Lieutenant Romero stood next to Jemimah at the memorial held for the four murdered women. Even for the month of August, the temperature was unbearably hot, although the sky was dark and overcast. The church was filled to capacity with mourners and the curious. Jemimah felt comfortable with her shoulder leaning against Rick. Whitney showed up and took a seat on the other side of her. She could feel Rick stiffen up.
Friends, neighbors and relatives occupied the polished wooden pews of St. Francis Cathedral. Photos of the victims adorned the small table on the altar, surrounded by an overabundance of freshly cut flowers. Still in the throes of grief, the families of the victims huddled together. The priest recited the final prayers and led the congregation outside through the church doors. Mourners piled into the waiting limos to make the lonely drive to the cemetery.
Once outside, a swarm of reporters waited. With microphones pointed at his face, Romero thanked his fellow officers for their help in solving the case and then handed the microphone over to Sheriff Bobby Medrano.
The arrest of Brenda Mason had been a slow and tedious process. Romero was impatient to put the lid on it. The evidence against her was overwhelming. Even the best defense attorney would have a hard time getting her anything but a life sentence. Not only did Forensics find her bloody print on the cigarette lighter in Charlie’s SUV, but strands of her hair were mixed with the blood on his shirt. Her hair was also present on some of the victims’ clothing. Her DNA and more hair were found on the murder weapon, and the jewelry of one of the victims was discovered in the glove box of her car.
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Brenda was not at all comfortable in her jail cell at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center, a building she had driven by hundreds of times and where she had on occasion visited incarcerated friends. To top it off, her roommate Sonja Swentzel refused her phone calls so that she couldn’t even ask her to bring some of her personal belongings to the jail. After all she had done for that bitch. She had half a mind to turn her in to the State for embezzling.