The Ghost

by H. Berkeley Rourke

  Norma had nothing to add other than her remorse. A friend of Norma's came by her room, having heard of Billie's death, and Jeanne left Norma with the girl. Jeanne returned to the location of the crime scene and took Horning aside. She said to him, "If you want your department to do anything at all then I want you to begin an immediate contact with anyone living close to this scene, a canvass if you will, anyone who might have been working last night, anyone at all who might have had any contact with this guy as he came into this area. By the way, when I say everyone I mean everyone, even down to the trash collectors. Are you capable of doing those things?" Again he knew he was being categorized as less than a pond scum in terms of his ability as a police officer.

  He responded, "Certainly," and then added, “You don’t need to keep insulting me.”

  "Now one more thing Mister. If you call Preston one more time I will arrest you. I am proceeding with obtaining your telephone records today. If I find you have been in contact with him for a while you will be arrested, charged, required to perform a lie detector test. If the results along with everything else lead me to the conclusion you have been cooperating with Preston in keeping his whereabouts or those of the president secret, you will be in jail tomorrow afternoon. Once again have I made myself quite clear?"

  "Yes, it is Ms. de Leon. Please. I am a police officer. I knew it was wrong to talk with him tonight. He called me. I don't have any idea how he got my number. The only contact I have had with him was his call and I told him to turn himself in. I want to cooperate with you and if you wish I will voluntarily agree with the telephone company they can furnish my cell and home phone information tomorrow. I will call them and have them send it to you by courier no later than tomorrow afternoon. Are we good concerning that issue?"

  "Yes. Now please start your canvass."

  damn, that one was really tight...

  she was so small, almost a child...

  they will be angry about her...

  but she fought hard not to die...

  now it is time to do the other...

  i wonder if she is home yet...

  this is going to be so much fun...

  He went to the area of their home. He parked in a convenience store lot that was about a half mile away from Wilson's home. He browsed in the store for a few minutes and then acted as though he were going to drive away. Instead he parked further to the side of the store and left into the night. He wore dark clothing and a baseball cap, wore his normal glasses and wore gloves. He thought nothing of the idea that there might be cameras in the store which might have him on film. He was the Ghost. No one would see him.

  Staying in shadows, especially if a car happened along the street on which he was walking, he made his way into the area of Wilson's home. There was a strange looking van out front. Someone in a jump suit, obviously a woman, was taking pictures there. The van had a sign painted on its side, Phoenix Homicide. He walked up to the woman and said "Is Jim home?"

  She responded, "No, he is away for the weekend I believe."

  "Oh darn I was hoping to talk with him tonight. Oh well, I will just have to go to the office on Monday." He turned, walked around the van as though he was leaving. He pulled out a bag, put on his surgeon's gloves and as the woman walked away from him, turning her back, he slipped the bag over her head and warned her not to fight unless she wanted to die. He took her to the side of the house where there was no light, made her pull off her jump suit and pull down her panties, had her put her hands behind her back as she gasped for air and twist tied them tightly. He got out a condom and started to put it on. But he was so excited to be doing a cop that he dribbled a little spunk on her clothes. He donned the condom and did her. Afterward he sat on her and watched her die of asphyxiation. He thought he should make it official. He took off the twist ties and carved on her belly the letters GR. He almost skipped down the street to his car he felt so good as he left the scene.

  Chapter 7-

  A New Ballgame

  Jim Wilson arrived back at his home a little over two hours after Rebecca Daniels, a forensics photography specialist with Phoenix P.D., died outside his home. Her lamps, set up to provide light for photography of the writing on the windows of his home, were still set up, still burning brightly. Rebecca was nowhere to be seen. Jim had told Jeanne where the spare key was to get into the house and it was not in its usual location. Jim thought perhaps the forensics person, not knowing who it was, had gone into the house and was still working there. He did not find her inside his home. He thought the whole thing very strange.

  Then the telephone rang. He answered and the voice of the Ghost Rapist said, "Did you find her yet?"

  "What are you talking about sir?"

  "The little cop I left dead beside your home, did you find her yet?"

  Jim slammed the phone down and then took it off the cradle so no one could call in on it. He got out his cell phone and called Phoenix Homicide immediately. A night shift supervisor answered. Jim told him what had just happened. The supervisor knew, because of the sign-out board in the office, that Jeanne de Leon was still at the scene of the campus killing. He called her. When she answered he told her about the call from Jim Wilson. She was stricken for a moment, feeling an instant responsibility for the death of the young woman.

  Jeanne said, "Send a squad of forensic people out there immediately. Call Wilson and tell him to lock his doors and windows and not allow anyone in until the first cop shows up. Get a squad car over there right now but do not have anyone do any searching of the property until the forensics squad arrives. You had better call Tom, as well as Captain Atherton. I think both will want to come despite the time of night. I will be there as soon as I can." By the time she hung up the phone she was almost shouting, angry, crying, devastated. She stopped on the way to Wilson’s home and cleaned up her face.

  When Jeanne arrived at Wilson's home Jim was sitting outside in a police cruiser. Much earlier the boys in blue had gone through the house thoroughly to see if anyone else was there. Finding no one they okayed the forensics team to come in. It took less than five minutes for the forensics team to discover the body of Rebecca Daniels. The woman who discovered her body was one of Rebecca's closest friends. She was devastated but still had enough presence of mind to back away from the body without touching the scene at all.

  When Jeanne arrived there was a separate set of high intensity lamps set up illuminating the place where Rebecca lay, dead. She walked into the area, saw several people were taking pictures and looking with infrared lights for any kind of evidence they might miss under standard lighting. Those infrared lights were being used in very close proximity to Rebecca's body and clothing.

  As Jeanne neared the body one of the workers using an infrared lamp grunted, turned to someone that it became evident was a supervisor, and said, "I think we have some semen here boss." The supervisor looked where the technician was pointing and told the tech to carefully obtain a sample and get it to the lab through a squad car right away.

  The supervisor was a woman who Jeanne knew well. Her name was Heidi Johnson. Heidi had been with the department a long time. She looked at Jeanne and said, "Goddamn it Jeanne, this is one of mine. This cannot happen." Heidi was obviously consumed with frustration.

  Jeanne nodded, "I know Heidi, but I would have said she was one of ours." Jeanne asked if she could see the body. Jeanne didn’t want to interrupt anything the specialists were doing. While she was there she wanted to see if the bruise was on the neck. Heidi nodded and then asked her to await the sample of the semen being prepared. Jeanne did so. She looked at Rebecca's arms while that was going on and saw the ubiquitous ligature marks. She looked at Rebecca's neck as the tech was finishing the sample collection and saw the bruise on the neck.

  As the techs backed off for her to be able to do so she looked at Rebecca's eyes and saw a large number of petechiae. Rebecca was laying on her back with her jumper suit and panties still below her knees. Jeanne shook her head and asked Hei
di to help her and the two of them took a brief look at the poor woman's vaginal area. Bleeding, tearing and raw areas were openly visible.

  Jeanne stood up, backed away from the scene. She also had known Rebecca. Jeanne was crying softly as Tom Leivas and Will Atherton, her Lieutenant and Captain, respectively, walked up behind her. Tom put his hand on her shoulder and Jeanne reacted very humanly and put her head on his arm and sobbed for a moment. She did not often have contact with Will but knew that the Captain had an interest in the Ghost Rapist case. Will said to her, "Is there any doubt about who did this?"

  "No sir. It was him. I have no doubt."

  "You have done two of these today Jeanne," Will said to her. "Go home, take a couple of stiff shots of whatever booze you like, take Jim Wilson with you if you will, go to bed and get some sleep. By the way, congratulations Sergeant de Leon. Your test results came back today. We will have a little pinning ceremony at the office tomorrow so come in your blue uniform. You can change at the office afterward. We are going to have some additional conversation with the Adams

  tomorrow afternoon. Come in some time in the late morning. I want you clear headed. You have been putting in too damned many hours. See you then."

  Jeanne walked to the car where Jim Wilson was sitting and told him what Will Atherton had said. Jim knew she had two bedrooms that would serve both their needs for the night. They left together, stopped on the way and bought a bottle of good Glenmorangie Scottish Whisky and went to Jeanne's. They talked in the car and in her apartment during the night before going to bed but neither really had much to say, much which was of any real meaning. They were both in shock. He did tell her about the phone call. Her only response was "That son-of-a-bitch, if I get the chance I am going to shoot him in the dick."

  The next morning Jeanne rose from bed to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking. Jim was in her kitchen when she went in and saw he was preparing breakfast. He said, "You have just about enough time for a shower." She took a quick shower and dressed in her blues, went back to the kitchen to find a plate of steaming bacon strips and scrambled eggs as well as hash browns ready for her to consume.

  "Did we do anything last night?" she asked kind of tentatively.

  "No. We were both way too tired and a little drunk before we went to bed. Thanks for letting me stay here last night, by the way. I was not aware your boss Will Atherton knew about our past relationship. By the way you look great in uniform. You always did."

  "Neither was I until last night. But apparently he doesn't know it has been over for a while. You are welcome to stay here for a couple of days longer if you need to Jim. Thanks for the compliment. I wear the damn monkey suit so seldom these days it almost doesn't fit any more." She gave him a key to the front door of the apartment and then said, "In point of fact it might be a very good idea after last night for you to stay here a couple of nights."

  Jim smiled, leered a little and said, "Hell yes, how can I not take an invitation from a gorgeous woman like you and accept it."

  She laughed and said "Listen you shit, you stay in your own bedroom," knowing it probably would not happen all the time, then saying " . . . unless of course you are invited." There were no thoughts in her mind about his wife and children.All he did was grin. Apparently he was not thinking of them either.It was late morning. They both had much work to do. They left the apartment and headed their separate ways.

  When Jeanne went into the homicide building she was told, "Captain Atherton said to tell you he and Lieutenant Leivas will be in the conference room most of the morning. They want you in there right away. The visitors who were here the other day, the Adams, they are also waiting for you there."

  After the greetings were done Jeanne was presented with her Sergeant's stripes for her uniform and her new badge indicating that she was a Sergeant of Detectives. Everyone congratulated her and shook her hand. When she could she took Tom Leivas aside and said to him, "Boss I made one truly big screw up last night."

  "What was it Sergeant?" Tom responded, smiling.

  "I forgot to order a canvass of the neighborhood around Jim Wilson's place boss. Shit. It should have been done already."

  "Not to worry Jeanne. Will and I knew you were all done for the day. We ordered the canvass to start as soon as the forensics people left. We have been waking people up all night. So far nothing has come of it though."

  "The shit has to have parked his car somewhere nearby and walked into the neighborhood boss. Where the hell could he park it?"

  "Isn't there a convenience store nearby there, maybe a strip mall kind of thing?"

  "I don't remember. But I think it's time I found out boss. If it's okay I am on my way there now. By the way Mr. Preston from Scalian, their Vice President, is supposed to turn himself in today. If he does not, I want to know about it. He is supposed to come here. If he doesn't I have promised the Captain at the new Campus Police Department I am going to arrest him for harboring a fugitive this afternoon. I don't think we can make the charge stick on the guy but I need to go there.He was supposed to do a canvass there as well. So see ya later bosses," she said, grinning as she ran out the door.

  When Jeanne left the office she called Jim. He told her the rapist had called him again. Jim told her the rapist hung up when Jim told him he was a dead man if he came near his home again. Jeanne asked Wilson, "Is there any kind of a strip mall or a convenience store in your neighborhood, maybe a few blocks from your house?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "Where is it, Jim?"

  Jim told her exactly how to get to the store. He arrived just after she walked in the front door. He knew from her call she had something on her mind about the place and he wanted in on what was going to happen if anything. She looked the place over carefully before walking up to the counter where a woman was working. Jeanne said to her, "Are you the owner?"

  "No. I work day shift. The owner is in his office in the back part of the store."

  Jeanne showed the woman her badge as Jim walked in the door. Jeanne said to the woman, "How do you get hold of him if you need to?"

  The woman said, "I buzz him." She pointed to a button on the underside of the counter from Jeanne.

  "Do it please. And what is his name."

  "Charles. Charles Anderson."

  A man walked out of the back part of the store toward the counter. He looked at Jim and then at Jeanne after glancing at his employee. He had seen Jim before. Jeanne showed him her badge. They chatted very briefly introducing themselves before Jeanne said, "I see you have an interior surveillance system. Does it also cover the outer portion of the store?"

  Charles said "Yes, yes it does."

  "Is it on a continuous loop or do you have to change the discs every so often?"

  "It is on a continuous loop."

  "How often does the loop turn over, do you know?"

  "I think it turns over about every 48 hours."

  "Do you have extra discs you can put in the system if you need to change out those which are in there now?"

  "Yes, yes I do."

  "Will you change them out for me right now please. I mean right this minute. If you need a search warrant to protect yourself for any reason, please tell me so and we will arrange to get one here within the hour."

  "There isn't any reason I could think of I would need a warrant detective. Does this have to do with the young lady who lost her life near here last night?" he asked as he led them to the back of the store, to the computer driven surveillance system.

  Jeanne just grunted under her breath, drawing in a gulp of air to avoid a sob, "Yes, yes it does."

  As Charles was changing out the discs which might have information on them critical to the case, Jeanne explained, "We think the killer may have walked into the neighborhood. We are hoping just maybe he parked his car in your lot, maybe even came in your store. If those things are true we may have a real start to getting a handle on this guy."

  Jim Wilson had been quiet through all of this. "Jesus, Jeanne," he s
aid, ". . .is it just so simple as these discs? Can it be so simple to catch this son-of-a-bitch?"

  "I don't know Jim. But if it is you and I are going to party big time my friend. Big time!" It can’t be, can it?

  She bagged the two discs. What she would do with them she did not know yet, but the chain of evidence had to be maintained. She asked the owner to sign the bags after the discs were put into the plasticized holders. She thought it likely they would go to the DPS labs for an analysis of their content. She hoped to send them there. No one in the Phoenix P.D. lab, a small scale operation, would be required to sign off on the content if they went directly to the DPS lab. She called Tom and asked him what he thought was best in terms of the viewing of the content.

  His immediate response was, "DPS labs, right away Jeanne. God I hope the guy is on there. Okay. Great work. What are you going to do next after going to the lab?"

  "Last night I told the Captain of Campus Police I wanted a canvass done of the campus to see if anyone might have seen this guy. I am going there right after I leave the labs to see what he has come up with if anything. I will let you know later. Has Preston come into the office yet?"

  "He just arrived here Jeanne. He is in the box now with his attorney, sweating it out waiting for us to come in. We have arrested him and cuffed him, put him in restraints in the box. We are about to go in and see if he wants to talk to us now. We think, from what little we have heard from his attorney, he wants to cut a deal in return for testimony against the president of the school. How do you feel about a deal for him?"

  "It would be okay with me Tom. But I think we should see to it he does not have the ability to be an administrator on a campus ever again. If a deal gets written it should include language to the effect that he will surrender all educational credentials and never apply for any position in education in the future as a condition of probation. He didn't rape all those women himself Tom. As a result of hiding it out, though, and doing nothing he repeated their rapes every day. I don't think he should be rewarded for his conduct. I hope my feelings can be taken into account."