After a restless attempt at sleeping for a few hours, Penner decided she might as well go back to the office. She took a quick shower, pulled her hair up into a loose bun and looked in the mirror. Aside from the dark circles under her eyes, she didn’t think she looked too bad. She finished dressing and grabbed a muffin and banana on her way out the door. Typically, she’d make a travel coffee for the drive, but there was something she needed to do this morning, and there was no time to waste. Well, almost no time. The walk to the Captain’s office just happened to pass the precinct’s kitchenette. ‘First things, first,’ she thought as she poured herself a coffee before going to see the Captain. She knocked on his door.
‘Come in,’ the Captain called out. ‘Morning, Detective,’ he said, as Penner entered the office.
‘Morning, sir,’ Penner said, closing the door behind her. ‘Sir, we may have a slight problem.’
‘Oh?’ The Captain put down his pen and took off his reading glasses. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Well, last night I was at the scene of the latest murder,’ Penner started.
‘I heard we had another one,’ the Captain said. ‘Find anything?’
‘We did find a hair on the body that may be something. We’re not really sure. Constable Grant brought it to get it tested last night, so we’ll see,’ Penner said. She let out a sigh. ‘But, unfortunately, Arden Wall, the reporter, seems to have overheard me say the words serial killer.’ Penner looked down, ashamed and worried about how the Captain was going to react.
‘Really. So, is there a serial killer?’ the Captain asked.
‘We don’t really know yet, sir, but it’s kind of looking that way,’ Penner said, looking up again. ‘Both bodies have a similar looking wound, both seem to have been dumped in a similar manner. But it’s too early to say for sure. Unfortunately, Arden doesn’t seem to think so. He sent me an email last night that the lead story on the evening news is going to be that Ottawa has a serial killer on the loose.’
‘That little weasel,’ the Captain said. ‘Right, leave it to me. I’ll get in touch with his station, try to convince them not to run the story. I don’t mind if he says there was a second murder, but that’s it.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Penner said, relieved.
‘No problem, Detective,’ the Captain said. ‘Just try and be aware of who might be listening from now on, okay?’
‘Yes, sir. Will do, sir,’ Penner said, heading towards the door. ‘Oh, and Captain?’
‘Yes?’
‘I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been working with one of the patrol officers, Constable Grant. He’s been doing a really good job, hard worker. Just wanted to let you know, and perhaps you could mention it to his Sergeant. I know I’ve been keeping him busy.’
‘Grant, eh. No problem,’ the Captain said. ‘Keep me up to date on the cases, and, if they are related, let’s hope we don’t get anymore. Get these solved, Detective.’ He put his glasses back on, a sign the meeting was over.
‘We are doing our best, sir,’ Penner said, closing the door behind her on her way out. ‘That went better than I thought it would,’ she thought, walking back to her office. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out.
‘Hello?’ Penner didn’t recognize the phone number, so she answered hesitantly.
‘Detective Penner? This is Mark from the Registrar’s Office just returning your call.’
Before she had left the office the night before, Penner had left a voice mail at City Hall. ‘Oh, hi. Thanks for getting back to me. I have a bit of a strange question for you, and hopefully you can help me out. I’m just looking to find out if any police officers were registered to have a wedding yesterday.’
‘Unfortunately, Detective, we can’t give out private information like that. You should know that.’
‘I know, but I don’t need anyone’s name right now, I just want to know if there’s a way for you to know if an officer got married.’ Penner continued walking down the hall towards her office.
‘Detective, I can’t give out that type of information. Besides, I wouldn’t have it anyways. When we issue a license, it’s good for a 30-day period. We don’t know the actual wedding date until they file for the marriage certificate, and that could be up to ninety days later. I’m afraid there isn’t too much I can do for you.’
‘Alright. Well, thanks for getting back to me anyways,’ Penner said, a bit dejected.
‘You’re welcome. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.’
Penner hung up and sat down at her desk. She hoped that Constable Grant was having better luck.
‘Civic Hospital.’
‘Oh, hi, this is Constable Grant from the Ottawa City Police, I was wondering if I could get some information on a patient that was brought in last night.’
‘Name?’
‘I’m not sure. It was a homeless guy, brought in by ambulance around two in the morning. Really drunk, passed out before being picked up.’
‘Give me a minute, I’ll see what I can find out.’ There was a click and some hold-music started, a version of a seventies rock song. Grant started whistling along, absentmindedly. After a minute, there was another click and the music stopped.
‘Hello, Constable? I’m afraid the patient was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. Looks like acute alcohol poisoning.’
‘Really?’ Grant was surprised and disappointed. ‘Well, thanks for your time.’
‘You’re welcome.’
‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that,’ Grant said to himself. He looked at his watch. Time to go meet up with Penner.
‘Morning, Detective,’ Grant said, knocking on Penner’s open office door. ‘Brought you a coffee.’
‘Ah, you’re learning,’ Penner said, taking the coffee gratefully. ‘So, you’re looking nice and awake. Get a good night’s sleep?’
‘Not too bad, but it could have been longer,’ said Grant. ‘I’m not really used to working these long, odd hours. Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate the opportunity. It’s just a bit exhausting.’
‘Trust me, I understand all too well.’ Penner took a sip of the coffee. ‘So, find out anything new on our case?’
‘Well, I called the hospital just now,’ Grant said, sitting down in one of the spare chairs.
‘Can we go down and interview your puker?’
‘Unfortunately not. He died shortly after being brought in,’ Grant said, having a sip of his own coffee.
‘Crap. Well, at least he gave you a bit of info, I guess,’ Penner said. ‘Now, whether he actually saw something or not is another story.’
‘I kind of think he did,’ said Grant.
‘Why’s that?’
‘Well, he did say he saw a lady in a red dress get hit. The guy didn’t look like the type that was going to be reading the morning paper or watching the news.’ Grant took another sip of his coffee.
‘Could he have heard someone else talking about it?’ Penner wondered. ‘Either way, not much we can do about him now. Maybe he actually did it.’
‘Possible, but…’ Grant started but stopped.
‘But what?’ Penner asked.
‘Well, I was doing up a profile, and, well, this guy didn’t really fit what I came up with,’ Grant said a bit sheepishly.
‘A profile, eh?’ said Penner, smiling. ‘So, Mr. Profiler, who are we looking for and why doesn’t our homeless guy fit the mold?’
‘Well, first off, I think the homeless guy was too old. He seemed to be around sixty, maybe mid-sixties. I think our perp is late forties, early fifties at the most,’ Grant said. ‘And I think he has a good job.’
‘What makes you think that?’ Penner asked, intrigued. She leaned back in her chair and watched the young officer thoughtfully.
‘According to Detective Millar’s books, bodies dumped in public areas are usually done by males, late forties. Typically Caucasian,’ Grant continued. ‘It takes a certain amount of confidence to display a body in public like that. Most younger people would just leave the body where the crime was committed. Could be that once they commit the crime, fear sets in. Men in their forties that have good jobs are usually good problem solvers and deal with stress better.’
‘Interesting. Anything else?’ Penner asked, sipping her coffee.
‘I think the perp knew the victims. There was a relationship between them, but not a really close relationship. I don’t think it was a husband or boyfriend sort of thing, but possibly an affair. They were intimate but it was more just physical not really emotional. I also think he has a family,’ Grant said.
‘And how do you get all that just from what we have? I really don’t get it,’ Penner said, shaking her head.
‘Well, it’s all based on past cases,’ Grant said. ‘See, usually when there’s no connection between the two parties, the murder weapon is a gun. The murderer wants to keep their distance. If there was a romantic connection, in most cases, the deathblow is to the front of the victim, either a stabbing or strangulation. The murderer wants to be close to the victim and see their face as they die.’
‘Kind of morbid, isn’t it?’ Penner made a face.
‘It is.’ Grant agreed. ‘With our case, seeing as the wound looks like it was done up close, but from behind, I think there was a connection, but nothing too close.’
‘Makes sense. Why leave the body where they did?’
‘That’s why I think it was an affair. The murderer is putting the body on display because they don’t want to hide their relationship anymore, either subconsciously or not.’
‘So, do you think that Dave guy could be involved?’ Penner asked. ‘He’s got a good job and likes having affairs.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Grant thought for a minute. ‘Based on the way he was with his current office affair, he seems to get emotionally attached. I don’t think that fits.’
‘Okay, so that kind of brings us back to square one then,’ said Penner, finishing her coffee.
‘Well, not necessarily,’ Grant said.
‘Oh?’
Grant took some folded papers out of his pocket. ‘I printed this off last night.’
Penner spent a couple of minutes reading the sheets. When she was done, she looked at Grant, then back at the papers. ‘Well, that’s interesting. I think we should go see our new victim’s family. Go sign out a car. You’re driving—I need a nap.’