CHAPTER 3

After going back to the Sheriff's Office and turning over the evidence that they had collected and making the report, Matt called it a day and went home to the ranch just north of Houston that he had grown up on since the age of five. Madre Rosa greeted him with a hug as he came in the kitchen door. "I was starting to think you had forgotten where home is." She teased him as she brought him a plate of her homemade tamales and all the trimmings.

"Nope, just been busy." He dug into the food. "Mmph…these are really good." The two talked as he ate and then he left the kitchen and went out to the porch to call CJ. "Hey there. Catey didn't call me back. Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Bo just took her down to visit the horses. How's it going there?" She sat down on the patio as she talked to her husband and was brought up to date. "You two really have been busy. How about a little help?"

"I was hoping you would say that." Matt smiled. "Think you could run a check on all the victims and their families for me?"

"I'll sure do it. I've been kind of bored around here today."

"Well now we can't have that, can we?" He chuckled and then yawned. "Babe, much as I want to talk, I really need to go hit the shower and go to bed."

"I know you do – I can smell you through the phone." CJ cracked up. "No really – you do need to get some rest, baby. I'll put whatever I find in an email to you. Go get some sleep."

"Thanks." He got quiet for a minute. "I miss you."

"Miss you, too, Cowboy. No go get cleaned up and get your butt in the bed."

"Yes, ma'am. Love you."

"Love you, too. 'Bye."

The next morning, Matt groaned as his alarm went off but he got out of the bed and dressed, heading downstairs. Madre Rosa had breakfast ready and waiting on him when he got there and sat talking to him about Tomás and the adoption as he ate. After thanking her, he went out and climbed behind the wheel of his truck and went to office, pulling into the parking lot just before Chuck. "Mornin'."

"Unhh…." Chuck groaned as he closed the door of his truck.

"Bad night?"

"You could say that. Kid number one and kid number two had a fight right after I got home and I had to deal with that. Then kid number four decided it was a good time to have a stomach bug. Bless her heart; she had rough night of it."

"And so did you, huh?"

"Well, that's part of the job I guess." Chuck poured coffee for both of them and they headed into his office.

After sitting down in the chair, Matt pulled out his laptop. "I talked to CJ after supper last night and she was going to do some checking on folks for us. Let's see if she got anything." He pulled up his email and read through what she had sent. "Nothing. They all look clean as a whistle." Closing the computer he took a sip of coffee. "But then I didn't really think they had anything to do with it in the first place – just have to be thorough."

"Yep." Chuck took a long sip of the brew and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, looking at our list from yesterday, we still need to talk to Lorna Gleason's sister – Angelina Reyes. And…" The phone on his desk rang. "Wylie…" He looked up at Matt. "Yes sir, we're on it." Hanging up the phone he sprang out of the chair. "Looks like we've got another fire."

"Alright – I'll follow you over." Matt went out and reclaimed his truck from the parking lot, following as Chuck made a path through traffic with the lights and siren on his SUV. They pulled up at a fire scene southeast of the office on Palmetto Street. The home was a single story that Matt estimated to be two bedrooms. As he got out of his truck, he opened the back door and pulled out his turn out gear and began suiting up. Chuck had immediately approached the captain in charge of the scene and was trying to gather information. Matt checked in with the man and then headed inside after donning his mask and helmet.

Entering the front door, Matt saw that two hoses had been brought inside the structure and through the small living room, one going left and one going right off of the hallway. Looking into the room on the right he saw as three fire fighters brought the remains of a flaming bed under control and then entered the kitchen where he could see the remains of a woman tied to a chair. Just like the others. He began snapping pictures as the four firemen put out the last of the flames in the small room and began sifting through, making sure that there were no hotspots. Although the woman was tied to the chair like the other victims, the killer had started the fire under the chair this time instead of under the kitchen table – the table was nothing but metal and glass: there was nothing there to serve as fuel. The body had been charred quite a bit and as he got closer to take more detailed photographs, Matt could see that she had sustained an injury to her right temple. On the floor a short distance away was what remained of a photograph. Due to the damage from the fire he couldn't tell if the photo was of the victim or not. He bagged the evidence and then after taking samples from under the steel legs of the chair, he went back into the bedroom that the crew had now vacated and took pictures there as well. This time the bed wasn't as destroyed as in the other three cases and as he moved around to the far side of it, something shiny caught his eye. Kneeling down, the PI pulled an evidence bag out of his clipboard as well as a pair of tweezers. There on the floor next to the bed was a condom wrapper. Matt felt a jolt of excitement as the possibility of finding a fingerprint on the wrapper occurred to him. Carefully he bagged and tagged it, putting it inside the clipboard and continuing on, collecting another sample from the scorch marks on the floor.

As he exited the house, Houston couldn't help but notice a look of relief on Chuck's face. As he removed his helmet and mask, he saw one of the CSI's from the Sheriff's Department pull up. A surly looking sergeant emerged from the van and began collecting his gear from the back. "Hey Sarge…" Houston started speaking.

"Who in the hell are you?" The angry looking tech gave Matt the once-over.

"Detective Houston – look – the bedroom on the right hand side in there had a mattress on fire. See if you can spot any possible DNA sources on it."

"If you're a detective why in the hell…"

"Do what he said, Oglesby - NOW." The voice of Sheriff Francine Martinez could be heard over the complaints of the tech.

"Yes ma'am." The last was said with a sneer.

"What have you got?" The Sheriff ignored the tone of the tech and zeroed in on what Matt had to tell her and the picture and wrapper that he showed her.

"This guy hasn't been gone long at all. We need to work the neighbors – see if maybe they saw a brown van with lots of dents and a ladder rack." Matt was working his way out of the tank as he walked back to his truck and then removed the turn out coat.

"Alright." She turned and called over three deputies who were on the scene, sending them out to canvass the nearby homes, returning to Houston who had put his gear away in the truck and then grabbed his clipboard and went around to the back of the house.

"None of the firefighters entered through the backdoor this time – could you get your tech to check for fingerprints on there, too?" He was busy scanning the ground for footprints and it didn't take but a minute for him to find what he was looking for. As he dropped down to his knees to photograph the find, Martinez got on the radio and instructed the tech to dust for prints on the door.

"Think it's a match to the other two you found?" She followed him as he started back through the yard.

Nodding he responded. "Yes ma'am, I do. They look to be about a size 11…" He paused as he got toward the back of the yard that was surrounded by a wooden privacy fence. There in the left rear corner was a small tool shed that sat diagonally to the corner of the yard. "And there are the sunflower husks." He squatted down and gathered up the evidence after photographing it first. Looking around, he circled the building but didn't find any other prints behind it, nor did he find any that led back toward the house except for the ones he had followed out to the shed. It was then that he turned to the fence and noticed a small bit of blood along the top of one of the fence panels. "Looks like he got gigged by a splinter maybe." He looked around for something to stand on to photograph and collect the sample but couldn't find anything. "Want to do the honors?"

"Sure." The Sheriff took the camera and swab from him before he cupped his hands, giving her a boost up to the top of the fence. Chuck rounded the corner of the house and just shook his head. "Okay, got it." The PI helped her back down before she labeled the bag that the swab went in.

"Chuck, we need to check with the folks on this street back here…what is it – Quince?" Matt looked to his friend.

"Yeah, that's it." The detective turned and started back around but stopped when he heard the sound of running feet. He was just in time to see Houston throwing his right leg over the fence then descending to the ground on the opposite side.

"Hey Sheriff, can you toss me the camera, please?" The PI waited and in a second the camera was carefully handed over along with the clip board. Then he heard "Oh, what the hell." The sheriff's face appeared at the top of the fence and over she came, landing on the ground with a smile.

"It's been a while." She couldn't help but laugh as Matt nodded. "Let's go see if anyone's at home."

Chuck's voice could be heard from the other side of the fence. "I'll catch up with you over there."

"Alright, pard." Houston and Martinez looked around on the ground. "Here…" Matt took a picture of another footprint.

"Looks the same to me." Martinez scanned the back yard. "We've got company." Watching where she stepped, the sheriff walked toward the back of the house. "Good morning." Matt looked up to see an old man armed with a shotgun who looked mad at first, then confused as the sheriff pointed out her badge. Matt followed her over, still checking for footprints. "Sheriff Francine Martinez – and you are?" She held out her hand to the man who put the butt of the shotgun on the floor of the back porch.

"Tony Alvarez. What in tarnation is going on?"

"Sorry to disturb you. We're on the trail of someone who is suspected of murdering your neighbor and setting her house on fire." She motioned to the house on the other side of the fence.

"No, not Ashley!" The older man shook his head and tears came to his eyes.

"I take it you knew her?" Martinez watched as Matt picked up the trail. "Go ahead, Houston, I'll catch back up to you." He nodded and went on around the house.

"Yeah, she moved in about a year ago. Her husband was killed over in Afghanistan a few months before and she was starting over. She did a lot of work on that house. Used to ask me for advice about how to fix things." He removed his glasses and swiped at his eyes with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry – would you like to come in?"

"I really need to see if we can find this guy. Have you noticed anyone hanging around?"

"No…but about an hour ago Sonny started in growling and barking. That's my dog."

"Yes sir. Did you happen to look out?"

"No, I was in the shower at the time and didn't have my hearing aids in. I could hear Sonny barking but thought maybe it was a salesman at the door or something. When I got out I looked around but didn't see anything. I didn't look out back here."

"According to our records the fire was called in by a Mrs. McNeese over on Palmetto."

"Yeah, Janey McNeese – used to go fishing with her husband before he passed away. I just can't believe this is even happening."

"I may need to send some of my people back over here to check on footprints that we've found in your backyard."

"Y'all do whatever you need to do. I just can't believe it." He shook his head sadly again.

"Thanks so much for your time, Mr. Alvarez." She left him standing on his back porch and went around the house where Houston had disappeared. He was now two houses down the street, squatting down and taking pictures again. "What have you got?"

"Maybe nothing." He motioned to what appeared to be fresh oil on the street. "We collected some samples of oil from the Gonzalez-Antigua scene yesterday. We can run a check and see if the two match up and if we should happen to find a suspect and can get an oil sample from their vehicle…"

"We might be able to nail 'em. Good thinking." She stood up as her phone began ringing. "What have you got, Guzman?" She listened as Matt bagged and labeled the sample he had taken and began looking around the area some more. "Alright, thanks." Hanging up she followed the PI. "So far they haven't gotten anything from the neighbors on Palmetto."

Matt nodded. "I'm going to pay these folks a visit and see if they noticed anybody parked out here this morning." He headed up to the front door of the house and was met by a pair of elderly ladies on the front porch. "Good mornin'." He touched the brim of his hat and gave the pair a smile. "Did either one of you ladies happen to see someone parked out here in front of your house this morning?"

"I sure did." The shorter of the two spoke up. "I told Marjorie that he looked like a hippy."

"Yes ma'am – could you tell me what he was driving?" Matt pulled a notebook out of his back pocket as did Martinez.

"Some old brown van – ladders all hangin' off the top of it. It was a sight."

"Did you happen to get a good look at the driver?"

"I did – he looked like he needed a bath and a haircut. Dirty lookin' something he was – not quite as tall as you, had greasy lookin' brown hair and just looked dirty. He had on a pair of blue jeans that looked like they had been through a bull fight down at Matamoros."

The PI couldn't help but smile at the remark. "Did you see where he went?"

"He headed up toward Tony's house there – a couple of houses up, disappeared for about half an hour, and then came running back to the van like a scalded dog."

"If you saw a picture of him do you think you could identify him?" Martinez spoke up.

"I sure could – and I'd tell him to take a bath, too."

"Yes ma'am. Could we get your name please?"

"Mrs. Gertrude Sparks."

Martinez took down the woman's information before her phone rang again. "What have you got, Chuck?" She turned away from the group.

"We'll need you to come down to the office and sign a statement about what you saw." Matt closed the notebook.

"When do I need to be there?"

Martinez turned as the question was asked. "I can take you there now if you'd like."

"Well let me go get my purse." She disappeared into the house.

"Other than the lady who called in the fire nobody on Palmetto saw or heard a thing." The sheriff looked at Matt. "I'll take Mrs. Sparks and Mrs. McNeese down to give statements. Do you mind staying here while I go get my SUV?"

"Not a problem." After the sheriff had her passengers loaded up, Matt gave her the evidence he had collected so far and joined back up with Chuck on Palmetto Street. "Did y'all get anything?"

"Nope." Chuck tapped his notebook on his leg. "We didn't miss him by much did we?"

"No…" Matt was putting his gear back into his truck. "I'm gonna go back in our victim's house and look through – see if I can find any information on next of kin or anything else that might help us."

"Alright." The two men walked back inside just in time to hear a string of curses coming from the crime scene tech. They exchanged a look. "Something the matter?"

The sergeant turned to look at the pair. "Just tired of…never mind." He gave Houston a dirty look and turned back to where he was dusting the back door for prints.

Shrugging, the two detectives began searching the home; Chuck took the bedroom where the bed had been burned while Matt looked around and found a drawer containing file folders in a desk in the corner of the living room and looked through them. "Mostly her bills, warranties on appliances…that kind of stuff." He closed the drawer as Chuck re-entered the room looking through a cell phone and carrying a denim purse.

"Her name was Ashley Fitzsimmons. She's got a Kim Sellars as her emergency contact in her cell phone." He exchanged a look with Matt. "It's a local number."

"I don't like the idea of a death notification on the phone."

"Me either. Sucks either way to hear something like that but the phone is worse in my opinion." He called for a reverse directory look up as Matt continued to look around the room, finding a scrap book on the coffee table. "I've got her home address."

"Let me see her license." Looking at the ID he shook his head. He pointed to a picture that was captioned "Sis and me on the beach." "They look like sisters…and neither of these ladies are the one that was in the picture I found in the kitchen."

"Man, I hate this part of the job."

"Yep." The PI continued to look around but didn't see anything else.

"Okay, I'll go take care of the notification."

"Alright, I'm going to head back to the office and look through what we've got…" He stood back up. "And hope like heck we got a hit on the DNA from the sunflower seeds."

"Catch ya later."

"Uh huh." Matt looked around the house once more, then headed out to his truck and went back toward the office. As he was stopped at a light, he called CJ. "How ya doin', Lil Mama?"

"Fine. You don't sound nearly as tired as you did last night."

"No, a good night's sleep took care of that. But I could use your help again if you don't mind."

"Good, I've been looking for something to do." She listened as he explained his morning and gave her the name of the latest victim.

"See what you can find out about her and see if these ladies had anything in common, please ma'am."

"I'll sure do it. Just be careful, Cowboy. Love you."

"You, too, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up and began turning over the case in his mind. All of the victims had been female, were tied to chairs in the kitchen, and appeared to have been sexually assaulted. The fact that Mrs. Sparks had seen the brown van with the ladder racks backed up what Elena Gonzalez-Antigua's daughters had told him about the man that had come to their home. Maybe if he could get a composite sketch of their suspect out to the public, they might be able to get some help. Pulling into a nearby parking lot, he looked in his notebook for the number at the Gonzalez house. "Mrs. Gonzalez, this is Detective Houston. Do you think the girls would be able to help us with a sketch of the man they told us about?" He listened to her reply. "Okay, I'll swing by there and pick y'all up. Thank you." Changing direction, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the Gonzalez home.