Chapter 8
The VICAP search had resulted in nothing. It was an odd result, given the nature of their cases, but not every case that had been worked on in every jurisdiction had been added into the federal database. It was not a requirement of local law enforcement agencies country-wide, though Olivia often thought it should be.
Rollins had moved onto the geographical profiling of their possible killer with Doctor Huang helping her. The blonde figured that it was more likely that someone living near the cemetery would have known about a grave being dug, rather than someone who just happened to be travelling by and not watching the road. Fin and Bruno had gone to bring the grave diggers back in for questioning. While the men did not seem like likely suspects, they might have known something without even realizing it.
Detective Klass sat herself down at an empty desk and decided that she needed to go over the photos from the Medical Examiner's office again. It bothered her that only two extra fingers and two extra toes were found with Makayla. No clothing, just the bones of the young girl, and bones of someone else.
"This is weird to say, but you ever have this happen before? Bones that don't match the body?" Klass asked Detective Gonzales, who had taken a seat across the desk from her. He had been reviewing the photos for the first time. He was hoping he'd see something that maybe they hadn't.
"Not weird, but I know what you mean. Seems odd that those were the bones left behind," he said.
"Exactly. You'd think that if our killer buried the two bodies together that there would be more cross over. Is this guy anal retentive enough to be counting bones?" Klass wondered.
"How many bones did Melinda recover?" Huang had been listening to her questions. The detective grabbed the report and checked for the number.
"The hyoid bone was missing, but otherwise almost all two hundred and six bones were found. If you count the two extra fingers and toes, she found two hundred bones. Good grief, this guy is anal," Klass's eyes went wide.
"Or maybe OCD. He's been careful enough to not get caught," Rollins piped up. Huang nodded before adding,
"He doesn't know enough about anatomy that he realized he made a mistake adding the extra digits, but he knew how many bones he should have. Probably figured he had enough."
"Well unless he's busy hiding his 'family' in an apartment building, we're looking at no spot for our killer to whack people. Who owned that house that you found Darlene under?" Rollins asked the Queens detective.
"The state had reclaimed the house. It was supposed to have been abandoned and trust me it looked it," Klass said.
"So, the owner had probably passed away and no family could be found to take possession of the property," Olivia chimed in. She'd left her office after not hearing from Sergeant Bell. The leader of the OCCB had promised to update her regarding Elliot.
"The utilities would have been shut off. No heat, no water, no electricity. How would have our killer been using it for his own purposes?" Detective Gonzales asked.
"Makes you wonder why he bothered to dig up the basement to bury a body. I mean he could have just dropped her body down the stairs and left it there," Rollins pointed out.
"All I know is that the wrecking crew made no sweep of the building. It had been condemned and as such was not safe to enter. When they found a body, the foreman had freaked and called us," Klass explained.
"How did you know it was condemned?" Olivia suddenly had a thought.
"The foreman showed me a piece of paper indicating the condemning order and the order to demolish the home. I have a copy of it in my file," the Queens detective dug into her file and pulled out the piece of paper. The Captain took it and looked it over.
"The house was condemned in twenty-twenty-one. Darlene was found in twenty-twenty-two. Was the coroner able to narrow down how long she'd been under the house?" Olivia wanted to know.
"Given the way they were found, everything was contaminated. No way to tell if they'd been buried there a week before or a year before. The clothing remnants were small enough that we know she wasn't there first, she had to have been moved," Klass said.
"Rollins – there has to be overlap somewhere in the locations," the Captain turned to her detective.
"Maybe not the locations. Think about it! The date of the tear down of the house wouldn't have been broadcast to the whole neighborhood. The direct neighbors would have been notified since there would be heavy equipment and a mess being made. So, either our guy knew the neighbors or…"
"Or he worked in the building department," Olivia finished for her.
"Bingo," the blonde agreed.
"You check out the neighbors?" Gonzales turned to the detective across from him.
"They were clean. No records, not even parking tickets. They admitted that they'd called the local precinct about the house because they were worried that the neighborhood kids would get hurt in there," Klass said.
"You talk to the guy on this letter?" Olivia wanted to know.
"He signs all sorts of paperwork all day long. Didn't raise any red flags and he certainly had to be clean to work in the department," Klass told her.
"Take Gonzales. Go down to the building department. See if everyone who worked there is still there. We need to know where these people live. Find out if their supervisor will play ball. Our guy could live near the cemetery. Doctor Huang, would you like to do some field work with me?" Olivia turned to the former FBI agent.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"Back to the neighbors. Someone knows something, even if they don't realize it," she said.
To Be Continued…