Chapter Sixteen – What's in a Name?
Rae looked at Steve, she hadn't even realised that he was working on Elizabeth Masters' case that morning. "Well, we sure could do with a break, what do you think we're doing wrong?"
"I guess that was Eliana's new school on the phone, huh?" Steve got out of his chair and walked across to where Rae was sitting.
"Yeah, it was, they just wanted to let me know that she'd had a good morning, as I couldn't pick her up today. But I don't see what that has to do with Elizabeth Masters being shot in a bank elevator."
"Was she concerned when you answered the phone 'Detective Yeager?"
Rae nodded her head. "She thought she had the wrong number, I forgot to tell her I don't use my married name at work … Steve, what have you found out?" She was still a little lost, and wasn't really sure what Steve wanted her to say.
"When you split from Tony did you revert to your maiden name?"
"No, STEVE!"
A slow smile crossed Steve's face and then he began to speak. "When John and Elizabeth Masters came back from England they weren't even speaking to each other, let alone living as man and wife. It's not surprising; they'd suffered a terrible tragedy, and they went their separate ways almost as soon as the plane touched down on American soil."
"Yep, I know that, and I guess I am being particularly dense here, but you've still lost me."
"What if Elizabeth decided that she would no longer be Elizabeth Masters, but Elizabeth Kagan?"
Rae thought for a moment, but then she shook her head. "No, that wouldn't work, everyone in Santa Barbara knew her as Elizabeth Masters, Miss Masters granted, but definitely a Masters one way or another."
"True, but what if she reverted to her maiden name for only certain things, like her financial records for instance? Maybe she wouldn't want anyone to know what had happened in England, I think I would want to keep something that tragic to myself, so for everyday life she was Masters, but for anything legal that had to do with her life before the Chief came back into it, she was Elizabeth Kagan again."
"But her mother was a Kagan, wouldn't people question why she was using the name Masters?" Rae wasn't convinced that Steve had a point.
"Rae, it was a long time ago, I don't know what happened, but I do know that the house was left to her as Elizabeth Masters, to the Chief as well, but he signed his half over. Whatever she said back then seemed to work, no-one that we have been able to find ever questioned the fact that she was Elizabeth Masters, or that the Chief was her brother, but I still think that we should look for anything we can find in the name of Elizabeth Kagan." Steve felt his temper rise again and he attempted to flatten it; he didn't like shouting at Rae and he'd done it once already.
"Hmmm, and there was no will either, was there? The only bank statements I found were in the name of Masters, but I guess that doesn't mean she didn't have some things which she kept completely separate. The nosy neighbour didn't move in until after Elizabeth's mother died, it could work." Rae thought again, she had to agree that there was certainly no harm in going back over what they had from this new angle. It would mean more legwork, or phone work, but that wasn't a problem. "And do we call the companies in the bank building or go back and canvass them all again?"
Steve thought for a moment before he spoke. "We canvass. It'll take forever to find all the numbers in the phone book, and not only that, if we strike pay dirt I want to see any paperwork immediately. I will be seriously glad to see the back of this case."
Rae smiled, not only because she knew her partner was trying to lighten the mood by using some of her British expressions, but also because she had no problem working with the Chief, although at the moment she felt so badly for him that whoever he was she would have wanted to solve the case so that the family could feel at least some type of closure and be able to move on a little.
"So, how do you want to work this? We have to go to the hospital to see Amanda, we need to get to Nadine's apartment and search that, arrange to see Ron, eat, sleep, breathe, you know the trivialities of life! We still need to check the alibis' of Hank and Dillon Dingus, although I'm not too bothered about that, they didn't have anything to do with Nadine's murder…" Rae stopped talking and Steve could tell that something had just crossed her mind.
"What?"
"Jesse, someone needs to tell Jesse and Alex about Nadine." Rae felt helpless for a moment, normally she would have told her husband about anything related to her work that affected him, but this time she had a feeling that anyone other than herself would be a better option.
"Is he working?" Steve looked at his partner and he could see her struggling with her emotions.
"Steve, I have no idea if he's working or not. He came to see me on Saturday, but he didn't stay. I know he wants to be working … or at least I think I do." Rae's voice trailed away, and she didn't know what else to say.
"So, I guess that we delegate the alibi check, go to the hospital, see Amanda, and then carry on from there." Steve went to his own desk and pulled his jacket off the back of his chair. He shrugged himself into it as he watched Rae do the same thing. She very rarely carried a purse when she was working; preferring to have a small notebook, flip phone and ID in her pocket and gun, badge and cuffs on her belt.
The ER was quietly busy when they arrived, and both Steve and Rae saw Alex working in one trauma suite, with Wil Collins in the next one along. They asked where Mark was, and were told that he had just finished a meeting and was having a coffee in the lounge. As they walked along the hallway they saw the door to the elevator at the other end of the corridor open and Amanda stepped out.
"Hey, Steve, Rae, I just left a message at the station for you. I guess you're here for Nadine's autopsy results." Amanda held up a manila folder as she spoke.
"Yeah, that's one reason we're here, but we need to see Dad, and Jess if he's in." Steve reached out his hand for the file and began flicking through it as he walked.
"Yes, Jesse's here, I was going to tell him about Nadine, I hope you don't mind." Amanda looked at Rae as she spoke.
"No, I don't mind at all. In fact, if you're all going to be together I think that maybe I'll speak with Alex and then head on over to the financial district and begin the interviews there. Steve, can I take your truck? You could grab a cab or beg a ride couldn't you?"
Steve paused and thought for a while, he hated anyone else driving his truck, but he could see the sense in them splitting up, even though he would prefer to have her input, and finally he nodded his head, "Well, I guess so, as long as you're careful with it."
"I am always careful, and I should have a new car soon, so please?"
"Yeah, sure, but why don't you come to the doctors' lounge and wait for Alex there?"
"No, I don't think that's such a good idea. Jesse will like to be with his friends, I'll … I'll see you later." She took the proffered keys, and then turned quickly away, not wanting to be tempted to stay.
Steve's eyes followed her for a moment, but then he too turned and followed Amanda into the lounge.
"Hi, Son, what brings you here?" Mark had just sat down at the table with his coffee, and Jesse was sitting across from him, a small pile of folders by his side, and an even larger pile on the floor to his right.
"An autopsy report, and I needed to speak with you and Jess." Steve looked at Jesse as he spoke; trying not to remember that the last time he had spoken to his best friend Jesse had tried to kill him with a kitchen knife.
"Sure, what about? Anything we can help you with?"
"Maybe. It certainly wouldn't hurt to share at any rate. But first a coffee, I am definitely in need of a coffee." Steve grabbed a cup and filled it, then he made another one and handed it to Amanda. Once that was done he made himself comfortable at the table and for a moment was silent as he looked at the front page of the autopsy report.
Rae had made her way back to the nurses' station in the ER and, after telling the young woman on duty that she needed to speak with Alex officially, she had picked up a copy of a reasonably recent magazine and flicked through it. Just a couple of minutes later she heard a voice in front of her and she looked up into the relaxed and happy face of her friend.
"Hi, Rae, you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah, I did," Rae felt her mood darken as she realised what she was going to have to tell this young man who, she knew, had liked Nadine and considered her a friend. "We need to go somewhere private."
Alex looked towards the doctor's lounge, but Rae shook her head. "It's occupied; can we go into the trauma suite and hope we don't get interrupted?"
"Ok, this way." Alex led the way and then sat down in the chair by the desk, making sure that Rae was seated too.
Rae took a deep breath and began to talk. "Alex, Nadine Browton from Bob's was murdered on Saturday night."
"Oh, God." Alex looked at Rae in disbelief, he knew that being friends with a cop meant that he heard things that most people didn't, but this was different, this was personal involvement and he wasn't sure how to react.
"Alex, we know that she had a date, but we don't know who with. Did she say anything to you?"
Alex thought for a moment, and he remembered a conversation he'd had with Nadine on the Friday evening.
It had been late and the restaurant was almost empty. Alex poured himself a drink and was sitting at the counter having a five minute break before beginning the job of tidying up the tables. Nadine had come over and sat next to him.
"Hey, Nadine, good night?" Alex had meant in tips, but Nadine had smiled and nodded her head.
"Oh, yeah, I made a few bucks, and I got me a date for tomorrow night."
Alex had been surprised, "I didn't think you dated customers."
"I don't, but he was just so cool, and well, it can't do any harm. You remember him, the guy who came in for a drink of water and ended up staying for a meal."
"Do you think it was the guy she served on Friday?" Alex felt tears behind his eyes as he remembered what Nadine had said.
"She got the date from Bob's?" Rae's eyes widened in surprise, "Alex, did you see him, speak with him?" At last maybe they had a break; she pulled her pad out of her pocket and began to take details down. "How did he pay for his meal?" Rae knew that when Alex was at Bob's he worked the cash register.
"I spoke to him; he had a bad headache and asked for a drink. I … I told him we didn't serve just drinks, but I'd get him a glass of water. By the time I got back with it he'd decided to eat as well."
"So, you could come down to the station and get a picture made of him?"
Alex thought for a moment, he could remember talking to the guy, he knew almost exactly what he had said to him, but that was all. "Rae, there was nothing about him that sticks in my mind. He was a little shorter than me, I guess, although with a counter in the way it's not easy to tell… he had … darkish hair, I guess he was ok looking, I'm sorry, Rae, I really can't remember much else."
Rae tried to ignore the despondency she was feeling and put a smile on her face. "Don't worry about it, but can you go to the station anyway? Make a statement and get an artist to do a likeness? Alex, we don't have anyone else who has any idea what he looks like, you are our best witness so far."
"How did she die, Rae?" Alex had nodded his understanding, but suddenly he needed to hear the details of what had happened to his friend.
Rae looked at Alex, he wasn't a young kid anymore, and she guessed it was time that she stopped thinking of him that way. He was her doctor, she trusted him with her life and that of her daughters' but somehow outside the hospital she still thought of him as younger than he was. She considered a little longer and knew that he could handle what she had to say.
. . . . . . . . . .
Jesse had watched in silence as his friend sorted out the drinks and tried to stop his heart from beating out of his chest. All of a sudden his hands were clammy, his breathing was shallow, and he was terrified. He could feel the same type of fear as when he had been in the garage, could recognise the helplessness and vulnerability and he had to leave.
"I have things to do, Mark, I'll see you later at home, Amanda … Steve." He didn't stop to finish his coffee or to close up the file he was working on; he just stood and left the room.
Amanda began to rise out of her chair, but Mark placed a hand on her arm. "No, Honey, leave him be for now. I'll speak with him tonight. He … well, he asked me to help him this morning, but I need to go talk to Lauren Yung first."
Mark put Jesse out of his mind, knowing that he would give all of his time to his friend later and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He moved his chair round the table so that he too could see the autopsy report, and gasped when he saw the name at the top, and the picture attached to the first page of details. "That was what you wanted to tell Jesse, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was; Dad, what's going on with Jesse? Rae came to the hospital with me, but she wouldn't come in, she thought it would be better if she didn't. It's almost as if he can't bear to be in the same room with us, I don't understand it, I don't understand it at all."
"I think you're right, he can't, but it's not that he can't bear it, it's more that he can't do it, can't cope with it. I don't know why, I haven't got that far yet, but somehow it's related to you and to Rae."
For a few minutes the room was quiet as the three occupants let their thoughts concentrate on their friend, but finally, all of them knowing that time was of the essence in any homicide case, they began to talk about the killing of Nadine Browton.
"There were some differences this time, compared to Samantha Morrison and Jenna Palmerton." Amanda's voice broke the silence, as she began to discuss her findings.
Steve looked at her with renewed interest. He hadn't, as yet, read any of the report, his eyes had rested on Nadine's picture and he had been reluctant to proceed. "Like what?"
"Like she was knocked out first. Or I presume it was first. She was definitely hit across the back of the head before she died, and I can't see why he would need to incapacitate her after he started stabbing her, the wounds to the feet would do that."
"So why did he change his MO? He killed the other two in exactly the same way, he slashed the feet, slit their throats, and it looked to me like her throat was cut this time too." Steve scanned the report, and found that Amanda agreed with him.
"I don't know maybe she still had the strength to fight back, or try to flee. Maybe he felt like a change, I'm not the person to ask that question, but I know Rae is contacting Ron so that he can help you draw up a profile." Amanda hadn't really looked too deeply into the work that her fiancé did, but she knew from what he had said that Rae found it fascinating.
"Another thing, which you may be able to use is that she had eaten very spicy food, Middle Eastern, African, I checked up on some restaurants and my guess would be maybe Moroccan or something like that. You might be able to find out who she was with if you can find the place they ate."
"Thanks, that is way more than we got with the other victims. We had two cops at Reds nightclub last week and Rae and I are going on Thursday to see if anyone remembers Jenna, with what happened with Jesse it's a bit later than I'd hoped to get there. The other officers didn't have much joy but I'm hoping that we'll get lucky."
"Some people go to these places once a week, once a month, you might be fortunate." Mark smiled at his son as he heard a slight note of despondency in his voice. He purposely hadn't said much, hoping that Steve and Amanda would dissect the autopsy themselves. Rae wasn't the only one who found criminal profiling fascinating, and once Ron had worked with the details he was given Mark knew that he would want to see a copy of the profile, and read the suggestions that had been made.
"I guess I'd better get to the financial district and catch up with Rae, and then I'm gonna head over to Nadine's apartment, see if there are any clues as to who she had her date with. Guys, thank you, it helps to talk. I'd like to brainstorm it with Jo, Rae and Jesse as well, but I don't think that's gonna be possible." Steve handed the manila folder back to Amanda and stood up. "Dad, if I give you the address would you like to meet me at Nadine's place?"
"Sure, I'll be there in what, an hour?"
"Something like that. I'll call if it's gonna be longer." Steve looked at Amanda as he saw her hand the folder back to him.
"You can take this one. I have my copy downstairs, I just made this up for your dad." Amanda smiled, she had known that Mark would want to be in on the investigation, and even though he hadn't said very much, hadn't offered his opinion, she had seen the way he had been sitting, thinking, and she knew that quite soon, probably by the time he got to the apartment, he would have some things to discuss with Steve.
. . . . . . . . . .
Rae had stood in the foyer of the office block and debated whether to start on the ground floor or ride the elevator to the top and work downwards. In the end she decided that it was far more methodical to go up and then make her way back to the street. That decided she had travelled up to the top of the building and walked into the first office, her ID in her hand.
"Good morning, my name is Detective Yeager, LAPD, I'm investigating the murder of a woman in one of your elevators, and I would like to ask a few questions."
The receptionist had been all of about nineteen or twenty years old, she was slim and blonde, and Rae was reminded of Nadine, and the other case she was working. "If you'll hold on I'll go get someone, but I don't think she worked for us." The young girl, who Rae could see was called Marylyn, picked up the phone but Rae shook her head.
"She wasn't an employee here, or in any of the other businesses in this block, she was a customer."
"Oh, well, why didn't you say so? That'll be a completely different person; I would have got you the wrong man altogether. Hold on." Marylyn pressed a button and then waited, the light went out and she began to speak. "Hello? Is that Mr. Foyle? I have a …," there was a pause and Rae held her ID out so that her name was visible, "Detective Reagan Yeager, from the LAPD, in reception, she needs to speak with you about a customer's account. Yes, Sir… I'll do that." Rae waited as the call was disconnected and then looked expectantly at the young woman. "He says he'll be down in a few minutes, if you would like to wait."
Mr Foyle hadn't been able to help, neither had the next six companies that Rae had gone into. There had been three floors which only had one business on each, and so she was able to tick off the levels in the elevator quite quickly. Now she was waiting patiently for a Mrs Page to come and see her from a law firm which was obviously, by the expensively understated offices, very successful. Rae stood up as she saw a beautifully elegant woman come towards her. As she got a little closer, Rae saw that she wasn't actually as beautiful as she had thought, she was however, very well dressed and made up, and it was clear that Rae was definitely scruffy even though she had dressed up a little herself for Eliana's first day at pre-school.
"Detective Yeager, I'm sorry to keep you waiting, won't you please come this way?" Rae imagined that having a cop in reception wasn't good for business, even when she didn't actually look like one, or at least she didn't think she did.
The office was decorated in cool colours, and gave the impression of an airy room which was purely functional. There were three photographic prints on the walls, one of a wooden jetty jutting out into a smooth lake, the second one was of the water lapping against the bank of, presumably, the same lake, and the third one, black and white as its companions had been, of three small boats bobbing on the water at dusk. Rae found them compelling and restful, but pulled her eyes away from them and smiled at the woman before her.
"I'm sorry to bother you without making an appointment," she wasn't, but Rae had decided that being polite would be the best thing when dealing with bank or legal personnel. "I'm investigating the murder of a woman in the main elevator of this building, and I wondered if you could check your records for a name."
"Unless we have suddenly been transported back in time I believe I have already told two of your officers that we had no connection with the victim of that appalling crime."
"No, Ma'am, that hasn't happened, but we have reason to believe that the woman may have been using a different name." Rae smiled, although it was the last thing she felt like doing.
"Oh, I see, very well then, if you give me the details I will check again for you." The woman stood up and took the piece of paper which Rae had prepared. "If you would like to wait here I won't be a moment."
Rae smiled and watched the woman go through to the secretaries' room next door. She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Rae had hoped that she might have had the chance to at least see Jesse from a distance in the hospital, but that hadn't been the case. Maybe he and Steve would have had a chance to talk, and he would understand how worried she was, but there was no guarantee Jesse would listen to Steve either. Rae didn't know if what they were doing was going to get them anywhere, but this time they were giving the banks and corporations far more to go on. They had a name, an address and maybe a motive; surely soon something would break the case wide open, if it didn't Rae had a feeling that it would have to be put on the back burner, at least until their red rose killer had been caught.
"Well, Detective, I think we can help you after all." Mrs Page's voice cut into Rae's thoughts.
"You can?" Rae sat up straight, not daring to believe what she had heard.
"Yes, you realise that you will need a search warrant I'm sure, but I can tell you that we do have documents held here in the name of Elizabeth Kagan of the address you gave me."
"I'll go and get one right now; Ma'am, please stay here, I'll be back, with my partner to execute this tonight." Rae knew that she would have no trouble in getting her warrant, not with the Chief of Police involved in the case. Rae left the office, got back into the elevator and then put a call through to Steve.
"Sloan here… Hi, Rae, did you find anything…? Really, ok … where are you?" Steve listened and smiled, then he stood still and waited.
"I'm just coming down in the lift; I reckon I'll be back on the sidewalk in about … oh, funny!" Rae stopped talking and walking as the elevator doors opened and Steve was standing right there smiling at her.
"Sorry, couldn't resist. So, I guess we go find a judge, huh?" Steve indicated with his hand that they should leave the building and they talked a little as they made their way to Steve's truck. Rae handed over the keys, which Steve took with a grateful smile, resisting the temptation to check the paintwork. She waited while her partner unlocked the vehicle, then climbed in, sat down and took out her cell phone.
"I need to speak with Ron; I want to get this profile up and running. He can come over to my place tonight and we can work on it there. I would rather do that than stay late at the station."
"Ok, that sounds like a plan to me. I can just climb over the fence to get home!"
"You are remarkably chipper; did you find something out at the hospital?" Rae looked at her partner; he did look enervated, as if he was eager to get on.
"Yeah, sort of, but first I need to apologise, Rae, I had no right to yell at you this morning, I'm sorry."
"No problem, we all have days when that's just the way we are, you don't do it to me very often, so it's forgotten, ok?"
"Ok, thanks." Steve paused for a moment and then brought himself back to the present. "Amanda says that Nadine was killed by our guy but he changed his MO somewhat. That should help with the profile I would think."
"It might. I wonder what it was that was different for him." Rae thought for a moment before continuing to speak. "You know he might even feel that Nadine wasn't a proper part of his plan; he may kill again real soon, like tonight, or tomorrow. There seems to be no pattern to the actual times of his killing but I could be wrong." Rae was thinking out loud and Steve let her keep talking. Sometimes she came up with things that way which worked real well, and he didn't have anything to say so he just drove and listened only asking questions when she began telling him what Alex had said.
. . . . . . . . . .
The sea rushed up to the shore over and over again, nothing about it really ever changed. Oh sure, it was calm some days and wild on others, but its journey was always the same, in and out, in and out. Jesse wished that his life had the power to stay the same. He didn't like change, no one did, not major changes anyway, but at the moment even little things like the shifts being changed at work so that people who should be there weren't, and those who shouldn't be were, that unnerved him too. Jesse sank down onto the sand and looked out at the horizon, something was wrong, but he couldn't work out what it was. He knew that he had been unfair to Rae, and he certainly hadn't explained things to her, but that was because he couldn't explain them to anyone except himself and things weren't very clear to him either.
He loved Rae, he was almost sure of that, but every time he saw her, or thought about their life together he felt as if he was coming unhinged. Jesse ran his fingers through his hair, he knew that he had hurt her, but he had wanted to, needed to, so she would hate him, it would make it easier for her to forget all about him, and easier for him to feel that it was for the best that they be apart if she hated him. "So why don't I?" Jesse was surprised by the sound of his own voice and realised that he had spoken aloud. "Why don't I feel so much better because I left my wife?" There was no answer except for the sound of the gulls overhead, calling to each other as they swooped and dived. Jesse put his head in his hands, he didn't know what to do with himself, he had to stop thinking, he could cope if he didn't think, but even when he did think, nothing was solved, nothing became clearer, he just got more puzzled, more terrified and more less like himself, and he hated it, he hated every bit of it. "Arghhhhh." Jesse let out an impassioned cry, and the tears spilled onto his cheeks, his lungs gasped for air and he let the sobs take over his whole body as he sat, shaking on the sand, completely oblivious to everything going on around him.
Mark had signed himself out of the hospital a little early when he had discovered that Jesse had done the same thing about an hour after he left the doctors' lounge, he had also, regretfully put a call through to Steve and told him that he wouldn't be able to get to Nadine's apartment. He knew that right now other things had priority. Mark was worried about Jesse, there was something wrong with him, not physically, Mark knew he was fine that way, but mentally, Jesse was suffering, and he had asked him for help. Mark knew that Jesse had taken an enormous step when he had done that, but the young man had been so tired, so in need of his sleep, that to have begun talking there and then that morning would have been counterproductive. Now though, there was a whole evening stretching out in front of him, and it would be just the two of them in the house. Alex had spoken to him and Mark knew he had been told about Nadine and that he was going to go and cover her shift, speak to any of the regular customers who asked about her and take note of what they said; Mark had a feeling that it would make the young man feel he was contributing more than he had been able to with the description of her date. Steve had called through to Cheryl and she was going to call in at Bob's on her way home and take statements from the other staff members, see if they knew any more details of what the waitress's plans had been for her off duty hours.
Mark had spoken to Lauren on the phone before leaving work, he had then picked up pizza on his way home and the smell of it in his car was wonderful. The garlic bread that he had also purchased just added to the aroma and by the time he parked in front of the beach house he was starving.
"Jess? Are you home? It's me, Mark." He made his way straight to the kitchen, switched on the oven and placed the food inside, then he checked Jesse's bedroom and the living areas before accepting what he already surmised, Jesse wasn't in the house. With a frown Mark made his way to the patio doors, slid them back and stepped onto the deck, out on the sand he could see the familiar figure of Jesse, but he could also see that his friend was in some distress, and so he hurried down the steps to join him.
"Jess?" Mark spoke before he was too close to his friend, not wanting to scare him by arriving unannounced. "I brought some dinner home, why don't you come in and eat? It smells really good."
"And you'll help me, I need help, Mark, please?" The words tore at Mark's heart, but they cheered him a little too. When he had spoken with Lauren Yung before leaving the hospital she had been relieved to hear that Jesse had actually asked for Mark's assistance. She had given him a few pointers, how to start a conversation, or to keep it going should it flag, but she had also told him to watch for signs that they should stop, or steer away from the direction that things were going, and he felt confident that he could at least begin to help Jesse's recovery.
Jesse had seen Mark smile when he asked for help, it had been all the answer he needed, and he climbed carefully to his feet and felt better right away when Mark put his arm around him and they walked to the house together. The closing of the patio doors had seemed to release the floodgates and the tears began in earnest. Mark carefully directed Jesse to the sofa and then, as he would with a young child or frightened patient, Mark had sat, close but not too close, and let Jesse cry some of his pain away.
Finally Jesse had looked up, his eyes red from crying and tried a smile. "Pizza, huh? Think I could have some?"
Mark nodded, and realising that his young friend needed a few moments to compose himself he headed for the kitchen to dish up the food.
. . . . . . . . . .
The search warrant had taken no time at all to get, the files had been collected from the law firm, Holen, Holen and Mayer, and locked in the cab of Steve's truck. They had then driven back past the station so that all the evidence could be safely stored away and then they had made their way towards Nadine's home which was a small house ten minutes from Barbeque Bob's.
Steve and Rae had picked up the key from the management agency and arrived at Nadine's residence a little after five. They opened the door and stepped inside and the smell hit them straight away.
"Oh, God, Steve …" Rae covered her face with her hand, the odour was extremely unpleasant, and it was obvious to the two experienced detectives that it came from something very dead.
The living room was to the right of where they were standing in a small entranceway, to the left was a bedroom, and down a small hall were two more doors. Rae, remembering what had faced her in Crozier's kitchen, hoped that they weren't going to find something equally disgusting this time.
"Let's just check each room in turn, and see what we can find." Steve moved into the main room of the place, as Rae took her pad out and began to draw a rough outline of what they could see. The apartment could well be the crime scene, or the beginning of it, and Rae didn't want to miss anything. The living room was spotlessly tidy, but they both felt something was amiss.
"This doesn't look right to me, I don't know why but it doesn't." Rae looked around, she had searched too many houses to recall, on both sides of the Atlantic, and this was definitely wrong. "Let's move on, don't look at anything in here, don't touch anything, I want to come back here last, after I've seen the rest of the house." Rae moved back out into the front hallway and into the bedroom. Steve, who hadn't said a word just followed her knowing that he agreed with her and that he didn't know why either.
The bedroom was also tidy, it wasn't fussy, just a bed with a light blue throw over it, a nightstand with a photo of a large group of people, which Steve had a feeling was her family, a carafe of water, and an alarm clock on it. At the end of the bed there was a dressing table which was reasonably neat. The cosmetics were on one side, perfumes and cleansers on the other. Steve looked over to Rae; she was more attuned to womens' bedrooms than he was.
"This is better. This is what I would expect to find. The bed is made, a little crumpled, but made, they might have had sex in here, but the room is as she would have hastily left it on Saturday morning or any other morning for that matter, the lounge doesn't say that to me."
"So do you want to go back in there next?" Steve decided to leave the initiative to his partner, she was obviously working in a set direction, and he didn't want to interfere, not yet anyway.
"No, let's do the rest of the house first, I've seen it, but I want to be able to compare it to all the other rooms. Let's try the kitchen next."
The kitchen was also spotlessly tidy and Steve saw Rae shake her head again. "No, this isn't right either." She moved over towards the sink unit and looked closely at it, she sniffed the plug hole, and she pulled a face afterwards. Once she had looked all round the room, not saying or touching anything, Rae began to draw what she could see. It wasn't her job to make the crime scene sketch, and as far as they knew this still wasn't a crime scene, but it could become one and she wanted to record her own observations. Again Steve stood and waited, he had sniffed the sink after his partner, and he too had grimaced at the smell of musty coffee.
"Ok, bathroom and then living room." Rae opened the door to the bathroom and gasped. "Oh, God." The smell hit both of them at once, and then Rae spoke again, "Oh, no, the poor thing." She moved quickly into the room to let Steve see as well, because in the bathtub, surrounded by blood, was the body of a kitten, its throat cut, its tail removed and put into its mouth.
There were no maggots on the body of the cat, but there were spiders, little mites and millipedes in the tub along with the small corpse which had begun to decompose rapidly in the warm climate of the bathroom. Rae steeled herself and began to draw once more. There was, she noted, blood on the carpet and the side of the bath, "Why didn't he clean this up?" Rae spoke as she drew, trying to make sure that the blood splatters were at least reasonably accurate on her drawing.
"He? You mean the murderer don't you?" Steve had been wondering the same thing, but by asking the question he was drawing Rae into a discussion, which would hopefully bring both their thoughts out into the open.
"Yes, Nadine wouldn't do this; the cat was killed for the hell of it. I would say that he cut the tail off first, then cut its throat. Vicious bastard!"
"Rae!" Steve wasn't bothered by the language, he heard worse most days, but he was surprised by it.
"Well, how else am I supposed to describe him? This guy fits a pattern, I don't know anywhere near as much as Ron, but I do know that there is a pattern here, and with his help we will find this guy, however long it takes."
"But the longer it does take the more victims there will be." Steve shook his head, there were already three bodies with this guy's name on them, and he knew that the way things were going at this moment there would be more before they could work out who he was and nail him.
Rae didn't reply, she couldn't, already this was personal, in a way it was always personal the moment a victim became their responsibility, but now with the discovery of Nadine's body it was even more so and somehow the kitten in the bath had added insult to injury. Without a word Rae finished her sketch and then she made her way back down the hallway and into the living room once more. She looked around, still not touching anything, even though she had pulled gloves on in the bathroom as soon as she had seen the body of the cat.
"No, this is definitely not right. This room has been tidied up by someone who didn't live here."
"How can you tell that?" Steve looked at the room with a more interested eye. To him it just looked very tidy, but he was used to living in a very tidy house, and so it didn't seem out of the ordinary.
"When I lived in London my mother used to come visit and she just couldn't sit still, so she used to tidy. Now remember, I didn't have the children with me, I worked all the hours God sent, and then did overtime, my house never had the chance to get untidy. But still she would tidy up, and I could never find anything! I would have to change my little knick knacks and doodads round once she had left because she always put them in the wrong place."
"And?"
"And this place looks like someone who doesn't live here cleaned it up."
"Maybe she had a cleaner." Steve looked around to see if he could see what sort of thing Rae was getting at.
"Yeah, right, she worked in a barbeque restaurant!" Rae looked at him, her expression showing him just how seriously she took his suggestion. "I know you're good to your staff, but she waited tables, Steve, she was more likely to be a cleaner than have one!"
"So you think what, that her killer cleared this place?" Steve smiled; he hadn't expected her to go with what he said.
"Yep here and in the kitchen, she might have been killed there, or attacked; the cat obviously was slaughtered in the bathroom. We need to get the scene of crime guys here and …" Rae stopped talking, she had been walking towards the other end of the room as she spoke but now her eyes were looking down at the carpet and she pointed. "This sofa has been moved, it was further into the room before."
Steve pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in the number, five minutes later; they were waiting for forensics, and had also asked Amanda to liaise with a police vet who would perform an autopsy on the kitten. They wanted to know if it had died before Nadine or after. If it was significantly later than its owner then there was a chance that the murderer came back to clear up the living room, if it was the same time, then it would be more likely that he cleared up with the unconscious Nadine still in the house and then killed her where she was found.
They waited in companionable silence for their backup to arrive and then, once they had told the officers what they needed, headed towards Steve's truck still not saying very much.
"I guess we need to go home, Ron will be coming round soon. I have to get the girls, and I am beginning to need my evening meal."
"Do you need me to drop you off at the station so you can pick up a car?"
Rae nodded her head realising that now she was alone she would need to have a car she could rely on totally at all times. "Yeah, I am going to go buy another car at the weekend, but until then I guess it's blue and boring all the way." She leant back in the seat relieved to have a moment to gather her thoughts. The day had been fruitful but there were moments when she felt life was running away with her.
. . . . . . . . . .
"Mark, do you think that you can help me?" Jesse had eaten his pizza in almost total silence, and the few comments he had made had been of no real consequence.
"Jesse, I don't know, but I will try, and if you let me I'll talk to Lauren as well, I'm sure that between us we can at least point you in the right direction to take responsibility for your own recovery." Mark had finished his meal, but the plates still sat on the table. He hadn't wanted to leave the room in case Jesse shut down and refused to discuss things. His phone call with Doctor Yung hadn't revealed what the problem was, just a basic diagnosis, now Mark knew that it was up to Jesse.
"I want things to go back to how they used to be. Why can't that happen?" Jesse looked at Mark and the pain in his eyes made the older man catch his breath.
"Jesse, you know that we can never go back, but why would you want to? I know that what happened to you was horrendous, but Werner isn't a threat any more, you and Jo are safe, I realise it's hard to forget, and maybe we shouldn't, but we can go forward now, all of us." Mark spoke softly, wishing Jesse had asked him a question to which he could have a better answer.
"No, I don't mean that, it has to be as before, how it used to be, when it was just us." Jesse stood up, he didn't know how to explain his words, and still be understood and liked. He knew that no one would want him around if he told them what he really felt.
Mark watched Jesse as he moved over and looked out to sea. The conflict inside his friend was obvious at the moment, but at least he was talking. "By just us do you mean no Jo, Daniel or Michael, no Rae?" Mark was sure he had misunderstood, and he waited, hoping that Jesse would correct him. When it became apparent that he hadn't been mistaken he spoke again, the amazement clear in his voice. "Jesse, why would you want that? You wouldn't be married; you wouldn't have two beautiful children." Mark stopped talking, he wasn't sure how to respond, or even if he should, maybe waiting was the answer, but Jesse didn't look like he wanted to speak yet. Mark shook his head, he would just sit, at least for a minute or two and see what happened.
"I told her, I told her how I felt, but she couldn't understand how it had to be. But if she isn't there, isn't part of it any more then we could go back to how it was, just you, Amanda … Steve and me." Jesse had been silent for almost five minutes, and Mark wished that he was silent still. He noticed how Jesse paused before saying his son's name and recalled his behaviour earlier in the day, and what Steve had said.
"How can we go back, if you can't even talk to Steve? Jess, you couldn't stay in the same room with him at the hospital, do you know why that is?"
Jesse shook his head, it didn't seem to be an answer, more a movement for his own benefit and Mark, not wanting to lose him plunged on. "Jesse, you attacked him, you almost killed him, why did you do that?"
Again the room was silent, but then Jesse began to speak, his voice though was different, there was a slightly distant quality to it, and Mark watched him closely. "The light, the light was there, and they come when the light is there. I have to get outside; no one ever took me outside. I would have been safe in the yard, but they were stopping me, people, voices, I had to get away from them, but they kept coming, closer and closer, and they knew my name, if they know your name they can hurt you, I … I didn't want to be hurt again. Mark, please, don't let them hurt me again, I only told the once, I didn't mean to, please Mark, help me." Jesse had moved until he was against the wall, and now he slid down it, hugging his knees and rocking slightly as he spoke.
"He left me … why did he do that? And then we were taken … I couldn't stop it … I wanted to, I should have known, but I didn't, and I … I couldn't stop it, I tried, Mark … I really tried, but I … I couldn't stop it." Jesse was losing control now, and Mark knew that he had to reach him, tell him it was ok, that they would talk again later, he crouched down in front of his friend, but he didn't touch him.
"Jesse, look at me … Jess, listen to my voice, it's over, nothing can hurt you now, you are here, with friends, but I think maybe you should go lie down for a while … Jesse?" Mark wasn't sure if his words were making an impression or not, but then he saw him nod, just slightly, but it was a nod and Mark carefully stood up and then extended his hand.
Jesse looked up, Mark seemed a long way off, and his voice seemed to be coming from someplace else, but it was friendly, he could hear the concern, the love in it and he knew that he hadn't alienated him, Mark would still help and suddenly he was incredibly tired and so he took the hand being offered and let Mark lead him to his room.