A/N As always, great to hear from all of you! Some of you have some very interesting ideas as to what is happening…

Chapter 3

Nick tried to muffle a chuckle as he and Detective Johnson began to interview the teenaged store clerk. He didn't know if it was the green spiked hair, the multiple body piercings, the caked on bright blue eye make up or talon like black nails, which amused him the most. Yet the scary looking teenager was clearly intimidated by the presence of a police officer at her home.

"What dija ya say?" she trembled.

Nick explained, "Look, you're not in any trouble. A woman was found by a dumpster in the back of your store this morning."

"Huh?" Her mouth hung open.

This girl has clearly indulged in too many recreational drugs.

"I just need to ask you some questions. You're not in any trouble." He tried to reassure her. He reached into a manila envelope as the teenager leaned against the doorframe of her apartment. He handed her a photo. "Did you see this woman in the convenience store during your shift last night?"

The teenager took the photo and examined it. She absently rubbed her temple. "I dunno. A lot of people come in from the movie twelveplex 'cross the street after the shows. I dunno."

Trying to be patient, Nick pressed on, "Just take a few minutes to think. Look at her face."

She tried to comply. Getting frustrated, she explained, "Look, nothin' happened last night. It's the same boring stuff every night. Nothin' was different. I spent most of my time readin'." She held up the equivalent of a graphic comic book.

As she continued to examine the photo, finally the lights seemed to come on. "Wait a minute. Yeah, I think I remember her. I guess it was around ten thirty. It was before the late movie crowd. Yeah, I do remember seeing her."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, doubting her credibility.

"Yeah," the girl nodded. "I remember 'cause she was practically cryin'. She was pretty upset. I think I heard her say somethin' like "it's not fair"."

Now we're getting somewhere.

Nick's questions became more urgent. "Do you remember anything else she might've said?"

She shook her head.

"Was she alone or with someone?" Nick asked.

"There was some guy with her."

"Could you identify him or give me a general description?" Nick pressed on.

She squeezed her eyes closed as she thought. "I dunno, he was old so I didn't pay much attention." Any guy over thirty was old to her.

He prodded, "Come on, you must remember if he was tall or fat, balding or red hair -- general characteristics."

With great effort, she thought, "Um, I guess he was taller than she was. I think he had dark hair. Black? Maybe some gray? And maybe a beard? Yeah, a beard, I guess."

"You'll have to come down to the station with me to talk with the sketch artist." Nick insisted, though he wasn't hopeful from her vague description. The teenager wasn't thrilled by that prospect either. Nick continued, "Were they arguing? Did she seem afraid of him?"

"Nah, he wasn't mean to her. He was tryin' to calm her down. I don't remember what she bought. Sumthin'. Whatever it was, I remember that he gave her the money for it." She seemed proud of her recollection.

"Would there be duplicate registrar receipts at the store so we could verify what she purchased?"

Her eyebrows rose, "You gotta be kiddin'. Those guys are cheap. They spend as little as they can get away with. Those cheap bastards wouldn't even buy toilet paper for the bathrooms if they could get away with it."

With a sinking feeling, Nick asked, "What about the video surveillance system?"

She laughed, "I don't think so."

XXXXXXX

Greg strolled into the lab where Nick and Warrick were carefully sorting through evidence. The overflow trash and garbage from the dumpster were in bags which filled the room.

"Man, this place reeks." He held his nose and waved his hand. "Phew."

Warrick grinned, "Tell me about it. The scary part is after a while you get used to it. You can help sort through the trash later if you like."

Greg's expression was priceless. "I don't think so. I do come bearing gifts. DNA results from the blood found at the scene." He'd analyzed the DNA and run the results through the COTAS data bank.

He had everyone's attention as they gathered around to examine the print out. "It's Sara's."

Warrick turned to look at his schematic map of the crime scene. "All of it?"

Greg nodded.

"Then it looks like she must've been hit coming in or out of the ladies room, since that's were the majority of the blood splatter was," Warrick thought aloud.

"What about the ladies room itself?" Nick asked.

Warrick cringed. That hadn't been a pretty site. It hadn't been cleaned in a while. It looked worse than many men's rooms that he'd been in. Yet there was no blood in the sinks or on the floor. He'd checked the men's room as well. Tests with luminol were negative thus it seemed that the perp didn't clean up at the site. Still, whatever article he used to assault Sara may've been the only item that was bloodied.

"Nothing definitive," Warrick confirmed. "The splatter pattern, though faint, indicates that the attack was definitely just outside of the rest room. The pattern also suggests that she was standing when she was hit, possibly facing the parking lot though I need to check to be sure. The fact that there wasn't much blood there suggests that she may've been quickly moved to the trash area, there's much more blood there." Her T-shirt had been soaked in blood and a small pool of it had collected beneath her body.

"What else have you found?" Greg asked, eyeing the table strewn with potential evidence.

Nick gestured to a ragged blanket spread on the table. "This was what was covering Sara. It's Government Issue, standard for the armed services. We may be dealing with an enlisted man, veteran or former disillusioned employee of the US army. I'm thinking this blanket may've been stored in the back of a car or pick-up. Look, these might be oil stains. GC analysis is being done on them right now. And look at this." He used tweezers to hold up some short brown hair.

"The perp?" Greg got excited.

Warrick frowned, "I don't think so, it's dog hair. Possibly a German Shepard."

"What about this?" Greg gestured to the nearly empty duct tape roll.

"We found it along the curb at the store. I'm not sure where or if it fits in," Warrick answered. He hadn't had the time to process everything. He and Nick still needed to comb the mountains of garbage for the assault weapon and possibly identify what Sara had bought at the store. Since Greg had mentioned it, he gave the tape a cursory look.

Nick asked, "Did someone knock her out to steal her car? Why was she even there in the first place? It's not near her apartment. What did she have to stop for?"

Warrick interrupted, "Hey, did you notice that this duct tape roll has the same oily residue as our blanket? I may even be able to lift some prints off of this."

The men converged on the sample.

Nick was getting excited, "I think you may have something. Let's send a sample to the GC."

TBC