Detective Partners (16 page)

"Another homicide?"
Nicole mumbled.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry I can't help," she said.

"Don't worry about it." Galen got to his feet. "We'll take care of it. You just get some sleep." He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll call you later."

"All right."

After one last look at her, Galen turned and hurried from the room.

C
hapter  16

"Is everybody here?" Parker asked, strolling into the conference room.

"No," Renfro said. "Goodwin's missing."

Parker glanced at Galen. "Where's your partner, Maxwell?"

Aware of all eyes on him, Galen answered his boss. "She's in the hospital, sir. I won't go into any details, but I will say that she was physically assaulted. She's going to be fine. The doctor wants her to stay in the hospital for a few days."

"Did the police catch the person responsible for her attack?" Parker inquired.

Galen thought of Nicole's father and his stomach clenched in anger. "Yes. He's in jail where he belongs."

"Good." His eyes flashing, Parker growled softly, "I hope he rots in his cell." He moved toward the front of the room. "Moving on to the new case, I have a letter that I want you all to hear." He held up a plastic evidence bag. Inside was a piece of paper. "This letter arrived at the station a little while ago. It was addressed to the Homicide Unit." He faced the group. "After I read it I will send it to the lab for fingerprinting. It says:

"'
Greetings San Francisco's finest,

I pray this letter finds you in excellent health. Recently, I've had an event happen to me that has changed my life and opened my eyes. God spoke to me. He told me that he has a mission for me. I'm sure you all are aware of the sin and corruption that is plaguing our beautiful city. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing the prostitutes walking the streets, the drugs flowing freely, the raping and the murdering. It has to stop and the people responsible for these evil acts have to be punished. God called me to be one of his
disciple
to help rid the city of the evil doers. Gladly, I obeyed his request.

Last night I began what I hope to be a long and fruitful mission. I purged this city of a demon that was hell bent on doing the devil's work. You will find this demon in an alley behind the bar on Leo Street. I am telling you this because I hope that we can work together to make our city beautiful and to bring it out of the darkness and back into the light. My plan is to destroy these demons and have you dispose of them. I pray that my plan pleases you. I will be in touch soon. I look forward to working with you. May God shine upon you and bless you in all that you do.'"

"He signed it 'Judas'."

Marsh snorted. "He should've signed it wacko."

Renfro turned her head and looked at her partner. "Wacko doesn't even begin to describe him, Ed. Try sick bastard. The man obviously has a mental disorder. We should check the nearby
mental institutions and see if any patients have escaped or been released recently. Although if he was released someone screwed up, because he's not mentally sound enough to be let loose in society."

"Good thinking," Parker said. "That's your first task, Renfro."

"Got it, boss," she said.

"Wasn't it Judas Iscariot that betrayed Jesus?" Lopez spoke up.

"Yes," Parker answered. "He was also one of Jesus' disciples." He dropped the letter on the table in front of him. "This has serial killer written all over it. If he follows through on his plan we're going to have a lot of dead bodies on our hands." He sighed heavily. "This is what I want you all to do." After giving out the assignments, he dismissed everyone. "Hang back for a moment, Maxwell."

Galen pushed back his chair and stood. "Do you want something, sir?"

Parker waited until they were alone before he spoke. "Are you all right to work? Do you want to sit this one out? I would understand if you want to be with Goodwin right now."

"She needs her rest," Galen told him. "She can't get it if I'm there. Besides, you need me more than she does at the moment."

Parker nodded. "You're right, but I want you to make time for her."

"I plan to, sir."

"Get out of here then."

.

Galen raised the yellow police tape and ducked under it. He straightened up and made his way up the alley. Passing a group of police officers, he nodded his head in greeting. A member of the CSI unit was kneeling by a large green dumpster. As Galen drew near to him, he saw the body. It was a female, lying on her back. She was wearing a red halter-top, black mini skirt, and black high heels. Her throat had been slit from ear to ear. Blood pooled on the ground beneath her head. Her halter-top was pulled up, exposing her midriff. The word '
Peccator
' had been written on the exposed skin with her own blood.

"Hey, Maxwell," the CSI member said when Galen squatted down beside him.

"Garcia." He pointed at the woman's midriff. "What does '
Peccator
' mean?"

"Beats me," he said with a shrug.

"It's Latin and it means 'Sinner', " a female voice said.

Galen leaned his head back and looked up at the medical examiner.
"Thanks, doc."

"You're welcome." Dr. Cain knelt down, placing a hand on Galen's arm to steady
herself
. "I don't see your little partner. Where is she?"

"She's in the hospital." He cleared his throat. "Some sick bastard beat her up. She's going to be fine though. What can you tell me about the victim?"

"Well it's obvious that she died from her throat being slashed." She glanced at Garcia. "Hand me a pair of gloves, dear."

"Yes, ma'am."
He grabbed a pair of latex gloves from his kit and passed them to the doctor.

"Thank you." Dr. Cain put on the gloves and then picked up the female's left hand. She examined the nails. "Her nails look clean. There's no skin or blood underneath." She checked the right hand and found the nails were clean as well. "Garcia, did you find any foreign hairs?"

"No," he replied. "I found nothing that would lead us to the killer."

Dr. Cain lifted the woman's skirt. "No bruising on the thighs. Panties are in place. There are no outward signs of sexual assault." She lowered the skirt. "I won't know for sure until I examine her further."

Galen shifted his weight. "I'm almost certain you will find evidence that she's had intercourse recently. I've been in the business long enough that I know a prostitute when I see one. I'm also positive that the killer didn't rape her." Briefly, he told her and Garcia about the letter that was sent to the station. "He sees prostitutes as demon evil doers. In his eyes they're filth and beneath him. He claims he is a disciple of Jesus. He wouldn't dare give into the pleasures of the flesh. That would be a sin."

Garcia snorted. "And killing a human being isn't?"

"In his eyes he feels as though he's helping the greater good by getting rid of people whose moral compass points south." Galen gazed at the dead body. "He's too warped in the head to see that what he's doing is a sin." He shook his head sadly. "I hope she didn't have any children." He stood and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm going to go talk to the officers and see if they know anything."

"Good luck," Dr. Cain said. "And tell Goodwin I'll pray for her."

"Will do."
Galen left them and moved toward the small group of officers that was standing off to one side. He saw that one of them was Officer Travers.

"Hello, Maxwell," Travers said. "I take it you want to know if we have any info on the victim."

"Do you?"

"Not at the moment," he said. "We have no witnesses, at least none that care to step forward. Most people won't go out of their way to help a prostitute. The owner of the bar is out of town and won't be back until Tuesday. I spoke with the manager. He didn't even know that the body was back here. At the moment we got nothing." He moved away from the other officers and beckoned Galen to follow him. When they were a short distance away, he stopped and turned to look at Galen. "How's Goodwin doing?"

"She's all right," he told Travers.

"What about the bastard that beat her up? Is he still on the loose?"

"No," Galen said. "He's been arrested."

"Good, because-" His cell phone rang, cutting into what he was going to say next. "I better take it. Talk to you later."

"Sure." Galen took out his own phone and brought up the internet. He looked up the phone number for the hospital and then dialed it. Once the operator came on the line, he asked to be connected to the second floor nurses station. While he waited, he watched as Dr. Cain and Garcia covered the victim with a sheet. When the nurse answered, he gave her his name and asked how Nicole was doing.

"Not very well," the nurse informed him. "I went in to check on her less than five minutes ago. The poor thing was crying. It's understandable though. She's been through a traumatic experience."

A lump formed in his throat at the thought of Nicole alone and crying.
"Would you put me through to her room?"

"Hold on."

"Hello?" Nicole said, coming on the line, a minute later. She sounded as though she had a cold.

"Hi," Galen said softly. "How are you feeling?" He knew the answer of course, but he wanted to see if she would tell him.

"How do you think I'm feeling?" she said angrily. "My father beat me up. My own father and I-" She broke off and he heard the sound of weeping. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"That's all right," he uttered gently. "You don't need to apologize. If you're angry, let it out. Don't hold it in."

"It's not right taking my anger out on you," Nicole croaked. "You don't deserve it."