Chapter One: Day One
I just got back from vacation in Vancouver with Elizabeth – Liz, as I call her, now that we are on a less formal relationship.
I pick up the Bay City Times at the newsstand and a coffee on my way into my office.
I arrived at my office at 8:15 a.m. I went to my desk and sat down in my chair. I started to read the headline ‘Murder On The East Side.’ That got my attention! I started to read more of the story. I was about to take a drink of my coffee when the office phone rang. It was 8:32 a.m. Paula does not come in until 9:00 a.m. I pick up the phone and before I could say anything, the voice on the other end yells “Hey, Blake, where the hell have you been?” It was Sammy, my old friend and partner on the Bay City P.D. Sammy is an investigator, and a damn good one, too.
I yell back, “I was on vacation.”
“Vacation? Since when do you take vacations?”
“Yeah, I know, Sammy. It’s rare that I take one.”
“There wouldn’t be a woman involved, would there be? And would that woman possibly be Mrs. Harrington?”
“You are right on both counts.”
“Why you old dog! It’s about time.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Well, I’m happy for you, Blake.”
“Thanks, Sammy. What can I do for you?”
“Have you seen the headline in the morning Times?” “Yeah, I was just reading about the murder. What’s the low
down?”
“Well, John, what the papers don’t know is that there’s been another murder. Patrol found her about an hour ago”
“Another one?”
“Yeah, the same as the one found last week.”
“Sammy, you may have a serial killer on your hands.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. Why don’t you come down on the east side and see for yourself. We’re on 5th Street. I have something you may be interested in.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in about twenty.”
Just as I was about to leave, Paula walked in.
“Hi.”
“Hi, John. How was your vacation?”
“Good, and yours Paula?”
“Great. I needed the time off.”
“Yeah. I did, too. I was just on my way out to meet Sammy.” “Sammy? Are we working on something already?” “Maybe. I’ll fill you in when I get back. Paula, lock the door
behind me and keep it locked.”
“Okay. But why?”
“Like I said, I will fill you in when I return. One more thing, Paula. There’s a little something for you on your desk.”
“Okay, John. Talk to you later.”
“Yeah. Lock the door, please.” Paula does as she is asked.
I arrived at the scene.
“It’s okay, guys. John, over here.”
“What do we have, Sammy?”
He pulled back the cover. There was a young girl, 18-22 years of age, short blonde hair. She was about the same age as Paula and what my daughter would have been. She had blonde hair, as well. This really hit home. “Same short hair and build as Paula.” “Yeah, John. Same as the first girl. Small with short blonde hair.” “So, he is targeting the same type of girl.” “Yeah, it looks that way.”
“Sammy, what did you want to tell me?”
“Right, John. The family of the first victim has put up a fifty-thousand-dollar reward for anyone that solves the case. We can’t take the reward, but you can. John, with your street connections, I was hoping you would help us out to get this guy before he kills another girl. John, I don’t want to look at any more girls like this.”
“Say no more, Sammy. I’m in.”
“Thanks, John. This one hits home. She is the same age as my daughter.” Sammy also has a young daughter.
“Yeah, man. I hear you loud and clear. My daughter would have been about the same age now.”
“Sorry, John.”
“It’s okay, Sammy. I thought about that as I was reading the story in the Times. She is about the same age as Paula.”
“Right, and she is small with short blonde hair.”
“Yeah. It’s not about the reward, Sammy. It’s about getting this guy behind bars. This has become personal for the both of us. Let’s keep each other posted.”
“Sure will, John.”
I left the scene. I’ll go downtown to see if I can find Jimmy. He may have heard something by now. I wish he would get a cell phone. Well, speaking of cell phones, “Hi Liz.”
“You left so early, John.”
“I know. I’m usually at the office by 8:00 a.m.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot you are a morning person.”
“Well, bad guys don’t sleep much.”
“Yeah, the bad guys. You on a case already?”
“Yes. Did you see the morning Times?”
“Yes, that poor girl.”
“You mean girls. The police found another one early this morning.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Sammy, my partner from the force, asked me to help him out on this one.”
“Oh no, John. I just thought of something. Paula!
“Yes, I know. Don’t worry. I will keep a close eye on her.”
“Good. I called to see if we are still on for dinner tonight.”
“Tonight? Yes.”
“John, did you forget?”
“No. Well, maybe.”
“John, my heart goes out to those girls and their families.” “Yeah, I hear you. This hit home for Sammy as well as me.” “As you, John?
“Yeah, Sammy has a daughter the same age.”
“Yes, John. What about you?”
“I will explain over dinner. What time shall I pick you up?”
“How’s 6:00 p.m.?”
“That should be fine.”
“Are you going to pick me up in that hot rod of yours? What’s with you guys and old cars?”
“Well, like I said, Liz, she’s an old friend.”
“Yeah, and like I asked, have you given your friend a name yet?” “No, but maybe I will call her Lizzy.” “That’s cute, John.”
“I’ll pick you up at your office at 6:00 p.m.”
“And John, I’m only teasing you about the hot rod.”
“Yeah. I guess you are right. I should get a new car.
“Yeah, but you will keep the hot rod, right?”
“Oh, yes. See you at six.”
“You won’t forget, now will you?
“No, Liz. I’m looking forward to our time together.”
I was about to pull out of my parking spot and who do I see but Jimmy. “Hey, Jimmy!”
“John, where have you been the past week?”
“On vacation.”
“Vacation! It must be nice.”
“It was. Jimmy, have you heard anything about the east side murder?”
“You mean murders, John.”
“Yes, how did you find out so fast?”
“You know, people talk around here. The ladies are real scared.
You know what I mean by ladies?”
“Yes, I do.” Jimmy doesn’t like to use the word prostitute. “What are they saying?”
“There’s this guy trying to get girls to work for him. You know what I mean?”
“Yes. Does this guy have a name?”
“No, John. I think he is new in town.”
“Have you seen him? And if so, what does he look like?”
“No, I haven’t seen him yet. The word from the ladies is that he’s dressed all in black and wears a black hoodie and dark sunglasses.”
“Yeah, like hundreds of others around town.”
“The ladies also tell me this guy doesn’t take no for an answer and he likes small young girls with short blonde hair. The girls are getting real scared.”
“Yeah, Jimmy. Tell the girls with short blonde hair to lay low until we get this guy.”
“Already have, but the girls tell me they need to work.” “Why don’t you get a cell phone, Jimmy, so I don’t have to go
looking for you when I need you?”
“Why don’t you buy me one?”
I laugh, “I just might do that.” I gave Jimmy a couple of twenties.
“Thanks, man.”
“Jimmy, this fifty is to start the Jimmy McNeal cell phone fund. Any time you give me information, I’ll put another fifty in the fund.”
“Cool! I better get to work, then.”
“You still have my number, right?”
“Yeah, man. It’s up here.” Jimmy points to his head.
I arrived back at the office about 11:30 a.m. Paula comes over and gives me a hug.
“Thanks, John, for the bonus.”
“You earned it, girl, and you are welcome.”
“Yeah, John, but a thousand dollars?”
“Like I said, you earned it.”
Paula also had the morning paper in her hand. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” She holds up the front page. “This is me, John. Young, small girls with short blonde hair.”
“Yes, please try not to worry. I will keep you safe. That reminds me, I’ll have to give something to Jimmy for his help with Mrs. Harrington.”
“Jimmy! This Jimmy guy, have I met him?”
“No. He has never been by the office.”
“Is he a street kid? What’s he like?”
“Let’s see. No, he’s not a street kid. He’s young, like you. Very smart, as you are. He works delivering pizza.”
“Pizza! What’s a smart guy doing delivering pizza?”
“You might say that’s his cover.”
“Cover?”
“Yeah. He’s all over town. He sees a lot and hears a lot. He’s very street smart.”
“Maybe he should be a cop?”
“Cop, yes, but I think he would be a good detective.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right, boss.” Paula thinks ‘maybe I should meet this Jimmy.’
“Paula, have you had lunch yet?”
“No. I’m not going outside until this guy is behind bars. I’ll order in.”
“Take some money out of petty cash for lunch.”
Paula looks in the petty cash box. “Hey, John, it’s empty. We used it up on the Harrington case.”
John puts a hundred dollars in the box. “Lunch is on me until we catch this guy.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“Hey, Paula, why do you call me boss?”
“Well, boss, you remind me of one of those guys in old movies where the boss was called boss and the guys had names like Mikey Blue Eyes, Jake the snake. You’re one of those guys that goes by his gut. You’re like that show on T.V. that’s on now where this one guy calls the boss Boss all the time.”
“Oh, I see. You’ve been watching to many old movies, Paula. But you are right about one thing. I do go by my gut. Paula, you do the computer work. I will do the gut work and together we will catch the bad guys.”
“Sounds good to me, boss. Speaking of computers, I have worked out a profile of our guy.”
“Oh, how did you do that?”
“It’s an F.B.I. profile. You just fill in the blanks. Come see.” John follows Paula to her computer. “This is what I’ve got so far. Our guy is young, 20 to 25 years old. He targets young girls with short blonde hair.”
“Yes, we know that.”
“Yes, but here’s why. He was most likely put down by a number of girls with short blonde hair in high school and college……that’s
if he went to college. I don’t think he did. He likes girls with short blonde hair. He wants to have power over them. It’s payback for all the girls that wouldn’t give him the time of day, put downs.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. You really do know your way with a computer.”
“Yes, that’s what I went to school for for four years. This is nothing. I can do a lot more, just like those guys on T.V. I don’t watch a lot of T.V., but I understand.”
“This is good to know, Paula. Good work.”
“As we learn more, I can add to the profile.”
“Well, I better get on this. Lock up behind me.”
“Sure, boss! I’ll order a couple of pizzas and give Jake the snake, Mickey Blue Eyes and Jimmy the butcher a call, play some cards, throw back some beers, smoke some cigars. Okay, boss?”
“Yeah, you do that!” John leaves. Mickey Blue Eyes. Jake the what?! John heads downtown. He grabs a hot dog and a pop from a cart and sits on a bench to eat his lunch. As he looks around, he thinks, ‘Wow! I never noticed it before but there are a lot of people walking around wearing hoodies and dark glasses. Don’t they know it’s August and 85 degrees out? This is not going to be easy.’
John finishes his lunch and decides to drive around some of the hot spots. ‘Maybe I’ll get lucky’, he thinks. After some time of driving around the back streets and alleys, John sees nothing unusual. He sees a few guys in hoodies but no one all in black, no one harassing anyone and not one girl with short blonde hair.
John parks his Mustang and gives Sammy a call.
“Hi, John.”
“Yeah, Sammy, I just had a thought.”
“What’s that, John?”
“How long has it been between murders?”
“Wait a minute…..it’s been five days.”
“Five days?”
“Yeah.”
“It may be too soon to get a pattern. If he sticks to a five-day pattern, that gives us four days before he may kill again.”
“Yeah, I hope you are right.”
“One more thing, Sammy. I would like to talk to the girls’ parents.”
“I can give you a name and number for the first girl. We haven’t been able to get a hold of the second girl’s parents yet.”
“What did the first girl’s parents tell you?”
“Parent. She’s a single mom. Dad took off when the daughter was just a baby. All we know is that she was a good kid. No trouble. The girl had an argument with her mother the night before and took off mad. Her mother never heard from her again. We had to come by the next morning with the bad news.”
“Yeah, and this creep had to get a hold of her.”
“We have a bulletin out on the radio, T.V. and in the Times warning girls, young girls, small with short hair to stay away from
the east side and downtown area. If they have to go out in those areas, we strongly suggest they not go out alone.”
“Good. Let’s hope they listen.”
“John, I will call you when I set up a meeting with the first girl’s mother. I’ll see if anyone on the force has spoken to the second girl’s mom and I’ll set up a meeting with her, also.”
“Okay, Sammy. Time is ticking on this. I have a feeling that the second girl’s mom is a single mother, as well.”
Oh crap, it’s 6:10. I’m late. My cell rings. It’s Liz.
“Hi Liz. I’m sorry, time got away from me.”
“That’s okay, John. I’m at your office.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
I arrived at the office. Paula was still here. “Yeah, John. I stayed until you got here.”
“Good. I’m glad you are here. Liz, I would like to take Paula home first. I don’t feel comfortable with Paula going home by bus with this guy at large. Paula is the type of girl he is looking for.”
“I agree, John.”
“I’ll just go and clean up some.”
John comes out of his office. “You look lovely, Liz. How do I look?”
“Thank you, John, and you look fine.”
“Just fine? I thought I looked pretty good. I have a clean shirt on and a jacket.”
“John, you look good. I’m just giving you a hard time.” “Yeah, boss, you look okay.” “Where are we going for dinner?”
“I know all the good burger and steak joints in town.”
“I’m sure you do, John. I’m a little more refined than a burger joint, not that there’s anything wrong with a good burger.”
“I like Mickey D’s.”
“Mickey D’s?”
“Yeah, John. McDonald’s?”
“McDonald’s is okay, but ladies, Sammie’s downtown makes the best two-patty burger in town.”
“I thought you didn’t like Sammie’s?”
“I like Sammie’s, Paula. It’s his steaks that I don’t like. Alright, let’s go, ladies.” We went through McDonald’s drive through so Paula could pick up some dinner. “It’s on me, Paula.”
“Thanks, John.” Liz and John drop Paula off at her apartment.
“Thanks. See you tomorrow, John. Bye, Liz.”
“Oh, Paula, say hi to Mickey and Jake for me.”
“Sure, boss.”
Liz looks at John, Mickey and Jake?
John laughs and says, “It’s a joke.”
“I’ll call the restaurant and let them know we are running late.” We arrived at the restaurant and a man came over. “Your table is
ready, Mrs. Harrington. This way, please.”
As they followed him, John quietly says, “Mrs. Harrington, your table is ready.”
“John, stop it.”
“Yeah, okay Liz. After today, I need to lighten up.”
“This case is hard on you.”
“Yes, Liz. My daughter would have been about the same age as these girls.”
“What do you mean ‘would have been’?”
They sit down at their table. A tear runs down John’s cheek. “My wife and daughter were both killed in a car accident fifteen years ago. My daughter was three at the time. The other guy was a drunk driver.”
Liz reached over and touched John’s hands. “I’m so sorry, John.
Do you want to leave?”
“No, I’m fine now.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“I’m here for you, John.”
“Yeah. I’m here for you as well, Liz. Let’s eat.”
The waiter comes over and says, ‘May I take your order?’” “Yes, sir. The lady here tells me I can get a good steak at this
restaurant.”
“Yes, you can sir.”
“Good. I’ll have a t-bone steak well done and a baked potato, please.”
“And you, ma’am?”
“I’ll have grilled salmon with a garden salad. Thank you. I will have a glass of white wine with that.”
“And you, sir?”
“I would like a beer. Is that okay, Liz?”
“Yes, John, that would be fine.”
“Yes, sir, look around. A lot of the gentlemen here are drinking beer.”
“I’ll bring your drinks first.”
“Thank you. You know, John, I didn’t always have money. I’m from a middle-class family from the west side of town. My parents worked hard to put me through college. The same with James. We both worked hard to have the business we have. I went to business school. James took architecture and he was a damn good one, too. It was hard at first, but we stuck to it. We didn’t have what we have now until the last five years. It took us ten years to build up our business. We hired the right people to help run the company and brought Janet and Robert on board. It was then we started to have more free time. That’s when James got the seven-year itch and he started to see other women. With the wealth and money, other women started to come onto James. John, we really did love each other up until then.”
“I’m sure you both did love one another, Liz. You are a very caring and loving woman. I saw that when I first met you.”
“Thank you, John. I see the same in you. Like I said, I grew up on the west side.”
The waiter brings us our dinner.
“Liz, I grew up on the west side, too. I wonder why we didn’t meet before now.”
“Oh, I was too classy for you back then.” She laughs. “I’m just kidding, John. You see, we have more in common than you think. I went to West Side High.”
“So did I, Liz.”
“Yeah, something more in common.”
“We couldn’t have gone to West Side High at the same time. I would have remembered you for sure, Liz.”
“John, it’s very important to me to keep James’ not-for-profit housing alive. It reminds me of where I came from. This project will help a lot of people in our city. It will be a safe place for people to live with pride.”
They finished their meal and Liz asked John what he wanted to do now.
“Well, is dinner and a movie still a thing to do?”
“Well yes, John. We could take in a movie.” Liz looks into John’s eyes and says, “Or I could just take you home and let you spend the night.”
“Yes, we could, Liz, but I don’t have my pjs with me.”
Liz smiles and laughs, “Like before, John, you won’t be needing them.”
“Well, my condo is closer.”
“That will be fine, John. Waiter, check please!”
