Hunter's Way (9 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Tori was in much the same position that Samantha had left her. Staring at her computer, one hand on the mouse, chin resting in the palm of the other hand. Sam walked over and set a cup of cappuccino in front of her.

“How can you possibly look so fresh and rested?”

“What do you mean?” Tori asked as she pulled the lid off the coffee. “Mmm, thanks.”

“How late did you work?”

Tori shrugged. “Not late.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“I don’t sleep much.”

“You look like you got eight hours.”

“You don’t.”

“Oh, thanks a lot.”

“How did your dinner party go?”

“It was awful.” Samantha sat down and pulled off her own lid, sipping quietly at her coffee. “I was so tired and the last thing I wanted was to be at a dinner party with defense lawyers telling war stories.”

“Is that what he is?”

“Yes. And he loves it.”

“Someone’s got to do it,” Tori said. She went back to her computer, flipping through the notes she’d made last night.

Samantha watched her. She really did look rested. Maybe she’d taken her advice and made an early night of it. She looked… well, fresh. Her dark hair was as neat as always. Her ever-present jeans were complemented this morning with a light blazer.

“You look nice,” she said.

“Nice?”

“The jacket. What’s the occasion?”

Tori grinned. “Ran out of clothes here. The T-shirt is dirty.”

Samantha sighed and shook her head.

“When do you do laundry?”

“When I run out of clothes.”

“So tonight?”

“No. I have a stash at my apartment.”

“Can we do a workout?”

“Are you up to it?”

“Yes. I’m still sore, but I want to continue.” She flexed her muscles. Yes, definitely sore. “Dinner?”

Tori raised her eyebrows.

“After our workout,” Sam explained.

“Sure, if you’ve got time.”

“I have time. Besides, I know I’ll be starving. After this autopsy, I doubt I’ll want to eat for the rest of the day.”

“I guess at Assault you didn’t have much occasion to witness an autopsy, huh?”

“It’s been years,” Sam admitted.

“You can skip it,” Tori offered. She remembered the first time she’d done an autopsy with Kaplan. He’d barely left the room before losing his breakfast. She’d never let him live it down. She wondered why she was offering Sam an out now.

“I will not. We’re partners. In everything.”

They both looked up as Donaldson walked over. In the few weeks Samantha had been here, she’d hardly spoken to the guy.

“Kinda need some help, Hunter,” he said hesitantly.

“What’s up, Donaldson?”

“Gay bars? How well do you know them?”

Tori glared at him, narrowing her eyes.

“Black clubs? How well do you know them, Donaldson?”

“I’m just asking for some help here, Hunter.”

She leaned back, glancing at Samantha, who nodded and gave her a slight smile.

“Okay. What do you want?”

“We have a transvestite. He was… damn near decapitated. His landlord found him this morning. We’ve got two club stamps on him.” Donaldson looked at his notes. “One from Changes, the other from the Pink Lagoon.”

“You and Adams got this case?”

He nodded.

“Well, I’ll bet you’re both going to be busting your ass trying to solve it.”

“Just doing our job, Hunter. Do you know the clubs?” he asked..

“You would think Changes would be for the transgender crowd, but it’s not. The Pink Lagoon caters mostly to them.”

“Thanks.”

“You and Adams going down there?”

He nodded.

“That ought to be fun,” she drawled. “Wish we could come and watch.” Then she leaned forward. “Be careful. Adams might get hit on,” she teased. “Make sure he knows that they’re really men under all those dresses.”

Samantha covered the smile on her face as Donaldson’s eyes widened.

“We’ll manage, Hunter.”

Tori shook her head, then grinned at Sam.

“Homophobic. Both of them. Trust me, that case will never get solved.”

“Neither one of them have really spoken to me, you know. How long will it take before they accept me?”

“They’re assholes. Don’t worry about it.”

“Is that your way of saying they won’t ever accept me?”

“No. They’ll warm up. You’re pretty. You’re straight. If you do a good job, they’ll warm up. Well, Adams may not, but Donaldson will.”

“It’s because you’re gay, right?”

“What?”

“That they treat you like this.”

Tori grinned. “No. It’s because I’m a bitch.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“What? That I’m a bitch?”

“Well, if you’d asked me a couple of weeks ago…” Sam said. “But you put on a good front.”

“Oh? And you think you’ve broken through? That you’ve seen the real me?”

“Yes.”

Tori stared at her for the longest moment.

“I don’t know what the real me is anymore,” she said quietly.

“I think you do.”

They stared at each other across the desks, then Tori nodded. Sam smiled.

“Come on. We’ve got an autopsy. I’ll fill you in on what I found out last night.”

Samantha pushed her chair back and grabbed her purse, following Tori.

“I knew you worked last night. Did you even eat?”

“Pizza.” Then Tori tossed Sam the keys. “You drive.”

“You really think she was gay?” Samantha asked as they walked into the lab. “She was a hooker. Is that possible?”

Tori stopped. “She was a hooker. That was her job. It wasn’t making love, Sam. It was sex for money. When she wasn’t working, yes, I think she was gay.”

“I don’t know, Tori. Just because the tattoo was a lesbian gang, that doesn’t prove anything. She was a hooker.”

“We’ll follow up with that later. Let’s see what turns up today.”

Jackson had already started when they walked in. Samantha stood back, away from the body. A sheet still covered her torso.

“You’re late,” he said. “I’ve already done a prelim.”

“Hope we didn’t miss anything.”

“Got your skin samples from under the nails,” he said. “We got a hair, too, but no skin tag.” He pulled back the sheet and Samantha gasped. “Sorry, Detective.” He pointed at her neck. “Bruising around the neck, indicative of the others but that’s not what killed her. The wounds at her midsection were not postmortem.”

“Time of death? Rita thought after midnight.”

“Sounds right. Stomach was empty. What was left of it, anyway. She had been sodomized. Brutally. I found wood fibers in the rectum, there was hemorrhaging,” he stated.

“I’m looking for a semen match,” Tori said.

“Yes, I know. We’ll have DNA this afternoon. I’ll have the lab do a rush.”

Samantha stared as they walked around the body. She watched Tori’s impassive face, then Dr. Jackson’s. They didn’t seem affected at all. She was thankful she’d not taken the time for breakfast.

“There is bruising on her legs and arms. Look here.” He pointed. “Her wrists were bound. We have rope fibers. Well, two,” he said. “I’ll match them with the ones we found on the second victim.”

“What was she cut with?”

“My guess is a serrated kitchen knife or maybe a bread knife. The initial wound was here.” He pointed. “Then the killer pulled up on the knife, up to her sternum. It lodged here.” He showed Hunter. “I’ll be able to get some markings off the bone. If you can find a knife, we can match it.”

“Sam, take a look…” Tori stopped when she saw the whiteness of Samantha’s face. She walked over quietly, standing in front of her, blocking the body. She waited until Sam met her eyes. “Why don’t you get some air?”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. I’ll finish up here. Get some air.”

Sam swallowed, then turned and walked quickly from the room. Tori turned back to Jackson and shrugged.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. At least she didn’t throw up all over the floor like Kaplan.”

“Yeah. I was afraid it was about to come to that, though.”

A half hour later, Tori found Samantha sitting on a bench outside in the sunshine. She walked over and sat beside her.

“You okay?”

Sam stared straight ahead, her anger returning.

“I wish you hadn’t embarrassed me like that.”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Sam. You were as white as a sheet.”

Sam finally turned her head and looked at Tori. But Tori’s eyes were warm, concerned. Her anger disappeared. Tori hadn’t sent her out of the room to embarrass her in front of Dr. Jackson. She’d simply been concerned about her.

“I’m sorry. It’ll take me a while to get used to that.”

“Used to it? I don’t think you ever get used to it.” Tori leaned back and stretched her legs out. “You just have to separate it. It’s no longer the body of a young girl. It’s evidence to catch a killer.”

“Did you find anything else?”

“Until we get DNA back, it’s hard to believe it was the same killer. The first two bodies were clean, except for semen. This one… rope fibers, wood fibers, the knife wound… everything’s different.”

“Maybe he’s just progressing.”

“Yeah. Listen, Jackson is going to get the photos in the database as soon as he can. If we get a DNA match, I think you should set up a meeting with CIU for a profiler. I’ll stay out of your way. Besides what happened last week, me and CIU go back a ways.”

“Is there anybody in the department that you
haven’t
pissed off?”

“I think I’ve pretty much made the rounds.”

Tori’s cell phone interrupted them.

“Hunter, I think we may have an ID on your girl.” Fisk said.

“Which one?”

“This one. Got a missing persons on a Rachel Anderson. Description fits. I’ve sent a unit over to her parents’ house. You want me to bring them in?”

“Let’s get photos first and we’ll take a look. We don’t need to upset them if it’s not her.”

“Roger that.”

“Come on, Sam,” Tori said, already walking to the car. “Missing Persons got a possible match.”

Tori watched through the glass window in one of the interrogation rooms as Sam spoke quietly with Mrs. Anderson. She had never been good with this part of the job. Too many memories crowding in. But Sam, she had a warmth about her. Tori watched as the woman reached out to Sam, clutching her arm. Tori looked away from the pain. Sam had just told her about her daughter. If it was left up to Tori, she would have just blurted out the news.

“Hunter?”

“Yeah?” She turned to face Malone.

“Mayor’s office just called. They want to meet tomorrow. Have you read the paper?”

“No.”

“Don’t. We get ripped. Seems it’s our fault they didn’t report enough about the first two murders.” He looked at Samantha. “Is that the mother?”

“Yes.”

“You going to question her?”

“Yes. As soon as Sam thinks it’s okay.”

Malone nodded.

“So, she’s working out okay? I’ve never seen you stand on the sidelines before,” he said.

She shrugged. “She’s better at this than I am.”

“Okay. But be quick about it. We need to meet. Do you want me to bring in another team?”

“No.”

“All right. But we’re under the microscope with this one.”

“I have a theory. I’ll know more after we speak with the mother.”

“Let me know.”

Tori returned her gaze to Sam, watching as the mother dabbed at her eyes. She finally moved away from the glass and opened the door. Both women looked up at her.

“Mrs. Anderson, I’m Detective Hunter. I’m terribly sorry about your daughter,” she said.

The woman only nodded, still dabbing at her eyes. Sam still clutched her hand.

“We have to ask you some questions,” she said quietly. She pulled out a chair across from her, then looked quickly at Sam. Sam nodded. “There have been three young women killed. The first two were… prostitutes. We thought that was the pattern.”

“Prostitutes? Surely you’re not suggesting that my Rachel was…”

“No, of course not. We’re trying to find a link between them. We think it’s the same killer. Mrs. Anderson, was your daughter… gay?”

Mrs. Anderson raised teary eyes to Tori, then sobbed. She nodded.

“Yes. She… she told me about a year ago. I couldn’t believe it. My husband, he still… can’t accept it.”

“I understand. I’m sorry.” Tori looked at Sam again.

“Mrs. Anderson,” Sam said. “Do you know if she was seeing someone? Do you know what clubs she frequented?”

Mrs. Anderson shook her head.

“We didn’t talk about it,” she said quietly. “We didn’t want to know.”

“Do you know who her friends were?”

Mrs. Anderson’s eyes widened.

“Do you think one of them did this to her?”

“No, no. We’re just trying to find out where she went, who she hung out with. Where she might have been the night she died,” Tori said.

“She left the house about nine. She said she’d be home by midnight. She was rarely out later than that.”

“Did she have a computer?” Sam asked.

“Yes, of course. She needed it for school.”

“We’re going to need her computer, Mrs. Anderson. What about a cell phone?”

“Yes, she had one.”

“We found her car in a parking lot in Fair Park. There wasn’t a cell phone. Did she have it with her?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Sam smiled gently at her, then glanced at Tori. “I think that’s all for now. Do you want me to call your husband?”

“No. I should do it. But will you stay with me?”

“Of course. I’ll stay until he comes.”

“Will we… will we need to identify her?” she whispered.

“No.”

Tori stood up, then touched Sam’s shoulder.

“Can I have a word?”

Sam nodded. “I’ll be right back, Mrs. Anderson.”

They closed the door behind them, their eyes locking together. Tori saw a hint of tears in Sam’s.

“Thank you for doing that. I know it was tough.”

“It broke my heart.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Sam nodded, then folded her arms across her waist.

“So, not hookers. Lesbians?”

“Well, we have two of each, I think,” Tori said. “If we can find out more about Crystal, then we can be sure. Malone wants to meet with us as soon as her husband gets here. Tomorrow, the mayor’s office is visiting. They want a report.”