Maniacal: A Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Book 1

Maniacal: A Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Book 1 Read Free

Book: Maniacal: A Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Book 1 Read Free
Author: C.M. Sutter
Ads: Link
of this lake if they didn’t live near here?”
    “Good question, partner. What happened to the guys that called it in?” I asked.
    Jason jerked his head to the left. “They’re over by the boat launch with Detective Clayton. The lieutenant sent him out along with a handful of deputies this morning before you two got in. They’re just a couple of retired guys looking to catch some bass this morning but found this guy instead. It’s a real shame.”
    “Can we get a rough estimate of TOD?”
    Doug swatted a fly away. “Hard to say. Rigor is just setting in. Being submerged in water makes a difference, Sergeant. I’ll know more after I get him on the table. If you want a rough estimate”—Doug pulled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch—“I’d say he’s been dead for six hours, maybe more.”
    I buried my cold, wet hands in my pockets. “Okay, let’s keep moving. Has Kyle or Dan checked for footprints or tire tracks yet?”
    “Kyle’s working on it. Once he clears the path, Jason can pull the van in, and we’ll get this guy loaded up,” Doug said.
    Jack and I backtracked to where Kyle and Dan were taking pictures of the area and looking for tread marks on the path.
    Kyle saw us approaching. “You’re good to go, guys. No tire marks or shoeprints in the gravel that we can see. We’ll keep looking for evidence in the brush and weeds too. I’m sure most of us will be out here all morning.”
    Something was on my mind that I needed to ask Kyle. “One quick question before we go. Why don’t you think there were footprints leading to the site? It’s been raining, and the ground is soft.”
    “There’s a lot of ways to enter this lake. My guess would be the perp walked through the shallow water with the body. He could have entered the lake anywhere and stayed along the shoreline. It depends on when the body was dumped too.”
    “Meaning?”
    “I don’t think it started raining until early this morning. We’ve got Donnelly, Silver, Ebert, and Lawrence searching everything that is cordoned off. They’ll do a thorough job.”
    “Okay, thanks. We’re going to talk to the eyewitnesses now.” I pulled the hood of my rain jacket up as we walked to the boat launch. The mist was heavy enough to instantly turn my smooth black hair into frizz. “I’m going to give Clark a heads-up. What we found wasn’t the norm in this neck of the woods.” I dialed the lieutenant as we walked and turned left at the end of the gravel road. The boat launch with a small restaurant lay straight ahead. I noticed the lights were on in the restaurant, and a green neon Open sign hung slightly tilted from the window. “Hey, Lieutenant, I’m just calling to give you the initial update.”
    “Go ahead, Jade. What have we got besides what Kyle told me earlier?”
    “It certainly isn’t the typical drowning, but somehow I think you knew that. We have an African American male whose head was almost severed. That doesn’t fit the neighborhood, and I doubt if he lived around here.” I wiped my wet forehead. “We saw gang tats on the visible parts of his body too, and there could be more. I think we should keep the actual cause of death off the media’s radar, at least for now. In this quiet, upscale neighborhood, the residents will go into a tizzy if those details get out. There wasn’t a wallet or cell phone on the body either.”
    “That creates a problem.”
    “The only thing we can hope for is fingerprints, if he’s in the system.”
    “Okay, so the witnesses?”
    “Jack and I are walking up to them as we speak. I’ll catch up with you later, Lieutenant.” I hung up, put my phone on vibrate, and zipped it into my jacket pocket as we introduced ourselves to the two older men talking to Clayton.
    Chad Clayton was another daytime detective that was usually partnered with Adam Billings, but Billings had stayed back to handle things in the bull pen.
    Clayton had dark blond hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. He could

Similar Books

Fat Lightning

Howard Owen

Moonlit Mind

Dean Koontz

Hand of Evil

J. A. Jance

Capturing Callie

Avery Gale