Title: The Postcard Murders, Chapter 2

By: greygoose70

Part 2

The security camera footage from the National Gallery-London arrived shortly after lunch. They focused primarily on the footage around the Dying Dandy paintings. Those from the Prado-Madrid and the Museum Cognacq-Jay, Paris, would arrive the next morning.

Emily inserted the CD into her computer and brought up the menu and projected it up on the 50-inch TV screen. Listed there were a list of dates going back 5 days.

"The coroner report say they had been dead three days," Rick began; "and we know that Eduardo and Sofia arrived in London on the twenty-first of February, so let's begin on the twenty-second. We can make note of those that spend an abundantly long time at the painting."

Em clicked on file dated February 22nd and it began to play. The museum was only open from 10am to 6pm so it didn't take long for them to traverse through it, having paused it only twice to take a closer look. It went the same for the 23rd. But then on the 24th Vittoria spotted Eduardo and Sofia when they showed up. They we accompanied by another couple, a male and female."

It appeared to Rick as though the couple with the Sanches were aware of the cameras and making every conscience effort to avoid facing them. They also seemed to be conversing with each other but since the cameras didn't have audio there was no way to hear what was being said. After ten minutes had elapsed they moved on.

"Em, did your agent mention if visitors were required to pass through a security check point upon entry," Rick enquired.

"Yes, he did. All visitors had to pass through a security arch, and any bags they had, were checked," she answered.

"How many entrances…"

"Two," she interrupted, "the Portico and Getty. Why?"

"Because our mystery couple may have avoided the cameras at the painting, but not at the security checkpoints."

"How are we going to identify them?" Vittoria asked.

"Well, fortunately the National Gallery uses a colorized CCTV system, and with any luck we'll be able recognize them by what they are wearing. Em, zoom in on that frame and print it."

With the photo in hand Rick, Emily, and Vittoria headed to the National Gallery.

Emily flashed her credentials, and they were let in with incident. They located the observation room, spoke with the officer in charge, told him what they were looking for, he then graciously led them to a pair of stations and helped set them up. It didn't take long before Vittoria spotted her brother and Sofia. They had entered via the Portico entrance at 10:17am, then after clearing security, took the stairs up to the Central Hall. From there Vittoria lost them.

"Think I got them," Rick said, focusing on a male and female that have entered through the Getty entrance. "See here. The female is wearing a pink jacket, has a pack slung over her right shoulder. The male has on blue jacket, both have on black baseball caps, pulled down, and are wearing black jeans. Looks like they made it through security without a problem."

Rick went and consulted with the OIC, came back some minutes later with a floor plan. "Eduardo and Sofia could have headed off any number of directions. However, our other couple just went straight ahead then turned right into section 23. We know that they were together in section 43 at 13:27pm."

"So, where'd they go from there?" Em asked.

"Let's see if we can find out," Rick replied, then made some entries on the keyboard and began the video. "Looks like they headed toward section 44." He tapped on the keyboard again and brought up the videos for that section.

"There they are," Vittoria said when seeing Eduardo. Sofia, then saw the other couple enter, then watched them turn to view the artworks.

"Vittoria, were your brother and Sofia art lovers?"

"Sofia more so than Eduardo. They both could draw, and Sofia had just began dabbled with paints, she liked doing landscapes. Eduardo was into cartoon characters, wanted to do a graphic novel," which brought a smile to her face, the first real smile Rick and Emily had seen since the bodies had been discovered.

The three of them followed the couples as they passed the works of art displayed by such impressionist as Cézanne, Degas, Renoir, and others, before moving off to the next section, section 45.

Rick instantly tapped out an entry on the keyboard and the videos appeared. The couples didn't spend as much time in this section even though it was filled with paintings by George Seurat and Francisco de Goya, both impressionists, in their own right. Rick continued observing them as they made their way to the exit, he quickly entered the command that brought up the next section, the main foyer, where he watched the two couples exit the building.

Rick paused the video, reversed it, then began playing it forward in slow motion, he thought he is spotting something, but in reality, he hadn't. He paused the film at the spot where the anomaly occurred, zoomed in and enhancing the image believing he saw the man with the blue jacket turn his head and looked up, but all he caught as a minute section of his profile, not enough to identify who he could be.

"Not much there for identification purposes, Rick," Em commented while staring at the blowup.

"No, there isn't," he replied, but I've got a nose, and maybe a chin. Do you have a sketch artist, maybe he can do something with it."

"Sure, I'll give him a call."

Rick sat there silent, his mind in deep thought as Emily was making the call. He was pretty sure it was a longshot, but hell, anything the artist came up with would be more than they had at present. Suddenly Vittoria' voice interrupted his thoughts when he heard her speak his name, "Rick," she said.

Rick snapped his head around to face her, "Wha, what," he blurted out.

"Why here? Why now? These killers, whoever they are can't have suddenly decided to come to Europe and start killing young innocent couples," she stated.

"That's some observation you have there, Vittoria. And you know something, you're absolutely right." Rick then slammed the palm of his hand to his forehead and spouted, "why didn't I think of this before?"

"Probably because Kate isn't here and your lack of having sex," Em said as she sat down next to him.

"Ha, ha, there Miss Prentiss" Rick replied. "I just recalled a case from about a year ago. There was a double killing, a young man and his female friend were slain with their throats cut. I don't recall all the particulars about the case since it happened in the Bronx, and at the time Kate and I were involved trying to solve a twenty-year old missing person/murder case. But if I remember correctly the FBI was called in, and Jordan was the investigating agent. Why don't you give her a call."

Rick' request was no sooner spoken when she was making the call.

"Put her on speaker," Rick said when her call was connected, and Em had her on speaker.

"Hey Em, how are things going over there? Need some help?"

"Believe we're making progress. How about you, any new cases?"

"Nope. Just wrapped up a tough one, took me a month to solve it, so I took three weeks' vacation time."

"Jordan, what you going to do with that much off time?" Rick injected. "Won't you get bored.?"

"No, I'll have plenty of company to keep me entertained," Jordan answered. "So, what do you need, my dinners getting cold."

"Yeah Babe, spill, so we can get on with dinner," another voice spoke.

"Kate," Rick spouted, surprisingly. "Why is Jordan there?"

"Not just Jordan, but also her husband, Tom, and their daughter, Tabitha, and of course Alexis is here also."

"Yeah, dad. We are flying over in the morning. So, what's up?" Rick heard his daughter say.

"Flying where, here?" He almost choked out.

"Yes. Now get on with it," Alexis said using that authoritative voice she used on him when she was getting discussed with him.

"Okay, okay. Jordan, about a year ago you had a case, a double homicide, male and female, throats cut, remember."

"Sure do, it's still unsolved. You think it's connected to the cases over there?"

"I do."

"Okay, I'll call Avery, have him access the file and send it to you."

"Can you have him do a search for any similar cases."

"I have my laptop with me, I'll do the search as soon as I finish dinner."

"Never far away from the job, huh, Jordan."

"Later, Rick," she replied, then disconnected the call, and immediately sent a text off to Avery.

Fifteen minutes later Rick' laptop pinged with an incoming email. It was from Avery with the file from the Bronx murders. He opened it and sent it to the large TV screen where he, Em, and Vittoria began through it.

Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham were discovered on the morning of 14 May, in Peter Bishop's apartment at 3200 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NYC, 10467. Both were nude with their throats slashed open. Preliminary assessment by the coroner suggested they had been dead at least two days.

The bodies were discovered by Mr. Cosmo Kramer, a neighbor of Peter Bishop and friend of both victims. He immediately placed a 911 call; he was told to wait for the police to arrive and not to touch anything.

When the police arrived, they instantly cordon off the area with their yellow tape and took Mister Kramer' statement.

Following Mr. Kramer' statement were several photographs beginning with a picture of the coffee table where four champaign flutes and a bottle of Moet & Chandon champaign sat. The next set of photos were from the bedroom and the bodies of the victims, where they were placed in some type of pose. They were lying on a sofa, the type with high arm rests. The woman was stretched out with her legs crossed, her right arm down along her side lying across the man's left leg that was bent and resting low on her abdomen. The women's right arm was raised resting on the top of her head, her eyes were closed. The man was more in a setting position his right leg dangling over the edge, is right arm resting on a pillow. Hs left arm around the women's shoulder, his hand overing her left breast, his head was turn slightly toward her with a look of adoration.

Rick stared at the setting for what seemed the longest time when suddenly he blurted out. "I recognize this pose! It's Eros and Psyche."

"And you know this how," Em stated a tone of disbelief in her voice, in that Rick would actually know who Eros and Psyche were.

"I did a paper on their love story in my English Lit class when I was in high school, got an 'A' on it."

"So," Vittoria declared, "you believe that whoever killed these two are the same people who killed the ones in Madrid, Paris, and here."

"Everything fits, so yes, that's what I believe," Rick replied.

Just as Rick finished his response, his phone buzzed. Seeing it was Jordan, he pressed 'answer' and 'speaker' in rapid succession. "Hey, Rick," were the first words he heard. "Hey Jordan, what did you come up with?"

"With the criteria you wanted, I came up with three possibles. I immediately disregarded the Menendez brothers. The second was the poisoning of two three-year-old children, but this last one has distinct possibilities. The murder of a Los Angeles couple, throats cut in the same style as the Bronx killings. I will send you the file."

"Thanks Jordan, enjoy the rest of your evening."

"Will do, see you guys tomorrow."

After disconnecting the call Rick opened his email, saw the one from Jordan, opened it and placed it on the TV screen next to the one from the Bronx slayings, the three of them began reading.

FBI File No.: 22-51-235237, Murder of Claude & Phyliss Branson. Date: 29 August 2012. Cause of Death: Severed Carotid Artery.
Initial Investigating Unit: Los Angeles PD, Bel-Air Division
Investigators: Detectives Riggs and Murtaugh
Reason for FBI involvement: Claude Branson was the owner of the Branson Corporation with several Department of Defense contracts
Primary FBI Investigator: Darrell Hannah

Report:
At approximately3:22am police officers were summoned to 13468 Groverton Place, Bel-Air. A 911 call had been received, the caller stating his parents were dead. Upon arrival the officers were met by Simon Branson, the son, who the officers described as being distraught, directed the officers upstairs to his parent's bedroom. As the officers stepped into the bedroom, they found a young girl (identified as Simone Branson, the daughter) setting cross-legged on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. One officer knelt down next to her, attempting to console her, while the other officer went to inspect the bodies, who immediately called for a coroner, a crime scene team and detectives. The officers were able to persuade the girl to leave the room and join her brother downstairs, they then began securing the site. Upon the arrival of LAPD detectives Briggs and Murtaugh, who went directly to the crime scene where they began taking notes and asking questions of the officers. When done they went to interview the son and daughter, the daughter appeared to still be in shock and was unable to respond to any of their questions. The son, although being in a state of shock himself was more coherent.

This is his recollection of what happened:
"I was in my room…"
"Which is where," Detective Murtaugh asked.
"At the opposite end of the hall from my parents."
"Okay, then what happened," continued Murtaugh.
"I heard this loud scream coming from their room, so I went to see what it was all about. When I got there, I saw Simone yelling and screaming. I instantly went to her asking "what's the matter?" She just kept shouting and pointing at the bed. I looked to where she was pointing. That's when I saw mom and dad with large red stains on their necks and on the sheets. I don't know how long I stood there just staring, but I finally realized I needed to do something. I remembered mom and dad taught us that in case of an emergency to dial 911, so I picked up the phone from the bedside table and called, then went back to Simone who was now seated on the floor crying. When the front doorbell rang, I raced down to answer it, and seeing the two police officers there told them upstairs."
"What'd you do next," Briggs enquired."
"Don't remember exactly just that I was on the sofa when the officers brought Simone down and sat her down next to me, and we hugged and cried together.
"I noticed the patio door off your parent's room was open, did they keep it open?" Murtaugh asked.
"No, never."
"Well, that's all we have for now, Simon, we will still want to speak with Simone but will give her a day or two to gather herself. Thank you, and we're sorry for your loss," Murtaugh said.

End of Chapter