The four men clustered around the body of a woman partially hidden by underbrush. The body was deep enough into the woods that they didn’t have to close the eleventh hole. They had retrieved their balls, waved the foursome behind them through, then parked the two golf carts off the fairway. If the golfers were curious what they were doing in the woods, they didn’t show it. They were only concerned with their golf game.
“Did you tell Benny and the crime scene unit to take the back road?” Robinson asked.
Ed crouched down and studied the body. “Yeah. The street is only about twenty yards away. Anyone could have driven up and dumped the body. Impossible to see tire tracks in the gravel up there.”
Jake used a pen and lifted a branch from a bush hanging over the body. It was clear to see that the victim had been strangled. Although the skin had started to slough off, he could still see a dark line circling her neck. She was wearing leather slacks, heels, a leather jacket and a low cut sweater. Gold bracelets were on her right wrist. What looked like an expensive watch was on her left wrist. And in her opened hand was a lime green golf ball. All Jake could do was shake his head.
“See a purse anywhere?” Jake cautiously stepped back. They had been careful not to move around too much and risk disturbing any evidence the crime techs might discover. Heads swiveled in a quick assessment of the area. The underbrush was thick. Trees were numerous enough to block out most of the sunlight. Unless a golfer was desperate enough to find a lost ball, he would have no reason to wander into the woods.
Between the thick foliage they saw several cars pull over onto the gravel shoulder. Car doors slammed and several figures emerged. Benny Lau, the medical examiner for Chasen Heights, picked his way through, his appearance visible by the colorful Hawaiian shirt he wore under his jacket. An M.E. van parked behind his station wagon followed by a white CSU van. The four cops slowly moved away from the body, careful to retrace their steps. They found a small clearing a safe distance away. One patrol car parked behind the M.E. van.
“Pretty convenient.” Benny pointed toward the street. “That wasn’t an easy street to find so it makes for a great place to dump a body.”
“Gee, Benny, maybe we’ll promote you to detective,” Ed said as he swatted at the air, wishing he had brought the bug spray.
“Thanks, but I already have a job.” Benny waved over his assistant who was lugging a satchel. “Joe, let’s wait here until the techs are through.”
Captain Robinson instructed the two beat cops to stand vigil on the side of the eleventh fairway to prevent anyone from venturing into the crime scene.
Two crime techs started photographing the area. Carol Beemison was bent over examining the area ten feet away working her way toward the victim. Her honey-colored hair was tucked under a baseball cap. After packing two years of nursing under her belt, she had switched her major to criminology. A ten-year veteran with the crime lab, she had been the only one who could put up with Hank. For her it was easy. He reminded her of her father.
“Could the killer have picked a more dense forest?” Hank Sobczak grumbled. “Who was the lucky ass to uncover the body?” Hank lasered a glare at the faces staying a safe distance away and then saw Frank. “Shoulda known it was you, Travis. You are like a human blowfly, attracted to any decomposing flesh or crime in the making.” Hank had twenty years experience and counting the days until he retired. He had seen enough of what a certain element of society can do to another human being and it had made him cynical.
Frank didn’t have a reply because Hank was right. Frank had a way of attracting dead bodies. “If you guys bothered to remember,” Frank started, “none of this ever happened before I started teaming up with this guy.” He hooked a thumb toward Jake. “I’d have to visit the cemetery to be close to a dead body. My patrol days were boring. Then I get teamed up with Mister Ex-FBI. I wonder what their body count was when he worked there.”
Jake lit a cigarette and blew the smoke in Frank’s direction. “Not true. My life with the FBI was uneventful. We always got our man but they were usually still standing. It’s you, Frank.”
“It’s both of you,” Robinson said. “Frick and Frack, yin and yang, whatever. The minute you two were partnered up, the whole town went to hell in a hand basket.”
A golf cart rumbled up, one man behind the wheel dressed in a sweater with a Lake Bluff crest on the pocket. Jake remembered him as the starter. Bob was embroidered above the crest. He filled Bob in on what was happening and asked him to notify the owner that they would need to speak to him. Bob turned the cart around and headed back up the fairway. It wouldn’t take long for word to spread now that a course employee had been told about the body.
“Well, that’s it.” Robinson waved his hands in a give-up gesture. “We’ll have to leave it up to our other CHPD foursome to reclaim our crown. I’m headed back to the office to field calls from the chief and mayor. So much for a quiet weekend. Jake, Frank, let me know what Benny says. Make sure he gets to the autopsy before next year. And you.” He pointed a finger at Scofield. “You head back to man the phones. I’m not taking the calls from the press.” As Robinson and Scofield sped away, Jake and Frank turned their attention back to the body.
Hank pulled off his gloves and made a quick phone call. He snapped the phone closed as he approached. “No footprints, weapons, zip-nada on the evidence except for some cigarette butts. Even the shoulder of the road over there is gravel. Can’t see a tire tread mark if we wanted to. We didn’t find a purse anywhere in the area.” He slapped the gloves against his thigh as though they were to blame for his crappy day. “So much for getting my grass cut.”
Carol patted her partner on the back. “Be thankful she wasn’t buried in a sand trap. Then we’d have to sift through every grain.”
“As long as Benny is busy, why don’t we go to the club house where there’s food, hot coffee, and a groundskeeper or two?” Frank suggested to Jake.
“Hey,” Hank yelled, holding an object in his hand. “Want your golf ball back?”