Cody left the building and relished the crisp, clean air on his face. The outside temperature was forty-nine degrees. One of the things he loved best about being on the mountain was the climate. The hottest month of the year was July, and even then the average was only in the upper sixties. Being 6,700 feet above sea level had its advantages.
The Los Angeles basin was full of smog, and the summers unbearably hot. The traffic was such that one had to be overly aggressive to get anywhere. No one was about to let you in their lane, even when driving the most expensive cars.
Every day getting from point A to point B was like playing a game of chicken. That’s why he loved coming home. Although incorporated as a city in the early 1980’s, Big Bear was a small town. The year-round populace was only in the low 5,000s.
Sure, in peak season, the population could grow to as much as a hundred thousand people, but that never changed its core. Up here, people cared about one another. Helped each other out. They always waved and said hello.
They waited for you when you backed out of a parking spot. They gave you the right-of-way when you needed to merge onto the road. That’s why whenever Cody needed to decompress, he came here. It was almost like magic the way the stress fled his body at the first sign of pine trees along the highway.
No matter how cold, he’d crack his windows to let the scent fill the car. Home. It’s true that home is where the heart is, and Big Bear had captured his heart at fifteen and never let go.
By the time he’d gotten back to the station, the conference room was full; everyone was waiting on him.
He brought everyone up to speed on the case. Deputies young and old listened with rapt attention. Even the sheriff took notes.
“In closing, I need you all to be super vigilant. We aren’t used to having this type of predator in our area. Keep an eye out for anything or anyone that looks suspicious. I’m not a profiler, but I’d say this UNSUB is Caucasian and in his early thirties to early forties.
“I know I don’t have to tell you to be careful, but keep in mind he is most likely armed and dangerous. If you have any information, or questions, please contact Deputy Reid or myself.”
He looked at Jilly. “We’ll keep you apprised of any new developments. I want to thank you all for joining us, especially those from the night shift coming in on your own time. That’s all from me.” Then he looked over at Bud. “Sheriff, did you have anything to add?”
“Nope. I think that about covers it.” Bud focused on the room. “You’re dismissed.”
Cody turned to Jilly. “Mind if I borrow a computer to start looking up missing persons?”
“You can use the desk across from mine. Noah had to leave town on a family emergency.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m going to grab another cup of coffee. The break room’s back here if you need anything.”
He followed her and snagged a chocolate donut with nuts from an open box. Although his coffee had gone cold, he still had half a cup left so he nuked it while Jilly filled a mug.
“The ME’s report should be back now. I’ll check my email when I get to my desk,” she said.
He’d just taken a huge bite of his donut, so he nodded and murmured, “Mmm.” Once he’d finished chewing, he said, “I’d like to go back about ten years and check the missing persons reports for here and the surrounding mountain towns, then Victorville, Hesperia, Redlands, and San Bernardino.”
Cody watched Jilly pick up a buttermilk donut on her way out the door. “Sounds like a plan.”
Walking behind her, he said, “I’ll have Robin search the surrounding states. If this guy stays true to form, we’re looking for white females between the ages of twenty and thirty-five.”
Jilly set her mug and half-eaten donut on her desk before she settled into her desk chair. “I have a feeling that won’t be a short list.”
“Probably not, but it’s a start. We can’t narrow it down by hair color, but the women’s tresses were long. So we can delete women with short hair.”
“I’d say that’s about two percent,” she said, staring at her computer screen.
“I’m sure you’re right. We need to study these files further and see what these women had in common. Where’s the copy machine?”
She looked up from her computer. “Ask Marge to help you out.” She pointed to the older woman at the front desk. “That thing is finicky, but she has the knack. We’ve needed a new one for years.”
“Got it.” Cody snatched the paperwork he’d printed from his computer the night before and went over to introduce himself to Marge. She had a take-charge attitude. He could tell she was the one who really ran the place. A good person to know.
Jilly watched him walk away. She couldn’t help herself. It had been hard to focus whenever he was near. She actually had to concentrate twice as hard on the task at hand. She’d better get over it fast, or she’d just keep making an ass out of herself and a killer could go free.
She heard Marge laugh and it was all she could do not to turn her head.
Dammit.
She opened her email and found the file from the Medical Examiner’s office and began to read. He’d only autopsied one DB so far. His note to her said she appeared to be the last victim and he thought it would be the best place to start.
She was sixty-five inches long, so she was five foot five inches tall. Natural blonde hair, twenty two inches in length, eyes blue. Previous compound fracture of the left leg.
When trying to identify her, that tidbit might help. Her lungs were full of water. “Crap.”
Jilly heard Marge coming into the room giggling like a schoolgirl. She was staring up at Cody like he was some Greek god or something.
“Spare me,” Jilly muttered under her breath.
“I’m sorry, what did you say, Deputy Reid?” Cody said, sarcastically.
Jilly tore her eyes away from her computer screen as if she’d been too engrossed in her work to know he was even there.
“I was reading the autopsy report of the last vic. The COD was drowning.”
The smile dropped from his face.
“That bastard chained her to a cinderblock while she was still alive and tossed her over the side of his boat?”
“Oh, my.” Marge’s hand flew to her mouth.
Cody wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Looks like it,” Jilly said.
“I’m sorry, Marge.” He started rubbing her arm with his hand like he was trying to warm her up. “I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth while you were standing there. Please forgive me.”
The sixty-two year old grandmother gazed up at Cody and smiled. “That’s all right.” She patted his hand. “It’s your job. I’ll get out of your way so you can get to it.”
Cody squeezed her. “Marge, you’re a peach.”
The woman giggled as she walked away.
Jilly rolled her eyes at Cody. Oh, please. If the shit gets any deeper in here I’m going to need higher boots.
“What?” Cody said.
“Cut the crap, we have a killer to catch,” Jilly grumbled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Marge is a sweetheart. She offered to fix me a home-cooked meal. That’s more than I can say for you.”
“Damn straight. You’re lucky I’m being civil at all since you horned in on my case.”
“You’re right. I’m just a guest here.” He put his hand over his heart dramatically. “I do apologize for overstepping my bounds. Since you’re lead on this investigation, what would you like me to do now?”
Jilly squinted at him. There were so many ways he pissed her off, but his sarcasm was at the top of the list. “Fine. Go through those files and see what the girls had in common.”
He tossed a stack of papers her way before he took his seat. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Cody called Robin regarding the missing persons reports for the neighboring states, then got to work studying the files she’d sent the night before. He had to find a way to narrow down the list. He already knew everything there was to know about Mary Ellen, so he simply kept her stats in mind.
He scanned the files first for height, but that was a dead end. The women ranged from five foot two to five foot nine. Eye and hair color was all over the place. He looked at the hodgepodge of jobs.
Registered nurse, waitress, kindergarten teacher, Pilates instructor, fly fishing guide, florist, retail manager, travel agent. What did they all have in common? Then it hit him.
They all dealt with the public.
He wrote that down.
Okay, that’s two; they had long hair and had positions where they were in contact with strangers. Except for the law clerk. Perhaps the UNSUB met her when he visited his lawyer. Cody made a note to follow up and find out the name of the lawyer she worked for so he could get a client list.
Then he cross-referenced where they lived with where their bodies were found. The guy was all over the map. He had Idaho, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon. He flipped through the pages and decided he needed more space.
He collected everything and retired to the conference room. It was quiet in there and the table afforded a larger area to spread out. He read all the files again, then went back to his note pad.
All the bodies were buried in wooded areas far from the populace. He scribbled a note. Why dump a body in the wilderness, but not bury it deep enough to make sure it’s not found? Next to that he wrote. Animals? No, if he wanted the animals to scramble the evidence, he wouldn’t have buried them at all.
What the hell was this guy thinking?
There were no signs of a struggle, so the women either felt safe or knew the person well enough to let him get close. Who would that be? Someone impersonating a police officer? Someone wounded who needed help?
Whoever it was didn’t appear to be a threat. As soon as the UNSUB was near, he was able to overpower them before they had a chance to run, fight, or scream. Okay, one was on her bicycle, one walking home, one had car trouble on the highway.
Roofies were out. That left chloroform, taser, or a shot of some drug that would work fast to incapacitate them. Both a taser and a hypodermic needle would leave a mark, but he’d found no such notation in the autopsy reports.
He turned around and stared at the wall.
“What am I missing?”