Chapter 2

Starsky drove quickly through the deserted street. The distance from his pad on Ridgeway to Hutch's house at Venice Place was quite short and with the absence of traffic he accomplished the drive in a little over ten minutes. Pulling up outside the apartment building he smiled to see that Hutch was ready and waiting for him. In the 3 months since they'd been assigned to this case, they ate, slept and yes, dreamed of the rapist and the victims and now they finally had a solid lead rather than just the expert's considered opinion that the guy was a copycat killer with an obsession for dark haired women.

The brunet pulled up and watched as his long legged blond partner trotted around the front of the car and got in. Hutch never looked any different. Despite the time of day, he was neatly presented, his flaxen hair brushed into place and his clothes clean and pressed. Whereas Starsky had trouble with a five o'clock shadow that seemed to appear at around three o'clock, making him look tired and dishevelled, Hutch's fair skin was always smooth and golden. The blond looked at his partner now and chuckled.

'Didn't get much sleep huh?'

'Not when I get a call at stupid o'clock in the mornin', no. Why?'

'Didn't have time to say goodbye to the delectable Molly and still shave'.

Starsky ran his hand over the stubble covering the lower portion of his face. 'Thought I'd grow a beard'.

'Uh huh? Or start a new fashion in the "didn't bother shaving" stakes'

The curly haired man looked offended. 'It's trendy. Haven't ya seen it on the TV? All the stars are doin' it. They call it "designer stubble". I like it! I may decide to keep it this way'.

'Starsk, Harrison Ford might look good with "designer stubble". You just look like you forgot to shave'.

Starsky gave up the argument and instead got his mind onto more important stuff. 'What did Dobey say?'

Hutch blew out his cheeks. They needed a little banter. It had been in short supply recently. Their lives had been full of these crimes for so long that humour had been at the bottom of their list of priorities as one after another girls had turned up dead and every lead they thought they had turned out to be a dead end.

'They found the girl a block from Memorial Hospital. Usual type. 21. Long dark brown hair, slim. I think he must have been disturbed coz although she's been raped and there are some cuts on her body, he hadn't finished her. She's been admitted to a private room, and she's in shock, of course, but this is it buddy. We're gonna get all the information we need and….'

'We're gonna nail the bastard' Starsky finished the sentence as he pulled away from the sidewalk and carried on to the hospital. 'Jeez, I'll be glad when we have him. I feel like he's been running my life for ever'.

Hutch ran his hand over his eyes. 'I know what you mean buddy, I know what you mean'.

Ten minutes later they pulled up at the rear of the big hospital and got out, making their way around to the emergency entrance. News of the girl had already spread and there was a smattering of camera men and news reporters gathering already. As they walked around the corner, some of the reporters surged toward them. Hutch's stomach churned.

'God they're like vultures' he hissed as he batted one of the cameras out of the way. Looking at the nearest journalist, pen and pad at the ready he plastered a smile on his face. 'We don't know anything yet. We're going inside to make enquiries. We may have more news when we come out. C'mon guys, give us a break huh?'

The two detectives cleaved a way through the small crowd and entered the ER thankfully. Dobey was waiting inside and he sped them through the busy area and out to the elevator at the back. Once in the security of the small car, Starsky turned to his Captain.

'What've ya got?'

The black man grunted. 'Not much. She's in shock. You might be able to get more out of her. Forensics have just finished. They've taken samples from underneath her fingernails, fluid samples, head and body hair. They're gonna run them again by all the known guys on the patch. Doc says she was drugged, but doesn't seem to have had a full dose. She's still pretty out of it. Go see her. See if you can get anything else. I'll wait here'.

Hutch brushed past Dobey with Starsky on his heels and they followed directions to a small, softly lit room at the end of the corridor. There was a uniformed officer outside it and the two detectives murmured a brief greeting before opening the door and walking inside.

The young girl lay on the bed, her slim frame hardly creasing the sheets. By her side, a nurse sat patiently holding her hand. The nurse smiled and the girl remained staring at the ceiling, her face holding a terrified look as she held onto her comforters hand all the firmer. Starsky walked quietly to the bed and stopped at the foot, not wanting to crowd her. 'Hi' he said softly. 'I'm Dave. Dave Starsky and this here is my partner Hutch.. How're ya doin'?' the minute he said it he knew it was a dumb question and could have kicked himself.

The nurse nodded encouragingly to the young woman, who looked up and for the first time looked directly at the men. Starsky tried to keep the look of shock off his face. The girl's face was blue down the whole of one side, scratches and cuts showing livid and red against her otherwise pale skin. There was another bruise circling her neck and he saw that her hands had been bandaged too. His stomach turned somersaults as he tried to keep his temper in check and his throat constricted. He looked away a moment, unable to trust himself to speak.

Hutch stood by the side of his partner, seeing the brunet's internal struggled and took over, his voice low and gentle.

'Hi honey, he's useless at introductions. We're cops. Can we ask you some questions?' he asked, walking slowly up the side of the bed until he could sit down on the small visitor's chair. The girl looked at him uncertainly.

'It's ok. They're gonna catch the guy who did this to you, aren't you?' the nurse said encouragingly.

'Yeah, that's right. We're gonna do our best' Hutch smiled back.

The nurse got up, disengaging her hand from her patient. 'Don't worry Hon, I'll be right outside if you need me. You're still safe'. She squeezed the girl's hand and left.

Getting his head back into gear, Starsky came to sit at the other side of the bed, taking the nurse's place and pulled up the chair. Hutch continued the conversation.

'We need to ask you some questions. Is that ok?'

She closed her eyes, then nodded but still looked shocked and spacey.

'What's your name? Starsky asked.

There was a pause as the girl considered a moment, seemingly probing her memories. Finally something seemed to click in her head.

'Donna' she whispered.

Starsky smiled encouragement. 'Hi Donna. Where d'ya live? Can ya tell us that?'

Another pause, then she haltingly gave them her address. The easy part over with, the brunet sat up in his chair. 'Donna, you're doin' really well. Can ya tell us what happened tonight?'

She licked her lips nervously and took a shakey breath. 'I...I was going home. Had an argument with my boyfriend...stupid really,so I'd walked off on my own. He didn't follow. I walked up the road and felt like there was someone behind me. I turned round to look but it was dark and I couldn't see anyone. Then he...he...Oh God, hecame up behind me'. She stopped, fear obvious on her face and her body started to tremble.

Hutch encouraged her, putting his hand out to hold hers' but she flinched away. He withdrew his hand, understanding. 'Go on, Donna, you're doing great' he said.

'I heard something behind me and then he put his arms round my neck and he was squeezing and I couldn't breathe...I couldn't.Then he dragged me backwards and I couldn't see where I was going. I couldn't stop him….I couldn't stop him from' There were tears in her eyes and she turned her head, trying to bury her face n the pillow. The detectives allowed her some time and space before Starsky held out a tissue to her.

'I know its hard Donna, but we need to know so that we can stop him from doing this again'.

She heaved a breath. 'Ok…..I guess I fought him, but I dunno. I suppose if I had I'd have some injuries or something?...'

'Your face is scratched honey' Starsky told her gently. 'You fought with him ok. You were very brave. Go on'.

She put her hands up to her face, feeling the wounds as though for the first time. 'He pulled me into his car and he had a syringe. Before I could stop him he'd given me a shot... and from then on things are fuzzy'.

'How do you mean fuzzy?'

'It was like…..I was there but not there. I kind knew what he was doing, but I couldn't move or speak and I couldn't open my eyes properly, but I could feel him….his hands. They were……were…..oh God, why me?'

The brunet put his hand on her shoulder and instead of moving away, she clung to his hand as though it was an anchor. He squeezed her shoulder, offering some comfort. 'Ssh…you're doin' fine, that's it….don't cry Hon……that's it' he whispered. 'Tell us what else you remember'.

'His hands……then his….he, he put his…..oh my God he raped me!...and then I saw something silver and I felt a pain and then there was a shout and he stopped….I must have blacked out coz the next thing I remember is being here'.

'Can you tell us what he looked like? Did you see him?' Hutch persisted.

'No….he was behind me all the time and them when he gave me the shot I couldn't see well. He was tall….that's all I can say'.

'What about his voice? Did he…did he say anything? Did he have any sort of accent?' Hutch asked, desperate to gather as many clues as possible.

'Yeah…..he kept telling me I was a bitch and I deserved everything I got and he was gonna cut me up…he was gonna…..gonna….' she dissolved into a flood of tears, hands over her face 'He was gonna kill me'.

'Sssh, Donna you've been so brave!' Starsky said gently. 'You've been a real brave girl. Is there anything else? Anything at all that you can remember? Anything that can help us nail him? Huh?'

She shook her head from below her hands and the two men stood. They knew she was spent – that she'd given them all she could for the moment. It had cost her a lot and now she needed to rest. They walked quietly to the door, but just as Hutch put his hand on the handle, Donna pulled her hands away from her face.

'There was one thing. I don't know if it'll help'.

'Yeah? What? Anything could be important' Starsky urged.

'Well it was….dunno. He just smelled of bleach'.

Hutch followed Starsky outside and met with Dobey in the corridor outside the room.

'Well?' the Captain asked.

'Sketchy at best' Hutch said with a grunt. 'Same as the others. She was drugged. Didn't see much, if anything'.

The black man handed him a set of photographs. 'These were the marks on her stomach'. The glossy polaroids showed a series of long, straight cuts from breasts to the top of her legs.

Starsky saw them, then looked away, the MO all too familiar. 'No wonder the papers are calling him the Ripper'.

'Well, whatever you got from her, it's one hundred percent more than we had before. Can you use it?' Dobey asked.

'We're sure as hell gonna try. Get an APB out on him. Tall, maybe buys chemicals or regular stuff from a pharmacy and has a thing for bleach. Not much, but it's sumthin' the brunet replied.

'Well don't waste your time here' Dobey grunted. 'Get out there and find him!'

The two detectives walked swiftly down the corridor and out to the front entrance of the building, bracing themselves for the inevitable clamber from the journalists waiting to pounce.

As they walked out, they were swamped with brightly flashing camera lights and microphones pushed under their noses.

'Detective Hutchinson! Have you got an identification yet?'

'Detective, are you any closer to solving the Ripper crimes?'

The shouts continued as the two cops pushed their way through the crowd, steadfastly refusing to answer questions, Htch managed to get to the car but as one more reporter jostled him, Starsky lost his hold on his temper.

'Sergeant Starsky what do you have on the witness. Has she given you an identification yet?'

Starsky stared at the man 'No comment' he grunted as he broke through the crowd of reporters.

'But Sergeant Starsky, have you anything further to help you?' the reporter persisted, following behind.

Starsky wheeled around and grabbed the microphone as the cameraman held a close up on his face.

'I have one thing to say. We're gonna get this creep...He's gonna slip up soon...and when he does, we'll be there and we'll nail him'.

oOo

The man sat staring at the television screen at the scene outside the hospital. Cameras flashed and there was a lot of noise. And two cops forcing their way through the crowd. The camera panned to one of the cops, the close up of a handsome face topped by a thick thatch of mahogany coloured curls dominating the television screen, and the man sat up straighter in his chair.

'Sergeant Starsky what do you have on the witness. Has she given you an identification yet?'

So, his name was Starsky….nice. And the hair – just the right colour. As Starsky's voice sounded on the TV…. We're gonna get this creep...He's gonna slip up soon...and when he does, we'll be there and we'll nail him' the man smiled to himself and went back to his book, smoke curling up around his narrowed eyes as he flicked the ash from the tip of his pale pink cigarette.