December 18, 2005
Mount Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles
Terry was reading in one of Kessler journals when Don came in.
"Hey Don. I didn't expect you during the day." Terry put the journal down on the pile with the other journals.
"Terry." Don pulled up the chair and sat down. He ran a hand through his hair. "I can't tell you how crazy I feel. I can't focuses when I'm in the office, but I can't stand to be at home. I haven't slept at all last night. Dad isn't sleeping either."
"You have to rest at some point. You're not doing anyone a favour in this state."
"It's easier said than done."
"Anything new on the case?"
"Nothing. We are running on the well-theory. Kessler is not giving them up, and we have no leverage. Kessler is dying of cancer; he has weeks at the best. Our best bet right now is the analysis of the pictures in the journals, but it's going slow."
"I read the journals and listened to your tape and made a few notes. I'm afraid I don't have much news for you, but I think there might be one way you can put Kessler under pressure."
"I'm listening."
"Kessler kills older men. The classic father figure. He locks his victims in a dark hole without windows for days, before he kills them. I think he is staging he scene from he was a child. Quite possibly, he was locked into a cellar or a similar place and left there for days when he was a child. "
"So you think he was abused?"
"Probably. He probably never had the courage to stand up to his father, he is killing stand-ins instead." Terry explained.
"What about Vaughn Tanner, the UCLA student, he was nineteen years old when he disappeared. We know he was killed around the same time."
"Maybe a trial run. The MO in is first killing is different from the others, and Tanner is the only body that he made sure no one would find. He cemented him into the floor." Terry said.
"Makes sense." Don said.
"You said Kessler is dying and he knows it. He has prepared for this."
"Yes, he knows we would find him, he put the evidence there for us to find. He is playing a game with us. He has given us clues. We just don't understand them." Don shook his head.
"I have an idea. What was in the letter David and you found in the house?"
Don grabbed Terry's notebook, flipped to a new page and wrote down:
EIN TOT GAG EGH NAN CIK
Terry looked at the sequence.
"We are probably supposed to rearrange the letters." Terry guessed. "Or not. EIN and TOT are German words, meaning one and dead."
"Wow, you speak German?"
"Yeah, majored in forensic psychology, minored in German lit. I guess I was bored." Terry replied. "But just there a few words that I can spot right now rearranging the letters, AT, IN, BACK, GO, GONE, CAN, HACK, TAG, TIN, BAG, THE"
"Try what you get with BACK AT, BACK IN, GO TO, GO BACK TO, TAKE BACK." Terry scribbled in her notebook.
"Most of them don't leave combinations that make sense." She said, crossing out letters.
"Let me see." Don leaned over to see what Terry was writing.
"Look at that, when you write: GO BACK TO, you are left with: NNNIIGGEEBTH. Rearrange that and you get: GO BACK TO THE BEGI NNING."
"Vaughn Tanner, the kid from UCLA?" Terry questioned. "I read the notebook. Kessler stalked him for the whole summer, before he killed him. Tanner worked at a diner as a dish washer. It doesn't say where he first met Tanner, but he met him before the end of the semester. For the first week or so, he follows Tanner around on campus. I would pull student files from 1968."
"I don't see how that can help us. We don't know Kessler's real name? We only know that he has stayed under the radar for about fifty years. "
"I agree it's frustrating, but we both know the drill."
"I know, I know, it just seems that we never catch a break on this one. I'll pull the county records from Reno from 1988 and 1992 and compare them to students at UCLA from 1969. Something might pop." Don sighed.
"Go home, Don. You and your father need each other right now." Terry told Don.
"You know I can't. I have to see this through." Don said. "If I step away now, I'll never forgive myself later."
"Since you are not letting this go anyways, I have a question for you. I read your interview notes. You think that Rita Ortiz is involved?"
"Kessler definitely hinted at another woman being involved. With have the princess, Anna Benito, the Hänsel, Charlie, and Gretel, another woman. As Kessler said a wicked and evil woman. He identifies himself and his cause with evil."
"That makes sense, but doesn't explain what Rita has to do with it. Even if Kessler got to her, which the more I learn about him, the more I think is possible, why would she help him? Kessler is an intelligent sociopath who is acting out his power fantasies. First against his father, now in a finale, against authority. This is his endgame."
December 18, 2005
Florenceway Rest-Stop, Los Angeles
Don climbed out of his car at the bus rest-stop. He wasn't sure what he expected to find here. He knew both agents and CSU had been over the scene and had found nothing revealing. Don stepped on the sidewalk and flipped open the file he had brought with himself. He decided to retrace Terry and Charlie's steps.
First, he headed towards the picnic tables and the tress behind them. Easily, he found the tress with the symbol carved into it. He sat down on the bench and looked around. Only a small part of the parking cars where obscured by the building. But Kessler must have parked close to the back exit of the store, obscured from this side of the parking lot. Don stepped forwards to where his car was parked and turned around. He could see the entire parking lot. Terry would only have to turn around and she would have seen Charlie. Kessler had to have parked somewhere else. Don jogged to the building and did a walk around. There was a parking space by the fire-exit marked 'Deliveries only'.
Don went around to the front and entered the store. He walked to the register.
"Hello. What can I help you with?" The woman asked.
"I'm with the FBI. I have a few more questions about the incident a few days ago."
"Ah, the guy who was kidnapped. Guess you haven't found him yet."
"No we haven't. When are your deliveries normally arriving?
"5.30 a.m., we open at six."
"Did you ever have any visits from salesmen or unscheduled deliveries?"
"Yeah, we have some salesmen here every month. Snacks, soda, sandwiches..."
"The day my colleagues were here, did you get a visit from a salesman?"
"Could be. A guy came by. He was selling juice. Gave us a free case and left his card. Was a nice guy for a change." The woman said.
"Do you still have the juice and the card?" Don asked. He had his suspicion that the friendly salesman might have been Kessler checking out the scene and on his way out, leaving the fire door open.
"Not sure about the card. We weren't going to buy his stuff. The boss let me have the case."
"Do you recall the name of the product, or the company it was from?"
"It was berry juice with lemon. Some berry I never heard of. Elderberry. His card must be here somewhere." The woman opened a drawer.
"Here is it." She handed him the card."
Don read it.
Charles Eppes
Prime Fruit Juices
give us a call 5270454913
One of Kessler's games. He was trying to get to them, trying to get into their heads. Don had been there before. Kessler was not the first suspect who had tried to play him, but Kessler was the first one, who had used his family to get to him. And he had to grant it to Kessler, it was working. He could hardly stand to work at the office anymore. Every dead end nearly tore him apart. He tried hard not to let go of hope. But his experience, the FBI statistic and their progress at the case, told him that they were lucky if they ever found Charlie and the girl.
"Thank you." Don put the business card in his wallet. "Could you possibly show me a bottle of the juice the salesman left you?"
"I have one here. You don't think it is poisoned?"
"No, no. We are just running the routine."
The shop attendant went into the back and brought back a half empty bottle of dark juice. Don examined the bottle. The label looked professional, the bottle was immaculate. It read:
Prime Fruit Juices,
Elderberry Juice.
December 18, 2005
FBI Field Office, Los Angeles
The woman holding Mary-Ann's hand looked nervous as she stepped into the office. After what David had not gotten any more information from Mary-Ann at the school, he had decided to bring her to the Office and have a child psychologist talk to her. Normally, Terry would have talked to the girl, but now he had no choice, but to involve someone form outside the case.
"Mrs. Reginald. I'm Agent Sinclair; I spoke to your daughter earlier today."
"I don't really understand what is going on here. What do you want from my daughter?" Mrs. Reginald glanced around furtively.
"A classmate of your daughter was kidnapped. Your daughter was the last person to see her. We think she saw the man or men who took the other girl."
"Oh god. Did he harm her?"
"No, not as far as we know. Please come this way. Dr. Warren, your child psychologist will talk to your daughter. We can observe from the other room."
"I'm not sure..."
"Please Mrs. Reginald, the life of a little girl is at stake here and your daughter is the only witness."
"All right." Mrs Reginald nodded.
Dr. Warren joined them, and kneeled down to Mary-Ann.
"Mary-Ann, I'm Susan. I work with David. Can we talk a bit?"
"Sure." Mary-Ann freed herself from her mothers hand and followed Dr. Warren into Dr. Warren's office.
Dr. Warren shut the door behind them.
"Pick a seat."
Mary-Ann sat down at a table with four chairs.
"You want to draw something. Here is paper and there are crayons."
Mary-Ann took a crayon and started.
"Do you like drawing?"
"Yes."
"Do you do Art in school?"
"Yes, it's my favourite subject." Mary-Ann smiled.
"Is Anna in your Art class?"
"Yes, we take almost all classes together. She's my friend."
"Is Charlie also your friend?"
"Mhm, yes." Mary-Ann hesitated.
"Is he Anna's friend?"
"Yes."
"Does Charlie go to your school?"
"No, Charlie is a grown-up. He is a teacher."
"What subject does he teach?"
"He teaches Maths. He told me."
"What else does Charlie do?"
"He likes ice-cream. He bought us ice-cream."
"What happened after you ate ice-cream?"
"I had to go home, because my mom comes home at 6."
"Mary-Ann. I'm going to show you a few pictures; you tell me if you recognize Charlie. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
Dr. Warren showed Mary-Ann an array of pictures.
"That's Charlie." Mary-Ann pointed out Charlie.
"I have a few more pictures and I just want to know if you saw any of those people before. Here are a few men."
Dr. Warren showed Mary-Ann pictures including Kessler's.
Mary-Ann shook her head.
"What about these women?" At Don's request, she had included a picture of Rita Ortiz.
"No, I don't know them."
December 18th, 2005
Seven-Eleven, Los Angeles
"Did you see this man in the store about two days ago?" David asked the shopping assistant.
"Sure, he was here with his daughter and her friend. I thought he was cute. But all the good ones are taken."
"Did you notice anything unusual about his behaviour?"
"Other than that he was cute?"
"Yes, other than that."
"No, they were there, bought sweets, left."
"Did you ever see this man in here?" David showed her Kessler's picture.
"Don't recall him, but lots of folks come in here."
"I need your security tapes from December 16th."
"The tapes get recorded over the next day. I'm sorry."
December 18th, 2005
Burger King, Los Angeles
"Did any of you see this man here about two days ago? He was with two little girls?" David asked the group of three employees.
"It might be the weird guy." One of them replied.
"Weird in what way?" David asked.
"First he paid with a hundred. When I said I would take the hundred, he just left. Without his hundred bucks. It was probably a nut job. I mean who writes on his bills?"
"There was something written on the bill?"
"Yes, it said HELP, CALL POLICE."
"It didn't occur to you to actually call the police? I need to note."
December 19, 2005
FBI Field Office, Los Angeles
David was reading the forensics report from the hidden rooms in Kessler's house when Don came back to the office.
"Don. Where the hell where you? I tried to call you a dozens of times. I thought you were going to check something with Terry."
"I did visit Terry." Don said and grabbed a seat.
"And? You left eight hours ago. "
"I was checking out a lead. But I'm not sure it is going anywhere. Just more of Kessler's crazy games. He went to the rest-stop shore, pretending to be a salesman, the day he kidnapped Charlie. He probably checked out the area, would explain why the fire door was open when he kidnapped Charlie. He gave the attendant this."
Don put the card and the bottle on the table.
"Man, that's twisted. Did you check out the phone number?"
"I called it in from the car, but it's not a phone number." Don said. "It gets us nowhere. Kessler doesn't want us to find them and without him, we will never find them. In twenty-four hours, it will start raining and what are we going to do then?" Don exclaimed.
"We can do a lot in 24 hours, Don. But you need some rest. You go home tonight, the rest of us will work 24/7 until tomorrow night. Tomorrow, I'm going to take another crack at Kessler. And we still have evidence to go through. Our best hope is the photo analysis, Charlie was seen at a Seven Eleven, we pulled the footage, but the photo analysis takes priority."
"What? Charlie was seen? When?"
"Unfortunately two days ago already. He was seen at Seven Eleven and at a burger joint."
"What's going on? What was he doing there?"
"Witnesses saw him with two little girls, Anna Benito and Mary-Ann Reginald. Dr. Warren got Mary-Ann's story and she thinks the girl is telling the truth. According to her, they met Charlie at the Seven Eleven, he bought them sweets, and then he invited them for burgers and ice-cream. Mary-Ann left for home. I'm sorry."
"That can't be. Charlie would never be involved in anything like that." Don shook his head. "Maybe Kessler stuck around and threatened to start shooting of Charlie made a false move."
"Nobody recognized his picture."
"Charlie must have been threatened. Otherwise he would never..."
"We will find out. I don't think he voluntarily got involved either. Before head out, you might want to listen to some of this. The forensics report from Kessler's hidden rooms is in. The blood spatter on the wall belongs to different individuals. Four matches with his for most recent victims. The floor has been bleached several times, making any DNA analysis impossible, but you can see the overlapping blood polls and smears here." David handed Don the picture.
"That was a lot of blood. What's with the footprint there at the edge. What did CSU make of it?"
"There is a better image of it here." David handed it over. "They wrote: size twelve, men's boot, typical work-boots, found on any number of models."
"I didn't read anything about blood on the boots we found in the house."
"I noticed that too. There is quite a bit of stuff that we are still missing despite going over the house twice." Don went over to the white board and took a marker.
"So we are missing: a Smith & Wesson .45, ammo for the gun, the work boots, duct tape, cash, the victim's shoes," Don wrote down the missing items.
"Just confirms what we already suspected. Kessler own another house or a cabin where he stashes the equipment for his killings. But he maintains them probably under an alias."
Don glanced at the map on the wall. Reno and LA. Two states, ten hours of driving.
"David, I think I just had an idea how we can narrow down where Charlie and Anna could be."
"Really? How?"
"I tried to look at it like Charlie would. Then I thought of something. We have Kessler caught on tape at the rest-stop on December 16th around noon, Charlie grabbed was seen with Anna around 6 p.m. the same day, we arrested Kessler on December 17th, around 4 a.m. Kessler only had ten hours to drive out to his hide-out, hide his things, leave Charlie and Anna and be back at the house when we arrested him."
Don grabbed a piece a paper. "At this time of the day, he would need at least two hours to get out of the city; Traffic is slow, maybe 20m/h. Then when he gets on the open road 50m/h. If he travelled four hours, we have a search radius of 140miles. Luckily, some of that is water and densely populated land."
"I say we start with the maps we got from the county office, see how many wells there are listed. Tomorrow we get the LAPD cadets. We can canvas the territory then."
TBC