22/10/2024
๐๐๐ซ๐'๐ฌ ๐๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ โ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ...
Two police cars with lights flashing, an ambulance, and Lieutenant Wainwrightโs Suburban parked in the parking lot at the trailhead. A uniform waited at the head of the trail. He pointed.
โThe Lieutenant is about a hundred yards up the trail.โ
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 departmentโs forensic pathologist. They were kneeling by a body. Elbert stood up as Gary approached.
โDetective Linden, nice you could come.โ
๐ป๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
โSorry it took so long, Lieutenant, but I stopped by the office to get something. You need to see it.โ
Elbert extended his hand. โWell?โ
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.
โThis didnโt excite your interest when it came?โ
โI thought it was a nut-job. I see dozens of letters like this every year.โ
โWhy didnโt you toss it then>โ
Gary hesitated. โIโฆ I donโt know, just a feeling.โ
Elbert smiled. โThat, my dear detective, is called โcoplyโ instinct. Glad to see itโs functioning. I assume you thought he mis-spelled Spring?โ
โWell, yes. How would I know he really meant Johnson Springs.โ
โYou are assuming itโs a he?โ
Gary looked down at the body. The girlโs 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.
โHog tied, helpless. She looks athletic, in-shape. It would take somebody big, strong to overpower her. A man.โ
Elbert nodded. โInteresting.โ
โHas she beenโฆ you knowโฆ molested?โ
Elbert shook his head. โThe 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.โ
โGot a name?โ
Elbert pulled out a small notebook. โAnna 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.โ
Gary shook his head. โI donโt think itโs random because he mentioned the springs in his note. Iโll find out if sheโs come here before. If she did, the killer may have been tracking her.โ
Elbert looked down at the dead girl. โOkay, good.โ He looked at the note again. โThe killer says heโs going to kill three women. And we know this is from the killer.โ
Gary was puzzled. โHow do we know?โ
Elbert pointed to the signature. Then he spoke to the doctor. โShow him, Doc.โ
โIโve got all the pictures I need, Lieutenant. Can I untie her?โ
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 girlโs skin with the point of something very sharp, just below her collarbone.
3 X 3.
