22/10/2024
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟑𝐗𝟑, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 — 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫...
Two police cars with lights flashing, an ambulance, and Lieutenant Wainwright’s Suburban parked in the parking lot at the trailhead. A uniform waited at the head of the trail. He pointed.
“The Lieutenant is about a hundred yards up the trail.”
Gary took to the path and walked the short distance to the scene. Crime tape surrounded the clearing that faced the Springs and Lieutenant Wainwright huddled with Dr. Wilkins, the department’s forensic pathologist. They were kneeling by a body. Elbert stood up as Gary approached.
“Detective Linden, nice you could come.”
𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒.
“Sorry it took so long, Lieutenant, but I stopped by the office to get something. You need to see it.”
Elbert extended his hand. “Well?”
Gary handed over the envelope. Elbert looked at the hand-drawn address and then took out the letter and opened it. He read it and then re-read it. Then he looked up at Gary.
“This didn’t excite your interest when it came?”
“I thought it was a nut-job. I see dozens of letters like this every year.”
“Why didn’t you toss it then>”
Gary hesitated. “I… I don’t know, just a feeling.”
Elbert smiled. “That, my dear detective, is called ‘coply’ instinct. Glad to see it’s functioning. I assume you thought he mis-spelled Spring?”
“Well, yes. How would I know he really meant Johnson Springs.”
“You are assuming it’s a he?”
Gary looked down at the body. The girl’s shorts were still in place, but her blouse was unbuttoned. Her hands were bound behind her with gray duct tape and her ankles tied together with what looked like orange and black polyester rope. A piece of the same tape was over her mouth. The rope looped tightly around her neck and drew her ankles up almost to her waist behind her. Her blouse was unbuttoned, and there were bloodstains on it. No bra underneath.
“Hog tied, helpless. She looks athletic, in-shape. It would take somebody big, strong to overpower her. A man.”
Elbert nodded. “Interesting.”
“Has she been… you know… molested?”
Elbert shook his head. “The Doc says no, she died of strangulation. And the mud at the bottom of the pond by the bank was all stirred up. She must have been sitting with her feet in the water when the killer came up behind. She struggled but the killer got the rope over her neck and she was unconscious in a few seconds.”
“Got a name?”
Elbert pulled out a small notebook. “Anna Myerson. Age twenty, lives in Wooster, attends Wooster College. I need you to do a complete canvas. Family, friends, classmates. We need to find out if someone wanted to kill her or if this is just random.”
Gary shook his head. “I don’t think it’s random because he mentioned the springs in his note. I’ll find out if she’s come here before. If she did, the killer may have been tracking her.”
Elbert looked down at the dead girl. “Okay, good.” He looked at the note again. “The killer says he’s going to kill three women. And we know this is from the killer.”
Gary was puzzled. “How do we know?”
Elbert pointed to the signature. Then he spoke to the doctor. “Show him, Doc.”
“I’ve got all the pictures I need, Lieutenant. Can I untie her?”
Elbert nodded. Dr. Wilkins undid the rope around her neck and released her bent legs. Then he unwrapped the tape from her wrists and put it into an evidence bag. Finally, he straightened the girl out and gently rolled her onto her back. The bloodstains on her blouse were more evident. Dr. Wilkins pulled her blouse back. On her chest above her left breast, it looked like she had been scratched badly, but the scratches were obscured by the blood. Dr. Wilkins carefully wiped the blood away until Gary could see what the marks were. The killer had marked something onto the girl’s skin with the point of something very sharp, just below her collarbone.
3 X 3.