The Lady Killer (17 page)

“Thanks, any word from that beat cop who was the first one on the scene?”

“Yes, he called back and told me that he got radioed about a robbery in progress. He found the door just standing open when he got there and no sign of a break-in. He went on in, just to secure the premises, and that’s when he found the body.”

“I think that this Emily Anderson persona must have made copies of all the keys to vacant buildings, while working for Amy Montgomery. None of these crime scenes were broken into, right, Burns?”

“Yes, you’re right. All of the scenes were just open.”

Captain Rutledge was watching Dan. “That’s a pretty big furrow I see in your brow, Detective Murphy. What’s on your mind?”

“I was just thinking about the note that was in with the rose, about getting too close. Maybe Amy is dead because she could have identified him by a smell, birthmark, or recognizing his voice. He obviously knew that we were on to the fact that he was posing as Emily Anderson. Otherwise he wouldn’t have sent the rose in that name, just to taunt us.”

Captain Rutledge snorted and got a half grin on his face. “Detective Murphy, now I know why I’m so glad I let you transfer in here. Great reasoning! What we have here, is a guy who is so brazen that he knows what we’re thinking and then throws it up in our faces. How on earth do we stay one step ahead of him?”

Laura’s face lit up. “Sir, I just got another one of my strange thoughts. What if this guy dresses up as a woman to get close to his victims? Maybe he was also Nancy, Sheila Lawson’s friend, and the crazy shopper Julia White threw out of her store. If he was still dressing as Emily Anderson, then maybe that’s how he lured Amy. Even though they were on the outs, if Emily said she had some kind of a deal where they could have made some money, Amy would have met her to see what it was all about.”

Captain Rutledge got a very serious look on his face. “Good work, Detective. Unfortunately, that puts an even worse thought in my head. If this guy is a master of disguise, along with the craftiness and intelligence, we really do have our work cut out for us. He could be sitting right under our noses, and we wouldn’t even realize it. Unless anyone else has something for me, I want to get to work on these files right away.”

“Thank you for coming up and meeting with us, Sir.”

“I need to start taking a much more active roll in this investigation. I keep saying that I want to put extra people on these cases, but considering what’s going on, I just don’t know who we can trust.”

Laura gave him a warm smile. “Knowing that I have Burns and Murphy as partners, and Ralph as my ME makes my job easier. Not that we couldn’t use more help, but having you on our team, Sir, is like winning the lottery.”

“Well, that’s mighty high praise to live up to, Laura. I better get to work fast, so I don’t let you down.”

CHAPTER 12

A
few days later, she was sitting at her desk when Ralph called. He never called unless he had some news about a case, and she could sure use some. She made the trip down to his lab, hoping for something she could move on. “Give me something good, boyfriend.”

“When did I graduate in status? Does this mean I beat out Murphy?”

“Murphy is
not
my boyfriend!”

“The lady doth protest too much.”

“Okay, you’re right. Part of me wants to snuggle up in those big, wonderful arms and forget this case even exists. Then there’s the sensible part, who knows better.”

Ralph smiled knowingly. “Being sensible never gets you anywhere in life.”

“No, but it just might keep me safe.”

“Is that the real issue, safety? Alan really did a number on your head, didn’t he?”

Laura let out a deep sigh. “Yes he did.”

“It isn’t fair to punish Dan for what some else did to you. I think he’s one of the nicest people we have working here, and everyone knows he’s crazy about you. Give him a chance, before someone else grabs him up.”

She shrugged and grinned. “Maybe when this case is over, what do you have for me?”

“I put a rush on that DNA from the cigarette butts, and it belongs to Michael Vitale.”

“Why is that name familiar?”

“He’s one of the two Indiana officers currently under suspicion, remember?”

Laura got a look of amazement on her face. “No wonder I couldn’t put that together! Ralph, this is too weird! Does the Captain know?”

“I just got the report back two seconds ago. Do you want to tell him?”

“Yes, I will head up there right now. Anything else?”

“I found a small bruise on Amy’s neck. I’m thinking that our boy is either a martial arts student, or had military training, and knows how to immobilize someone by hitting a specific nerve in that area. I didn’t find it on the other victims, but Amy might just bruise easier than most. Being a blonde, she had that very fair skin. That would explain why we never find signs of a struggle.”

She looked hopeful. “Any chance there’s a fingerprint along with that bruise?”

“None, but what did you expect. This guy is incredibly careful. It’s probably all those years of police training.”

“Thanks again for trying. We really need some kind of break and soon!”

Captain Rutledge looked up as she walked in his office. “Something new, Detective?”

“Yes, Sir, the Butt Man from Amy’s murder scene is Michael Vitale.”

A look of shock came across his face. “The same Michael Vitale that is on our force, and I am researching at this very moment?”

“The very same one!”

Captain Rutledge threw his hands up in the air, with a look of exasperation. “That’s unbelievable! What are you thinking?”

“I’m wondering if this guy is brazen enough to put his own DNA at a crime scene and hope that we just write it off as another Butt Man. Or, is he really just another Butt Man?”

“Or, is psycho just playing with us, and neither of these guys is our killer? He has taken us on so many twists and turns, it’s hard to decide what’s real, and I think that’s what he’s counting on. It’s too bad we can’t find a way to trap him at his own game. The trouble is we aren’t even sure what his next move is.”

“Sir, I,m talking to myself in the mirror about this case. It’s the last thing on my mind when I go to bed at night and the first conscious thought I have in the morning. I feel like we are following a trail of breadcrumbs, destine to lead us into the wicked witch’s oven.”

“All we can do is keep plugging away, Laura. Give me a couple of more days on these two guys. So far, I haven’t turned up anything solid.”

“Thank you, Sir. Let me get back to my team.”

When she sat down at her desk, she noticed an attractive woman sitting with Dan in the break room. She watched as they laughed playfully together while they ate. The woman reached over and grabbed the pickle off of Dan’s sandwich. He lightly slapped her hand in mock disapproval. Then they laughed even harder and hugged each other.

Roy had been watching Laura’s reaction and came over to her desk. “Enjoying the show?”

She let out a disdainful snort. “Well, I guess hunky guy got himself a girlfriend.”

“Funny, I never noticed that your eyes were green.”

“What are you talking about? My eyes are brown, silly!”

“Gee, I think I’m seeing a green-eyed monster in there right now.”

She looked over at him, as he burst out laughing. “Roy, you turkey, you’re goofing on me!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You looked positively ready to kill.”

“That’s just your imagination, I could care less.”

“Yeah, right! Relax, that’s his youngest sister. She just got back in town today and surprised him by stopping by for lunch.”

“Oh.”

“You know, you better not let him sit too long, or the next one might not be a relative.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “Did Ralph call you?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“Because he basically said the same thing to me just now, when I was down in the lab.”

“It’s true. If you have as much feeling for Murf as I think you do, you should act on it.”

“I’m afraid to right now. This nutcase is watching me, and we don’t know what kind of crazy things he’s thinking. If he transferred the anniversary to me, then maybe he transferred the affection also. If psycho boy sees me with another man, he could have a very jealous reaction.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. You might be right, but you two could be discreet.”

“Yes, and then you say something to Stacey, because you trust her. Then she tells someone else, because she trusts them, and it gets back to our psycho friend.”

Roy crossed his heart. “I promise, if you two get together, I will never say anything to anyone. Why were you seeing Ralph?”

“You’re not going to believe this. The Butt Man from Amy’s crime scene is Michael Vitale.”

Roy shook his head back and forth slowly. “You’re right, that’s unbelievable. This fits in with the fact that all of the Butt Men have domestic violence issues.”

“What department does Michael work in?”

“He works in the Special Victims Unit with Stacey.”

Laura couldn’t believe what she was hearing and gave Roy an incredulous look. “Wait a minute! You’re telling me that a guy with a domestic violence record is working in an area where he’s protecting victims?”

“I know, seems weird to me also. But the charges were dropped, and we don’t know the circumstances.”

“Were there any particulars in his file?”

“No, not that I could find.”

“I told the Captain that I couldn’t decide if our psycho was brazen enough to plant his own DNA at the scene to throw us off, or if this guy is a dupe like all the rest.”

“Maybe we should get him in here and talk to him. If he isn’t the psycho, he might actually know the killer.”

“That’s risky. If he is the killer, he’ll run. Let me ask the Captain what he thinks.”

Laura headed for the elevators and ran into Dan and his sister there. “Detective Peterson, this is my sister Shelly. We haven’t seen each other in over a year. I hope you don’t mind that I took the time for lunch with her.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Shelly. Your brother is making me out to be a relentless ogre.”

“That’s not what he tells me. I think he kind of likes you.”

Dan looked very uncomfortable. “Okay, Shelly! I think Detective Peterson needs the elevator. Go ahead; we will take the next one.”

“Thanks, I’m on my way to see the Captain. I’ll be right back.”

After Laura left, Dan gave his sister one of those looks that could kill. “Hey, what are you trying to do to me?”

“Oh, did you turn ten shades of red, or what!”

“Thanks for embarrassing me in front of her.”

“My little, baby brother has a crush. You told me you like her, what are you worried about? Ask her out to dinner, or get her some flowers.”

Dan smiled quietly to himself. “The flower thing might be a pretty sore subject at the moment. Give me time. We’re in the middle of that serial killer case right now, which reminds me, no going out after dark.”

“I’ll be careful, but you have to also. I hate the fact that you’re a cop. It’s a constant worry.”

The elevator doors opened again, and he put her inside. “Okay, I will be extra careful just for you, but I love being a cop, and I love you. See you later.”

He walked back over to his desk and sat down, just as Roy joined him. “I thought your sister was going to give Peterson a heart attack.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She saw the two of you having lunch and thought Shelly was a new girlfriend.”

Dan’s face lit up, and he leaned in closer. “Really?”

“Yeah, she’s afraid to go out with you, you know.”

“Why, is it because she still thinks I could be the psycho killer?”

Roy looked shocked. “I didn’t know that she ever thought that!”

“Yep, and she also suspected you. It was when she found that first rose in the freezer, and I took her for coffee to calm her down. She was very frightened and knew it was someone who worked on the force. Obviously, she wasn’t thinking straight.”