JS05 Tied to Murder by John C Dalglish

Author:John C Dalglish [Dalglish, John C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Religion & Spirituality
ISBN: 9781496172853
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2015-04-10T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

Chapter 10

They arrived back at the station in the late afternoon.

Jason wanted to verify Marcus Winston’s alibi. He dialed the number the condo owner had given Vanessa.

“Hello?”

Jason noticed the informal answering of the phone. “Norma Waters?”

“Yes. Who’s calling?”

“Ms. Waters, my name’s Detective Jason Strong. I’m with the San Antonio Police Department.”

“Yes, Detective. Marcus said you might call.”

“Ms. Waters…”

“Please, call me Norma.”

“…Norma, are you in the construction office at this time?”

There was a pause before she answered. “Uh, no. Why?”

“I hoped you could look at the office calendar, and verify whether Mr. Winston was in Austin on the dates in question.”

“He gave me the dates you were interested in, and I was able to confirm he was here.”

Jason didn’t like the feel of this conversation at all. Something wasn’t right.

“He was there on all of the dates?”

“Yes. All of them.”

“Okay, I appreciate your time. I won’t bother you further.”

“No bother, Detective. Goodbye.”

The phone clicked in Jason’s ear, and he looked up to see Vanessa watching him. “She verified he was there?”

Jason put the phone down. “She did, but there’s something not kosher about her statement.”

“How so?”

“Didn’t Winston say he gave us the office number to call Norma Waters?”

“I believe so, why?”

“She answered it like it was a personal phone. And said she wasn’t at the office.”

Lieutenant Patton called them into his office, interrupting Jason. “How did it go out there today?”

Jason brought the lieutenant up to speed, and when he was done, John Patton stood up. He grabbed a cloth, and as he spoke, he erased the whiteboard at the end of his office. “Patrols have been increased through the complex, and they’ve been told to be very visible, using spotlights, etc.”

He turned and looked at Vanessa. “Okay, let’s put this case on the board and see what it looks like. Give me the names of the deceased in order of discovery.”

Vanessa listed them off. Ruth Rogers, Darrel Patterson, and Fred Murphy. The lieutenant wrote them down. Without turning around, he asked for the next piece of information.

“Cause of death in each?”

“Same,” Jason answered. “Suffocation by a plastic bag taped over their heads.”

“And no sign of a sexual attack?”

“None.”

The lieutenant rubbed his hand across the top of his head.

“Okay, let’s see if there are any lines to be drawn between these victims, besides where they lived and how they died.”

Vanessa, as was her habit, raised her hand to speak. Despite the stress he was under, John Patton smiled. “Yes, Ms. Layne?”

She smiled back. “I think we should add the name of Willie Davis. He wasn’t killed, but he was targeted, and any connection of the cases would probably include him as well.”

To signify he agreed, John Patton wrote the elderly man’s name on the board.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s start with demographics. They’re all elderly, but that doesn’t set them apart from the rest of the community. It may, however, be tied to the motive.”

Jason copied the notes on the board into his notebook as the lieutenant continued. “Neither race nor gender seem to be significant, since they vary from victim to victim.

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