The following day it seemed as if everything was going at a whirlwind pace. They were all working overtime on their assignments, and Gwen and CC had brought a stack of files home to go over in the morning before they went into the precinct. They decided to make it part of their evening routine to go home and check on the dogs before heading to The Dive, so they wanted to make sure they had plenty of work on hand after eating dinner, feeding the boys, taking them on their walk, and before heading out again. Going through the old case files was slow and tedious work, and so far they hadn’t found anything linking the three men together.
At their task force meeting, everyone was hopeful that they were onto something and that the case would be solved soon. There was a nervous tension in the air, as if everyone was expecting the investigation to crack wide open and the perps exposed.
Brad laughed. “Last night my daughter Angela and her two friends needed a ride out to Fairfield High to watch a big soccer match. Turns out there’s a big rivalry between Fairfield which my daughter attends, and Oakridge, where I found out Garmer’s granddaughter goes to school. I decided to do some surveillance and sat right behind Judge Garmer and his daughter. About halfway through the game, who shows up but that scumbag Algier. I couldn’t hear all they were saying, but Gwen, you were right about some of that money finding its way into Garmer’s hands. First thing Algier did was hand him the magic envelope.”
Scott was bursting at the seams for his turn to share with the group. “I called Sammy and asked him to meet me at the game. He was sitting on the other side of Garmer’s daughter. He caught Garmer saying ‘the situation hasn’t been sufficiently satisfied.’ Sammy thinks they’re trying to extort more money from Wright. From the look on his face, Algier wasn’t happy about it, but told Garmer he’d get back to him.
“Algier didn’t stay for the whole game, and I followed him to The Brat Stop when he left,” Scott continued. “I sat next to him and ordered a beer. After he was settled and chomping down on his brat, I told him he looked familiar. He straightened up and gave me the ‘holier than thou’ routine about how important he was in the DA’s office. I told him I worked as a liaison between the detectives and the laboratory. His ears perked up and he bought me a beer, but didn’t ask for any help. At least not yet.”
“That’s great work, Scott,” Gwen said. “Keep on it.”
“I just found a file before the meeting which might be of interest,” CC said next. “It’s a case that came up before Judge Garmer about a month ago. Algier was the district attorney assigned to the case, and a businessman by the name of Viceroy was claiming extortion by a patrolman named Finley. Sorry guys, this gets murky in the file, but I checked the roster, and Finley worked for Wright. Of course, all charges were dropped quickly. In fact, it looks like most of the proceedings are missing from the file.”
“What happened to the patrol officer…Finley?” Gwen asked.
“I called one of my contacts at the North Precinct,” CC replied. “As far as he knows, it’s business as usual. Finley is still on the job.”
“Brad, can you see if you can find Viceroy? See if he can fill you in on the details,” Gwen asked.
“Umm…I did a quick search,” CC cut in. “He died of a heart attack two weeks after the hearing.”
“Damn,” Gwen whistled under her breath. “Okay, then see if he has any family, or maybe a business partner, who knows anything about the case. If he was angry enough to take it all the way to court, he must have let off some steam with someone.”
“I’m on it,” Brad said enthusiastically.
“One more thing,” Scott added. “There was an unfortunate situation with Wright’s car last night. Both back tires were slashed. They were flat as pancakes when Wright tried to drive off this morning, so it’s being towed to Chuck’s Garage. They do a lot of work for the force, so the captain should get a really good deal on two new tires, and Sammy thought he’d give his buddy over there a hand. As long as he’s at it, we’ll have our fibers from Wright’s trunk within a couple hours. I have the lab standing by.”
“We need evidence, but be careful we go through the proper channels,” Gwen warned. “I don’t want anything getting thrown out in court by sloppy detective work, or because we’ve obtained evidence by illegal means.”
Gwen’s phone rang. She listened, staring grimly at the team around her. They’d found the body of the third missing woman.
* * *
Amy Farley’s body had been found by a neighbor who had been walking his dog in an empty field not far from the downtown area. The young man was clearly distraught and told them his dog had been pulling at his leash, trying to get him to go in that direction for about a week. He was always in a hurry to get the dog walked so he could get to work, and he had been ignoring the dog’s protests. The past two days he smelled something awful coming from that direction, but again, he’d been in a hurry and kept the dog on the path he was accustomed to walking him. He figured it had to be a dead bird or cat, and the last thing he wanted to do was let his black Labrador retriever bring it home. Today he had the day off, so he figured he would let the dog show him where the animal was, and he could come back later and bury it. A dead body was the last thing he’d expected to find.
Amy was a big woman, an Amazon, the patrons at The Dive had called her. She was nearly six feet tall and weighed almost two hundred pounds. Whoever had killed her had to have a fair amount of strength. Just dragging her out of a car would have been a major accomplishment. Like the others, her throat was slashed and her belly split open.
Doc Maynard arrived and confirmed the woman had been dead about a week, give or take a day or two.
Just as in the other murders, CC was able to bag several green fibers from the dead woman’s hair and clothing. When she finished her examination, she stood and addressed Doc Maynard. “I guess I have to take my turn. When are you planning on performing the autopsy?”
Gwen couldn’t help but laugh at CC’s nervous gesture, but stifled her grin as best as she could. CC was trying so hard to be a good sport, do her share, and not appear rattled by the prospect of viewing the body being taken apart piece by piece by Doc Maynard. Her posture and expression made Gwen think of one of the pups shirking away after being disciplined.
“We can do it as soon as the crime scene techs are finished. The sooner the better, don’t you think?”
“Uh, I guess so. I haven’t attended too many, Doc.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be gentle with you,” he said, taking her hand and leading her away. “Now, over the years I’ve led hundreds of recruits through the fascinating process of autopsying the body. We can so often gain such a terrific insight as to who the person was and how they conducted their life. There’s such a wonderful story told by the skeleton, muscles and internal organs; I never cease being amazed at the outstanding handiwork of our Creator. Usually the bigger they are, the harder it is for them. You’re just a little thing, and I’m guessing you have a fairly strong constitution, so you’ll do just fine.”
When they were out of earshot, Gwen let out her breath and laughed until she cried. The release felt good in the midst of so much death and gloom.