Chapter 11

How is it that in the modern age of DNA, cameras everywhere and CSI, we were chasing a ghost? Eight rapes, the level of violence escalating with each one and almost no clues as to who was behind them. The perp was very careful not to leave much trace evidence, and we had no witnesses. We had two small samples of DNA that came from two different crime scenes. They matched each other, but we’d never been able to connect them to a perp. It was only a matter of time, but how long?

And now, this.

Victim number nine. Murdered. This one hit me hard. I felt like it was my fault for not working harder, not doing a better job to catch this maniac. Had I been letting my preoccupation with my issues at home distract me from my job? I was one of the best investigators on the force, and I had nothing. This poor woman was dead because of me.

I pulled to a stop outside room number 27 at the Dew Drop Inn, a sleazy motel on the outside of town known for hookers, drug dealers and bed rentals by the hour. The forensics team was hard at it by the time I arrived, and the victim’s corpse was about to be removed.

I looked in; the room was a bloody mess. This one hadn’t gone easily. That was bad for the victim, but maybe, just maybe, it would be a break for us. Someone had to have heard something, maybe seen something. I saw her hair, half of it red and matted with her blood, the remaining strands a similar color to my wife’s. She was laying on her side, her naked ass and back facing me.

The tech gently rolled her on her back, and her head lolled to the side. I saw her face. My heart leaped into my throat, and I lost my breath. I stepped back, shook my head and stared at her familiar visage.

“Martinez!” I shouted.

“Yo!” he called back from inside the room.

“You got any ID on the vic?” I called out, but I already knew who she was. He carefully stepped outside. “Yeah, her bag was in the corner. Driver’s license says she’s Melissa Goodman of Allen.” He was looking at me cautiously. “That’s your town, Bill. You know her?”

“Yeah, I do.”