Chapter 28
They walked the two and a half blocks to Torrie’s house. Alex glanced to his left as they passed the Jeep parked at the corner of the next street.
It would take him only a minute or two after she was dead to back up the Jeep to her garage, take out the cooler, and load what was left of her body into it.
Piece of cake, then one more person left to deal with. My contract will be complete, and I’ll get the final payment and maybe move to Chicago. It’s a familiar location and of course has the lake, a great place to dump bodies.
“This is my house right here.” Torrie pointed at the small home on her left then led the way across the yard. As they walked to the front door, Alex looked right and sized up the driveway and attached garage.
Inside the home, Torrie offered Alex a seat in the living room. “I’ll take the wine and pour us each a glass.”
“No way. That’s what a gentleman does. Your only job is to show me where the wineglasses are.”
Torrie giggled as they entered the kitchen. “Okay, if you insist.” She reached in the upper cabinet and took out two glasses. “Sorry they aren’t stemmed glasses, but at least they aren’t coffee cups.”
Alex laughed. “They’re perfect. Go relax. I’ll be right out with the wine. Maybe some music to listen to?”
“Okay, I’ll find something.”
Left alone in the kitchen, Alex quickly pulled the Rohypnol out of his pocket and dropped two pills into Torrie’s glass.
He poured the wine over the top and was thankful she liked red—it was tougher to spot lingering residue in a dark-colored drink.
Alex swirled the wine with his finger, wiped his hand on his pants, then filled his own glass.
Back in the living room and with a reassuring smile on his face, Alex handed her the drug-laced glass and sat down at her side.
He had to act on the fly. A romantic bath with a glass of wine wasn’t necessary.
After the Rohypnol took effect, he would make sure she was unconscious then carry her into the bathroom and place her in the tub.
There, he would get busy, do the deed, then drive to Manitowoc in the morning to enjoy a little fishing and boating with Torrie—or what was left of her.
When he was two miles out and maybe closer to Sheboygan, she’d be dumped in the drink.
Alex took a sip of the wine. “That’s really smooth. You have good taste, Torrie. I like the music you chose, too, light jazz.” He watched as she sipped her wine.
“Yeah, this is good.” She swirled the glass and inhaled the bouquet.
Alex nearly choked. The wine was fifteen bucks, and that hooker likely didn’t know anything about wine, but he needed to play the part of a gentleman until she passed out.
“I really like you, Aaron. How long are you going to be in Milwaukee?”
“I’m leaving Saturday. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow too.”
Torrie smiled. “I’d like that, but I have to work until six.”
“Well, that’s too bad. How about showing me the art pieces you have here? I’d like to buy something to remember you by.”
“Um, okay.” Torrie stood and stumbled, nearly toppling over. “Oh, shit. I think my foot went to sleep.”
Doubt it, but you’ll be asleep soon enough.
“Don’t worry about it. You can show me before I leave.” Alex reached for her glass. “Stay put. I’ll fill these up.”
“You’re so nice, Aaron.”
Alex filled the glasses again and added another pill to hers. He had a long night ahead and didn’t want to linger there more than necessary.
They drank until the bottle was empty. When Torrie’s head began to bob, Alex set the glasses on the coffee table.
“I don’t know why I’m suddenly so tired,” she said.
“I hope I’m not that boring,” he joked.
She smiled, then her eyes rolled back and she slid off the couch.
“It’s about damn time.”
Alex stood, went into the bathroom, and began filling the tub. Blood diluted with water went down the drain much easier than thick coagulated blood. He grabbed two oversized bath towels from the linen closet and set them on the toilet.
Back in the living room, he gave her a closer look. She hadn’t moved since he’d gone into the bathroom. Alex gave her a nudge and then a harder one. No response. He called out her name but got nothing in return.
It was time to begin, but first, he needed to wash the glasses, return them to the cabinet, and put away the corkscrew.
He couldn’t forget the wine bottle. That would go next to the garage door and be stashed in the Jeep before Alex drove away with Torrie’s remains at dawn.
He wanted to be in Manitowoc by seven a.m. That hour was early enough that the office staff hadn’t arrived yet, but it was the perfect time for the parking lot to fill up with people heading out for a day of sailing and fishing.
With the bath water ready and the glasses put away, Alex grabbed Torrie by the wrists and dragged her into the bathroom.
He removed her clothes, folded them, and put them in the bedroom drawers.
Her shoes went into the closet. Alex removed his shirt and pants so there wouldn’t be any chance of blood transferring to his clothes.
He lifted her over the edge of the tub and maneuvered her into a sitting position.
He grabbed Torrie’s topknot and pulled back her head.
With his six-inch folding pocketknife, Alex slit her throat then pushed her head underwater to keep the blood from spraying out of the tub.
It wasn’t his house, and he didn’t want to take the chance of missed blood spatter being anywhere in the bathroom.
Torrie would bleed out quickly, then he planned to open her torso, take out her organs, remove her legs, and stick them inside the cavity like he did with Beth before her. He’d cut off Della’s arms, but the legs made more sense. They freed up space in the backpack.
Meanwhile, he cut off Torrie’s fingertips and flushed them down the toilet. He would do the same with her teeth as soon as she bled out.
While he waited, Alex put a dry washcloth over his hand, searched the pantry, and decided on a bag of potato chips. He returned to the bathroom, took a seat, and munched on them as the bath water turned a dark crimson red.
Twenty minutes later, Alex balled up the empty chip bag and got to work.
With the butt of his knife, he smashed Torrie’s teeth and flushed them.
Before cutting her open, he returned to the kitchen with that same washcloth over his hand and searched for the garbage bags.
After finding them under the sink, Alex tore off two and returned to the bathroom.
Kneeling in front of the tub, Alex pressed his knife into her skin just below her sternum and opened her chest cavity all the way to her pelvic bone. He pulled out her slippery organs and dumped them into the bags.
After removing her legs, Alex would be finished, but first, he had to check for tattoos.
Luckily, he didn’t find any and continued on.
Feeling for the hip joint and locating it, Alex cut until he reached the ball and socket that connected the leg to the hip, cut through all of the tendons and ligaments, then removed the right leg.
He turned her body around and removed the left leg the same way.
With that task complete, Alex tucked the legs into the empty cavity.
“There. Now to clean up this mess, gather all the bits and pieces, and wash the blood down the drain.”
When that was done, Alex stared at a hollowed-out carcass with her legs inside and the two bags of organs.
It was time to get the Jeep and back it up to Torrie’s garage.
First, he needed to shut off the porch light.
No need to attract any attention even though it was late at night, when most people should be sleeping.
He washed up and dressed, then with his hand covered, he grabbed the remote from the visor of Torrie’s car. He exited the side garage door and tucked the remote into his pocket. No need to lift the overhead until he had to. Many of them squeaked far too loudly anyway.
The walk was short, and the night air was refreshing. Alex reached the Jeep without seeing anything except a feral cat running across the street.
He drove to Torrie’s house, backed up to the overhead, and parked. He went back inside the same way he’d come out, but that time, he carried the cooler and backpack in with him.
It wouldn’t take long to place her remains in the cooler, the organs in the backpack, then clean the bathroom thoroughly. He would take the towels, washcloth, wine bottle, cork, and chip bag with him.
By five a.m., the house was spotless. Then Alex had to decide whether to take her purse and phone with him. It would be safer if he did, and he could dispose of them later.
Before he carried everything out into the garage, he powered off Torrie’s cell phone. He decided to smash it in the boat, place it in the bag of organs, and drop that into the lake five miles or more from Torrie’s head and torso.
With the cooler at the side of the tub, Alex scooped out her body and placed it inside.
He wiped everything again with the towels, including the inside and outside of the tub, then tossed the towels into the cooler.
He extended the handle and rolled the cooler into the garage.
Alex filled the backpack, wiped everything again with the hand towel, and carried that into the garage.
The cooler and backpack were placed at the overhead door.
The most important item on his list was a final walkthrough of the house and a thorough inspection of the bathtub, drains, toilet, sink, floor, and walls. He couldn’t miss anything. Doing so could cost him his livelihood and land him in prison for life.
Satisfied, Alex turned off all the lights and locked every door. Back in the garage, he pressed the wall button for the overhead. He would quickly load the Jeep and be on his way. He checked the time—5:09 a.m.
With the cooler, backpack, and trash in the Jeep, he quietly closed the back then climbed into the driver’s seat and put the vehicle in neutral.
He rolled down the driveway, looked through the rearview mirror, and saw the overhead go down.
He would get rid of the remote somewhere along the way.
Once he rolled out onto the street, Alex turned over the engine and left the neighborhood for good.