Because you love her- by jersey girl in oxford (sue)
Chapter 5
Morelli finished getting dressed and headed down stairs when there was a pounding on his door. What now, he asked himself. It was the Chief and Eddie Gazzara. He could tell by the look in their eyes that something was wrong. "Please tell me you had nothing to do with it," the Chief begged.
"With what? What are you talking about?" he asked them over his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen. They followed behind him.
"Stephanie Plum's grave. Look, I know you are having a hard time with her death. But tell me you didn't!" the Chief pleaded. Morelli froze.
"What about her grave?" He looked back and forth between the two men.
"Last night, someone dug up her grave," Eddie explained. "Her body is missing." Morelli grabbed the counter for support.
"Jesus," he muttered. Even in death, she had stalkers. There was no peace for her. "Did you tell her parents?"
"The grounds keeper called her father just before he called the police," Eddie told him. "Um…there was something….uh…that was a little….strange." The Chief nodded for him to continue. "The inside of the casket had…." Eddie paused to swallow. "…claw marks. Like she tried to claw her way out."
"Get the fuck outta here," Morelli replied angrily. "That's sick. Are you trying to suggest that she was buried alive? I'm not in any mood for jokes, Eddie!"
"It's not a joke, Joe. I saw it with my own eyes. Some sick fuck desecrated her grave and scratch up her casket. You were reported by the grounds keeper as the last person seen at the grave site. No, I don't think you did this, but I had to ask," the Chief said. "I plan on talking to Manoso as well. He was seen there also."
Morelli nodded and sat down. This was like a nightmare from which he couldn't awaken. When the news broke, it was going to be worse that a circus. "Do you honestly think Ranger did it?" The Chief shook his head. "Can I go with you?"
"I still don't think it's a good idea for you to be involved in this, Joe. You're too close to it. You won't be thinking straight. But….you can come with us to Rangeman," the Chief conceded. Morelli poured himself coffee in a travel mug and let Bob in from the back yard.
"Let's go."
Morelli thought about Ranger's reaction on the way over to his office. For all he knew, they heard about it already. Ranger never missed a thing. Maybe they found something out about that mystery man Stephanie had been seeing. His instincts told him that he did have something to do with her death and her body's disappearance. Don't worry Cupcake, he said to himself, we'll get you back and lay you to rest.
Just as Morelli suspected, the Rangeman staff were already working on the situation. Ranger's face showed no emotion what so ever. The tension in the office was heavy and thick. When asked if Ranger had anything to do with it, he just answered in a deadpanned flat, "No." The Chief thanked him for his time and motioned for Gazzara and Morelli to follow him. "I'd like Detective Morelli to stay, Chief. Stephanie had insurance and other benefits that I would like to review with him. We can drop him off when we are done." The Chief nodded, and they left.
"Did she have insurance with Rangeman?" Ranger nodded.
"Yes, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You still are serious about working with us, aren't you?"
"Hell yes! Especially now. Whoever killed her…did this. And it's probably that guy she was with. Have you found out anything on him yet?" Ranger pulled out a chair for him to sit.
"No. Nothing. If there weren't people that had seen her with him, I wouldn't believe that he even existed." Ranger motioned for Tank to come in his office before closing the door. "We checked out the grave site just after we got the news. There is no sign that a backhoe was used. There are no footprints. And the casket…." Ranger trailed off and dropped his gaze. "It looks like she clawed her way out."
"You don't believe she was buried alive…do you?" Morelli was incredulous. Ranger shook his head.
"Even if that was possible? Would a live person survive being buried without oxygen for a few days? Of course not. She had a lot of stalkers. We can narrow it down to one of them or the mystery man in her life." Ranger rubbed his eyes with both hands. He looked as bad as Morelli. Neither of them had gotten much sleep.
"This is like a bad horror movie," Tank muttered. Ranger and Morelli glared at him. "I'm not saying it's real but look at the facts. The M.E. report said her blood was drained. There were two small puncture marks on her neck. The day after she's put in the ground, someone digs her up and her coffin looks like she tried to scratch her way out. It's fucking weird is all I'm saying."
"Oh…so I should start wearing a cross and garlic around my neck incase Stephanie shows up at my door?" Morelli sarcastically asked him. Tank frowned.
"I'm not saying she's a fucking vampire, Morelli!" Tank growled. Ranger put his hands up.
"Enough! The only thing I agree with Tank is that the killer is a sick and twisted fuck. He probably killed her someplace and dumped her body in the park. He wants her body as a God damn trophy. I refuse to let him disrespect her like that! Tank…have someone ask around at DuJour's every night about that guy. Eventually, someone will come in that knows who he is. Morelli, can you look around Stephanie's apartment to see what you can find? We've pulled her phone records and are checking numbers." Morelli nodded. It wasn't something he was looking forward to, but maybe he would find something. "Christ, I can't believe this is all we have to go on!" Ranger slammed the file on his desk. "Tank can drop you off. But first, I wanted to give you this to give to Steph's parents." He handed Morelli an insurance check for $100,000.00. "She listed her parents as her beneficiary on her Rangeman life insurance policy. This will help cover her funeral expenses and then some."
"I'm sure they will want to call you to say thanks. I understand that her parents aren't handling this well at all," Morelli told him.
"I know. I have a team watching the house. I don't want them bothered right now." Morelli extended his hand to Ranger. Ranger rose to shake it.
"I'll call you as soon as I look through her apartment." Ranger and Tank walked him to the door. "I really appreciate you letting me help with this." Morelli smirked. "Can you imagine what she would say if she saw us working together?" The corners of Ranger's mouth twitched. Tank dropped Morelli off at his house, and he hopped into his truck to drive straight to Stephanie's apartment.
Nothing in the apartment was changed or touched since he had been there last. If this had been the murder scene, the investigator would have torn the place apart. Rex! Shit…he forgot about Rex! He looked into his container. He was sleeping in the soup can. Water and pellets were in the cage. The super must be feeding him, he thought. He decided he wanted that damn rat. Stephanie would have wanted someone to take care of him. He could keep Bob company. He looked around the living room. Nothing. Reluctantly, he made his way to the bedroom. He thought about all the times they made love in that bed.
Nothing seemed to be out of order or anything missing. His heart ached. Morelli laid across her bed, resting his head on her pillow. He could still smell her shampoo and her natural scent on the sheets and pillow case. The tears silently fell. "God Cupcake….I miss you so much," he cried.
It took him a while to get himself together. Deciding he found nothing to go one, he rolled over to get off the bed. Something crinkled under him. It was a note.
S,
Sorry to leave you my Darling. I will see you again soon.
All my love,
Christian
Morelli jumped up to find a plastic baggie. He didn't want to ruin any fingerprints or DNA evidence on it. "Thank Christ," he muttered when he found a zip lock bag. He used his pen to flick it into the bag. After zipping it closed, he called Ranger. "The bastard's name is Christian. He left her a note. I'll be right there."