The Case of the Murdered Man

At work Monday, he refused an assignment which caught his Capitan's eye and Percy was called into the office.

Percy started out by saying, "I think we have a serial killer operating in the area, Bill"

The Capitan started feeling a sickness in his stomach. He knew Percy would not make that kind of a statement unless he was 90% sure.

"Capitan, I've got a few more facts to check before I'm 100%. But it looks as if they are kidnapping the homeless and then torturing them to death. I don't know what they are doing to the bodies because they are not turning up."Percy went on.

"Perk, if this turns out to be true, we'll need to call in the big boys. It's too much for our guys to handle."

"Yeah I know I don't want to end my career with one of these cases unsolved."

Percy played the tape for the Bill.

After four hours, Bill said, "Jesus H Christ! Are you sure you want this kid with you? We're going to need her intact you know, don't fuck her up!"

"That would be my goal as well. She's just a kid, really. A scared kid with no family anymore, and she seems like she trusts me."

"That's what I meant when I said don't fuck her up. Don't let her down. If you can't handle this, we have resources for kids like her. And just to be on the safe side, get her in to see Victim Advocates. Has she even seen a doctor yet?" Bill handed me the forms required for Victim Advocates so her medical expenditures would be somewhat covered.

"Nope. Didn't cross my mind until she told her tale and now she says it's too late everything is all healed up. Just the same, I'll get some chest x-rays to corroborate the repeated blows to her chest, see if any other bones have recently been broken and healed. Rape kit's not gonna show anything but just the same, she should get checked."Percy returned to his desk. It was time to go to work, checking Jenny's story.

The first thing he did was check Jenny's name against the missing person's database. He got a hit, a girl named Jenny was reported missing by her parents, in the next large city one state over, after a trip to the mall. The girl matched Jenny's description.

He sent for the pictures of the missing girl that the report indicated were there.

Next he checked for an auto accident report, from the time Jenny indicated she saw in the newspaper. He found the accident report. It indicated that three individuals died in a one car accident. Their last names matched Jenny's.

Percy read the report carefully. The CSI writing in one section indicated he felt that the car had been forced off the road and into that ravine, but could find no positive proof. The CSI marked the death "suspicions" and signed off.

No one followed up on the report at the time.

He wrote up his findings and knocked off for the day.

+++++++

As Percy was walking in the door, the phone started ringing. Caller ID "City Police", they were calling him with another case. He let it go to voice mail. He needed to evaluate Jenny's state before he took another case.

Jenny came running out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. As she started to greet him, the voice mail tone went off on his phone. She lost her smile and said, "Is it the station?"

He nodded.

"Well answer it, I'll put the food in the refrigerator and we can eat it later," She said softly.

He started to protest, but was interrupted.

"Will you be very long do you think?" Jenny wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Won't know until I call in, I'll just ignore it for a while."

"Seems like putting it off might only make it worse. Just answer it and go get started, the sooner you start the sooner you can be back home." Jenny squared her shoulders and stood like she was ready to take a hit.

"I'm really sorry Jenny." He said as he fished out his phone and dialed the numbers.

It was a triple homicide

++++++++

When Percy arrived at the large home in an upper middle class neighborhood, he knew this was the crime scene without looking up the address. There were two TV trucks, a couple of reporters that he recognized in a crowd of people. There were more police vehicles in the street and on the lawn than in the headquarters parking lot at shift change. The patrol officers were trying to put up the yellow crime scene tape and control a crowd that wanted to look around.

He was greeted by a CSI sergeant, "Hi Sherlock, we got us a messy one here. There are three bodies in the master bedroom all shot with a large handgun multiple times. I hope you haven't eaten because the large caliber gun made a mess of the victims."

Percy thought, "Just my luck. There goes having dinner with Jenny tonight."

As I climbed the stairs, I dialed home, "Jenny, don't wait to have dinner with me. I won't be home until very late tonight or early in the morning. "

He could hear the tension in her voice as she said, "I'll miss you, please come home to me as soon as you can, I need you to hold me again."

He promised he would try.

+++++++++

Master sat in his little room and remembered.

He had spotted some black guys trying to talk girls into staring in home movies. Most of the girls turned them down or wanted money.

Master followed the guys and found they had a small house in a bad neighborhood. The nearest houses were vacant and boarded up.

The house offered enough privacy that he could "play" with both guys.

One night they brought a white girl home with them. He watched as they carried her drugged body into the house.

He waited.

The lights in one of the upstairs bedrooms went on. Soon Master saw the bright lights start. He knew they were filming.

It was now time to begin the fun, and he started up the stairs.

++++++++

He followed the CSI into the master bedroom. It was bad. He almost turned around and walked out. He looked at the patrol commander and said, "Only the guys with extra strong stomachs. I don't want to see them vomit all over the place."

The corner's guys were already there and covering the bodies. There were two on the bed covered with one sheet. One body was on top of the other, he thought, "I guess I know what they were doing."

The third body was on the floor by a camera tripod. The camera was missing. My CSI saw my look and remarked, "It was still running when we got here. I sent it back to the lab to process the tape and see if we got lucky."

My Captain arrived just as I was pulling the sheet off the couple on the bed. The guy on top was black; the woman on the bottom was white. At first glance, it looked as if they were having sex when killed. But something was wrong with what I was looking at. Then it registered in my brain.

His male parts were missing.

I heard my Captain Say, "Fuck! It's the Mayor's daughter ". I now knew where my priorities were.

Helping Jenny just went on the back burner.

I shifted into high gear, and started giving orders, "Identify every car in the driveway and on the street, Start a canvas of the neighborhood, Get me the results on the video, Find out who owns this house. "

My Captain got on the phone to the Chief. It was decided the Chief would inform the Mayor. That was one job I didn't want.

After CSIs were done with the bedroom, I released the bodies to the corner, for their trip to the morgue. They bagged the bodies and transferred them to the station wagons. The news guys went crazy taking pictures of the three bags.

The chief staged an impromptu news conference. He told the news people what a great job he was doing and that he would be running for reelection in the fall. The bastard then turned the news conference over to me.

I didn't have anything to give them, so I just gave them bull shit answers. The seasoned news people knew I had nothing and grilled me for an extra 30 minutes just to be mean.

The sun was just starting to rise when I left the scene. I had a pretty good idea of what went down. The girl was drugged. The two black guys were filming sex with her, so they could use the tape to blackmail the Mayor. It fit. Now all I had to do was figure out who killed them and why. My mind said, "I'll bet it's a jealous boyfriend or husband who caught them, and went nuts."

I went home

++++++++++++++

On my kitchen table was a note from Jenny.

"Kate called.

There is a problem with your son.

I told her you were out on a case.

She demanded you call her tonight.

I tried to stay up and wait for you but got too tired and went to bed.

Please join me, I need a hug.

LV U,

Jenny "

I know how to follow orders. I went to bed and cuddled. I knew what my priorities were. Kate could wait until tomorrow.

I was awaked by Jenny's loud voice on the phone, "You can't talk to him. He was on the case all night. I guess he got in between 5:00 and 6:00 this morning." The yelling was still going on as I walked into the kitchen. I took the phone from Jenny and said, "What the fuck do you want Kate?"

"I'm your Chief of Police and who the hell is Kate?" I suspected I wasn't on his speed dial. He had never called before.

"Sorry sir, I thought you were my ex-wife."

"Holmes, I want you in my office in one hour! The shit has hit the fan," was the answer I got.

By the time I got back to my bedroom, Jenny had clean clothes for me all laid out and a hot cup of coffee on my dresser. A little voice asked through the door, "Are you decent? And can I come in? I have breakfast."

She had made me an omelet and toast. She fed me while I dressed. I made it to the chief's office with 5 minutes to spare and heart burn from eating and drinking my coffee too fast. I wasn't in the best of moods.

Little did I know this was the highpoint of my day, the rest would turn to shit.

+++++++++++

In the Chief's office there was the Mayor, the Medical Examiner, the DA, my Captain, two gentlemen I later learned were FBI special detail, sand the Forensic Captain. When I walked in, they all stopped talking. "Something's really wrong," I thought.

I was introduced to the FBI guys. One of them smiled and said, "Any relation?"

Well you can guess my answer.

Then he added, "We're part of the unit that catches serial killers, we've heard you might have one."

"I do have one, but I'm just getting the information together, so we can call you. What has that got to do with this case?" I humbly asked.

They all started talking at once until the chief held up his hands. "One at a time please, starting with forensics," was all he said.

Forensics started, "The bodies on the bed were staged. It seems the guys were killed first. The girl had been drugged, and then was brutally raped and killed. Then she was shot, postmortem to look as if she was killed along with the rest of them."

"The video tape?" I asked.

"Nada "was the reply. "It was typical homemade style porn. It stopped just before the guys were killed and was restarted after the bodies were arraigned back on the bed. We are still going over the room looking harder now, but I don't expect to find anything, Sherlock. This guy is good."

"Can we have the video tape and send it to our lab?" asked one of the FBI guys.

An evidence bag with the tape in it slid down the table toward him. "Good luck," was added.

The ME started talking next, "The guy you refer to as 'The Camera Man' was also shot postmortem. He was actually died of a broken neck. Whoever broke his neck was very strong. The victim's head was nearly torn off. Only the skin on the neck kept the head from falling off. It's almost as if the head was twisted around in a complete circle and then returned to its normal position."

"The man on the bed was also dead before he was shot. It appears he was punched in the chest hard enough to burst his heart. There were vaginal secretions on what was left on his genitals. But there was no evidence he ejaculated. I'll know more if his genitals are ever recovered."

"The girl is another story. Mr. Mayor I suggest you step out of the room for this part." The ME looked down waiting for the Mayor to refuse; luckily he got up and walked out.

He resumed after the Mayor left, "We found evidence that the girl was awake up until she died. From the tests that we did on her, we found evidence that a rubber object was in her mouth and appears to have been held in place, by straps wrapped around her head. It appears she was gagged by a ball gag to keep her quiet. Both her wrists and ankles showed signs of being restrained. Her left arm was broken in a way we think was caused by her extreme efforts to escape."

He stopped and took a breath, "Something very large was inserted in her vagina. It was long enough to enter her cervix and wide enough to tear the perineum and vaginal walls; fourth degree tear. We found both her vagina and cervix were almost destroyed by this object. The pain must have been excruciating. But that's not what killed her. She died from a blow or blows to her chest that broke her sternum and burst her heart."

I was sitting there when I remembered what Jenny had told me, "But when his hand touched my face, his other hand punched me right in my chest. I couldn't breathe. They thought that was really funny."

"I think this was done by my serial killer. Looks like he's escalated." Percy said quietly.

I then spent the next 90 minutes telling Jenny's story and answering all questions.

When I was all done, one of the FBI guys declared "Looks like we've got one, a really nasty one."

I left the meeting thinking that my day couldn't get any worse, when I remembered that I had to return my ex's call.

"Why did I promise Jenny, I'd stop drinking?" I thought.

+++++++++++

I checked the time difference because my ex wife had moved to the west coast. Then I remembered that she was the one who moved away from here, taking my children with her with no consideration about how it affected me.

I dialed her number.

As luck would have it, I didn't wake her up. She was already up.

"What do you want?" I said as a greeting.

It took her a moment to recognize my voice, "I want you to take your son to live with you, "She replied.

"Fuck you," and I hung up the phone. It had been about 13 years since she left with my kids. I never had any contact with them since she left. Oh I tried, I sent cards, letters, presents for their birthdays and Christmas, I telephoned (she kept changing her number every time I tried). After a few years I just got tired of trying and stopped.

Now her she wanted me to take my son? No, "Hi how are you? " How have you been? ","Stick it up your ass," nothing but a demand. She divorced me and took the kids not the other way around! And now she was demanding something!

"Well it would be a cold day in Hell", I was thinking when my cell rang.

"Percy?" My ex wife asked.

"What about 'Fuck you' don't you understand?" I asked before I hung up again.

She called again, I hung up, again. This went on for about the next 15 minutes.

I guess I must have gotten a little loud because my Captain was out of his office and standing before me saying, "Goddamn it, Percy! Talk to her!"

I answered the phone the next time it rang. "Hurry up! You're using up my cell minutes."

"Well, ass hole, stop hanging up and I'll explain," She replied.

And explain she did. It seemed my son at 15 stopped being the loving son and started becoming the juvenile delinquent he was now. She couldn't control him anymore and was threatening to send him to me when he was arrested by the police. My son had told the judge that he wanted to live with his father and not his slut mother.

The judge said if I accepted my son then she would suspend the sentence. If I didn't accept the child or the child was arrested or ran away, my son would spend until he was 21 in a juvenile facility.

"Does our son know I'm a cop?" I asked, "And a real hard ass?"

"Maybe," Was the answer I got.

"What do you mean maybe?" I asked.

"Well he has a 20 year old picture of you from your graduation from Police Academy," Was the reply I got.

"Well tell him the truth!" I screamed, "And call me back with the answer."

+++++++++

That night I told Jenny about the phone call and my ex-wife's request at dinner. About two hours later, Jenny said, "I think it's a good idea for him to live here, and besides I'd like the company."

About midnight the phone woke me up. I expected it to be another homicide so I answered, "Yeah!"

"Dad?" said a tentative voice on the other end.

I looked at the caller ID and it showed me a west coast number, "Todd?" I asked.

"Hi Dad, Mom said she called you?" I heard.

"Yeah, and I'm thinking about it," I replied.

"Please Dad, can I come home? I'll be really good. I'll even get a job to pay for my upkeep."

"Shit!" I thought. My son sounded desperate. "Well I guess we could try it for a while. If it doesn't work, there's always the juvenile center as a back up."

"Thanks Dad, when can I come back? I'll be very good, you'll see." was his answer.

"As soon as your mother and the judge work it out," was my answer.

About a week later my desk phone rang, I answered as my usual charming self, "Yeah! Detective Holmes."

"Judge Sanchez, Oregon State Juvenile Court speaking, "was the reply.

"How may I help you, your honor?" I politely asked.

I heard laughter on the other end. "Now that we've established the pecking order, I'm calling about your son," she replied.

"Your Honor, I'm a homicide detective and most of the people who call me on this number are not your most outstanding citizens or are people calling to increase my work load. I'm sorry I snapped at you." I said as humbly as possible.

"Well I wanted to talk to you about your son before I make up my mind as to his sentence. Do you work with children?" She asked.

"Your Honor, in my line of work I only see the kids just before the coroner gets them. I try and find their killers to stop the body count," I answered sadly.

"I understand. Are you working on anything that would stop you from flying out and picking up your son?" She asked.

"The case is confidential and I can't talk about it, but I can tell you that I'm on a taskforce with the feds, the state boys, the county boys and my guys, "I answered truthfully.

"I see. I hate serial killers also," was her answer.

I started to protest, but she stopped me by saying, "I didn't say anything about serial killers, did I?"

"Do you expect to have the case closed quickly?" She asked.

"Unfortunately no, "I sighed.

"I'll arrange transport. Your work is too important," was her answer.

++++++

After her phone call to Detective Holmes she was a little conflicted. When he answered the phone he sounded like a typical "hard-ass" cop, not wanting to be disturbed.

His voice conveyed a feeling of power and no nonsense.

The fact that he was assigned to a "serial killer" task force impressed her. Now just any cop worked those cases. They only assigned the very best.

She was conflicted about him. She had had her clerk "check him out" and all the reports came back positive.

She had a choice, send the kid to juvenile center or ship him across the country to a father he never really knew. Returning the boy to his mother was out of the question. The mother was a drug addict and part time prostitute. It was from his mother that he was running.

Later that afternoon, she made her decision and signed the papers.

He was his father's problem now. But she had taking a little liking to the boy and hoped her would straighten out. She made a mental note to follow-up on the boy.

++++++++++

A couple weeks later my phone rang and I was asked if I could meet a certain flight number at a certain time and sign for a prisoner.

"What's the prisoner's name?" I inquired.

"Todd Holmes,"

"I'll be there," was my answer.

Being a cop and at the airport for a prisoner exchange, I got to bypass all the TSA bullshit. I was shown to a locked room and asked for my ID and the prisoner's name and flight number. I was told that the prisoner would be brought to me when the flight arrived so I could exchange the paperwork.