Always One More
Who: Garret, police and OPEN
Where: Harbor area
When: Mid-morning
Garret pulled the collar of his trench up a bit then covered his mouth and nose with a hanky cupped in his hand as he crouched next to the remains. At this point it was hard to tell if it was a woman at a glance. The body had been in the water a long time. The smell was horrific and a good portion of the body had been eaten away by the fishes from the water and the scavenger birds where they’d floated above. What remained was blotched and tinged green and black with algae and rot.
“Who found it?” Garret looked up to the pale looking uniform standing beside him. The kid looked green around the edges and kept swallowing reflexively. His eyes kept darting away from the victim.
“Homeless guy trying his luck at fishing. What a catch.” The kid looked away and swallowed hard once more, “Scared the hell out of him and he ran, but a dock worker saw him light out and went to investigate what was goin’ on. He called it in. Doesn’t want the body cluttering the water and stinking the place more than it is.”
“First corpse, kid?” Garret pulled the blanket back over the remains. The kid jerked and gave a blush. “No, sir. Just… first like that.” The boy in blue looked greatly relieved to have the body covered.
“Jere, I got two guys that pissed me off who’re gonna take it to the ME. You want the guy to take some shots?” One of the senior officers called over while gesturing to the photographer, a older gray haired man with a big camera, one of the newer ones that could have the flash stick clipped to the side.
“Save the film. Victim wasn’t killed here. Let ‘em get his job done under the lights of the morgue.” Garret fished a pack of smokes from his inner pocket and lit one with a cupped hand and the rim of his fedora shielding the flame and stick from the drizzle. He took a long draw and breathed the smoke out through his nose, attempting to clear out the stink that even the hanky couldn’t fully filter.
It was gonna be near impossible to ID this one. He’d try though. Give some family a body to bury if he could. But only round fifteen percent of missing persons got reported in this city. The rest were either without anyone who cared or families were afraid to make any reports. Fifteen percent was a depressing amount. Especially with the number of bodies that turned up.
“We even know if this is a murder?” The senior officer asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Could be a suicide took a dive of the bridge, or some dumb fuck staggered into the drink while three sheets to the wind.”
Garret nodded. All were possible. And until they had a decent guess, it’d be checked out. Garret shrugged. “Who knows? I like to consider it job security.”
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Adriana grit her teeth and resisted the urge to glare balefully at the uniformed officer barring her way. She was going to miss important clues at this rate, and even if this ended up not being actually related to her official case, she could probably help put the issue to bed a bit more quickly. That, of course, was assuming she didn't miss anything vital, and this oaf was increasing the chances of that by the second. And she was getting sick of it. She held up a sharp hand, stopping him cold in the middle of his thousandth recitation ("I'm sorry, Miss, but I can't let you into an active crime scene") and pinned him with a narrow look and a firm, authoritative tone.
"Officer. I appreciate that you're only trying to do your job, but we've been here nearly twenty minutes. I am going in. And I am doing it now. We'd have been finished fifteen minutes ago if you'd have checked my credentials instead of arguing with me, and my goodwill has long since worn out. So step. Aside." The look she leveled the officer with had cowed even the most ruthless killers, kidnappers, and worse that she'd ever come across, and it didn't fail her now: the man in front of her took a shaky step back out of her way, wide-eyed and swallowing heavily. Adriana stepped under the yellow crime scene tape and continued on, not bothering to acknowledge him further.
She couldn't wait until she had an ID or something so she could bypass that kind of... inconvenience. Adriana huffed once, letting off some extra steam, then packed the irritation off to be dealt with later. She had a job to do. And it looked like up ahead was the place to start - a long, sheet-covered body lay on the cement at the feet of a couple of men, one young and in uniform, the other older, large, and in plainclothes. The plainclothes was smoking and waving off the photographer.
"Take the pictures," Adriana redirected the photographer as she strode up. "I want plenty of the area, as well, not just the body. Make sure to get at least one photograph of everything within easy view from the spot the victim was found, as well." When the man didn't immediately scurry off to do his job, she arched an impatient eyebrow at him. "Do you have trouble understanding English? No? Then why are you still here?" With the photographer squared away and finally doing his job, the young woman turned her gaze to the plainclothes officer and held out a hand as she met his eye. "Detective Garret Dixon? I'm Adriana Rossi. Nice to meet you."
Garret's eyebrows rose
Garret's eyebrows rose towards his hairline, creasing his forehead and enhancing a evenly spaced row of nailhead sized scars there not easily visible in any other expression. He looked down at her hand and then back at her. "Well, Ms. Rossi, can't say the same. You're standing in a cordoned off crime scene and issuing orders like you own the place. Neither fact is inclined to make the meeting a pleasure from my perspective."
Garret took another pull from his cigarette and looked down at the lady. She was pretty enough she might be used to leading men around by the balls. She certainly had a haughty sense of entitlement she threw around. "So you better be showing me a badge or getting back on the other side of that line with your mouth shut." He tilted his head. After all, he was the one who gave the orders on his own cases.
His pale blue eyes were as challenging as his words as they displayed an iron will and an alpha male quality that had a habit of either cowing people or pissing people off if they were on the wrong side of it. He also wasn't the type to lose any mental pissing contests.
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Adriana met his eyes unflinchingly - it took far, far more than what this officer had to intimidate her - and smiled congenially as she dropped her hand.
"My ID isn't quite official yet, but I'm sure your Captain would be happy to vouch for me," she told him courteously. "Go ahead and call him, but while you do, I'm staying where I am and asking what ever questions I like. I'm here to profile a killer, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
She paused, tilting her head slightly as her smile sharpened and a critical eyebrow rose. "And I wouldn't have to contradict you if you'd followed protocol to begin with - I'd only be adding a request or two, and we wouldn't have had a problem at all. Shortcuts never help anyone, Detective." Adriana held Garret's gaze a few seconds longer, then turned to the rookie standing beside him, the polite-but-patronizing tone she'd just been using dropping away entirely as she gave him a curt order. "Lift the sheet, I need to take a look at the body."
"Miss, you really don't want
"Miss, you really don't want to see that," The young man stuttered. He was obviously more concerned about the effect it might have on her as much as any pecking order. He was still a bit pale from his own viewing.
"Connor, get on the horn with the Chief, check on Miss Rossi's story." Garret turned his attention back to the woman he was already classifying as both a brat and a pain in his ass. "And until I get word to let you in or arrest you, you ain't seeing anything."
Garret didn't think a civilian, let alone a woman, should be seeing that sight, either. She wasn't a hardened professional like the occasional female cop or medical assistants. That body was the stuff of nightmares for the people who hadn't seen too much for it to barely register anymore.
"Protocol is you photograph the crime scene including the site a body was found, Miss Rossi. The water was where the victim was found. Here is where it was fished out on those there fire hooks," he pointed to the hooks next to the emergency rescue truck. "Exactly where the hooks made contact is noted so their markings aren't confused with evidence. This is where WE put the body, not where any death or dumping happened. The lighting's better at the ME's for all the gruesome pictures to be taken. Pictures of the floater in the water were taken, as well as fishing out a paper coffee cup and a Pepsi can that were bumping against this mess." Which likely would turn up zip. Garbage floated in the river, it was just a fact of life.
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The concern the two police officers were showing for her about the effect the body would have on her was almost touching. The twenty-one-year-old squashed a small, amused smile and got down to business, skipping right over any further arguments about protocol - it was the detective's job, anyway, and there were more important things to deal with at the moment.
"While we're waiting, then," Adriana began, slightly distant as she was already filing through the facts she'd gathered and ordering them in her head. "I'll let you know what I've gotten from the files of the previous cases - I'm assuming, of course, that this victim is one of the recent serial killings and not just a random floater, but this is all information I'll need to give you either way. The killer you're looking for is a white male, in the 25-35 age range with average to above average intelligence. Steady job, married, possibly an only child, certainly the favored one if not. You'll want to look closely at the area around the first couple killings; he'll live nearby. Oh - and he's finished high school, at least, and with good grades. In this city, that should help quite a bit to narrow down your suspect pool."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but couldn't help the dry tone that crept into her voice at that last comment. Education was incredibly important if you wanted to get anywhere in life; why so many in this city seemed to pass it over was entirely beyond her. She took a breath, refocusing on the job at hand.
"His home as a child was very matriarchal, and I don't doubt for a minute that she was very strict - he probably suffered more than one harsh punishment at her hands. It accounts for his hatred of women. He's a sadist, without question, but I'm not entirely willing to say he's a sexual sadist. His main goal seems to be the total breakdown of his victim, and the rapes may just be a part of that. I'm not willing to discount it, either, though. He's normally very controlled, but he has a very violent temper once provoked. Something these women do under torture sets him off, brings him to the actual killing. And once they're dead, they mean nothing to him at all. The man didn't mean anything, either, he was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Taking the women's noses means something to him, too, though they also serve the dual purposes of making the women suffer more and acting as a trophy."
Adriana stopped, well aware of the pain and terror those women must have gone through, as well as the fact that she fit the killer's victim type - he liked dark-haired Caucasian females, and that's exactly what she was. The weight of the Browning P35 High Power holstered and safely hidden beneath her coat was suddenly a lot more reassuring. She lifted her face up to Garret's, more serious than ever before as she finished quietly. "He's escalating, getting more comfortable and confident. He's going to start turning this into a show, to taunt you. He's proud of his work."
Garret crossed his arms,
Garret crossed his arms, careful not to burn his trench. First, he was more inclined to accept that this woman was telling the truth just because the earliest serial killings got barely a passing mention in the press. The manner of torture, the nose thing, and other than they were stabbings were things the public didn't need to know.
"There's nothing to suggest this body is part of that investigation. We get floaters every other day round here. Usually fresher than this poor sod. There isn't even anything to suggest a sex right now other than size, but it could be a small male, yeah, it's that bad." Even though he was mentally labeling it a she, he couldn't let suspicion drive conclusion. There weren't any clothes or hair to help out.
"As for your instinct, I'll give ya, it ain't too bad." Garret held his cigarette between his thumb and middle finger and took another hit. The stick was damp but still tasted good. "I also figure the wife or girlfriend is the type to let him knock 'er around, or at least a meek little mouse. He wouldn't put up with a version of the mother."
Connor came hustling back. "Jere, Chief says she's legit. Running some kind of study on how killers think. He also said while she's researchin' you're the cop. Oh, and to cut off you're rantin' you ain't got a choice." Cooper winced and notably kept a bit of distance.
Garret bit off a curse. How the hell was he supposed to do his job with a mouthy civilian looking over his shoulder? Why the hell did the people doing research send a woman? Cooper nearly tossed his cookies at this one. No one, but no one who hadn't seen a rotting body before could really handle the sight and stench of what nature did to a human shell.
"This is bullshit, but seein' as I got no choice we go by the Chief's rules. I don't care who sent ya, don't you forget these are my cases." Garret started walking back to the blanket covered form. "This is more likely to be a jumper, an accident or a hit than part of the pattern. We get at least a body or two a day. The averages are against us, but I'll wait till the ME tells us."
He didn't draw back the blanket, and already the smell this close was a both rotten and sickly sweet. It clung to the nose and back of the throat, making you taste it. "Our serial guy drives. Ya can't move a body by cab or bus, and you can't leave a killing scene covered in blood and not be noticed, even in this town. The car is likely second hand, old, and a common make. Nothing noticed in the seedy side. So he isn't rock bottom, or homeless himself. He's got the means to maintain a car. Stolen would get too much notice."
Garret whipped back the blanket revealing the swollen black and green lumps of rotted meat still clinging to bone. If there was skin, it wasn't recognizable. Half the skull was eaten clean, but tinged green and brown from the river. No hair, no skin, just bloated, slimy remains making the air thick with stench. It was the kind of small once taken in a person never forgot. Garret could smell the stench of death in all it's staged and know it before he found the corpse. This was among the worst. Charred was pulling an even race.
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Adriana covered her mouth with a handkerchief to block out some of the smell as he pulled back the blanket, studying the remains with a dispassionate eye. She was no expert, but the body had to have been in the water for weeks to achieve this level of decomposition. If this was connected, it was probably one of his first kills, but there wasn't really anything there. Definitely nothing she could work with. She gestured for the detective to replace the covering and moved away again so they could talk without the smell. She tucked the handkerchief away as she waited for him to catch up.
"You're right about the car," Adriana agreed approvingly. "His job allows him quite a bit of mobility. If this is one of his, though, I can't add anything to the profile with it. You have enough to start looking, though, so I'm going home - call the office if anything new or unexpected happens, and I'll see what I can make of it." She handed him a business card with the name and number of the office she worked at, and half-smiled. "Now, may I leave on my own, or would you prefer to escort me to ensure my departure?"
"If you were to hang around
"If you were to hang around I'd hear about it." Garret had to give the kid points for composure. However, her reaction pulled his alarm bell. What had she been involved in to have no reaction like that? He'd find out.
"By the way, Miss Rossi, the male found with the female... he wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he were his throat would have been slit with no reason to tie him up... facing the woman. I'd lay odds he was a boyfriend or brother and he was supposed to watch." There had been no wedding bands. "It's all about domination and control as well as some unknown payback. Rape ain't about sex. It's about power and control."
.
"The man was a useful tool in achieving his goal," Adriana disagreed. "But if he hadn't been there, the killer wouldn't have given him a second thought - he's not interested in dominating men. He'd have done more than tie him up if he was. Interrupted or not, he still managed to torture the woman as he normally would've. The man was a bit of an afterthought. Have a good day, Detective Dixon - it's been a pleasure meeting you."
Nodding to the officer one last time, Adriana headed for the street to catch a taxi home. She had some paperwork to go through, and then maybe she'd go out for lunch before heading to the office. Either way, her day would go on like she'd never even run into the rotting, water-logged corpse. Though she'd remember the detective - he was interesting.