All Things Hidden by Kathy Herman

Author:Kathy Herman [Herman, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-56281-4
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2006-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

Will Seevers parked his squad car in the central parking area of Bougainvillea Park and walked with Al Backus up a gentle slope to where the hiking trail began. He saw a police SUV parked in the grass next to a CSI van. Half a dozen onlookers who appeared to be joggers were milling around.

Will walked up to Jack Rutgers, who was standing a few yards from where CSIs were taking pictures and gathering evidence. “Same MO as Kincaid?”

“Appears to be,” Jack said. “We found a wallet next to the body. No credit cards or money. Just a driver’s license belonging to Miguel Sanchez, age fifty-two. Come take a look.” Jack led them over to where the victim lay and pulled back the sheet. “Does he look like a Miguel Sanchez to you?”

“Red hair?” Backus said. “No way is this guy Hispanic.”

Will squatted next to the body. “I doubt he’s fifty-two either. His beard doesn’t have a strand of gray in it.”

“Judging by how dirty his clothes are,” Jack said, “and the fact that he stinks like he hasn’t had a bath in a while, I’m thinking he’s either homeless or a gypsy like the ones we ran out of here last summer Maybe they’re back.”

Will sighed. “That’s all we need. How long has he been dead?”

“The CSIs say eight to ten hours. That would put the time of death between 10:00 p.m. and midnight.”

Will rose to his feet, his mind racing. “Should be easy enough to find out if Miguel Sanchez has reported his wallet stolen.”

Al turned to one of the CSIs. “Did you find any DNA under the victim’s fingernails?”

“We have to run tests to know for sure, but we got some fibers. No defensive wounds are present, though. Someone probably surprised him.”

Al looked at Will, his eyebrow raised. “Maybe our perp followed this gypsy John Doe, hoping to steal the guy’s booty.”

“Maybe. I want you to start by finding Miguel Sanchez. And see if you can get an ID on the John Doe. Maybe some of the homeless people who live under the bridge know who he is. Maybe there’s a pattern in all this, but something doesn’t jibe.”

“What do you mean?” Al said.

“In both stabbing cases, the empty wallet was found at the scene. How many thieves kill the victim and then stand there long enough to strip the wallet?”

“They usually run with it and pitch it later. Maybe this perp’s extra fast. You have a better explanation?”

“Not yet. But something about this just doesn’t feel right.”

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