Prologue
The streets were empty but for the sounds of cars a block away, cruising up and down the main drag. The young woman walked quickly across the street, she hated being out alone at night. Although it was only nine o’clock, the darkness in this part of town was blanketing. With half the streetlights not working and the thick clouds covering the thin sliver of moon, she could barely see an arms length in front of her. Yet, with work being just under a fifteen-minute walk from her apartment, she couldn’t justify the expense a car would bring.
She had locked up the little Internet cafe on Concord Street that her roommate owned, set the alarm, and started toward home.
The Cafe had opened just two months before, after renovating the old bowling alley that had been there. The bowling alley had been closed for the last five years but her roommate had always spoken fondly of it, smiling at the memories the place held for her and for her family. How many times had she spoken about the day her parents met? How that had been the place her father fell head over heels in love with her mom.
“If only everyone’s life was that good.” She said aloud.
As she passed by the northern side of the big public library she thought she heard footsteps, she furtively glanced around but could not see anything out of place.
“God,” She thought. “I need to cut down on the caffeine, I’m so freakin’ jumpy.”
Just then a hand snaked around her neck from behind. A cloth, the smell reminding her of the hospital, quickly covered her mouth and nose.
“Hello my sweet. We’re going to have some fun together. You’re very special to me. In fact,” The shadow whispered in her ear as the blackness overtook her. “You’re number one!”
1
It was two a.m. when the phone rang.
“Jackson.” I growled.
“Jesus! Don’t you ever sleep?” Bones asked.
“I was sleeping, that was just for show.”
“Well you better wake up pretty damn quick. We’ve got a floater down at the river and from what I hear it’s not a pretty sight. I’m about five minutes from your place; want me to pick you up?”
“Yeah.” I grumbled as I pulled on my clothes. “Five minutes.”
My partner, Bobby “Bones” Baker pulled up about ten minutes later. When I opened the car door, the smell of fresh coffee wafted through the air.
“Thought you could use one of these.” He said as he handed me the extra large cup full of caffeinated goodness.
“Thanks Bones.” I said, as I flipped up the plastic tab and fastened it into place. “I feel better already just smelling this stuff.”
“Well, enjoy it while you can because once we get there I have a feeling we won’t be enjoying much of anything.”
We rode the rest of the way in silence. Bones turned into the dark parking lot illuminated by one flickering street lamp. He stopped the car at the end of the lot.
We got out and started down the weather worn cement stairs that led to the edge of the river. At the bottom, we flashed our badges to the uniform who had called it in.
“What do we got?” I asked.
“Looks like a white female, eighteen to twenty-five, approximately five three, one hundred ten pounds. At least that’s my best guess.”
“How’d you happen to find her”?” Bones asked the young cop.
“I always check the stairs on the quiet nights. I usually try to make at least three passes on my beat. We get a lot of kids down here, they seem to think it’s a good place to smoke a joint or have a few beers.”
“Where was she when you got down here?” I asked.
“She was face down, caught up on the broken edge of the last stair. I pulled her all the way out then called it in.”
“Thanks Officer Piontek.” Bones said peering at the plate above the young cops breast pocket. “Can you secure the area at the top of the stairs? We don’t want the media running around down here if we can help it.”
“One more thing,” I asked as Piontek turned to go up the stairs, “Was this your first pass by tonight?”
“No Sir, I made a pass at about eleven thirty and everything was okay then.”
When Piontek was gone I turned to Bones, “Think we should wait for Gabi to get here or you want to flip her over and see what we got?”
Bones paused for a moment “I think...”
“I think you should wait for Gabi!” shot a voice in back of us.
As our heads spun around a sheepish look came over my face. “Guess I really put my foot in it this time, huh?”
“No, do you really think I expected you two to leave her alone.” She asked.
“Well, first time for everything isn’t there?“ Asked Bones with a grin.
Gabrielle Hope Sanderson was the youngest Medical Examiner ever in New Hampshire. She had started college at the age of fifteen and by twenty-six had assumed the role of M.E. after only a year on the job as assistant. Her predecessor had been arrested and convicted of falsifying evidence in a multiple murder case involving her lover. It was thought to be a temporary position for Gabi until they could hire someone with a bit more experience. Yet she quickly proved that she was qualified for the job by uncovering key information and helping clear the governor’s teenage son on a manslaughter charge.
She turned toward the corpse, “Are you guys going to help me or do I have to do this myself?”
“Of course we’ll help you, after all we would have done it anyway” Bones replied.
When we flipped the corpse over the breath caught in my throat. “That explains why Piontek asked for homicide. Don’t think we needed the M.E. for cause of death that’s for sure.”
Bones nodded an agreement as the three of us took in the grisly sight.
We placed the young woman gently down on her back and couldn’t help staring, amid the multiple stab wounds a word had been branded into her stomach.
“ONE? What? Is he going to keep score for us?“ Bones asked.
“Lets just hope she’s the only one.” Gabi replied, “the last thing we need is some psycho running around right now, my job is hectic enough. Now leave me alone and let me do my job.”
We left Gabi to her work and started up the steps. “You think this is a one time thing?” I asked Bones.
“I sure hope so but I wouldn’t count on it. Not with this wacko leaving notes for us.”
At the top of the stairs we were surprised to see the parking lot was quiet, we had expected at least a few media people to be there, as we were only a mile from the local TV and radio stations.
As if reading our minds, Officer Piontek put in “they found a better vantage point” as he pointed above us.
Our heads swung around in unison, on the bridge 40 feet above the water and only three hundred feet upstream. The TV crews were setting up, their high-powered lights already brightening up the dim night.
I ran to the car and grabbed a tarp from the trunk then raced down the stairs to where the body lay. Gabi was just shutting off her cell phone as I lay the tarp over the young woman’s body.
“Vultures, all of them” she grunted. “Now where the hell is the ambulance?”
Just then we saw the lights flashing above us and two paramedics rushed down the stairs with a stretcher.
“About time you get here, now that channel nine has had a free show.” Gabi Exclaimed.
They loaded up the body and made their way up the stairs pausing halfway to get a better grip.
“Be easier if there was a ramp,” one mumbled.
“Be easier if she hadn’t been killed,” I shot back. Red faced the paramedics turned away and continued up the stairs.
We started up the stairs slowly. “Are you and Chuck coming to the house tomorrow?”
“You know I would never miss your birthday Dad. Especially since you’re turning into an old man.” She teased.
She laid her head on my shoulder and the sobs overtook her “I can’t believe Beth is dead, I thought with this job I could deal with death. It’s different when you know the victim.”
“You know her? From where?”
“She was Daria’s roommate for the last year and a half; they came over for dinner a few times. I better call Daria and let her know; maybe she’ll know where the poor girls parents are.”
“Guess I haven’t kept up on my girls social lives enough. I must be getting soft”
“They say the memory is the first to go, and at your age that’s hardly surprising” she kidded as she regained control of her self.
“Wait a minute! She’s not the one that helped your sister open the shop is she?”
“Yeah, the two of them were very close. Daria is going to be devastated. She had told me several times that Beth was like a sister to her.”
When Bones and I were back on the road headed to the station he turned to me. “So what did she say?”
“She knows the girl”
“What??... How?” I told him. We rode the rest of the way to the station in silence.
As we settled at our desks, I logged in to check my email. After reading a few mundane messages concerning upcoming meetings, seminars, and one about a special hand-to-hand combat class bones was teaching, I started weeding through the spam.
After ten minutes of this mind-numbing task, deleting everything from “Buy remanufactured ink cartridges 60% off, to click her for a good time messages I did a double take as I almost delete a message from mrwatson@rellik.com. The subject heading was a single word “ONE”.
“Holy shit” I said under my breath. I stared at the screen for a moment, “Bones, I think we’ve got a nutcase on our hands...look at this.”
As Bones came around the desk I started reading.
Dear Detective Jackson,
I hope you appreciate the gift I left you down at the river. It’s good that officer Piontek got there as soon as he did. It would have been a shame to see my artwork float away and go to waste. As you can see from the attached picture, she enjoyed the branding immensely. You may have already guessed that she is only the first. The first of many, this is the start of what will be a glorious relationship for you and I Detective. We’ll make history together. Until of course I have to end it all but that will be the most pleasurable of all. I look forward to this all playing out.
-- Mr. Watson --
“Guess you hit that right on the button”
“Yeah, damn I wish I was wrong though” bones replied.
I opened the attachment. The girl, Beth Schwartz was bound spread-eagled. Metal Rings secured into a dingy gray cement wall provided the anchors for the ropes. She had bitten through her lip. Her mouth was clenched in agony, blood trickling down her chin onto her breasts. The now familiar brand of the number One was fresh on her midsection.
“The bastard tortured her.” I muttered. “What kind of sick son of a bitch would do something like this?”
“The same kind who would stab her fourteen times and get pleasure out of it.” Replied bones as he slipped back behind his desk.
After typing up our preliminary notes on the morning’s activities, I asked Bones if he would drop me off at the house.
He said “no problem,” but so gruffly that I wondered if I was intruding on plans he’d already made.
2
When Bones dropped me off I said “thanks” and made my way slowly to the door. Quietly, I let myself in and went down the stairs to the cellar.
Our house is a mid size ranch, given to us by my wife’s grandparents as a wedding gift thirty years before. The cellar was finished off, comprised of a Den area that ran the length of the house and half the width. There was also a sewing/laundry room, a bathroom, and a mostly unfinished room for storage and my computers.
I opened the door to my computer room and powered up my PC, while it was booting, I wandered into the laundry room and shucked my clothes, depositing them on the floor in front of the washing machine. I grabbed a towel from the cabinets running along the wall above the washer and dryer, turned out the light and made my way back to my computer.
I pulled up outlook express checking my personal email and was only mildly surprised to see a copy of the email (at least by the heading) that I had received at the station. Not wanting to look at it just yet I stumbled into the bathroom for a quick shower.
The Hot water pelted my fifty-year-old body, fifty years I’d been on this earth and not a bad fifty years either, I thought. I had a decent job, a wonderful wife, two beautiful (and successful) daughters, and a few close friends. Nope, nothing to complain about.
So what caused this psycho to target me? Or better yet my family? Had I put anybody away that could be capable of this atrocity? Sure I’d solved my share of murders, the majority jilted husbands, wives and lovers. Yet none that I could remember enjoyed it, not like this monster seemed to.
I let the water pour over me for a few more minutes, then turned it off, wrapping the oversized towel around my waist and headed up stairs to bed.
Walking through the kitchen I glanced out the picture window at the sun just rising over the horizon. Looked like another beautiful day in paradise, and it would have been if not for the body in the river.
I climbed into bed trying not to disturb my wife, Cheryl and I had been married for thirty years last month and she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever known. Although we’d both grown older she didn’t look a day over thirty and I never got tired of being with her. We’re like a well-aged whisky I thought we just get better as the time goes by.
I woke up when the phone rang two and half-hours later. “Jackson” I croaked.
“Jake, its Bobby” the voice said “I can’t make it to your place today. I’m sorry, but something came up. Enjoy your birthday pal”
“Great, what a way to start the big five oh” I muttered as I pulled on my robe. I slipped on the well-worn slippers one of the girls had given me for Christmas years before and started down to the kitchen.
I expected to find Cheryl drinking her coffee and reading the morning paper, I was stunned to find I was in an empty house. I had a quick bite to eat consisting of a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and a glass of O.J. then went downstairs to shower and dress. When I came back up the house was still empty. I left a note and headed down to the station.
I was still shocked by the events from the early morning call out, and wanted to go back over the notes. I knew Gabi would be doing the autopsy this morning and figured it would be just as easy for me to get the report when she came to the house later in the day. There was no doubt in my mind she would have it, like me she’s all business.
I walked into the stationhouse, past the desk sergeant and into the back where homicide was located. I glanced over to the ‘box’ and was surprised to see the chief was in. Something was up; Eddie Allin never came in on a Saturday with out a damn good reason.
I sat down at my desk to go through my notes from the night before. I started compiling a list of things to run down when I felt someone staring at me. I turned to see the chief walking my way. When he saw me looking he crooked his finger and beckoned me into the box.
His office, a little glass box was barely wider than his desk. There were blinds on three of the sides over the windows; the forth being a bare gray cinder blocked wall. The office was crammed with a computer, fax machine, and two file cabinets; he had just enough room left to admit two other people. He motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“Got some bad news Jake.”
“Is there any other kind?” I asked
He shrugged. “Not today there’s not, Bobby’s gone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone? He’s dead? Fired? Quit? Off the case?”
“Just relax and I’ll get to that. For starters, yeah he’s off the case, but no he didn’t quit or get fired and last I knew he wasn’t dead. He’s on leave, personal reasons.”
“Well damn it I’m his fucking best friend. I’ve been there for him since we were kids and the bastard never said shit to me.”
“Well” the chief replied, “This morning he caught me bright and early, said he was having a problem with his family situation and he was ready to do himself in. Needed the time off to get his head back on straight.”
“Has he been going to see the Doc, like he was supposed to after all this shit with his wife went down?”
The Doc in question was Doctor Robin Windsong, the Shrink the City used for all the cops who needed it. Some saw her for post-traumatic Syndrome, others because they were burnt out after twenty years on the job, alcohol-related problems, the list was endless.
“About half as much as he should have been, he skipped quite a few weeks at a time, then when it’d get really bad he’d return to her. That’s all the doc can tell me as far as doctor, patient privilege is concerned”
“Did you try to reach her this morning?” I asked.
“Sure, but I couldn’t get through to her at home or her business cell phone. I did leave a message with her answering service though”
“They take forever to get back to her” I said, “Can I make a call?”
“Sure, the chief replied. “Who you calling?”
“Doc Windsong” I said with a smirk.
She picked up on the second ring. We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before getting down to business. Five minutes later I hung up the phone. Chief Allin’s mouth still hung open.
“Now how the hell did you do that?” he shot.
“Easy, I’ve got her personal cell phone, she was up at her camp in Marlow.”
“She hear from Bobby?”
“Yeah, he’s supposed to see her this afternoon, she’s in the middle of re-packing her Jeep for the ride back to town.”
He shot me a questioning glance, “she gonna call you? Let you know how he’s doing?”
“Of course, Bobby and I are like brothers.” at least we used to be, I thought to my self.
Bones first saw her when he was a rookie. I had been on the force for a few years by the time he joined up, and old Chief Brennan, knowing our background together had partnered us.
We were in on the bust of a Casino that was being run, down in the old Mill Yard. The building was supposed to be abandoned, but some kids had stumbled upon a full-blown casino when they broke in one night by going up a fire escape.
Scared shitless of the Bouncer who stuck a gun in their faces they went home blubbering and finally confessed to their parents what had happened. The parents called the cops and we set up the sting.
Several ‘upstanding’ citizens were brought in, most just getting a slap on the wrist and their names in the paper. The ringleaders got taken down and that’s all that mattered, or so we thought.
What some of the other cops involved in the bust found out during the questioning of the patrons, was that Bobby Bones Baker was also a regular visitor of the establishment.
When questioned Bobby ‘fessed up. Turns out he’d had a thing for the craps table, which was how he earned his nickname ‘Bones’. Apparently he couldn’t get his fix by going down to the reservation in Connecticut.
“Too far to drive every weekend” he claimed.
He was ordered to go see Doctor Windsong to help with his addiction, or be put on indefinite unpaid leave. So off he went for the first time.
He seemed to have control of his vice after meeting with her every week for the first couple years. They gradually began spacing out his visits to two weeks, three weeks, and then monthly. He could always make an extra appointment if need be.
For a Decade this went on with only a minor setback now and then. He became independent and stopped the visits.
At least, until his oldest son, his protege, came out with the unthinkable “Mom, Dad, I can’t hide it from you anymore. I’m gay.” Well one thing led to another, things were said and his son moved out. It ate at him; day and night Bobby wondered what he did wrong to make his son turn out the way he did. The more he thought, the more depressed he got, and the more he gambled.
Finally His wife of twenty-five years had enough. She left, took his two youngest sons and moved to California. When she first left he gambled even more heavily. Eventually losing his house, car, and savings.
The depression ate at him more every day to the point where he didn’t show up for work.
I dropped by his one room squalid apartment, when he didn’t answer the knock I let myself in with the key he had given me. I could not however get in all the way as the security latch was on.
Fearing the worst I kicked the door in, there sitting at the table was Bobby. Tears streaming down his unshaven face, his bloodshot eyes staring my way.
“How’d I fuck up so bad Jakey, what did I do man? What the fuck did I do?” His hand came up holding his Berretta nine-millimeter; putting the gun to his temple he closed his eyes. “I’m so tired of it, I want to just stop it right now”
“You can stop it now Bobby, not that way though. Don’t take the cowards way out pal, Your a fighter and have been all your life. C’mon lets call the Doc, She helped you out last time, she’ll do it again.”
He lowered his gun I took it from him put the safety on and replaced it in his shoulder holster slung over one of the kitchen chairs. I picked the phone up and rang up the doc.
“Doc it’s Jake Jackson, How are you? Listen there’s someone that needs to talk to you.” I handed Bones the phone.
“Hi Doc, I really need to see you soon. Today? Yeah. Ok, thanks. Think I could hitch a ride with you to go see the Doc today?” He asked as he hung up the phone.
“Sure Bobby, anything you need “ I replied.
I called Chief Allin to let him know what was going on, while I was on the phone Bobby went in to shower and shave.
When he reappeared I did a double take. Though his eyes were still bloodshot he looked like a new man with his pressed khakis and navy blue polo shirt.
“Let’s get you to the Doc’s”
“Jakey, thanks for helpin’ me out. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t showed up.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it Bobby, That’s what friends are for”
Six months later Bobby had completely stopped gambling. He’d also bought a used car and moved into a better apartment. His visits to Dr. Windsong had tapered down to once a week, and if he felt good enough once every two weeks. Bobby Bones was back on track.
Everything seemed ok from the outside. So what the hell just happened to make him snap?
I wrapped things up for the day after meeting with the Chief, feeling better knowing Bobby would be seeing Dr. Windsong and headed out the door.
3
Once I was in the car I realized I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, looking at my watch I muttered, “Little snack can’t hurt.”
I pulled out, heading west down Merrimack Street, made a left onto Elm then continued on a mile and a half to Mama Tia’s, a cute little Italian place that has the best meatballs that I’ve ever tasted.
I grabbed a booth in the back, ordered some Garlic Bread with cheese, a side of the meatballs, and a Sam Adams Light.
When the food came I sat eating in silence; there was only one other customer in the restaurant. A shrunken old man sat nursing a beer at the bar and from where I sat it appeared that he was asleep.
Lost in thought about the case, I never saw her come in.
“Hey old man”
I looked up startled to see my oldest daughter staring down at me. A smile played across her face, Her blonde hair falling across her shoulders. We always use humor when the going gets tough, but I could tell she was trying to be brave by the look in her eyes.”
“Trying to give your poor father a heart attack?”
“Of course not, I’d miss him way too much. So where were you just now? Definitely not on planet earth.”
“Ahh, Just thinking about Bobby, he’s not coming today. Too many problems bugging him right now, I guess I’m just worried about him that’s all.”
“Bad timing for you with this new case, huh?”
“Yeah big time. Wait a minute. How’d you know about that? Your sister already talked with you?”
“Yeah she called to tell me about Beth and find out about her parents, she’s got nobody. Her parents are both dead, no brothers or sisters or even cousins. Not that she knew about anyway. She has an aunt in a nursing home back in Atlanta, but it wouldn’t do any good to contact her, from what Beth had told me she’s got full blown Alzheimer’s. I’m going to pay for the service dad, she was a good person and didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
“I know baby, I know. We’ll get the guy who did this, I promise.” I just hope I can keep that promise I thought. “Listen, I need your help with something. Is there anyway to trace an email?”
“Yeah we can trace an email. Why?”
“The Son of a bitch emailed me. It was sitting in my inbox when I got to the station right after we left the scene”
“You still have access to your PC at work through the firewall?”
“Yeah and I’ve got the laptop in the car. All we need is an Internet connection and we’re all set.”
“Go get it, Tia’s gone wireless, even though it’s password protected we can get in. I set it up for her last year, its good having admin privileges.” she said smiling broadly.
When I returned to the booth, Daria had a coffee in front of her. Sitting beside her was Mama Tia.
Mama Tia was a Tiny Italian woman five feet tall or so she claimed and maybe a hundred and forty pounds. She didn’t look a day over forty, but had to be somewhere over sixty, though she never gave an exact age. She had come over from the old country when she was ten. Her parents and sister had died five years later during a fire in their cramped apartment that had claimed the lives of six other family members also. She had been staying at a friend’s house that night or she surely would have perished as well.
She grew up living with an aunt in Boston .She worked in a small restaurant after school, doing everything from cooking, waiting tables, sweeping floors and cleaning bathrooms.
After fifteen years of saving every penny and living simply she moved to Manchester and opened up her own place. Mama Tia’s was almost an instant hit. She had started out with four small tables and as her reputation for outstanding food and service grew, so did the restaurant until she could seat one hundred and ten people. She could easily fill twice that many seats but wanted to keep it small so she could still provide the personal service that got her where she was today.
“Your baby tells me we’re gonna catch us a murdering bastard. You wanna use my WiFi, I get to see how it’s done, that’s the deal.” Mama Tia was always trying to make a deal. “Now what do you want to eat? I’ll get it, while she’s catching this guy for you” she said, winking at my daughter.
“Thanks Tia but I’m all set. You know you still make the best meatballs in New Hampshire?”
“New Hampshire? That’s it? Pffff, In New England, the northeast, hell the country. Nobody is better than Mama Tia”
I turned to Daria and kidded, “She makes the greatest food on the Continent and she’s modest too.”
“Now you got it!” Tia said as she got up and walked to the register. She spoke briefly with the girl who took my order before going over to the bar and coming back with a new Sam Adams Light for me and what looked like a vodka gimlet for herself.
She held up her glass “Cin Cin” she said. I picked up my beer tapping it to her glass and returned the toast.
“What the Fuhhh?” Our attention immediately turned back to Daria. “Dad I don’t know who this guy is but he knows what he’s doing. The path I could see from looking at the properties of this message show that it originated from your computer at work, and ended where it started. However, using a couple little utilities I wrote I was able to trace it back to a server in Alberta Canada, from there it had bounced to Okinawa and right now I’m in a server in Moscow. This guy definitely pulled out all the stops.”
Ten minutes went by, I sat silently with my daughter tapping away at the keyboard. Mama Tia had gotten up to greet some customers who had come in for an early dinner. She left them in the hands of their waitress and returned to our table.
“You,” she said pointing to me. “Are not to pay here anymore.”
“Tia, you’re very kind but we’ve been over this a million times in the last twenty years, I can’t except free food because I’m a cop and honestly I like paying you! If your best customers didn’t pay, where would you be? If you gave out free food to every cop...”
“Quiet!” She bellowed. “Now you listen Mister. I don’t care you’re a cop, and I sure as hell wouldn’t give free food to all the cops around here who sit on their butt’s in that damn coffee shop down the street, but“ She continued. “You’ve become a good friend, you and your whole family. I’ve seen your daughters grow up into fine women, met all their boyfriends, and even held your grandchild a few days after she was born. Your daughter helped me out, set me up with the computer and Internet, because of her I get to talk to cousins and aunts and uncles over in the old country. I hadn’t heard from most of them more than a handful of times in the last twenty years.” I owe you more than you possibly know. Now young man, you have a choice to make, you take my food and drink, and with it my friendship, or you’re never getting another meatball as long as you live.”
Daria and I sat slack jawed, neither of us had ever heard Tia utter more than a couple sentences at a time, and never ever heard her raise her voice, at least not when she was serious.
“You win,” I uttered as we all started chuckling “you win. Now I’m afraid I must ask another favor of you.”
“What? The free food and beer isn’t enough? Jesus, you give him a hand he takes the whole arm”
Laughing loudly I explained “ I’d like you to come to the house for dinner tonight, in honor of my fiftieth birthday.”
“Sorry can’t do it. I have a big group coming in tonight, very important people and I promised them I would play the hostess. I’m honored you would invite me to your home though.” She said as she walked to the front of the store to greet more customers coming in.
Daria powered down the Dell Latitude Notebook.
“Dad, I found where it was sent from” she said with angry tears in her eyes.” The fucker sent it from my cafe. He went back their after he killed her and sent it from the cafe.” she cried.
“You never opened today?” I asked
“No, Once I heard about Beth I couldn’t, I went in for 2 minutes and put a sign on the door that said closed until Monday.”
I whipped out my cell phone, punching in the chief’s private line. “Chief, it’s Jake, can you get a CSI over to Concord Street? Yeah, Daria’s Web World, I’ll meet them there, the perp sent the goddamn email from there after he killed her.” I hung up the phone and turned to Daria.
“C’mon, lets go” I said, already on my way to the door.
“Thanks Mama Tia!” I heard Daria shout as she came running out behind me.
We climbed into my car, leaving Daria’s Porsche Boxster behind. As we headed north up Elm Street I pulled out my cell phone and redialed the Chief.
“Chief, I’m going want an extra pair of legs or two on this one, with Bobby being gone. You think you can pull that Patrolman from last night off his beat and assign him to me? Yeah, that’s him. Piontek, Great! Thanks Chief, have him meet me at Daria’s.”
I looked at Daria; she sat there grinning like a Cheshire cat. “What?” I asked.
“Nothing... “
“C’mon, spit it out. You’ve got that shit-eating grin on your face, that’s always meant trouble. You can’t hide it from me, I’m a detective I’ll figure it out”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” she said as we pulled up in front of her store.
There was one patrol car already in front of the store as I pulled up. Parked behind him was Stanley Ryker.
Stan was the best CSI we had on the force. He had been on the job for the last twenty years and was constantly keeping up with new technology and methods in crime scene investigation.
The two men got out of their cars as we approached. We shook hands as I introduced Daria and myself to the Officer. Daria unlocked the door and quickly made her way behind the counter to deactivate the alarm. To her dismay it was already deactivated, in fact it was dead.
“He’s been back since this morning” She told us, disbelief showing on her face.
“You stay out here. Officer Freeman come with me, he could still be here. We’ll give the place a quick look, then let Stan the man work his magic.”
We covered the first floor quickly, as it was wide open with rows of tables and barstools from front to back. I motioned Freeman into the men’s room while I went into the woman’s bathroom. We exited at about the same time, both shaking our heads. We made our way to the front of the store, at the end opposite the door was a staircase that led to the lower level.
The downstairs was separated into three rooms. Taking up half the space was the computer room and lab. This was an enclosed room with double doors and had its own climate control system. Along the far wall of the lab were the main servers that controlled the whole operation.
Besides with the Internet cafe, Daria also ran a local Internet Service Provider. She provided dial-up Internet to about five hundred people throughout the city.
The second room was Daria’s office with a full bathroom. As we approached the last room the hair stood up on the back of my neck.
A light peeked out from under the door. This was the only room that had never been finished; dingy and dark was the only way to describe it. Daria had used it only for the little bit of storage she needed. The other ninety percent of the room was bare with it’s cracked concrete floor and aged cement walls, looking much like it must have fifty years before.
I pushed the door in and a gruesome sight greeted us. The familiar metal rings from the picture Mr. Watson had emailed me protruded from the back of the wall. An outline of Beth’s body was traced on the wall along with a message, both in blood. Hi Jakey!, How do you like my art show?
“Son of a bitch, this guys a fucking nut!” I exclaimed.
We made our way upstairs quickly. When we exited the building I paused shocked by the site that greeted me. Daria stood with officer Piontek hand in hand while chatting with Stan.
I called Stan over and filled him in on what we had downstairs. When Stan and officer Freeman were inside, I started over to where the cop and my daughter were deep in conversation.
“Well, Looks like you two have already met. How is beyond me, but it explains that silly grin on your face in the car.
“ How you doing officer?” I asked while shaking his hand.
“It’s Tony and I’m doing alright Detective Jackson, You?”
“We’ll Tony, I’d be a hell of a lot better if I didn’t have to chase down this guy, but other than that I’m ok. You can call me sir.”
That earned me a punch in the arm from my daughter “ Call him Jake.” She said with a smile.
“Did the Chief fill you in on why you’re here?”
“No sir, just that I should get here, he said you’d fill me in.”
“Well then, welcome to homicide. I asked the chief for your assistance because my partner is off the case, you seemed pretty observant and bright on the scene yesterday. So, unless of course you’d rather be walking your beat you’re stuck with me for now.”
“No Sir, it’s an honor to work with you”
“Good glad to hear it, now drop the sir crap. Your first order of business is to lose the black and white and the uniform. Daria and I will meet you at my house in about an hour, we’re having a little party tonight. Just keep a clear head because the way my lucks been, it won’t be all pleasure.
“How long have you been seeing him?” I asked my daughter when we were back in the car.”
“Three months, I met him at a computer workshop I was teaching.”
“And he asked you out then?”
“What is this? Am I one of your suspects that you have to grill to get info out of?”
“ No sweetie, I’m sorry, I just can’t get out of the habit of watching over my girls”
“Well if you must know then, I approached him and after the class we went to Mama Tia’s for a drink and late dinner. Do you want to drop me off at Tia’s or help me run some errands?” she asked, changing the subject.”
“I’ll help you, where we going?”
“Ma asked me to pick up a few things. Oh and before I forget , here’s your username and password for Tia’s network” she said handing me a slip of paper. "She had me set you up so you could work and eat, I think its just a ploy to get you in more often. If you and Ma weren’t married, Tia would snatch you up in a heartbeat."
We stopped first at the dry cleaners, then on to Fleet Bank on Elm Street before heading Back to Tia’s.
When I pulled into the lot a chill ran up my spine.” Where are all the cars?”
“What? asked Daria looking at me strangely “What do you mean?”
“I mean, where are all the cars? It’s a little after five. Tia’s should be packed right now but your car is the only one in the lot besides Tia’s over near the side entrance that goes to her apartment.”
“Oh, Tia said something about a private party tonight, she was closing up around four. I guess they just haven’t gotten here yet.”
“I sure hope so, I’m getting a funny feeling about it though, must just be nerves because of this damn case.”
“Would it make you feel better to check in on her?
“Yeah, lets do it.” I said already getting out of the car.
We walked up to the main entrance, I tried the door but it was locked. Peering in, I noticed that all the lights were out.
“Doesn’t look like she’s getting ready for a party, there’s nobody here.”
We went around to the side and tried the doorbell to the apartment. No luck either. Daria went back to the car and pulled out my laptop.
“What are doing?
“Deactivating her alarm. I ran it through the server and can override it from here. Here, “she said throwing me a key ring. “try the gold one on the front door and the silver one on the inside door.”
“Why do you have Tia’s keys?” I asked shaking my head in disbelief.
When I was setting her up I did a lot of after hours work, when I was finished she told me to keep them in case I ever needed to get in.
“I need you to cover me” I said taking the backup .38 from my ankle holster”
“I don’t think that’s necessary” she said. “but if you insist.”
As I stepped inside, the lights all went on at once and the roar of “SURPRISE!” drowned out the myriad of four letter words that sprang from my mouth.
When the voices quieted down, I glared at Mama Tia standing behind the bar where she had flipped the switch.
“Don’t look at me like that, I told you, I had a party here tonight, very important person I said. I figured being a big shot Detective you would have figured it out.”
The tables had been placed end to end nearly the length of the restaurant, then covered with black table cloths. Black balloons were floating throughout the room on the ceiling, a banner sixteen feet in length hung along one of the side walls, proclaiming OVER THE HILL! I played being the grump for as long as possible then burst out laughing, with everyone joining me. Just then Mama Tia’s voice broke through the raucous laughter and got everyone’s attention.
“OK, come on everyone, Sit down now, the foods coming and I’m not gonna let it get cold. Besides,” she kidded, “Jake’s a popular guy. You never know when he could get called away.”
If only she knew how true that would be before the night was out.
