Chapter 28 Exhaustive Enquiries
The rain hadn't let up all night, and Rae could vouch for that having spent most of it getting soaked. Doctor Saperstein had been charming company though, and Rae had declined his offer to return to the car wanting to hear everything he said, not only because she knew it was relevant to her main case right now, but also because she was interested to see how a different pathologist worked.
Amanda had stood with her for a little while before the temptation to help became too strong and she had knelt down on the surprisingly dry ground around the body and taken directions so that she could assist her colleague.
Doctor Saperstein was, Rae found out as she shivered under the trees, extremely conscientious, and as the night made its way into morning the body still remained where it was on a bed of Oak and Sycamore leaves which had been shed from the trees slightly earlier in the year. The rain had disturbed the ground on the edges of the path that Rae had crossed to get to her vantage point and, as the area became lighter, she could see that the torrent which had been rushing down towards the parking lot had slowed to a trickle as the rain faded away with the darkness. Normally Rae would be checking the rivulets to look at what was being washed away, but although she cast a cursory eye over it she knew that any evidence here would have long been dispersed, either by the elements or the animals indigenous to this area of Los Angeles.
"Detective Yeager, I think that I'm ready to move the body now. I'll put a call through to my assistant at the lab and have the van sent over." Doctor Saperstein stood up, carefully eased his tightened muscles and then walked away from the crime scene before performing a few stretching exercises and coughing heartily.
"Walter, for a doctor you are a lousy patient, how long have you had that cough?"
"Amanda, I'm fine, however, I am slightly allergic to Scots pine needles, and I guess there must have been some in that area of the forest." He finished speaking just in time to sneeze three times, then he blew his nose on his hanky and looked a little embarrassed. "I apologise, allergies and rain don't work well together, not for me at any rate."
"It's no problem, but you will go home and get something warm to eat and drink and change into some dry clothes before you do the autopsy, won't you?" Rae was concerned to see the elderly doctor was shivering almost as much as she was.
"Yes, yes, my dear, I will, but only if you two ladies promise to do the same thing. Jem, you must be off duty by now, I assure you I won't be much longer."
The young detective moved over to where the other three people were standing and nodded her head. "Walter, I wasn't on duty, not that it ever seems to stop people calling me out. I am however, supposed to be at the station in, ooh, about thirty minutes, so I guess I'd better go make myself presentable and then see if I can't catch me a nap in the locker room." Jemimah turned and smiled at Rae and Amanda. "Doctor Bentley, Detective Yeager, it was a real pleasure to meet you both. I'm guessing that we'll be getting together again over this."
"Yeah, I would say so, it was a pleasure to meet you too, and it's Rae."
"Amanda; and I'll be in touch as well." Amanda turned to Walter as she finished speaking to Jemimah. "Walter, do you think that you could run me into town? Ron took the car, and I need to get home to my boys."
"There is no need; I can drop you home on my way." Rae cut into the conversation as it was obvious that this was the more acceptable plan and so, as soon as the coroner's wagon had taken the extremely fragile body out of the park, Rae and Amanda made their way to the parking lot, Rae started up her car, switched on the heater and drove back into the city.
ooo
Steve had been surprised to find that he had dropped off to sleep, but the alarm clock woke him at seven and he slowly came too letting the beeping noise go on longer than normal. Jo was still lying close to him, but she had moved during the night and her head was no longer on his shoulder, now she was stirring slightly, woken by the incessant ringing he had struggled to cease.
"Steve?" Jo snuggled closer to him as she gradually opened her eyes and smiled a sleepy smile. "Don't get up, not for a minute or two."
"Well, if you insist!" Steve found he had no difficulty doing as she said and he pulled her towards him and took her gently into his arms. "Honey, did you sleep alright in the end?" He was concerned, but relieved to see that she didn't look as if she had spent the rest of the night awake.
"Yeah, I had … uncomfortable dreams, but I don't really remember them now. I'm guessin' that my brain just took in too much information yesterday. Today I'll try to concentrate on just one or two hundred things at a time!"
Steve smiled at her and then kissed her lightly on the lips, Jo had other ideas, however, and slipping her fingers through his hair and then down towards his back she held him tight and refused to let go.
ooo
Rae had driven to Amanda's house, dropped her off and then made her way to Beverly Hills. She'd had a shower, changed into warm dry clothes, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and then headed into the station. By the time that Steve walked into the squad room a little after nine she had called Miss Amy and told her that Eliana would be coming to school with her father, and that she hoped it would be the first time of many. That hadn't been the only job accomplished, she had worked constantly since she arrived and was almost finished with her report on the night's activities. The fact that the body had been found in a different jurisdiction was making everything far more long-winded than normal, but she was getting there.
So far she had written everything out in rough, going through it twice to make sure that she had left nothing out. Then she had typed it up on the computer, filed it there, sent a copy through to Jemimah Monroe, printed two out and left one on Steve's desk and was now going through the other Red Rose Killer files to try to find consistencies. The fact that they had no idea who the victim, if indeed she was a victim, actually was hindered her progress, but she knew in her heart that the Jane Doe was their fourth fatality.
"Hi, Rae, how are you this morning?" Steve's voice cut into her thoughts and comparisons and she looked up.
"I'm fine, thank you, how about you?"
Steve thought she looked tired, but she had said she was fine and he was happy to go along with that. "Good, I'm good."
"I need to speak to you though; we had another body turn up last night, which I think is Dominic's handiwork." Rae was about to continue talking when her phone began to ring and she leant over and picked up the receiver. "Detective Yeager … Yes, Sir … no, Sir, I haven't forgotten … now, Sir. …? No, I realise that … Yes, Sir, I'll be right along … Goodbye, Sir."
"You said 'Sir' five times so I guess that was the Chief." Steve smiled, he could see the tension and tiredness around Rae's eyes and he wanted to lighten the moment a little.
"Oh yeah, and I have to go see him, now, and tell him what we are doing on the Masters' case. I guess 'nothing' isn't gonna cut it." Rae was pulling files out of a tray on her desk as she spoke and looking through them quickly.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
Rae raised her eyebrows at his remark and carried on with her preparation. "That would just about put the tin lid on it. He wouldn't talk to me with you in the room before, he's not about to start now. But you could put a call through to that hotel in Barbados while I get these files together, just to make sure that the party in question is still there."
"Yes, Ma'am, I'll get right on it." Steve was rewarded with Rae pulling a face and then sticking her tongue out at him. "I get no respect around here!" He laughed to himself as he made his way back into his office knowing that the details of the murder Rae had briefly mentioned would be on his desk.
ooo
Jo had spent a quiet morning cataloguing more books and reading through a box of letters in which she could decipher everything except the signature. In the end she decided not to let her frustration spoil the fascinating insight she was getting into her past. The nameless author was a close friend of one of the Walters ancestors called Elle who had obviously been a lady of means, she'd had an army of slaves and her butler had been called Charles, but Jo knew that all slaves lost their identities when they arrived in America so she was sure that had been forced upon him rather than chosen by him.
Elle had been promised to a man she had no feelings for. His name had been Robert Winchester. It appeared that Elle had given her heart to someone who was called James; her forbidden love was also known as JJ, his name being James Jardinero. Some of the letters which the un-named writer had sent to Elle had obviously been in reply to pleas for advice on what Elle should do about the two men in her life. One had caused Jo to laugh out loud as she read the suggestions that Elle had to deal with.
My dear Elle, it said;
As a lady of such high standing I am vexed at your indecision in this matter. Surely the reasoning of your dear father must take precedence over all other suggestions and opinions.
Robert, I agree, is a handsome, undeniably brave, man, although as you say, he is regrettably devoid of any spark of humour. Married life however, is not designed for us to have fun, but to serve the interests of our husbands, provide them with children and to honor our parents.
I really do feel that it would be most wise if you forgot James, the sweet interlude you have spent with him will remain as memories, but your future and that of your family are in yours and Robert's hands now.
I will write again soon, as I hope you will,
Jo tried once again to see what the signature said, but as before she gave up. There was a photo of herself and Steve, both on horseback just in front of her on the desk in her office and she picked it up as she wondered what Steve would make of a marriage which was just for producing offspring, honouring their parents and not a lot else. As she looked at his wonderfully handsome face, flushed by the work-out they had just taken exercising their horses she again thanked her lucky stars that she had married such a caring and gentle man. She realised that Steve did indeed honour his parents, but he certainly didn't expect her to serve his interests and bear his children to the exclusion of all else. She ran her hands over her stomach, still flat, and she wished that it would suddenly balloon so that she could shout to the world that she was having a baby, that she and Steve were gonna be parents. The fear was still there, the nagging doubts about pre-eclampsia teased at her from the recesses of her mind, but this time there was something else, something that she had never imagined, and that was the pure unadulterated delight that she felt at carrying her husband's child. Once again she ran her hands across her flat belly, a wide smile on her face and she enjoyed the moment.
ooo
The journey to Chief Masters' office seemed to Rae to be far shorter when she was in trouble than at any other time. She had no sooner left the peace and safety of the squad room when the grim and officious looking door to the 'inner sanctum' came into view. In Rae's mind the door took on monumental proportions and she felt like a small child going to see the head teacher.
Rae liked and admired John Masters, but she knew from the tone of his telephone conversation that she was not going to be getting smiles and general conversation. He had assigned her to the case of his wife's murder, she had been given the role of lead detective, and so far she had produced, well, not very much. She stopped for a moment and pulled up her jeans and smoothed down the sweater she was wearing; all her clothes seemed too big for her at the moment, and she felt uncomfortable in them.
"Detective Yeager, you can go right on in." Margaret, the Chief's secretary, who had replaced Rae at the end of her one-month temporary assignment in the job just over a year ago, indicated with her hand, but made no other conversation and avoided eye contact. Rae tapped on the glass, listened for the barked instruction then, deciding not to let him intimidate her too much, and hoping she wouldn't yawn, she entered.
"Ah, Detective, please sit down." The use of her rank wasn't lost on Rae. The Chief almost always used her Christian name, and so she knew this wasn't a good start.
"Thank you, Sir." Rae put her folder down on the desk and then waited as her boss picked it up and read through it from cover to cover in total silence.
Finally after what seemed like hours he looked up, took his glasses off and began to speak. "Yes, well, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot more information here than I read through before. My son has paid his outstanding fines, his wife is a dentist and they are currently in the Caribbean. I expect more than this, Detective, much more. Have you interviewed him yet? No. Have you even checked on any alibi for the time that Elizabeth was killed? No. Have you any intention of doing either thing? It would appear that the answer to that too is no!" The voice of the man sitting in front of her had got louder and louder but Rae had been determined not to break gaze with him.
"With all due respect, Sir, there have been other things going on, which prevented me from doing my job to the best of my ability. Those things are now no longer as serious or life threatening as they were. I have this case and the Red Rose Killings which are receiving the majority of my time, along with the Night Owl burglaries which now seem to be taking place in my own neighbourhood, but, if you wish Lieutenant Sloan or myself to fly to Barbados to interview your son then we will do so. We felt that the adverse media comment that such action would cause was a very good reason to stay here in LA. Once they return we'll go to Santa Barbara and interview him there. I'm sorry if you feel that I haven't given this case my undivided attention, I still can't do that, but I will continue to work on it until you tell me otherwise." Rae had said far more than she had intended, and spoken far more intensely, her voice had risen but she had been unable to prevent it; realising that there was nothing more to be gained she folded her hands in her lap and sat quietly.
"Rae, I know that your daughter was dangerously ill, but even before that this case wasn't moving. I realise that you are trying to solve this without causing me any undue publicity or extra upset and I appreciate that, but, I … I need to know, one way or the other, whether I can contact my son as well as trying to come to terms with the death of my wife."
"Sir, Lieutenant Sloan called Barbados this morning and the family were still there; do you want us to go and interview at the hotel?" Rae desperately hoped that he would say no. As much as she could cope with a few days in the sun on a beautiful beach, she didn't think that she could cope with actually leaving the country to get it.
"No, Detective, no, you are correct, it will be better to wait until he comes back of his own accord. I will give you another week, which, if I remember rightly, was the amount of time I gave you the last time we spoke, by then I expect results or the credit card bill for two airline tickets. That is all."
Rae knew that she had been dismissed and so she nodded and got to her feet. "Very good, Sir, thank you, Sir." Rae left the room without John Masters looking at her and, feeling that she had probably gotten off lightly, she made her way back to the squad room, hoping that she could stay awake until the end of her shift.
ooo
Jesse had gained great pleasure from dropping his daughter off at pre-school and it was apparent to everyone who saw her that Eliana had too. Because Jesse was going straight into the hospital afterwards they had dropped Anneya off with Sally first. The little girl had waved happily to her daddy, but all the time he was conscious of a slightly puzzled look in her eyes, as if she couldn't understand what was different with her life, but knowing that something was. Sally had told Jesse that she would treat the child just as she had always done, the TV would come on for certain programmes, there would be the everyday noises that had always been there, even though they knew that Anneya couldn't hear them. But there would be subtle changes, the games that they played together wouldn't rely on sound for either enjoyment or results, Sally would make sure that every time she wanted a response from Anneya or wanted her to do something for her that she would be in her eye line, and gradually between them they would begin to introduce the basic words in sign language. Eliana knew that Sally and Anneya would come and get her from pre-school but that wasn't important to her right now, what was important was that her daddy was taking her to Miss Amy.
The short journey from Sally's house to the school had been filled with Eliana, her voice full of life and laughter, telling her daddy all the things he would see when they arrived. Jesse had been looking forward to taking his daughter and by the time he opened the door and watched her independently climb out he was almost as excited as she was. Once the car was locked Eliana took her daddy by the hand and pulled him across the parking lot towards a red painted door with a bell above it.
"Vere, vere, you wing v bell an' Miss Yena wi yanster it." Eliana was bouncing up and down now, her curls doing their own little dance.
"Can't we open the door and go in?" Jesse had been going to do just that until Eliana had spoken.
"No, Miss Amy says …" she paused for a moment as she tried to think why they couldn't go right on in, "it's dan … danger." Satisfied that she had it right she smiled a great big smile and with a laugh Jesse reached over and did as he was told.
The door opened just a minute or two later and the lady smiled down at the face that she recognised. "Good morning, Eliana, and how are you today?"
"I fine, fank yew, Miss Yena. Miss Yena, my daddy, vis my daddy." She pulled on his arm and Jesse and Miss 'Yena' both smiled.
"Hi, I'm Jesse Travis; I'm pleased to meet you."
"I'm Miss Helena; I think you had better both come in, although Eliana is a wonderful advertisement for happy schooling right now."
"Oh yeah, she is that. The happiest schoolgirl in LA." Jesse tousled his daughter's hair affectionately and once again she beamed at him.
"Vis my peg. I put my cayigan here." She unbuttoned her cardigan and carefully hung it on the little hook. "Ven I take my soos off an' wear my sips." Eliana did everything as she described it to her father, carefully pulling up her white socks before putting her feet into her slippers. The clothes that Eliana had on were her spare set he had picked up the previous day from Sally's and Jesse made a mental note to get a message to Rae so she could send another outfit with their daughters the next day.
There was a small full-length mirror on the wall just before the entrance to Miss Amy's classroom and Eliana stopped there and looked at herself. Satisfied that she was ready for a morning's work she turned to her daddy and smiled. "Miss Amy yives in here."
This time Jesse did laugh out loud, he'd thought his teachers lived at school too, and he remembered the surprise he'd felt when he saw his kindergarten teacher waiting in line at the grocery store one Friday evening.
Eliana pushed at the door and it swung easily open; Miss Amy's room, it seemed, didn't have a bell. A young woman dressed casually in blue jeans and a white polo shirt moved across towards them.
"Hi, I'm Miss Amy, you must be Eliana's daddy."
"Yes, I am, how did you know that?" Jesse knew that his brown-eyed daughter took after her mother, and was a little confused.
"The wonders of intercom, I always know who is coming before they get here, that way if someone arrives unannounced I know that the office doesn't know they're in the building. Of course, it doesn't always work, but this time, we were spot on." Miss Amy smiled and Jesse knew why his daughter was so smitten with her teacher. She may have been dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but she was every small child's dream. She was kind, pleasant, her voice sang at you, and most importantly she had the ability to make you feel you were the most important person in the entire world.
Shaking his head mentally Jesse laughed. "In my job the intercom is more of a curse than a blessing."
"Here too, it's hard to pretend you didn't get a message when you speak to the person giving it to you, and I always feel so guilty if I ignore it when it beeps at me."
"Somehow my name is always called just as I am going off duty, or actually have a cup of coffee that I couldn't paint a wall with, or my … well, you get the picture." Jesse looked down as his daughter pulled at his arm.
"You go now, Yana go school, k?"
"Ok, Sweet Pea, I'll go to work, and Sally and Anneya will pick you up later. Honey, you have a great day, and I'll see you soon." Jesse bent down to give his daughter a hug and a kiss and then he watched as she ran over to a table containing lots of different books, which she rummaged through before choosing one and then, making herself comfortable on the brightly coloured rug which was placed close by, she began to 'read' it. With a final word to Miss Amy, Jesse left the room and went back down the hallway hoping that it wouldn't be too long before he got to bring Eliana to pre-school again.
ooo
Cheryl had been in the squad room by the time Rae got back from her visit with the Chief and to Rae's surprise Alex was sitting with her.
"Alex, what are you doing here?"
"I'm about to try and help one of your artists to get a likeness of the Red Rose Killer, at least I think that's what you called him isn't it?"
"You saw him, when did you have anything to do with this guy?" Rae was instantly concerned, she didn't like it when any of her friends became involved in her cases.
"I don't know for certain that I did, but I think I might have. Nadine told me she was going out with someone who picked her up at Bob's. There was a man who came in and was chatting her up the night she told me about. It could have been him." Alex knew that he had told Rae this before; she had broken the news of his friend's death, and it worried him that she didn't see to remember it.
"Oh, right, I'm sorry, I … I should have know that, shouldn't I?" Rae tried to shake the feeling of almost unbearable tiredness which kept threatening her.
"Honey, are you alright, you look real tired?" Alex had smiled when he first heard Rae's voice, but her appearance caused him to look at her with concern.
"I'm fine, I just need a good night's sleep, but the fates seem to be conspiring against that right now."
"I thought Jesse had the girls so that you got a full eight hours last night." Alex thought that Rae looked as if she hadn't slept in a week.
"Yeah, he did, but I got called out, like I said, it's a conspiracy." As Rae finished speaking her phone rang and she raised her eyes to the heavens before moving over and answering it.
"Detective Yeager … Hi, Amanda, I can come and do that now, are you going too…? Ok, I think that's better, I have a lot to get through today, I'll see you there … bye."
Rae took her jacket off the back of her chair and went back towards Cheryl's desk. "That was Amanda, the body that was found last night is on the table right now and apparently Doctor Saperstein has found some interesting things. I need to go over to his pathology lab, but I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Rae, I don't think …"
"Alex, drop it, ok?" Rae's voice told her friend that he had stepped over the line, and he nodded.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too, I'll see you soon." Rae didn't wait for a reply but turned on her heel and left the room as Alex looked over at Cheryl who just shrugged her shoulders, knowing that tiredness went with the job.
ooo
Doctor Saperstein's pathology lab was a reflection of the man himself. It was a little old fashioned, spotlessly clean and even though it provided a sombre service it gave off an air of approachability and friendliness. A middle-aged secretary offered Rae a drink when she arrived, and Amanda was sitting there already, drinking a cup of wonderfully smelling coffee.
"Hi, this is nice, well, maybe the reason isn't nice, but I don't do this very often so I think it's nice." Amanda indicated with her hand that Rae should sit next to her.
"You know, I understand what you mean, I'm looking forward to going to see Jemimah and discussing this case at her station with her." Rae had just made herself comfortable when the door opened and Walter Saperstein came out. She ran her fingers through her hair and decided that it was probably just as well that he was prompt, the chair was comfy, and more than a few minutes sitting in it would have lulled her off to sleep.
"Ladies, how very nice to see you again so soon, won't you please come in?" Walter held the door open and Amanda and then Rae went into a room not unlike an operating theatre with one gurney in the middle of it. On the top were the skeletal remains that they had last seen during the torrential rain of the previous evening.
"I have to say that I hadn't planned to begin working on her quite so quickly, but she has fired my curiosity, and at my age precious little else gets fired … well, except me if I make remarks like that!" Walter blushed and hurriedly continued talking as both Rae and Amanda covered their grins with their hands.
"Detective Yeager, I don't wish to dumb things down and insult you, but if you don't understand what I'm saying please let me know."
"Thank you, I seem to spend a lot of time around hospitals one way and another but I'll stop you if you lose me." Rae smiled, tried to shrug off the feeling of exhaustion which was pressing down on her and took her notebook out of her pocket. If she was writing perhaps she would be a little more alert.
"You were right about one thing, our victim is definitely female. The pelvis is shallower and wider in women, and I would say, not definitely, but probably, that our victim has given birth, at least once, naturally."
"Which you would know because, if she'd had a caesarean you wouldn't know, right?" Rae looked up from the body as she spoke. "If we had found her before she decayed we would have known that too, wouldn't we?"
"Amanda, my dear, you have been giving this young lady lessons!" Walter beamed at both the women at once, and was gratified to hear them laugh.
"Doctor Saperstein, I'm married to a doctor. You may have heard Amanda mention him, Jesse Travis?"
"Of course, of course, I have met him, a very good doctor, and so friendly."
Rae smiled, she may be parted from her husband, but she still liked to hear him receive compliments. "I guess I should have said something."
"Not at all, but it is a pleasant change to have a police officer who doesn't either faint, throw up or look totally bemused the entire time I'm talking to them, and I have had them do all three! Now, you are correct on the details of the pelvic region, but that will only help us in confirming the sex, I think I can go further than that, I think I can help you identify your victim."
ooo
The ER department had been busy almost since the moment Jesse had arrived. Alex was coming in late because he was 'helping the police with their enquiries' and Mark was already working in Trauma one.
Doctor Wil Collins was just entering the second trauma suite when he saw Jesse and smiled at him. "Hi, Jess, there's a little girl with a broken arm, or suspected broken arm in Trauma three, a lady with a burnt hand out in the waiting area and a RTA with an ETA of five minutes."
"Oh, thank you so much! I'll do the little girl, get her sent off to x-ray and then the lady with the hand, do you think you'll be finished in five?"
"No, but I've called for reinforcements." Wil disappeared as he spoke and the doors flapped shut behind him.
Jesse hadn't stopped again for three and a half hours by which time he was so hungry he thought he would keel over. Before going to the cafeteria though he made his way up to the Audiology Department to get himself some information on living and working with Deaf children, so that he could begin to come to terms with what was happening to his youngest daughter.
Once he had all he needed, or could cope with for now, he headed for the food line and got himself a chicken salad, baked potato with coleslaw and a mug of coffee, then he looked around for a table to sit at and be unsociable. As luck would have it there was a vacant table by the window and so Jesse made himself comfortable there, his reading material and his lunch vying for position in front of him. He carefully propped up a book against the salt and pepper shakers and began to read the first page that had signs on it.
After eating a few mouthfuls Jesse put his cutlery down and began to try to spell out his daughter's name. A few minutes of total concentration later Jesse let his hands fall to the table. There was no way that Eliana and Anneya could deal with that, not yet at any rate, there had to be other ways of handling this. He looked through the pile of pamphlets that he had also picked up from Audiology and tried to think like a parent and not a doctor, something which, when his family was concerned he found surprisingly easy. He had no knowledge of American Sign Language, apart from the fact that some words were words, and others were letters. For a second Jesse felt totally overwhelmed by the task in front of him, and running his hands through his hair he tried to think of other things.
Mark had come into the cafeteria to get himself a snack and a cup of coffee that actually tasted something like it was supposed to. Once he had his doughnut and drink he looked around for someplace to sit and saw his young friend over by the window. With a big smiled he began to weave his way through the tables, but as he got closer he realised that he may not be welcome.
"Doctor Sloan, did you want a seat?" A young sounding voice made him turn slightly and deciding instantly he nodded and sat a little way behind Jesse, so that he could watch his friend and colleague, and maybe learn a little how to help him.
As he ate his doughnut Mark watched Jesse practicing sign language and his heart broke for him. He knew that it would be his natural reaction too, but he also knew that it was a premature action and he had to force himself not to move over and intervene. Mark then watched as the conflicts in Jesse's mind seemed to overwhelm him, and suddenly knowing that he could do far more good actually being with his friend than just watching him he moved across and softly said his name. "Jess."
ooo
Steve looked at his list of things to do which was still in the middle of his desk. It had gotten covered up a few times in the previous day and a half, but now it was visible once more. He had finally managed to send the updated details of the Red Rose Killings to all the major police departments in California from Palm Springs to San Francisco. The actual details had only gone out the day before, but he had wanted to get the new victim added onto the files before they began gathering dust in places that just maybe should actually look a little closer at them. As Steve made a line through the relating item on his list with a flourish his phone began to ring and he picked it up with a sigh. "Sloan here… yes, that's right." Steve quickly swapped the receiver to his right hand and began to take notes with his left.
ooo
Dominic had sailed through the second day of competition, but he knew that it would soon get harder. That suited him fine, there was no way he wanted to still be around on the final days of the contest, and he planned to fall by the wayside, quietly, the following afternoon. The ticket for entry to the hallowed ground of the hairdressing competition was tucked snugly in the rear pocket of his jeans as Dominic made his way into the lobby of his hotel. The receptionist saw him and indicated that she wished to speak with him.
"Hi, Mr Little?" The young lady waited as he nodded, "how did you get on?"
"Get on, I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean?" Dominic looked confused, which wasn't hard, he wasn't sure what the young lady meant."
"The hairdressing competition, my friend Lucy Ellis, the woman you had a drink with the other day, she told me you were in a hairdressing competition, I just wondered how you got on."
"I got on fine thanks, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you knew Miss Ellis." Dominic tried to be a little more formal than usual, in the hope that the woman wouldn't realise just how well he had got to know her friend.
"Didn't she tell you she works here? She is naughty; she likes to pretend she's a visitor when she's not on duty. She told me you and she were going out last night, I hope you had a good time."
"Yes, we did, we weren't together that long, but we had a pleasant time while we were." Dammit she worked here! Dominic hadn't known that, but it didn't matter, if anything it was just a hiccup, and he could always go home a little earlier than planned.
ooo
Rae had been dumbfounded by Walter's statement and he knew it. "Maybe I should explain a little further what I have found."
"Um, yeah, I would say so, you know who she is? How can you possibly … Sorry." Rae's tiredness receded slightly as she reacted to the statement Walter Saperstein had just delivered.
"I don't know who she is, but I know that we can find out far easier than we all thought last night."
"Walter, don't tease, what have you found." Amanda could see that her friend was very tired, and not as even-tempered as she had been when she had arrived.
"I'm sorry, ok, first of all the tip of the blade which I said came off because of the force used?"
"Yes, I remember, that's what gave Amanda the clue that it was our guy." Rae nodded as she spoke, the interest sounding once again in her voice.
"Well, I would imagine from the evidence that he broke the tip off as he plunged the knife in for the first time, because there is a slightly roughened groove up the bones of both feet. Not all the way, obviously, because the bone structure wouldn't allow for that, but I would say, unless he stopped in the middle of the sole, each foot was slashed from heel to toe."
"And it would have to be heel to toe because otherwise the knife tip wouldn't have broken off, or if it did it would have gotten lost in-between the toes and then fallen to the ground when the body decayed." This time Rae looked over at Amanda and was gratified to see the look of approval in her eyes. She had worked it out as well, but it was her profession, Rae was a cop, but she listened to everything she was told, took it all in and had a thirst for knowledge that not all of her colleagues had.
"But that just tells us that we are probably on the right lines with our suspicions, I also have an almost complete set of teeth, which will help no end, and our lady had one leg longer than the other, enough that she would have a pronounced limp I would have thought." Walter couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, and he saw it reflected back from the two women in the room with him.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Doctor Saperstein, thank you so much. You're right, our search just got way easier." Rae was writing as she spoke, and Walter waited before replying.
"I will have the complete set of results by the end of the day, apart from DNA which will take longer, there are a few strands of hair on her head, and I know that Jemimah has sent her Crime Scene guys back into the forest today to go through the birds nests around that area, to see if they can find any more, but I'm not hopeful, it isn't really the right time of year for nests, but maybe in an abandoned one."
"That's true, and the weather hasn't been that bad of late, perhaps there will still be things to find. I guess I'd better give Jemimah a call myself and see if she wants me to go take another look." Rae glanced at her watch and realised that the morning had already slipped away and it was early afternoon. Her daughters would both be with Sally and Jesse would be at work; she fleetingly wondered how long it would be before she saw him again, but then she came back to the matter at hand.
"Walter, Amanda, I must get back to the station, I have another case that I'm getting pressure over and I really need to work on it this afternoon. Thank you so much for all of this, I look forward to getting the official file."
Walter smiled before he spoke. "It is my pleasure, my dear; I hope that we get to meet each other again before too long." The two new friends shook hands and then Rae made her way back out to where her car was parked, and her tiredness returned as she did so.
ooo
Steve had spent over an hour on the phone to San Francisco, and he felt his despondency rise as he got more proof that their murderer hadn't stuck to LA as he had hoped. A Detective Emile Consadine had spotted the flyer from the LAPD when it arrived the day before and knew he'd had three murders that fitted the same MO. He hadn't had time to check the details before his shift had ended, and then he'd been called out a couple of hours before speaking to Steve and hadn't had a chance to contact him. Part of Steve wished he had never called, in less than a day he had gained four more victims for his Red Rose Killer.
ooo
Jesse had returned to work after his chat with Mark with a slight spring in his step and a more realistic view of the difficult times to come with his daughter. Mark had gently pointed out that signing, whilst vital for her in the future, wasn't something to be dealt with right away; at least not the signing Jesse had been practicing. Mark had known the sign for hello, and thank you, and had shown them to his friend, impressing on him as he did so that they would be far more use than showing the little girl how to spell Anneya.
Jesse went up to the nurses' station to let the young lady on duty know where he was going. He had already picked up the pile of files which he needed for his rounds and so made his way along the hallway, he hadn't got very far when he heard his name being called and turned around to see Susan walking towards him.
"Doctor Travis, I wonder if I could have a word with you."
"Nurse Hilliard, I'm afraid now isn't the time, I am just about to start rounds, and unless I am mistaken you no longer work in the ER." Jesse kept his words cold and clinical. He still had the recollections of her harsh words as he left the movie theatre, and he didn't want her to think that he had either forgiven or forgotten.
"No, Doctor, that is true, but you have three of my patients on your rounds; I would accompany you if I may?"
Jesse felt too weary of the entire episode to argue. He had no intention of starting, or re-starting, a relationship with Susan, he knew that he had made it abundantly clear, and if she wanted to follow him around and be ignored then that was fine with him.
ooo
Rae had been horrified and dismayed to suddenly hear car horns behind her and realise that she had missed the green traffic signal because her eyes had finally won out and closed. She jolted herself awake and put her car into drive. Thankfully she was only two blocks from the precinct and she carefully and slowly drove the rest of the way not wanting to cause anymore danger to either herself or others.
She made her way sleepily up towards the squad room, staggering slightly on the stairs as she did so. Her tiredness was being replaced by something heavier, more total, but Rae knew that she had at least another three or four hours before she could even consider going home, and so she leant against the wall until the moment had passed and then carried on her journey.
Cheryl was on the phone as she entered and so she made her way to the kettle, wishing that she drank coffee, because a very black, very strong one wouldn't go amiss right now. Once again she had missed her lunch and so she grabbed another apple, this time from the top drawer of her desk, as she sat down.
"Rae, could you come in here a minute please?" Steve's voice floated across to her after one bite of her piece of fruit and with a deep sigh she got to her feet and walked the few yards, which seemed like miles, towards the captain's office. She never quite made it, as the doorway got just within her reach it seemed to buckle and bend in front of her before fading in and out of focus. Rae saw Steve's anxious face, heard her name being called, and then as her legs refused to carry her any longer she sank down into the welcome oblivion of darkness.