They arrived at Building B on Lady Slipper Drive. Gary Doan and his crew were working on the second floor. Vanessa took the lead this time.
“Gary Doan?”
“Yeah, that’s me. You must be the detectives Steve told me about.”
“Yes. I’m Detective Layne, and this is my partner, Detective Strong.”
Gary Doan stepped over a toolbox and shook hands with both detectives.
“Nice to meet you. Terrible business, what happened to Ruth.”
“You knew the victim?”
“Sure, been here a long time. Nice lady.”
“Did you notice anything or anyone unusual the last few days?”
“No. Not me, but I stay pretty busy.”
“Can we ask your crew?”
“By all means.”
Vanessa posed the same question to each member of the team and received a similar answer. They weren’t getting anywhere.
They thanked Gary and his crew for their time and started back for the car. Jason looked at his notes.
“Pretty much a blank page. You do any better?”
“Just a note to look into Jose Jimenez’s record.”
“Seems like a good idea. Let’s go back to the station and see what Doc Davis has for us. He was supposed to do the autopsy this morning.”
Jason’s phone rang.
“Detective Strong.”
“Yeah, this is Tom Baxter. I had a message to call you.”
“Yes, Tom. You were on duty at Orchid Valley last night?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you hear what happened?”
“I saw it on the news, but I didn’t have anything out of the ordinary occur on my shift. I made my regular rounds and all was quiet. It’s pretty sleepy there after about nine o’clock.”
“I imagine it is. What about vehicles coming and going through the gate? Anyone unusual?”
“Not that I remember. There’s a lot of cars in that complex. I probably wouldn’t know one didn’t belong unless it was very unusual.”
“I understand. Thank you for calling, and if you think of anything, please call back.”
“Yes sir, I sure will.”
Jason hung up and continued walking back to the office with Vanessa. Jason shook his head.
“That was the security guard. He said nothing was out the ordinary last night.” Jason chuckled. “He probably has a hard time just staying awake most nights.”
Vanessa laughed. “I know I would!”
When they got back to the car, Jason went inside to say goodbye to Steve Jaffe.
“We’re done, Steve. Thanks for your help.”
“No problem. Anything else, you let me know.”
“Actually, do you have a map of Orchid Village?”
“Sure.”
“Can I get a copy?”
“Of course.”
The manager pulled open a filing cabinet drawer and retrieved a piece of paper, handing it to Jason.
“Anything else?”
“Just one thing; do you know when Mr. Winston will be back in town?”
“I expect him back tomorrow morning. That was the last I heard.”
“Okay. Have him call me, will you?”
“Of course.”
Jason said goodbye and went out to the car. He handed the map to Vanessa.
“I thought we might do some plotting on this map.”
Vanessa looked at it.
“Seems like a good idea.”
Chapter 6
Jason and Vanessa arrived back at the station after stopping for a quick bite. Instead of going upstairs to the third floor, Vanessa pushed the elevator button for the basement.
When the doors slid open, they stepped out.
To the left was the domain of the Medical Examiner, Doc Davis. His office consisted of an autopsy room, two large freezers for bodies, and a small, glass-walled cubicle where he did his paperwork.
Straight ahead, down a long hallway, was Records. If they turned right, they’d find themselves in the Forensic Science Department, run by Doctor Jocelyn Carter.
They turned left and pushed through the white doors. Doc Davis was standing with his back to them, speaking into a microphone hung from the ceiling above the autopsy table. A body lay on the table.
Jason and Vanessa stopped and allowed him to finish his thought before making their presence known. Jason nudged Vanessa and gave her a wink.
He cleared his throat. “Is there a men’s bathroom in here?”
Without turning around, the Medical Examiner answered with a huff.
“No, there’s no bathroom in here. Please go back out the way you came in.”
Jason persisted.
“A detective told me it was in here.”
“The detective was wrong. It happens more than you might think.”
Vanessa picked up the prank.
“Is there a woman’s bathroom in here?”
Doc Davis spun from his table.
“No! There’s no…” He caught sight of the two detectives grinning at him. “Oh, it’s you two. I should have known.”
Jason burst out laughing, but Vanessa played innocent.
“Does that really happen a lot, Doc?”
“You know it does. It makes me nuts, but they won’t let me put a lock on the door.”
He washed his hands and came over to his tormenters.
“Good to see you two. I guess you’re interested in what I discovered on Mrs. Rogers?”
“Indeed. Anything we can use?”
They followed Doc Davis into his office.
“Not much.” He grabbed a file on his desk and gave it to Jason. “She died from suffocation, no drugs in the tox screen, and no evidence of sexual assault.”
Vanessa was taking notes.
“What about time of death? Was it consistent with what we already knew?”
“Yes, despite the cold room. I’m relatively certain she died sometime between late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.”
Jason handed the file back.
“Anything else?”
“Just one thing. She had a third ligature mark on her right ankle.”
“Her ankle?”
“Yeah, and all three were rope burns. It looks like she was tied like a calf at a rodeo.”
“A calf?” Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “Like lasso the calf, throw it down, and rope it?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“Okay. Thanks, Doc.”
Vanessa snapped her notepad shut and looked at Jason.
“We go across the hall next?”
Jason nodded, and jerked a thumb toward the medical examiner’s office.
“Maybe Doc Josie can be more help than this fellow.”
Doc Davis rolled his eyes.
“You detectives! You’re always looking for someone to make your job easy.”
Jason grabbed his chest.
“That hurts, Doc. By the way, is there a bathroom down here?”
The doc pointed at the door. “Out! Both of you! Now!”
Both detectives obeyed, laughing as they left.
They crossed the hallway and went through the double doors bearing the name of Doctor Jocelyn Carter, Forensic Science Department. They found her sitting at a computer.
Short with curly, brown hair and black, wire-framed glasses around blue eyes, she could have easily passed for a classic college professor. She looked up and smiled as they came in.
“Hi, guys.”
Jason pulled up a chair across from where Doc Josie was sitting, while Vanessa opened her notepad.
“Hi, Doc,” they said at the same time.
Doc Josie handed a file to Vanessa, who flipped through it and made some notes. Jason wanted the short version.
“What’s the good word, Doc?”
“Well, let’s see. The garbage bag was from the box found in the kitchen, and the tape is cheap stuff you can purchase at any home improvement or dollar store. If you find the rol
l, we might be able to match it.”
“Any prints?”
“None. We checked the garbage bag and dusted most of the apartment. The only prints we found belonged to the victim. I do have one little tidbit for you, though.”
Jason smiled.
“That’s why you’re the best, Doc. You never let us down.”
“Usually, in a case of restraint by rope, we can find an embedded fiber or two, but nothing at all was left. Makes me think it’s some sort of hard, smooth rope.”
“Like a rodeo rope?”
“Maybe. Why?”
“Doc Davis said it looked like she been calf-roped,” Jason got up. “Good stuff, Doc. Any hairs or DNA?”
“None.”
“Okay, thanks a lot. See ya later.”
They left the lab and, as they waited for the elevator, Vanessa said what was on both of their minds.
“Not much to go on.”
The doors slid open and Jason pushed the button for the third floor.
“‘Not much’ is right.”
*******
As the two detectives arrived on the third floor, the lieutenant was calling their names.
“Anyone seen Strong and Layne?”
“Right here!” Jason announced.
Lieutenant Patton turned around and spotted them stepping off the elevator.
“Need you two in my office.”
They followed him in and Vanessa shut the door. The lieutenant started without waiting for them to sit down.
“I just got a call from the State Park Rangers. There’s a park just north of Gonzalez, and a body’s been found there this afternoon. The description matches the missing guy from Orchid Village.”
The lieutenant sat down and tossed a file across the desk.
“I’ve been in contact with Lieutenant Banks, and she released the case to us. Nina Jefferson happens to be up in Austin. The rangers are holding the crime scene until you two can get out there.” He pointed at the file. “The directions are inside. Have Doc Josie send a photographer with you, and get going.”
Neither detective needed to be told a second time. They were out the door and on their way in ten minutes.
*******
Palmetto State Park was just under an hour east of San Antonio on I-10. When they arrived at the front gates, the park supervisor directed them to follow the main road back to the shower house, turn right, and look for the crime tape.
It was impossible to miss. Large trees, which normally shaded campsites, were instead used as posts. The tape stretched for hundreds of feet in every direction.
Vanessa couldn’t help herself.
“What do you think? These people own stock in crime scene tape?”
Jason laughed. “Maybe they just like the color.”
He parked and the two detectives got out. Their cameraman was close behind.
A woman in a Park Ranger uniform came toward them. Short and round, with dirty blond hair, too much eye make-up, and a uniform two sizes too small, she struggled to walk across the uneven ground.
“Are you two the detectives from San Antonio?”
Vanessa stepped forward and extended her hand.
“Yes. I’m Detective Layne, and this is my partner, Detective Strong.”
She ignored the hand.
“Great! Follow me.”
They ducked under the crime tape and trailed the ranger down to the banks of the San Marcos River, which ran through the middle of the park. The ranger talked as she walked.
“Camper came down to fish this morning and found our guy. One of our rangers had seen the APB on your old man, put two and two together, and called you guys.”
Vanessa looked down at the body. It was Darrell Patterson all right, and torn open over his face, was a garbage bag secured with a piece of tape.
“Was the bag open when he was found?”
The ranger nodded.
“Yup. I figured a rock or something ripped it.”
Vanessa looked up and down the creek as she slipped on a pair of latex gloves.
“Where does this go?”
“It flows under I-10 to the north, and wanders for miles to the south.”
“And I imagine there are an infinite number of places to access the river, where a body can be dumped in the water?”
“Yes and no. There are many places to dump a body, but most are on privately held farms. The easiest place to dump would be somewhere near the I-10 overpass.”
Vanessa turned to see Jason examining the ground. “No drag marks and no tire marks. Probably floated here.”
Their photographer was getting the whole scene on film. Vanessa noticed the dead man’s arms were pinned under him. She bent over and rolled him onto his side.
“Jason, look at this.”
Jason joined her and saw immediately what she was looking at.
“Same burns as Ruth Rogers. What about the ankles?”
Vanessa let the body roll back where it was, and examined each ankle. The right one had a burn.
Vanessa got up and walked over by the park ranger.
“Is the guy who found the body still around?”
“No. We got a statement and let him go. He was pretty shook up, but camp records indicated he showed up yesterday afternoon.”
“Okay. Can we get a copy of the statement?”
“Sure. I’ll get it.”
As the ranger walked away, Jason came up.
“Photo guy is done. Their coroner is going to deliver the body to Doc Davis. You ready?”
“Yeah. I want to go up where I-10 crosses the river. Ranger lady says that’s the most likely spot our guy went into the water.”
“Sounds good. Let’s go.”
Chapter 7
Jason had returned to the station just long enough to drop off Vanessa and the photographer. He immediately left for the doctor’s office. He and Sandy had an appointment for an ultrasound.
Jason pulled into the medical building parking lot to find Sandy just getting out of her car. She smiled and walked over to where he was parking.
Sandy was tall, almost the same height as Jason, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She was just beginning to show and the kids in her classroom had asked if she was okay. She told them her surprise, and they were almost as excited as Jason had been.
She kissed him and hooked her arm through his.
“I was afraid you weren’t going to make it. Patton told me you had to go east of the city.”
“So you’re checking up on me, are you?”
She gave him a little squeeze.
“That’s right. And don’t you forget it.”
He pulled the door open for her.
“Yes, ma’am.”
They checked in and were about to sit down when the nurse called their name. Taking them back to the sonogram room, the nurse had Sandy get up on the bed. The technician came in, greeted them, and had Sandy expose her stomach.
The tech squirted some gel on Sandy’s belly, then took the probe and placed it on her.
Swirling holographs, in black and white, appeared on the screen. The technician moved the probe back and forth, searching for whatever it was she needed to see. Finally, she looked at both of them.
“Do you want to know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
The yes came from Jason, the no from Sandy.
“Okay, no.”
“All right, yes.”
This time Jason said no and Sandy said yes.
Jason looked at his wife and they started to laugh. The technician began to laugh as well.
“Well, it’s okay if you can’t decide. It’s a little early, and I can’t be sure yet. Maybe you’ll have it settled in time for the next appointment.”
Sandy was more concerned with how the baby was doing.
“Does everything look okay?”
“I’m not supposed to say anything before the doctor looks at it and fills you in, but I don’t see any
thing to worry about.”
The technician finished and cleaned Sandy up.
“You guys can follow me. I’ll take you to a room where you’ll see the doctor.”
*******
The doctor confirmed what the tech told them, and Jason left the doctor’s office to go back to the station. He promised Sandy he’d be home for dinner.
When he arrived on the third floor, Vanessa was there reading from a file. Her feet on the desk, she was leaning back in her chair.
“How was the ultrasound?”
“Good. Everything looks fine.”
“Did you find out the sex?”
“No.” Jason laughed remembering the scene at the doctor’s office. “It was too early. Sandy and I can’t decide if we want to know.”
“Knowing makes the shopping and preparation a lot easier.”
“Yeah. I don’t really care if we know, so I’ll leave it up to Sandy.”
Vanessa threw the file on desk.
“I ran a records check on the manager, owner, and gardener at Orchid Village.”
Jason sat down across from her at his desk.
“Come up with anything?”
“The owner and manager are clean, just parking tickets. The gardener is another story. He was arrested two years ago for peeping in windows at Orchid Village.”
“Really? That would explain his defensiveness.”
“The charges were dropped and, obviously, he kept his job.”
“Still, seems like something worth following up. What about our victim from earlier today?”
“He arrived at the morgue about an hour ago. Doc Davis said he would have something for us in the morning.”
Jason stood back up.
“Good. Since we don’t have anything urgent, I told Sandy I’d be home for dinner, so I’m out of here. See ya in the morning?”
“Yup. Rob said the baby would be in bed when I got home, and he has a steak with my name on it.”
“Enjoy.” The elevator opened and Jason stepped in. “Goodnight.”
*******
He sat in his car watching the front door. The next target was on the third floor, which made it more difficult to get in and get out. Planning was imperative, and he’d watched carefully to gain the information he needed.
He’d learned when the target went to bed, when the target got up, and if the target had visitors during the evening. All were important factors in deciding what time to make his move.
TIED TO MURDER (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 5) Page 3