I loved Saturdays when I wasn’t on the road. I would lie in my comfy bed until the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and sizzling bacon drew me out like a magnet. Amber enjoyed cooking, and her culinary expertise was definitely one reason that I appreciated the fact that my sister lived with me and hadn’t mentioned getting her own place over the past four years. The same was true for Kate. She was our dearest friend and a great sounding board, especially since she had that sixth sense, her uncanny psychic detective abilities. She had solved many crimes with that gift, and all the people who’d scoffed at her skills years ago were now true believers. Kate was also a neat freak, and that was a godsend in our hectic lives since we were always on the go. Luckily, our shared cat, Spaz, was self-sufficient, and as long as he had his favorite kibbles and a fresh bowl of water, he was good to go.
When I heard Amber’s bedroom door open and close, I smiled. That meant breakfast would be ready in a half hour, and I could dreamily remain in bed for another thirty minutes. Just as I dozed off again, my phone rang.
I groaned before lifting my head off the pillow. “You have to be kidding!” I snatched my phone from the nightstand and checked the time before answering. I was fully prepared to give a telemarketer an earful, but these days, even the telemarketers used nothing but robocalls. I could still yell into the phone, but the satisfaction of telling someone off just wasn’t the same. It was only seven forty-five, which would normally irritate the heck out of me, especially on a Saturday morning, but when I saw the name on the screen, I knew it had to be important.
“Renz, what’s up?”
“Sorry to bother you on what could have been a peaceful Saturday.”
“What could have been, meaning it won’t be?”
“Yeah, I’m not liking the idea of working on a rare Saturday off any more than you are, but there’s been several disturbing discoveries overnight.”
After sitting up in bed, I thanked Amber with a nod. She’d just brought me a cup of coffee, placed it on the nightstand, and walked out. I assumed she heard my phone ring and figured it was a work-related call.
I took a much-needed sip of the brew before continuing. “So what are the disturbing discoveries?”
“Five bodies were found by homeless people this morning.”
I raised my brows. Having five people die in Milwaukee in one night wasn’t unusual, and that was especially true if they were all homeless. Many homeless people were drug abusers, and they were easily taken advantage of and beaten to death or died of disease, illness, starvation, or weather exposure.
“So the bodies were found around the camps?”
“Sounds that way, at least in the general area.”
“Right, and why should we be involved? The homeless aren’t usually the healthiest of people to begin with.”
Renz let out a long groan. “Because every one of them had their throats slashed.”
I was stunned and had to process what he’d just told me. “You did say these bodies were found in different areas, didn’t you?”
“I did. So either one person was pretty busy all night, or there were multiple killers. When I say scattered around, I don’t mean within blocks of each other. They were found throughout Milwaukee County, and that covers a lot of territory.”
“Wow. It almost sounds like a coordinated attack.”
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves, but we do need to get to the office. Taft is being briefed by the sheriff since every victim was found in a different police district. Deputies and officers are at each scene and have already reported in to their direct supervisors. The bodies haven’t been moved, and considering the quantity and manner of death, local law enforcement thought it prudent to get ahold of Taft. We’re considering these deaths as serial crimes, and even though the murders may not have been done by one hand, the totality of it still falls in that category.”
“Because it could have been a group effort?”
“Yes, and no matter if one person held the knife or three, because the manner was the same, the murders themselves would count as a serial crime. There’s no way five homeless people killed on the same night in the same way is a coincidence.”
I had to agree. “Okay, I should be at the office within an hour. At least traffic won’t be an issue today.” I hung up and dove into the shower for a quick rinse. Within ten minutes, I was dressed and had my hair sleeked back into a ponytail. I yelled down the hallway to Amber that all I needed was a travel cup of coffee and a bagel. I would have to forego that delicious breakfast she was preparing, but if I was lucky, I could snag a strip of bacon on my way out the door.
Thankful that it was Saturday, I wouldn’t have to give Taft the typical traffic excuses I usually gave for my late arrival.
After passing through the gate in that one-hour time frame I had promised Renz, I dropped off my briefcase, and because our shared office was empty, I assumed he was there and either grabbing a coffee or already in the conference room. I headed there since I still had coffee in my travel cup.
I found everyone from our team seated around the table, and because I had the farthest to drive and it was an unscheduled meeting, nobody gave me that “you’re late again” headshake. We were all on board and ready to get busy, especially since we had five murders to deal with at once.
I wasn’t worried about what I’d missed. Renz would update me if needed. All Taft said she knew was that the people who reported the crimes were also homeless and had been dumpster diving or milling around the area that morning when they came upon the individuals. They found the nearest person with a phone, or the nearest store that was open, and asked them to call 911. The descriptions of the deceased were all the same—one long and deep slash across the neck. The victim had no chance of survival and likely bled out immediately.
“Did any of the callers know or recognize the victims?” I asked.
Maureen shook her head. “I don’t have that information yet. What’s most important at this moment is to have Dave establish times of death for each victim to see if there actually was a way that one person could have committed the crimes. Yet the estimated TOD is often too broad to really narrow down if one killer could move about the county fast enough, find victims to target, complete the act, and then do that four more times within that time frame Dave gives us.”
David Mann—or just Dave, as he preferred—was the medical examiner for Milwaukee County and had been for years. I was sure he and his team would have their work cut out for them on this case.
“Has Dave gone to any of the scenes yet?” Fay asked.
“He’s been to two of them, and so far, he’s said the neck injuries were relatively the same—ear-to-ear slashes. There weren’t any other wounds visible, but he said he’d know more after the bodies were on the autopsy tables and washed down thoroughly.”
I grimaced. “I’d imagine besides the time of death, Dave should be able to tell if the slashes were the same depth, were done using the same amount of force, and if the fatal injuries were done left to right or right to left. That would tell us if the perp was one and the same.”
“And so would the actual wound,” Renz said. “If the same person committed every crime, then he’d likely use the same knife, wouldn’t you think?”
Maureen cocked her head. “That depends and could go several ways. If he wants us to think different people were responsible, he may use a variety of knives, or if several people actually were responsible, they may all buy identical knives. I’d trust the depth of the wounds as well as the right or left motion before I’d trust the blade type. Personal mannerisms can’t be altered as easily as knife types can.”
Maureen had a point, and we would have to wait for the autopsy reports before we knew how many killers we were dealing with.
“Do homeless people even carry identification, and does law enforcement know the victims’ names yet?” Charlotte asked.
“The police have started canvassing the area, but I want all of you there too. We’ll be the lead if these murders are actually connected. You’ll go to the crime scenes, track down the callers—the police or deputies can point them out—and then ask those people and other residents at the camps if they knew the deceased by name. Press them. Homeless people have a way of clamming up. They prefer to be left alone. If any of the vics did have IDs, that’ll help speed up our ability to notify their next of kin.”
I huffed. “If the next of kin even want to be involved. Many times, homeless people have been ostracized by their family. They’re deemed as outcasts.”
Maureen agreed. “That’s true, but we’ll do the best we can.”
Renz took his turn. “So divide up and hit every crime scene?”
“Yes. I have the addresses here, and you guys can decide who goes where.” Maureen slid the printed reports to us, and Renz passed them out.
“Jade and I will go to the two scenes where Dave and his team have already been since there’s only four sets of us and five crime scenes.”
“Okay. Head out, then, and keep me posted.”