Chapter Five
Mariska
I am sitting at my new desk when Kevin sets the tablet down in front of me. “It should be the login I sent you yesterday,” Kevin tells me.
“Thanks,” I sigh.
“Sorry about that,” Zeke says, gently squeezing my shoulder as he passes behind me. It’s instinctive, but it shows that he wants to be close. He pulls his chair over and grabs his tablet. When he sits next to me, I can’t help but find comfort in his warmth.
“You two okay?” Kevin asks.
“Yeah, we are good. Just going to go over the files,” Zeke says.
“I meant Meghan, but I guess that answers that,” Kevin chuckles.
“She knows she’s always been a second choice,” he says nonchalantly before turning to me. “Ready? We can sit here or go to the conference room.”
“Uh. There is a board in there. I can set it up," I say. “Eight victims in eight months? That’s not a long cooldown. How has this not made it to the news?”
“Homicide hasn’t connected it,” Zeke says. “We recently got all of them because they all have sexual torture and rape.”
“Hmm,” I say. “Yeah. A bigger space would be good.”
“Let’s do it.”
We get the tablets, physical files, and Zeke grabs a few other items before we go to the conference room.
Right away, I start lining up the files before finding the license photos and placing them on the whiteboard.
I grab each file and put basic info like their name, age, and date of death.
I then notice a pattern with their last known location and the location of some of the bodies.
“Where are the crime scene photos?” I ask, flipping through the first victim’s folder.
“Kevin has them. Hold on,” Zeke says. He leaves the room and comes back with Kevin, Geno, and Parker.
“Whoa,” Geno says as they all walk up to inspect what I’ve done.
“What?” I ask, glancing over at them. “Did I overstep? I’m sorry. I just hyperfocused and…”
“This is amazing,” Kevin says.
“She wants the crime scene photos,” Zeke tells him.
“Oh yeah. Here ya go. I haven’t looked through them.
Levi is bringing copies of the autopsies.
He’s having to get into the city records for them,” Kevin tells me.
I match the folders up with the others and open the first. I find a naked body that is clean and has been cleanly cut at the knees, hips, ankles, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and neck.
Their heads are shaved, and everything is neatly wrapped in plastic wrap.
“Need a map,” I say. “And colored pens.”
“Do you see something?” Zeke says.
“Yeah. I don’t know how you all didn't,” I say bluntly as I start putting each crime scene photo up. Next, Kevin brings in a map of the city on a large corkboard and colored pushpins. They all watch me as I mark each spot. When I get done, I step back and look over it all.
“Wow,” Levi says as he walks in. “I don’t know if I've ever seen y’all so organized.”
“Mariska, this is Caleb Walker. He is our forensic lab tech,” Kevin says.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say sweetly.
“Likewise,” he says kindly.
“Want to present?” Kevin asks.
“Me?” I ask.
“Yep,” he says with a nod.
“Well, eight victims in eight months,” I say. “This is absolutely a serial killer.”
“Elaborate,” he says.
“Isabella Cruz, age thirty-one. Her job is a corporate defense attorney.
Her address is 412 Park Row, Apt 19B. Her physical description is five feet two inches.
She has an hourglass figure, thick dark brown curls down to her mid-back, and brown eyes.
At the time of her death, she was recently engaged to Daniel Jameson.
“Danielle Whitmore, age thirty-seven. She was a Tech Startup Founder & CEO. Her address is 88 Hawthorne Terrace. Her physical description is five feet three inches, full-figured, and with long auburn curls. She was also recently divorced.”
“Tanya Brooks, age twenty-five. She was an investigative journalist and lived at 201 Mercer Street, Unit 7F. Physical description is five feet one inch, curvy build, dyed blonde hair, and spiral curls. She was dating a public defender named Gunner Brooks.”
“Claire Holloway was forty-one. She was a Cardiothoracic Surgeon for New Haven General. Her address was 17 Willow Crest Drive in the River Heights gated community. Physical description is five-foot four, again, is curvy with sandy blonde ringlets. She was married to Freddie Holloway with two children, Fisher and Sasha.”
“Naomi Patel was thirty-four and was a luxury Real Estate agent. She lived alone at 1021 Lexington Avenue in Penthouse 3. Her physical description is five feet even. She was petite with a curvy figure and had black shoulder-length curls.”
“Juliette Monroe was twenty-five and was an art gallery owner. Her address was 55 Briar Lane. Her physical description is five feet three inches with pronounced hips, pale skin, and jet-black curls. She had recently ended a high-profile relationship with Mayor Dan Holland, but it seems he was immediately cleared.”
“Monica Reeds was thirty-five and was the Assistant District Attorney in the city of Hawthorne.
She lived at 300 Madison Commons, Apt 12A, here in New Haven.
She is five feet two inches. She is curvy but has an overall athletic build, with tight shoulder-length brown curls.
She was engaged to a homicide detective here in New Haven, Carter Reyes.
“Elena Kovak was thirty-nine and was a Finance Professor at New Haven University. She was living at 4 Briarwood Court in faculty housing. Her physical description is five feet four inches. She is full-figured with ash-blonde spirals. She had also been divorced for two years.”
“Now then… Notice anything?” I ask.
“They all have curly hair,” Zeke says. “And curvy.”
“Yes. The age and race doesn’t matter, as long as they’re under five foot five, curvy, and have curly hair,” I say. “Also, they had a job that put them in a position of power over someone, and they all had their heads shaved.”
“Meaning?” Levi asks.
“Meaning, it’s been a month. A body will show up soon, and it will be the same thing. They could be white, black, Asian, Latina, or anything. It literally doesn’t matter to this guy, as long as the other features fit,” I say.
“So why has no one connected this until we got it?” Parker asks. “Well. Until Mariska got it. I didn't do shit.”
“I knew. That’s why I pulled it over to us,” Kevin says. “But I don’t know.”
“No DNA was found with any of the women,” Caleb says, looking at his report. “The only thing we found was… Isabella Cruz had fibers from leather restraints, and so did Monica Reyes.”
“The autopsy shows they were very clean,” Levi explains. “This perp absolutely cleaned the victims very well after death and dismemberment.”
“So is he OCD?” Geno asks.
“Possibly,” I say. “Give me a little time to work on a profile, and I can build one. Someone might want to double-check behind me, though.”
“You are the only one qualified in profiling,” Kevin says. “What do you think should happen with the media and the public?”
“I would tell them. Don’t give them details,” I say. “Just say that there are eight connected at this time, but due to the sensitive nature of this, nothing further will be released. What was their ultimate cause of death?”
“Strangulation,” Levi says. “They had several marks on their necks, so it was repeated until they eventually didn’t stop.”
“Right, so don’t say anything,” I say. “They all disappeared in broad daylight but showed up reassembled in a park somewhere in the city. Never twice in the same area, but twice on opposite ends of the park. Why are you asking me all of this?”
“Because you have the freshest of eyes,” Kevin says. “You are also wildly talented and have spent more time studying serial killings than we have. This is a group effort, but I hired you for a reason. This department has only been around for a year, so we will be taking on more and more.”
“Were you all just in homicide before?” I ask.
“Geno was in homicide, but Zeke and Parker were hired on as detectives when this department was formed,” Kevin tells me. “Okay. Let’s comb through every word of this, and we can set up a press conference for tomorrow morning.”
“Who is speaking?” Geno asks.
“Can I?” Parker asks.
“NO!” Kevin, Geno, and Zeke say all at once, making Parker grin.
“Who do you think, Geno?” Kevin asks. I like that he doesn't just bark orders at everyone. He truly treats us like a team.
“I think Mariska should,” Geno says.
“Me? Why me?” I ask. “It’s my first day.”
“You are highly trained, Mariska,” Kevin says. “This is where you shine. When it comes to actually talking to potential suspects, that will be different, but investigating is where I will have you lead, with us keeping an eye on you.”
“Let’s just comb through these and build the board,” Zeke says.
“I’ve seen your desk, and I’ve known you since we were kids. Your messy ass isn’t touching the board,” I say, and everyone laughs.
“Ouch, Riss. I missed you, too,” Zeke says teasingly. “You arrange, we can help.”
“Let’s do it,” I say confidently.