Lullabies & Dead Bodies, page 2
“The poked out letters are the I in night; the K in skies, and the E in are,” Pete rattled off, still studying the image. “I-K-E. Ike.”
Isaac shook his head. “That could mean anything, Lieu. That could be an abbreviation of some kind or the beginning of some longer word. We never had a clear suspect in that case seven years ago, only a profile.”
The look on Hayes’ face was like the one any mother would give when she’s caught you in a lie.
“That’s not the way I remember it, Ike. And frankly I’m surprised at your willingness to whitewash history!”
His tone bordered on accusatory, and Isaac was instantly pissed.
“I’m not trying to whitewash anything! I’m just saying there’d be no reason for whoever he was to purposely try to engage me now.”
“Except that he won last time! And you, very publicly, melted down right out there in that detectives pit.” Hayes poked a thumb in the direction of the pit.
Isaac’s hands fisted at his sides. His teeth grabbed hold of his bottom lip, and he shook his head again, turning away. He hated thinking back on that time of drinking and spiraling out of control. He clasped his hands together and fought hard to get a hold of himself before he faced them again.
“So you think this fucker wants to play a game of cat and mouse with me? Some kind of rematch?”
He turned and looked Hayes in the eyes, skillfully avoiding Pete’s curious gaze.
“I don’t know, Ike. But I saw that lullaby snippet in the evidence bag and it just didn’t sit right. My gut is telling me that’s not random. This guy poked out those letters for a reason.”
Isaac didn’t respond. He turned around and paced over to the window.
“I want you and Vega to work with Miller and Dorn on this.”
Isaac’s gaze rolled up and over the ceiling.
Gerri Miller he had no problem with. She was a smart detective with good instincts and a pleasant personality. Not to mention she was easy on the eyes. But her partner, Curtis Dorn, was a world class, grade-A asshole.
He turned and looked at Hayes.
“Dorn is not going to be happy with me taking over lead on this case.”
“I didn’t say take over. I said work with.”
Isaac cocked his head to the side.
“Well who’s case is it, Lieu? Because I’ve got to say I’m not too crazy about taking orders from him either.”
“You just earned your shiny new promotion, Detective Sergeant. You’re his supervisor now. So supervise them.”
Isaac sighed and looked over at Pete. “Would you give us a minute here, Pete?”
“Yep.”
Pete handed over the evidence picture and left the office. When they were alone, Isaac looked at Hayes.
“Look, Lieu, I’ve barely been at this Sergeant thing a month. And the post-promotion training may have taught me how to tackle my new administrative tasks, but I’m not exactly sure what it is you’re asking me to do here.”
Hayes took a seat on the edge of his desk and gave him a look that made Isaac squirm.
“If this was your case, what would you do first, Ike?”
“Me personally? Or is this some kind of pop quiz?”
“You personally. What would you do?”
“Well, the first thing I’d do is go to both scenes. The house where she disappeared and the scene in Stockyards where she was found. See if I got any kind of vibes there. Then I’d check out the evidence. That lullaby snippet in particular. As soon as forensics got what they needed from it I would see if I could hold it in my hands for a few minutes.”
Hayes’ serious expression morphed into puzzlement.
“Why?”
Isaac hesitated for a fraction of a beat. He didn’t like talking about his psychic stuff.
“Because I need to touch it in order to get any kind of… psychic impressions about it.”
In the past, saying that out loud to his boss would’ve made him feel ridiculous. Just the p-word alone made him feel as crazy as people thought he was. This time, however, he was surprised when that feeling of ridiculousness didn’t manifest. He was slightly self-conscious, but not completely embarrassed. That was new.
Hayes nodded. “Okay. So do that.”
“Do that?”
“Yeah.”
“With Miller and Dorn looking at me like I’m some sideshow freak?”
“Okay, Ike… I know you don’t like to put your abilities on display. I get it. And I’m not asking you to do that. But I have my reasons for not taking this case away from Miller and Dorn and just handing it over to you. At the same time, I also have my reasons for wanting you on this one. If you think about it, I’m sure you can guess my reasoning for both.”
Isaac stared at his boss for a second. They’d worked together for so long, it wasn’t difficult getting inside his head.
“You want me on it because you think this guy — whoever he is — wants me on it too.”
Hayes nodded.
“And you want to keep Miller and Dorn in the mix because you want me to suffer through supervising them on a case.”
A chuckle escaped Hayes before he could rein it in, and his lips twitched trying not to outright laugh at Isaac’s pain.
“I believe the experience of supervising them through this case would be good for your growth as a new sergeant, yes.”
Isaac rolled his eyes at that response.
“I’m also not afraid to admit that I wouldn’t mind having your special skills in play on this one, Ike. Something tells me we might need it.”
Isaac huffed out a small breath. His “special skills” certainly hadn’t helped on this case the last time. If anything, his abilities had hindered the hell out of this case the last time. If it hadn’t been for his so-called skills, they might’ve actually caught the bastard.
“And what about Deputy Chief Jay Schiffer?”
It was the 7-ton elephant taking up all the space in the room. The monster they had to face if they were going to win this time.
“What about him?” Hayes sounded defiant.
“Look, Lieu, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that I have quietly searched for Jeffery Schiffer over the years.”
“Would it surprise you to know that I have too?”
Isaac was surprised at that knowledge. “Well, then you know that the kid just disappeared into thin air.”
“So it would seem.”
“I’ve tried everything, sir. I’ve monitored AFIS and CODIS. I’ve monitored NCIC,” Isaac said, referring to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, the Combined DNA Index System and the National Crime Information Center. All valuable tools put in place to help law enforcement officers catch their man. “I’ve done just about everything except bug the Deputy Chief’s personal cellphone.”
“Well, I’m glad you stopped there, because that would not end well for you.” Hayes tossed the photo of the lullaby snippet onto his desk.
“Lieu, if this is the same guy starting up here again, then you and I both know who that guy is.”
“Yes, we do. But we need to be able to prove it this time, Ike. That was the mistake you made seven years ago. You needed to find hard proof and take it over Jay Schiffer’s head to the captain. Instead you confronted the man with a wild theory about his son, and nothing to back it up with. If Jeffery Schiffer is at it again, we need to do this the right way this time.”
“Yeah. Only this time there’s no one above Jay Schiffer to go to.”
“No one but the Chief of Police himself. That’s why we need irrefutable rock solid evidence this time.”
Isaac was hit by another wave of nausea. Unable to speak, he only nodded.
“Come with me.”
Hayes marched out of his office and Isaac followed. With a flick of his wrist, Hayes motioned for Pete to fall in line, and the three of them crossed the pit to where fellow detectives Gerri Miller and Curt Dorn’s desks were. As they approached, Isaac spotted the case board they’d begun, and he studied the picture of a little girl with wavy brunette pigtails and bright blue eyes. Isabel Scott had been a real cutie.
“Miller. Dorn. I’m assigning Detective Sergeant Taylor and Detective Vega to work with you on the Lullaby case.”
Hayes’ gruff, no-nonsense tone told them all that this was not open for debate. Curt Dorn, however, didn’t seem to care. He shot to his feet with a barely contained look of indignation. His medium brown hair was always Ken-doll-perfect. It paired well with his phony smile and his plastic personality.
“Ah, may I ask why, sir?”
Hayes stared at Dorn for a moment. “Do you honestly not realize that the killer went to significant lengths to make sure a key piece of evidence got our attention, Detective Dorn?”
“I think those holes in the lullaby snippet could mean anything, Lieutenant. With all due respect, sir, Gerri and I don’t need a babysitter.”
“With all due respect, Detective, that’s my call, not yours.” Hayes paused, and Dorn fumed. “Besides, no one said anything about babysitting you. Now whether this is the Lullaby Killer or a copycat, the fact of the matter is that I want my best man involved in this case, and I believe Detective Sergeant Taylor’s closed case record at this department speaks for itself.”
Isaac was slightly taken aback by that comment. On one hand, it was nice to be recognized by his superiors for the caliber of work he did for the department. On the other hand, he was never one to chase accolades or the spotlight. He did this job because he liked it and he was good at it. Period.
“Do you have a problem working with Detective Sergeant Taylor and Detective Vega?” Hayes asked, staring Dorn down.
Visibly pissed, Curt Dorn gritted his teeth and his lips flattened into a thin line.
“No, sir. But who’s in charge, sir?”
Isaac held in a snort. He’d known that question was coming.
Dead silence followed and he glanced over at Hayes to see the man staring directly at him, the look on his face silently saying the decision was all Isaac’s.
Isaac knew what his boss was getting at. He took a breath and turned to Dorn.
“I’ll let you run point for now.”
That statement appeared to take Dorn by surprise, but it was short lived. He glared at Isaac.
“For now? Until when?”
Isaac bored into him with his gaze, refusing to look away. As Hayes had reminded him only moments ago, he outranked Dorn now, and not just in terms of seniority. The call was his to make whether Dorn liked it or not.
“Until I feel I need to take over.”
Dorn smirked at him.
“One more thing, Lieu,” Isaac looked at Gavin. “If we’re going to work on the assumption that this guy is trying to get my attention, we need to try and keep that info out of the news. I’d suggest all CSU processing on this case go through one person only from here on out.”
“Agreed. I’ve already given Lt. Harry Alvin a heads up. Play nice, gentlemen.” Gavin moved to walk away, but stopped and turned back, his gaze softening and falling on Gerri Miller. “And lady.”
Gerri gave him a wistful smile and Gavin left them to return to his office. As soon as he was out of earshot Dorn turned on Isaac.
“What are you trying to do here, Taylor? That new Detective Sergeant badge doesn’t give you the right to pick and choose which cases you want in on.”
Isaac stifled a grin. “Actually, since part of my new duties is to assign cases as they come in, it technically does kinda give me that right. However, I did not request to be in on this one. This is Hayes’ idea.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You got a problem with it, take it up with the lieutenant. Otherwise the rest of us can do without the attitude.”
He turned to Gerri Miller, effectively ending the standoff with her partner.
“We just got a briefing from Hayes, but why don’t you tell us what you’ve got so far, Gerri.”
Gerri stood, tossing a long ponytail over her shoulder, and Isaac took a seat on the corner of her desk, arms folded across his chest.
Gerri was tall and slender with long black hair, deep ebony skin that was at least a full shade darker than Hayes’. Full lips and high cheekbones made her look runway-supermodel-beautiful. But Isaac knew from working with her over the years that she wasn’t the kind of woman who was afraid to break a nail. She did her job as well as any of the men on the force, and he respected that.
She pointed to the case board.
“Isabel Scott, aged six. Her family was celebrating the grandparents’ anniversary at her uncle’s home last evening. There were approximately forty adults in attendance, all extended family and close friends. The girl went missing some time after dinner. She was last seen by her older cousins, who were supposed to be keeping an eye on a small group of the younger cousins as they all played outside in the yard.”
“And all the guests were interviewed?” Isaac studied the case board as he listened.
“Yes, sir.”
“Anybody grab your attention?”
“No, sir.”
“Yes.”
Miller and Dorn each responded with differing answers, and Isaac’s surprised gaze bounced between them.
Gerri sighed. “Curt and I disagree on one of the uncles. I believe he was genuinely concerned about Isabel.”
“That guy was clown-mask-creepy,” Dorn insisted, sounding irritated.
“Being creepy doesn’t make him guilty,” Pete pointed out.
Arms still folded over his chest, Isaac gestured with his right hand. “Bottom line is did any of the guests leave the family party and come back? Any of them have the means to take the child off the premises and stash her somewhere?”
“According to our interviews no one left the party early,” Dorn stated. “No one left and came back.”
“So all of the party guests are each other’s alibis.” It was more a statement of fact as Isaac worked the details out in his mind, than an actual question.
“Basically.” Gerri sighed, running a hand over her forehead.
She looked tired. They both did, and Isaac remembered they’d been called out soon after little Isabel had gone missing last night. He felt for them, but he had no intention of coddling them. They had a job to catch a killer.
“Did you interview the younger children?”
He watched Gerri and Dorn share a surprised guilty look.
“Okay, I’ll take that as a no. Why not?”
“There were so many adults and teenagers to get through last night. We even called in Barker and Harris to help with that process.”
Gerri referred to two of their fellow homicide detectives, Gary Barker and Keisha Harris, and her voice carried a hint of apology with just a note of shame.
“I guess interviewing the younger kids just slipped past us. I’m sorry, Sergeant. That was totally our mistake.”
Her tone of respect took Isaac by surprise. He imagined it would be weird for a while — this deference to his new position and the fact that he now had a tiny bit of real authority around this place.
“No harm, no foul.” His gaze bounced between them for a moment. “How are you both? Running on fumes? You need to grab some sleep or a sandwich? You good to go?”
“I can go a few more hours.”
Dorn’s tone sounded like he was accepting some sort of challenge. The defiant lift of his chin said the same.
“Me too,” Gerri chimed in. “Just point me toward the coffee.”
Isaac nodded. Most cops he knew were always willing to go the extra mile when it concerned the welfare of a child, or bringing a child killer to justice.
“Okay. Why don’t you two spend the next couple of hours tracking down all the children. Speak to as many as you can and find out what they know. Be gentle. Do not mention that their cousin or friend is dead. Remember that we don’t know what their parents have chosen to tell them about the situation so don’t make it worse. Just find out what, if anything, they remember about the last time they saw little Isabel. Kids have great memories. One of them might surprise us.”
“We’re on it, Sarge,” Gerri nodded.
“What are you two going to be doing?”
Dorn’s question sounded like a demand, and Isaac paused a second before he answered.
“Vega and I are going to head to the uncle’s house and look around the yard where Isabel was playing before she disappeared.”
“CSU’s already done that.” Dorn spit the words out.
“I’m aware. When we’re done there we’re going to the scene in Stockyards where the body was found to have a look around there.”
“I suppose you know CSU’s already been there too?”
Isaac leveled his gaze at Dorn.
“You going to question my every movement, Dorn? ’Cause I can have Vega and Miller pair up to interview the children and you can roll with me. How would that suit you?”
The thought made Isaac want to pluck out his own eyeballs with a rusty nail, but he was betting Dorn wouldn’t want any part of hanging with him all day either.
Dorn’s fake smile took a slimy turn.
“Would it get me written up to tell you that you’re a conceited ass, Sgt. Taylor?”
“Nope. Might bite you in the ass come eval time though.”
Filling out detective evaluations was one of his new duties as sergeant, and it was something Isaac hadn’t been looking forward to. Until this very moment.
Pete snickered, trying to hold in a laugh, and Dorn’s face turned red. The smirk slid off his lips.
Isaac stood and looked at Gerri. “Give yourselves three hours to work on the children. After that I want you both to go home and get some sleep. Come at it fresh in the morning.”
“Okay. Thanks, Sergeant.”
“Hit me up at the three hour mark with an update.”
“Will do.”
He motioned to Pete with a nod of his head and they turned for the stairs.
“So much for me being in charge.”
Dorn didn’t try to hide his words. Isaac rolled his eyes and kept walking.
Once outside, they climbed into Isaac’s dark blue metallic Mustang GT and took off.
“So what’s the deal between you and dick? I mean Dorn.”
Isaac grinned at Pete’s wording.
