Too Close to Home (The Forensic Files)

by Tressa Messenger

  Leaving the recreation wing, he headed for the senior hallway. He stopped at Missy’s locker to place his hand on the cool metal door where he said a silent prayer. After a minute he let his hand slowly fall to his side and walked a few feet ahead to his own locker. Before opening it, he felt as if someone was watching him so he looked up and down the hallways, but he saw no one and determined he must still be paranoid.

  As Ronnie reached his hand to open the locker he heard a loud bang ring through the hallway. “Shit!” he mutter under his breath, threw the little memory stick to the back of the locker and buried it beneath a couple of books, hoping it would be concealed enough that no one would find it. Then, quickly, he closed the locker door. He leaned his back against the cool metal wall of lockers and stood completely still and took a slow shallow breath, listening for more sounds.

  BANG!

  Another sound rung in his ears. That time, however, he was thankful because the sound seemed to be coming from the opposite direction as him. He took off running down the hallway, periodically looking behind him to see if he was being followed. As he rounded the corner to the recreation wing, he slid on his loose shoelace, causing him to crash into the stone wall. After regaining his composure, he continued his way through the long hallway, throwing open the gym door. Feeling as if he was only a few feet away from safety, he stopped to take a deep breath and made a mental note to quit smoking. He briskly walked to the exit and once outside, he took another deep breath, that time of warm night air before running the length of the football field to the wire fence. Planting his hands and feet in the holes of the fence he began to climb up. Suddenly a hand grabbed him from behind. Taking him by surprise, Ronnie fell to the ground. Rubbing his head as he leaned up on his elbow, he looked directly at a masked man. He quickly rolled off his back and began to crawl on the ground. That was a futile maneuver due to the inability of his boots to grip the soft ground. The masked assailant lassoed a rope around Ronnie’s neck and pulled him back toward him. Not giving up, Ronnie attempted to grab a hold of his assailant’s throat, trying one last time to stay alive, but his effort was in vain because the assailant only pulled on the rope harder. It only took a couple of minutes for Ronnie’s body to go completely still.

  ***

  At some point in the night, Carma finally managed to put the day’s events out of her mind and drifted off to sleep. Much to her displeasure, after what only felt like a couple of minutes, her phone began to ring on her nightstand. She blindly threw her hand out to grab the phone and barked into the receiver.

  “Hello?”

  “Carma, are you still asleep?” a wide-awake Harold asked.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “Well, get up!” Harold exclaimed to her. “Sheriff Ron’s been trying to call you. We have another one.”

  “Another what?” she mumbled sleepily.

  “Another dead kid.”

  Carma’s eyes shot wide open.

  Chapter Eight

  Carma pulled up in front of the school and stared at the familiar scene around her. When Harold called that morning, the last thing she had expected to hear was that there was another kid found dead at the high school. She was genuinely surprised to hear it so soon after the first murder.

  Getting out of the car, she spotted Harold coming from the school entrance with his cell phone pressed to his ear. “There you are. I was just trying to call you again.”

  “I got here as soon as I could,” she told him, with a little annoyance in her voice which was probably from lack of sleep

  “Looks like it,” he said, looking her up and down.

  “Don’t give me that shit, Harold. I didn’t sleep well last night and was woken up way too early. All I know is there better be some coffee in my near future!”

  “I’ll stop by the Shop Quick and buy you one myself if it makes that scowl on your face go away.”

  “Deal. Now, what do we have?”

  “Just wait until you see. Coach Grady had the pleasure of finding the body this morning. I know it is probably assumed by everyone, but I can tell you firsthand that I think it could quite possibly be from the same guy,” Harold informed her.

  “Did you get a statement from Coach Grady yet?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good. I think it’s pretty safe to assume it’s the same guy, too, just because it occurred at the high school and it’s only a day after Melissa’s body was found. But tell me, since you have been in there already, why do you say that?” Carma asked him.

  “Well, just like you said, the location. The other thing that I’ve noticed is the similar display of the body. Both bodies seemed to have been put on display in such a dramatic way in an area easy for people to find them. It’s like he has it out for the kids from this school or maybe just the school in general. Then again, studies suggest that kids tend to be more suicidal when there’s a death of a friend, kind of like a chain reaction.”

  “Suicide?” Carma asked.

  “Don’t ask me! I told you, teenagers are some strange creatures.”

  “Oddly, I hope it’s by our perp.”

  Confused, Harold looked at her.

  “I think one killer is easier to explain than two, and although death is always tragic, I feel it’s far more tragic when it’s suicide,” she explained. “Now with that being said, if we have a serial killer on our hands, we need to get this guy.”

  “And hopefully soon, for these kids’ sakes,” Harold added.

  “Well, then let’s get started. Lead the way.”

  Harold escorted her into the school. Unlike yesterday however, he led her in the opposite direction toward the gym. They continued on through the gym only stopping when they reached the exit door that was located on the far end of the gym and led straight out to the football field. During their whole walk through the school, Carma had kept quiet, allowing Harold to lead the way, but as soon as Harold threw open the double doors exposing the bright morning sun, Carma stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the scene in front of her.

  “How the hell did he get him up there?” she asked, somewhat amazed, intrigued and baffled at the sight in front of her.

  “Beats me,” Harold told her, looking just as amazed at the scene as she was.

  “And no one touched anything?” she asked Harold, making sure the crime scene hadn’t been contaminated.

  “Nope, they know better,” Harold said sounding very matter-of-fact. “There were a few footprints found, but it’s a school so there’s no telling when they were made.”

  “Has someone already notified the SBI?”

  “Yes, I called them as soon as I evaluated the scene.”

  As Carma approached the tall yellow goal post, she slowly raised her head to stare up at the dead body of a boy hanging in the middle of the goal posts. He appeared to have been tied up there with some sort of rope tied into a noose around his neck. Carma began to walk around the goal post eyeing the body, but being careful so as not to disturb any evidence that may have fallen on the ground. She inspected her crime scene from every angle, determined not to miss anything. After she was done viewing the body from every possible angle, taking her eyes off the body, she searched the ground below the same way.

  “Hmm… there doesn’t seem to be any disruption to the grass from ladder marks or dragging. The perp could have carried him fireman style, but that would take a pretty strong person to get him up there. Does anyone know who our victim is?”

  “Nah, no one can get a good enough look from this distance. It may be easier once he’s cut down,” Harold said.

  Carma knelt down in front of her black duffle bag. Like yesterday, she pulled out the digital camera. She stood back up, looked around the field, then back up at the body. “Is there any evidence that he was in the school?” she asked, taking pictures of the seemingly fresh footprints on the ground and various angles of the body.

  “Not that I could tell. The school was locked up after everyone left yesterday, but t
hen again, according to Coach Grady, the lock on the gym door has been broken for quite some time.”

  “And no one ever bothered to fix it, right?” Carma asked. Then added, “Or bothered to tell us about this half-ass lock before?”

  “He said there was never a reason to. It still locks, but apparently it can be easily jimmied open.”

  “That’s the county for you. I’m not really that surprised it isn’t a priority. Growing up, people never locked their doors around here, but it seems times have changed.” Carma shook her head and shouted to the nearest officer, “Hey, Pete, can you tape off this area around the goal post?”

  “Sure thing, Carma.”

  “Miss Jones!”

  Carma and Harold turned at the sound of her name to see Mr. White strutting toward them.

  “Dammit!” Carma muttered.

  Harold laughed. “Why does he get to call you by your last name and I can’t?”

  Carma rolled her eyes. “The man has been calling me that since I was in high school.”

  “Miss Jones,” Mr. White yelled again.

  “Yes, Mr. White, what can we do for you?” Carma asked as soon as the short bald man reached them.

  “I want to know what you’re doing about this.”

  “Mr. White, it’s only been two days. We’re doing all we can, sir,” Carma said as patiently and politely as she could manage.

  “Well, it doesn’t look like it’s enough now, does it? And I bet I have to close the school yet again!” an annoyed Mr. White exclaimed.

  Harold took a step in his direction and balled his fists. “That would be a good idea. Better yet, make it for the following week, as well.”

  “A whole week? When are we going to find time to make up these days, and what about the game this weekend? It’s the first game of the season. It’s going to completely throw off the schedule this season,” he said, unable to hide the whiny tone in his voice.

  “I really don’t give a shit about your schedule. Two kids died on your campus. I want this school on lockdown. No staff or kids should be allowed on campus until we say otherwise,” Harold told him and it was obvious by his tone he had no more patience for the man.

  “What if there’s another murder? There won’t be anyone to find the body if the school is closed down,” argued Mr. White.

  “If the kid’s dead, it won’t really matter now, will it?” Harold snapped back.

  Carma grabbed Harold’s arm and pulled him back. “Detective Green is correct. There is an investigation going on and this school is officially a crime scene. We are going to have a few deputies set up watch here and do routine sweeps of the school for the next couple a days.”

  With a red face, Mr. White stormed off, having a heated conversation with himself.

  “Douche bag,” Harold mumbled.

  ***

  Carma had been staring at the picture of a beautiful Melissa taped to her dry erase board for what seemed like a long time, hoping an answer would come to her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped at the sound of her phone ringing.

  “Detective Carma Jones,” she said into the phone.

  “Hey, Carma, it’s Linda. Do you want to see what I have so far with your girl, Melissa Cooley?”

  “Wow, you work fast!”

  “I got the body in last night and stayed late to work on her some, then after I received the call this morning about the new body, I decided to put my other cases on the back burner for the time being. I think these kids deserve special attention.”

  “Linda, I agree completely with that last statement, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate this. I know you must be swamped,” Carma said to her graciously.

  “I’m glad I can help. I’ll log into Skype and call you.”

  “Okay,” replied Carma.

  A minute later a notification dinged on her computer screen and she accepted. A picture of Linda and her assistant, Connie, standing beside a covered gurney, started coming into focus.

  “What do you have there?” Carma asked.

  “This is your girl. Like I said, I did an exam when she first got here last night, but I wanted to take another look since it’s been a few hours,” Linda said, pulling back the white sheet covering Melissa’s body. Carma cringed at the sight of the deep Y-shaped incision in the middle of her torso from the top of her breast bone down to the soft part of her stomach where her wounds were inflicted. A small square around one of the incisions had been cut out for closer examination.

  “Oh really? Why is that?” Carma wondered curiously.

  “To be honest, because I didn’t find anything other than the obvious.”

  “So why open her up then?”

  “I open up all my bodies for a thorough exam. I’m hoping time will give me more clues. The perp had her naked and at his mercy, but didn’t take advantage of her young seventeen-year-old body. That must have taken great restraint, either that or he’s one of those killers who stab their victims because that is how they get their sexual gratification.”

  “So, no rape?”

  “Nope, although she isn’t a virgin.” She leaned in close to the electronic tablet and whispered, “There were signs of a recent pregnancy, although she didn’t give birth.”

  “I know. I just found that out yesterday. She had an abortion in June. I know you have to put it on the report, but can we keep that off the record for now? Apparently no one knew about it and I can’t imagine it doing anyone any good,” Carma asked her.

  “I can do that, as long as you do know I will have to report it in the official documents.”

  “I understand.”

  “Okay, well an abortion explains the scar tissue that can happen during a rape sometimes, but seeing as how I saw no other evidence of rape and your victim recently had a D&C, then I can completely rule out rape.”

  Carma sat up straight, not liking the images of the All-American girl having a secret abortion. “I’m glad to hear she wasn’t raped. But doesn’t that seem odd?” she asked, changing the subject back to the perp.

  “I think so, too. I’ve done this a long time and it’s not very often I find that to be the case. Especially since your perp had her naked and at his mercy in a place where he could’ve really taken his time.”

  “He cared about her,” Harold said from across his desk. “Psychologists say stabbing is a very angry and personal way to kill someone, and also a sexual type of death. Some killers can get off when stabbing, but not through regular intercourse. Something about the act of stabbing is a form of penetration to them.”

  Linda glanced down at Melissa’s face and cocked her head to the side and shrugged before turning her attention back to Carma. “Very interesting. It makes sense.”

  Carma looked from Harold back to Melissa’s still face, her pale skin bluish gray from lack of blood flow.

  “Can you bring me in closer?” Carma asked. After a dizzying moment, she had a full view of Melissa’s body. “If he didn’t rape her, how was he able to hold her down and stab her at the same time without getting injured in the process? She was an athlete so she had to have been strong.”

  “I think that I can answer that,” Linda told her. “Okay, Carma I’m going to adjust the webcam and zoom in a little so that you will be able to had a better look at what I’m about to show you.” After another moment of dizziness as Linda adjusted her camera, Carma saw that Linda had zoomed in on Melissa’s upper thighs. Looking closely, Carma noticed that located about three inches above Melissa’s knee was a circular hematoma of about three inches.

  As Carma was trying to figure out exactly what would have made those marks, she was interrupted by Linda’s voice asking, “So Carma, can you see those two hematomas, one above her right knee and one above her left knee?”

  “Yes,” Carma told her.

  “Well, at first I thought maybe these had come from your victim being raped like she was trying to squeeze her legs closed around him, but since there is no sign of rape, I went back
and double checked the location and size of the abrasions again. Upon a more thorough second exam I noticed that these hematomas are located above her knee on the top side of her thigh. If these were marks from a sexual assault they would be located on her inner thighs. Are you following me so far, detectives?”

  “Yep,” Carma and Harold said in unison.

  “Okay, great!” Linda exclaimed and to Carma it sounded as though she had what sounded like a hint of excitement with a touch of pride in her voice. Linda reset the webcam to its original setting so she could speak with them face to face. She wanted to see what Carma and Harold thought of her theory about how Melissa was held down during her attack. Personally, she was pretty proud of herself. Being able to help solve murder cases gave her a rush of excitement. “Now that we can see each other again, allow me to continue,” Linda said. “You asked me how your victim was unable to fight back. Well, during an autopsy like this, it’s pretty standard to look for ligature marks on the victim’s wrists, ankles and anywhere else for that matter. Ligature marks can tell us if a victim was tied up and what they were tied up with. Well, I found no ligature marks on Melissa. However, after I saw the marks on her legs, I realized how he restrained her!” Linda exclaimed. “The hematomas above her knees on her upper thighs are about the size of kneecaps. Your perp climbed up on top of her, using his knees pressed into her thighs until she was rendered, for all intents and purposes, defenseless. The way she was pinned down, she wouldn’t have been able to fight back at all, other than using her hands, which wouldn’t have been too difficult for your perp to restrain with one hand if he had large hands.”

  Linda looked at Carma and Harold, waiting to hear what they thought of her theory. Harold was the first to speak up as he asked, “Okay, well now we know how he restrained her after she was put on the desk. But how was he able to get her up there?”