Justified killings, p.4
Justified Killings, page 4
“Detective White?”
James stopped and turned around. “There was no reason to cuff this kid.”
“But he…”
“I’m sure he was.” James opened another door. “Come on, Tim. Follow me.” James went through a couple more doors to an exit door. He punched in a code on another keypad. He opened the large metal door to a darkening cloudy sky.
“Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.” James led Tazz through the covered impound. They passed several vehicles, some smashed, others practically brand new, all with large red tags stuck to the windshields. James led Tazz around a corner. “Here it is.” Tazz stopped. “Come on. That’s the car. Isn’t it?” James put his hand on Tazz’s shoulder. “Go on. Take a really good look at it. Do you remember anything now?”
Tazz slowly stepped toward the car. He touched the deployed deflated drivers airbag. He moved his fingers over the smashed windshield with pieces of hair still dangling in the cracks. The seat was covered with dark brown dried blood. “Put your face in it, Tim. It’s already been photographed, printed, and thoroughly checked out. We know you were in the car with him. Your bloody prints are all over the dash area. Was Patrick buckled? Where’s the gun Tim?” Tazz’s eyes began to swell up with tears. “You remember now, don’t you?”
Tazz closed his eyes and imagined the accident. “Oh God. Patrick! Oh God what did you do?” Tazz pried open the door. He gently pulled Patrick’s head from the circular imprint it left on the smashed windshield yanking out strands of his hair. Patrick was gasping for air, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. The blood from his head was streaming over Tazz’s hands as he tried to get him out of the burning car. Tazz moved the unbuckled seatbelt and tried to wrap his arms around Patrick’s limp body.
“Tazz,” Patrick whispered. “I’m.” Patrick coughed up more blood. “I’m sorry. I should have…” Patrick’s head fell forward. Bright headlights approached.
James shined his flashlight on Tazz’s face. “Tim? Tell me what happened.”
Tazz walked toward James. “I said I don’t remember.” Tazz passed the Detective and headed back to the door.
“I heard you two didn’t get along.” Tazz continued to walk. “This isn’t going to go away by itself, Tim. You will have to give me a statement. If I find out you participated with this crime, you will be arrested.”
Tazz stopped and turned around. “Either arrest me or take me home. Now.”
James shook his head. “You are only making this more difficult for yourself.”
“I said I want to go home.”
James entered a code in the keypad.
“I’ll take you home, but you need to know that this investigation is not closed. You will be required to provide me a complete and detailed statement surrounding the events that led up to Patrick’s death.”
Tazz didn’t say a word all the way to his home. As James drove off, Edward pulled into the driveway.
“Who was that?” Tazz walked toward the front door. “Did you hear me? Who was that?”
“It was no one.”
“It looked like a cop car. Was it?”
“Yes.”
“Why was a cop dropping you off?”
“He wanted to ask me some questions.”
“What did you tell him?
“Nothing.” Tazz entered the house and went straight to his bedroom.
Chapter 6
Maryanne stood at the bottom of the steps and shouted, “Dinner! Tim? Time to eat.” Tazz made his way down the stairs. He stopped on the last step in front of Maryanne. “Ed wants to talk with you about what happened with his son. I think you should tell him.”
“There’s nothing to tell, mom. Besides, it wouldn’t bring him back.” Tazz sidestepped Maryanne and headed to the dining room.
“Tim. That’s an awful thing to say.” Tazz entered the dining room and sat at the table on the opposite side furthest from Ed in a side seat. Maryanne sat at the other end of the table. “Tim, would you please say the blessing?”
“After the way he treated Father Androski? He doesn’t deserve to ask the Almighty for anything. Let’s just eat.” Edward pointed his index finger toward Tazz. “After supper, you and I are going to talk. Is that clear?” Tazz took a plate of green beans and piled them on his plate. “Did you hear me?”
A shadow swept across the wall in the dining room from the headlights of a car parking in the front of the house. “That must be Katherine and Larry.” Maryanne wiped her mouth and stood up. Katherine entered the house and walked straight to the dining area.
“Anyone home?” Katherine stood in the doorway between the living room and the dining room holding her four-month-old baby. Her long hair, a fusion of blond and brown, was losing its curl from the morning, but still looked freshly brushed.
“There you are.” Maryanne held out her arms and hugged both Katherine and the baby. “She is getting so big.”
“Hi Maryanne.” Katherine turned toward Ed. “Hey dad.”
“Hello, Katherine. Grab a plate if you are hungry,” Edward said while never looking up.
“Larry and I ate on the road.” Katherine bent down and kissed Edward on the cheek as he chewed some food.
Larry entered the room. “Hello everyone.”
“Hello Larry. I am so glad you are here,” Maryanne said hugging him.
“Hello, Major. I am so sorry for your loss, sir.”
Edward glanced up from his half-eaten plate of food. “Thank you, Larry.”
“Can I hold the baby?”
“Sure Maryanne. Here she is.” Katherine handed the baby to Maryanne’s outstretched arms.
“She’s getting so big.”
“She is, isn’t she?” Katherine pulled her hair from her face. “Hey Tazz.”
“Hey Kat.”
Edward smacked the table which startled everyone and made the baby cry. “Her name is Katherine!”
“Jesus, dad. It’s okay. Let me go put the baby down. She’s exhausted.”
“I’ll take care of her.” Larry took the baby and left the room.
“Can I get you anything? Something to drink?” Maryanne smiled.
“Maryanne, please sit and finish your dinner. I’ll get something.”
“May I be excused?” Tazz interjected. “I have some studying to do.” Edward did not respond. Tazz took his plate to the kitchen and put it in the sink. Maryanne kept the house impeccably clean. Edward would never stand for having any area of the residence not in white-glove inspection condition.
“You’re getting so tall.” Katherine hugged Tazz. She rubbed the back of Tazz’s hair. “Are you okay? Your face looks swollen and your lip is cut.”
“I know. It’s fine.”
Katherine kissed Tazz on the cheek. “Dad didn’t say much about it, except you were with him. Were you? Do you know what happened? I mean, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. I hope Patty didn’t suffer. That’s all I care about.” Katherine hugged Tazz again. “I am glad you are here.”
“Good to see you too, Kat.”
“I’ll stop by your room later, if you want, to chat.”
Edward entered the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. Maryanne put some more plates in the sink, turned on the water, and began washing. Tazz walked past Edward as he grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”
“I have to study for a final tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry. I have to study for a final tomorrow, sir. May I please be excused?”
“Go study, Tazz. Dad and I need to talk anyway,” Katherine blurted. “Did I tell you I got promoted at work, dad?”
“I would appreciate it if you called him Tim. His name is not Tazz.”
“Dad, he’s been Tazz since he was what, five?”
“How about a cup of coffee Katherine?”
“That would be great Maryanne. Come on dad.” Maryanne pulled Edward’s arm toward the living room.
“Tim? Tim?” Maryanne turned off the sink faucet. She looked around the corner, but Tazz was already upstairs.
Chapter 7
There were at least five various department vehicles parked at the edge of the yellow police tape strung across the entire fire trail entrance as detective White pulled into the crime scene area. He scanned the landscape before getting out of his car. One crime scene technician was wiping away dirt over what appeared to be an exposed skull of another victim. Another technician was pushing dirt away from a couple of posted red flags as Keith was filming one of his dogs barking. Roy was carrying his PERK toolbox and requesting a couple of cops unroll more tape between two large trees. James turned off his car engine. Two uniformed cops were standing near the road and monitoring traffic. Roy noticed James and began walking toward him. He followed the fire trail around where they found other bodies. James stepped out of his car.
“Talk to me, Roy.”
“It looks like we have two more bodies, also in shallow graves.”
“Same MO as Jane-7?”
“Still too early to tell but there are some initial similarities. One of the skulls we uncovered is missing all the teeth.”
“Jesus.” James slowly rubbed his face with his extended palm down his temple and cheekbone.
They were both buried just a couple feet from Jane-7. They are both male I believe, so I have initially tagged them as Jon-8 and Jon-9.
James noticed a dark green Polaris Ranger UTC with a solid black roof driving up from the opposite end of the fire trail at a moderate rate of speed. “Who is that? One of ours?”
Roy turned and looked. “Not sure. I don’t recognize the vehicle, but it’s nice. Wish I had one for hunting. I think it’s a Polaris Ultimate. They can set you back thirty.”
“I’ll pass. Thanks. It’s probably some idiot driving around the park and stumbled onto this area.”
“Or it’s a reporter.”
“God, I hope not.”
“Let’s go see what they want.” The UTC slowed as it drove under the crime scene tape on the far end and passed where several specialists were distracted from their work. James could see the man driving the four-wheeler.
“It looks like he may be a hunter, ” Roy commented.
“I see that.”
The vehicle pulled up to James and Roy. A man in camouflage stepped out. “Detectives.” James and Roy looked at each other. “I am a contractor with the FBI here in Virginia.” The man was almost six feet tall, in good shape, a dark thick head of hair, but no remnants of a beard shadow, trimmed eyebrows, and light crystalized blue eyes. He almost had a feminine tone to his skin. “I am here to offer my services.”
“A contractor?”
“I do work with the FBI, but I am not employed by them.”
“What kind of work do you do for the FBI?” Roy responded smugly.
Judas ignored Roy’s comment. “My name is Cain. Doctor Judas Cain.”
“I am James White, lead Detective.” James and Judas shook hands.
“Roy Crenshaw, Detective White’s partner.” Judas shook hands with Roy. “How did you know we were the detectives?”
Judas smiled. “It was an educated guess.”
“How can we help you, Mr. Cain?” Roy asked.
“Doctor Cain, if you please.”
“Pardon me,” Roy replied turning his head while squinting his eyes with a curious disbelief.
“I have doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology, Medicine, and Forensic Pathology. I offer my expertise as a behavioral analysist to the FBI when they need me.”
“How’s come I never heard of you before, doctor?” Roy quipped with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
Judas’s countenance became forbidding. “Do you have a doctorate degree, rookie Detective Crenshaw?”
“How did you know… No. I don’t. I have a master’s degree in criminology.”
Judas sarcastically smiled. “Indeed.” Judas looked at Roy’s yellow pad he was holding.
“What’s this?”
“Some notes I have been making…” Judas snatched Roy’s notebook from his grip. “What the fuck! Give that back to me!”
Judas took a couple steps toward where the bodies were buried. “This is your amateur sketch of the placement of the bodies, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is the position of the bodies as they were discovered,” James replied holding his arm out to stop Roy’s advance toward Judas.
“It looks like you sketched the one on the left, as straight, and perpendicular to the slope of the landscape. The two next to it were buried with their feet almost touching, then spread into a ‘v’ shape.” Judas pulled out a pen and wrote ‘head’ on the tops of each of the bodies shaped as a ‘v’. He wrote ‘head’ on the opposite end of the body on the left.
James glanced at the pad. “Two buried the same direction, and the other in reverse?”
Roy shrugged. “Maybe the one on the left was buried first, and the others were in reverse.”
Judas looked at Roy. “They are upside down.”
Roy raised one of his eyebrows. “Maybe. Or in reverse. Either way, it seems oddly purposeful.”
Judas traced the lines of the three bodies with his finger. “It’s a roman numeral. The roman numeral four. You have four victims.”
“You are wrong, Doctor Cain, we only have three victims. So much for all your degrees,” Roy said with a demeaning tone.
“You’re not too bright, are you, Mr. Crenshaw. You have problems with authority. Relationships. Communicating.”
“You son of a bitch. You…”
James held Roy’s shoulder. “Roy, could you please check on the investigation team? Maybe get me a timeline to complete the excavation?” Roy ignored James and kept glaring at Judas. “Detective!” James shouted more sternly.
“Yes, Detective.” Roy stepped backwards without taking his eyes off Judas.
“Here you go Mr. Crenshaw. You may need your pad to doodle some more pictures.” Judas threw the pad like a frisbee scattering several unattached papers tucked behind the last page against the ream.
Judas chuckled as Roy frantically tried to grab the papers blowing around the crime scene. “It is the Roman numeral four, Detective,” Judas reiterated turning around. “You have four victims, Detective White.”
“Where’s the fourth body?”
“How would I know?”
“I hope you are wrong.”
“Why do you say that?” Judas said with curiosity.
“Because it may mean somewhere there is a one, two and three. No one starts counting at four.”
“That is a plausible theory, Detective. It might also mean you have already discovered one, two and three, and don’t know it. In any case, so to speak, I hope you solve this crime.” Judas smiled again. “I have seen everything I needed to see here, Detective. I will leave you to your work.”
“Before you leave, Doctor Cain, may I ask you a question?”
“Certainly Detective.”
“Have you or the FBI discovered any suspicious activity in this area before?”
“Nothing that I recall. Prince William Forest is roughly fifteen thousand acres. The FBI cannot be everywhere all the time.” Judas walked toward his UTV. “Thank you Detective for sharing with me. I will be sure to inform your department if I hear or learn of any suspicious activity or discover any pertinent evidence which may help your case.” Judas paused next to his vehicle and turned back toward James. “Do you have any theory why the three bodies were buried apart from the fourth?”
James had a puzzled look on his face. “You seem awfully sure there is another body.”
“It is just another educated guess.”
“My first thought is whomever did this, and we haven’t determined if it was by one or more individuals yet, may be leaving a signature or message. It is standard crime scene procedure to search the area of any victim. We canvas surrounding neighbors in the city. We search an entire house or building. We…”
“Search the landscape.”
“Exactly.”
The Detective continued thinking out loud. “If we go with the theory that the bodies were meant to be found together, then we need to figure out if there is a connection between them. Maybe they all worked together, lived near each other, shopped at the same store, or belonged to some common organization or group. Or, if they didn’t know each other, why were they all buried together? Or, maybe the three knew each other. Or maybe the three bodies are completely unrelated, and it is only by purpose they were buried near each other.”
“All good questions, Detective.”
“Doctor Cain. If I may ask one more question. How good are you at solving crimes for the FBI?”
“They accept what I tell them as gospel. Have a good day Detective.” Judas drove off back down the fire trail waving to Roy.
“Judas Cain,” James whispered to himself. “What an unusual name. Certainly not one I will forget.”
Chapter 8
Tazz exited the front of the high school carrying only one book. The swelling from his lip was rapidly receding although the cut was still red. His nose was better, but one of his eyes had a dark blue shade beginning to show. He slid down the metal pole railing to the bottom step and then danced along the top of the curb surrounding the parking lot in a balancing act. Bryan and his cronies were coming from the opposite direction.
“Hey!” Jessica pulled next to Tazz in her mom’s blue convertible with the canvas top off. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in like, forever.”
“Hey Jess. It’s only been a day. Why do you have your mom’s car? Why is your top off? It looks like it is going to rain.”
“You want me to take my top off? Now? Sure.” Jess pulled her outer shirt off but left her t-shirt on.
“Stop it. You know what I meant.”
“You done for the day?”
“Yes.”
“Get in.”
“I have my final, final tomorrow.”
“Final, final. Cute. You were ready for that weeks ago. Come on. Get in.” Tazz looked over at Bryan getting closer and closer to him. Bryan pointed his finger at Tazz. Jess noticed Bryan. “Would you get in the car already? Tazz opened the car door and sat on the seat. Jess squealed the tires and sped past Bryan. She threw her middle finger in the air. “Later bitches!”
