Skip to main content

Pandora's Children - Part 11

"Do you think it'll work, the press conference?"

"For a while, maybe, but we need to put our #pride aside and get help from wherever we can. Garcia, go work with Narcotics on the Jackson murder. Thibodeaux, I want you to check out leads on the Marcus murder and cult."

***

"We work better together, sir," Jaci said.

"That wasn't a #request, detective. Scoot! As for you," he looked at me, "do you have a lead?"

"Mrs Marcus probably kept trophies of her kills in the house. The CSIs were only looking at the murder evidence."

"Go find them."

***

I knew how dangerous Mrs. Marcus and Pandora's Children were and needed an #ally to search the house. Jaci wasn't available, so I wanted the next best thing. My old mentor, Eric Albright. He was a sergeant in patrol. He'd refused promotions to detective to stay on patrol.

***

"Hey Thibs, long time. What's up?"

"I need your help," I said and outlined the situation. "Can you meet me?"

"Give me the address and we'll meet you there," he said. "I'll ask #Judge to join us. He won't want to miss this."

Derek "Judge" Scanlon was his old partner.

***

By the time I got to the Marcus house, Judge and Albright were already there, along with a woman I didn't recognize.

"This is Stevie Wonder," Albright told me. "She's a #rookie."

"Wonder's my married name," Stevie said in explanation.

"Shall we do this?" Judge asked.

***

"Wow," Stevie said when we entered the house.

"Rich folk houses all look the same to me," Judge added. "Footballers shouldn't get this much money," he added and now you know why he got that nickname.

"It looks like one of the huge mansions from that TV show, #Empire."

***

"More like a #parody of one," Albright muttered.

"Let's go find these bones shall we?" I asked. "Stay alert while you're looking. One owner is dead and the other is an escaped serial killer, responsible for at least 34 deaths."

"Damn," Stevie muttered as we split up.

***

I searched the master bedroom & the walk in closet that was almost the same size as the bedroom, & followed the #creed drilled in by my forensics professor. Always look up. I saw a ladder hidden in a recess & pulled it out. There was a gap between the shelf & ceiling.

***

I put up the ladder and climbed to the top. I was shorter than she was but I could still see a box up there. I reached across to grab it, pulled it out and carefully climbed down. I set it on the bed and opened it. Her #greed was evident in the stacks of money, and bones.

***

"I found them," I called out & the others came running.

"Wow!" Stevie realized the bones represented bodies & shuddered. "It's still cool though."

Her excitement gave me an idea. "Can I borrow her?"

"What for?"

"I want to #infiltrate Pandora's Children," I told them.

***

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atlas Missing - Part 1

I came out to the lake once a week, sat on the edge, and stared. We'd recovered a lot of bodies during the case to stop Pandora's Children, a cult of serial killers, almost a year ago, but the rest had become #benthos, fodder for the bottom feeding life under the water. *** When we learned that the cult members had escaped, the captain tried to #constellate a task force, but the FBI took over, claiming that the killer cultists would cross state lines. Turns out they were right. Special Agents across the country are trying to track them down. *** I took a leave of absence to clear my head, but found myself trying to #ingurgitate as much as I could about cult culture, to learn the dynamics, and what drove them. The cult leader may have been dead, and her daughter in jail, but I knew someone would take over. *** I remembered one of the cultists had claimed the Indigenous term "Orenda" as a religion, and I almost thought about getting a #periapt to protect myself, but I d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pandora's Children - Part 9

We looked around the shack. Above the table was a cabinet with an old-fashioned teapot with China mugs. Beside the mugs was a small metal airtight canister. "What's that?" Jaci asked. "Green tea with #jasmine," Mrs. Marcus said. "Grace used it for her tea ceremonies." *** "Tea ceremonies?" Jaci asked. Mrs. Marcus nodded. "She kidnapped her victims she brought them here, had tea, and dumped their bodies in the lake. I tried to tell her she needed to find somewhere else but she was #obstinate and refused. Drain the lake and you'll see." *** We left the shack and Jaci said, "We need the CSI's to check this place out." "Enough of this #rigmarole," Mrs. Marcus muttered and pulled free of my grip. She knocked me over and ran for the water and disappeared beneath before I got close." "Shit! Now what do we do?" *** "You let her escape?" The captain asked, shouting to be heard over the #ca...
Post a Comment
Read more

Atlas Missing - Part 6

"Why did she go to Houston?" Jaci asked suddenly. "I have a #theorem," I said. "She must know someone there, or it has special meaning to her." "That's a theory. A theorem has been proven," Jaci countered. I grinned. "Well, let's find the proof to make it a theorem." *** 'We can't really do much until we land,' Jaci said. 'Your #logic is faulty. LaShonda Marcus was on that reality TV show, Ravens' Claws, about the wives and girlfriends of the players. There's a lot of information online about her. We can use that as a starting point.' *** 'Good thinking,' Jaci agreed as I typed.' 'We can lock her up this time #iff she doesn't escape,' I said emphasizing the extra "f" in that word but it flew over her head. I only knew it because of my teacher's lessons about math, and biology, because we had chemistry. *** Jaci looked at me blankly for a moment and then said, ...
Post a Comment
Read more