Chapter 17
We had two more days before discontinuing our help with the PD. That was, unless something earth-shattering happened before then. After passing beyond the guard gate and parking our cars that Wednesday morning, Renz and I walked to the employee entrance together.
“Ready for an exciting day?” he asked.
I cocked my head. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“No, I was being facetious.”
I groaned. “Are we going to look up everyone in Milwaukee County who owns a new white Camry?”
“I have a better idea that could go faster.”
I perked up. “Pray tell.”
“Since the car is a 2026 Camry XSE, it couldn’t have been purchased too long ago, and it wouldn’t have come from a used car lot.
I think we should call every Toyota dealer in Milwaukee County and possibly expand further into other counties.
Finding those cars and who bought them will be much easier and faster.
Plus, the dealership employee will be doing the work.
We’re only making the call and asking the question. ”
“Aren’t they going to make an excuse stating client privacy?”
Renz laughed. “I doubt that anyone who buys a new car wants to keep that fact private. They brag to their friends and family about their new wheels. Granted, a Camry isn’t a Ferrari, but you get my point. Anyway, we have probable cause, and the FBI has far more sway than the PD does.”
“Okay, I guess I’m up for the challenge.” I pressed my thumb against the security pad, waited for the green light and the sound of the door unlocking, then pulled it open. We took the elevator to our floor, made a stop in the cafeteria for coffee and sweet rolls, then continued to our office.
“No sense in starting anything until after our morning meeting. We can divide up the dealerships, though.”
I gave Renz a grin. “You do realize there’s probably five at most in all of Milwaukee County. There isn’t too much dividing up to do.”
“Even better. We’ll be done in no time, track down the butcher, and make the arrest.” Renz slapped his hands together. “The case will be closed, and we’ll move on to something else.”
I laughed. “And the PD barely had to lift a finger. I wonder if they ever contacted Beth’s family.”
“Don’t know, but if the family watches the local news, they might have seen the segment on her.”
“That’s if she’s even from Milwaukee. Beth could have been a runaway and ended up here.”
“Maybe, but like I said yesterday, the PD is responsible for notifying her family.”
I washed down my sweet roll with a large gulp of coffee. “C’mon. We don’t want to be late for the updates.”
After I grabbed a pen and my notepad, we headed down the hallway.
There was a chance that something interesting had popped up, but Taft would likely pass that off to other agents on our team.
Renz and I had been given until the end of the day Friday to see whether Beth’s murder was committed by a serial offender.
If not, we would be given something local to work on unless an out-of-state case came up.
I listened halfheartedly to Taft’s updates. Normally, if something interesting came up, she assigned it to whatever team wasn’t already working a case. That morning, I knew Renz and I wouldn’t be involved in anything new.
A half hour later and with nothing from the meeting written in my notepad, we returned to our office.
“Okay, back to the Toyota dealerships.” I opened my laptop to check on how many there were in the greater Milwaukee area. After learning there were as few as I’d suspected, we definitely needed to expand our parameters. “Renz?”
“Yeah?”
I chuckled. “There are four dealerships in Milwaukee County.”
“Wow. Okay, let’s include Racine and Ozaukee Counties.”
I tapped the keyboard, and within seconds, I had a total of five. “There aren’t any in Ozaukee County and one in Racine County. There are several more dealerships inland.”
“Damn it. Go ahead and do a search of Toyota dealerships within fifty miles of downtown Milwaukee.”
Once more, I tapped the computer keys. “There are ten to eleven. Don’t know why the results came up that way. Number eleven is either real or it isn’t.”
“Good enough. You take five, and I’ll take five.”
I printed them out, tore the sheet in half, and gave the bottom section to Renz. “Time to get busy.” I pulled up my emails to take a quick look before we began. “Hey, there’s something here from the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office.”
Renz pushed back his chair, walked around the desk, and looked over my shoulder. “Open it and see what they said.”
I tapped the email, opened it, and saw a three-paragraph message. Renz and I read it silently. I squeezed his arm when I got to the part that made my eyes bulge. “Oh my God, Renz! There’s a chance that this is connected to Beth’s case.”
“Damn straight it could be. Grab your laptop and let’s go. We have to show this message to Taft.”
We rushed down the hallway, gave her door a sharp knock, and entered before she even said to come in. A bewildered look covered her face.
“Lorenzo, Jade, what is it?”
“Boss, you need to see the email I just got.” I opened my laptop, set it on her desk, and spun it toward her.
We waited silently while she read the message.
“Okay, this could turn into an FBI case quickly. You need to call the sheriff’s office, have them connect you to the right people at the PD, then find out what they know. If what they heard is true, you two need to head to Sheboygan and have a sit-down with them immediately. Keep me posted.”
“What about the Milwaukee PD? Should they be on board?” Renz asked.
“Not yet since they don’t have unlimited jurisdiction. Get some intel on what Sheboygan knows, follow up on it, and report back to me. We’ll decide the rest later.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Renz and I headed to our office. I suggested that since Renz had made the initial calls to the different county sheriff’s offices, he should follow up with them too. He called the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office as soon as his butt hit the chair.
My mind was going in a million directions.
Could the killer be dropping body parts into the lake near every city along Lake Michigan’s shoreline?
And why? Was it to confuse the law enforcement agencies in every county?
He could have buried the body, or bodies, in a heavily wooded remote area where they would never be found.
It was apparent that the killer, if he was the same person who’d killed Beth, wasn’t quite as smart as he’d thought.
The Great Lakes weren’t the ocean. The depth wasn’t near what the ocean depths were, and the ocean had far more predatory fish that could make a body or body parts disappear quickly in one bite.
Instead, he’d dumped body parts that washed ashore.
I’m sure he didn’t think that would happen.
I waited impatiently as Renz talked on the phone and scribbled notes on his desktop calendar.
Ten minutes, a few curse words, and plenty of notes later, Renz thanked the person he was talking to and hung up. Before I could question him about the call, he dialed another number. I rolled my eyes then went to the cafeteria and bought two coffees.
I returned to our office just as Renz walked out.
“We’re leaving right now, Jade.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake. I’ll grab some coffee lids for the drive.
” I packed my laptop and grabbed my phone, and we were off.
With lids on the cups, my phone jammed into my pants pocket, and my computer case hanging off my shoulder, we headed to the lot.
The FBI fleet cars were always topped off with gas and maintained well.
All we needed to do was climb in and go.
Once we’d settled in and were heading north on I-43, Renz explained everything he had learned during the two phone calls.
“It appears that the information comes from north of Manitowoc—Two Rivers, to be exact.”
“And what happened there?”
An off-duty Two Rivers cop was playing in Lake Michigan with his son at Neshotah Park Beach and came across a human arm. He was knee-deep in the water and saw it jammed between rocks. I guess he nearly stepped on it. The most disturbing part was that the hand was missing every fingertip.”
“Geez, Renz. Did the kid see it?”
“I don’t think so. Anyway, because Two Rivers is a small town that depends much on tourism, fishing, camping, and its parks and beaches, they kept the discovery quiet.
There were no prints to run, and the entire arm was in very poor condition.
The consensus was that it belonged to a female, but there wasn’t anything remarkable about it.
The arm didn’t have any tattoos, and there was no jewelry on the wrist or fingers.
The off-duty officer shared that information with his captain, who informed the Manitowoc Sheriff’s Office about it.
Word got around in the law enforcement world but apparently only as far as Sheboygan County. The public never found out.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Four weeks ago. At that time, they checked the missing persons database, didn’t find anyone who had recently gone missing in the area, and buried the case.”
“What happened to the arm?”
“I’m not sure I want to know. What I was told is that they considered the arm part of an unidentified Jane Doe, documented it, and didn’t mention it again.”
“If we’re going to pursue this as a connected case, we need to know what they did with it. If they destroyed it, that could be bad for the Two Rivers PD. I’d consider that obstruction of justice.”
“Not really, because nobody knows who the arm belongs to. Plus, they have to inform the medical examiner in their county. It violates state public health and a death investigation if they didn’t. Maybe the ME has the arm but vowed to keep quiet about it.”
I huffed. “So where exactly are we going?”
“To the source—Two Rivers PD.”
“That’s a hundred miles north. Does Taft know we’ve left and where we’re going?”
“Nope, but we have an hour-and-a-half drive, and that gives you plenty of time to call her. I’d suggest sooner rather than later. Have to respect our boss, you know.”
“You suck, Renz.”
He gave me a glance and grinned. “Don’t be mad. I’ll pay for an early lunch at a drive-through restaurant on the way.”
“Wow, thanks.”
“Oh, you also have to call the Two Rivers PD and tell them to expect us by noon.”
I groaned as I fished the phone from my pocket. “Do they even know we’re coming?”
“No, but they will as soon as you tell them.”
I called Taft first, and she was fine that Renz and I were heading to Two Rivers to get answers.
The PD had a lot of explaining to do. The fact that an arm had washed ashore didn’t mean a murderer was roaming their streets, no more than the discovery of Beth’s leg meant that a killer was in Milwaukee.
Yet the Two Rivers discovery shouldn’t have been kept secret.
One thing was blatantly apparent—somebody was using Lake Michigan as their dumping grounds, and we had no idea who he was or where he was from.