CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Sanderson's Used Vehicles
That was the name of the used car lot, and the words emblazoned on the large sign. The ' d' in Sanderson and the 'V' were both leading sideways, and the vibrant purple of the letters had faded over time.
Moore pulled into the lot and took the spot nearest the office.
She had her choice with no other cars parked along the front of the dilapidated building.
As soon as they parked, the chubby man inside the building stood up from the single desk within and walked toward the door as if annoyed that someone would dare disturb him.
Moore and Alison got out of the car, but stood by it as the man pushed open the door and exited the building. The doorway acted as a portal, and as soon as he crossed it, a wide smile crossed his face, and his entire demeanor changed. He swung an arm out toward the cars in the lot.
"Whatever it is you need, we have it!" he called to them.
"We’re not here to buy anything," Moore said, taking out her badge and showing it to the man. "We have a few questions."
"Good," the man said. "I was just about to call you. One of my employees has stolen one of my cars, the best car on the lot. I should never have trusted him. Once a criminal, always a criminal. You think you live and learn, but I’m far too good and accepting for this world."
Alison noticed the security camera atop the building, aimed at the cars.
"Michael Rodriguez?" Moore asked.
"Yeah, how’d you know? Do you have him in custody? Is the car okay?"
"What’s your name, Sir?" Moore asked.
"Doug Sanderson," he said, holding out a hand and smiling as if there was still a sale to be made. "Best used vehicles this side of the river."
"When was the last time you saw Michael?" Moore asked.
"The last time I saw him?" Doug asked, taking a large breath in. "It would have been a few days ago, but he was supposed to be in today. I know he was in today. His bag's still under the desk. I don't know what he's playing at. The keys for the Honda are missing, and the Honda itself, of course."
"Could he have taken someone for a test drive?" Alison asked.
"That’s what I thought when I got here," Doug admitted.
"Thought I would come in and see how things were going. Business will pick up soon. The door was locked when I got here, and the sign turned around. Figured he was out for a test drive with a customer, and with the new Honda. Good car; very good car. But that was hours ago. He would have been back by now. No, he stole the thing. Now, I’m a fair man, and if he were to bring it back, then no questions asked, right? "
"Can we see the footage from the security camera?" Alison asked. "It might really help."
"You don't believe he stole it?" Doug asked. "I’m telling you now that he did."
"We don't think he was alone when he left the lot," Alison replied.
"An accomplice?" Doug asked, and it began to feel like he was stalling.
"We need to look at the footage," Moore said, a little sterner.
Doug pulled at his collar. "See, the thing is, that camera doesn’t really work.
I can assure you that Michael took the car.
He was working this morning, and his bag is still here.
You can come and have a look if you don't believe me. He took the car; it’s as simple as that. So, do you have my car or not?"
"We have it," Moore admitted.
Doug brightened.
"But it is evidence in our investigation at the moment. We can't release the car to you as it stands. Did you know Michael well?"
"What do you mean you can't release the car to me?" Doug asked. "It’s my car. I want that car back."
"I understand that," Moore said. "We’ll have the car back to you as soon as possible. Until then, I need to know if Michel was associating with anyone recently or if you noticed anyone else hanging around him?"
"I don't know," Doug complained. "What’s going on here?"
"We’re investigating more than just a stolen car, and the more you can tell us about Michael, the quicker we can deal with your car," Moore told him. "Has anything changed over the past few weeks? Anything you’ve noticed?"
"I’m not here all that much," Doug moaned.
"I don't know. He seemed like a good kid, and I knew about his past. I mean, I don't know if he stole the car, but he’s done time in jail.
Still, he was one of the ones who stuck around when it all went to crap.
I don't know why, but he did. I don't know much more than that. I can give you his home address. That’s all I have on file. I don't know what else to tell you."
"That’ll be helpful," Moore said. They could easily get his address, but she wanted Doug to feel that he was helping in some way.
They followed him toward the office. They would get Michael’s home address and take his bag as evidence.
Alison looked around before heading inside.
There were a few businesses in the immediate vicinity, and perhaps they had seen something.
The car had been dumped at least five miles from the dealership.
It made more sense for the killer to have arrived at the dealership on foot.
The camera at the dealership wasn’t working, but with it looking like it had seen far better days, someone would have noticed someone who didn't belong.
***
"We got a hit," Moore said. "I just got off the phone with Officer James, and the woman who runs the laundromat across the road believes she saw someone go into the dealership earlier today."
Alison took a breath. She had been sure they would get something, and that hunch had been proven correct.
Two officers had been sent over to Michael’s home address to check it out, but Alison didn't think they would get anything from his home, just as they hadn’t gotten anything from his bag other than some gym clothes.
An eyewitness, however!
"What did they see?" Alison asked from her desk back in the police station.
"It’s not super descriptive, but middle-aged white man, brown hair, possibly a mustache, and well-dressed.
Said that he wore a suit. She knew he definitely wasn’t from around there, and not the sort of customer who goes onto the lot, or who would frequent any of the businesses in the area. She thought he looked lost."
"Okay, that’s good news," Alison said. "We can't confirm yet whether he’s our killer, but it’s another piece of the puzzle."
"Do you want the bad news?" Moore asked.
"I thought we were on too much of a good run," Alison admitted. "Yeah, go for it."
"It’s going to come out in the press tonight that we’re looking for a serial killer.
They know the first two murders are connected, and they’ll soon know about the third.
I don't know yet how much they know about your reports, but I wanted to warn you. This is what the killer wants, and it’s happening.
These things always get leaked to the press.
I don't know how much damage control you want to do. "
"I want to work on the case," Alison said. "I’m not concerned about damage control, and I don't care what gets leaked to the press. The only way we end this is by catching the killer."
"I might be able to get some of the information delayed for a while, but his message will get out there," Moore pointed out. "People will question your decisions."
"And they'll also question someone who is killing innocent people to make a point.
" Alison shook her head, trying to show the detective that she didn't care about any of that.
"Let them ask questions. People shouldn't blindly believe what they hear.
We should all take the evidence, question it, and ensure its robust just like we do with a case.
This doesn't change anything for the investigation. "
"Okay," Moore said stoically. "Then, I’ll get back to it. I can take a look at the list of suspects so far and see if any of them meet the description we were given."
"Concentrate on people who worked directly with me," Alison said. "The killer is using my reports, but I think they also know about my emotional biases that weren’t in the assessments. I’m trying to think of a white male with brown hair whom I worked with over the years, but that’s half the psychology field. I just…"
"What is it?" Moore asked.
"Do we have a contact number for Marcus Webb?"
"Yeah, I have it somewhere. Give me a second. What are you thinking?" Moore tapped on her keyboard as she searched for the number.
"I want to see if he can confirm something. It’s a long shot, but you never know."
"Here it is."
Moore read the number to Alison, and she typed it into her phone.
After two rings, Marcus Webb answered. "Webb and associates."
"Marcus, it’s Alison Payne."
"What do you want, Payne?"
"You’ve been watching multiple people for Linda Ashford. She confirmed that to us when we spoke to her earlier today. She’s trying to prove that criminals are reoffending. And by the way, you might not be doing it for much longer if she doesn’t get some more help. Just a heads up."
"Is that it?" Webb asked. "You feeling sorry for hauling me in twice as a suspect?"
"Something like that," Alison countered. "That’s not actually why I called. You’ve been looking at multiple ex-inmates. Have you been watching Thomas Warren and Jennifer Hayes?"
"Yeah," Marcus said. "But this was long before…you know. I have nothing to do with that. I looked at them briefly and what they were doing, and it wasn’t worth keeping an eye on them. With some people, you can tell if there’s something inside.
They were making an honest go of it, and I told Linda that. "
"Did you ever see anyone hanging around them?" Alison asked. "White male, middle-aged, brown hair, maybe a mustache, could have been wearing a suit?"
"No, but I didn't watch them for all that long."
"How about Michael Rodriguez?" Alison tried. "You ever take a look at him?"
"Yeah. Is there something I should know about?"
"Anyone bearing that description around Michael?" Alison asked.
"Yeah," Marcus said curiously. "Maybe. I thought maybe it was nothing, but one time I was following Michael, and I was sure someone else was following him. That’s the right description, mustache and suit included.
I didn't get a good look at him, but I only saw him once, so I didn't think much of it.
Has something happened to Michael? Has he been killed? "
"I can't confirm anything, Marcus. I wish I could, but I can’t."
"No, I get you," Marcus said. "I hear what you’re saying. Thanks for the call."
"Yeah, thank you, too."
"Who’d have thought we’d be working together and civil about it?" Marcus added.
Alison laughed through her nose, then ended the call.
"That’s two instances of the same person," Alison said. "An eyewitness saw someone enter the car lot not long before Michael left the lot and was killed. Marcus Webb was sure he had seen someone following Michael who matched the same description. I think we can assume that’s our killer."
"Okay, I’ll pass that on to the team, and we can match that to anyone who’s worked with you and would have access to your reports."
The killer would strike again, Alison knew that. She didn't know where or when, but the clock was ticking, and it wasn’t the only ticking clock. The press would soon go public with the news, and not only would there be panic in the city, but Alison would also be under scrutiny.
When they had been at the crime scene, she had skimmed through the report. Once back at the office, she could go through the scanned reports in more detail. There was more within, not only a rebuke of her earlier assessments. There were also mentions of her more recent cases with Derek.
The killer knew about her early misjudgment of Cameron Walsh.
It had been a rare mistake where she had assessed the man as being rehabilitated, only for him to stage multiple murders as suicides.
The killer had been clever. He had only mentioned the case without explicitly stating that it called her professional opinion into question.
The killer knew the press would eventually get a hold of the reports, and they would put it together themselves, giving them an extra step that would make it feel like more of a discovery, something more exciting than the killer pointing it out.
There was also mention of Gabriel Sinclair, a case she had worked on with Derek.
Sinclair had been influenced by Walsh, guided by his spirit.
Again, the implication was clear. If Walsh had never been released, he would never have killed multiple people, and in turn, Sinclair would not have been inspired to kill multiple people.
Both men had been in jail before being released to murder people.
It would be sensational when it was reported. Sure, the killer would be seen in a negative light, but so would Alison. That was what the killer wanted. They had murdered three people; they were beyond caring what people thought.
Alison sighed and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She didn't want her name in the press and her old cases dredged up, but they were public knowledge if people knew where to look. Still, it would be blown up more because of their killer.
The best way to counteract that negative press would be to generate something more newsworthy. If they could catch the killer, that would be bigger. The killer wanted fear and doubt. Alison needed to stop him and the fear he would generate.
"…Payne, too."
Alison looked up at the mention of her name.
Detective Moore looked at her from her desk, a short man by her side. Her eyes were slightly widened in the way that Alison had become used to: she had more good news.
Alison responded with an eye-widening of her own.
"The digital forensic team has something that might help us," Moore said. "They need us over there now."