girls to do his bidding. They were just like his girl said they’d be, willing to go with him just to humiliate him—but they never got the chance.
He buzzed up his window and made the call, watching Vicky through Aunt Betty’s window. “Hey, Vicky, sorry for not calling sooner.” He let out a breath on a sigh. “My mare decided to drop her foal and I wanted to make sure she was okay. I’m outside in the red pickup but I’m not dressed for a date, being in the barn and all.”
“A foal? Can I see it?” Vicky stared out the window and then waved madly. “I see you.”
His girl had told him about Vicky’s infatuation with horses and the plan had worked. He looked at her eager face and smiled. “Sure. You can admire her while I go get cleaned up.”
“It’s a filly?” Vicky headed for the door. “You’ll be keeping her?”
He chuckled. “Sure. I like fillies. Hang up now, before a truck mows you down crossing the road.” He disconnected, pulled out the battery, opened his door, and slid the burner into a drain.
As the door opened, he noticed her staring at the plastic sheeting covering the seats. He grinned. “I’m guessing you’re wondering about the plastic? The seats were steam cleaned and are a little damp. I didn’t want you getting all messed up.”
“You’re so thoughtful.” She climbed into the passenger seat making the plastic crackle an
d creak. “I can’t get to the seatbelt.” She frowned.
He shrugged. “It’s only a mile or so and most of that on backroads, you’ll be fine.” He gave her his best hangdog expression. “I was trying to make it nice for you. Darn carwash was busy so I used my ma’s steam cleaner.”
“It’s okay.” Vicky squeezed his arm. “Maybe we can have supper in the barn? Cookies and milk will do me just fine but remember I must be back at Aunt Betty’s Café by eight-thirty or my pa will go nuts.”
He nodded. “Yeah sure.”
Unable to believe his luck, he headed down Main and onto the highway before turning off Stanton to follow the backroads to his family’s ranch. The barn hadn’t been used for years and sat solid but abandoned some ways from the house. No one but his girl and him went there, it was their secret place. He turned on the radio and hummed to the tunes. Beside him Vicky stared at him as if mesmerized. They bumped along the dirt road, rounded the corner, and his headlights picked out the barn. He pulled up outside and taking a flashlight from his jacket pocket slid from behind the wheel. “Mind your step now.” He aimed the flashlight at the door and then heart pounding with anticipation, rolled it back.
“It’s awful dark in there.” Vicky grabbed his arm and leaned in close.
“Here, you take the flashlight.” He waved her through the door. “There’s a lamp just inside, I’ll switch it on. Head down the back past the hayloft, the mare is down there on the left.”
“Okay.” Vicky’s voice trembled but she moved ahead of him.
Vicky hadn’t walked more than a few yards into the barn before his girl sprang out of the dark, with a scarf wrapped around her face. It happened so fast that in the next second, his girl was on Vicky’s back. They fell hard onto the dust-covered floor in a tangle of limbs. Moments later his girl had a cloth pressed over the stunned girl’s face. The flashlight spilled from Vicky’s hands and a beam shone over them, sending huge shadows across the barn wall. A chemical smell filled the air and he covered his face and backed away. The couple rolled on the floor grunting. Vicky was fighting back but as soon as she weakened, his girl knotted the cloth around her face. It seemed to take forever before Vicky finally succumbed and fell silent.
