Chapter 14

“Weʼve got another one,” said Sheila as Linda and Brad entered the sheriffʼs office.

“I sent Nikki out to protect the crime scene until you get there. Iʼve been trying to reach you on the radio.”

“Got to get that thing fixed,” sighed Linda.

“It seems to have a mind of its own about when it wants to work. Anyway, what happened?”

“Call came in a few minutes ago. A body found near that historic marker over near Leverage Lookout.”

“Any info at all?” asked Brad.

“Only that itʼs a female and as best they could tell sheʼs in her twenties. Apparently sheʼs pretty badly mutilated.”

“Call David. Tell him to meet us...”

“Already on his way,” replied Sheila.


“And you might want to...”


“Checking the missing persons bulletins now,” smiled the older woman.


“Why donʼt I just retire and let you run the office?” smiled Linda.


“Now how much fun would that be?” laughed Sheila as the sheriff and deputy disappeared out the door. Minutes later they were pulling in behind Nikkiʼs cruiser. Leverage Lookout was a local loverʼs lane, especially for the over twenty crowd. The teenagers tended to visit Hanniganʼs Lake near where the first body had been found. Neither place was going to be too popular for a while.

“A lot like the last one,” said Nikki approaching them as they made their way around a large spruce tree to the dead pine where the body was tied, naked and impaled on a tree limb. David Slayton stood examining the young womanʼs mouth.

“This is even worse than the other one,” he opined.

“Sheʼs been tortured. Looks like cattle prod burns,” he said motioning to the telltale small round burn marks.

“Cuts, bruises and slashes all over. Whoever did this was really enjoying himself. Iʼll have to wait for the autopsy but Iʼd say the coup de grace was that limb he used to rape her with.” Linda and Brad both studied the bare limb, as long and big around as a baseball bat, which had been rammed into the womanʼs vagina while her hands and feet were pulled back around the trunk of the tree and tied.

“Iʼd put TOD about two am this morning,” continued the doctor.

“Whatʼs in her mouth?” asked Linda.


“A dildo. Largest one Iʼve ever seen. Itʼs possible she could have choked to death on it before he used the limb. Iʼll know more when I get her back to the office.”

“Anything else?”

“Well itʼs hard to tell with that vibrator down her throat but her eyes tell me she was scared out of her mind when she died.”

“Just like the first one.”

“Yeah. Heʼs used some new toys on her but Iʼd bet the farm itʼs the same guy.”

“So we have a serial killer,” said Brad.

“That would be my guess,” replied the coroner.

“Either that or there just happen to be two women who really pissed him off.”

“Anything on an ID?” Linda asked of Nikki.

“Not yet,” answered the pretty young deputy.

“The body is completely naked. Not a stitch of clothing in sight and nothing else I could find except a couple of broken limbs on that spruce behind you, some drag marks in the pine needles and with this gravel road we arenʼt going to get any tire tracks. Nothing that I found is going to tell us much, Iʼm afraid.”

“Okay. Dave, anything else?”


“Not for the moment. As I said, Iʼll know more when I can examine her more closely. Iʼve got some help coming.”

“What am I missing?” asked Linda, turning to Brad.

“Nothing I can see. Thereʼs just not a lot to go on right now.”

“Then, letʼs see about getting an ID.”

The portly clerk had news the next morning.

“Nameʼs Helen Connors,” said Sheila as Linda, Brad and Nikki entered the office.

“Twenty-four. Married. Housewife with a seven year old. Husbandʼs Larry Connors. Works at Ben Furmanʼs Machine Shop over on Cranston. Neighborʼs spotted something wrong when the boy got home from school and the mother wasnʼt there to greet him. The husband came by this morninig to report her missing. He dropped off this photo.”

“Yeah, thatʼs her,” said Brad.

“Damn shame. She was a pretty woman.”

“Anything that will help us?” asked Linda.

“Not really. From what I can find out, the son is the wifeʼs. She was apparently raped in high school and the biological father deserted her. The husband married her and adopted the boy. The marriage is unsteady. The husband spends a lot of his free time at bars with the local ladies of the evening. Husband has a couple of DUIs to his credit. No history of violence though.”

“All right, set up an interview with the husband, maybe he can tell us something. And contact her parents.”