Until next time, I remain
Your friend the Butcher
“Well, there it is, the ramblings of a mad man. What do you think, Lucas?”
“I think he’s telling the truth about his previous victims. And as I thought before he does want to challenge you, Lieutenant, but he is now focused on you as well, Lieutenant Gray.”
“Yes, I’ve got that, Doctor,” Lieutenant Gray said. “He’s threatened my family and me in not such a veiled way. Do you think he’s serious about not attacking us?”
“I don’t think he’ll attack you,” Lucas said. “I think he only wants to kill his targeted population, for whatever reason he’s chosen them. I know that he used the prostitutes for practice. I definitely believe that and I believe him about the strangulations and the explanation of the twenty-two stab wounds.”
“Elgie, have you and your wife moved out of your house?” Lieutenant Gray asked.
“Yes, we have. I want to make sure Vanessa is safe. Although he said he wouldn’t come back, I think that may not matter anymore when he starts to meltdown.”
“What do you mean meltdown?” Lieutenant Gray asked.
“Would you like to take that question, Lucas?” Elgie asked.
“Certainly, sir,” Lucas said. “It’s a pattern with serial killers. After an undetermined period of time, they deteriorate mentally and begin to take more exorbitant risks and kill basically at random instead of hunting for suitable casualties like the Butcher currently does. He’s still not likely to come after either of you because that would require organizational skills to get away and he knows that. When his mind weakens, he will look for individuals selected for attack that are not inopportune like you would be Lieutenants. And his kills will come with less of a hiatus between victims.”
“So, he’s likely to go back to killing prostitutes?” Lieutenant Gray asked.
“Probably so,” Lucas said.
“What do you mean?” McBean said. “The Butcher isn’t like other serial killers. He’s obviously in control of his killing and won’t need to go back to killing prostitutes because they’re easy. Even Ted Bundy wasn’t as clever as the Butcher when it comes to getting his victims. Bundy never went into a bar and picked up women and killed them or waited to kill them until the time was right. Most serial killers have to kill right away because they have no control over their killing.”
“You have a point, Justin,” Lieutenant Gray said. “We have to throw out the playbook on this one. This is a southpaw, and we’ve been used to right-handers. We need to change our pitching style. First thing I’m going to call Geraldo Lopez and tell him to read the letter on the air, and we’ll be prepared to take calls. We’ll handle the calls that the call takers believe are good leads to viable suspects. Of course, your people will be doing the same, Elgie. We’ll just handle the overflow.”
“Okay,” Elgie said, “I’ll instruct the call takers to forward calls to you. We should also tell whoever is at the park to look for ten more graves in that clearing. We should also follow up on the five the Butcher claims he strangled. I’d start with the Hollywood division and West Hollywood Sheriff’s’ Station. That’s how we found who we thought was his first victim.”
“Alright, Elgie,” Lieutenant Gray said, “you go ahead and follow up on the possible strangulation victims and try to get it done before Lopez reads that letter. When I call, I’ll ask him to hold off until noon to pitch the Butcher ball.”
“I’ll also call the team at the park and tell them about the ten bodies,” Elgie said. “One other thing, since there is hair with a root that we believe belongs to the Butcher I think we should ask Rodson, Reader, and Deorader for DNA samples.”
“That’s a good idea, Elgie,” Lieutenant Gray said. “Detective Kim, would you follow up on that for me?”
“Certainly, Lieutenant Gray. I’ll get in touch with them and ask them to come in to submit a sample.”
“Good,” Lieutenant Gray said, “just keep in mind that we don’t have probable cause for a warrant, so ask nicely. Make it a slow pitch.”
After the excitement of the second letter, things got back to normal, at least the normal Elgie had gotten used to.
Elgie was sent back to the tip line office, although in a kind way, still, it was clear to him that despite Lieutenant Gray’s friendliness it was obvious that he was in charge and Elgie was expected to follow orders or stay in the tip line office. He thought the oversight of telling him about the morning task force meetings was intentional. He’d attended without an invitation. Elgie decided to do his own follow up and find out about the Butcher’s voice before attending to his assigned duties.
“Hello, may I speak to the audio analyst?”
“Who’s calling?”
“I’m Lieutenant Reynolds.”
“Okay, I’ll put you through.”
The phone in Catherine Randle’s lab rang.
“Hello, this is the audio analysis department.”
“Hi, I’m Lieutenant Elgie Reynolds, and I would like to know if you can tell me what type of device is being used on a recording and if you can remove the distortion?”
“Go ahead and play it and I’ll tell you what it is. If it’s digitally altered, I can clean it up, but you may not get the real voice, just something close. It should be close enough for comparison.”
“Okay, I’ll play the recording.”
Elgie took the digital recorder and plugged one end of an audio cable into the digital recorder and the other into the headset jack on the telephone and played the last call from the Butcher. After the full recording had played, he got back on the phone.
“Did you hear all of that?”
“Yes, I got it all, and I have bad news. The voice is not digitally altered.”
“It’s not? But it sounds just like one of those villain voices in video games, how is that?”
“Is this recording of the Butcher?”
“Yes, it is.”
“It’s not digitally altered it’s altered by the speaker himself. In other words, he’s a mimic. He’s most likely capable of imitating a lot of voices, including this video game character. He can make his voice sound electronic like that in the games.”
“So, can you tell what his natural voice sounds like?”
“No, there is no electronic distortion to remove, and I can’t remove part of his voice to reveal his natural voice. You’re dealing with a clever criminal, Lieutenant Reynolds.”
“Yes, I am, but he’s not that clever. We’ll catch him. Thank you for your time, ma’am.”
“Catherine Randle.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name—it’s Catherine Randle.”
“Okay, thank you, Ms. Randle.”
Next Elgie called the SID team at Griffith Park to tell them about the ten additional bodies. He explained that the Butcher knew how many bodies they had found so far and he said there were ten more. In total it should be thirteen. He also called LAPD Hollywood Division and asked them to look at their files to see if they had an unsolved case involving five women who were strangled. He also told them that they might be in separate jurisdictions. Just let him know what they had, and the task force would take care of it from there.
At eleven-twenty Geraldo Lopez read the letter and the task force and tip line held on for the volume of calls they were expecting. They got them. Only most of the calls were to complain that the task force and the tip line weren’t doing enough to catch the Butcher. Elgie, Quinn, Lucas, and Lieutenant Gray took those calls. Elgie, Quinn, and Lucas because they have been there the longest and Lieutenant Gray since he is now in charge; he’s responsible for the investigation’s success or failure. That is if Elgie doesn’t solve the case first.
Elgie had only used ibuprofen for the pain in his shoulder because he wanted to keep a clear head. That had worn thin. The calls had slowed down. He got a response from the Hollywood division which reported that there were five strangled prostitutes whose murders went unsolv
ed in their division. The SID team was only able to find eight more bodies. They said they would keep looking the next morning at seven. Before they left for the night, Elgie asked to speak with Quinn and Lucas in his office.
Elgie got to a question that had been on his mind since he got the phone call from the Butcher. The letter magnified his concerns. “Quinn, Lucas, I want to get your opinion about something.”
“What is it, Boss?” Quinn asked.
“I’ve been thinking about how the Butcher knew where Vanessa and I live and what hospital Michelle was in. He must have gotten information from somewhere. He also seems to know what’s going on with the investigation. He knew about the bodies we found before it was reported on the news and he claims to know where Lieutenant Gray lives. He just has too much information.”
“How do you think he is obtaining said information?” Lucas asked.
“I think he’s got somebody on the inside or maybe he’s on the inside himself. He could be anyone from a clerk to a cop. Or getting information from one of those sources. Well, whoever he is, he made a big mistake attacking Michelle and then attacking Vanessa and me in our own home. All he’s done is make me more determined to find him.”
“You should be careful not to make this too personal, Boss,” Quinn said. “All he wants is to throw you off. You can easily make mistakes and miss things you would catch if you weren’t upset.”
“I have every attention of staying focused and vigilant. To be quite frank with you I’ve noticed that the leaks only started with the task force. The Butcher didn’t have all that information before the task force was formed. I think someone may be unintentionally giving information to the Butcher.”
“How would that situation have transpired, Lieutenant?” Lucas asked.
“I figure one of the task force members could share information with a spouse or friend, and that person could share it with someone else.”
“That’s possible, Boss,” Quinn said, “but we both know it’s more likely that the person knows they’re giving information to the Butcher. Perhaps because he or she believes in what he’s doing.”
“Maybe so, Quinn, but I hope you’re wrong. But the reason I wanted to talk to you two was just to give you a warning to watch what information you give to your co-workers. One may not be what he or she appears to be.”
Upon Elgie’s arrival at the hotel they were housed in temporarily. Vanessa was home early as well, sitting on the couch, reading a novel.
“Here are your pain pills,” Vanessa said as she picked up the bottle from the end table.
“How did you…never mind, you always know.”
“No talk about work tonight, just take your medication and relax for a change. Get a good night’s sleep. You have to get up early in the morning to make the AA and task force meetings.”
“How’d you know about the task force meeting?”
“You called me earlier, remember? You said you would be home late because of the letter, and you told me about the meeting in the morning.”
“That’s right, I called you right after I called the Hollywood division.”
“Was that about the unsolved prostitute murders?” Vanessa asked.
“Yes, it was—they were able to find all five cases,” Elgie said.
“That’s good, now the families can get some closure rather than wondering if the case will ever be solved. Or wondering if anyone really cares.”
An uncomfortable dinner for the Whitefords became an uncomfortable trip home.
“So, where were you last night?” Douglas asked.
“What do you mean, where was I?”
“Just what I said. It’s a pretty simple question, where were you?”
“I don’t think I have to explain myself to you, just drive us home.”
“Why? You don’t care about our house, or should I say our home. Or at least it used to be our home, now it’s just a place where you show up every now and then. Here lately, you’re never at home at night, so where have you been, Roxanne?”
“Out! I’ve been out! Is that good enough?”
“No, it’s not. Are you having an affair?”
“How would I have time for an affair with you watching me and questioning me all the time? Always asking me where I’ve been anytime I leave the house. And yes, I said house not home. It’s turning into a house of hate.”
“So, you hate me now?”
“No, I don’t hate you, but I hate our life. All we do these days is argue, that’s why I’m away from home. I’m tired of the arguing.”
“You know, Roxanne, the only reason we argue is because you stay gone all night and don’t call or tell me where you’ve been. I know you’re having an affair.”
“I’m not having an affair, Douglas.”
“Then, what are you doing?”
“I like to go out and party, dance, you know like we used to do.”
“So, you’re going out to all hours of the night because I don’t take you out enough. Is that it? That’s your excuse?”
“It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. You used to take me out dancing, now I have to go on my own. You don’t care about me, so I go out. Other men pay attention to me, and I dance with them. That’s all, just dance. We were supposed to be having a good time tonight. You finally decided to take me out to dinner, and you top it off with an interrogation. What kind of shit is that?”
“There’s no need to curse at me, Roxanne. I’m tired of fighting with you, and I’m tired of waiting for you to come home. You didn’t come home until six this morning, and I want to know where you were.”
“It’s none of your business. Now, how about that?”
“That’s it, I want a divorce!”
“Big deal, you want a divorce, big fucking deal! And yes, I cussed at you, so what?”
“We’re home. Why don’t we call it quits on this argument and just go in and get some rest?”
Roxanne and Douglas Whiteford walked into their house, not speaking to one another. Once they were in the house fifteen minutes, Roxanne finally had something to say.
“I’m going to go wash the dishes from this morning. See I’m being a dutiful wife just like you want. A fucking wife that does as she’s told.”
Douglas didn’t say a word, just got up, and went into the bedroom. As Roxanne stood at the kitchen sink doing dishes, she heard someone come up behind her.
“Look, Douglas if you’re trying to make up I’m not in the mood right now. Go back into the bedroom.”
“I’m not Douglas.”
Roxanne turned around to see a face she had just seen that morning.
“Brandon,” Roxanne said in a whisper, “what are you doing here? You can’t be here, my husband is at home.”
“I’m here to see your husband too. I have something for you both. You, the cheating whore and your cowardly husband.”
“What are you talking about, Brandon?”
“My name’s not Brandon, it’s Justin.” He bent over at the waist and whispered in her ear, “but they call me the Butcher.”
The next morning Elgie attended the AA meeting, then the task force meeting he was not invited to. Everyone but Lieutenant Gray expected him. Gray gave him a look but didn’t say anything about his unscheduled attendance.
During the meeting, Quinn reported that Kenny Wain’s wife didn’t seem very bothered with the news of her husband’s murder. She was also not surprised by the fact that it was suspected that he was a victim of the Butcher. The victim’s wife said she had discovered gay porn and an ad for a casual sex site on her husband’s computer and was planning to divorce him. The Butcher just saved her the trouble. Quinn also reported that she was able to get DNA samples from Rodson, Deorader, and Reader. She didn’t tell them about the hair found on the clothing of the first victim found in Griffith Park.
Doctor Brooks reported that they didn’t find any evidence at the dump site of the male victim. They were still processing the dirt from the graves, had found ei
ght additional graves after Elgie’s call and were looking for the other two. Elgie told the group that the five strangulation kills the Butcher claimed had been verified.
Elgie returned to the tip line office answering phones with his left hand with his right still in a sling. After two hours he thought he would take a pain pill since he really didn’t need to have his wits sharp for the investigation when all he did was answer phones, send Sergeant Pool and Sergeant Johnson out on calls and transfer the rest for follow up by the task force. Then Elgie’s personal cell phone rang.
“Hello, this is Elgie.”
A voice that sounded like the villain in a video game spoke.
“Hello, Elgie, may I call you Elgie?”
“You can call me whatever you want as long as you stop killing.”
“That’s not going to happen. I just called to tell you I left you a little treat at 415 Rackham Street. They’re in the kitchen, that is to say, they started off there. They didn’t have any children. Bye for now, and have a wonderful day.”
“Sergeant Johnson, call dispatch and have them send a black and white to 415 Rackham Street. I believe that’s in L.A. I’m going to notify the task force and go to the scene. There’s been another murder.”
Elgie hurried to the task force office.
“Lieutenant Gray, the Butcher just called me and said they’re in the kitchen. He also said there were no children.”
“You think he’s murder a couple again?”
“Yes, I do. I sent a black and white over there, and we need to get going before the media descends on the house.”
Tracking the Butcher Page 17