CHAPTER 10
Tim woke with a shock to the loud trumpet tones of Strangers in the Night. Still drowsy he looked at his alarm clock on the night stand. Quarter past six. Who on earth would call him this early? He grabbed his phone and almost dropped it.
‘Tim Sackley,’ he said yawning without looking at the ID on the screen.
‘We got another one,’ he heard.
‘Boss, is that you? What do you mean, another one?’
He heard a deep sigh. ‘We’ve got another body. Found fifteen minutes ago by a jogger. I called Jude too. She is on her way there.’
Tim felt his heart skip a beat. ‘Where?’
‘At the confluence of the Mary and Willamette, Skate park side.’
Ten minutes later Tim left. He took the road parallel to the Willamette. Behind the post office he turned onto the narrow sandy path that ran underneath the Newport Highway. It was only used by joggers and young couples and was in fact a loop that went back to its starting point. The first part followed the Willamette, the second part the Mary. The closer he came to the scene, the tenser he got, and by the time he parked his car in front of the yellow cordon, he was so stressed out he trembled all over. Jude’s red convertible was parked next to the coroner’s car and stood out like a sore thumb. Connely and Haynes arrived just as he was locking up his car. Connely pulled his tie as if he couldn’t get enough air. Susan looked pale. Inhaling deeply, Tim headed to the crime scene. The cold morning air hurt his lungs. Foster hadn’t given him any details on the phone, so he didn’t know what to expect. A second Bodini? He stooped underneath the yellow cordon and walked slowly to the riverbank. Deaver’s camera flashing lit up the dark bushes and gave the area a surreal aspect. Sells stood bowed over the body in his white paper suit. He saw Jude throwing up next to the bushes, her body shaking. He feared the worst.
The high grass between the bushes was still damp and the rising sun conjured up pearls of light on the leaves. He pulled the collar of his jacket up and walked to the spot where the body was lying. He smelled the stench before he saw the body. Flies were circling above it. He was expecting to find it in a black plastic bag, but it just lay naked under the bushes. Only the feet and part of the legs were visible. The skin had detached itself just like Bodini’s, and when he approached he saw the ripped open belly with the swarming maggots. Her face was all chubby and from her nose and mouth a transparent fluid had floated over her cheeks and had partially dried up. Come on man, pull yourself together. This isn’t your first time. Since the crime scene was partially visible from the Highway, Connely and Haynes were erecting a green plastic screen around the bushes to protect it from prying eyes.
‘Sorry boss,’ a deathly pale Jude said when she came back, ‘this was a bit too much for me.’
‘Do you know who found her?’
She pointed at a man in his thirties, sitting on a log on the bank of the river. He seemed in shock. His body was trembling all over .
‘Susan,’ he shouted, ‘take that man to the office and let him recover for a while. Give him coffee and a sandwich.’ Together with Connely she supported the man while they put him in the service vehicle. For a fraction of a second Tim saw the image of Sean being forced into a police car. He shrugged it off.
Sells had completed the examination of the body and gestured to two of his assistants to wrap it up in a sheet and take it to the hearse. He turned to Tim. ‘It looks like the same murderer,’ he said.
Tim nodded. ‘Yes, it does look like it. When is the autopsy?’
Sells rubbed the bristles on his cheeks. He obviously hadn’t shaved yet. ‘I have a full program today, but I’ll try to squeeze it in late afternoon. I take it you have no idea who the body is?’
Tim hesitated. ‘I have my suspicions, but…’ He didn’t finish his sentence. ‘If you can give me a 3-D picture again and the dental records….’
‘Good, I’ll put my people on it and you can expect the report tomorrow around noon. I take it you won’t attend the autopsy this time.’ He smiled slightly.
Tim shivered at the thought alone and Sells clearly didn’t expect an answer because he took off his paper suit, threw it in the back of the car and left. The hearse followed him closely.
‘We can’t do much more here’, he said to Jude, who was still very shaken. She nodded. ‘Follow me in your car. It’s difficult to find your way here if you don’t really know the area.’ He wondered how she had gotten here so quickly from Springfield, and how on earth she had found this remote spot. He turned his car and slowly left the sandy path. In his rear view mirror he saw the senator’s daughter in her flashy car.
‘You think you know who this is apparently,’ Jude said when they sat back at their desk. He didn’t answer right away but pulled up the website of the Corvallis County Library on his screen. He clicked on “staff and co-workers” and then clicked on Lilly Fitzpatrick’s name. A picture appeared on the screen with next to it her job description and mail address. It was a small picture and he tried to enlarge it to 150%. Too blurry. He reduced it again to 50%. Better. Fitzpatrick had dark hair that hung below her shoulders, was very pretty and was smiling faintly. A smile dimple was visible on each side of her mouth. After he pressed Ctrl P the printer started to buzz. A bit later he handed the picture over to Jude. ‘If I’m right, it’s this woman.’
‘Same physical characteristics as Bodini. How long has she been missing?’
‘She hasn’t been seen for a few weeks, but according to her parents she is on holiday in Florida. One of her colleagues reported her missing.’ He paused for a while. ‘She lived by herself too, at least during the week. The weekend she spent with her parents in Eugene.’
‘But if her parents say she is in Florida, why do you assume it could be her? I have to be honest, I didn’t study her face this morning,’ she added.
‘I don’t know. Call it premonition or something. I don’t think she ever went to Florida or never intended to.’
‘So when did she tell her parents she was going on holiday?’
‘Apparently she called them the day she was supposed to come home. Friday May 28.’
‘Strange that she didn’t tell them sooner. You don’t plan a trip to Florida on the spur of the moment. And her colleagues obviously didn’t know either.’
‘No, I found that very odd too. As far as I know, holidays have to be approved at least a week before the event. Look up her address so we can go take a look. Here is the parent’s number. Ask them very discretely if they have heard from her already. Make it sound like it’s a routine investigation, a follow-up.’
‘Will do.’
He looked at his watch. Only nine. It was still one hour till the appointment with Jason Trent, so he had time to talk to the jogger who found the body. Maybe it wouldn’t yield a lot, but it wouldn’t be the first time a murderer helped the cops along if the body wasn’t discovered quickly enough. He asked Susan to take the man to the interrogation room on the first floor. Unlike the one on the ground floor it had modern equipment and a bit more contemporary furniture.
‘No use you coming along,’ Tim said when he saw Jude get up from her chair. Much to Tim’s astonishment she didn’t protest and sat back down.
‘But I can go with you to Jason Trent, no?’
He sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Fine.’
Women. Strange creatures.
The jogger was sitting in a chair with his head down. When Tim came in, he looked up. He was still trembling but the color had somewhat returned to his face. In front of him was a mug of coffee of which he clearly had only had one sip. On the table an untouched sandwich. Tim couldn’t blame him. He took a seat at the other side of the table and smiled at the man.
‘You don’t mind if I tape this conversation? Much easier than having to write everything down.’
‘I just hope you people won’t keep me here too long,’ the man said slightly irritated. ‘I have an appointment at ten with a client in Albany, but by the looks of it I
won’t make it anymore. Not that I feel like it after this morning,’ he added.
‘It won’t take long, I promise. If you could give me your name and address I only have a few more questions for you.’ Tim started the recorder.
‘Thomas Endergard, 424 South West C Avenue, Corvallis.’
‘Hm, nice neighborhood, very quiet too.’
‘Nice enough.’ Endergard shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t agree completely.
‘You often jog mister Endergard?’
‘I try to every Monday and Thursday, but I don’t succeed a lot.’ He shrugged his shoulders again.
‘I take it you always use the same route.’ The man nodded. ‘And last Monday you didn’t notice anything on the river bank.’
‘No, not a thing. But then I stayed on the path, so I couldn’t have seen it anyway. God, when I think about it that she might already have been there…’ The disgust was all over his face. Tim suspected that the body had been there for longer than Monday but he didn’t say.
‘So, why didn’t you stay on the path this morning?’
‘Because I had to pee’, the man said defensively as if it was a crime with a jail sentence attached to it.
‘And when you discovered the body this morning, you immediately called the police?’
‘I called 911. I don’t have contacts for the local police in my mobile.’
‘Of course sir. I understand. Are you married mister Endergard? Any children?’
‘Divorced. My weft left with the children a year ago. Went to live with her lover in Monroe.’ The rage still sipped through in his voice. He shrugged his shoulders again.
‘You live by yourself then.’ Endergard just nodded. ‘A last question and then you are free to go. What car do you drive?’
This question clearly came out of the blue for the man, because he looked at Tim, very puzzled. ‘A Dodge pick-up. Why do you want to know?’
‘Just a formality. I have to hand over a complete report to my boss, and he wants to know everything.’ Tim produced a faint smile. He saw that Endergard didn’t believe him at all.
‘Well, since your report has to be complete…. it is light grey, built 2004, license plate 155-800. Do you need anything more? I really don’t see why you need all this information. I only found her by accident and God, I wish I hadn’t.’ He was really getting very angry by now.
‘Thank you mister Endergard. I think I got everything I need. If I have any further questions I will contact you. I’ll have a police car take you home.’
‘No thanks. I’ll take a taxi.’ Endergard reluctantly took Tim’s extended hand and left, leaving a scent of old and sour sweat.
‘Fitzpatrick’s address is 1070, Jefferson Avenue. I looked it up on Google Earth and it seems to be a large villa with multiple units. I can’t believe she would rent the whole house,’ Jude said when he sat back at his desk.
‘Maybe one of the other tenants knows or saw something. We should wait for the autopsy report and the picture though; I don’t want to scare anyone without a reason.’
Jude opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment his phone rang. It was Deborah. Jason Trent had arrived.
‘Good, accompany him to room one. We’ll be there in a minute.’
Deborah just closed the door of room one behind her when they entered the narrow corridor. When she saw Tim she pulled the sides of her mouth down and nodded in the direction of the interrogation room.
Jason leaned against the wall, head down, arms crossed. He didn’t even look up when Tim and Jude came in.
‘Take a seat mister Trent,’ Tim said while he himself sat down. Since there were only two chairs, Jude stayed next to the door. Jason Trent was a bulky guy with blond hair and hands like coal shovels. His jeans looked filthy and had several worn patches on the knees. His upper arm muscles strained the short sleeves of his shirt.
‘First of all, tell me why I’m here, and if I don’t like it I will leave’, Jason said angrily. He gazed at the mirror behind Jude.
‘Please sit down Mister Trent. You are not accused of anything. Information, that’s what we want.’
Jason pulled the chair back from the desk with a jerk and sat down. ‘I don’t have a lot of time, so make it quick.’
‘I will determine how long this conversation takes Jason. It all depends on how well you co- operate.’
Tim pulled Bodini’s 3-D picture out of the folder Jude had given him and put it in front of Trent on the table. The young man looked at it, but showed no signs of recognition. Neither of the men said anything. Finally Jason said: ‘And how does this concern me?’
‘I just want to know if you know this woman.’ Tim waited. Jason shuffled left to right in his chair and was very nervous. At that moment he seemed to decide to co- operate. Indeed, denial was of no use. He picked up the picture again and made it look like he studied it intensely. ‘Hm, I’m not sure. It’s such an odd picture, like it’s made by a computer.’
‘Indeed it is. But do you know her?’
‘She looks like Beatrice Bodini.’ He looked at Tim with question marks in his eyes. ‘Is something wrong with her?’
Tim ignored his question and carried on. ‘When did you last see her?’
‘Well, I don’t really remember. Must be a while ago.’ Ostentatiously he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Tim pointed to a no smoking sign on the wall when he saw Jason wanted to light one. The fag went back in the pack and back in his pocket.
‘Can you be a bit more precise about the time you last saw her? What occasion, where?’
Like he was very bored Jason said: ‘I think it was at Timberhill…. Oh yes, now I remember.’ Jason’s eyes lit up as if in one go he had solved the whole mystery.
‘On a Friday?’ Tim asked.
‘Probably, yes. She spent all week at that stupid university. We only met on Fridays.’
‘Did you have an affair?’
‘An affair?’ Jason laughed loudly. ‘Man, you only call it an affair when one of the two is married. What we had was a relationship, at least if you can call it that.’ He curled his lips as if he had real bad memories about it.
‘And you picked her up at university on Fridays?’
Jason looked at Tim very irritated. ‘Are you finally going to tell me what this is all about? Why do I have to answer all these stupid questions? Beatrice and I are done man, over, for a while already. God dammed, I have better things to do than waste my time here.’ He stood up and made his way to the door.
‘She has been missing for a few weeks now Jason.’
The young man didn’t seem very impressed but sat back down again anyway. ‘And what has that got to do with me? I told you we are history man. By the way, you could take a look in the cloisters in the area. I’m sure you will find her very quickly.’ Tim felt that the couple had had sexual problems. Probably Jason hadn’t got it off.
‘How long did your relationship last?’
‘A few months, at the most.’
‘Who ended it?’
‘I did’, Jason said defiantly. ‘I don’t need a prim like that. Nice to look at but that was all I could do…. Look but don’t touch. Stupid cow.’
‘I can imagine that’s not a lot of fun,’ Tim said laughing. ‘Has she ever been at your house?’
‘A few times, but more than a glass of wine and touching her breasts, no…. I’m used to a lot more man.’
‘And were you ever at her house?’
‘In Salem? No, never. I wouldn’t drive all the way just for a glass of wine and some boobs.’
‘So you never took her home then.’
‘I just told you man, I’ve never been there.’ Jason looked pensive all of a sudden. ‘This is more than just a disappearance, isn’t it?’ The question hung in the air.
‘What do you do for a living mister Trent,’ Jude asked all of a sudden.
Jason looked at her very puzzled as if he had forgotten she was there too. Tim understood why she used t
his tactic. ‘I sell second hand cars.’
‘Your own business?’
‘No, a garage in Albany. But what has that got to do with it?’
‘We just want the complete picture, that’s all.’
‘Dammit’, Jason cursed, ‘this feels like a third degree. Do you have to know the state of my bank account too? Or the mileage on my car? Ah, this could be interesting too. I shop in the supermarket around the corner, I eat spaghetti three times a week, take a shower every day and I masturbate three times a week’, he roared. ‘Anything else? Just ask away.’
‘Well, that information doesn’t help me a lot’, Tim said smiling, ‘but thanks anyway. He wasn’t impressed at all by Jason’s shouting. Tim put Bodini’s picture back in the folder and saw Fitzpatrick’s 3-D picture. Jude must have put in in there and he understood why. ‘Jason please, calm down. I don’t accuse you of anything. Just information, that’s all. One more question and then you can go.’ He shoved the picture of Fitzpatrick in front of him. Jason looked at it briefly.
‘That one disappeared too? Man, Corvallis certainly isn’t a good place for young women. They vanish like snow in the sun.’ His voice sounded sarcastic again.
‘You know her?’ Tim repeated his question.
‘No, never saw her. But this one looks like I would get a bit further than just feeling boobs.’ He laughed at his own joke.
‘Yes indeed, she has disappeared too. But this one we haven’t found yet.’
Jason looked at him with bugged eyes. ‘That…. That means you did find Beatrice. Then why this third degree?’
Tim paused for a while to let his words seep through. Then he said: ‘Because Bodini wasn’t alive anymore when we found her.’ He studied Jason’s facial expression while he thought this through. He turned pale around his nostrils and burst out in a sweat. He wiped his forehead with the palm of his hand.
‘Was she….. was she murdered?’ he stuttered. Tim nodded. ‘Man, I really haven’t got anything to do with that’, he said in a panic. ‘You have to believe me. It has been months since I last saw her. Really. I’m sorry for her but this hasn’t got anything to do with me.’ He paused for a moment. ‘By the way, how did I end up here anyway?’
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