BLOODSTAIN (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 2)

by John C. Dalglish

  Jason returned to find Vanessa standing about thirty feet from the body, taking in the whole scene. He took his notebook back out. “What do you think?”

  “Well, he was clearly comfortable here,” she pointed at the highway. “It's not very far off the road. Probably stripped her and raped her, if she was raped, somewhere besides here. We know she was shot here, but it feels more like a dumpsite. I don’t think he spent a lot of time here.”

  Jason added her thoughts to his notebook as she continued.

  “The wine glass, and leaning of the body against the tree, indicates a ritual or message of some kind. The choice of the victim could have been random, but the crime itself was clearly premeditated. Assuming she was raped, the final pose speaks more to why she was killed than the sex act itself.”

  Doctor Davis waved and pointed at the body. He wanted to know if they were done. Jason gave him a thumbs up and they started preparing the body for transport. Evidence bags were put over the hands and the dead woman zipped into a body bag.

  Jason and Vanessa rounded up the uniformed officers on the scene and began a search line. Beginning at the road, they walked slowly until they reached a point approximately fifty yards past the body. The only items bagged for evidence were two soda cans and a cigarette butt. Jason didn’t think they would yield anything helpful because of their distance from the body.

  The scene immediately around the body was immaculate, especially for a forest, and it was clear the killer had taken his time making sure very little in the way of evidence was left behind.

  Jason and Vanessa headed for the car.

  *******

  Lieutenant John Patton was waiting for them when they got back to the station. “What have we got?”

  Sitting in the lieutenant's office, Jason had his notebook open. As he went over his notes, the lieutenant leaned back in his chair and listened intently. When Jason had finished, John Patton looked at Vanessa, then back at Jason. “What's your next step, JD?”

  “We wait for the autopsy report and, in the meantime, check our description against missing persons.”

  Vanessa spoke up. “I think the wine glass could be a signature. I'm gonna do a search for any similar crimes.”

  John Patton's phone rang. “Good. Keep me in the loop.”

  He picked up the phone and the detectives went to work.

  *******

  Vanessa sat down at her desk opposite Jason.

  “I'm going to put together a description of the crime scene and send it out to all bureaus in Texas. I want to see if this matches something done elsewhere.”

  “Makes sense. If same method was used, it almost certainly would be the same guy.”

  Jason's phone rang. “Hello?”

  “JD, Leonard Davis.”

  “Yeah, Doc. What have you got?”

  “Ran the girls fingerprints through the data base and got a hit. Jennifer Samples, age twenty-four, arrested on prostitution charges three times in the last year,” Jason could hear the medical examiner flipping pages. “Last known address was 224 West Dixon. No phone.”

  “Thanks, Doc. Call me when you get the autopsy done?”

  “You’re the first. Bye.”

  Vanessa, working on the profile to send out, looked up from her notes as Jason hung up. “Got something?”

  “An address. Wanna’ go?”

  “Sure. Let me get this on the wire, and I'll meet you downstairs.”

  Jason nodded, got up, and stuck his head into the lieutenant's office. “Got an address on our dead girl, we're going to check it out.”

  The lieutenant didn't look up from his paperwork. “Don’t let me slow you down.”

  Jason laughed. “Yes, sir”

  *******

  They arrived at the address the medical examiner had given Jason. A tiny house in old San Antonio, it clearly didn’t belong on the front of Good Housekeeping. White, with a green roof, and a small porch, it might be a candidate for the front of Demolition Journal. They had to avoid the hole in the bottom step to move onto the creaky porch.

  Jason knocked. No answer. He knocked again.

  From inside they heard some movement, and eventually, the door opened to reveal a short, blonde haired girl with bleary eyes. Her make-up from the previous night was still on and smeared. “Yeah?”

  Jason showed his badge. “I'm Detective Strong, and this is Detective Layne. Mind if we ask you a few questions?”

  “What about?”

  “Does Jennifer Samples live here?”

  The girl paused, looking from Jason to Vanessa and back again. “Yeah, she's my roommate.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “Why? Something wrong?”

  Vanessa stepped forward. “Can we come in?”

  The girl gave them a scared look. “I...I guess so.”

  She swung the door open and led the way into the tiny living room. Jason stayed standing while Vanessa sat next to the girl on the couch. She looked younger than their victim.

  “What's your name?” Vanessa asked, softening her tone.

  “Barbie… Barbie Jenkins.”

  “How old are you, Barbie?”

  “Nineteen”

  Jason was taking notes while Vanessa talked.

  “There's no easy way to say this. Jennifer was found dead this morning.”

  The girl caught her breath, and tears welled up in her eyes. Jason watched her start to shake. She was too young for this life, like so many others, and it broke his heart every time he saw it.

  Vanessa pulled a mug shot photo out of her pocket and showed it to the girl. “Is this your roommate?”

  The girl stared at the picture, tears running down her face. She nodded and Vanessa put the picture away. “Can you tell us the last time you saw her?”

  “We were standing with some girls three nights ago when a guy pulled up. Jenn approached him while the rest of us talked.”

  “Where were you?”

  “South Presa”

  Both detectives are familiar with South Presa Street. In an industrialized section of town, it’s the largest area for prostitution in San Antonio.

  “Did you see him?”

  “No.”

  “What about his car?”

  “Not really, except it wasn't a car, it was a pick-up.”

  “Can you remember what kind or what color?”

  “No, I didn't really look that close.”

  “And you haven't seen her since?”

  “No”

  The girl wiped her sleeve across her face and Vanessa touched her shoulder. “I'm sorry about your friend. Do you know if she has any family we should contact?”

  Barbie shook her head. “She was from Palatka, Florida but she never talked about her family.”

  Vanessa gave the young girl her card. “If you think of anything else, will you call us please?”

  Barbie nodded stiffly. The detectives left her on the couch, clutching a pillow.

  *******

  Back outside the house, Jason shook his head. “That’s no life for a young girl.”

  “It’s no life for anyone.”

  “Of course, but when they’re that young, it’s so hard to understand.”

  Vanessa knew what he meant, and like Jason, it made her angry. “It’s likely our guy is cruising, looking for a victim.”

  “Yeah. It also seems he knows where to look.”

  “Based on the last time she saw her friend, and the time of death the Doc gave us, it appears our guy kept the girl about twenty-four hours,” Vanessa looked back at the house as they drove away. “Barbie. Doesn’t fit. That’s no Barbie doll life.”

  Chapter 3

  Jason was in first the next morning and sitting on his desk was the autopsy report from Jennifer Samples. He’d been wrong about the victim being raped. A vaginal swab produced no DNA and there were no signs of forcible intercourse.

  He pulled out the post mortem diagram and examined it. She had ligature marks
on her wrists, indicating she had been restrained, and Doctor Davis felt zip ties were likely used. As he had suggested at the scene, she was killed by a single gunshot to the heart. The blood on the wine glass was the victim’ s.

  Vanessa had sat down at her desk and he didn't know she was there until she spoke. “Morning, JD.”

  He looked up from the report. “Morning. Davis sent the autopsy report up.” He closed it and slid it to her while he summarized.

  Vanessa ignored it. She had a file waiting on her desk this morning, too. “I have a hit on the case file description I put out yesterday. It’s a case report from detectives in Austin,” she flipped some pages. “Six months ago, a twenty year old female was found shot once through the heart. The body was naked and propped up. In her hand was a bloodstained wine glass.”

  Jason had moved around his desk to read over her shoulder. He looked at the photo of the Austin girl, reached over for the autopsy report on his desk, and showed Jennifer Samples picture to Vanessa. The two women could have been twins.

  Dark Hair, Mid back length. Thin with big eyes. They laid the two pictures side by side. Taking into account the wine glass, a chill ran up Jason's spine.

  Vanessa punched him in the arm, making Jason flinch. She was up and moving. “I told you, didn't I? I told you the wine glass is a signature. I'll brief the lieutenant, and we'll head for Austin.”

  Jason looked at the name on the Austin file.

  Marcie Walker.

  *******

  Vanessa read through the Marcie Walker file some more while Jason drove the hour and a half to Austin.

  “She was found at Walter Long Lake, east of the city. A 9-millimeter bullet and casing were recovered. The bullet was found lodged in the tree, just like ours. The blood on the wine glass was the victims. They took a DNA swab, but it was negative, and no fingerprints were found. The victim's clothes were never recovered.”

  Jason suddenly realized he hadn’t gone to Evidence to sign out their bullet. “Did you sign out the bullet and casing?”

  “Right here, zippered bag.” She flipped open the glove compartment so Jason could see. “I’m giving even money it’s a match for the one Austin PD has.”

  “Seems likely. Doc Davis was right, though. Forensics said the bullet wasn’t good for much but verifying the gun caliber. The casing gives us the best hope of a direct match to the gun.”

  Vanessa flipped the page. “Marcie Walker was a student at Austin Community College and had just started her sophomore year. She was from San Antonio, where her parents still live. She graduated from Lincoln High School.”

  Jason took the exit off the highway and turned right onto 8th Street. “Is the parent’s address in the file?”

  “Yes. West San Antonio.”

  “We need to go see them when we get back to town.” Jason parked in front of Austin police headquarters.

  Detective Nina Jefferson met them at the front desk. Black, short and stocky, with brown eyes, and curly black hair, she carried herself with the air of an experienced officer. Jason guessed she was no older than twenty-five. After introductions, she led them towards the elevator. “Good trip down?”

  Jason gave her a wry smile. “It never is, thanks to the traffic. Coming into this city takes forever.”

  Detective Jefferson laughed. “We do our best to make you feel like part of the crowd.”

  Vanessa pulled out the zippered evidence bag. “Can we get the ballistics guy to look at these?”

  “Sure. We’ll drop them off on the way up to the fourth floor.”

  *******

  The fourth floor, all of it, is Homicide. It appeared to be a quiet day, with just a few officers at their desks. One read a newspaper, while a couple others seemed to be intent on some paperwork.

  Nina Jefferson took them across the floor to where two glass-paned conference rooms came together, and opened the door on the left. “You can set up in here. I’ll get the evidence we didn’t send down to you guys. I’ll be back shortly.”

  In less than twenty minutes, Vanessa and Jason had the Marcie Walker evidence spread out on the conference table in front of them. The extensive set of photos was almost a mirror image of their own crime scene. Jason had an involuntary shiver.

  Nina Jefferson came back into the room carrying the zippered evidence bag Vanessa had given her earlier.

  “It’s a match. Of course, you already knew the caliber was the same. What really cinched it is the bullet casing. The firing pin on the gun your guy used has a nick on the right side.”

  She showed the detectives a blown-up photo of the back end of the casing. The nick was clearly visible.

  “This photo,” she flipped to a second picture. “Is of the casing from our killing. Same nick, same gun in both killings.”

  Vanessa grunted. “Yeah, seemed pretty likely after looking at these photos from the two crime scenes. We have victim description, ballistics, and the posing of the body all the same. It’s likely the same guy. Your medical examiners report says she had been dead about a week when she was found. How long had she been missing before time of death?”

  “Twenty-four hours, give or take.”

  “I don’t see in here that you guys had any solid suspects.”

  Nina sat down at the table and sorted through the file until she found the piece of paper she was looking for. “We questioned all her friends from school and her job. We also looked for some kind of connection to the wine glass but found nothing.”

  “Did you ever locate her missing clothes?” Jason asked.

  Nina shook her head. “We were able to determine what she was wearing when she was last seen because it was her work uniform. She was a clerk at 7-11 and was seen leaving with her smock on. She never made it home.”

  “What about the wine glass?”

  “Generic discount store type made in the eighties. We figured he picked it up at a flea market or garage sale.”

  Jason got up and started to pace. “Okay, we have two murders, apparently by the same man, done six months apart. We don’t have any other matching crimes reported in Texas. The two crimes are in different cities,” He made a turn and headed toward the far end of the room. “Which suggests he traveled from San Antonio to Austin on the first killing, and did the second in his backyard, or the reverse?”

  Vanessa raised her hand as if she was in school. “It’s also possible he moved from Austin to San Antonio, and we should consider the possibility business may bring him to both cities.”

  Vanessa turned to Nina. “How far off the beaten path was your victim found?”

  “Oh, she was way back in the woods, pure luck she was found at all. Some guys, who got lost doing one of those ‘cache’ searches, stumbled onto the body.”

  “Well, that doesn’t mesh with our scene. It was close to the road, almost in the open.”

  Jason stopped pacing and looked at his partner. “Meaning what?”

  “I don’t think our victim was number two, more likely number three or four.”

  “You think he was too comfortable and practiced by the time he got to our victim?”

  “That’s my gut instinct.”

  Jason looked at Nina. “Did you guys interview her parents?”

  “Yeah, we drove down and gave them the news. They didn’t have a clue who would want to hurt their daughter.”

  “I think we’ll go by and see them again. Maybe they’ve thought of something since then.”

  “If they have, let me know.”

  “Of course. Can you take us out to your crime scene?”

  “Sure.”

  *******

  They arrived at the lake about forty-five minutes later.

  Jason grinned at the Austin detective. “You weren’t kidding. This is way off the beaten path.”

  Vanessa looked around her. “The killer, presumably not as experienced as he is now, could have taken his time performing the ritual exactly as he wanted it.”

  Nina pointed to the base of a tree. T
he large blackjack oak still showed the scar from almost seven months ago, when the bullet passed through Marcie, and into the tree.

  They left there and drove past Marcie Walker’s apartment and the 7-11 where she worked. Jason noticed the distance between work and home for Marcie was less than half a mile. “It would appear he was waiting for her. There isn’t much time or opportunity for her to be taken.”

  Nina agreed. “That’s what we figured. While it could’ve been random, this neighborhood is unusual for someone to cruise for victims.”

  They pulled back in at the Austin PD and climbed out of the car. Jason extended his hand and shook with Nina Jefferson. “Thanks for your help. We’ll be in touch.”

  Vanessa climbed into their car and waved at Nina. “Thanks!”

  Nina smiled and returned the wave. “Have a safe trip back.”

  *******

  Jason let Vanessa drive back to San Antonio. He used the time to make some notes about what they had learned and organize his thoughts. After a while, he realized he was hungry.

  “Hey, you want to stop at Stumpy’s BBQ?”

  “Ugh, not me.”

  Jason thought she was going to throw up. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, fine. Just not hungry.”

  “I thought you loved Stumpy’s pulled pork sandwiches?”

  “I do. It’s just…well…I’m pregnant.”

  Jason laughed out loud. “No, really. You just not hungry?”

  “I’m not kidding, I’m pregnant.”

  Jason could see the little smile on her face, and it was a sure sign she wasn’t lying. She was excited. “You really are! How long have you known?”

  “About three weeks.”

  “Well, you’re a great one for news!”

  “Look Jason, just keep this between us for now.”

  He couldn’t control his grin. “First of all, congratulations...”