In Plain Sight

by R E Gauthier

  She paused to make sure that the detective paid attention to her as she spoke.

  “I would also like to add Detective Freeman that you personally asked to be included on this taskforce, a privilege that can be taken away if you would prefer not to be included now.”

  “I am quite happy with my position I can assure you Ma’am.” The word Ma’am was almost spat out of his mouth; clearly he didn’t like her. Frowning she knew all too well what made the detective most upset; she had faced many a detective in her position who hated that the FBI came into town and took over cases and she also had faced many male detectives and agents who didn’t like female bosses. She guessed that Detective Freeman didn’t like her for the latter reason more.

  “Well I am glad we got that cleared up. Please continue Nikki unless there are more questions?” She made sure to put great emphasis on the word questions to quell anymore annoyances.

  “Crime scene analysts recreated the crime scene and theorized that Jeremy had been killed because he saw the killer’s face.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you her but I just want to know if we have any theories about possibly more than one killer perpetrating these crimes.” Baltimore Lead Detective Steve Worley asked.

  “Detective Worley we will go over theories of our killer’s profile after we have presented all three murder scenes.” Kelsey added before Nikki could respond. Could we just get through this without anymore interruptions?

  “Thank you, I again apologize for my interruption; when SA Hyland mentioned killer I just wanted that clarified.”

  “That’s quite alright Detective Worley, maybe I should have explained in the beginning how this would work,” Nikki said as she put up more pathology photos of the neck wounds.

  “The forensic signature of the knife points towards a very sharp, straight edge, further microscopic analysis of the wounds is being done and once we get more information we hope to be able to identify the possible type of knife used. But it is clear it isn’t your garden variety kitchen knife,” Nikki said.

  Kelsey placed a hand on Nikki’s arm signaling she wanted to take over the next two murder scenes’ briefing; she had sat idle long enough.

  “The next murder we’ll review is Kate Montgomery’s and as I have mentioned she has important ties to the Justice Department and that is why we moved so quickly once her case flagged on LEO.” Kelsey indicated for Nikki to enter the photos to be displayed on the monitor. Pausing so that the members of the taskforce could all look at the photos on their tablets and the monitor; needing them to see what she had seen when she visited the scene that morning.

  “I want you all to pay particular attention to the crime scene photos of the two sets of stairways to and from the master bedroom. We found one piece of evidence there this morning that hadn’t be found on the first crime scene analysis done six weeks ago after the body had been found.” Kelsey indicated Nikki to put up the photo she had taken with her phone.

  “I found what appeared to be a stain in the master bedroom walk-in closet and sent a FBI forensic team to collect the carpet swatch for analysis. I believe that this is a urine stain and it would appear that although the bathroom is only several feet away someone sat or squatted in this exact spot and urinated.”

  A murmur arose around the room. She waited until it sunk in before charging forward with her theory.

  “I don’t think it’s a far leap to theorize that the person who urinated here wasn’t the killer. It wouldn’t make any sense for a killer who had been careful up till now to leave a calling card such as this.”

  Murmurs of soft chuckles broke out in the room and Kelsey waited until everyone had quieted before she continued. She hadn’t meant to make the comment about the calling card but she couldn’t resist trying to lighten the mood some. Her own nerves were rattled when she saw that stain. Someone had possibly witnessed the brutal killing of Katherine Montgomery and it had literally scared the piss out of her.

  “I believe we’re looking for a witness to Katherine Montgomery’s murder. That someone saw the killer come in and hid in the closet and then witnessing the brutality of Kate’s murder she pissed herself in terror.”

  That comment garnered another round of murmurs but she didn’t allow it to slow down her progress.

  “Nikki assures me that there is a rush on getting it analyzed as quickly as possible once the CSIs get the swatch into the lab.”

  Nikki nodded and then put up autopsy photos of a redhead with now familiar cuts to ther throat and face.

  “Thank you Nikki, I will speak about the possible witness and we can discuss theories on that shortly but I’d like to go over some forensic facts of this case and then we can head into the third murder added last night to our case. As you can all see here, again we have the same knife wounds to the throat and face of Miss Montgomery the only difference is that she also had her tongue cut out and then placed on her chest. This differs from the other murders and we’ll discuss this further but first let us move to the murder of Natasha Beardsley who died this June 15th while out jogging on a wooded path in Schumaker Pond Park, Salisbury. A man out walking his dog found her and because of a string of rapes in the area this case didn’t get flagged until last night. The local police didn’t think the zip ties were of any significance until the rape kit came back negative for signs of a sexual assault. The evidence was almost non-existent except for one, someone had written ‘bitch’ in the dirt beside her body.”

  Kelsey took a sip of water to pause and see how her audience reacted to this information. Some of the members hadn’t had time to read the new murder file. She had read it twice over and now knew it by heart. The photos on the monitor showed a small framed woman fully clothed bound hands and feet with blood pooling around her head and neck, the word BITCH written in the dirt beside her head.

  Her stomached rumbled and she remembered she hadn’t eaten much for breakfast. Thinking this would be a great place to stop for the time being she smiled as she said, “I’m not sure if anyone else heard that but it would seem I’m being told I should have eaten more today.”

  A few guffaws and chuckles erupted before she continued.

  “We’ll stop here to have some lunch. I’ve been told the hotel staff will be providing us with a hot and cold buffet lunch every day so let’s take advantage of it and get back in here in an hour.”

  Chapter Three

  “Bottled up inside are the emotions that I hide.”

  Kelsey watched as all the taskforce members emptied from the room except for the FBI team she had assembled. Senior Special Agent Rachel Mitchell, Dr. Thomas Branson and Special Agent Nikki Hyland had worked with her on many cases. She had been given carte blanche in forming her own FBI team to work with and these three were the best she knew. They were more like family to her so she knew she could trust them with every aspect of this case.

  “Well that went well don’t you think?” she asked as Rachel approached with her customary smile and twinkling eyes. The graying hair giving her the distinguished look of the seasoned agent she was.

  “Yeah, but I think you’re going to have your hands full with that Detective Freeman, he clearly doesn’t like working under a woman.” Rachel said quite seriously.

  “Oh yeah Mack a man like him likes his women one way, can you say caveman?”

  Nikki chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows.

  She couldn’t help herself as she burst into laughter as well. Leave it to her best friend to attempt to lighten the mood with a little humor. She needed to laugh more but only found herself doing so when she had her best friend Nikki nearby. Not use to hearing many people use her nickname she earned at the academy, she winked at the petite red-head.

  “Well I’m glad it’s you that needs to deal with him, Rachel because I really don’t have the patience for a man like him.”

  “I’m well versed in the ever present inequality between men and women in law enforcement. Men can be such misogynistic pricks.”

  F
rowning she smiled at the shy tall man watching the three women take their frustration out.

  “Of course you don’t fall into that category Doc,” she said smiling when he ducked his head.

  The other two women chimed in to commend their male colleague for his forward-thinking.

  “Mack I thought you were about to throttle him in there. I’m sorry I should have explained how we would proceed with the briefing beforehand.” Nikki said ducking her head slightly.

  “No need to apologize Nikki I’m just not that patient today and although I didn’t think I could lead the briefing I also couldn’t sit idly by watching you.”

  Turning toward the tall thin man off to the side she said, “Doc I’m so glad you were able to join us.” She had learned over the years that this Clinical Psychologist could be even more serious than she was but when you needed a pair of behavioral eyes on a case like this no one else was better than Doc.

  “I’m grateful that you thought of me, it’s shaping up to have all the hallmarks of a very unique case. I’ll enjoy the challenge.”

  “Good because we’re all going to need to be on our toes with this one. This killer hasn’t left us many clues and even though we have similarities, she seems to be varying things for each murder.”

  “Do you really think it’s a woman Mack?” Both Nikki and Doc asked almost simultaneously.

  “Well you’ll have to wait like the rest of the taskforce to hear my theories, but I can tell you this; we’re looking for a woman killer and I do believe after seeing that urine stain today we are also looking for a woman or child witness but my bet is on a woman, maybe the ex-girlfriend that no one has been able to locate.”

  “Wow Kelsey have you had any sleep at all? You’ve been certainly working hard since we were assigned this case last week,” Rachel said as she looked straight into her eyes. “Are you taking care of yourself? Maybe I should make sure you eat well and we can have a chat.”

  Kelsey wasn’t looking forward to Rachel’s chat because every time they had a chat, she felt like she had been dragged through an emotional wringer. She smiled weakly. I might as well get this over with.

  Rachel had only let her eat half of her lunch before she started in on her about not taking better care of herself. On her first day at the FBI Academy she met Senior Special Agent Rachel Mitchell. The forty-something year old agent had been teaching classes on how to deal with the other law enforcement agencies and dealing with victim families. The top FBI Liaison officer and instructor, Rachel took Kelsey under her wing when she noticed the shy woman looked lost that day. She had been relying on Rachel to keep what little of an emotional side she had healthy over the years.

  Today she knew that Rachel wasn’t happy with how she looked and knew she would hear an earful.

  “You haven’t been writing in your journal lately have you?” Rachel queried.

  “I don’t how you can tell that by looking at me.” She always found it hard to believe that this woman could see the truth or lies in her words with only a look. If she didn’t know better she was sure she had the same gift as her Nanna Mackenzie.

  “I can see that same closed off look you had when I first met you and that only means one thing; you have resorted to hiding away your emotions again.”

  “I...have, well I tried...” She started but knew there were no excuses to be told why she hadn’t done what she learned to do ten years ago and had been slacking off from doing it for quite some time now.

  “Everything has been bogging down on me and then there is the anniversary coming up this weekend.”

  “Kelsey, we talked about this before in great length and you know that it’s not healthy to close off your feelings like you do. Are you planning on going this year?”

  She knew all too well Rachel spoke the truth; she had been a basket-case when she had entered into the training at the academy ten years ago. When she arrived she had spent the last eleven years with so much anger in her that was the only emotion she let herself feel. Anger had driven her to become more than competent in school. She excelled in every subject and at the age of sixteen, she graduated early from high school and had gotten a full scholarship to attend University of Maryland’s Undergraduate Law Program. She then completed a dual degree program in Justice Department Master of Art’s/Criminal Justice. Graduating with the highest honors she then went on to get her Master’s degree in Criminal Psychology. Once she reached the minimum age requirement to enter the FBI Academy at twenty-four she had almost finished her PhD in Criminology and Justice.

  The day she met her instructor in Communications and Media Relations, she saw the gentle look and felt safe with SSA Mitchell. Today that same woman, older but no less caring, looked directly into her heart and saw what she had been feeling for many months; numbness.

  “Ma’am”, and then she saw the stern look she corrected that with, “Rachel, I’ve not had much time between case to case over the last year or so to keep up with writing in my journal. I’ve started doing a dream journal instead.”

  “Well then that’s not as bad as I first thought but I noticed how you avoided answering my question, do you plan on attending this year?”

  Unwilling to face the one thing that had been weighing on her mind for the last few days, she wished she hadn’t mentioned the anniversary. This weekend marked twenty-one years since her family lost her cousin, aunt and uncle in a brutal home invasion. Every year since, her family came together led by her Nanna MacKenzie to celebrate and honor their lives, she had avoided going every year since was sixteen. I can’t sit there and listen to everyone accept their deaths as a simple home invasion when I know it was something much more sinister.

  “I’m certain this case will keep me too busy to attend again this year,” she said knowing all too well the astute SSA wouldn’t accept that excuse.

  “Kelsey you can take the time early on in this case, the way it looks we’ll have plenty of follow-up questioning and sorting through facts and what little evidence we have to keep us busy before we can do real investigating. You have an entire taskforce at your disposal so delegate and take the time for yourself.”

  She knew Rachel was right. Knew that she could get away and see her Nanna and family but she had avoided the messy emotional stuff for so long she just wasn’t sure she knew how to deal with it now.

  “I’ll think about it but first we need to get through this day of briefing and if I don’t get more food into me, we’ll be breaking again before too long.” She hoped Rachel would leave it for now. Kelsey resumed eating with more to occupy her mind. Could she make it this year?

  After a few minutes Rachel finished her meal and spoke; “So tell me about this dream journal.”

  “Well after a particularly difficult case last year I started writing down my dreams because I literally ate, slept and lived that case for three weeks. I had vivid dreams about the case and after training myself to wake up and write down the dream immediately, I started finding I’d been working out my thought processes about the case in my dreams. Clues, evidence, witness statements and photos all seemed clearer in my dreams and sometimes I developed theories about the suspects, their motives and behaviors. I solved that case when I dreamed about the man smoking and throwing away a cigarette at the last crime scene, a spree of home invasions and sexual assaults. We found a cigarette in the bushes three feet from the backdoor where he had entered that night, DNA analysis gave as a match on a man who had been released three months earlier on insufficient evidence. He had been questioned but had an alibi. After the DNA results we found holes in his alibi and re-arrested him. He confessed after we found incriminating evidence in his apartment.”

  “Wow that’s amazing. How do you suppose you dreamed about him smoking?” Rachel asked shaking her head.

  “I’m not sure exactly but you see when we questioned him he kept asking for a smoke and then one night I had read his statement and alibi before falling asleep. I must have been thinking about him so much I dreamed
about him.”

  “Yes but to actually dream about him doing something at the crime scene, that’s just so weird. Have you had any dreams about this case?”

  “I didn’t really want to tell anyone but yes I dreamed about the closet in the Master Bedroom in Miss Montgomery’s condo. When I went there this morning and found the urine stain, well it would seem that I dreamed about it for a reason.” She didn’t want to tell Rachel that she had also been dreaming about a petite, brown-haired woman calling out to her. Those dreams didn’t have the same context as ones about cases, those dreams were more personal.

  “Kelsey if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were psychic but it’s likely more to do with our brain being a powerful organ and reading those files before going to bed at night must open up an area in your brain that most don’t utilize. You should talk to Doc about it.”

  “Rachel please, I don’t want anyone to know about it. You know how people get, they’ll think I’m odd and most already do. I picked you, Nikki and Doc for this case because I know you won’t judge me but I don’t trust many others.” The word psychic rattled her because she heard another say those words in anger. You think you’re a psychic or something? Grow up Kelsey.

  “You can trust us, but if you don’t want me to say anything I won’t. Besides having our very own psychic agent may come in handy on this case and we could use all the help we can get.”