Lauren (7 page)

That's how he became more educated on the numerous names for the date rape drug, and its success of being undetected.

Not wanting to take any unnecessary chances and risk getting caught, he would make sure to get enough of a supply this time. He had his fantasies to fulfill and some new ideas emerged during the last week. Just maybe he was in the market for something a little different.

He wanted a challenge, a fight, and a struggle. It turned him on. He wanted it, and that was precisely what he would get, tonight.

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Ken Murphy opened the door to Hennessey's old Irish pub in downtown Ridgeburgh. The daylight from outside illuminated the pub, and all eyes turned toward the doorway. Some of the regulars squinted with annoyed looks on their faces, until they recognized Ken.

"Hey there, laddy,” the bartender yelled, and Ken gave a wave to the old timer named Patrick.

The bar had been in the Hennessey family for twenty years. It had the reputation of making the best burgers in town, never mind an award-winning corn beef and cabbage meal.

Ken waved at a few other patrons then walked directly to Eddie, who sat at his spot in the corner. Eddie looked up from his beer and burger, smiling.

"I tried to wait for you, partner, but you're thirty minutes late.” Eddie gave him a hard time. Just teasing him a little, like usual.

"Bullshit! You said 1:00 p.m., 12:30p.m.,” Ken argued, as he slid into the old, grass green leather booth.

"Hirs ya beer, Kenny, me boy,” Patrick interrupted, in a distinct Irish brogue. He placed the coaster down first, then the beer.

"Thanks, Pat. Can you put in a burger for me? Rare, please,” Ken said.

"Already in. It will be ready in a snap.” Patrick stood there, smiling. He was a likable man, in his late sixties, with dark red hair and a face full of freckles. He was tall, like Eddie, standing over 6 ft, and built like a bulldog.

"So, ya haven't been round in a while, Kenny. I her you've been real busy with the lassies. Have ya fund tat special one yet?” Patrick asked and Eddie laughed.

"Maybe,” Ken added with confidence, and Eddie gave him a funny look.

"Who would that be?” Eddie replied sarcastically, as he lifted the burger to his mouth.

"The gorgeous and sexy Detective Lauren Phelps, my man."

He dropped his burger back down on his plate, then fell back against the booth.

"Who are you kidding? She showed no interest whatsoever.” He sounded rather annoyed, and both Ken and Patrick appeared to notice. Eddie quickly glanced away.

"Her toes! Did you see those beautiful toes? She's perfect."

"She laughed at you, Ken, when you snuck your home telephone number to her, remember?"

"She's just a little shy, a little reserved, that's all. We were talking before you rudely interrupted us."

Eddie rolled his eyes, while Patrick listened.

"Oh, yeah. You don't want to talk about that right? That's when you rudely interrupted us, called her a bimbo, then continued to act like a jerk.” Ken sneered.

"Sounds like tis lassie cot me boy off guad? What dus tis Lauren look like?"

"She's gorgeous, Pat, a classy, young woman with long brown hair, big bold green eyes, and a body ... mmmm.” Ken closed his eyes, obviously fantasizing.

"And a cop, a detective ta boot?” Patrick sounded rather surprised.

"A damn good detective, with a perfect record and is very well respected,” Eddie said.

Both Patrick and Ken eyed Eddie in obvious surprise. They exchanged glances with one another, then looked back at him.

"And how would you know that?” Ken asked.

"Listen, if we're going to be working a case with someone outside the jurisdiction and the city no less, then I want to know that she's more than capable of handling things."

"What else did you find out about her?” Ken asked and he could tell Eddie was getting annoyed, but he didn't care.

Ken had the feeling that both Lauren and Eddie were attracted to one another. He witnessed first hand the small glance exchanged, and the rushing flow of blood to each of their cheeks. His gut had proven correct, now that Eddie admitted to checking her out.

"She's a bit on the young side but has a lot of cases under her belt."

"She sunds fuscinatin, Eddie. Ya shud bring the lass by here sum time, so I can meet ter.” Patrick tossed the white dishtowel over his shoulder.

Eddie lost some coloring in his cheeks as he leaned back against the booth before turning away. The comment seemed to hit a bad chord with Eddie.

Both Ken and Patrick noticed it. Patrick placed his hand on Eddie's shoulder. “It's been fer yers, Eddie. I tink it fer you move on now. If it's me blessin ya need I've tird you a tousand times...” Patrick began to say, but Eddie cut him off.

"Don't go there, Patrick,” Eddie snapped, and the three men were quiet a moment.

"It's not like you're cheating on—"

"Don't!"

The moment was intense, and Ken didn't know what to say, until Eddie softly apologized. Patrick patted Eddie on the shoulder, then went back to the bar, looking a bit more somber than before.

From the bar, Patrick watched his son-in-law, Eddie, closely as he spoke with his partner, at the booth. Patrick wished Eddie could move on with his personal life. He was still young, at forty, and very good-looking.

Patrick knew Eddie had loved his daughter, Sarah, with all his heart. Patrick thought his daughter had a wonderful husband, and Eddie was a son-in-law and husband to be proud of.

However, Eddie just couldn't get over Sarah's murder. Somehow, he blamed himself.

He wished Eddie could open his heart up to another woman again, but she would have to be special, and damn tough to get through that wall he built around his heart. Damn tough. He slowly wiped down the bar with the rag and refilled another mug of beer for his friend Brian.

Ken felt bad for his partner and friend and figured there was only one thing to do now that his burger arrived. A subject change would do the trick.

"So, the real reason I'm a few minutes late is that I spoke with someone from the lab. We got a make of the vehicle from the tire track that was left behind.” Ken sunk his teeth into the juicy cheeseburger. He was starving.

"That's good. So what kind of truck was it?"

Ken took a moment to chew his food and swallow before answering. “Basically, it's your typical delivery box truck with a twenty-two point five tire size. The height has to be around 12.5 in. The pictures and measurements taken at the crime scene of the broken tree branches, along with the tire marks, are consistent with the height and weight of the vehicle, and tire type."

"Well, depending on where the truck may be registered, we could just put out an APB and general description of that vehicle for officers in the surrounding area to keep a look out. There are probably hundreds of them out there."

"We should call Detective Phelps and let her know what we got. Maybe it can help in her case, as well?"

"Sure, give her a call and let her know,” Eddie added, then took a sip of his beer.

Ken offered Eddie his cell phone. “Why don't you call her. I know you want to."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Just cool it."

Ken laughed, then dialed the number. He had already put Lauren's cell phone number in his speed dial. Eddie gave him a ‘you've got to be kidding me’ kind of look.

"Hey, a guy's got to have his fantasies.” Winking at Eddie, Ken waited for Lauren to answer her phone.

Lauren was speaking with Lieutenant McNulty when her cell phone rang. She was at the 53rd Precinct talking to Tom McNulty about their case. Glancing down at the Caller ID, she saw it was Detective Murphy, Ridgeburgh P.D. “Excuse me one second while I take this."

Tom nodded, then leaned against the desk.

Lauren listened to the new information from Detective Kafrey. “So this could be our suspect's vehicle?"

"Possibly. Considering there are hundreds or thousands of box trucks in the surrounding area, never mind the city, it's a bit of a long shot."

"It's still important to keep this in mind. At least when we interview possible witnesses, we can ask if they noticed any box trucks around."

"True. Okay we'll keep you updated, Detective Phelps."

"Thanks, Kafrey.” Lauren hung up her cell phone. “So what's that all about?” Tom asked.

"The other case I'm working on. So what's the latest on our John Doe?” Lauren said, as she re-clipped her cell phone to the belt on her waist.

"Well, while some of us were out looking good for the cameras and working a high profile case, the rest of us were out there attaching a name to our victim's body."

"Just cool it already, Tom. It's enough that Jack's on my case and now the captain wants me to be the spokesperson for the reporters. This is making me crazy."

Tom reached over and touched Lauren's shoulder. “You're tough enough, kid, and you got the look. This could be the big time, so stand tall. You've earned it."

"I just want to stop this guy before anyone else gets hurt."

"You will. Now I guess large trucks are the newest vehicles to be killing in. We believe that was the type of vehicle used, according to the tire tracks we found at the crime scene. Good eye, by the way."

"What about the witness?"

"I told you, Lauren, the guy didn't see anything. All he cares about is drinking. He could have seen Elvis down there for all we know."

"So what do you want to do from here?"

"Well, there's not much to go on, but the medical examiner believes that the weapon used to cut Louie's throat was a razor or box cutter."

"His name was Louie?"

"Yeah. At least that's what he went by down by the tracks. Listen, I've got to get moving on another homicide. I'll touch base with you if I hear anything new. There's one more guy I haven't questioned yet, and he's playing hide and seek. I'll catch you later."

"Good luck,” Lauren stated, then sat back down at her desk.

She now had copies of the files from both cases. As she looked at Lieutenant Eddie Tennellie's notes from the crime scene, she realized he was as thorough as she was.

Patrol Officer Lizzy Lopez approached Lauren. “Detective Phelps, I ran through the computer records and finally found this one case I think you should look at.” Lizzy sounded a bit nervous.

Lauren noted the young rookie cop had a good head on her shoulders and was tough, but for some reason, Lauren made her nervous.

"Okay, let me see what you got. Come take a seat.” Lauren offered Lizzy a chair.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Officer Lopez, please don't call me ‘ma'am.’ I'm way too young for that. You look like you think you're onto something, so show me, and be confident. I promise not to bite your head off if you're wrong."

Lizzy smiled, then handed Lauren the file.

"I was searching the computer, and came across this unsolved case from over a year ago. There's the same description of the victim's appearance and injuries on the body. Now, I'm not sure what kind of weapon was used in the Wilson and Lucas case, but..."

"Lizzy, you've done great. This is very interesting and this could be the same guy. Now this woman lived in Stone County just ten minutes outside of Ridgeburgh."

"Ridgeburgh is where the other co-ed was found recently, right?"

"Yeah, it was, which is leading me to believe that this guy might live somewhere pretty close to there. Good work, Lizzy."

"Thanks, Detective Phelps, I'm glad to help."

Lizzy walked away looking proud as could be and Lauren made a note to recommend a commendation for Lizzy if this information led to something. Or at least a letter of acknowledgement for her if this were nothing more than a hunch.

Now Lauren had to talk to the detectives.

It just so happened that Matt Davis who took her kickboxing class had been one of the detectives working that case. Lauren gave him a quick call and he pulled out the file as well as all the information they had. Confirming that he was in the building, she grabbed her files and went to meet him.

"So, there were never any suspects or people of interest?” Lauren asked, as she leaned on the corner of Matt's desk. She thumbed through the file he had and the process he went through during his investigation.

"No, there weren't any. We questioned everyone we could and came up with nothing. He also used a condom and probably gloves, as well. If you look at the autopsy report, there were signs indicating that her wrists were restrained and there were rug-burn-like markings on her arms and thighs."

Lauren nodded as she continued to read the report. Then it hit her as she came across a toxicology report.

"When we questioned a few of her friends, they said Barbara had been out drinking with friends and she was last seen around one o'clock in the morning. There's a toxicology report in there stating she had a low blood alcohol count, but there were drugs in her system,” Matt told her.

"Yeah, I see that, and it's not broken down to show what types of drugs were found. That is uncommon. Nowadays, if a woman suspects she's been raped and given a date rape drug, the hospital can run those specific tests."

"She was found murdered. The thought during the case was that she was intoxicated, had rough sex with someone she didn't know, and in the midst of the sex, she was killed. There were no suspects at all and nothing else happened. There were no similar cases, and unfortunately, no forensic evidence found, except..."

"What? What was found?” Lauren asked, as she tried to filter through the lab reports and all the information.

"I think there was some kind of fuzz or clothing fiber found in her hair.” It was information that could help prove a possible connection. “What are you thinking?"

"I think that there may be good reason to reopen this case. Let me run everything by the commander and see what he thinks. Thanks, Matt."

"No problem.” She headed back to the office.

An hour later, she had more information, and was developing a profile of the victims. Matt's case could very well turn out to be the killer's first victim. It was a possibility she was willing to investigate further. Lauren looked over the case of the bum, Louie. She had this feeling that wouldn't budge, and she needed to question the drunken bum. Her gut told her he knew something. Even though Tom disagreed, she needed to find out for herself. She looked for Jack, but he wasn't back yet from court. He was testifying in a case from a year ago.