PART II Chapter Thirteen
Kate had another murder to work on now. There was a connection to her daughter’s kidnapping, she was sure of that. She was pretty sure this murder was to make sure the victim didn’t talk. All Kate needed to do now was to prove it.
Kate got up and went for her run. It wasn’t only to stay in good physical shape, running helped Kate clear her head as well. She solved a lot of problems while out on that track and also let a few of them go.
Megan was up when Kate returned. She was even quieter than usual, obviously thinking about the things she endured as a victim. Kate knew Megan didn’t remember any of what happened and was likely not going to in the future.
Kate walked over to her daughter and placed her arm around her.
Kate said, “Honey, nothing that has happened to you is your fault. You were chosen at random because of some physical trait they were looking for and nothing you did caused it to happen.”
Kate gave her daughter a hug, then grabbed a breakfast sandwich, a cup of coffee and headed to her car. Cindy was waiting in the parking lot of the station when Kate arrived.
Cindy asked, “How is Megan doing?”
Kate answered, “She has been unusually quiet. I think she is deep in thought about what those guys may have done to her while she was passed out. I keep telling her that none of it is her fault. Just for the record, she saw a photo of our murdered guy and said he was at the party at her friend’s house.”
Cindy replied, “I figured they were shutting him up. Megan identifying him is no surprise to me. So, which murder are we working on today?”
Kate answered, “I would like to work on the kidnapping murder case that involved Megan, but Mr. Duncan’s murder is an older case and we should work on it.”
Cindy asked, “Okay, what is our next move? Do you think Mr. Webber has the physical strength to shoot our victim or that one. She was the last person to have sex with the victim.
They wanted to go back through the apartment to make sure nothing had been overlooked. The couch where Mr. Duncan’s bloodstain was splattered all over it was still there sitting empty. There was nothing disturbed around it. The conclusion they came up with was that Mr. Duncan was surprised by his killer and had no time to react.
They brought the crime scene photos for a reference in case something had been moved. Kate went into Mr. Duncan’s bedroom and went through anything that was laying out. She opened the drawers in the dresser and night stand and even looked under the bed, although the CSI techs had vacuumed under there and brought it back to the lab. They already had his laundry, which proved to tell a story.
Kate opened the closet door, removed the clothes, and placed them on the bed. There was a top shelf above the clothes and Kate took each box down to go through. Most of the boxes were full of paperwork, old receipts and other odds and ends. Kate thought to herself, “Looks like our victim has the same filing system I have.”
While looking through the shelves, Kate’s foot caught the edge of the carpet inside and she could tell it was loose. She bent down and was able to pull the carpet aside, revealing a floor safe underneath.
Kate yelled out to Cindy, “Come to the closet, I found something.”
Cindy walked quickly into the bedroom and Kate pointed out the safe. Kate had pulled the carpet completely away by the time Cindy got there and the safe was obvious.
Kate asked, “I wonder if the apartment manager knows about this safe?”
Cindy replied, “Maybe we should ask. I will bring him back so we can ask that question.”
Kate stayed with the safe and Cindy went to get the manager. When they came back, Cindy and Kate pointed out the safe.
Kate asked, “Is this a safe standard issue or was this a personal add-on?”
The manager answered, “The apartment didn’t come with a safe. Mr. Duncan asked permission to add it and the owners agreed, if the safe stayed after he left.”
Kate asked, “That means, I suppose, that you have no way of getting into that safe?”
The manager replied, “That is exactly what it means. I don’t know the combination and I wouldn’t know who would have it.”
Kate and Cindy excused the manager to go back to whatever managers do and they continued to look around. It was obvious that the safe was front and center in their minds and they would have to find a way to get inside.
Kate said, “I guess we will contact the granddaughter and see if she knows anything about the safe, failing that we can get a locksmith out here to get it open.”
Cindy said, “I have a snitch that served time for cracking safes. If I can find him we won’t need a locksmith. I agree that we should find out what the granddaughter knows first before we break in.”
Kate called Elizabeth and told her that her grandfather had a floor safe. She asked if Elizabeth knew about the safe and even more important, did she know how to get into it. Elizabeth told Kate that she knew her grandfather had a safe but she didn’t know where it was nor did she know how to get inside it.
Cindy asked, “Do I need to look for my snitch?”
Kate replied, “I guess it is the only way we are going to get inside there. I don’t think the department would approve.”
Cindy replied, “I guess we better not tell then’”
Kate gathered up the boxes they found in the top of the closet. She told Elizabeth she needed to clean her father’s stuff out before the landlord sold it. She could take the boxes of receipts back to the station and search through them for possible clues.
Kate told the building manager they needed the apartment long enough to find out what was in the safe. She also told him that she had advised the granddaughter she should come get her grandfather’s personal effects. Kate did give the manager permission to begin cleaning up the apartment.
Cindy said, “I will put the word out on the street that I have a job for my snitch.”
Kate said, “That is about all we can do right now. Let’s take these receipts back to the station and see what we find.”
Kate and Cindy carried the boxes of receipts with them as they walked through and closed the front door. Kate had no real anticipation that they would find the smoking gun in those stacks of receipts but you never know what may be relevant until you see it.
Kate said, “We won’t tell the captain about our plan with the snitch. Let’s just wait and see if it all pays off.”
Cindy replied, “There is no need to rock the boat, especially if it already has a hole in it.”
Kate only said, “Let’s get out of here. do we believe it may be one of the women?”
Kate replied, “I don’t think Mr. Webber has the physical ability to shoot our victim. We have his wife, Mary, confessing that she had sex with the victim the night he died. Maybe one of the other women got jealous and shot him.”
Cindy said, “Maybe we should see if any of those women own a gun. We should check everyone’s alibi for that night.”
Kate and Cindy decided to go back to the murder scene and just look around. The manager would be allowed to clean up the apartment soon and anything that was missed there would be out of reach forever.
The crime scene tape was still across the front door. Kate and Cindy put on their rubber gloves and gently pushed the door open to go inside. They had the photos from the scene and the autopsy report, not that they needed an autopsy. The bullet hole in the chest was a good indication of the cause of death. They also had all of the DNA found and submitted. Mary’s was tested against what was found on the victim and she was a match for.