‘You know, I think Millar is rubbing off on you. You used to be nice,’ Arden said as Penner and Grant ducked under the police tape and headed towards the body.
‘Not a fan?’ Grant asked Penner, as she put on her gloves. Grant felt around his pockets in vain. He had forgotten to grab gloves out of his car. ‘Rookie mistake,’ he thought ruefully.
‘I don’t mind him most of the time, but he can get a bit pushy.’ Penner pulled out a second pair of gloves from her jacket pocket and tossed them to Grant. ‘You have to know how to treat the media. You can give them bits and pieces every now and then, but never give them too much. They’ll run stories before we want, at times. If you work with them, they can get you info that you wouldn’t find otherwise. Like he said, he has informants. People off the street see and hear lots, and for a couple of bucks or a pack of smokes, you can get a lot further in a case than with just normal police work. Okay, let’s see if we can find the first officer on the scene before we examine the body.’
Grant looked around and saw two officers that he knew from the precinct. ‘Hey guys, how goes the battle?’ he asked as he walked up to them.
‘Hey Grant, how’s it going? Pretending to be a detective now or something? Saw you show up with the lady brass,’ the taller of the two officers said, gesturing at Penner.
‘Just helping out,’ Grant said. ‘Were one of you two the first on the scene?’
‘Yeah, I was,’ the second officer said. ‘Got here about half an hour ago. Evening, ma-am.’ Penner had walked over to where the three of them were standing.
‘What was the call?’ Grant asked. Since he already knew the two officers, Penner decided to let him do most of the talking.
‘Possible murder victim, laying at the foot of the statue. No witnesses, just a couple of suits coming back from a business meeting who saw her. They checked her for vitals and called it in. As far as we can tell, they didn’t move her at all, so what you see now is how she was found,’ the officer said.
‘Cause of death?’ Grant asked.
‘Not sure, but it looks like a nasty gash on the back of her head,’ the taller officer said, making the hair on the back of Penner’s neck stand up. She wondered if it actually could be related to Mrs. Wong’s death. ‘Maybe she fell. Maybe she was hit by someone. Don’t know. I’ll leave that one to you, Detective,’ the officer said sarcastically to Grant.
‘Cute,’ Grant said. ‘So, what now?’ He turned to Penner.
‘Well, let’s go have a look. Constable,’ Penner turned her attention to the tall officer, ‘Can you find out if the coroner’s on her way, and start a canvas of the area, see if anyone saw anything. And please, no comments to the media. I don’t want anyone leaking information until we know what we’ve got, right?’ Penner said.
‘Yes, ma-am,’ the officer replied, leading his partner over to the group of people gathered on the sidewalk.
‘You don’t think they’re related, do you?’ Grant asked Penner. ‘Could it just be a coincidence that the two women were both killed with a blow to the head?’
‘Don’t know, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions,’ Penner said, leaning down next to the body. ‘Let’s do our job first, and the evidence will point us in the right direction. Like your friend said, maybe she just fell.’
‘Gotcha.’ Grant knelt down next to Penner.
‘So, what do you notice?’ Penner asked Grant. She wanted to see what his observation skills were like in a real life situation. ‘Remember, we don’t want to move the body until the coroner has had a chance to do her examination.’
‘Right,’ Grant said. ‘So. Caucasian female, possibly mid to late forties. Maybe early fifties?’ The victim was laying on her right side, her back towards the statue. ‘Almost looks like she was laid down by someone.’
‘What makes you say that?’ Penner asked. She had thought the same thing.
‘Well, things look just a bit too…neat, if that makes sense,’ Grant said. ‘Like, her hair and dress look like they have been straightened. I would think if someone fell down after hitting their head, or if they were knocked over, their hair or clothes would be a bit more, I don’t know, all over the place?’
‘Agreed,’ Penner said, slightly impressed. ‘What else?’
‘Well.’ Grant looked up and down the body. ‘Not a lot of blood. Kind of the same as the scene the other night.’ Without moving the body, he tried to see the ground beneath her head and next to the statue base. ‘Doesn’t seem to be a big puddle on the ground. There’s some blood, but not a lot. Also, there’s no blood that I can see on the base of the statue or on the horse’s hoof here. Doesn’t look like she fell and hit her head, at least not here.’
‘Can you see the wound at all?’ Penner asked.
‘Kinda. But I would need to move her hair and head to get a better look,’ Grant said. He knew better. ‘Seems to be a single wound to the back of her head. Same as Mrs. Wong. Hey, check this out,’ he said, pointing to the body’s shoulder.
‘What are you looking at?’ Penner asked, leaning in for a better look. She could see a single hair. ‘Looks shorter than hers. The wrong colour, too,’ she said, reaching over to pull the hair off of the woman’s dress, holding it up for a better look.
‘Is it human? Maybe she has a cat or dog?’ Grant questioned, looking over the body to see if he could find any other hairs.
‘Not sure. See any others?’ Penner asked, putting the hair in an evidence bag.
‘No, it’s the only one I can see. If it was from a pet, there would probably be more. There could be others, I can’t really see her entire dress. This could be huge, right?’ Grant said, excited by his find.
‘Could be, but we’ll have to get it tested. If it’s human, there’s still no guarantee that it’s from our perp. Could be from her husband. Or it could have gotten on her from sitting in a chair at a restaurant. Who knows. Still, good find,’ Penner said.
Grant stood up. ‘You know, other than the fact she’s laying on her side and not sitting upright, this really looks the same as the scene the other night. She’s even almost the same size as Mrs. Wong was.’
‘Yeah,’ Penner said, fearing the worst. ‘I hope they aren’t related. People get real scared of the words serial killer.’ She heard some scuffling on the other side of the police line. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Arden quickly walking away. ‘Shit. I really hope he didn’t hear that. Go stop him before he gets wherever he’s going and make sure he didn’t hear anything, got it?’
‘No problem,’ Grant said, running after Arden.
‘That’s just what I need,’ Penner said to herself.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
While she was waiting for the coroner to arrive and for Grant to return from his mission, Penner searched around the body to see if anything jumped out at her. ‘Again, not a lot of blood,’ she thought. Over the years, she had seen a lot of dead bodies, too many to count really, and the one thing they all had in common was a lot of blood. Especially when the cause of death was an open wound. All of them, that is, except for this one, and Mrs. Wong. ‘I really hope these aren’t related.’ There had never been a true case of a serial killer in Ottawa before, at least not to her knowledge. She couldn’t even remember the last time there were two murders in the same week, let alone two where the causes of death looked so similar. As she shone her flashlight around the body, a glint of light caught her eye. She bent down and noticed a metal button lying next to the body. She pulled out an evidence bag and picked it up. There seemed to be an insignia on the front of it, but she couldn’t make it out too well. She turned her flashlight on it to get a better look and realized she had seen this type of button before. She actually had a coat with the exact same buttons. ‘But, how?’ she thought. She looked around to see if anyone was wearing the same type of coat, but nothing jumped out at her. Not surprising, really. It wasn’t the type of thing people wore out on a daily basis. She decided she would definitely keep this away from the media.
‘Hey, Sue.’ Penner jumped at Faye’s voice, hastily putting the evidence bag in her pocket. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. On edge tonight?’
‘Hi, Faye. No, just didn’t realize anyone was behind me,’ Penner said. ‘Keeping well?’
‘Well enough, but I am not enjoying these late nights. Two in a week—got to be a record, eh?’ Faye said, putting on a pair of gloves.
‘Unfortunately, I think so. Let’s hope it isn’t broken anytime soon,’ Penner said. ‘So, all we know right now is, well, we don’t really know anything. Jane Doe, forty to fifty years old. Hit on the back of her head.’
‘Really?’ Faye sounded taken aback. ‘Back of the head? Hmm. Idea of what hit her?’
‘No, we can’t see the wound too well the way she’s laying. We were waiting for you to show up. We did find a hair that doesn’t look like hers. We’ll get it tested. Hopefully we can get a DNA profile and make a match with someone in the system,’ Penner said as Grant ducked back under the tape and walked up to the body.
‘Sorry, Detective. I couldn’t catch up to him. I have no idea where he got to. I thought I was right behind him, but he turned a corner and he was gone,’ Grant said, catching his breath. ‘I’m really sorry.’
‘No worries,’ said Penner. ‘I’m sure he didn’t hear anything.’ But she wasn’t sure she really believed herself when the words left her mouth. ‘Constable Grant, not sure if you have met the Coroner, Dr. Faye Pelow?’
‘Yeah, we’ve met once before at the court house,’ Grant said. ‘Evening, Doctor.’
‘Evening.’ Turning to Penner, Faye said. ‘New partner? Did you finally trade in Millar?’
‘He’s out of town,’ Penner said. ‘Constable Grant was first on scene the other night and he was helping me out today, asking questions and such, when the call came in.’
‘Well, I hope you aren’t as annoying as Millar,’ Faye said, turning her attention back to the body. ‘But, I really don’t think that would be possible, ya know?’ She started looking at the victim’s head and face. ‘Pretty lady. Fairly young, too. Such a shame. Any ID?’
‘Not that I saw,’ Penner said. ‘Maybe in the bra again?’
Faye felt around. ‘Nope, nothing there. Maybe she’s laying on her purse? Constable, give me a hand, would ya?’ she said to Grant.
He crouched beside Faye and helped her turn the body over. Underneath was a small, green clutch. Penner reached down and picked it up. ‘Good find,’ Penner said, opening up the clutch. ‘Still cash and cards in here, so it’s not looking like a robbery.’
‘Maybe the robber got spooked and ran?’ Grant suggested.
‘Could be,’ Penner said as she looked at the cards trying to find an ID. ‘No driver’s license. Oh, but I do have her health card. Elaine Jackson. Well, that’s a start. No address. We have her date of birth though, so we should be able to find out where she lives. Forty-six years old.’ Penner shook her head. ‘What did you get up to to end up here?’
‘So, the only obvious trauma I’m seeing right now is this hit on the back of her head,’ Faye said. ‘You know, this looks really familiar.’
‘Yeah, we thought the same thing,’ Penner said. ‘You’re going to have to let us know if you think they’re related or not. And I hope you say they aren’t.’
‘Well, what’s worse. One person killing multiple people or multiple people each killing one person?’ Faye asked, looking up at Penner. ‘At least if it’s only one person, you only have him to find. Multiple people would be a lot more work.’
‘Yeah,’ Penner agreed. ‘But for some reason people freak out a lot more when they think a serial killer is on the loose. I agree it’s easier to investigate one person but harder to manage the public’s fear.’
‘Makes sense, I guess,’ Faye said, standing up. She looked at her watch. ‘Well, I’m up anyway. If you want, we can get her on the table tonight and see what we can see. Or are you done for the night?’
‘I’ve had so much coffee tonight, I’m not sleeping anytime soon,’ Penner said. ‘If you’re up for company, I’ll be there. I would love to know what that wound looks like. I’m hoping she just fell somewhere.’
‘Sounds good, I’ll get her bagged up and we’ll be ready to go in about an hour,’ Faye said, signalling to her assistant to come with the stretcher and a body bag. ‘You’re more than welcome, too, Constable. You seem nice and quiet, unlike some people.’
‘That would be great, thanks!’ Grant peeled off his gloves. ‘Can you give me a lift back to my car, Detective? I should probably bring it back to the precinct.’
‘No problem,’ Penner said. ‘See you in about an hour, Faye. Perhaps you’ll have some coffee on when we get there?’ She looked meaningfully at Faye’s assistant. Andrew smiled and nodded.
‘I don’t know how you aren’t shaking all the time,’ Faye said to Penner.
‘I shake when I haven’t had enough. Just trying to keep my levels manageable,’ Penner said, walking back to her car with Grant.
* * *
‘When you get back to your car, can you radio your patrol buddies and see if they found anyone who saw anything tonight?’ Penner asked, driving back to Grant’s car.
‘Will do,’ he said, writing a reminder in his notebook.
Penner reached into her pocket, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do while driving, and pulled out the evidence bag. She handed it to Grant. ‘Recognize this?’
Grant took the bag and looked at the contents. ‘Looks like a button. Wait. Looks like a cop’s dress uniform button.’
‘That’s what I thought, too,’ Penner said.
‘Why is it in an evidence bag?’ Grant asked. ‘Looks pretty old.’
‘I found it at the scene, next to our victim,’ Penner admitted.
‘What?’ Grant sounded surprised. ‘Why would anyone be there in their dress jacket? I didn’t notice anyone wearing one, did you?’
‘Nope,’ said Penner. ‘I want you to find out if there was a dinner tonight for officers, or maybe someone from the office was at a wedding or something today. I really don’t know what to think about this, but I want it kept quiet, okay? Do your research discreetly and don’t ask too many questions of too many people. Just see what you find out.’
‘Yes, ma-am, but it may be hard without actually talking to people.’ Grant handed the bag back to Penner.
‘I know, I know,’ Penner said, pulling up beside Grant’s patrol car. ‘Maybe search wedding licenses or something? Check reservations at local churches or banquette halls. I don’t know. Just see what you can figure out, okay?’ Penner sounded worried.
‘Okay,’ Grant said, getting out of the car. ‘See you in about an hour?’ He shut the door and Penner drove off. He looked around to see if there were any cabbies there that he hadn’t spoken with earlier, but there was no one around. ‘Bars let out recently,’ he thought. He unlocked his car, got in and turned on the radio. ‘Constable Hough, Constable Curry, it’s Constable Grant. Got a copy?’
After a few seconds his radio crackled. ‘Evening, Detective.’ It was Constable Curry, the first officer on the scene earlier. ‘What can I do for you, sir?’
‘Very funny, Spicy,’ Grant said. Constable Curry was called ‘Spicy’ by almost every cop in town on account of his name. ‘Did you guys find anyone who saw anything tonight?’
‘Negative. Pretty quiet down here. We knocked on some doors, woke up some people, who got real pissed at us, but nothing.’
‘Right. Well, keep asking around. Maybe someone will come out of the woodwork,’ Grant said. ‘Hey, did you see anyone wearing a dress uniform tonight?’
‘What, a cop? Why?’
‘Cop, military, fire, anyone. Just curious, I thought I heard someone say they saw someone in a fancy uniform, that’s all.’
‘Didn’t notice. I can ask some of the other guys that were there if you want. Why, though?’
‘It’s nothing, just detective work,’ Grant said, chuckling. ‘Le
t me know if you get anything else, okay?’
‘Will do. Coffee later?’
‘Sounds like a plan. I’ll get in touch.’ Grant hung up the radio hand piece.
He was about to pull away when he was startled by a knock on his window. He looked over and saw a very grubby looking guy standing beside his window. The homeless shelter was just two blocks over which meant there were always some colourful characters in the area. He rolled his window down a crack. ‘I don’t have any cash, boss. Time for you to head to wherever you’re sleeping tonight.’ More often than not these guys were looking for a couple of bucks so they could buy their next drink. By the smell on this one’s breath, he’d already had a few. Grant started to roll up the window.
‘I saw him! I saw what he did!’ the man said, swaying back and forth on his feet.
‘Have a good night, bud. Make sure you find somewhere to sleep.’ Grant looked at his watch. He was hoping to grab a bite to eat before heading to the autopsy. He had totally forgotten about the snacks that Detective Penner had bought earlier.
‘No!’ the man yelled, seeming rather agitated. ‘I know what he did!’
Grant had dealt with a lot of drunks over the years, both as a cop and as a paramedic. Sometimes, it was best just to go about your business and ignore them, especially if they weren’t a danger to themselves or anyone else. He figured this guy seemed harmless enough. The street was empty, so there was no one else in the area he could harass. ‘I have to go. Get some sleep, okay?’ Grant started pulling away.
‘She was in a red dress!’ the man yelled.
Grant stopped suddenly, put the car in park and got out. ‘Who was in a red dress?’ he asked when he got to the man’s side, stepping back half a step when he caught a whiff of the man’s body odour.
‘The pretty lady,’ the man said, looking around as though he was worried someone was listening. ‘She had a nice red dress on. And then he hurt her.’ The man tried to take a step and fell to his knees.
A Striking Similarity Page 7