Murder Mysteries Series six

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  For the next hour they listened to Dr. Almwist narrate his finding as he went along. Norm could tell Dr. Almwist was preserving DNA from under the finger nails, the stomach, and from all the other orifices of the human body. Debra left when the X was made on her chest. Norm stayed on for the duration.

  Afterwards, Dr. Almwist said, "From the quantity of sperm and the brutal violation of both her vagina and anus, she was repeatedly violated. I'll send the samples to Portland immediately for DNA. Her alcohol level was not high, but she'd had two or three cocktails. Her stomach was basically empty except for some traces of sperm." He shook his head and looked Norm in the eye and continued, "I've no doubt you'll apprehend these evil bastards Norm. In this case I wish we had system for an eye for an eye. Well, I've got to get back to work. I'll be following the case with my full attention Norm." They shook hands and Norm told him he would send news as it developed.

  Norm found Debra upstairs in the Sheriff's office. Norm did not mind and it was good time to give the good Sheriff Biggs some information to pass on to his superiors. Norm shook hands and had a seat next to Debra. Biggs said, "I'm happy to hear some progress is being made Norm. I'll relay the progress to our county officials. What can you tell me about the autopsy?"

  Norm told him in general and not specifically about the initial findings. "The samples will be sent to a lab in Portland for DNA analysis. It'll take some days before we have the results back and then we have to make a match. There's isn't any magic here Sheriff. It's just painstaking police work that will solve this case. We don't have any witnesses to the crime, but we do have some things working for us. That's about it Sheriff."

  "Thanks and if you have any new developments, pass it or them on. Okay," he said standing up, "Thanks for the update. I've another meeting so I'll say good bye for now."

  24

  On the way back north to Lincoln City, Norm was still thinking about the e-mails of the victim. In all cases the sender used his or her initials when addressing or signing off. Unless someone was being really clever, the initials were probably that person's name. Norm said, "Debra, with each sender comes the question of it being male or female. When we get back, go through and make a list of the person's initials and note either M or F. If in doubt, have Jenny do the same thing. If there's still doubt, probably a university can assist us. Also, the senders IP should be noted. We need a computer dude here for that end of things. Have Jenny find one somewhere in this state to spend some time with us. Lastly, a painstaking job would be to go through the phone book to match the initials with. Also, get with the phone company on unlisted numbers and a much harder one would be a cell phone user."

  "Okay I got it Norm. Is it your thinking that we might be looking for our perps being local residents?"

  "Maybe so and we need to know who her friends were when she went to college. Especially males who might have relocated to a reasonably close city so that a visit might not be too far away. We're not far from Corvallis and the Oregon State University."

  "That will keep us busy for awhile. I'll get our former reserve deputies on this job."

  "Good idea and with the phone book job, if you can find additional help, so much the better," he said pulling into Beth's parking lot.

  Walking up the back stairs he said, "Also Debra, have Jenny make copies of all her e-mails within the last year or so. The Facebook I'll leave up to you. That website I didn't have any interest in mostly because I don't have any or many friends."

  They entered a warm office area that Jenny, taking it upon her own initiative had found a way to heat the place. Norm walked to the window and watched the rain falling. What he did not want to do was formulate what might have happened thus preventing any outside factors to enter into the crime. However, he was leaning towards the idea that indeed Linda Blake presented more that met the eye. She was happiest, it seemed, when she could socialize with friends. Therefore, it appeared that she knew who killed her. The most elusive factor in murder is the 'who' did it. The dead can't speak, but nowadays, gadgets spoke for them. Somewhere in her electronic world, the victim told Norm who killed her; and the why she died. It looked like late night reading to him.

  Meanwhile, he needed the Boy Scouts to comb the area, and as he turned away from the window, he saw that Clint Kramer and Clyde Horner had come in. They were both talking to Jenny who seemed not too pleased they were talking to her; and it appeared they were invading her personal space. Norm had observed prior to today that Clint was rather aggressive and decided to keep an eye on him. He walked over and said, "Clint and Clyde, I've a job for you guys. See if you can locate the Boy Scouts and have them almost literally comb the area for the victims missing cell phone."

  "I know the scout master and I'll or we'll get right on it Norm," Clint said hurry off with Clyde on his tail. Norm saw Debra on the phone and Jenny was hooking up the victims computer to the printer. He walked over and when he was next to her she said:

  "Thanks Mr. Payne. Clint thinks he's gods gift to women. He's been that way since we were classmates back in middle school. Anyway, I'll start with the oldest mail first and work forward. Surprisingly, there's not too many, but nowadays most of us use Facebook rather than the e-mail."

  "Yes, I know about guys like Clint and when they have a little power, such as being a reserve deputy, or like now, full time power goes to their heads. I doubt he'd become too aggressive since your uncle is his boss."

  "I can handle him, but he's rumored to be really aggressive when he's out drinking and playing pool over at the Beer Garden."

  "That's nice to know Jenny and by the way, just call me Norm, is fine with me. Mr. Payne was my father and he loved it when somebody used the formal salutation." He saw her blush and after a closer look, saw she was quite a lovely young woman. No wonder Clint was hitting on her, but when a person is on the job, flirting or such things like that is not within good form in Norm's book of rules.

  Norm sat down next to the window with a sheaf of mail from the victim's laptop. He noticed Jenny had started with March of last year. Ironically, Jenny had begun on the same day as she was murdered just a year ago. Later Jenny told Norm that was the date when her mail became interesting. The first one read:

  Dear Lin……. My favorite chat mate.

  Am coming your way, care to meet?

  C.

  Norm let out a big sigh and thought about what all of these e-mails were going to do to his brain besides give him a giant headache. He flipped the page and saw her response. He noticed she was quick to respond. She said:

  Hey C….. TY for the mail. Not sure good idea as my aunt wouldn't approve. But give me a few days to warm her up on the idea of a friend coming to see me.

  Lin.

  Norm made a note that this 'friend' was surely a male. He read on and after a week or so, Linda had agreed on a meeting for 10 pm on a Thursday night. He sat up and read on to see what happened.

  The next mail came from 'C':

  Hi Lin……had a great time and you seem so bubbly. Let's do this again real soon. I've some special 'green' coming and we'll have a good time with the munchies.

  C.

  Her response:

  Oh, my I'm not sure about that idea C. My friends said doing it was okay, but the smell might not be good. I'm a bit busy right now so how about next month?

  L.

  Norm thought Linda was not a regular or maybe never tried or partaken any marijuana. He read on:

  Hey Lin…. no prob….. I'm taking some night classes and when have a free weekend, will send a note to you… be well…

  C.

  This went back and forth and then Debra asked him if he wanted some lunch? He said, "Good idea and include Jenny on our expense account." She saw him smiling and Jenny heard him also.

  "What sounds good to you?"

  "Soup and sandwich is fine with me Debra," said Norm.

  "Okay, I'll bring lunch up or shall we go down?"

  "Let's go down and take a break," said Norm stan
ding up with a big stretch.

  25

  Norm had not realized it was early afternoon when they sat down at their usual window table. By now Debra had taken over the role of delivering coffee and fetching their drinks if not coffee. Norm sometimes liked milk and so did she. Norm, instead of gazing out the window as usual, watched Debra moving around with efficiency. It was not her movements so much as he was admiring what a fine looking woman she was. Today she was dressed rather causal, but with style. Designer jeans with a light blue open collar button up shirt that was covered by a short waist length coat. He noticed she preferred gold for jewelry and today was no exception. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a small cross just touching the top of her enticing cleavage.

  Norm smiled inwardly thinking that maybe his dead battery was being slowly trickled charged again. It was presumptuous of him to think she had any interest, but it was nice to dream about. He was still looking as she returned and the expression on his face did not go unnoticed by Debra. She sat down two tall glasses of milk on the table and said, "I asked Beth for two lunch specials if there were any left over. If not I thought maybe a grilled cheese and tuna would be nice with a bowl of chowder."

  "Sounds good to me," he said smiling. "What about Jenny?"

  "She'll be down in a minute or two, she said. I think she's on to something with the victims FB account. Anyway, I've been wondering about something that the neighbors of Rose said. They said they heard a car door closing. Well, if that were true and there was someone sneaking in to see our victim, then why wouldn't that person quietly close the door?"

  "A very good question. I too have been giving that some thought. I don't know for sure but I was thinking that newer cars, when you lock them with a sending unit on your key ring, the horn gives off a short beep. If you leave the door ajar, a warning sound of sorts alerts the driver the door is open or partially open. Maybe the guy, or person, tried to close it quietly and then bounced their hip into door making it sound rather louder than they thought it would sound. I don’t know if that came out right or not. Do you see what I'm saying?"

  "I think so. Then again, the person could have made an error and closed it normally not thinking about it. Later he would realize he might have been heard by a neighbor. It would seem that our victim did have late night visitors before she had her final visitors."

  Beth brought the chowder and tuna melts to a hungry pair of detectives. Jenny came down and asked for the same thing. Debra and Jenny were chatting while Norm ate his lunch thinking about his house when, ironically, cousin Benny Parsons the contractor walked through the door.

  He took the only place left and with him was a cardboard tube that obviously held the drawings of Norm's proposed remodel. He said, "Sorry to barge in, but was hoping to catch you in the office. If you've some time I have two sets of plans for you to look at Mr. Payne."

  "I've time Benny and call me Norm please. I'm about finished here and I'll be right up where we can roll out your plans. How about a cup of coffee before we go up?"

  "Sounds good and I'll get it as I know my way around here very well." Norm finished off his lunch and he too had a cup of coffee that Beth brought walking with her cousin Benny.

  Beth said, "Norm, Benny picked up your lunch tab, but don't let that influence your negotiation if it comes to that!" Everyone laughed and told Benny thanks for lunch. Norm stood up and led the way upstairs to see the plans of his new house remodel. Benny rolled out the drawings one at a time. Norm gathered two staplers and two of Jenny's school books for paper weights on the corners.

  "Okay Norm, here's the first one. As you can see, we have left the first floor pretty much as it is, but off the kitchen, in the boot room, we've enlarged it to accommodate a laundry room and an area for a day's worth of firewood. The bathroom has been updated and in all the first floor rooms I recommend real wood paneling. The windows will all be double panes and of course the entire residence will have been insulated. Now the upstairs, will be reached by a stairway from the living room wall to the left as you enter. The perpendicular wall, which is where the new wood stove replaces the fireplace, has been mostly removed to open the living area to share with the kitchen. Now as you can see the upstairs has the entire space to itself without any walls except the bathroom is enclosed. At the west side of the room will have sliding doors to a small deck area that will be covered and have half the west wall outside on the deck with sliding windows. That way you can be outside on the deck, but be protected from the elements or open the windows to let in the nice ocean air."

  "I like it so far Benny," said Norm as he watched Benny roll out another drawing that was basically the same thing, but had a carport area and wood shed. The only major difference was the downstairs living room area where the fireplace wall remained the same as it was now. Benny stood back and waited for Norm to digest what he had been shown. He saw Norm looking back and forth and as Benny sat down, Norm did too.

  Norm said, "Well Benny what is the cost of each plan please?" Norm saw Benny fidget a little and then he said, while looking Norm in the eye, the first one will cost in the neighborhood of fifty thousand and the second one, about ten percent less."

  Benny watched for any sign of either good or bad. He saw nothing but a stoic look on Norms face. Benny thought this guy would make a hell of a good poker player. Benny sat back and waited. Meanwhile, Debra and Jenny came up chatting away. Norm sat thinking about spending fifty grand on a new house, but then he justified it by its increase in value and that he had that much coming in each year from his pension and investments. Besides he had much more than that in the bank. He said, "Benny, I'll give you half the fifty upfront and the rest as you require it. Is that okay by you?"

  Benny's throat was as dry as the throat of Rose Stipent the next morning after a night's romance with the Absolute bottle. After a dry swallow he said, "That's good for me Norm and I'll start right away. As you know, once we begin you'll probably need to find a place to hang your hat for a month or two. I talked to the owner of Sailor Jack's motel and he said for sure a monthly rent could be worked out. He suggested that only weekly a change of linen and cleaning would greatly reduce the monthly fee. He's in his office till 5 pm most days and here’s the phone number. Okay, well, here's my bank and account number Norm and I'll be going now. I want to thank you and welcome to our nice town of Lincoln City."

  26

  While Debra and Jenny were busy with the hi-tech end of the investigation, Norm called Sailor Jack. It turned out that the owners name was Jack and his last name was Sloop. Norm smiled thinking how unique it was of Jack to name his motel Sailor Jack's Motel.

  "Nice to meet you Norm Payne. This is a small town so we all know you're working on the murder of one of our citizens. I presume you've cut a deal to have Benny remodel your home. Is that true?"

  "Indeed it is Jack. It appears I need a place to hang out for awhile. Benny thought you and I could reach an agreement on a monthly rent. I'm all ears Mr. Sailor."

  "Okay, we clean and change linen once a week. It's a queen bed at the end of the motel on the street side rather than a view of the ocean. That's the least expensive for you. We can offer off season and our local discount for your help in a murder case of five hundred a month."

  "Sounds good and I'll be by tomorrow with my bags," said Norm. He rose from his chair and went to the window. What he needed was some thinking time and where to get it was beyond him. A walk on the beach in the rain was not his cup of tea; nor was sitting here while talking was taking place. Maybe a drive. He told Debra he would be back in a couple hours and left.

  In his SUV he drove north and saw a sign that said: Cascade Head Preserve. Norm thought he was lucky as the wipers no longer were needed. The rain had stopped; well at least for the time being. He stepped out and saw a trail head that went into the forest of what he read as Sitka Spruce. His father had told him years ago that spruce is what the old planes used for their structures because it was light and strong. Later it became
common knowledge that the billionaire recluse Howard Hughes had built the famous Spruce Goose that was now in the Flight Museum located west of Portland in McMinnville, Oregon.

  He took off up the trail with thoughts of the case they were working on. He still lacked a lot of facts, such as the coroner's report, any positive leads on suspects, why or what was the motive for murdering a mostly helpless young woman. It appeared the hydro racers were eliminated from the list of suspects, but what about the visitor at her house late at night?

  The only real information about the visitor was the fact he was in school. So where did she meet him the first time? Debra was checking on her school attendance and they needed a trip to the college down in Newport for her class schedule. Also a list with whom she made friends with. Also the cell phone would be a nice find. Especially if they could retrieve a list of her calls, both outgoing and incoming. Time will tell all things unknown, he thought.

  Norm stopped at a sign telling the reader that this giant Sitka Spruce was over five hundred years old. Norm smiled thinking that if this great tree could talk………. Well, he turned on his heels and went back to his SUV and to return to his office.

  Norm was not happy when he arrived at the office to find all three of the reserve deputies sitting around laughing and joking amongst themselves. Jenny was hard at it with the victim's computer. Debra was on the phone with one hand covering her other ear from the noise. In the two seconds it took to digest the scene was just long enough to gather a lung full of air and yell out: "Quiet all of you! This isn't a pool hall. You three deputies have thirty seconds to clear out of here and don't come back. In my book you're all three fired. Go play pool or do whatever you enjoy laughing about someplace besides a incident room investigating a murder. There's nothing funny about murder. Clear out or if you've a problem with that I'll kick your asses out one by one!"

  Debra told Alicia the next morning the story. "I'm telling you Alic he scared the hell out of me and you should have seen those three guys literally running out of the office down the stairs. I'm still shaking. That guy put the fear of God in those three deputies. I'm happy they're gone. I really never liked that Clint Kramer guy anyway. He's a know-it-all butt head that thinks he's a ladies man."