Chapter 17
El stood and stretched. She appreciated Sierra’s information, but it really didn’t move them any closer to the truth. However, once the DNA came in, the game could change in a moment.
Gabe had gotten a cup of coffee from the table and returned to his chair. He had a pensive look on his face the whole time, so she didn’t bother him. She followed his lead and grabbed a cup after Jude finished pouring his.
“Hey, sorry if I seemed rude when I made my comment about the lighter.”
She shook her head. “You were only speaking the truth.”
“Sometimes when I speak the truth, I speak it a little hard and it gets me in trouble.” He grinned.
“No trouble here. I appreciate your help.”
He glanced at Gabe. “You’ve spent a lot of time with Gabe. He says he’s doing okay, but is he really?”
“He’s hanging in there. Doing the best he can with Lucy missing and his best friend murdered.”
“He really loved Kenna. We always wondered why they didn’t get together, but I guess they never had that kind of interest in each other.”
“It’s sad that he’s never found someone.”
“That’s the way things go. But he’s got you now.”
She couldn’t keep her mouth from hanging open.
Had Gabe been talking to others about her?
Or had she been so obvious about her feelings for him?
Did everybody in this room see it? She thought she’d been hiding them.
Maybe not, and she needed to do a better job to keep Mina from yanking her off this investigation.
“Don’t look so horrified,” Jude said. “We all think you’re great, and he’ll be blessed to have you as a partner.”
Heat rushed up El’s face, and she didn’t know what to say.
Thankfully, Mina gave a solid clap of her hands. “Let’s get back to it.”
Jude squeezed her arm and gave her a soft smile, a side of him she’d never seen before. She’d been told it was there, but now she knew for sure.
“You’re a good friend, Jude. He’s blessed to have you, too.”
They shared sincere smiles, then headed back to their seats.
Gabe’s gaze tracked her all the way back. “What was with the intense conversation with Jude?”
“I’ll tell you later when we have more time.”
Mina stopped at the head of the table. “I assume you’ve all read last night’s latest reports and are up-to-date on our findings.”
Gabe looked around and everyone was nodding.
“Good, thank you for keeping current when you’re already working such long days.” She turned her attention to El. “Go ahead and start with your morning interview.”
“We talked to Talia Vogel, Mason’s daughter.
” El swallowed to erase residual feelings for the family.
“She last spoke to her father on Tuesday just after ten a.m. which fits with our timeline of his murder. She also explained why her father was taking pictures of the daycare center.” El gave a brief summation of the story Talia had told them.
“So this may or may not be related to our investigation,” Mina said.
El nodded. “We need to get someone out to the center to question staff and parents about the van, but thinking they might be more open with Ms. Vogel, I’ve asked her to talk with them too. Problem is, she might not be going back to the center for a while.”
“I’ll assign someone,” Mina said.
El waited for any questions, but when no one spoke, she moved on. “She also confirmed the deceased dog probably belonged to her father. The vet I contacted completed the dog’s necropsy right away. As suspected, he died from crush injuries, and he’s been dead for several days.”
“Doesn’t mean Mason’s killer tipped the TVs onto the dog,” Jude said.
“Correct. Unless the killer admits to doing it, we may never know if it was on purpose or an accident.” El shifted in her chair.
“Also, you all saw the results of my ViCAP search. Now that we have the make and model for the van that ran Kenna off the road, we can review this list to see if any of them are even applicable anymore.”
“I’d be glad to do that,” Ulrich volunteered.
“You got it,” El said. “Another point Ms. Vogel made was that her father’s death could be related to his time as a police officer. Someone who had a grudge finally settled the score.”
“She could be right,” Mina said. “But we could be talking a large group of people with a grudge against him. If we go down that route it could take us into a deep rabbit hole, and we don’t have the resources for that right now.”
“I agree,” Gabe said. “I could task my team with that, but they’re still working on more promising leads.”
“Then we put it on hold for now.” Mina shifted to look at Gabe. “Any update on the actual zip ties?”
Jude looked at Gabe. “I got this. We worked with Dr. Briggs to match pictures of Kenna’s wrist and ankle bruises to zip ties that could’ve been used. We’ve tracked them down to one manufacturer.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black plastic tie. He slid it down the table to Mina. “Take a look. Specialty nylon cable tie with the exact pattern to Kenna’s bruising. Mid-length. Not the cheap kind either. Industrial grade.”
Mina frowned. “Meaning?”
“Meaning,” Jude said, “whoever used the tie didn’t grab it out of a kitchen drawer or buy it at a big box store. This came from a worksite. Probably stolen. Or we’re looking at someone who knew what they were doing and has his own supply.”
“Can these be bought in retail stores in the area?” Ulrich asked.
Jude shook his head. “They’re military-grade serrated ties designed for heavy-duty industrial or military use and can only be purchased by companies or the government.”
“Then how did you get one?” Massey asked him.
“We contacted the manufacturer, who put us in touch with a local worksite using them, and they were more than happy to give us a few.”
Ewing perked up. “So if our killer didn’t work on a construction site or wasn’t in the military, this murder would have to be premeditated to have the time to obtain these ties.”
“I don’t know,” Massey said. “Could be an employee of the manufacturer.”
“Could be, but the company is out of Massachusetts, so probably not as likely.”
Mina turned the sample over in her hands. “Good work. This, along with the army jacket, could point to a suspect in the military or former military.”
“CHAMP on the lighter could be a military call sign or nickname, too,” Ulrich said.
Mina looked at Gabe. “Any luck on finding a connection for the engraving to our suspects?”
“Not yet,” Gabe said. “Hayden still has several algorithms running. So far nothing, but he said to be patient as they could still return results.”
“This murder confirms the theory I shared yesterday,” Jude said. “This is more than a domestic killer. Domestics don’t usually create additional victims the next day.”
“Hold up,” Massey said. “What exactly do you mean by domestic killer?”
“Someone who commits homicide within their immediate household. Or a person they share an intimate relationship with, like a domestic partner, or boyfriend or girlfriend.”
Massey shook his head. “As a rookie, I have a lot to learn.”
Jude looked around the group as if waiting for additional questions. No one spoke, and he continued. “Mason likely knew something, or he was involved with Kenna’s murder and had become a liability. Now the offender is trying to control the fallout, not just commit a single act of violence.”
“I, for one, am buying into this.” Gabe gave his teammate a look of approval. “What else can you tell us?”
“We’ve seen the killer is capable and organized, but something about this situation is now forcing him to act again quickly.
He doesn’t like it. The strangulation was controlled and personal in Kenna’s murder.
The body disposal was planned, but the second murder?
Stabbed, leaving a knife impression that can be traced?
Possibly rushed. That doesn’t match and looking for a pattern with him might be impossible. ”
“So we have a killer on the loose who is unpredictable and highly motivated to avoid capture,” Mina stated. “And he could have a small child in tow.”
“Exactly,” Jude said. “And I hate to say this, but at some point, she could become a liability he isn’t willing to entertain keeping alive any longer.”
The room became absolutely quiet and no one looked like they were going to speak.
Gabe couldn’t stand the quiet. What Jude had said was probably the truth, but Gabe couldn’t sit there and dwell on it. He had to move on. “Hayden’s other algorithms are for individual background information on Kenna, Mason, and his daughter. So far, Kenna is who she says she is. No surprises.”
“Also, now that we know Mason had a phone,” Jude said, “Hayden will try to get the call log.”
El looked at her boss. “I’ll give you his number. Can you make a formal warrant request?”
Mina nodded. “Anything else on Mason? Like social media?”
“Hayden confirmed Mason didn’t have any social media accounts,” Gabe said. “Not unusual for a former police officer. He didn’t locate accounts for other electronic devices either.”
“His daughter said he had a tablet,” El said. “But he rarely used it except for email.”
Jude nodded. “We’ve been checking library computers, and we canvassed the neighbors.
Libraries were a dead end, as were neighbors.
Our dog walker is the only one who even knew Mason’s name.
One did say they saw him pull out of his driveway towing a travel trailer a few days before he died, but they weren’t certain of the day. ”
“That’s right,” El said. “His daughter confirmed he usually stayed in that trailer at the lake house, but as you know, it wasn’t there.”
“Why?” Mina asked. “Did the killer take it? Did Mason move it somewhere, and if so, why? Could be very important questions to answer.”
“Other than putting out an alert on it, which I did after the interview,” El said, “I’m open to suggestions on how we could find it.”
“Notify the public,” Ulrich said. “Put up fliers. Contact the newspapers, etcetera.”
Mina looked at her admin. “Can you handle that?”