But alas, my wife would be suspicious if I called you for no reason.”
She just smiled at him. “Have you told her about my anti-man campaign?”
“Yes, but she thinks that you told me that, just to cover up your secret desires.”
“You always make me laugh, and I need that right now.”
“Don’t let it get to you, kid. When they start to get to you, you lose your objectivity. Never come at it from the emotional side. Always keep logic in the foreground.”
“Okay, Spock, what do you have for me?”
“Your first victim, Tamara, was tasered. She’s the only one who has been.”
“I found out from her roommate that she had recently escaped from an abusive relationship with a cop. If it was her ex and she saw him, a taser was probably the only way he could have immobilized her, so he could abduct her. The other victims might not have known that there was anything to fear, so it was easy to get them in a compromising situation. Tamara knew that this man was capable of violence and would have run, if she could.”
Laura glanced over to the next table and saw a Yale padlock sitting there. Her stomach did a flip-flop. “Ralph, what is that padlock doing there?”
He looked over in her direction. “Oh, that’s just the one they cut from the freezer. They dusted it for prints, but it was clean.”
“Where are the contents of Sheila Lawson’s purse?”
“Over there on the middle evidence shelf in one of those boxes, why?”
Excitedly, she ran over to the shelves and found the box she was looking for. She took the keys out, walked over to the padlock and opened it with the key on Sheila’s ring.
“I’ll be damned! How did you figure that one out? I never would have put those two things together.”
“Ralph, my gut tells me so much. I’ve had that Yale key on my brain for days. When I saw that lock, I just about jumped out of my skin. I’d been thinking door lock, not padlock.”
“But how in the hell could they be connected? Sheila Lawson is from his seventh murder, and Tamara was his first. Then there’s Julia White, who is number eight.”
“I’m not sure. Don’t tell your wife, but I could kiss you right now for calling me down here before that padlock got put away into evidence.”
“Your secret is safe with me, love.”
Her mind was racing as she rode up in the elevator, which she was cursing for being so slow. When the doors finally opened, she saw that both of her partners were at their desks, so she called them into the break room for coffee and a powwow.
Dan was hoping for a new lead of some kind. “From the look on your face that must have been really good news from Dr. Foote.”
“It was an interesting visit, Murphy, get out your pad. I want you guys to get your coffee, put on your thinking caps and sit down. There are two new things we have to work on. First is that Tamara was tasered, and she’s the only one so far. Second, and by far the biggest as far as I’m concerned, is that the Yale key on Sheila Lawson’s ring opened the padlock taken off of the freezer where Tamara’s body was found.”
Both men sat back in their chairs and just stared at each other in disbelief. Then they turned back toward Laura. “Are you guys in shock or what?”
Dan’s head was a little dizzy. “I don’t know about Burns, but I don’t even know where to start thinking about this one. None of our scenes have been connected with each other before.”
“Man, I’m with you, Murf! Okay, Peterson, you had time to think on your way up in the elevator. What’s your take? Let’s brainstorm this.”
“I don’t think that Sheila had anything to do with the first murder. I think the key was planted on her ring, by the killer, to throw us off. What if he’s just testing our intelligence? Or worse yet, this is just part of his elaborate psycho game. Julia White was deliberately placed at the same site as Tamara. He wanted Tamara found now for some reason, which is logical only to him. Is
She just smiled at him. “Have you told her about my anti-man campaign?”
“Yes, but she thinks that you told me that, just to cover up your secret desires.”
“You always make me laugh, and I need that right now.”
“Don’t let it get to you, kid. When they start to get to you, you lose your objectivity. Never come at it from the emotional side. Always keep logic in the foreground.”
“Okay, Spock, what do you have for me?”
“Your first victim, Tamara, was tasered. She’s the only one who has been.”
“I found out from her roommate that she had recently escaped from an abusive relationship with a cop. If it was her ex and she saw him, a taser was probably the only way he could have immobilized her, so he could abduct her. The other victims might not have known that there was anything to fear, so it was easy to get them in a compromising situation. Tamara knew that this man was capable of violence and would have run, if she could.”
Laura glanced over to the next table and saw a Yale padlock sitting there. Her stomach did a flip-flop. “Ralph, what is that padlock doing there?”
He looked over in her direction. “Oh, that’s just the one they cut from the freezer. They dusted it for prints, but it was clean.”
“Where are the contents of Sheila Lawson’s purse?”
“Over there on the middle evidence shelf in one of those boxes, why?”
Excitedly, she ran over to the shelves and found the box she was looking for. She took the keys out, walked over to the padlock and opened it with the key on Sheila’s ring.
“I’ll be damned! How did you figure that one out? I never would have put those two things together.”
“Ralph, my gut tells me so much. I’ve had that Yale key on my brain for days. When I saw that lock, I just about jumped out of my skin. I’d been thinking door lock, not padlock.”
“But how in the hell could they be connected? Sheila Lawson is from his seventh murder, and Tamara was his first. Then there’s Julia White, who is number eight.”
“I’m not sure. Don’t tell your wife, but I could kiss you right now for calling me down here before that padlock got put away into evidence.”
“Your secret is safe with me, love.”
Her mind was racing as she rode up in the elevator, which she was cursing for being so slow. When the doors finally opened, she saw that both of her partners were at their desks, so she called them into the break room for coffee and a powwow.
Dan was hoping for a new lead of some kind. “From the look on your face that must have been really good news from Dr. Foote.”
“It was an interesting visit, Murphy, get out your pad. I want you guys to get your coffee, put on your thinking caps and sit down. There are two new things we have to work on. First is that Tamara was tasered, and she’s the only one so far. Second, and by far the biggest as far as I’m concerned, is that the Yale key on Sheila Lawson’s ring opened the padlock taken off of the freezer where Tamara’s body was found.”
Both men sat back in their chairs and just stared at each other in disbelief. Then they turned back toward Laura. “Are you guys in shock or what?”
Dan’s head was a little dizzy. “I don’t know about Burns, but I don’t even know where to start thinking about this one. None of our scenes have been connected with each other before.”
“Man, I’m with you, Murf! Okay, Peterson, you had time to think on your way up in the elevator. What’s your take? Let’s brainstorm this.”
“I don’t think that Sheila had anything to do with the first murder. I think the key was planted on her ring, by the killer, to throw us off. What if he’s just testing our intelligence? Or worse yet, this is just part of his elaborate psycho game. Julia White was deliberately placed at the same site as Tamara. He wanted Tamara found now for some reason, which is logical only to him. Is
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