Maniacal: A Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Book 1 (22 page)

Fred returned a few minutes later with a credit card receipt. “Here it is. The bottle was ordered at five thirty today. We billed it to a Melissa Mately’s credit card.”

I pressed my palms into my eyes and shook my head. “Thanks, Fred. We’ll need a copy of that receipt.” I waited until he was out of earshot to continue. “Well, Dime is definitely making a name for himself. I doubt if we’re going to find Melissa alive, if we find her at all. If that’s the case, he’ll be officially on the record as a serial killer.”

Kyle and Dan joined us at the table and looked at the bottle.

“Should we process the bottle now, Jade?”

“Sure, go ahead. It sounds like he didn’t touch it, but it’s protocol. I don’t know what to do about this restaurant. With the volume of patrons here tonight, is it even feasible to waste time trying to lift fingerprints that may belong to hundreds of people?”

I looked from face to face—their expressions were all the same. It didn’t matter if Dime was in the woods or in a bustling restaurant—he never left a trace of evidence.

“Has anyone called the lieutenant?” I asked.

Jack answered, “Yeah, I did on my way in. He’s expecting the four of us in his office first thing in the morning for a briefing.”

A crew of three groundskeepers arrived at the estate on Oriole Lane at nine a.m. One man sat atop the oversized riding mower and addressed the large areas of lawn that needed cutting. Another pushed a self-propelled mower. His job was to trim the lawn in all of the tight spots, around trees and flower beds that the large mower couldn’t get close to. The last man operated the leaf blower and cleaned off the walkways, porch, deck, and the driveway area nearest the garage.

A strange scent seemed to linger in the air near the barn, and Joseph, the man pushing the hand-operated mower, noticed it. The riding mower that Andy sat on was moving at too fast a clip to catch the scent. Harry, the man blowing the leaves and debris from the hard surfaces, had his own force of moving air, making the odor unnoticeable.

With the front porch and sidewalk done, Harry moved on to the garage area. He adjusted the slipping shoulder straps, wiped his brow, and began blowing debris. The row of windows on the garage doors fell right at eye level.

The zinging sound of a stone hitting the garage door caused Harry to turn. He hoped it hadn’t left a mark. He turned off the blower, set it down, and walked over. The sun pouring through the row of windows caused something to catch his eye. Harry peered in, cupping his hands against the glass to block the sun at his back. A gold Infinity sedan was parked inside. He rubbed his chin in thought. The place was supposed to be vacant, and he was under the assumption the owners had moved to another state.
What the heck is a car like that doing here
? He flagged down Joseph, the man using the push mower.

“Hey, man, come and take a look. There’s a high-end car in the garage.”

They both peered through the garage windows. Harry again, just to confirm what he’d really seen a few minutes ago.

“That kind of car shouldn’t be parked in there. Something isn’t right, plus there’s a really foul smell coming from the barn area. Do you think somebody abandoned an animal in there and it died?”

“Hang on.” Harry went back to the porch area and looked at the front door. The lockbox was on the handle. He gave it a tug—it was locked. “Something about this smells fishy to me.”

“It’s worse than fishy, man. Let’s take a look in the barn.”

“Isn’t it locked?” Harry asked.

“Nope. No reason to lock it if it’s empty. Let’s get Andy over here. We all have to agree before we go in there.”

Andy had just finished the backyard and was driving the riding mower toward the tractor shed to cut a perimeter around it. He heard yelling and caught a glimpse of waving arms. He turned and headed in their direction. He disengaged the mower blade and turned the key to shut down the machine.

“What’s up?”

“We might have a problem,” Joseph said.

Andy swung his leg over the seat and dismounted the mower. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Come, take a look.” Harry led the way to the garage and looked in for the third time. “What do you make of that?”

“There’s nobody here, is there?” Andy asked.

“Nope. The house is locked up tight, and according to our contract, the owners moved out of state. At least that’s the way it’s written on our service agreement. I don’t think it’s legal for the Realtors to keep a vehicle here. They’re the only ones with access to the house or garage,” Harry said.

Andy chewed on that information for a minute. “Yeah, we better give them a call.”

Joseph paused. “What about the barn?” He stared at Harry.

“What’s going on with the barn?” Andy asked.

“There’s a really bad smell coming from it, and a car like that in the garage? It doesn’t feel right.”

“Smell?” Andy’s eyes darted around. “You mean like meth lab smell?”

“No, not like that—like death.”

The three cautiously checked all of the house doors and peeked through the windows. They didn’t want to be surprised by anyone who might be there that wasn’t supposed to be. When all seemed safe and they’d found no evidence of anyone lurking around, they headed toward the barn. The odor got stronger as they approached.

“Holy crap, I smell what you mean,” Andy said. He covered his nose with his sleeve and shoved the barn doors open. The stench overwhelmed them, and they backed out.

Joseph vomited against the side of the building. “I’m not going in there. I think we should call the cops.”

We gathered around the small corner table in the bull pen. A pot of coffee was halfway through the brew cycle, and it wasn’t going fast enough for my liking. I gave it a glance—six more cups before the beep would indicate it was full. I had all of four hours of sleep last night. My mind was in constant motion, running like a gerbil on a wheel—as usual. My eyes burned, my brain was a ball of fuzz, and we had nothing to tell the lieutenant.

“So, you missed him by a couple of minutes, Jade?”

“I guess so, sir, but I wouldn’t have known it was him even if I was sitting at his side. We don’t have an actual description. All we have is a general idea of his size and that a weird-acting guy was sitting at Eddy’s Tap for a few minutes.”

The lieutenant leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak, and focused his eyes on the ceiling. He let out a long sigh. “Let me guess—no cameras at Eddy’s Tap?”

I answered. “Unfortunately not.”

“What about forensic evidence, guys? Do you think there’s a gopher’s chance in hell of coming up with anything at Stanley’s?”

“In all likelihood, sir, not really,” Kyle said. “According to the staff, there were a good forty people in the bar area and fifty more in the restaurant that probably sat at the bar prior to eating dinner.”

Dan added, “From what the bartenders and the waitress could remember, our guy didn’t order or handle anything.”

“No video of the bar area?”

“Nope.”

The lieutenant filled his coffee cup and took a gulp. “This is a nightmare, a damn nightmare. How did he know where you were last night, and why would he target you, Jade?”

“Sir, I have no idea. I’m guessing maybe to create more fear within our own department. Maybe he only picked me because I’m female. He could have thought I’d be more intimidated by him than a guy would.”

“Well, until we catch the maniac, I’m putting a deputy on you twenty-four, seven. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When the media gets wind of this—”

Peggy, our weekend dispatch officer, interrupted, “Excuse me, boss, there’s a call on line two. They said it’s urgent, and they wanted to speak to the person in charge.” Peggy closed the door behind her as she turned and left.

“Give me a second, guys.” The lieutenant picked up the receiver and pressed the button for line two. “Hello, this is Lieutenant Clark speaking. How can I help you?”

The lieutenant abruptly sat up straight, his back involuntarily stiffened. He motioned for a pen and paper. I grabbed both off my desk.

“Yes, the address again. A gold Infinity and you said the listing agent is who? Got it. Don’t touch anything and don’t leave the scene. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He hung up. “Son of a bitch, get Peggy back in here.” Clark stood and headed for his office.

Dan ran out of the room and grabbed Peggy. She came back in as the lieutenant was strapping on his shoulder holster. “Sir, what can I do for you?”

“Peggy, call every patrol unit that’s east of town.” He handed her the piece of paper. “Get them to this address yesterday—go.”

“Gear up. Let’s roll. Something suspicious is going on at a property listed by Melissa Mately. Somebody ring up Jason and Doug. Tell them they’re on call.”

“Boss, the gold Infinity is her car.” I swore under my breath as we strapped on our hardware.

“Let’s move. Can this weekend get any worse?” The lieutenant was out the door before the rest of us.

Jack looked at me as he holstered up. “I’m afraid it just might”—he looked at the clock—“in about fifteen minutes.”

We jumped into the first cruiser in the lot and took off. Ten minutes later, we passed Eddy’s Tap along the highway as Jack drove east, our lights flashing and the siren singing. He had the gas pedal pressed to the floor.

My head spun back to look at the bar. “Shit, didn’t Mike Cole say that weird patron was at Eddy’s on Tuesday evening?”

“That’s exactly what he said.”

“And Adriana said Melissa hadn’t been heard from since Tuesday night, correct?”

“Yep. So you’re thinking our killer was on his way to the house on Oriole Lane to meet with Melissa and stopped at Eddy’s first for a beer?”

“It makes sense to me. He had to pass the bar anyway. That guy has to be our killer.”

“He stops and has a casual glass of beer before he kills someone? That’s more than twisted.”

As Jack drove, I secured my hair into a ponytail with the elastic band on my wrist. “Jack, everything about this psycho is twisted. We’re going to have to interview Mike and Abe again. There has to be more about him they remember.”

Jack exited the highway and turned left onto Oriole Lane. About a half mile up the road, we found the long driveway with the For Sale sign in front of it and turned in. The driveway widened near the garages, offering a good number of parking spots. The groundskeeper’s vehicle was near the walkway at the front of the driveway. Four sheriff’s patrol cruisers sat behind and to the right of their vehicle. We rolled in with the forensic van and two unmarked black cruisers.

“Boys, what do we know?” Lieutenant Clark asked as he got out and slammed the car door. Jack and I exited our car right behind him, and Kyle and Dan were already at the back of the van, grabbing their supplies.

“Lieutenant, there’s a suspicious smell coming from the barn. The garage has an abandoned vehicle inside,” Deputy Silver said.

“Okay… Deputy Lawrence, stay behind and get the groundskeepers’ statements. Somebody call the realty office now. We need to get this house opened up. Jade, get on it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Sir?”

“Yes, Deputy Silver?” Clark stopped and turned.

“The smell is
really
bad.”

“Got it.”

I called Realty World and talked to the first person that answered the phone. Apparently, Leon Erikson was the lucky recipient of my call. I told him to get to Oriole Lane now. It was a police matter, and in twenty minutes the front door would be broken down. I hung up, and we followed Kyle, Dan, and the lieutenant to the front of the barn.

With everyone gathered, Kyle and Dan passed around the jar of Vicks before we entered the barn. The sickening odor was intense. Each person reached in, pulled out a glob of Vicks, and dabbed it under their nose before entering.

The deputies entered first with the rest of us right behind. Silver hit the lights as he passed through the door. He called back to keep the doors open. To the left and right were box stalls, most likely for horses. A tack room stood twenty feet ahead to the right of us. Since we had no idea what to expect, the deputies had their guns drawn as a cautionary measure. Jack, the lieutenant, and I followed Kyle and Dan into the tack room while the deputies kept a watchful eye for any movement on the rest of the barn. The pungent, rotting smell made our eyes water, and our gag reflexes kicked in even with the menthol salve beneath our noses.

“There’s been a scuffle in here,” Dan said, pointing out the disturbances in the straw strewn about. “Look over here.” We hugged the edges of the room to the opposite wall, trying not to disturb the scene. Dried blood spatter and strands of blond hair were stuck to the rough-hewn boards. We gave the wall a long look then left the tack room—it needed to be processed.

Lieutenant Clark nodded ahead. Two deputies hugged the left stalls and two hugged the right as we inched forward. The odor was getting thicker with each step. The deputies peeked over every stall gate as they got to it, their guns at the ready.

Something odd caught my eye at the third stall on the left. I whispered and pointed. The deputies nodded and approached what looked to be leather tied around the gate slats.

Deputy Silver knelt down and peered between the slats. “Holy shit.” It took him a second to process what he’d just seen. He stood and looked over the gate. He waved us forward, then backed away so we could get through. Dan and Kyle peered over the gate with the lieutenant on their heels.

“Son of a bitch.” The anger spewed out of the lieutenant’s mouth.

Jack approached, looked over, and held up his hand for me to stop. “There’s no need for you to see this, Jade. It’s pretty bad. Silver, call Doug and Jason. Get them out here now.”

“Yes, sir, I’m on it.”

“Jack, move aside. We have a job to do. I can’t let personal feelings get in the way of our investigation,” I said.

Kyle climbed over the gate first, and Dan handed him the camera. Kyle took close to twenty pictures before allowing us to climb over and join him on the side where Melissa sat tied to the gate and bridled.