Charity Kills (A David Storm Mystery) (25 page)

There was no trace left of any kind of writing or message Peggy may have left in her dying moments pointing to the killer, no dying scrawl that appeared to be the word COP written in her own blood, but there had to be something. He leafed through books and sifted through papers scattered about the floor and tables. He saw fingerprint dust on every surface—doors, windows, tables, and chairs; even the commode had been printed. He also knew this killer was smart and there would be no fingerprints that would lead to whoever it was.

He had to keep digging until he did find something, though it didn’t seem like much, a picture of Peggy and a girl he recognized from another picture. It was the first murder victim, Elaine Gage, standing next to Peggy outside the Tejas Petroleum building, and the two women were smiling, with their arms around each other. He knew it! Peggy had been friends with at least one of the girls killed.

The house had been picked clean and he found no other leads. As he was about to throw in the towel, it occurred to him that Peggy’s car might have been overlooked. He found her purse lying on the bed with the contents dumped beside it including what appeared to be the keys to her car, which he hoped was in the garage. It was ironic how many times the victims’ automobiles were overlooked, especially when most people use their backseat as a mobile closet/safe and some even carry tool boxes in their trunks. Many times those items never make it into the house.

Opening the doors, he saw it was apparent that the car had not been searched, and in it, he discovered a surprising find on the back seat. It was a blue three-ring notebook like ones kids use in school. Except this was no ordinary book of class notes. It took him only a few minutes to realize what he had discovered.

I’ve gotta call another meeting—now
. It had to be done quick. He immediately called Russell, Alisha and Hernandez. “I know the time isn’t the best, but trust me, this is important,” he told each of them. Grady was with Russell, so he would make sure he got there.

Russell got home before Storm arrived, so the door was open and Grady and Russell were standing just inside when Storm arrived.

“What ya got, Baretta?” asked Russell.

“I think we got the killer; actually, I think Peggy Wise, the girl who was murdered yesterday, got the killer, and I think Alisha was right, it’s a woman. But let’s wait for Hernandez and Alisha to get here so we can go over this together.”

The anticipation in the room was thick enough to be carved with a knife, but they waited. Alisha was the last to show up only ten minutes after Storm.

Seated around Russell’s dining room table, Storm laid out the blue notebook and began his description of what he had found.

“I think we’ve all been pretty much in agreement that we probably have a serial killer on our hands and that after Peggy Wise’s murder yesterday we all felt the killer was the same person who had killed the other girls; even though the venue was different, the method was the same and the anal rape fit the same pattern.”

Everyone nodded.

“This Peggy Wise was one hell of an amateur detective herself. First, I found this picture of her and the very first victim, Elaine Gage.” Storm laid the picture of Peggy and Elaine on the table for all to see. “This time I searched the entire house, even the garbage, but found nothing else.” Then, snap,” and Storm snapped his fingers, “I thought of her car, and sure enough, lying in the back seat was this blue three-ring notebook. Inside this notebook are pictures of all the victims, clippings from the newspapers on all their deaths, personal notes listing what she knew of each girl, and the details of each death. This girl was keeping a diary of sorts on a serial murderer.”

“She was the killer?” asked Grady, confused. “If she was, why was she killed the same way?”

“No, but she was one damn fine sleuth. Look at the last pages of the book.” Storm opened it to the last page. Peggy had written the name “Tess Stone.” Beside it her notes read: “From Victoria, Deputy Sheriff, and Houston cop, worked for Show since 1997.” He then flipped back a few pages so they could all see Peggy Wise’s notes:

____________________

What I Know About The 7 Murders
And What They Have In Common

3/13/04

All around same age
All brunette, slender, cute
All from small towns
Not married
Little or no family
Some I saw out here in VIP clubs,
married man hunting grounds
All volunteers
All found naked and raped in area of Dome
All were killed near same time of year,
only one killed later in Show season.
Doesn’t appear they fought the killer,
not beaten or cut up,
just their throats cut.
Some clothing found, but no shoes.
All died on weekend night
All killings are the same,
but disposed of in different ways

____________________

Ideas I Have

Same killer,
my cop friends think I am crazy.
Didn’t fight so had to know killer,
or have been knocked out with drugs,
or passed out.
Killer lives out here during Show,
knows his or her way around or involved here.
How did they meet the killer?
Committeeman, staff or worker or big dog?
A detective is here now.
Am following him see what he knows.
Maybe someone finally cares....

____________________

Tess Stone
I found the killer

Show records list police officer
working the door at VIP room in Stadium.
Worked here for seven years;
always worked security at door.
The same blonde woman
I saw at Elaine’s funeral

She is also the woman who lived with a girl in Victoria when the girl disappeared 9 years ago. Her name was Gail Ponder. She disappeared from a trip to beach, never seen again. Tess was Deputy County Sheriff at the time. Rumor always had it that she knew something, but no one ever proved if she did or not

Left Victoria after that.
Now I know where she went.

Got to get a hold of detective tomorrow and tell him.

____________________

Everyone leaned over and read until Alisha spoke. “The blue thread found under Peggy’s nail matches the thread used in a HPD uniform shirt. I was waiting for the definitive reading on the match and it came back this morning. So, we know now it was a female and a cop, or at least someone wearing a cop’s shirt that killed Peggy.”

Russell reached for the picture of Peggy’s body encircled in the pool of her own blood, “Now I see it, look.” He traced the letters in the crime scene photo. “She was trying to spell
COP
, she was trying to tell you it was a cop who killed her.” It was instant recognition from everyone—they could all see the letters now.

“Hernandez, can you get into personnel records of Houston cops working patrol now?” asked Storm.

“Yes, I can.” Pancho looked at Russell and pulled his laptop from the case and laid it on the table, booting it up so he could access the wireless network operating in Russell’s building.

“Russell, while Pancho is looking up this Tess Stone in HPD’s database can someone use your computer to go on the Internet? If you Google someone’s name you can find anything ever written or published about them, right?” Storm questioned.

“Yeah, not everything, but most things. Why?” asked Russell.

“In the diary she mentions the disappearance of a girl in Victoria nine years ago. Do you think we can find anything about that?”

“Probably, or if not, we can go to the Victoria paper site and look for old articles about a girl disappearing,” suggested Grady.

While Grady and Hernandez used the computers, Russell asked his friend, “So how did the meeting go with Houston’s finest example of the Peter Principle?”

“Yeah, what did Flynn want to know?” asked Alisha.

He told them about how his report had caused the color to drain out of both Lieutenant Flynn’s and Nagel’s faces. “They’re circling the wagons—and by ‘they’ I mean all of them, the police chief, the city, and the Show. They’re getting ready to fend off the wolves crying for blood when this story breaks.”

“Got her!” yelled Hernandez. “Tess Stone has been a Houston cop since 1997. She’s assigned to Hebert on the south side of town.” The fact she worked for Hebert came as a surprise to everyone, because, as Hernandez pointed out, “Hebert’s not known for his ability to work with the opposite sex.” The whole department knew Hebert was the supervisor least likely to have a female patrol officer, yet here she was, reporting to him.

Within a few minutes Grady had her, too. “There is a story in the
Victoria Advocate
about a girl who went missing in 1997 from the home she shared with her girlfriend, a Miss Shannon Teresa “Tess” Stone. It says the girl went missing the Fourth of July weekend and had not been seen since. There was some suspicion the girlfriend might know of her whereabouts or had something to do with her disappearance, but nothing had ever been uncovered. It also says the girlfriend was a Victoria County deputy sheriff. It goes on to say that the victim was last seen going on a boating and beach trip to Port Aransas, but she never arrived to meet her friends. Later, in another article, it says that search had been suspended but all hope for solving the case was not given up.”

It was then, as everyone crowded around the computer, that the picture of Tess Stone and her roommate came up on the screen.

The roommate was a cute dark-haired girl. “Oh my god, she looks like Leslie Phillips,” Alisha whispered.

Storm felt his knees buckle and he almost fell over. Tess Stone was the cop working the door of the VIP room the night Storm and Russell went to the Rodeo. Staring at the picture on the screen, all Storm could say was, “Oh, shit.”

He pointed to the screen. “Russell, this is one of the cops I talked to the other night when we brought all hell down on Joe Dresden. She was working the door of the VIP room. She said she had seen Leslie before—saw her come in with Joe—but didn’t see her leave. People, we know Peggy was killed by a woman, we know she had a thread from a cop’s shirt under her nails, and now we have a female cop, who was suspected in her lesbian girlfriend’s disappearance, working the door of the VIP room at the Show on the night of at least one of the murders, for sure. I don’t think it takes much of a leap of faith to begin to see the “how” to the pattern of all the murders, including Peggy’s,” Storm said.

“She is a person of authority, she is a cop, so trusted, and since she worked the door they would have recognized her and been comfortable with her. Her training fits the modus operandi and now we’ve found a link to the disappearance of a girl who fits the common physical characteristics of the murdered girls,” added Hernandez.

“OK, y’all, as bad as I hate to say this, I need to go see Hebert and see what he knows about Tess Stone. Hernandez, you are going with me. Russell, we need to go in under the radar so you’ve got to help us get in. Over half of Hebert’s people work overtime at the Show, so it’s pretty solid she will be there. Hernandez, go change your clothes. Try to look less like a cop and more like a cowboy going to the Show and meet me back here by 5:00. Grady, you and Alisha have to sit this one out; no way I am taking any chances on getting you involved in something that could go south in a hurry, ” said Storm.

Both Alisha and Grady nodded. They argued the decision, but finally agreed they would wait in the courtyard outside the center near the food tents.

Russell parked in his normal parking spot close to the center and stadium; after all, he did have perks. The three of them, Russell, Hernandez, and Storm, walked to the entrance to the chutes, flashing credentials and badges as they walked by the cops and security guards who were working the massive garage door that opened the way to the bowels of the stadium. Grady and Alisha took a park bench across from the massive doors, sat down, and began to watch as if they might
be able to see anything. When Storm and his posse got near Hebert’s office, next to the football team’s workout room, Storm told Russell to wait outside; he and Hernandez would go see Hebert alone.

“Well, Office Boy, what are you doing here again? I hear you got a killer,” said Hebert.

“Sergeant, I want to ask you some questions. Don’t get froggy with me and don’t you dare lie. This is serious and I don’t want any shit,” said Storm.

Storm took out a piece of paper with Tess’s name written on it and looking straight at Hebert, asked him if he had an officer named Shannon Teresa Stone working at the stadium. Hebert began to fidget in his chair, clearly uncomfortable, unable to look back at Storm, instead staring at the floor as if deaf and dumb. The alarm in his eyes and face gave him away.

“Bullshit, Hebert, I know she works for you on the south side. Is she here?” The tone of Storm’s voice and the way he leaned across the desk displayed his intent. He was not above pulling the old son of a bitch across the desk.

Hernandez stood by the door, assuring nobody would be interrupting them now.

“Yes, why?” was all Hebert could say.

“I believe she is our killer,” said Storm, calming just a little, but still leaning over the desk.

“Bullshit, you are just trying to find a goat. I heard about your serial murder theory and I think you are full of shit!” yelled Hebert. The cop looked like someone had kicked him in the balls. Storm could almost read his thoughts: This drunk has to be wrong. I personally took Tess under my wing when she came to work for HPD.

“You can think what you want. I don’t give a shit. Is she here?” asked Storm, lowering his volume as he let his quiet voice kick in.

“Yes. She works the door of the VIP room on the ninth level. You can’t tell me you believe she killed anyone. She’s a fellow cop.” Hebert was becoming more irate by the second.

“We are about to find out. We have DNA from the last killing, the young lady who worked for the Show, and we found a notebook from her home that implicated Shannon Teresa Stone in her murder and those of the other seven girls in Houston, not to mention a girl in Victoria. All I want is a DNA test done to get her cleared of any suspicion. The M.E. is waiting for a sample that will clear her of any wrong-doing. Now that’s not too much to ask for, is it? You do want her cleared, don’t you?” Storm paused to let that sink in.