by Jane Blythe
“Steph?”
“Hmm?” the crime scene tech looked up from her papers.
“Is there any way the forensics could be wrong?”
“Wrong, how?” Stephanie looked confused.
“Maybe the prints are just from whomever made or packaged the stars,” he suggested, knowing he was clutching at straws with that idea.
She shook her head. “No one would have touched the stars before whomever put them on Tarek Milford’s ceiling took them out of the package. And the prints are at all three crime scenes,” Stephanie reminded him. “And not just on the stars; they’re on the duct tape, the doors, light switches.”
“What if the prints were faked?” Jack proposed.
“What do you mean by faked?” Stephanie had set down her papers to give him her full attention, her brown eyes inquisitive.
“What if he’s planting them? Trying to set someone up?”
“Placements of the prints suggest they’re genuine,” Stephanie informed him.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to frame someone who already had a criminal record if you were going to go to all that trouble, rather than use someone’s prints that we don’t even have?” Rose put forward.
His partner was looking better than he was feeling this morning. Last night had been rough and left all of them a little shaken. Jack hadn’t wanted Rose to go through with her plan of playing decoy in the first place. Then having to sit in the neighboring apartment, doing nothing, while they waited for their guy to show up had been excruciating.
Then watching as the man, whom they now knew as Kirby Tam, get off the elevator at the fourth floor, walk to apartment 4J, put a key into the lock and enter the apartment, while he had to sit there and do nothing but watch had taken every ounce of self-control he possessed. What he’d wanted to do was go running to the man and arrest him as soon as it was clear he was going to enter apartment 4J.
However, they needed him to enter. So, Jack had forced himself to remain still as Kirby closed the door behind him and headed straight for the bedroom, where he had expected to find Audrey Nichols. Instead, Kirby had been surprised to see Rose coming out of the bathroom. When he had wrapped an arm around her neck, Jack and every other detective and officer in the room had sprung into action.
Luckily, Rose hadn’t received more than a few minor scratches. Kirby was a big guy; he could easily have killed Rose before any of them were able to get to her. His partner had been shaken at first, evident in the fact that she had agreed with minimal fuss to come and spend the night at his place. But by the time they'd picked up a change of clothes at her place, gotten to his, where she’d jumped immediately into the shower, she had already started to calm down. She’d gone straight to his spare room and into bed, where she had slept peacefully until he’d accidentally awakened her while getting ready for work. Of course, she had ignored his attempts to convince her to take the day off, saying she felt well rested and completely fine to be back at work.
Jack, on the other hand, had been too wired to sleep. He hated being put in a position where he had to watch something awful happening while being powerless to do anything about it. So, he had just laid in bed, staring at the ceiling and replaying the night’s events over and over in his mind. He honestly didn’t know how he would have coped had the outcome been different. Catching their killer, if it had cost him his partner, would not have seemed like a fair trade.
“All right, I get it, I'm stretching,” he admitted, refocusing himself on his colleagues. “It’s just that we’ve had two viable suspects–both with links to the building. Both with motives. Harry Kinkirk could have been getting his revenge on Judith and Tarek, and Jessica was just collateral damage. And same with Kirby Tam—he could have thought he’d throw suspicion off himself when he went after Audrey by attacking Tarek, Judith, and Jessica. The only reason both of them weren’t charged with the crimes was the forensics. Maybe one of them decided to muddy the waters by framing someone else.”
“Interesting theory.” Rose was looking thoughtful. “Maybe one of them decided to work with a partner. The fingerprints and DNA could be from them instead.”
“Only there was no suggestion of a partner in either Judith Barclay or Jessica Elgar’s statements,” Jack pointed out. “Although, thinking of that, he covered his face with Judith but not with Jessica, maybe it was because he thought Judith could identify him. Could be further proof that he lives in the building. Jessica hasn’t lived here long, so she might not have met him yet, but Judith has lived here a while, so she might know him. Could also explain why there were no defensive wounds on Tarek Milford—maybe he knew the guy, too, and didn’t consider him a threat.”
“I've been running any of the residents with criminal records to see if their fingerprints or DNA match our crime scenes, but so far, no luck,” Stephanie told them.
“We still could get lucky. There’s plenty more to go through,” Rose commented.
“Also, back to your partner theory, Rose; we didn’t find any fingerprints from Kirby Tam or Harry Kinkirk in either of the apartments. If one of them were the mastermind behind all of this and working with an accomplice then wouldn’t the partner notice that either Kirby or Harry were wearing gloves and taking forensic countermeasures?” Stephanie pointed out.
“Good point,” Rose acknowledged.
“It seems more like he just doesn’t care about leaving his fingerprints and DNA behind. I think he knows he’s not in the system, so we aren’t going to have his prints on file in any of our databases; therefore, we’re not going to find him through them,” Stephanie said. “Of course, they’re still useable for comparison when you do find this guy, but I'm thinking he doesn’t anticipate you catching him.”
“He’s definitely smug—arrogant even; it’s like he’s flaunting it in our face that we aren’t going to get him.” The killer’s attitude made Jack all the more determined to catch him. “Chloroform hard to find or make, Steph? I've never actually worked a case where someone used it. I thought it was too ‘Hollywood’ for real criminals to use.”
“You can get anything these days on the internet, so I'm sure it would be available. And if you know what you're doing, it wouldn’t be too hard to make. Instructions are probably available on the internet, too, but you'd need to be careful making it, so you'd probably need some experience,” Stephanie explained.
“We need some sort of profile, some sort of indication of who we’re looking for,” Rose mused.
“Motive for the murder wasn't robbery, wasn't mob or gang related,” he said. “Could be crime of passion or mental illness, but it seems too well executed and organized to be either. I guess it could be some sort of thrill kill, only there was no infliction of suffering on the victim. Although, I guess if we include the torture of Jessica Elgar into the equation, he definitely enjoys inflicting pain.”
“He definitely enjoys inflicting pain,” Rose agreed. “And he indicated to Jessica that he’s done this before, and that he usually would use a more secluded location. That definitely implies he likes to take his time and ensure that they suffer.”
“And,” Jack added, “he told her that usually he’d be happy for her to scream as much as she wanted; that definitely indicated that he enjoys knowing and hearing that his victims are suffering. He feeds off it. It’s important to him. He probably has kept his other victims for hours—days, most likely—maybe even weeks, before he killed them.”
“What if we add the rape in?” Rose asked.
“Just another method of torture, another way to dominate them, unleash his anger,” Jack replied. “I bet if he’d had more time with Judith and a more private location, the rape would have been a lot more violent. I think if we look at everything as a whole, then his motives are revenge. He knows his victims; this isn’t just some random thing for him. It means something. He believes that his victims have done something to him deserving punishment. He’s angry at this woman, he wants her to suffer, and he’s prepared to use any m
eans available to achieve it. You don’t do that for a stranger.”
“So, what are we looking for in the intended victim? I mean, other than she obviously has a connection to this guy.”
He considered this for a moment. “I’d guess she could be an ex-lover who somehow got in the way of his plans. Maybe he hurt her and she went to the police, maybe she found out what he was doing, maybe she just left him and it made him mad. Or maybe she’s one of his victims who somehow managed to escape. That would certainly make him mad, and given how methodical and organized he is about everything, he would certainly want to finish what he started.”
“If he’s done this before, as we believe he has, then we should look into finding his previous victims,” Rose proposed.
“They may never have even been found,” Jack commented. “He’s highly organized, he probably made sure that the bodies were carefully disposed of. Still, we should look into it. He chose each aspect of these crimes carefully—murder, rape, torture—they each mean something; they’re each a piece of the puzzle. I bet it’s what he does to his victims, so the MO of the torture should link us to any other crimes that are in the system. Could give us a place to start in locating who this real target is.”
Jack was extremely concerned about this mystery woman. Had she gotten the killer’s so-called message? If she had, why hadn’t she come to the police for help? If she knew him, then she had to know what he was capable of. And given what he had done to these random victims just to get a message across to this woman, whatever he had in store for her had to be much, much worse. Maybe she hadn’t yet realized this was all about her. If she hadn’t, then she wasn't going to be prepared when he finally made his move and came after her.
“I have bad news.”
His, Rose’s, and Stephanie’s heads all popped up as Belinda entered the room. The lieutenant’s glum face indicated that the news she had for them was worse than simply bad news.
“Audrey Nichols is missing,” Belinda announced.
“Missing?” Jack repeated, his heart dropping.
She nodded dismally. “When I sent officers around to the motel to pick her up and bring her back here, she was gone,” Belinda explained.
“Gone like, gone to work or someplace else to get away from the craziness at her apartment building?” Rose asked hopefully.
“Her car is still in the motel’s parking lot, her cell phone and purse were still in the room, as were her clothes, minus her suitcase,” Belinda replied.
“I better get over there.” Stephanie stood and gathered her things. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“He got her,” Jack murmured disbelievingly. “This one is our fault.”
“We didn’t know he would follow her to a motel,” Rose reminded him.
“But we knew he was after someone in that building; it could have been Audrey and we left her alone and unprotected.” Jack didn’t want any excuses. It was their job to protect people and they had failed Audrey Nichols—it was as simple as that. “We should have had her stay in her apartment and just watched her, backed her up, like we did with Rose last night.”
“We sent her away to try and keep her safe,” Rose reminded him gently.
“Well, he got her, anyway.” Guilt was gnawing at his stomach. “We didn’t even send someone to keep an eye on her. We should have predicted he’d do this. He’s been focused and organized the whole way along. We should have known we couldn’t fool him. That he’d follow through with his plan no matter what we did.”
“He knew she wasn't going to be in her apartment,” Rose commented. “He never even tried to get in. He knew we were trying to set him up. He knew we made a switch. He must have been watching the building the entire time. It’s the only way he could have known. If he’d been watching, he would have seen Audrey leave and could have followed her straight to the motel.”
“Get busy interviewing those apartment residents,” Belinda ordered. “We don’t know that Audrey is who he really wants, she could easily still be just another pawn in his game. And if she’s not his target, then we need to find this woman before he does.”
* * * * *
8:24 P.M.
“So, playing decoy two nights in a row; seems like you need a life.” Jack grinned at her.
“Ha, ha, very funny. You know you have no more of a life outside of work than I do,” Rose shot back with a playful glare.
She and her partner were spending the night in apartment 5J. They’d sent the family who lived here, which consisted of a middle-aged couple and their two young children, a six-year-old girl, and a baby boy who was only four months old, to spend the night at a motel. Only this time, they were sending a police guard along with the family. And the two of them were going to stay here in the hope that their killer might make another attempt at entering what they were assuming was the next apartment on his list.
It had been her idea, and she had expected Jack to protest after last time. He didn’t want her using herself as bait again. But instead, he had merely nodded, and said they’d both do it.
Again, they had backup in both the neighboring apartments and surveillance set in both apartment 5J and the hallways on this floor. They had played with the idea of evacuating the entire building, but ended up deciding against it. Last time, their killer had simply followed Audrey Nichols to the motel to abduct her. If he wanted any one of the residents in this building, it seemed more than likely he was going to get to them no matter where they were. And they couldn’t afford the cost of putting twenty-four-hour guards on every single person who lived here until this case was resolved. So, it seemed best to at least keep everyone here where they could keep an eye on them.
Jack had taken Audrey Nichols’ disappearance particularly hard.
For some reason, her partner had developed the habit of feeling guilty for every victim in every case they worked. Jack blamed himself. Acted as though he were personally responsible for the tragedies that befell those they encountered in their job.
And she was tired of letting him get away with it.
Tired of letting him get away with all of it. The depression, the personality changes, the refusal to have any life that wasn't related to work. She was done.
“That’s it,” she announced. Jack looked at her in surprise. “I’ve had it with beating around the bush with you, so I'm just going to come right out and ask you. What happened?”
Jack’s blue eyes went blank. “What happened with what?” he asked innocently.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “No playing stupid,” she warned. “What happened on that trip you took?”
“What trip?”
“I mean it, Jack.” She bit back her frustration since she knew her partner would use it as an excuse not to open up to her. “Three years ago. You went away on a vacation with your girlfriend, and you came back minus the girlfriend and with a whole different attitude.”
Jack couldn’t quite hide the horrified surprise that flitted across his face. “I-I …” he stammered.
“You what?” Rose demanded quietly. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Come on, I'm not stupid. I know something happened on that trip. Something bad,” she added gently.
“If you thought something bad happened, why didn’t you just find out about it on your own?”
“Because I wanted you to tell me when you were ready. I didn’t want to invade your privacy.”
“Then what’s this?” Jack pouted sullenly.
“This is your friend caring about you,” she replied calmly.
Jack rolled his eyes, but his entire body was tense. Rose knew she was getting to him.
“I know you're lonely. I know you want what Ryan and Mark have. And yet, you refuse to do anything about it. And the last few months, you’ve been getting worse. You're getting depressed. You blame yourself for every bad thing that crosses your path. It all leads back to that vacation. What happened, Jack?” She pushed a little more; he was almost ready to open up, she was sure of it.
For a long moment, he just stared at her, as though he couldn’t believe she was actually confronting him on this. Then he gave a resigned sigh. “All right, so I get a little jealous sometimes that Ryan and Mark are so happy with their families, but I don’t resent them. I'm happy for them. I just wish that I had someone, too.”
“Then why do you avoid relationships?”
Instead of answering that, he conceded. “Okay, you're right. Something did happen on that vacation, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet.”
She attempted to cover her surprise that Jack had admitted she was right. Rose had hoped that he would admit it, but she hadn’t really believed he would. Apparently, she failed in hiding her shock because Jack shot her a wry smile. She smiled back. “You're going to have to talk about it soon, though. Otherwise, you're going to wake up one day and realize that you let your whole life go by and you're still alone.”
“Hey, you're alone,” Jack reminded her.
“But I like being alone, and you don’t,” she countered.
“Did you tell Paige what happened last night?” he asked, abruptly changing the topic. “Because if you don’t tell her, she’s going to find out from someone else, and you don’t want that. She should hear it from you.”
Taking Jack’s admissions as progress, she went along with his topic change. Although going from him to Paige was just exchanging one set of concerns for another. “Yeah, I told her.” Rose grimaced.
Catching her grimace, he asked, “She didn’t take it well?”
“You could say that,” she agreed. Before she and Jack had met up here, she had gone to Paige’s house to let her friend know about her run in last night with Kirby Tam. Usually doing that wouldn’t have worried her; she would simply have slipped it into conversation, but Paige had been so sensitive lately that Rose had dreaded having to tell her.
“What did she say?” Jack asked.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” Jack looked confused.