Killing Frank Barnes

by Ruth DuCharme

  Jack followed Lizzies gaze and saw Dekker start towards them. “Yep I think you’re right. I’ll see you at home babe. Be safe.”

  Before Lizzie could say another word, Jack quickly pulled out into the roadway and ignoring the angry horns of other drivers, he sped onto the freeway entrance.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lizzie heard Dekker’s voice through her police radio. “Two Lincoln Six, carry us out with the fire department at the rail yard. Route me two more units if you have them available.” Lizzie looked quizzically over in his direction. Dekker was coming her way, fast.

  “Ok rook, your off traffic control,” he said as he reached her. Two more patrol cars arrived and Dekker directed them to take over traffic control. He placed one police unit on either side of the fire and ensuring no through traffic.

  “Hey Johnson, can you take her spot? We got this as primary.”

  “Sure thing boss.”

  “We got what as primary?” asked Lizzie as Dekker got into the driver seat of their patrol car.

  “They found a body in that car. Congratulations.”

  “A body?”

  “Yes. A body. A dead body. Now get the hell in the car so we can start doing our job.”

  Lizzie drove their patrol car closer to the scene of the fire. The firefighters had extinguished all the flames. All that remained was a wet sizzling pile of blackened metal and smoldering human flesh. Lizzie followed Dekker up to the burned out car. The air smelled of acrid diesel fuel, charred human flesh and burnt tires. The smell made Lizzie gag. She held her sleeve over her mouth and nose but Dekker didn’t seem to mind at all.

  Lizzie walked around the whole exterior of the vehicle. She could see what may have once resembled a human, melted to the driver seat. The remains were completely charred.

  Dekker nodded to the fire inspector. “Any signs of arson? Any signs of trauma to the body other than the melting flesh?”

  “Won’t know until you get the body back to the morgue. Found what’s appears to be a soaked rag in the drivers lap. Could be the flash point. He or she could have been drunk and smoking and fallen asleep and died that way. Can’t say for sure at this point.”

  “Ok we got a couple units setting up a bigger perimeter and we will do a neighborhood check. I’ll need your guys names for the preliminary report.”

  “No problem. I’ll send my guys over as soon as they put up the hoses.”

  “Point them to my rookie. She’s doing all the writing.”

  Dekker turned his attention to Lizzie. “Officer Noble, start writing down everything you see here. When the fire fighters finish what they are doing, get their names, badge numbers and truck number for your report. I’ve gotta call out detectives.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A young firefighter approached Lizzie.

  “You need some info for your report?” he asked.

  “Um, yes please. Name?”

  “Rogers.”

  “Badge number?”

  “317 and I’m on fire unit 5. Anything else?”

  “Was there anyone here when you got here?”

  “You got here the same time we did. I didn’t see anyone, did you?”

  “Uh no.” Lizzie grinned a little sheepishly. “Do you know who called it in?”

  “Sorry kid. That’s a question for dispatch,” said the firefighter as he unceremoniously walked away.

  Lizzie walked to her patrol car and fired up the mobile computer. She called up the details on their call for service. The dispatcher had written that an anonymous caller had called in the vehicle fire on his way to work and was not available to be re-contacted.

  Lizzie punched in the license plate numbers she had taken from the car. “STOLEN VEHICLE! STOLEN VEHICLE!” She hit the mute button on the stolen vehicle alert.

  “2L6 is it occupied?” squawked the dispatcher through the radio mic.

  “2L6, it’s for reference only. It’s the plate on the car fire. Can you note it on the detail log please?”

  “Copy” the dispatcher replied. She sounded annoyed.

  Lizzie returned to the burned out car just as Dekker hung up his phone.

  “Stolen huh?” Dekker continued, “Ok. I’ve got detectives coming out to take a look so before they get here I want you to check the gas station and these little homeless hovels for any possible witnesses.”

  “Yes, sir” Lizzie headed toward the only business on the street. The gas station had no cameras and there was no one inside the attendant’s kiosk. She would have to come back later. Lizzie walked back towards the few makeshift shelters she saw in the area but quick peaks inside revealed no one home there either. Lizzie returned to Dekker to give him the bad news and watched as two black slick top detective cars pulled up.

  “Hey Dekker,” said a tall female detective, “Shaw is looking for you.”

  “Thanks. We were supposed to help her on a entry this morning but got sidetracked while we were waiting.” Dekker gave Lizzie a side-glance that told her she would be hearing more on the subject later.

  The detective continued, “Well don’t let us keep you. Dayshift is here now and they can wait on the coroner. I’ll get one of them to call a tow. Better we get outta here as quick as possible before all these commuters start calling in complaints. And you know how those gals over in dispatch get when we make their phones ring unnecessarily.”

  Dekker laughed. “Don’t I ever! We canvassed but there were no witnesses that we were able to uncover. I’ll have my rook write up her report and get it to you personally before the end of shift.”

  The detective didn’t even look at Lizzie as she shook hands with Dekker and then walked to the car to speak with her partner.

  As Lizzie and Dekker drove back to the station, Dekker was the first to speak, “so who was the guy?”

  “What guy? How do we know it was a guy? The body was completely charred!”

  “Not the dead guy, the guy in the truck. The one who stopped and took your attention away from traffic control for a whole five minutes?”

  “Oh him. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was that long. He was just some looky-loo trying to find out what happened. I told him to move on.”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  Lizzie tried to distract Dekker from his line of questioning. “So what happens next?”

  “The coroner will come out and collect the remains. She will do an autopsy and determine final cause of death if she can. The car will be towed to an impound lot and the crime scene officer will go out there and try to collect any evidence they might be able to find. I doubt they will find anything though. Between the fire and the water, most of the surfaces will be ruined and there won’t be any useable prints or DNA.”

  “When will we know if they find anything?”

  “Probably not until Monday when we come back to work.”

  Back at the station Dekker directed Lizzie to go up to the locker room and change into a clean uniform while he went to find Shaw. “You don’t want the criminals to smell you coming before we can sneak up on them do you?”

  Lizzie went upstairs to the locker room. She took of her smelly uniform and put it all in a plastic bag. She suited for the second time that morning and then hurried back down to the patrol car. Dekker was already waiting for her.

  “Search warrant is canceled for the day he said with a yawn.”

  “Bummer!” Lizzie replied. She had really been looking forward to it.

  “I talked to the Lieutenant though and he gave us permission to go to the autopsy on Monday morning. I’ll find out the exact time from the detectives and let you know over the weekend.”

  “Um ok. I’ll be out of town this weekend.”

  “And you don’t have voicemail”

  “Oh yes,” she laughed, “of course I do.”

  “Ok then. I’ll leave you a message on Sunday. That way you can decompress with your boy this weekend. Sound good?”

  “Yes boss.”

  “Ok let’s hit t
he streets and do some work”

  Lizzie thought to herself that even if she spent a month at the coast, the picture of that burned body was permanently tattooed in her mind. Lizzie knew she could wash the smell of that scene away but shedding the visual would be a tougher job. She found herself hoping the beautiful innocent faces of Jack and Sam would somehow replace the memories of a burned out skull.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jack unlocked the front door of the apartment and headed straight to the laundry room. He stripped down as fast as possible, leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor. Not even bothering to grab a towel he strode straight to the bathroom and ran the shower as hot as he could get it. He got in and let the hot spray beat down on his head. He didn’t care if it scalded him. Jack scrubbed himself until his skin was raw. It didn’t matter how hard he washed, Jack couldn’t get the nights smell from his nostrils. He thought back over the night and the nausea threatened to send him into another fit of sickness.

  Jack stood under the spray until the water turned cold. Getting out, he dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a heavy sweatshirt. Now, he was cold to the bone. He shivered uncontrollably. Jack lay on the couch and pulled a heavy blanket over himself. He flipped on the television. He didn’t think he would ever sleep again. So much was running through his mind. He desperately needed an escape. His guilt weighed heavy on his conscience but even so, he immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  It was late when Lizzie tiptoed through the front door. Lizzie saw Jack sleeping on the couch. Even in sleep he appeared restless. She wondered if she should wake him but decided it was best to leave him be. She went to the laundry room and put her uniform in the wash. It was just too putrid to inflict on the kind woman at the dry cleaners.

  Spying Jacks clothes piled on the floor she added them to the wash load. The smell of death was so strong even his clothes stunk of it! She hadn’t realized Jack was at the scene with her for so long.

  Lizzie walked back out to the living room and took one last peak at Jacks slumbering figure. It was moments like this one when she felt so lucky to have him in her life. Having someone to come home too made the days atrocities easier to bear. She climbed into bed and thought about the day she had just experienced. You really couldn’t make this stuff up.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Jack and Lizzie woke to the sound of Sam singing along with his cartoons in the living room. With a happy sigh, Lizzie rolled over and kissed Jack on the cheek. “Hey sleepyhead. You finally came to bed last night.”

  Jack smiled at her, sweeping the hair from her forehead. “Yeah who wants to sleep on the couch? Id much prefer waking up to your sweet face.”

  “What are we going to do today?”

  “I’ve got it all planned.”

  “Oh you do, do you?”

  “Yep! I booked us two nights at a B and B in Trinidad. Nothing but sun, ocean breezes and seagulls.”

  “Oh Jack, that sounds so lovely!”

  Lizzie was excited at the thought of putting the workweek behind her and relaxing with her little family. She got up and got dressed. She threw a shirt at Jack’s head as she went to get Sam packed.

  Breakfast was a short affair and after packing up, they were quickly on the road. As they drove in silence, Lizzie rolled her window down to breath in the sweet salt air. She looked back at Sam and smiled. He had his headphones in and was watching a movie on his tablet. His blonde hair feathered in the breeze. All was right in her little world.

  Lizzie reached for the radio but Jack stopped her with a gentle hand on hers. “Tell me how your first week in your new job went.”

  Lizzie felt mild irritation. She would rather not discuss work but she didn’t want to make Jack feel as if she was shutting him out either.

  “Work was good! Remember that car fire?

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  “Well after you left, we found a body in it.”

  “You did? That’s crazy! What happened?”

  “I’m not sure. It was seriously burned beyond recognition. We don’t even know if the body is male or female yet.”

  “Yet?”

  “They sent the body to the morgue for an autopsy. We should know more after that.”

  “Why would they do an autopsy for a car fire? I would think manner of death was pretty explanatory?”

  “Well maybe the fire was set intentionally? I don’t know. We found an empty liquor bottle on his lap. The person could’ve been drinking and passed out. Maybe he or she was smoking and the cigarette fell and sparked the fire.”

  “That sounds reasonable”

  “I get to go to the autopsy on Monday. I’m looking forward to that. I’ve never seen one before.”

  “Isn’t that a detective’s job?”

  “It is but Dekker asked my sergeant and he said it was ok. I’d really like to be in on this investigation as much as possible. I could learn so much. I want the people on my team to see that I can follow through. Who knows, if this is an actual murder case, I may be able to solve it!”

  Jack laughed. “What makes you think it’s a murder? Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? You don’t even know how to be a cop yet and here you are trying to impress everyone with your sleuthing skills. Other cops don’t like that. You’ll come off looking pretentious.” Jack glanced over at Lizzie and seeing the annoyance on her face he continued, “You haven’t even proved yourself on the street yet!”

  “Prove myself?”

  “Yes prove yourself. Can you handle yourself in a fight? Can you do car stops without screwing them up? How about report writing? You need to get the basics down before you start taking on bigger things like a potential murder investigation.”

  Lizzie couldn’t help but feel a little crushed at Jacks comments. And a little annoyed. “But they said I could.”

  “So now you look like the teacher’s pet. If I were you I’d turn it down. Tell your training officer you want to work on the basics without getting in over your head. He will respect that and more than likely agree with you.”

  “I’m not doing that. That’s silly. Besides, Dekker isn’t like that. He’s a good teacher and he wants me to experience everything.”

  “Just think about it. I won’t say another word on the matter.”

  Lizzie stared out the window letting her irritation keep her from any further discussion.

  Jack said, “Hello. Are you still with me over there?”

  “I’m here. Let’s just not talk about work anymore, ok? I want to relax and unwind and forget about the job for a few days.” Lizzie tried not to dwell on Jack’s comments. Was he right? Or was he just being a man and trying to hold her back. Maybe things were different for women since he started out on the job. He didn’t know. He had never been a training officer as far as she knew and he had never solved a homicide. Could he be a little jealous? This trip was supposed to be fun but she barely noticed the beautiful scenery any longer.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Despite the uncomfortable drive up, the weekend at the shore was relaxing after all. Eating seafood and playing on the beach had been just what they needed. Back at home, the Monday morning alarm went off a little too early for Lizzie’s taste but she jumped right out of bed.

  Jack rolled over lazily. “Where you going?”

  “I need you to take Sam to school today. I have to go in early for that autopsy, remember?” She went into the bathroom and started the shower. While waiting for the shower to heat up, she stripped out of her pajamas and wrapped a towel around herself.

  Jack followed her in and sat on the toilet. “You mean you’re really going? I thought we talked about this.”

  Lizzie gave him a side-glance before handing Jack a towel and stepping into the hot water. Through the shampoo and soap she sputtered. “I don’t have a choice, Jack. We are already scheduled to be there. I did think about what you said and I’ll see how Dekker reacts when I show up. If he seems like h
e thinks this autopsy is inappropriate then I’ll mention it but if he’s going for it then so am I.” Lizzie shut off the water and stretched her arm from behind the curtain, “Towel please.”

  Jack handed her back the towel. As Lizzie stepped out of the shower smelling like roses on a summer day he couldn’t help but think she really was a little slice of heaven on earth. He felt a little pang at the thought of her being so close to his darkest moment.

  “Hey, are you ok? You look a little pale.” Lizzie asked as she wiped the fog from the bathroom mirror.

  “Oh I’m fine” Jack sighed. “I just didn’t get enough sleep, I guess.”

  “Why don’t you go back to bed? I have to hurry anyway.”

  “No, I’ll make you some coffee and breakfast to go before I take Sam to school.” Lizzie kissed him quickly on the cheek before shutting the bathroom door behind her.

  Jack walked to the kitchen and started coffee. He wondered what he would do if Lizzie actually found some evidence at the autopsy. He was pretty sure he hadn’t left anything in the car to identify himself. Joel’s body burned had burned to a crisp leaving it nigh impossible to get DNA from. Suddenly he felt even more tired than before.

  Lizzie came into the kitchen fully dressed with her bag in hand. She gave him another kiss and took the toast he had made for her. Pouring the dark hot coffee into a travel mug, she swept out the door. “Call you later!”

  Jack looked at his watch. He had a few hours before he had to get Sam up. He went back to the bedroom room and fell down on the bed. He rolled over and grabbed Lizzies pillow. He buried his face in it, inhaling her sweet innocent smell. His head spun with all the ways this could go horribly wrong. He inhaled Lizzie’s scent one more time before using the pillow to muffle the noise of his exhaled scream.

  Chapter Thirty-Four