"Ah Detective Jane Sparrow.
What an Honour, I was elated when I found it was you who
Was going to be studying my work. Who better than you
To really appreciate what these are? Not just murder, not just death
But art. I have created something beautiful.
Jennifer is a lot better in death, in the after life with the lessons I
Taught her than what she ever would have been in life with out them.
Now you must know a whole set must be created for the artwork to
Fully be appreciated. So many types of women capture my attention, that
Inspire me; take you for example a strong, independent woman
Smart, charismatic but do not worry you are not my next piece.
It is the 20th today I will give you till the 26th before
I start my next masterpiece.
Take care now Jane"
Chapter 5
Six days a deadline before another girl has to suffer like Jennifer, another set of grieving parent's that would never recover, they were going to have to work fast.
"Amy get on to the lab they can have the letter tell them not only to dust for prints but to also to take a sample of paper see if they can match it to a manufacturer. Once they know who made it get a list of all businesses in the area that use it all supply shops that sell it. I want to know who's bought it that uses it, so another list of names. Also find out if they know what the scrapings under her nails were yet. We need to get moving on this one Amy, he promised that in 6 days he is going to kidnap again. Ring around all the local news stations and reporters we are going to hold a small, controlled announcement.
"Ok will do Jane don't worry were catch this guy he is bound to have slipped up by giving us this letter."
"Oh I hope so your optimism is so refreshing because I really can't handle another lot of grieving parent's on my conscience. After you have made those phone calls were going to go talk to the parents again. Set the conference up for tonight's news at 10 the papers can get it in the first paper of the mornings."
"Ian how is the CCTV going have you found anything yet. Do you know the name of the drug dealer that's been selling rohypnol?"
" Yes I did his name is Perry Fierce he lives about 3 miles from here, a right tough old piece of work apparently. And the CCTV nothing so far but were still looking."
"Ok good thanks Ian can you look into a couple of things for me as well. A police report should of been filled by our William Spear on his car being stolen, I know how very convenient, about a week an half ago and can you also look into the father for me. I want all Mr. York's background information that you can get. Amy and me are going to go talk to the parents again. Thanks Ian."
Jane and Amy stepped out of the car and were back outside the York residence. Nothing looked out of place still the same as what it was when they first arrived at their door.
"Amy were going to have to tread carefully here we don't want to spook Mr. York, or cause the family to shut down and stop talking to the police. So I’m going to need your skills again at keeping it all calm in there ok."
"Yeah sure don't worry I got it."
"Hello there Mr. and Mrs. York sorry to disturb you again at such a horrible time but may we come in we only have a few more questions."
"Yes of course, would you like a cup of tea?"
"Oh thank you Mrs. York that would be lovely. We just have a few more questions for you Mr. York just formalities. I hope you are both holding up well and we are here if you need anything. I must apologize now if my questions seem rude or out of turn but at this stage of our investigation any line of enquiry that comes up we have to pursue you can understand that Mr. York. We went to see the disgruntled employee from the supermarket that made inappropriate comments towards your daughter. Well it seems that his comments were more about you Mr. York. He said a couple of the other young girls at the supermarket had complained to him that you creeped them out by the way you look at them could you elaborate on what they could have meant?"
"How dare you, How dare you imply anything of the sort I have just lost my daughter I would never have anything to do with young girls. I am a happily married man and a well-respected lawyer you must know. You might have not said anything out right but you damn well implied it."
"Mr. York please calm down, we don't mean to offend, implicate or imply anything like Detective Jane Sparrow said. These lines of enquiry come up during our investigation and we are bound by the law to follow up on it you have to understand that. So please take a seat Mr. York answer the question."
"Oh very well I’m sorry it just seems such a silly line of enquiry and a waste of your time on this nonsense when there is a killer out there. But if you must it's not what that Mr. Spears implied at all, just as much as he seems to have convinced you that it wasn't what my wife implied about himself. The creeped out vibe that the girls got from me were nothing but looks of disapproval and disgust. You must understand I was a very protective father, obviously not enough, but I got that job for Jennifer to teach her about responsibility but a lot of the other young girls down there were not, now how can I put it politely, well they wasn't of good breeding. Tattoo's and piercings, smoking and drinking it wasn't something I wanted Jennifer getting mixed up in. The distained look that the girl's got were enough to keep them away from my little girl."
"I can understand that Mr. York, you just trying to be a good father."
"Now Mr. and Mrs. York we found evidence of a drug in Jennifer's system, is it safe to assume that it is something that would have been slipped to her or forced to her and not something that she would of taken or tried willingly?"
"No, most definitely not Jennifer wanted to be a doctor there is no way she would dabble in drugs of any kind she knew the damage they could do."
"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. York again we are very sorry for your loss. Thank you for your time and don't hesitate to call us if you need anything you have been a great help to the investigation."
"Thank you Detective please just catch this man that stole our daughter from us."
"So what do you think Amy did he have the right amount of shock and anger at our allegations or was it all just a little too rehearsed."
"I don't know those lawyers they get paid to lie and be good actors. But perhaps just a little too defensive."
"Well I already got Ian checking into his background anyway make sure that everything checks out. Come on let's head back to the station."
Chapter 6
Jane and Amy had already pulled up at the station when they realized they only had an hour to prepare for the press conference. Jane needed to go see her supervisor first and see what press clearance she had, she needed to know what information they were prepared for her to release. Jane was adamant though that they needed to stress that all women stayed vigilant until this man was caught. No matter how old young, blonde or brown hair all women needed to know that this guy was out there. The last thing they wanted to do so early on in a case is to close of this killers victim pool it could send him completely out of control and with no way to track him. As horrible as it sounded they actually need this guy to do it again so they had a pattern to follow.
"Amy I just had a thought listen most killers with their first kill they’re sloppy they make mistakes this guy he is like completely off the grid we cant seem to find him. He uses a generic car and shoe so that leads to a bust he writes a letter and hand delivers it but probably wont leave us anything with that. This guy is far too calm and arrogant he must of started with something smaller. Worked his way up to a scheme this grand I mean taunting the police with letter that takes confidence a new beginner wouldn't have that. Look into unsolved crimes in the area anything that could build up to this sort of level, look into men that have just been paroled for other crimes this took a lot of planning and a lot of time. Some one that has just been let out of prison for a smaller crime they would of had plenty of time to plan something lik
e this. I'm going to go talk to my supervisor about the press conference see what I am and aren't aloud to say. If you start working on the list and while you’re at it start collaborating with Ian get it down to one file with all possible suspects. Also see if the lab has finished analyzing that paper so we got the shop and business list to cross reference with as well. That way in the morning we can all start working on getting that list a bit smaller might be able to use that to sweeten the bosses upstairs after this press conference."
" Sure Jane least that way we will have one port of call to check all suspects I’m sure me and Ian will be able to work a few out tonight. Let's hope it does score you a few brownie points with upstairs go on you better go the press conference will be starting soon."
As Jane stepped into her supervisor’s office she was immediately greeted by the sweet sickly stench of her bosses’ cheap aftershave, his wife insisted on buying it for him every Christmas, and a not so welcome smile.
"Detective I can assume you are here to talk about this press conference that you have set up without my consent. I expected to see you a lot earlier today we have a lot to discuss before I allow you to release information from this office."
"Sir I’m sorry I expected to be back at the station a lot sooner than this but you see I got caught up in the actual investigation of catching this killer as I’m sure you can understand. I wasn't planning on releasing any specific details about Jennifer's murder or the letter that he sent us. But I do want to stress the fact that all women need to stay vigilant until we have caught this guy and to just appeal for some information, Sir"
"Ok very well Detective you may do so but make sure that you stress that this guy is not a serial killer and that we don't believe he will commit any more. I don't want a wide spread panic on our hands we have already had one of those before the case could even begin properly. Just tell them to stay safe and vigilant. And one more thing Detective I don't know what you think you are doing looking into the background of the young dead girl's father for. Your wasting valuable time and resources he is a highly respected lawyer and is highly paid. I do not want him feeling harassed by us at such a time it could turn out to be a very nasty lawsuit and leave me having to find a new detective. Do you understand? Leave the father be.”
" But Sir he had a serious allegation made against him to do with young girls we had to check."
"Detective this was not a request it was an order leave the girl's father be. Have I made myself clear."
" Yes Sir perfectly."
Jane walked out and slammed the door behind her having very little time to compose herself for the press conference now was not the time to be getting herself agitated by politics.
As Jane stepped up onto the podium she suddenly found herself nervous it had been a long time since she had done one of these and after that meeting with her boss she really didn't want it turning into a free fall or a media frenzy.
"Good evening everyone thank you for coming. To start with I must impress that I am not here to disclose or discuss any information to do with the young girl found in the park. It is not only our wishes but also that of the grieving parents that we must respect. In such a horrendous time for them we do not wish to highlight the pain and suffering their daughter went through. I am here to appeal for information about a car and a man that was seen in the vicinity. We are urging this person to come forward we do not believe him to be involved in the crime but may be a witness. We believe him to be a white male in his late 30's early 40's wearing glasses and going slightly bald on top. We believe he drives a dark Ford Escort. Please if you know or are this person please come forward you may hold potential information that may be of great help. We are also urging that all women stay vigilant. Please don't panic we do not believe this man to be a serial killer or one that is planning any more but until he is caught we urge you to stay vigilant. Travel in pairs, don't go out after dark unless extremely necessary, and call a listed taxi firm to get home. Stay safe, stay aware and stay cautious we will catch this man. Thank you for your co-operation and your time. Unfortunately we are not able to take any questions at the moment, as this is all the information we have to release. Thank you."
Jane stepped off and away from the podium and exhaled a deep breathe of relief that had gone a lot smoother that what she had first thought it would. Perhaps all journalists weren't sharks like she thought. Hopefully she hadn't said anything that would upset upstairs and hopefully Amy and Ian had made headway on that list. Mr. York would have to be given a file of his own seen, as her supervisor was adamant he couldn't be investigated. When Jane got back to her desk most of the other police officers had left for the night including Ian and Amy not to Jane surprise she had a feeling that those two were actually dating. They had however left a fresh cup of coffee on her desk and the files one including the suspects and the one on Mr. York. There was also a note apparently the lab hadn't finished with the list yet they would call in the morning. The suspect list was still unfortunately rather large at 42. Jane was surprised that all them people lived in the area were capable of such crimes she was sure she would be able to work the list smaller than this. She began flicking through the file when one instantly caught her eye an Ed Simmons. He is a 42-year-old white male that lived about 3 miles away from here. He lives by himself in an old farmhouse that was left to him by his grand parents. He had just recently been released from prison after a 10 year suspended sentence for attempted kidnap a successful kidnap and assault. Sounded like a lovely guy that his grand parents could be proud of. Jane stuck a bright pink post it note to the front of his sheet as a reminder to re find him in the morning. She carried on flicking through the list and by the time she was done she had managed to pull out another 10 from her list low life guys, ones that didn't have the organization skills to pull such a crime off and ones that didn't quite have backgrounds to fit. Jane put them in a separate file just in case she was wrong about them sometimes people had a way of surprising you. But at least it got their main list down to 32. Jane was sure that after a few phone call had been made in the morning to check alibis and where bouts the list would get much smaller. And now time to turn her attention to Mr. York's file. Let's see if there are any skeletons in his closet. But unfortunately there wasn't, not even a complaint from a disgruntled client. Except for moving a lot and a few buildings he owned that didn't quite fit his job description there was nothing that quite jumped out to Jane that she could use to convince her boss differently on the matter. But for now Jane needed some rest it was time to head home there was still so much to do.
Chapter 7
The next few days passed in a blur of phone calls, conversations and politics. By now it was the 24th and they only had two days until the kidnapper promised to take another victim. With the main suspect list whittled down to 12 through alibis and the fact that some of them were once again arrested and even the odd dog tag tracking others movements they still had twelve on their list. One of which was Jane's first instinct Ed Simmons. Considering the fact that he lived so close to the drug dealer that may well have sold him the drug he slipped to Jennifer he also lived alone in a big farmhouse with plenty of grounds and out buildings. He seemed like the most logical explanation for the crime but as Jane well knew from experience the perpetrator is hardly ever the most logical. Jane had also flagged that any new reports of missing women in the area came straight to their department. Thankfully so far this guy had been honest and stuck to his word. The press conference had led them nowhere. The guy they had appealed to come forward had not which led Jane down another thought that either the guy they were looking for was either their suspect or he didn't exist at all. The only person that had seen this guy was the dog walker and Jane well knew how these kind of guys liked to inject themselves into the investigation. The CCTV at the station embarrassingly had led to nothing other than a hooded figure with his head down that could be estimated to the height of 5ft 10 an average height and build for a man.
"Ian
can you check into that dog walker what was his name Graham Watts. I just want to make sure that he is who he says he is and that he isn't our guy just offering us useless help. Look into his background and find out an address for me. Thanks."
"Yeah sure Boss is there anything else I can help you with you have been sitting here all quietly this morning."
"No Ian that's fine don't worry I’m just getting a lot of pressure from upstairs to get this solved and this department out of the limelight especially seen as I opened up to the media sorry."
Jane sat there for a few minutes running all the information back through her head. Where were they to go next Jane was sure she was missing something but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. As much as she liked that Ed Simmons for it and so did her supervisor she knew full well that she couldn't just go charging over there now she didn't want to spook the guy. He was after all the best candidate they had and she didn't want him running off. There was the drug dealer that they could go see. They could show him some photos of the men involved in the case see if he recognizes any of them. Jane would have to check with the bosses upstairs first that it’s ok to offer him a deal. A guy like that wasn't going to talk if he thought his neck was on the line. They don't charge him for possession with intent to distribute if he co-operates. Better go pay upstairs a visit before she makes the call to have him picked up and brought in.
The Organisation (Detective Jane Sparrow Book 1) Page 3