Branded for Murder (18 page)

Chapter 44

He feared going home, wondering if anyone had seen him leave the apartment building this morning. There was one cab close enough to spot him and his hasty retreat. He didn’t go too far before he stopped to put his clothes on. He realized very quickly he didn’t have Patricia’s apartment key, his bag of goodies, or her nylon panty hose. The key would have his fingerprints, as would other items he left behind.

He was upset about being confronted by Patricia’s male guest. He hadn’t anticipated her having company.
But I guess I taught you what having a male friend was all about…you couldn’t stand being alone anymore.
He was concerned about what happened at her apartment. His biggest regret was not having her key any longer. He had really worked himself up for this visit, and without her key, he wouldn’t be able to enter her apartment the same way again.

He wondered if she recognized him. He smiled thinking about what she had seen
. The goodies in the bag would certainly bring back some memories, won’t they?
He knew she would call the police to report the incident.
Maybe if she was alone she would have kept it to herself…but you wouldn’t have been able to–being dead.

He parked at the end of the block, to see what was happening near his own apartment building. He didn’t see any police activity, but some people noticed him sitting in his car. He started to pull away, but stopped when he heard the sirens. Less than a minute later a cruiser came rushing down the street, but it didn’t stop.
If I do go home, what am I going to tell my wife since I told her I was going out of town for a few days? What if they saw my license plate?

*.*.*

He registered at a small motel in Revere. The clerk eyed him in an odd manner. Maybe he was just getting too jumpy, but he could feel his heart racing as he left the motel office.
What if the clerk had matched his face to the sketch in the newspaper?

When he settled in his room, he now had time to review what had happened, and what he needed to do next. He realized he made a major mistake not killing Patricia the first time. He made another mistake going back to her apartment, only to find a boyfriend there.
I really let my emotions control my actions last night. I should have spent a little more time checking her out, to see if anyone was with her. If she had a female roommate that would have been a different story…I never had two women…well not at the same time.

Hearing the thumping of the bed next door, he regretted not being with Patricia now. He turned on the TV, finding a dirty movie which quickly excited him again. Several minutes later he thought to himself,
I really have nothing to lose anymore. I might as well go out with a bang.
He watched the lovers on the screen—
I’m going to take as many women as I can, but the authorities are not going to take me alive.

*.*.*

The sounds of the exercise machines were hypnotizing. He was trying to keep pace with the pretty thing next to him, but she was much more proficient at the treadmill than he was. He watched her body move with the machine.
I bet you like the men here to look at you, why else would you put yourself through this much pain? You don’t even recognize me, you should, but it has been years. I could show you the scars, and then you would know who I was for sure. All in due time…Karen.

He had to stop running on the treadmill, and just watched her and another person in the club. A few minutes later she slowed and then stopped. She looked so sexy covered in perspiration. He wanted to get close enough to smell her. She wiped off with a nice white towel, smiled at him and headed to the women’s locker room. The other person working on a weight machine had recently arrived, so he would be busy for a while. He waited a few minutes and headed to the men’s locker room. He undressed, noticing how much sweat he had worked up.
I’ll leave that the way it is, and give you a chance to smell me.

He slowly entered the women’s locker room, hearing the sound of the spa coming on. He peaked around the corner, seeing Karen’s naked frame enter the spa.
Lovely as ever.
He went the other way, really wanting to join her, but not yet. He noticed the towel on the wooden bench. He went over to the locker, which was slightly open. He opened the locker studying the contents.

Nice, very nice. I never would have thought you would wear that color underwear.
He lifted the light-blue bra off the hook, holding it to his nose. He smelled lilac. Then, he thought he heard a noise and froze…he didn’t want her to see him here in this condition.
What would she do? What could she do?
Nobody was coming, so he examined the rest of her clothes. He opened her pocketbook, making an impression of the only house key on the keychain. The wax block was the only thing he had with him. He heard the spa stop and he froze in position. Then the sputter of a shower greeted him.

He returned the keys to her pocketbook and replaced her bra. He closed the locker door the way he found it, then moved to the shower stalls. He was like an Indian not making any noise. He watched Karen washing and then rinsing her hair. She turned toward him. If she opened her eyes, she would see him watching her. He couldn’t stop watching her. However, it was too risky to stay any longer, where she could see him. He wanted her to see him, but not yet. He moved out of sight, but then went back for one more look—
truly lovely; the years have done you well. I’ll see you again later.

Chapter 45

In the late afternoon, Mike had finally secured the warrant for Vincenti’s arrest. Mike, Paul and Phil were all together along with other officers of Boston PD. There had been no reported activity at Vincenti’s apartment building, but they couldn’t wait any longer. They knocked on his apartment door. A woman asked who was there. Mike made the announcement, so she opened the door for them. They were greeted by a woman in a house dress, who looked like she had just gotten out of bed.

Mike spotted two small children playing behind her in the living room, paying no attention to what was going on. He announced, “Mrs. Vincenti, I am Boston police detective Mike Miller, and these gentlemen are also police officers.” He handed her the paper. “This is a warrant for your husband, Arnold Vincenti. We want to question him in regards to the recent strangling cases. Is he here, or do you know where he is?” He watched the color drain from her face, and he quickly reached out to steady her. He guided her over to a nearby chair.

She was staring at the three of them, and then her children. She put her head down and started to cry. He went over to the kitchen area, bringing her a glass of water. “Here Mrs. Vincenti, take a sip of this.” She took the water, sipping it without saying a word. He noticed Phil had returned shaking his head. “Mrs. Vincenti, do you know where we can reach your husband?”

Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and her hands were shaking. She took another small drink from the glass. She was still holding the piece of paper in her other hand. Finally she looked at them once again, and then at the paper. “He said he was going out of town for a couple of days. He left yesterday.” The color was starting to come back into her face. “You have to be mistaken; my husband would never kill anyone.” She studied her two children playing on the floor nearby.

*.*.*

About forty minutes later, they gave her specific instructions as to what to do if he called, or returned home. Mike also instructed one of the Boston officers to watch the building for Arnold’s return. He could tell Mrs. Vincenti was still in shock when they left.

Mike gave some thought to where they were now. They had to find Arnold. He could be anywhere. The more time they lost, the further away he might get. Obviously, the episode earlier this morning would have changed his plans, but in what direction? It could make him more volatile, or cause him to go into hiding.

Paddy left to give the AG an update of recent developments. Mike looked over at Paul and decided to share his thoughts. “Paul, I’m glad we have this break, but I would have much preferred to have him in custody. I worry about what this animal might do next.”

“One thing for sure—after looking at the size of Mrs. Stevens’ boyfriend, he’s definitely not going to attempt anything there again. However, we have someone watching the building just in case he does something stupid again.” He was quiet for a few seconds, then added, “Can you believe he had the gall to enter Patricia’s apartment naked?” He smiled, adding, “Seeing that big man jump out of bed must have been very deflating.”

They both laughed. Mike realized it could have been really serious. “It worked out to our advantage, but I wish we had caught him. I sure hope he doesn’t go ballistic on us…I’m sure he knows we must be hot on his tail now.”

*.*.*

There was a lot of activity at the task force office. We had heard every police department in Massachusetts was now looking for Vincenti, or his vehicle. The locals were canvassing every parking lot and hotel/motel complex in and around Boston. They felt he would be headed to some remote part of New England, but they had to check things out locally just in case.

Mike couldn’t control his nerves as he answered the ringing phone. “Strangler Task Force – Mike Miller, how can I help you?” Paul watched, as Mike reacted to the call. He was writing things on a piece of paper. “Thanks. No don’t wait for us. See if you can observe anything there. If you can detect he’s there—take him!”

As soon as he hung the phone up, Paul asked, “What’s up Mike? Good news?”

“Yes, it looks that way. A motel clerk in Revere thought he spotted a guy matching the sketch in the newspaper and called the locals. That was the Revere Police. They wanted to get our input, before raiding the motel room. They confirmed his car is in the parking lot. The hood is cold. He’s been there for a while. You heard what I told them. Keep your fingers crossed.”

*.*.*

Paddy was excited when Mike gave him the news. He was headed back to see the AG, to give him the new information.

Mike called all of us to the conference room for an update. “I wanted all of you to hear the latest news—the Revere police have confirmed Arnold Vincenti is at a seaside motel. They are going in to arrest him. I’m expecting a call from them within minutes.”

I added my cheers to everyone else’s. There were high-fives from everyone. It’s too bad Paddy wasn’t here to see this much excitement, but I guess it was good that he was with the AG. Colleen came in when she heard all of us cheering. She was laughing at the scene in the conference room. When the phone rang, she left to answer it.

*.*.*

Colleen came back into the conference room and went over to Mike. “Mike, you better take this call—there’s been another strangling.”

He picked up the call at his desk. “Hello, this is Mike Miller. I’m the lead investigator for the Strangler task force. What’s up?”

“Mike, this is sergeant McAfee with the Wilmington police department. We have a strangling here in town. Based on your strangling investigation, we thought it best for your team to be involved. It resembles what we know about the other strangling cases, but you better make your own assessment. How soon can you be here?”

“We’ll leave right away. What’s the address? Can you give me directions?”

Watching him from my desk, I could tell it wasn’t good news. Mike wrote down some information then hung up the phone. He looked over at me, shaking his head. “There has been another strangling. I don’t see how that could have happened, but it did. It’s in a small town north of here.”

The phone rang again. A minute later Colleen stepped into the room, and announced, “Mike, it’s the chief of police from Revere on the phone.”

Mike went back to his desk. “This is Mike Miller, what do you have chief?”

He heard the deep voice on the phone responding, “We have Mr. Vincenti in custody. We will hold him here until you arrive. Do you want us to question him, or wait for you?”

“Chief that’s good news, why don’t you question him. We will be there as soon as we can. However, we have another strangling to investigate. Why don’t you also ask him where he was last night?”

*.*.*

They were headed to Wilmington in Mike’s car. Paul interrupted his thoughts. “Mike you’ve been pretty quiet since we left. What are you thinking about?”

His mind had been going in circles since they left. “Paul, I thought all of this was at an end, since we located Vincenti. Now it either looks like he managed to kill someone else last night or worse…we have another strangler on the loose. Either way this shit continues.”

“I know what you mean. Do you think with all of these recent killings, someone has decided to join in?”

“You know as well as I do that we can’t jump to conclusions. We will just have to see when we get there. I can’t see how our number one suspect could have made a midnight visit to Patricia’s house, then drive twenty miles north of here and kill someone else. I can’t see how that’s possible. Revere said his car hood was cold. Why not just pick something closer to the city. Something doesn’t fit here, and I think we’re going to find we have a copycat killer.”

*.*.*

It was easy for them to find the right house; there were a number of flashing lights. Some of the cruisers had Wilmington markings, but there were two Massachusetts State Police vehicles blocking the roadway. As soon as they opened their doors, Sergeant McAfee greeted them. “You must be Mike? I’m Sergeant McAfee. The state police are inside along with my chief and the medical examiner. This town has never had anything like this.” They shook hands.

“Sergeant this is detective Brosque, or if you prefer, Paul.” Mike looked at the number of vehicles and people gathered around the taped off area. “I can tell by the gathering that this isn’t a normal occurrence.”

They followed him into the small yellow cape. “Mike, a neighbor found her body when the husband couldn’t reach her on the phone. The husband and kids were up country taking in some early skiing, but the wife, Karen, didn’t go with them. She has two teenage daughters, who were with their father. Mike, it’s not a pretty sight in there. We left it as we found it, so as to not compromise the scene. I’m sure you will want to compare it to the other strangler cases.”

He nodded, and they started down the small hall leading to the right off the living room. “Oh, chief this is Mike Miller and Paul…”

“Brosque,” Mike added.

“Mike, this is Chief McCue.” They shook hands.

Mike acknowledged the chief, saying, “I wish I was glad to be here, but thanks for getting in touch with us so quickly.”

The chief explained to them, “Mike, the next door neighbor got a call from the husband. He tried to reach his wife early this morning, but there was no answer. He called the neighbor, asking her to check on his wife, Karen. She had a key, let herself in and found Karen. Unfortunately, she told him what she found. He instructed her to call the police, which was about two hours ago now.” The husband and daughters are on their way back from Vermont. She was thirty-nine years old. Her name is Karen Kellerman.

He continued, “The sergeant was dispatched, since there was a suspected homicide. He confirmed they did have a homicide, calling everyone immediately.”

Mike approached the bedroom area. He could see camera flashes. There were three men in the room; two wore state police uniforms. One of them was looking for evidence and the other was taking pictures. The third man was with the medical examiner’s office.

Mike stood at the doorway, seeing a nude woman tied to the bed posts. The covers were off the bed. She was lying on the bottom sheet, with her head propped on two pillows. There was a pair of pantyhose around her neck, and a blindfold pushed up on top of her head. Her body was covered in oil. It glistened in the bright lights.

He entered only a few feet into the room, allowing Paul to take in the scene. He could see hangman knots on each rope holding the wrists and ankles. There was a nylon stocking gag around her mouth.

“Chief, can I talk with the Medical Examiner?”

The chief called the examiner out of the room. They went into the living room. Introductions were quickly made. The examiner was expecting detectives from the strangler task force.

The Medical Examiner spoke quickly. “Mr. Miller, here is something you might not have seen from where you were. She was sexually molested prior to her strangling. My report will explain the details after I do a thorough examination. The oil covering her body is baby oil. We did find semen in the vagina and also on the surface of the body.”

“We speculate she was killed sometime around midnight last night, give or take an hour or so. She also suffered a burn mark on her pubic area, resembling the letter K within a circle. I’ll include that and pictures in my report as well. I would like to remove the gag, but I didn’t want to do that until you arrived. Do you have any questions at this time?”

Mike answered quickly, “No. Thanks for the update Doc.” They followed the Medical Examiner back to the room and watched as he finished processing the scene. Mike considered what he had been told, immediately confirming what he feared.
We have another strangler from the looks and sounds of things. The ankles have never been left tied to the bedposts, baby oil is something new, and semen in the vagina is not at all similar to the other cases. And what the hell is that burn mark?