One Step Ahead

We've Got Another One

      "All right, if you'll give me your number, I'll contact you once I have a definite answer."

      He wrote down the number she recited, and just as he was ready to end the call, his cell phone began blaring Thin Lizzy throughout the crowded space. He said goodbye, then clicked on the other phone. "Sanger. Who's this?"

      "It's Tate, I'm at a scene, and you're gonna want to get out here ASA-fuckin'-P, Lieutenant. We've got another one, and it's even worse this time. And there's another one of those creepy messages."

      Resisting the urge to bang his head against the top of the desk, he responded. "Shit! Please tell me it's not another one of ours, Quint."

      "No, not even close, but one of the uniforms did call it in. You're not gonna believe this, boss, but it's Elton Keel."

      Sanger catapulted himself from the chair and nearly sprinted from his office, saying, "Text me the address, I'm on my way."

                                 *************************************************************

8:52 PM :

      He pulled up in front of the shabby apartment building and got out of the car, taking note of the faces of those standing outside the building. Most of the tenants seemed to range between confused and annoyed, while his people appeared drained, and slightly rattled. He moved toward the door, and was immediately recognized by the uniformed officer stationed there, who lifted the crime scene tape to allow him inside.

      He made his way to the crowd of people outside the door of Apartment Seventeen, and spotted Tate and Clavell immediately. They saw him at the same moment, and moved to meet him. "What have we got here?" he queried .

      Tate gestured toward the open doorway, which allowed a glimpse of a pretty Hispanic woman being tended by an EMT, but nothing else from their vantage point. "Turns out that one of the rookies has, or had, some sort of relationship with Keel, and came over to visit with him. He wasn't responsive when she arrived, so she called it in, apparently thinking he might be ill. The dispatcher notified EMS, then asked her to check on him, and called for a unit when she started screaming. Not that I blame her, this isn't something you wanna have burned onto the surface of your brain."

      Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Sanger stepped into the apartment, glancing at the young woman as he passed her, recognizing her as the niece of one of the detectives in the Vice department, who was currently working in the evidence storage area. Looking past her, he saw the distinctive figure of Keel, seated in front of a computer monitor, surrounded by photographers and technicians.

      Edging his way through the throng, he moved to where he was able to actually get a good look at the dead man, and instantly understood the rookie's response. "Holy shit! What kind of sick bastard does something like this?" he thought , as he took in the scene .

      Keel sat in the computer chair, with his hands on either side of the keyboard, appearing to stare at the blank screen, but in actuality, he would have been unable to either type or see the screen, since his eyeballs were staring sightlessly up from their position on the keyboard, along with his tongue, and his fingers had been severed and stuffed into his mouth, which had been slit on both sides to widen it into a Joker-like appearance. Sanger surmised that this had probably been done to better accomodate the fan-like arrangement into which the killer had carefully placed the fingers.

      The other detectives joined him, and Clavell gestured toward the wall opposite the body. "Have a look at that. No way this isn't the same person."

      Sanger turned his attention to the words which had been scrawled, in Keel's blood: "MY WORK WILL NOT BE STOPPED. ALL WHO CONTINUE TO INTERFERE WILL MEET THE SAME END."

      "Jesus, what the hell is going on with this nut?" he muttered. "And how the hell did he get on this so fast?" Turning to the medical personnel , he inquired, "Do we have a time of death yet?"

      "Nothing definite as yet, but we know he was making calls between 2:30 and 3:00 PM , and he was discovered around 8:00, so we at least have a window."

      "Let me know as soon as you come up with anything, please?"

      "Sure thing, Lieutenant. Oh, one more thing; I did find a small puncture wound on his neck , so we'll be doing a full tox screen on him, as well, just like we're doing on detective Whitman."

      A nagging worry began to surface in his mind, and he excused himself and stepped into the hallway. Taking out his phone, he called Ashley and discussed the idea of Briar being present at their meeting. He was amenable to the idea, so he sent her a text with the time and location, along with another sentence, which he also verbalized to Ashley before ending their conversation.

      "Until we can talk tomorrow, please be cautious. Things have gotten more serious, so lock your doors, and watch your backs."