Murder! Too Close To Home Read Free Page A

dead end on that for now, and there were no hair, fibers or prints left in the car. The doer must have been wearing gloves and a hat of some sort. Also, there were no shell casings to test, either he policed the brass or a revolver was used. The size of the holes indicates that it was probably a .357, we’ll know more when we find the slugs.”
    “There were only two real clues of any merit, but they aren’t much. There was a minute amount of soil in the back of the victims’ car, which was otherwise spotless, and we have sent that off to the state to analyze.”
    Turning to the evidence list in the back of the file, he handed us another sheet of paper.
    “The other piece of evidence is copied there.”
    Looking at the second sheet, I found what appeared to be a copy of a business card. The single word in block letters in my mind immediately indicated an amateur’s attempt at attention, a professional wouldn’t be bragging about his identity.
    “Ghost,” I said out loud, not liking the direction the investigation was already taking. A perp throwing out a name to us like this led me to reason that it might be just the beginning of some larger plan.
    “What will be our part in the investigation?” I asked, knowing the Sheriff’s department usually took the lead. Allen rose from his chair, walking a few steps to stand in front of the window, his back now toward us.
    “I’ll be activating the new Major Crimes Taskforce for this case. As you know, we’ve been working out the logistics of it for the last six months. We’re ready now, and this is exactly the type of case we have set this up for. We’ll have the best of the available talent working together as one unit, an impressive amount of talent. Gabriel, you’ll be taking the lead with the unit, handle the day to day decisions.” 
    Thanks I thought, but kept my thoughts to myself.
    The Major crimes taskforce had been one of the hallmark points of action for Allen Vanguard’s second run for office. The main thrust of the idea was having people from both of the policing agencies in the county, as well as investigators from the prosecutor’s office working together on larger or more serious crimes, all overseen by Allen himself.
    Negotiating with the other agencies had turned out to be the major hindrance to completing the task force, as each in turn dug in their heels at what they saw as an intrusion on their turf. Allen being no slouch when it comes to digging in when he thinks something is right, finally overcame their objections with sound reasoning and assurances that he wasn’t trying to supplant their authority. 
    “We are of course hoping something brakes soon,” Allen continued as he turned from the window. “We are concerned with the public’s reaction to these murders, so we have opted to keep the facts close to our vest for now. So far we have been able to keep this out of the news, releasing it as a two-car crash with fatalities from out of town. As of now that story is holding. I’m concerned that this may be the start of something, although maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
    “It definitely has the earmarks of someone with a plan,” I said, “it’s too exact for someone on a lark. Dropping that card in the car like that, someone is trying to make a name for himself. Maybe we should check other departments in the tri-state, see if the word “Ghost” has ever come up in another murder, or any crime for that matter?”
    Allen walked back to his desk, making a note on his ever-present file card. Looking up at Frank, he asked if he could get on that right away; Frank nodded, always ready to dig into a clue.
    We disbanded and headed toward our individual desks to get a start on the case.
    I did not like the sound of this murder. I did not like it at all.
     
    Chapter 5
    February 16, 1997
     
    Morning came and the man reported for work as usual. He knew he had to keep to his ordinary schedule to avoid any kind of suspicion, but he was