Murder! Too Close To Home (31 page)

The woman was facing away from me, keeping me from identifying her face. I tried to move from my position to get around to the front, but I could not move my feet, they were stuck to the floor as if glued.

She then unzipped her dress, letting it slide to the ground, revealing a very shapely figure…topless and in black underwear. Picking up the dress, she folded it and then put it also into the bag.

Looking up, she saw her reflection in a mirror and stopped to admire herself, rubbing her tight belly before letting out an audible sigh and pulling on sweat clothes.

Before it was covered up, I noticed a tattoo on her shoulder. It is a snake, the tail originating by her backbone before it then slithered up over her shoulder blade. The reptile’s head ended two inches from her left shoulder. It seemed familiar to me somehow, but I could not put my finger on where I’d seen it before.

She donned sunglasses and pulled up her hood before turning around and exiting the locker room nonchalantly. Seeing the side of her face with the big glasses, I strained my mind to put a name with the features to no avail. As she exited the room, I felt my feet being released from the floor and I took chase, running at top speed and crashing through the doors into… nothingness!

Chapter 86

April 3, 1997

I felt myself falling…again.

I flung my arms around, trying in vain to gain a grip on anything that would stop the fall.

I suddenly landed, knocking some of the air out of me. Gasping a couple of times before opening my eyes, I saw the inevitable 5:30 glaring at me menacingly from my alarm clock. Its demonic glow told me that I had no choice but to obey and get up.

I looked over, comforted to hear Betty’s steady breathing. At least I hadn’t waken her this time.

I got up and sat on the side of the bed, trying to firm up what was revealed to me in the dream.

Shapely, a good looking woman, but I had already deduced this from interviews and evidence. The tattoo was new, and maybe a clue we could run with. I’d check with tattoo parlors in the area later today, as they were not morning businesses.

One other thing was stuck in my groggy mind, we had assumed that mentally she felt superior, but it also appeared that she was quite preoccupied with her physical beauty.

I wasn’t sure if this point could help us in our search for the mysterious woman, but I put a big check mark next to it in my head as a fact I needed to mull over.

I got up and headed down the stairs to make the coffee. Having no doubt now that the information revealed to me in the dream was factual, I still wondered at the process that let me know these things that others couldn’t know.

What was so damn special about me anyway, besides being able to function with a lack of restful sleep?

The sound of the coffee dripping into the pot was the official indicator of the start of another day. Another day, but one that I was cautiously optimistic about all of a sudden.

If I’d only known…

Chapter 87

April 3. 1997

Arriving at the office, I found a report from Doc Elliot on my desk with the results of the autopsy of Jacob Wesley.

The one important piece of information that interested me, highlighted by the doctor himself, was the results of the tox screen. In the fluorescent yellow box, it indicated what I assumed must be massive amounts (over 200g according to his notes) of Potassium Chloride.

Reading the notes at the end of the report, Doc Elliot explained that this is one of the drugs used for lethal injections in several states. It was usually the last chemical given in a three-chemical cocktail used for the death row inmates when their time came. Without the other two chemicals preceding this one, death would be rapid and extremely painful.

He went on to say that it is readily available for treating potassium deficiencies in animals, and that the cost was minimal, probably hundreds of companies ship this through the mail daily.

With no easy way to track this, I put it in my case folder. We probably could eventually tie this purchase to Jasmine, but we already know she did it, and there were better things to expend our time on.

Betty entered my office and informed me that Matt Brady, the state’s polygraph operator was here and in the conference room. Not having much hope of finding anything pertinent from what I assumed was a clerical error, I sighed and followed her out of the office, saying I would grab some coffees and bring them with me.

I snag four coffees and some extra sugar and cream for our guest and headed to the conference room. Entering, I sat them down and started to distribute them while Betty made introductions.

“Gabe, this is Sergeant Matt Brady, Matt this is Gabriel Celtic, and of course you already know Frank.”

We all shook hands with the good-looking and laidback thirty-something officer. Indicating he liked his coffee black, I slid a cup of the beverage across the table, giving Frank the extra sweetener for his desk.

We talked for a few moments about some cases we had in common, Sergeant Brady exuding the confidence seemingly limited to those under forty in this line of work.

“Matt,” Frank started when we had the chitchat out of the way, “We asked you here because we noticed a discrepancy in your report of the sheriff’s department.”

The sergeant seemed to tense slightly as the words hit him. Not an unusual reaction to someone questioning one’s specialty.

“It’s probably nothing,” Frank continued, “but this case is too long ongoing, and we are taking a second look at
all
of the information pertinent to the investigation.”

“What can I do to help?” the trooper asked, his confidence seeming to return.

“There seems to be one less test than indicated on your machine’s tape than shown on your reports,” Betty said while looking down at her notes. “Twenty eight reports, both handwritten as well as computer generated, but it would appear that there are only twenty seven tests given according to your machine’s output information. Can you help us clear this up?”

Betty had been relaxed while reading off the stats, but became guarded upon looking up, noticing some physical indicators that had changed on the sergeant.

I had also been watching him, and noticed him tense significantly as Betty’s question unfolded.

Essentially, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

An audible gulp preceded his reaching for his coffee and taking a quick sip. His hands trembled slightly as he held the cup.

Setting the cup down, he frowned slightly, saying, “I find that hard to believe.”

Betty now knew that he was hiding something and pushed harder.

”Can we see your copy of the reports sergeant?”

Matt Brady seemed reluctant to do so before finally sliding the file over to her.

Gingerly he started to open the cover before slapping it closed again quickly. A determined look was now on his face.

“Look, I think I know what may have happened,” he started as I noticed a sheen developing on his upper lip.

“Can I ask for your…uh…discretion in this matter? Keep it just between us?”

“How bout we just arrest you right now for hindering our investigation?” Frank snarled at him, exhibiting the foul mood he got when a cop wants special consideration.

Betty held up her hand to calm the room.

“We’ll agree to let your superiors handle punishment if any is needed, Mr. Brady,” she said, a steely look now in her eyes, “but you had better be straight with us, and I mean right now!”

You could almost see the confidence ebbing away from him, a pained look now crossing his face before he covered it with his hands for a few moments in fear and embarrassment.

“Ok, ok… look, I didn’t plan for it to happen, it just did, you know? My last test, this female in uniform entered, sat down at the table and started to talk me up. She was saying how great I looked and that the color of the uniform really brought out my eyes, that kind of thing. “

“She was really built; her uniform fit her like a glove. Before you knew it, she was brushing her fingertips against my arm, saying how strong I looked and then she had her hand on my neck.”

“
How long do we have?
she asked…and then I was kissing her.”

“She started unbuttoning everything on me, stopping long enough to go lock the door, and then helped me get her clothes off. She was insatiable, and she knew things I had never heard of. I bet she got off ten times, her body was unbelievable. I just couldn’t help myself. We were in here a good half hour. I was beginning to worry someone would come looking for us before she finally got her fill!”

“When we were done we got dressed, she kissed me, and then she left. I was spent and started picking up my stuff. It was only later when I was entering the test results into the computer that I realized that we had never gotten around to the actual test. At that point, I just made up some results. There would be too many questions if I had asked her to do the test again.”

He looked spent again as he finished the story, looking down at the table in apparent shame. Looking up once again, he finished his tale of the encounter.

“I’ve got no good excuse, except to say she was hot, and she wanted it as much as I did.”

“What’s her name?” Betty asked anxiously, “Who was this goddess that you may have thrown away your career for?”

“I never did find out,” he almost whispered. “The subjects were all numbered; I never took the time to match the number with the name.”

Betty pushed the folder over to the trooper. “Do it now, please.”

Finding the relevant chart, he made note of the test number, then cross referenced it to the name of the subject.

“Ok, here it is. Her name is Jane…Jane McHenry.”

Chapter 88

April 3, 1997

Jane?

“Are you sure it was Jane McHenry?”

“Says so here, long dark hair, well built of course,” Matt Brady replied.

“That’s Jane,” Betty said, her face showing the confusion evident on all of ours.

Looking amongst ourselves, I indicated we should go outside.

“Excuse us a minute, Sergeant,” I said as I stood and followed the others out.

Outside in the hall, we were silent for a moment, not knowing which way to go from there. There was another conference room next door and I waved my partners into it.

Frank started with, “What does this mean?”

“Might just mean she was horny and found the trooper attractive,” Betty stated as a matter of fact. “We have no motive, no other clue that would lead us to believe this was anything other than what seems; a sexual encounter.”

“Unless it’s her way of getting out of taking the polygraph,” Frank stated; a hound on the scent with blood in the air.

“Awful convenient is all I’m saying.”  

“Are you trying to say Jane was avoiding the test because she is somehow involved in the murders, Frank? You know as well as I do that Jane is tasked with the Sheriff Department’s day to day duties and paperwork. Why would she implicate the department she is essentially in charge of, that just doesn’t track,” Betty said with certainty.

“OK, ok, let’s step back a moment,” I interjected, trying to be the levelheaded peacekeeper.

“She didn’t take the polygraph, whether by accident or by plan we can’t be certain. Sergeant Brady is in the next room, let’s get him set up and give her the test right now.”

That seemed to appease both of them. I then asked Frank to go have Matt Brady set up his machine, asking Betty to go over to the jail and bring Jane back to the conference room for the test.

They both left the room to get the process started while I continued to sit at the table and think. I rubbed my face with my hands, trying to rub the whole morning off of my being with no success. The sordid tale of Sergeant Brady and its repercussions were just one more thing thrown at us in this investigation. One more hoop to jump, another little mountain to scale.

“Damn it!”

I was sick of it, I couldn’t wait for this mess to be over so Betty and I could get out of Dodge for awhile. A warm sandy beach was waiting for us somewhere, and we were sitting back here in Indiana counting grains of sand instead. Even Frank, the man that could latch onto a clue and follow it through hell and high water to its eventual conclusion was getting frustrated.

I sighed in frustration before standing and heading into the other conference room.

“How’s it coming?” I asked as I entered.

“It’ll be ready in a minute,” the sergeant said with apparent determination, covering his embarrassment with over-the-top professionalism. 

Betty appeared in the doorway, and I looked over at Matt and asked if he wanted Jane at the end of the table (or maybe
on
the end of the table)?

Before he could answer, I heard behind me, “She’s not here,”

Chapter 89