What Burns Within

by Sandra Ruttan

  “You get repeat business down here, do you?”

  “Ah, the wit is intact. Though that’s the kind of comment I expect from guys like Tain, who has been giving me repeat business lately.”

  “Perp couldn’t kill him properly the first time?” Craig asked, thinking back to a moment and time when it had taken all his willpower to hold back from wrapping his hands around Tain’s throat and throttling him.

  “He’s on the child abduction cases.”

  The words impacted like a physical blow. He’d just been so glad it wasn’t him. “Oh, I didn’t know. What have you got for me?”

  “Well, this isn’t news. It was clear she’d been strangled at the scene, and we didn’t need to cut her open to prove that. I did check her fingernails and teeth for any indication that she fought back and got a piece of this guy.”

  The look on the coroner’s face told Craig the answer. “Nothing?”

  “Not a thing. She gripped the ties instead of her killer. All the threads we did get matched them perfectly.” He slid a file off the counter. “But we got something off the ties.”

  Craig frowned. “Shouldn’t FIS be handling them?”

  Dr. Burke shook his head. “Not right away. They came to me to establish conclusively that they matched the ligature marks around her neck, which they do. But we did find a bit of blood on the ties. See this?” He passed Craig an evidence photo. “The streaking runs across the cluster of ties, which indicates it should match someone who handled them this way, so not from some accident that her husband had or anything else. Whoever bled on them definitely had them wound together in the way they were when your victim was killed.”

  “Well, that’s something. Anything physical connecting this guy to the scene will help.”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t promise you DNA.”

  Craig felt like he’d shrunk half a foot. “Why not?”

  “It’s a really small sample, not much for the lab to work with. I’ve sent the material over already, and I phoned personally and stressed how important this is.” He scowled.

  “Let me guess. You were yelled at about the fact that of course they know it’s important after spending half the night at another crime scene.”

  “Something like that. If I thought it would do any good, I would file a complaint.”

  “I wouldn’t. One of our officers was raped before he killed Mrs. Sandhu.”

  The scowl vanished. “I wish I had something more for you.”

  “Me too.” Craig took the file copy and walked out the door.

  A quick glance at the table was all Ashlyn needed to persuade herself that she should keep her eyes down.

  Sergeant Quinlan had gone all-out, with Tim Hortons coffee, donuts and assorted cookies. It looked more like a social club event than a status meeting on an active police investigation into abductions and murders.

  She wasn’t quick enough to avoid catching a glimpse of the sour look that emerged when Daly walked in.

  Tain moved around her, putting himself between her and Quinlan’s end of the table. Within seconds Daly sat down on the other side of her and got straight to business.

  “How far did you get with your background checks?”

  Zoe Mullins responded with what could only be described as a seething tone. “Julie Darrens was nine. She played the flute and took lessons from a teacher in Burnaby. She sang in a youth choir and was about to start grade four at Holy Cross Elementary. From all appearances she comes from a stable family, three older siblings, no hint at discord, and she was a Girl Guide. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

  “Isabella Bertini was ten. She also lived in Burnaby, was a Girl Guide, and was about to go into grade five at the Burnaby Fine Arts School. She loved to draw.”

  “Same Girl Guide troop?” Tain asked.

  “No such luck,” Eric Urquhart inserted, appearing indifferent to Zoe’s glare. “Different packs.”

  “There’s no connection between the Girl Guide groups.” Zoe cast a slit-eyed look at her partner.

  “Still, there’s always the possibility they could have been on some sort of weekend camping thing together, a rally that had a number of local packs involved,” Ashlyn said.

  “Ashlyn’s right. You need to check that out,” Quinlan told Zoe, who clenched her teeth as she looked down at her notes.

  As though this case wasn’t bad enough already…. Ashlyn felt Tain tense beside her. That sixth sense kicking in, knowing him as well as she did, she didn’t need to look at him to know what he was thinking.

  Zoe spoke deliberately, carefully. “Not to dismiss that suggestion, but Taylor Brennen wasn’t a Girl Guide, and she was never in Brownies. So far as we can tell, Taylor’s life was spent shuffling between her mom’s, her dad’s and her Grandma’s house. The only other thing she did regularly was look after her younger brother. Nobody indicated she participated in any activities, and she attended Sacred Heart Elementary.”

  There was silence at the table for a moment. Ashlyn resisted the urge to scratch the place on the back of her neck that always itched when she felt uncomfortable.

  “We have three girls, living in three different regions. Different schools. Two were Guides but in different packs. Beyond their gender, that seems to be the only thing any of them have in common,” Tain surmised. “Any chance we could be looking for a school photographer or a substitute bus driver or someone that might have seen all of these girls?”

  “It’s possible,” Eric said, nodding. “We can check that out.”

  “Of course, it is August. If this guy saw these girls during the school year, why start snatching them now?” Zoe said.

  “We’re grasping at straws to come up with a lead in this case,” Daly said. “It’s definitely worth checking potential school links. After all, we do have someone who seems to be comfortable moving from one region to another. There’s no geographic link or focal area he prefers. Substitute support staff for schools seems our best bet, and we should still follow up on the Girl Guide angle. It’s always possible that someone who had exposure to a number of girls through a Guide activity saw Taylor and just took advantage of the situation.”

  “That’s right. We know the perp planned to grab Lindsay—” Ashlyn began.

  “How do we know that?” Zoe said again, glaring at Ashlyn from the other side of the table.

  “Video shows him moving behind her, making slight physical contact. Then the video shows her returning to the hallway to retrieve a necklace. We’re guessing somehow he unlatched the clasp to lure her back out there. He grabbed her and took off. The necklace was found outside in the back parking area, though the video clearly shows it on the floor in the hallway. Her parents confirmed it belonged to her.”

  “It’s too big of a coincidence,” Tain said. “The technical guys called over this morning and said they’d blown up the images. Nothing tangible about our guy that we can work with, but still, we know he targeted Lindsay.”

  “Isabella and Julie were both taken in close proximity to their homes, Lindsay from a place she frequented on a regular basis with her church.” Ashlyn glanced at Eric, sensing she had his interest, though it was clear she had nothing but Zoe’s scorn. “Taylor was taken from the fairgrounds. Not her home, not her neighborhood, not a place she could normally be expected to be at.”

  “Are you suggesting that she might have been taken by someone else?” Eric asked.

  Ashlyn shook her head, slowly at first, then more emphatically. “There’s no reason to believe that,” she said, hoping her cheeks didn’t betray the truth when she thought about what Tain had said to her less than twenty-four hours earlier. “All I’m saying is that Julie, Isabella and Lindsay seem to have been definitely targeted. Taylor’s abduction could have been more of an impulse.”

  “In which case, it would be more critical to find a link between the other three,” Daly said. “It is possible Taylor’s abduction was a crime of opportunity.”

  “And it’s also possible i
t was someone else,” Zoe said. “After all, this guy is taking his time, with more than two weeks between the first two abductions. Then more than a month goes by and he grabs two girls on the same weekend? That’s a big jump.”

  “I think,” Tain said, “it’s most important that we examine all potential connections right now and keep an open mind. We don’t have enough evidence to be sure of anything. We don’t even have a specific abduction site for Taylor Brennen. We’d be foolish to rule anything out conclusively based on her not fitting the tenuous connection we’ve found so far.”

  “If Taylor Brennen wasn’t abducted by the same person, this investigation should switch back to Burnaby and we should assume the lead on the case again,” Zoe said, her eyes narrowing.

  “That would be premature,” Quinlan said. “Right now, Coquitlam is handling this case with our assistance. Surely you’ve not forgotten that the arson investigation seems to be linked to the abductions? All the arsons have been in Coquitlam. Are you prepared to take the lead on that investigation as well?”

  Zoe’s cheeks burned and for a moment, she glared at Ashlyn as though Ashlyn was personally responsible for every hardship she’d ever endured in life. Ashlyn turned her gaze back to the file.

  “Right, so the next logical step is looking at Lindsay Eckert and seeing if anything about her connects to Isabella and Julie, as well as pulling substitute support worker and teacher lists for the schools involved, and records of who did school photography or anything else that could tie in.”

  “Even the choir Julie was in,” Ashlyn added. “Sometimes they use rented school buses to travel if they have an engagement, or they might have had a group photo.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly will you be doing while we’re collecting all this information?” Zoe said.

  “We have a fire scene to attempt an evidence recovery from. The concrete barriers that blocked fire trucks from accessing that side of the building have to be moved first,” Daly said. “At this point, it’s too soon to tell, but we’re hoping that there might be some clues at the scene where Isabella’s body was left that can help us with the investigation.”

  Ashlyn felt like her heart had jumped into her throat. Tain’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he glanced at her, and she drew a deep breath.

  She knew it was a long shot, but she had to test her hunch about that room. A hunch that had been building since they’d questioned Luke Driscoll at his church.

  “From yesterday?” The doctor glowered at Craig for a moment and then went to the records desk. “What was the name?”

  “Lori Price.”

  He pulled a file from the cabinet and flipped it open. “You’ll need to speak to Dr. Zaid about this.”

  “Is he here?”

  “I’ll try paging her.”

  So much for a nice bedside manner. Craig was relieved that the doctor had turned his deepening scowl in another direction for a moment.

  He hung up the phone and glanced at the clock on the wall, stared at Craig for a moment and then turned back to look at the clock again.

  “She’s…”

  “Sorry, Mark.” Craig heard the voice from behind him. She came into his peripheral view as she leaned against the counter beside him. “What do you need?”

  Mark, who hadn’t introduced himself to Craig and had remained nameless until then, nodded at Craig and passed Dr. Zaid the file, leaving without a word.

  She glanced at the file before looking over at Craig, who held up his ID automatically.

  “Zafina Zaid,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need to know the results from the rape kit you did on Ms. Price.”

  “Follow me.” She led him down the hall toward a small office, her long legs moving at a brisk pace but somehow maintaining an elegant, feminine gait. She glanced at him as her eyebrows rose over her black eyes. “Generally, the investigating officers are here during these exams.”

  “I know.” He sat down across from her.

  “No excuses. I can almost respect that.” Zafina flipped the file open. “Not that I need to look. Fortunately, we don’t do so many of these that we lose track.”

  She recounted the details succinctly and precisely, without even a hint of a blush in her olive cheeks. The doctor didn’t glance at Craig until she was finished detailing the proof of trauma. “You don’t look surprised.”

  “I’m not. The same guy has raped five other women that we know of.”

  “Ah.” She tossed her silky, dark hair over her shoulder. “The bend-over bondage rapist.”

  Craig winced. “I don’t think he’s been dubbed that in the media.”

  “He’s being called that by people like us, who have to see the results of his handiwork. No doubt the press is calling him something civil, like the Silent Stalker. Scary, but not enough for anyone to really break a sweat over.”

  “Tell that to my supervisor,” Craig muttered.

  “You’re going to maintain that your department is doing everything it can when you weren’t even here for the rape exam?” Her black eyes were enormous as she stared at him.

  “You sound like a reporter, not a doctor,” Craig said, standing.

  She stood as well, her height enabling her to look him in the eye with ease. “We get reporters here, you know. Asking questions. Wanting to know who the investigating officers are.”

  “And in the future you can refer them to the media liaison person at the RCMP.” He turned to open the door, stopping when he felt her hand on his arm.

  “Look, I’m just warning you that there are some people who feel this case isn’t being given priority. Until yesterday, I’d only heard whisperings within my professional community. Now I’m on every reporter’s hit list for an interview. Don’t tempt me to give them my candid opinion.”

  “Ms…. Dr. Zaid, I’m not here to tell you what or what not to say to the press. You do what you can live with, within the boundaries of your ethical guidelines in your profession. All I care about is finding the guy who’s doing this and putting him away. Being hounded by reporters comes with the territory when you work in a hospital with rape victims and attempted homicides, and if you don’t like it I suggest you find another line of work.”

  She followed him down the hall, undeterred. “So you’re telling me that your department is doing everything it can. I doubt it. You want to know what I see? An overworked young officer trying to catch a rapist without a partner who’s going to get hung out to dry if he doesn’t catch this guy soon. Maybe if I said something, your superiors would at least give you some help, shoulder the blame.”

  Craig took a few more steps and then realized that she wasn’t following him anymore. He spun on his heel and walked back to where she stood.

  “I did have a partner. Constable Lori Price. Now maybe you can get off your high horse and try to appreciate why I wasn’t here for her exam, and no, I don’t have a new partner. We weren’t exactly expecting this.”

  He pushed her stricken look from his mind as he spun around and walked away, the incident almost overriding the one thing that was different about Lori’s case than the others.

  There was semen present.

  Tain tried to keep the anger out of his voice. “You are the most stubborn, infuriating person I’ve ever had to deal with.”

  “Oh, come on.” Ashlyn twisted her face to give him a look of profound exasperation. “You’ve dealt with yourself plenty over the years.”

  “Why is it that you think being reasonable about something makes you seem weak? You don’t have anything to prove here.” He choked back what he wanted to add. That she didn’t have anything to prove to him.

  “Why is it that when a woman holds firm, she’s stubborn and unreasonable, but when a man does it, he’s principled?”

  “This isn’t about you being a woman.”

  “Really? Then why the hell do you have a problem with me going up there?”

  “I…Damn it, Ashlyn, I don’t ha
ve a problem with you going up there. But I said I’d do it. Why are you trying to stop me?”

  “You said you’d do it to support my proposal to Daly.”

  “No, Ashlyn, I didn’t. I said it because I believe it’s our best chance for fresh leads in this case.”

  He watched her uncross her arms and reach around to scratch her neck, a mannerism he was used to seeing from her.

  “I’m lighter than you are. If one of us has to go—”

  “Hey, wait a second. I thought you wanted prints from the table and the window? Now you’re talking about going into the room?”