Chapter 10
"That's twice in just a few days Melinda," Munch said as he and Fin climbed out of their car. With Olivia and Elliot at OCCB and Kenny at the gang unit, the other two detectives had to respond when a call came in.
"I'm beginning to see a pattern here," Warner said without looking up from the body that had been found by a dumpster in a back alley, not far from Chinatown.
"That's probably not a good thing," Fin frowned.
"No, I'd say not. The first thing I did was look for a tattoo and I found one. More and more they seem like a brand and not something the girls got willingly," the medical examiner told them.
"What connects these victims? The two-seven had a Chinese woman, our first victim was African-American, and this girl is barely legal and white," Munch shook his head.
"The only thing that connects them so far is the tattoo," Fin said.
"This victim is much younger than the other two though. Unlike Miss Jiang and like Miss Thompkins, this poor girl was brutalized and raped," Melinda frowned. The young woman had been beaten with a cylindrical object and her body showed signs of almost more purple skin than white skin.
"So the Chinese victim got a quick death while the others were long drawn out tortuous deaths. That begs the question, why go after Miss Jiang at all?" Fin wondered.
"Maybe she saw something she wasn't supposed to or maybe Miss Jiang isn't the first victim. Probably better run the MO through the system and see what happens," Munch suggested.
"Our first two victims had clean records – one worked for her folks and the other was a bank teller. How much you want to bet this girl doesn't have a record either?" Fin asked.
"I'm calling Olivia and Elliot. They need to know what is going on. I have a sneaking suspicion that this has little to do with a Chinese Tong or any other gang," his partner said.
"What makes you say that?" Melinda wanted to know.
"Marking the victim is a classic serial killer move. He gets what he wants out of them and then kills them. The tattoo comes after to let the police know that the victims are his," Munch said.
"So maybe Miss Jiang was his first and when she was dead too quickly, he decided to have a little more fun," Fin said. Munch only nodded and held his phone up to his ear, hoping to catch Olivia.
"That was Munch. He says they have another victim and she was marked like the others," Olivia told the group when she got off the phone.
"Well we'll keep an eye out for anyone using that serpent tattoo for you. Sorry we couldn't be more helpful," OCCB Detective Saunders said.
"We appreciate it. Meantime, I think you guys should head to our precinct and we'll go over everything. Our Captain and your Captain probably need to talk," Elliot suggested.
"We'll call him on the way over," Lupo nodded. The group thanked Saunders for his help and then headed to their vehicles. That's when Elliot's phone rang and he quickly answered it. Olivia noticed that he'd stopped in his tracks and she moved back toward him.
"I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise," with that he hung up.
"What is it?" Olivia asked, concerned by the look on his face.
"Kathleen just tried to kill herself," he said. It was obvious that he was in no shape to drive and Olivia grabbed the keys from his hand.
"Which hospital?" She wanted to know.
To Be Continued…