Chapter 11
"So, what did Marie have to say?" Elliot asked once Olivia got off the phone. Jose did not have anything else to give and the Chief agreed to hold him on the destruction of property charge until they could see if Albany could dig anything else up. The two now started moving toward the Chief's office.
"She knew those names even without me having last names. According to her they all died differently so there was no way to tie them all together," his partner explained.
"But she somehow knew who you were talking about," Elliot said.
"The only reason she knew was because they all were addicts. At one point or another they were scooped up near the house, where they found Vivian, in drug sweeps. She pulled their files while forensics was going over Jose's car," Olivia told him.
"Ah so what do we have?" He asked as they reached the Chief's door. Olivia knocked but the Chief did not answer. They both guessed that meant he was still walking Jose through booking.
"Don OD'd, Jeff was shot, Alice was strangled, and this last one is a bit of a doozy," Olivia heaved a sigh and Elliot wondered how bad it could be.
"Emma was hit by a car as she attempted to run from someone who was chasing her. Witnesses say a large white guy saw the accident and ran from the scene," she finished.
"So safe to say that Jimmy and his large silent guy had a hand in all of them, but Albany has no way to tie them all together as you mentioned," Elliot frowned.
"But what drug dealer kills their customers? I mean I guess if they aren't paying it could be a warning to other but four deaths, plus possibly Vivian's, is a lot of customers to kill. A lot of money goes with them," Olivia frowned as well.
"There you two are. Hope the boys learned something from your interview. We don't get to conduct many interviews like that up here," Chief Hall smiled as he walked up to them.
"I hope they did too. I'm more and more worried about Calvin and the Drecker's safety though," Olivia admitted as they all went into the Chief's office. She quickly explained her phone call to Detective Gavronski as they all took seats around the Chief's desk.
"How could Albany explain the deaths of this Jeff and Alice? I mean an addict OD'ing really wouldn't raise anyone suspicions but being shot or strangled does raise quite a few questions," Hall said.
"Well there was no evidence at the scene of the shooting which was only a few blocks from the drug house. The bullet they pulled from Jeff's skull was so mangled that there is nothing there forensically other than it was a nine-millimeter round. The crime scene was in an alley and it rained for three days before anyone found the body," Olivia said.
"That's nasty," Chief Hall shook his head. No one likes dealing with three days of decomp, no matter who they are.
"Alice was strangled in a different alley. They believe her day job as a sex worker put her there and that the real killer could always blame a phantom John as the killer. Whoever killed her wore gloves and left no DNA at the scene," she explained.
"So, she might never have gotten to the usual portion of the program that involved any acts on our killer," Elliot frowned.
"No signs of rape, so it's possible or she was just using other parts of her body that left her in a vulnerable position. That brings me to Vivian," Olivia said.
"You think she was trading sex for drugs," Chief Hall spoke up.
"It's about the only thing that makes sense. She didn't have money and Jimmy wasn't going to trust her with a stash or any of his cash, peddling on a corner somewhere," Olivia admitted.
"So much like Jose's buddy Don, she died of an overdose. In Vivian's case, we don't have enough evidence to say it was a hotshot. What about Don's case?" Elliot asked.
"Marie figured it was but much like Vivian; too much decomposition in order to run a decent tox screen," she explained.
"So, a bunch of dead ends and bodies in this case," Hall shook his head.
"So, it would seem. There is still something that I can't figure out," Olivia said.
"The ear and the note," Elliot said. She nodded.
"A what now?" Hall gave them a look.
"I was sent an ear from Albany not long after Vivian's body arrived in our morgue. There was a note inside the box, but it was covered in blood. Our forensic techs haven't had any luck trying to figure out what it says," Olivia explained.
"How would someone know where you were and who you are?" Hall asked.
"I think that is what remains in the letters from Vivian that we haven't read yet. I have to be the reason that Calvin is in danger," she heaved a sigh and Elliot put a hand on her shoulder.
"You had no idea that Vivian was writing letters. We need to go through them though. That might be the thing that sows it up," he said.
"I agree. Check in with your forensics guys and see if they could translate that note or at least have a timeline. Meantime, I'll make sure that Calvin and the Drecker's check into your hotel and have an officer to keeping them company. We can't take any chances. For all we know our large silent guy is some sort of a serial killer using this Jimmy as a source of people to kill," Chief Hall said. The plan of action set, everyone quickly got to work.
To Be Continued…