‘Doesn’t look too good’, David said.
‘Indeed, not good at all. Come on, lets take a look.’
Tim rang the doorbell. Nothing moved inside. They gazed through the front window, but the only thing they saw was the contour of a settee. Through the carport they went to the back of the house. Via a gate in the wooden fence they got into the garden. Two windows gave out onto it. The only one without a curtain seemed to be the kitchen. Except for a glass on the sink, everything seemed neat and tidy. No sign of life. The grass of the lawn was ankle high and the few plants looked very sad and dry. When they left the garden through the gate, Tim almost bumped into a stocky woman, her arms folded in front of her. She looked at them enquiringly and it was clear she wouldn’t step aside. She wore a flowery apron that seemed to hold her breasts in an iron grip. She looked in her sixties. Her voice was strident when she said: ‘So, what is it that the gentlemen are hoping to find here?’ She clearly was the guard dog of the neighborhood.
Showing her their badges Tim said: ‘Inspectors Sackley and Halloway from Corvallis police. You live around here ma’am?’
The woman was startled and the harsh grooves in her face seemed to soften a bit. ‘Yes, I live next door’. She pointed to an almost identical bungalow on the left side. ‘What is going on that Corvallis police end up in Salem?’
‘Maybe you can help us Mrs.……’
‘Mrs. Simmons’, she said, ‘Claire Simmons.’
‘All right Mrs. Simmons, maybe you can help us.’ The woman looked at them with questioning eyes. ‘Can you remember when you saw Miss Bodini the last time?’
‘I can tell you that exactly’, she said proudly and without hesitation. ‘That was May 15. I know because I was waiting for my grandson Jeffrey. I promised to take him to Kids Park that day. I was on the lookout at my front window when a taxi arrived with Beatrice. She waved at me.’
‘And after that you didn’t see her again?’
‘What is going on here?’, Claire Simmons asked. ‘Did something happen maybe?’
Tim took a few seconds before answering. ‘Not that I know of, but she hasn’t been at university for a few weeks now. Her friend is worried. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?’
Claire Simmons got red in the face. ‘Do you really think I spy on my neighbors?’ she said angrily. ‘It happened only once because I was waiting for Jeffrey.’ She folded her arms in front of her. Tim supposed she looked out of her window most of the time but didn’t want to admit it.
‘No, of course I don’t think that, but as her neighbor it could very well be that you noticed things without even wanting to.’
She relaxed again. ‘Well, I never saw a boyfriend here, but I don’t know about university.’
‘And she was here every weekend?’
‘As far as I know, yes. Normally she arrived Saturday morning and left again Monday morning.’
‘By taxi every time?’
‘Yes, she doesn’t have a car.’
‘And apart from the taxi you never saw another car here?’
The woman thought about it for a while. ‘No, but then I never paid any attention to it. But now that you mention it, that Saturday when I left with my grandson, a white van stopped on her drive. I didn’t think anything of it and I don’t know if he went into her house or not. I remember thinking it could be a mechanic for a repair or something.’
‘Did you see a company’s name on its side?’
‘I don’t think so. Not that I can remember.’
‘Then why did you think it was a mechanic?’ David asked. She was a little surprised that Tim wasn’t the only one asking questions.
‘Because they drive vans like that’, she answered sharply.
‘And did you see the driver, or maybe a man in the passengers seat?’ David asked.
‘He wore a cap. I saw that very clearly. But I don’t think there was anybody else in the car. The sunshade was down anyway. And I didn’t see anything else’, she said definitely.
‘That’s fine Mrs. Simmons’, you helped us a lot. But I really believe Miss Bodini will show up very soon’, he said in a light voice. ‘She might even be on holiday.’
‘On holiday’, the woman scorned. ‘She never went on holiday. She didn’t even want to spend money on a car. When you come to think of it, all that money she inherited from her parents and of course this bungalow. That belonged to her aunt, but she died a couple of years ago. Phew, if I had that kind of money I would know what to do with it.’
Claire Simmons was a word cascade and clearly had no understanding of someone with a lot of cash but who never spent it. The inspectors shook the woman’s hand and left. While they got into their car, Tim saw Claire Simmons watch them with doubtful eyes.
When he came home that evening Cam’s car was on the driveway. He had completely forgotten she would be back from her trip to San Francisco. He had only called her three times during the two weeks she was gone. Again the image of a naked Susan appeared in front of his eyes. He felt his cheeks glow in shame. How could he have been that stupid, risk everything he had? The only hope he had was Susan keeping her mouth shut. He tried to remember if he had taken care of all the traces there could be left. He had washed the bed linen and put it back on the bed. She hadn’t had a toilet bag but had used a bit of perfume, but that scent should have long gone. No, he should be safe, nothing to fear.
‘Hi Cammy, he said cheerfully when he closed the front door behind him. The aroma of roasted turkey met him in the hallway. Cammy came to meet him and nestled herself against him like a purring cat. Tim smiled. ‘Glad to see you back. At least I will get my healthy meals again.’
She playfully punched him in the stomach. ‘Is that the only thing that matters for you…. Food? She gazed at him with her grey eyes. ‘You look tired.’
‘And you look pretty’, he said with admiration in his voice. Her dark hair hung around her face in soft waves.
‘Don’t change the subject’, she laughed.
‘Well, I had long days this week, slept very little. We found a dead woman’s body in Pioneer Park yesterday morning. David and I attended the autopsy today, well, at least part of it.’ He felt his stomach turn again.
‘Oh no’, she said surprised. It wasn’t very clear to him if it was about finding the body or attending the autopsy. ‘And do you know who she is?’
‘Maybe, but I can only be sure after the autopsy report and the dental records. He sighed. ‘Cammy, I try to not bring my work home with me. I’d rather not talk about it anymore. I’m going to jump in the shower and then we can have your delicious roast’, he smiled.
‘I’ll set the table in the meantime. Take your time. I still have to mix the salad.’
The hot water did the world of good to his muscles. He hadn’t realized he was so tense. It wasn’t his first murder case, but this one was different. A young girl that still had her whole life ahead of her, slaughtered in a sickening way. His first murder case had been where a man had worked on his wife with a knife and had killed her in the end. While interrogated he quickly confessed. The second one was the murder of an older man, killed by his fellow drinker because of a woman. That was solved rather quickly too. Then the third, the murder in the warehouse which he was still working on, at least before Bodini came along. He was stuck there. But this time it wasn’t a spur of the moment killing. It must have been pre-planned. He thought about the empty eye cavity and the ripped open belly. What to think of the watch? The alarm had been set to 09:45. That had to mean something, but what God dammed? The moment she was killed? Maybe the time in itself wasn’t that important, but the numbers could be. He decided to forget about it for the moment and got out of the shower. He wanted to enjoy his evening with Cammy. He dressed and walked downstairs. When he entered the kitchen he was surprised. The table was set for three people. Questioningly he looked at Cammy. ‘Are we expecting someone?’
She pointed to the hallway. ‘He just arrived.’ He turned his head and felt a
sudden rage overpowering him. ‘What the hell are you doing here? I can’t remember inviting you!’ Tim's eyes, dark and threatening, went from his older brother Sean to his girlfriend.
‘Cammy did’, the man said, his head down.
‘I hoped you would be in a good mood tonight’, Cammy said, ‘and I thought, well maybe… it would be a good time to reunite. He is your brother after all Tim’, she added in a hesitant voice.
‘My brother!’ Tim bellowed, ‘Brother!’ He felt the rage rise in his throat. He turned to face Cammy. ‘And how did you know he got out of jail? Or did he escape with your help? Did he call you maybe?’ Cameron didn’t answer, just gazed.
‘I will leave Cam’, Sean said. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.’ He turned around and headed for the front door.
‘No Sean’, Cammy said determined this time. ‘I invited you and I want you to stay.’ To emphasize her words she pulled the chair from the table and gestured him to sit down. Sean hesitated and looked at his younger brother. Tim ostentatiously turned his head the other way.
‘Come on you guys’, Cammy said firmly, ‘you are both grown men, at least I hope you are. But by the looks of it I have my doubts.’ She took the roast out of the oven and placed it on the table, then put two slices on each plate and added some salad. When she started to pour the wine, Sean said ‘No thanks Cammy, not for me. Just some water will do.’
Surprised Tim looked at him. ‘So, at least you learned something in prison. When did they release you anyway? I thought you still had at least one more year to go.’
‘Good behavior and I did AA.’
Tim burst out laughing. ‘Good behavior, wow, that’s a new one. Certainly you must mean that you didn’t beat someone up during your time, no?’
Sean had always been one for brawls. He didn’t even mind taking on a bigger guy and beating him to mush. Even as a child he had a temper. At twenty two he married, but after three years Ellen had left him because of his short fuse and his drinking problem that started to emerge.
‘Tim, you know I’m very sorry about what happened. I had too much to drink that evening, that’s true and I should never had gotten in my car. You can’t even start to imagine how sorry I am.’
‘The only thing I know is that by your fault my daughter has to go through life as a vegetable and that she will never leave the institute again’, Tim said bitterly. ‘Gwen even took her own life because she couldn’t cope.’ He threw his napkin on the table and pushed his chair back. ‘You both enjoy the turkey Cam prepared for you. I’m going for a walk and when I come back I want you gone. I never want to lay eyes on you again.’
‘Tim please’, Cameron pleaded, ‘don’t do this.’ But he marched out of the kitchen and a few seconds later the front door slammed close. The chilly air felt good on his heated face. He walked until he got to a wooden bench where he sat with his head in his hands and moaned. Dammit, how could Cammy have done this and why? Out of the blue his memory showed him pictures of Debby. Debby as a carefree child on the swing, Debby with a little white hat, blowing candles on her third birthday, Debby in her fairy suit in a school play, Debby splashing in the neighbor’s swimming pool. He wept over her lost childhood, over her lost life.
How long he had been out there, he didn’t know, but when he got back home everything was dark. He went up the stairs and hesitated. He didn’t want to face Cam. Determined he opened the door to the guest room and switched on the light.
CHAPTER 6
After a terrible night with nightmares and images from the past, Tim left the house without even having breakfast. His anger had faded a bit but he still felt outraged. As he left, he heard Cammy in the kitchen but he had fled through the back door into his car like a thief in the night. In fact, he thought, she had done this for him but he couldn’t forgive her and he wondered if he would ever be able to. How could she even think he would reconcile with his brother? How could an intelligent woman like Cammy be this stupid? He saw images of Debby in the bare hospital room, pale and motionless. He heard the doctor’s voice: ‘We can’t do anything more for her Mr. and Mrs. Sackley. I believe your daughter should be taken care of in a specialized institution.’ He still felt the tears pouring from his eyes and he saw Gwen, pale as death. Since then, Debby’s situation hadn’t changed, but Gwen hadn’t been able to get over it and had killed herself a year later. Tim gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles hurt. He had lost his entire family in an instant. How could Cammy even think he would ever forgive Sean? For all he cared, Sean could rot in hell for what he had done. He only got seven years. Debby got life.
‘Good morning inspector’, Deborah said when he entered the office. He mumbled something inaudible and hurried into the narrow corridor. As he opened the door to the office the buzzing of voices welcomed him. Only David looked up.
‘You’re late’, he said looking at his watch. ‘Some homework to do this morning?' he joked. Tim didn’t react, pulled his desk chair back, sat down with a thud and started his PC.
‘The autopsy report came in’, David said. ‘I put a copy in your drawer.’
Without saying a word Tim fished the document out of the drawer and skimmed through it. He skipped the description of the mutilations and went straight to the conclusions on the last page. Probable cause of death: strangulation. Pre mortem mutilations: removal of left eye, removal of left nipple. Post mortem mutilation: womb removal. Estimated time of death: May 18 or 19.
Tim looked at his calendar. ‘This means she died a few days before she was reported missing. That also means that she lay on the riverbank a while before we found her. Let’s assume she was killed May 19.’ His index finger traveled over the dates on the calendar and counted. ‘Killed May 19, found June 9. So she was there at least 19 days if we subtract the time she was tortured.’
‘Unless he kept her dead body for a while and dumped it later.’
‘I doubt it. I don’t think he was interested in a dead body, only a live one he could torture at his pleasure and watch her suffer and struggle.’
‘So we assume the murderer kidnapped her on Saturday when she came home’, David said pensively. ‘Then he took her to his home one way or another…’
‘Ho, not so fast. We’re not even sure it is Bodini.’
‘But if it is her, we can be sure he kept her for at least three or four days in his house. According to the autopsy report he chained her ankles and hands with metal bands.’
‘Clearly not a spur of the moment thing’, David said. ‘You normally don’t have metal chains lying round in your house’.
‘Why do you assume he held her in his house? She must have screamed a lot.’
‘Seems the most logical thing to me. If he tortured her for a few days, he would have wanted her close to him.’
‘Maybe’, Tim said, ‘but then he has to be living by himself and fairly remote. I can’t imagine neighbors hearing something and not being alarmed.’ He sighed. ‘This obviously isn’t his first time. I think he has been playing this game for a while already. We’ll have to check the database for similar cases, specifically on the West Coast.’
David opened VICAP, the FBI’s national database, and typed in ‘woman – strangulation.’ Over three hundred case files appeared on the screen, only for the West Coast. Twenty seven of them were unsolved. Then he refined his search on ‘removal eye’. That still resulted in a hundred and twenty cases, of which fourteen unsolved. A further refinement with ‘removal internal organs’ still resulted in twenty three of which twelve unsolved. When he finally narrowed it down with ‘object in belly’ the total was reduced to two, both unsolved.
‘Interesting’, Tim said. ‘Which states?’
‘One in California, one in Oregon three years ago.’
‘If this is our guy’, Tim said rubbing the stubble on his chin, ‘he has been inactive for three years. Could mean he has been in jail for a minor crime and has been released recently.’
David pulled every file s
eparately on his screen. Both times the victims were women between twenty and thirty, living alone. ‘According to the pictures they had dark shoulder length hair.’
‘When was the last case?’
‘Let’s see, November 2003, almost seven years ago.’
‘That doesn’t have to mean he only started then. Maybe he didn’t use the same modus operandi before. In that case it wouldn’t be on our list.’ Tim took a quick look at the pictures. He had asked Sells to make a 3-D picture because her face was not recognizable anymore. While holding the picture in front of him he was amazed at the capabilities of modern techniques. ‘Good, first things first. Identification. The dental records aren’t in yet but I’m afraid we’ll need Anna Wickmeyer’s help with this,’ Tim said. ‘After that we’ll dig through the two other files.’
At five past one, Deborah announced Anna Wickmeyer’s arrival. Tim quickly swallowed the last bite of his tuna sandwich. He didn’t want to let her wait. Grabbing his jacket from the chair he headed for the reception hall. She was sitting in one of the seats, leafing through a magazine. That reminded him he had to ask Deborah to bring a bit more variation in the magazines. Girls couldn’t possibly be interested in motorbikes and cars. He didn’t want to startle her. As he approached her he coughed lightly. She looked up and got out of the seat. Although it wasn’t very warm her hand felt moist.
‘Miss Wickmeyer’, he said in a friendly voice. ‘Glad you could come by so quickly.’
‘Please call me Anna’, she said.
‘Good, Anna. If you don’t mind we can go to the interrogation room. It’s a bit quieter there and we have more privacy.’ He stepped into the corridor. Anna followed him.
‘Have you had lunch? I could fetch a sandwich from the cafeteria if you want,’ he said whilst pulling out the chair and gesturing her to sit down.
‘No thanks. I mean, no I haven’t had lunch but I wouldn’t be able to get anything in anyway.’
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