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Authors: Jennifer Hillier
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that’s when I saw that his face was gone, and I jumped back about three feet. I threw up,” he added, looking ashamed. “In one of the trash cans. I hope I didn’t ruin any potential evidence.”
“That’s a normal reaction, and besides, thousands of people come through this park every day. It’s going to be impossible to isolate trace evidence, anyway.” Vanessa resisted the urge to touch his arm. “Then what did you do?”
“I called nine-one-one.” He stopped. “Wait, no. I called Glenn Hovey first, the security guard who was scheduled to work overnight. But I couldn’t get ahold of him. I’m not even sure he showed up for work.”
“Earl mentioned that,” Vanessa said. “Any idea where he might be?”
“No, but his mother would probably know. You might want to start there.”
“How long has he worked here?”
“Full time? Twenty years, same as me,” Oscar said. “But we both worked here as kids, back when it was World of Wonder.”
“And yet he’s just a security guard and you’re the VP of operations.” Vanessa cocked her head. “That’s interesting.”
“Hovey’s not stupid, but he’s . . . different,” Oscar said. “He was never going to be more than what he is. You’ll see that when you meet him.”
Vanessa looked up at the camera mounted to the lamppost closest to them. “You have security footage?”
“Earl asked me the same thing,” Oscar said. “I’ll tell him what I told you. The surveillance system was bought used back in 1995 when Nick—that’s the owner—took over the park. It wasn’t anywhere near state-of-the-art back then, and it’s downright terrible now.” He seemed embarrassed. “I can check to see if anything’s there, but mainly the cameras are for show.”
“You’d be surprised at how often that’s the case,” Vanessa said. “It’s surprisingly effective. I’ll need to see what you do have.”
“I can get that going for you. The security office is on the first floor of the administrative building.” He pointed east. “That brown building way down there. I’m assuming you need to spend some time here at the . . .”
“Crime scene,” she said.
“Right. When you’re done, give me a call.” Oscar pulled out a business card and jotted a number down on the back. “That’s my cell. So you don’t have to talk to my receptionist.”
Vanessa slipped the card into her pocket. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Looking forward to it.” Oscar gave her another smile. “It’s really good to see you again, by the way. If I didn’t say it before.”
He turned and headed for his golf cart before she could respond.
NINE
T he body was in bad shape, but Vanessa had expected that going in. In her opinion, the smell was worse than its appearance. The man’s face was almost completely eaten away, but the medical examiner was estimating he’d been dead for at least six to eight days, which accounted for the horrible stench. They’d know more once the body was examined in depth, but for now, the ME’s best guesses were that the man was between the age of thirty and forty years old, he was probably homeless based on his muscle atrophy and the amount of dirt and grime on his skin and clothing, and he’d died of blunt-force trauma to the back of the head. As for which animal had eaten him, the ME suspected a large rodent—and it had happened postmortem, thank god. Somewhere in the park, or in the woods behind it, was a rat with a very full belly.
Why the dead body had been left in the middle of Wonderland for all to see was anyone’s guess. Earl Schultz had made the assumption that the killer wanted the body to be found, and that was usually true in cases like this. But Vanessa had worked more homicides than Earl ever had or would, and the positioning of the body—lying on its side, no posing or staging—suggested that the body being left in a public area might not have been planned after all.
Vanessa left the crime scene techs
“That’s a normal reaction, and besides, thousands of people come through this park every day. It’s going to be impossible to isolate trace evidence, anyway.” Vanessa resisted the urge to touch his arm. “Then what did you do?”
“I called nine-one-one.” He stopped. “Wait, no. I called Glenn Hovey first, the security guard who was scheduled to work overnight. But I couldn’t get ahold of him. I’m not even sure he showed up for work.”
“Earl mentioned that,” Vanessa said. “Any idea where he might be?”
“No, but his mother would probably know. You might want to start there.”
“How long has he worked here?”
“Full time? Twenty years, same as me,” Oscar said. “But we both worked here as kids, back when it was World of Wonder.”
“And yet he’s just a security guard and you’re the VP of operations.” Vanessa cocked her head. “That’s interesting.”
“Hovey’s not stupid, but he’s . . . different,” Oscar said. “He was never going to be more than what he is. You’ll see that when you meet him.”
Vanessa looked up at the camera mounted to the lamppost closest to them. “You have security footage?”
“Earl asked me the same thing,” Oscar said. “I’ll tell him what I told you. The surveillance system was bought used back in 1995 when Nick—that’s the owner—took over the park. It wasn’t anywhere near state-of-the-art back then, and it’s downright terrible now.” He seemed embarrassed. “I can check to see if anything’s there, but mainly the cameras are for show.”
“You’d be surprised at how often that’s the case,” Vanessa said. “It’s surprisingly effective. I’ll need to see what you do have.”
“I can get that going for you. The security office is on the first floor of the administrative building.” He pointed east. “That brown building way down there. I’m assuming you need to spend some time here at the . . .”
“Crime scene,” she said.
“Right. When you’re done, give me a call.” Oscar pulled out a business card and jotted a number down on the back. “That’s my cell. So you don’t have to talk to my receptionist.”
Vanessa slipped the card into her pocket. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Looking forward to it.” Oscar gave her another smile. “It’s really good to see you again, by the way. If I didn’t say it before.”
He turned and headed for his golf cart before she could respond.
NINE
T he body was in bad shape, but Vanessa had expected that going in. In her opinion, the smell was worse than its appearance. The man’s face was almost completely eaten away, but the medical examiner was estimating he’d been dead for at least six to eight days, which accounted for the horrible stench. They’d know more once the body was examined in depth, but for now, the ME’s best guesses were that the man was between the age of thirty and forty years old, he was probably homeless based on his muscle atrophy and the amount of dirt and grime on his skin and clothing, and he’d died of blunt-force trauma to the back of the head. As for which animal had eaten him, the ME suspected a large rodent—and it had happened postmortem, thank god. Somewhere in the park, or in the woods behind it, was a rat with a very full belly.
Why the dead body had been left in the middle of Wonderland for all to see was anyone’s guess. Earl Schultz had made the assumption that the killer wanted the body to be found, and that was usually true in cases like this. But Vanessa had worked more homicides than Earl ever had or would, and the positioning of the body—lying on its side, no posing or staging—suggested that the body being left in a public area might not have been planned after all.
Vanessa left the crime scene techs
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