"We're all in this area, except my parents," Mrs. Banuelos said, "and, someday my parents may return. We will bury her here so she is close to most of her family."
"As soon as we return to Bakersfield I'll have the Coroner's Office contact you to make arrangements. In the meantime, you can contact a funeral home of your choice and they can tell you what needs to be done," Annie said, as she handed the grief stricken Mrs. Banuelos her card. "Please let us know when the funeral will be. We would like to attend, if that's OK with you."
"Thank you. That would be very kind of you. I'll let you know as soon as the arrangements are made."
Officer Lancaster spoke up at this time, "Mrs. Banuelos, please feel free to contact me directly if there is anything I can personally help you and your family with during this trying time. Anything at all, please don't hesitate."
"Thank you all so much for your kindness," Mrs. Banuelos said.
"Again, please accept our condolences. We feel like we know Gabriela now. She has been part of our lives for almost two weeks," Annie said. "We will, of course, continue working to find the person responsible for her death. Knowing who she is, and how she came to be in Bakersfield, is a big help to our investigation."
"Just so you'll know, the truck driver who gave Gabby a ride to Pumpkin Center stressed how much she wanted to reunite with her family again and how much she missed all of you. I know it's small comfort, but she loved you all very much," Tom said.
Officer Lancaster escorted Mrs. Banuelos out to her car and then returned to the conference room.
"Such a nice lady to have this tragedy come into her life. The only positive note is now they have closure about Gabriela, if that's any help. If I hear anything else, I'll be sure to let you know. If you don't hear from me, I'll most likely see you at Gabriela's funeral.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Friday, 24 August 2012, 9:00 AM
Noura was busy reviewing some files for an upcoming case when her boss entered her office.
"Good morning, Mitch," Noura said with a smile.
"Good morning, Noura. May I have a word with you?"
"Of course," Noura said as she rose and followed her boss into his plush office.
After they were seated, Mitch steepled his fingers under his chin and regarded Noura. She had been his lead paralegal for many years and her work was exemplary.
"I'm afraid I just had some bad news, Noura, and it concerns your brother, Tito."
Her boss was one of the few people who knew about her black-sheep brother.
"What about Tito?" Noura asked, as she leaned forward in her chair.
"Remember that case where the chain of custody of the evidence was broken and Manolo Alcantar was released?"
"Yes," Noura said. She suddenly paled. She knew this conversation was not going to be good.
"Manolo Alcantar was arrested last night for armed robbery and murder. This time he killed the person he was robbing. And your brother, Tito, was with him and was also arrested."
"Oh my God," Noura said. "No one called me." She begin to weep as the ramifications of what she had done began to sink in.
"Noura, I know this is a shock. I had my doubts about the innocence of Mr. Alcantar when we took the case as a favor to your brother. It seemed straightforward. Because of the knife with his fingerprints, I truly felt he was guilty. Nevertheless, you know, our basic premise is to make sure each person we defend gets a fair trial. Because I felt Mr. Alcantar was guilty, I was hoping to get him a sentence that included a lot of counseling and perhaps he would be rehabilitated. But with the loss of the evidence, he was free to go. Now he's in real trouble and your brother along with him.
"I talked to the Prosecutor who is handling this case and asked to be kept up to date on its status. I'm not sure if we should represent them or not. I really have a bad feeling about this."
"No, Mitch, I don't want our firm involved. Let them get Public Defenders. I'll check the visiting hours and go talk to Tito and see what he says."
"I looked up visiting hours for Saavedra and they are Sundays from 11 AM to 3 PM. So the best time would be for you to visit him this coming Sunday. Then, we can talk again on Monday. By then, I'll have all the preliminary reports and pleadings from the Prosecutor.
"In the meantime, there's nothing you can do. You might want to take the rest of the day off and go visit your family and let them know what's going on. It would be better than having them find out from a newscast You can be sure the media is going to jump all over this because of the previous trial where Manolo Alcantar was released."
"Do you have any information about what happened and who the victim was?" Noura said.
"As best I can understand, it's a gang related matter. Apparently, someone from the East Side Crips stole something from the Southside Bakers - which apparently both your brother and Mr. Alcantar belong to - and the two of them went to East Bakersfield to take back whatever was stolen. During the robbery, Mr. Alcantar allegedly shot and killed an East Side Crip. I don't remember his name."
Noura stood up to leave his office, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I'll go ahead and leave for the rest of the day and talk to my parents, but I'm serious about not representing them."
Mitch could see the coldness in Noura's eyes and it gave him pause. I wonder why she's so adamant about not helping them, he thought. I think there's more going on here than meets the eye.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Friday, 24 August 2012, 10:00 AM
Mr. & Mrs. Ortiz parked their car close to the front of the Lamont substation and walked briskly up the path to the front door.
The deputy at the front desk greeted them, noting that they seemed distraught.
"Good morning, can I help you?" she said.
"Our daughter is missing. We need someone to find her before she ends up like the other girls who went missing," Mr. Ortiz said.
"Please, have a seat and I'll have someone come out immediately and take down the information. Did you bring a picture of your daughter?"
"Yes, it's right here," Mrs. Ortiz said as she pulled a photograph of Maria out of her purse.
"OK, just hold on to it for the moment. We'll get someone out here right away," the deputy said.
A few minutes later, another deputy arrived and escorted the distraught couple into a private conference room.
"I'm Deputy Sam Drexler. Please, have a seat," he said.
"I understand your daughter is missing. Can you tell me the last time someone saw her?"
The couple related the story told to them by the Abeyta sisters and that Maria failed to return home the night before. The couple went to bed early and didn't realize she was missing until this morning.
"OK, give me all the information on Maria and we'll send out a missing persons report."
After they finished with everything they knew, the deputy said, "I'm going to turn this case over to the Detective Bureau at the main office. They will contact you if they need more information. I'm sure they will want to talk to the Abeyta sisters to get a description of the man they were all sitting with at El Mercado Latino. If you do hear from Maria, be sure to call us."
Mr. & Mrs. Ortiz went back to their home on Bates Avenue, within walking distance of El Mercado Latino, where their daughter was last seen.
* * *
When Annie and Tom returned to their desks at the Detective Bureau after their journey to Roseville, the first thing they saw were copies of the missing persons report for Maria Ortiz.
"Oh, no," Annie said, "Not another one."
Tom looked over his copy. "She fits the profile of Gabriela Lozcano and Carmen Gutierrez. We need to talk to her parents and the three Abeyta sisters who were with her when they met the man Maria stayed there with and see what they can tell us."
"I'll talk to the Sergeant and make sure we have people out talking to Maria's neighbors and anyone at El Mercado Latino that might have seen them. He bought the girls drinks, so the bartender may
remember him and can give us a description also," Annie said.
"Right. I'll call the parents right now, set an appointment for tomorrow morning at 10 AM, and tell them to make sure the Abeyta sisters are there. We need to get their description of the man and any other information they can give us. Also, let's put Sarah on alert so she can go over there right away and make a sketch - actually three sketches - one from each girl done separately, and from the bartender if he remembers anything," Tom said.
"Well, there's nothing more we can do tonight and it's been a long day," Annie said. At least we have a name now for Gabriela Lozcano. I'll talk to Doc on Monday and find out when her body is scheduled for release to her family. He may also know by then when Carmen Gutierrez's body can be released."
* * *
When Annie arrived home, she saw the light on her answering machine flashing. It was a message from Jesse.
"Annie, hi it's Jesse. I just heard about the new missing girl from El Mercado Latino. This may not be significant, but I see a pattern to when the girls go missing and when their bodies are dumped. Give me a call as soon as you get in, no matter how late, OK?"
Annie dialed Jesse's number and was surprised when he picked up immediately after only two rings.
"Hey there, Geronimo," Annie said. "What's up?"
"Haha, funny, Annie," he said, laughing. "I charted the time-line of what's been happening and here's what I've found so far.
"Gabby - do you have her full name now? - was last seen on August 3rd by the truck driver, Stetson Maddox. Her body, as well as Doc can tell, was left in the vineyard on August 12th and found on August 13th. Carmen Gutierrez went missing on August 13th in the evening. So, if it's the same perp, he dumped Gabby the night of August 12th and abducted Carmen the evening of August 13th."
"Gabby's full name is Gabriela Maria Lozcano. I'll bring you up to date on her history as soon as I get my notes typed up," Annie said.
Jesse continued, "Doc thinks Carmen's body was dumped on August 22nd in the early morning hours. It was found several hours later. Now, a new girl has gone missing on August 23rd.
"To recap, there were approximately nine days between when Gabby was last seen on August 3rd and when her body was allegedly dumped on August 12th. The second victim, Carmen, was last seen the day after Gabby's body was found, on August 13th. Carmen's body was found nine days after she was abducted, on August 22nd. Now, a third girl has disappeared the day after Carmen's body was found.
"To follow this pattern, if this is indeed the work of the same person, the body of the third victim, Maria Ortiz, should show up sometime on September 1st. If she does, another victim might disappear on September 2nd."
"Oh, Jesse, that's a scary thought. And we have no leads on who the perp might be so we can stop him. Tom and I are going to talk to Maria's parents and the three Abeyta sisters tomorrow morning and get sketches made of the man they talked to at El Mercado Latino. When Sarah finishes with her sketches, she'll give them to the PSO who will make sure each deputy on all the shifts has a copy so they can be on the lookout for him. Maybe someone will even recognize him, who knows?"
"After you visit the parents of the new missing girl, give me a call and let me know what you found out. I have a real bad feeling about this and I'm afraid she is right now going through what the other two suffered."
"We should be back in the office by 1:00 PM. I hope that Sarah can meet with the three girls and get some sketches done right away. The media is getting impatient and starting to throw barbs at the way we're handling the case and people are starting to panic, especially in the Hispanic community. I don't blame them. I wish we had more to go on, but no concrete leads have surfaced yet. It's frustrating."
"You can only do so much, Annie," Jesse said. "I'll wait to hear from you tomorrow. Maybe something else will turn up in the meantime."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Saturday, 25 August 2012, 10:00 AM
Annie and Tom arrived promptly at 10 AM at the modest home of Hernando and Lucette Ortiz, located on Bates Avenue just off E. California and Larcus Avenues. Their home was within walking distance of El Mercado Latino.
When they entered the home, they were pleased to find that the three Abeyta sisters were already there. Everyone, as to be expected, was upset and extremely worried about Maria.
Annie and Tom assured everyone that the Sheriff's Office was doing everything they could to find Maria and determine what happened after the three sisters left her at El Mercado Latino.
"What we really need right now," Tom said, "is a detailed description of the man you were talking to. We have the descriptions you gave to the deputy who took the original report, but it was second-hand, told to them by Mr. & Mrs. Ortiz. Ladies, what we hope you can do is talk to our sketch artist, individually, and help her make a drawing of what the man looked like. Can we set up an appointment for Sarah Freemont to come here and talk with each of you?"
The three girls nodded their heads. Annie went back outside and called Sarah to set up an appointment for 1:00 PM. They didn't want the three girls to have a lot of time to compare their memories of what the man looked like before Sarah had a chance to get their unique impressions.
When Annie returned to the living room, she said, "Sarah Freemont will be here at 1:00M. She will work with each of you separately to make a sketch of how you remember the man. It is important that the three of you do not discuss what you remember in the meantime. We don't want your individual impressions of the man to be mixed up with the impressions of your sisters. Do you understand?"
"We've already talked about him a little bit, and described him to Mr. & Mrs. Ortiz, but what you are saying makes sense. We won't discuss him any further," Marta, the oldest of the three sisters, said.
"Good. Everyone remembers different things and the smallest memory can be very significant," Tom said.
For the next hour, Tom and Annie talked to Maria's parents about their daughter and went over the information on the missing persons report. They didn't have a lot more to add and were very fearful that their daughter had fallen into the hands of the same man responsible for the disappearance of Gabriela Lozcano and Carmen Gutierrez.
After interviewing each girl separately to get their statements, Tom and Annie took the three sisters to El Mercado Latino and had them point out where the five of them sat and where the man had purchased their drinks. They said the bartender on duty at this time wasn't the same one who served them when they were there with Maria. As far as they could remember, his name had been Fernando.
By the time they drove the Abeyta sisters back to the Ortiz residence, Sarah Freemont had arrived and was ready to talk with each sister about the man who was last seen with Maria.
Tom and Annie returned to El Mercado Latino that evening and talked to the bartender named Fernando. He remembered the group, because the girls came often. He didn't pay much attention to the man with the girls as they were very busy and he declined to work with Sarah to make a sketch. He said he didn't have a good enough recall of the man to be very useful.
They asked Fernando if he remembered when the sisters had left and how much longer Maria and the man had remained. He remembered looking at the clock when the girls got up to leave and said it was about 10:00 PM, but he didn't pay attention to when Maria and her escort left.
* * *
When Joseph answered the knock on his front door at 5:00 PM, it surprised him to see Detectives Avants and Weston standing there.
"Hi Joseph. Sorry to drop in on you like this. We have a problem we hope you can help us with. Can we come in for a moment?" Tom said.
"Of course, please excuse my manners," Joseph said, as he stepped aside. "Please, come in. You are welcome in my home."
Annie and Tom entered and Joseph led them to a comfortably furnished living room.
"Can I get you a glass of water or coffee? I don't have much to drink. I don't drink alcohol or soft drinks and I'm all out of juice."
"No, we're fine," T
om said. "Relax, Joseph, have a seat."
They couldn't help but notice three terrariums that had tarantulas in residence.
Joseph saw their glances and appeared a little uneasy.
"You know we have two deaths with numerous spider bites because you were part of the autopsies," Tom said as Annie gingerly walked over to look at one of the terrariums.
Tom could see her shudder and tuck her hands securely under her arms after wrapping them around her body.
"Yes," Joseph said. "That is terrible. No one should abuse people or animals that way."
"During our investigations, we visited several local pet stores to see if we could find out who would buy spiders and keep them as pets. We're trying to understand the mindset of someone who would collect spiders. At two of those shops, we were surprised to see your name come up.
"Maybe you can help us understand the fascination some people have with spiders."
Joseph hesitated before he answered, and fidgeted in his chair as he watched Annie staring at his pets.
"Hmm, this person, this man or woman who did this to these girls, doesn't love spiders or think of them as something special. He abuses them and uses them for his own needs and then kills them. Much the same way he kills the girls."
He got up and walked over to the terrarium that held the smallest tarantula and lifted it out.
Annie backed as far away from him as she could as Joseph let the tarantula crawl up his arm. "This is Buster," he said.
"I think I'll wait outside," Annie said, as she hurried to the door and left.
Tom smiled. "Annie doesn't care much for spiders," he said.
"You see, that's the problem, Detective Weston," Joseph said. "This spider is like one of my family. It's like having a kitten or puppy. They respond to kindness and attention, but most people don't see them that way."
"How did you get interested in having spiders as pets?" Tom asked. He really hoped Joseph didn't ask him to pet Buster as he crawled up Joseph's shirt sleeve.
Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1) Page 13