Two reports came back from the lab at the same time. Wharton's autopsy, and the prints from the lipstick. Bobby took the autopsy; Alex took the lipstick, each reading silently for a few moments.
"Here's a surprise." Bobby said sarcastically, "no presence of drugs of any kind in his system."
Alex laid down the folder and looked across her desk to Bobby. "I'll go you one better. The prints on the lipstick belong to an 18 year old kidnap victim, who was killed along with her kidnapper, fifteen years ago, in Kansas."
~*~*~
"She had priors?" Captain Deakins asked as Alex finished telling him what they'd learned.
"Third grade class trip to the local police station, she was chosen to be fingerprinted as demonstration."
"Why didn't they fingerprint the body found in the car?"
"There wasn't any skin on her hands. Her parents i.d'd her from a necklace the body was wearing, a chain with an infant sized diamond ring as a pendant."
"These people bought their infant a diamond ring? No wonder she was kidnapped."
"If she was kidnapped." Bobby said from the corner of the room. Alex and Deakins both turned their attention to him. He raised his left arm at the elbow, his hand lying flat out, palm up. His body language way of saying 'this is how I see it'. "Let's say she was kidnapped. Her parent's pay the ransom, the kidnappers have two choices, kill her or let her go. She obviously wasn't killed, and if they let her go. . . why didn't she go home?"
"We need to talk to the parents." Deakins said.
"They're dead. The mother died eighteen months after the kidnapping, the father died last year."
Deakins shook his head as Bobby stood up, reaching for the file in Alex's hands. "Do we have a picture of her, or her parents?"
"Just what the newspapers printed fifteen years ago. Kansas City PD faxed them to us. They're not very good."
Bobby flipped through the papers in the file until he found the faxed photos. Deakins came from around his desk, also looking at the photo's from Bobby's side. Bobby tapped a finger on the photo of the girl. "It could be her, fifteen years ago."
"It could also be Alex when she was 18." Deakins said, returning to the seat behind his desk. Alex turned her head away from his line of sight and rolled her eyes. "Run a check on this Karen . . . whatever, check both last names. Let me know what you come up with."
~*~*~
Alex started with the Morris marriage license. That listed Karen's previous last name as Clark. With that she ran the usual check on Karen Clark. Alex scrolled down, reading facts and figures about Karen Clark, and then stopped suddenly. She read, and then reread the last report on the screen. Glancing over at Bobby, then back to the screen, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Bobby saw the look, and walked over to her side of the desk, standing behind her. He too, read the last report on the screen, then bent down closer to the pc, and reread it. Alex turned her head, watching Bobby's reaction. "Is there a photo of Karen Clark?"
"Just this one." Alex scrolled back up to the copy of the California drivers' license. "It could be the woman we know as Karen Morris-Wharton. According to the date of the reissue," Alex pointed to the screen, "this replacement license was applied for three days before that report was written."
Bobby sat down on the edge of Alex's desk. His hand covered his mouth as he stared at the floor. "So, there's a body that was i.d.'d by DNA, as well as by the family, as Karen Clark, found at the bottom of Niagara Falls, dead at least a week." Alex nodded in agreement.
"So while the real Karen Clark was floating her way up to the surface, the woman we know as Karen was reapplying for a drivers license."
Bobby stood suddenly, and bent down again in front of the pc. He read further into the report. "The case is still open. Her family reported Karen had recently become involved in numerology, had become friends with a woman Karen only referred to as Sammie."
"Numerology?"
Bobby looked at Alex, considering. "It'd be a good way to get all the information you'd need to steal an identity. Date and place of birth." He paused, "Social security, drivers license number. It's perfect."
~*~*~
"And you think this unidentified numerologist killed Karen Clark?" Captain Deakins asked.
"Yes." Bobby answered.
"And that the killer is the same woman you met as Karen Wharton?" Bobby and Alex both nodded "Check with the FBI, see if a numerologist raises any flags."
~*~*~
They found two others. Samantha James in Houston, 1996 and Margaret Vaughn in L.A., 1992. Both women were similar in personality and habits. Both were shy, almost recluse in their lifestyle. No real friends, no boyfriend. Samantha James' family lived in a different state, Margaret Vaughn's parents had died when she was seventeen, and she had no other family.
Samantha's mother filed a missing persons report three weeks after she'd last spoken to Samantha. When police asked if Samantha had seemed depressed, or despondent, her mother replied: "No. As a matter of fact, she had just made a new friend. Sammie said the friend was into astrology, life energy, planet charting. . . numerology. She was excited; she said this woman was going to read everything she could for Sammie. My baby was looking forward to a new life."
Samantha had been found ten days before her mother reported her missing. Samantha had never been fingerprinted, there was no way to i.d.the dead body. She'd been buried by the state; with no head marker the same week her mother reported her missing. It took another three weeks after that for someone to put two and two together and test the DNA the coroner had taken from Jane Doe against Samantha's parents, for a positive id.
Margaret Vaughn was reported missing by her boss, on the second day she failed to show up at work. Police searched her apartment, they reported no sign of struggle, and it appeared that all Margaret's clothes were still there. The investigating officers did found numerology books on the coffee table. One left open, as if Margaret had been in the middle of reading it. A bookstore receipt had been tucked into one of the other books. It confirmed Margaret purchased the books two weeks before her disappearance.
Margaret was found by a jogger, lying on a stretch of beach. Salt water in her lungs confirmed drowning. It was assumed to be suicide, but after Margaret car was found two miles north of where she washed up, with her purse in the front seat, a female detective wondered why she'd brought her purse with her. A woman leaving her apartment with the intentions of driving to the ocean and walking in, would probably leave her purse at home. And the coroner found bruising on the top of Margaret head. Five small oval bruises, unevenly spaced in a half moon pattern. "What the hell could cause that?" One of the detectives asked.
"This." Replied the female detective and placed her hand just a fraction of an in above the scalp, her fingers fell in line with the bruises. "She didn't kill herself. Someone held her under."
"Here's a surprise." Bobby said sarcastically, "no presence of drugs of any kind in his system."
Alex laid down the folder and looked across her desk to Bobby. "I'll go you one better. The prints on the lipstick belong to an 18 year old kidnap victim, who was killed along with her kidnapper, fifteen years ago, in Kansas."
~*~*~
"She had priors?" Captain Deakins asked as Alex finished telling him what they'd learned.
"Third grade class trip to the local police station, she was chosen to be fingerprinted as demonstration."
"Why didn't they fingerprint the body found in the car?"
"There wasn't any skin on her hands. Her parents i.d'd her from a necklace the body was wearing, a chain with an infant sized diamond ring as a pendant."
"These people bought their infant a diamond ring? No wonder she was kidnapped."
"If she was kidnapped." Bobby said from the corner of the room. Alex and Deakins both turned their attention to him. He raised his left arm at the elbow, his hand lying flat out, palm up. His body language way of saying 'this is how I see it'. "Let's say she was kidnapped. Her parent's pay the ransom, the kidnappers have two choices, kill her or let her go. She obviously wasn't killed, and if they let her go. . . why didn't she go home?"
"We need to talk to the parents." Deakins said.
"They're dead. The mother died eighteen months after the kidnapping, the father died last year."
Deakins shook his head as Bobby stood up, reaching for the file in Alex's hands. "Do we have a picture of her, or her parents?"
"Just what the newspapers printed fifteen years ago. Kansas City PD faxed them to us. They're not very good."
Bobby flipped through the papers in the file until he found the faxed photos. Deakins came from around his desk, also looking at the photo's from Bobby's side. Bobby tapped a finger on the photo of the girl. "It could be her, fifteen years ago."
"It could also be Alex when she was 18." Deakins said, returning to the seat behind his desk. Alex turned her head away from his line of sight and rolled her eyes. "Run a check on this Karen . . . whatever, check both last names. Let me know what you come up with."
~*~*~
Alex started with the Morris marriage license. That listed Karen's previous last name as Clark. With that she ran the usual check on Karen Clark. Alex scrolled down, reading facts and figures about Karen Clark, and then stopped suddenly. She read, and then reread the last report on the screen. Glancing over at Bobby, then back to the screen, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Bobby saw the look, and walked over to her side of the desk, standing behind her. He too, read the last report on the screen, then bent down closer to the pc, and reread it. Alex turned her head, watching Bobby's reaction. "Is there a photo of Karen Clark?"
"Just this one." Alex scrolled back up to the copy of the California drivers' license. "It could be the woman we know as Karen Morris-Wharton. According to the date of the reissue," Alex pointed to the screen, "this replacement license was applied for three days before that report was written."
Bobby sat down on the edge of Alex's desk. His hand covered his mouth as he stared at the floor. "So, there's a body that was i.d.'d by DNA, as well as by the family, as Karen Clark, found at the bottom of Niagara Falls, dead at least a week." Alex nodded in agreement.
"So while the real Karen Clark was floating her way up to the surface, the woman we know as Karen was reapplying for a drivers license."
Bobby stood suddenly, and bent down again in front of the pc. He read further into the report. "The case is still open. Her family reported Karen had recently become involved in numerology, had become friends with a woman Karen only referred to as Sammie."
"Numerology?"
Bobby looked at Alex, considering. "It'd be a good way to get all the information you'd need to steal an identity. Date and place of birth." He paused, "Social security, drivers license number. It's perfect."
~*~*~
"And you think this unidentified numerologist killed Karen Clark?" Captain Deakins asked.
"Yes." Bobby answered.
"And that the killer is the same woman you met as Karen Wharton?" Bobby and Alex both nodded "Check with the FBI, see if a numerologist raises any flags."
~*~*~
They found two others. Samantha James in Houston, 1996 and Margaret Vaughn in L.A., 1992. Both women were similar in personality and habits. Both were shy, almost recluse in their lifestyle. No real friends, no boyfriend. Samantha James' family lived in a different state, Margaret Vaughn's parents had died when she was seventeen, and she had no other family.
Samantha's mother filed a missing persons report three weeks after she'd last spoken to Samantha. When police asked if Samantha had seemed depressed, or despondent, her mother replied: "No. As a matter of fact, she had just made a new friend. Sammie said the friend was into astrology, life energy, planet charting. . . numerology. She was excited; she said this woman was going to read everything she could for Sammie. My baby was looking forward to a new life."
Samantha had been found ten days before her mother reported her missing. Samantha had never been fingerprinted, there was no way to i.d.the dead body. She'd been buried by the state; with no head marker the same week her mother reported her missing. It took another three weeks after that for someone to put two and two together and test the DNA the coroner had taken from Jane Doe against Samantha's parents, for a positive id.
Margaret Vaughn was reported missing by her boss, on the second day she failed to show up at work. Police searched her apartment, they reported no sign of struggle, and it appeared that all Margaret's clothes were still there. The investigating officers did found numerology books on the coffee table. One left open, as if Margaret had been in the middle of reading it. A bookstore receipt had been tucked into one of the other books. It confirmed Margaret purchased the books two weeks before her disappearance.
Margaret was found by a jogger, lying on a stretch of beach. Salt water in her lungs confirmed drowning. It was assumed to be suicide, but after Margaret car was found two miles north of where she washed up, with her purse in the front seat, a female detective wondered why she'd brought her purse with her. A woman leaving her apartment with the intentions of driving to the ocean and walking in, would probably leave her purse at home. And the coroner found bruising on the top of Margaret head. Five small oval bruises, unevenly spaced in a half moon pattern. "What the hell could cause that?" One of the detectives asked.
"This." Replied the female detective and placed her hand just a fraction of an in above the scalp, her fingers fell in line with the bruises. "She didn't kill herself. Someone held her under."