Sins of the mother (Chapter-2)

Brooke watched the interaction between Lukas and the forensic woman with curiosity. They thought she couldn’t hear them, but she could. What the hell? She wasn’t there because she wanted to be. She was just following orders.

“Brooke?” Lukas approached her. His jaw was clenched. “Let’s talk inside.”

Brooke welcomed the warmth of the Command Center. She’d been freezing her butt off out there, but she sure as heck wasn’t about to show it. She steeled herself against a shiver and followed Lukas to a room that contained a dry-erase whiteboard and a small, oval table with comfortable-looking swivel chairs. There were two separate stations that contained computers that she assumed were linked to the same database as those at headquarters. Written on the board were assignments for the various detectives and officers who were helping with the scene, along with a timeline and other victim’s names and details about their deaths. Her name was written beside Lukas’s. Lukas saw it, and Brooke saw the resignation on his face. She didn’t want this to go sour before they even left the crime scene. She fixed a smile on her face and tapped on his shoulder.

“I know you probably don’t like this arrangement,” she said, “and I don’t blame you. This is your deal, your territory, and I’m just here to observe and assist. Honestly, I’m not real comfortable myself. It puts both of us in a difficult position. But it looks like we’re stuck with each other.”

“Let’s just get down to business, how about that?” Lukas said.

“Sure, whatever you say.”

Lukas’s eyes locked with hers for a moment. He broke off the gaze and turned to the whiteboard. “Let’s go over yours first.”

Brooke took out her well-worn notebook, flipped a few pages, stopped, and looked at her notes. She ignored her annotations and spat out the facts. “My first victim was found on August twenty-fifth. Third-shift manager found her in a dumpster behind his convenience store in a rough part of town. She was a white female named Cindy Sullivan, twenty-six years old, a well-known prostitute. Left behind a six-year-old daughter and a mother who seemed apathetic toward her daughter’s death. According to our records, she had no significant other. She was a local girl, lived about three blocks from where she was found. Cause of death was asphyxiation by mechanical means. No sexual trauma or mutilation. No witnesses or forensic evidence was found.”

As Brooke spoke, Lukas was making notes on the whiteboard. She flipped a few pages over and continued.

“The second was found on October fourteenth. A white female named Melanie Salem, twenty-two years old, found on the front lawn of an abortion clinic on the east side of town. Cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest, signs of sexual assault, cuts and abrasions to her genital area. She had a four-year-old boy, no other family that we could find. A previous child of hers had died of SIDS. She was also local. No witnesses or leads as of now. Both women had multiple arrests for prostitution and minor drug violations. We don’t know if there was any relationship between the two murders other than the victims’ occupation, and it appears that the victims were killed somewhere else and moved to the location where they were found.” She looked up from her notes as Lukas finished writing. “That’s it. I have virtually nothing.”

Lukas continued to write as he spoke. “My first victim was found on September twenty-seventh, which was about one month after your first one. Her name was Jamika Bradley, thirty-one, black female, found at the entrance to the Johnson City landfill hanging on a fence. Cause of death was blunt force trauma. She had kids, eight-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. There were no signs of mutilation or sexual trauma. And now this new victim. It’s been roughly two weeks since the last one. This crime looks very similar to the others.” Lukas looked away from the whiteboard and down at Brooke. “Do you agree?”

Brooke looked at the board. “My first instinct is to agree.Assuming our victim tonight is what we think she is, we have the same general MO. They were all most likely killed somewhere other than where they were found. Four of them in a relatively short amount of time. It all says serial killer, but as far as solving them, I’m not seeing anything that jumps out. That’s been the problem from the start. No consistent patterns. I think he’s figuring it out as he goes along. Evolving, you might say. Experimenting.”

“So, do we agree all of the murders were committed by the same person?” Lukas said.

“Based on the time frame and the fact that all of the victims were hookers, I’d say yes,” Brooke said. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…”

“It’s a duck, I know.”

Brooke looked up at the board, studying the details they had catalogued thus far. “We have one new lead. The rope. This marks the first time the killer has left something at the scene besides the victim.”

“True. I’ll make sure you get a good photo of it to follow up on in Kingsport. I’ll check here in Johnson City as well. Who knows? We’ve solved murders on less.”Lukas looked back to the board and appeared to be studying hieroglyphs.“One thing that jumps out at me are the times. The first was August twenty-fifth, the second was September twenty-seventh, the third October fourteenth, and now October twenty-ninth. One month between the first two, then two weeks. Not as much time between them now. Our killer is accelerating.”

“True. But that’s not really a pattern by definition,” Brooke said. She watched Lukas’s eyes flash. He tapped the back of his chair and paced in front of the white board.

“Yes, it is. It doesn’t tell us when the next one will be, but it tells us it won’t be long. That’s why there’s so much pressure to end this from the brass.” He turned to her. “I’m sure it’s bad for you, too.”

“You have no clue,” she said, thinking of her recent meeting with the administration in Kingsport. That had definitely not gone well. She shrugged. “I guess that’s why I’m here.”

“What’s your instinct say about the murders?”

“I try not to rely on instincts. I follow the leads, read the evidence, and go where it takes me. It’s worked well for me so far.”

A “gut instinct” wasn’t a tool for catching criminals, as far as Brooke was concerned. It was a liability, if anything. Made you second guess the facts. And facts didn’t lie. Unlike guts.

“Leads can only take you so far,” Lukas said. “For instance, why is he killing hookers?”

“It doesn’t matter why. All that matters is that we follow the evidence that will lead us to him and stop him.”

“Why will be how we catch him. Why is everything.”

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree,” Brooke said.

Lukas’s stare startled her a bit. His dark brown eyes seemed to bore into her, giving her an icy feeling.

The door to the room opened and a uniformed officer stuck his head in. “Miller, a witness has been located.They’ve taken her to headquarters, and she’s asking for you.”