Chapter 2

Detective Ryan Sterling stared at the pictures in the room, a shiver ran down his spine, he felt a twinge of guilt flood his chest, he sat down as a woman in her late 50s approached him with two cups of tea, he stood up and helped her with it, placing the teacups on the table in front of him. She had a field of gray hair with brown strands poking out like weeds in a garden, her eyes were full of life, the years had been good to her, she showed no signs of wrinkles except for the lines at the edge of her lips that were created by smiles, you could tell she had lived a happy life and he was here to end it, he looked at her the guilt from his chest seeping into his eyes, he gave her a pitiful smile, which she didn't seem to notice as she sipped her tea, she placed her cup down and asked, "what can I help you with Detective?".

"I'm here about your daughter, Katherine Pritchett….he paused building up the words….she was found dead on the bitch yesterday".

The woman's, smile faded slowly, her eyes began to water, he could feel her heart sink, she held on to the table her hands shaky, he stood and walked towards her, he crouched and held her as she bawled her eyes out, he waited for her to calm down before offering her water, he couldn't believe he was about to do this, "I'm really sorry, this is just protocol you'd have to answer some questions"

she nodded understanding him, she drank the water before calming herself, "Katherine was a good girl, until she met her good for nothing boyfriend, he introduced her to drugs and when I reported him to the cops, they let him go because his parents are important people so I ended up getting in trouble with her, but they had been having problems and she broke up with him and he hit her, he had always been violent and I found out he started stalking her everywhere"

"can I have his name?"

"Jordan King, do you think he could have done this?"

"I don't know ma'am, but we'd find out, where did Katherine go the day before yesterday and why didn't you file a missing persons report wen you found out she was missing?"

"I don't know where she went, she had been staying with her friend for the past week so I couldn't have known she was missing and if you're asking for an alibi, I don't have one I was at home through out"

"what's the friends name and address please, do you have cameras here?"

"I'd write it down for you, and no I don't trust cameras"

she went towards a room and came back with a pen and paper, she wrote something down and gave it to Sterling, she was a strong woman and he could see that, he could see that she was stopping the tears that were forming at the tip of her eyes.

"thank you...he said as he collected the paper...we'd find out who did this don't worry"

she nodded, the walked to the door and she closed it when he left, he felt bad that he had to still investigate her as protocol demands, he cased the place for cameras and made a mental note of getting the footage from them. He picked up his phone and called Parker

"hello"

"victims mother says she had a stalker ex and was squatting with her friend, run a background check on a Jordan King and a Jessica Walter, then get the footage from the cameras surrounding Elizabeth Pritchett's house"

"yes sir"

"we just might have another killer"

"why do you think that?"

"this might not be a part of the serial murders"

"we've still not gotten the autopsy Sterling, that reminds me Sarah says the result is ready, Nora and I would meet you there".

Sterling sighed as he got into his car.

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Sarah Jacobs the forensic pathologist was Sylvester's ex-wife, he still wasn't comfortable with her, they had been married for five years when they had a huge falling out that led to their divorce. She seemed okay with him and would often try to strike a casual conversation which often led to the men she dated after their divorce, which made him more uncomfortable, he couldn't believe she had actually moved on and really wanted to be just friends with him, they thought of it filled his chest with a lump. Sylvester walked into the lab where Sarah, Nora and Parker where, Katherine's cops laid there half covered with a sheet, the scars from where they split her open to examine her.

"finally you're here...Sarah said….we were waiting for you.

His eyes where still fixed to the corpse, his head tilted, there was ringing in his ears and the room began to spin, he saw flashbacks but they were to quick for him to analyze, he held his head and staggered backward, Parker caught him and steadied him.

"are you okay?… Parker asked….you'd think you were used to this considering your job"

Sterling smiled faintly and nodded to Sarah, urging her to go on

"the cause of death is basically stabbing, she was stabbed multiple times on one spot and it seems the wound was abused, he probably pierced it with his finger, we checked for any form of DNA, but there was none, he was probably wearing a glove, he didn't just douse the body in alcohol he cleaned it perfectly, there was obviously a struggle but no skin was found under her nails, my best guess is that she was first hit on the face and then strangled, on her neck was a rope mark, the bites on her neck and nipples where obviously done after she was dead, because of the degree of the wounds, there was also penetration in her clitoris but that too was done after rigor mortis stepped in, we searched for DNA there too but there was none, your guy is good, he probably rinsed her with water before the alcohol, her time of death was probably twelve o'clock to one".

"more like our guy is crazy" Sterling muttered

"so we're back to square one?" Parker asked

"seems so, but we would still check out Jordan and Jessica and probably the girls mum"

"oh, there was also trauma to the head, she was hit with a stick, we got some chips out of the back of her head, but that wasn't lethal and there was no sign of any narcotic".

Sterling nodded and collected the autopsy report, the walked out of the room leaving Sarah, "I asked someone to do a background check on Jordan and Jessica, Jordan has been arrested countless times for assault and drug possession but not once has he been convicted", Parker told them

"looks like daddy's money is really paying off and Jessica?"

"she's clean, she's just a college dropout who lives off her parents wealth, both parents are dead and luckily for her she was their only child"

"no one to share her money with, Nora and I would meet Jordan tomorrow, you can meet Jessica, what of Katherine's mother?"

"she never left her home after she came back from grocery shopping in the morning we searched for Katherine's clothes, they were found in the water and the Tyre marks were a dead end, no cameras along that side"

Sterling nodded, he handed Parker the autopsy report and left.

Sterling laid in bed unable to sleep, he had been having disturbing dreams, he dreamt of death, it was like he was being haunted. He had grown an unhealthy obsession with the word, it was like he was possessed, being around too many corpses must have broken him for him to be fascinated with it. He had both books about it and listened to podcasts, now it became part of him. It scared him, gave him insomnia, he kept having dreams with vivid pictures he could not piece together. His mind had become a mess, the ringing started again and his head ached his eyes were spinning as he tried to reach for the drugs beside him, he picked it up and took the drugs, before staggering to the kitchen before he could reach his room door, he passed out.

He woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, he checked the time, it was already 7am, he was going to be late, he picked the call and his expression tightened…...there had been another murder.

Parker called Nora, they were both having an awful day, Nora had left Sterling to check out the recent murder.

"Jessica has an alibi for the night, she says there were no cameras at the club or outside the club and she checks out, she said she saw Katherine talking to a hooded guy but didn't get to see his face, and Katherine left with the guy"

"at least we know he's our guy, the victim here is a homeless woman, her throat was slit open"

"that's new, are you sure our guy did this"

"fingers crossed its not him, I wouldn't mind giving team two this one"

"same, have you told Sterling?"

"yeah, he hopes for the same thing obviously, he said Mr. King is refusing to let him speak to Jordan, he's threatening him with an arrest for obstruction of justice"

"that's a stupid move, sterling should know that, that isn't going to scare him"

"I don't think Sterling is thinking straight, their running a background check on our victim and conducting an autopsy, I'm going to meet Sterling".

Nora walked out of the crime scene about to enter her car when Parker called her.

"change of plans, come back to the precinct…..Sterling arrested Jordan and Mr. King".