Garwood Village - Robert F. Clifton (free novels .TXT) 📗

do you mind if I call you Eric?”

“No, that's fine”.

“Good, now you see Eric we have a witness who claims they saw you in the Dude Ranch Bar and Grill with Sonia Fleming the night she was murdered. So, you can see why we want to talk to you”.

“Sure, I was with Sonia that night. I even walked her home”.

“Did you go inside with her?” asked Wallace.

“No. I walked her as far as the steps, then asked her if she would be at the Dude Ranch next Saturday”.

“And, what did she say?”, asked Wallace.

“She said she might, but couldn't promise”.

“How old are you Eric?”, asked Wallace.

“Twenty-seven”.

“Sonia Fleming was forty-seven, twenty years older than you. Why do you like older women?”

“You know what they say, older women don't yell, don't tell, don't swell and are grateful as hell. I don't like immature young women who always have a problem and cry, complain and are possessive.”

Wallace looked at Stiles. “Call my office and tell Myers to come down here”, he said. Then, turning back to Fetterman asked, “Have you ever lived in Garwood Village?”

“No. I have always lived in the Inlet”.

“Have you ever been in Garwood Village?”

“No”.

“Why does a guy who lives in the Inlet, in a city with a bar on every corner travel eighteen blocks to drink a beer in the Dude Ranch?”, asked Wallace.

“I like country western music”, Fetterman answered.

The interrogation room door opened and Detective Carol Myers entered. Fetterman looked at her and smiled.

“Eric, this is Detective Myers. Miss Myers, meet Eric Fetterman”

Eric rose up out of his chair and while standing said, “It is my pleasure to meet you Miss Myers”.

“Nice to finally see a gentleman in the room”, Myers replied.

After Fetterman took a seat again Wallace asked, “Do you know your blood type Eric?”

“Yes, O positive”.

“Would you be willing to give us a sample?”

“Sure. Do want to take it now?”

“No later. At the same time would you be willing to give as samples of your hair, say from you head, arms legs and pubic area?”.

“No problem. Just tell me when you want it”.

“Alright Eric. I want to thank you for coming in and co-operating with us. Unless you have anything else to tell us, you're free to go. Have your boss call me and I'll reassure them that you're just a witness we had to talk to, OK?”

“Thank you. There is one thing”.

“What's that?”, asked the Captain.

“When I walked Sonia home we walked towards a guy who when he saw us stopped right where he was on the sidewalk. I thought it was someone she knew, like a boy friend or something. We kept walking towards him and when we got to where he stood he turned his body so I couldn't get a good look at his face. I thought that was kinda weird”.

“Can you describe him?”, asked Wallace.

“Like I said, he turned his face away from me. But, he was a white guy, maybe five foot nine or ten, medium build. He probably weighs about a hundred and sixty pounds and dresses weird.”

“What do you mean weird?”

“He was wearing a black heavy winter overcoat that went down almost past his knees, like it was too big for him. And a red Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap. He was carrying a black cloth bag. The bag was shaped funny. It wasn't a traveling bag, or athletic type. It was like, long and narrow”.

“How old do you think he was?”, asked Wallace.

“I don't know. Thirty, thirty five maybe. Like I said, he turned away”.

After Fetterman left Wallace turned to the members of his unit and said, “Nice try, but no cigar. In all probability Fetterman accidentally came in contact with the killer. Now the question is, was the killer originally after Sonia Fleming or did he suddenly decide to kill her after seeing her that night?”

“I thought we had him”, said Stiles.

“Circumstances would suggest that Frank, but as you saw he's not the killer. He's a guy who was with the victim before she was murdered and turned out to be a co-operating witness. He is so co-operative that he offered his blood and hair for analysis. So, we're right back where we started from. All of you talk to your sources, see if they have come up with anything. As for me, I'm going to try to dig deeper into the profile of this sick bastard”, said Wallace.

Sharon Edwards stared at the eight by ten inch, black and white glossy photographs of Sonia Flemings body. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear”, she said quietly.

“Pretty gruesome isn't it?”. Asked Wallace.

“Vile would be a better word Robert. May I ask if semen was found again this time?”

“So far, no”.

“Interesting. After what I have already told you in building your suspects profile and after viewing these photographs I feel that I must add more”.

“And just what would that be?”, asked Wallace.

“The fact that your killer suffers from a psycho sexual disorder.”

He has an overwhelming desire to control things and to be able to exert his will on others by any means possible. For some this leads to periodic violent behavior.

“I told you this before, he has a sexual dysfunction which could be lack of desire, arousal, or performance. I thought I had covered this earlier, but after seeing these photographs I now have another concept. The killer is also a sexual sadist. If I were to go to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which is used by mental health professionals, I would find that sexual sadism is listed as one of several paraphilias. This could be sexual feelings that may involve partners that are not human, non consenting, or involve suffering by one or both partners.”

“Oddly, in addition to the sexual excitement he gets from inflicting pain he, like others suffering from the same dysfunctional experience, can not perform because of the sadistic behavior or fantasies.”

In regard to his sadistic behavior in this case the women are not willing partners. The fact that they are unwilling in all probability increases his arousal. The sadistic acts performed or fantasized by the killer, to me, reflects a desire for sexual or psychological domination of another person. These acts can range from behavior that is not harmful, such as humiliating the other person, or as urinating upon them to criminal and deadly behavior. This could include paddling, spanking, whipping, burning, beating, cutting, rape, murder and like your suspect, mutilation.”

“You mention mutilation. This is the first time that he has attacked the victims face. He removed her eye lids then slashed her face in a crisscross pattern”, said Wallace.

“I'll take a guess here and say the eyelids were removed in a, Hey! Look At Me! fantasy, The crisscross slashing could be the same act an artist would do if they became dissatisfied with their creation. Remember, I gave you my theory that he wants the perfect vagina so he creates it. Not satisfied, he crosses it out.”

“This chap, although a serial killer is different. Normally the murders are committed in a series of incidents. He's done that, yet typically a killer such as he would kill three people within fourteen days. However, as far as you know your killer attacks at random, it could be every thirty days, sixty days or even ninety days.”

“You must realize that there are different types of serial killers. The one you are after is a combination of Missionary Serial Killer and Lust Killer. With him as a Missionary Killer, he feels that he is responsible to rid the world of a certain specified group of people. In this case middle age women living in Garwood Village. As a lust killer he is driven to murder for sexual motivation.”

“Keep in mind Robert, people like your individual have high IQs, ranging from 105 to 120. Although highly intelligent they most often have a record of poor school performance and are socially inept. They prefer solitude to a social environment and also have trouble holding a job.”

“In my years of practice I have noticed that frequently serial killers come from dysfunctional families where the parents may be divorced or one parent may have abandoned the family. One parent might have been excessively domineering. Many times I found that as a child the serial killer was abused physically or sexually. With that in mind if I were you I would look for someone who was a worrisome, juvenile delinquent in and around the Garwood Village complex.”

“Look for cases where the juvenile set fires or tortured or killed animals. You may find that there is a connection. Right now the only thing that even resembles a connection is the fact that two of the victims, Joan Aponte and Sonia Fleming frequented the Dude Ranch Bar and Grill, but not together,” Wallace replied.

'Your killer has no thought that he will ever be caught and arrested, knowing the odds of getting away with murder. Killers such as he live stable lives, methodical. He kills for the pure purpose of killing. In my opinion he gets sexual pleasure out of murder. He's the type that laughs when he sees a cat get run over by a car. He enjoys the suffering of others and really likes it when he can cause the pain.”

“What concerns me is the fact that I must determine if the killer is organized, disorganized or the mixed killer, one who exhibits both organized and disorganized characteristics. I have already explained your killer as a disorganized individual one killing on impulse. However, if he were to be organized he would then be above average in intelligence and careful about his crimes. This type has friends, a stable job, even a family.”

“Based on what I heard on your tapes, from what you have told me and after viewing the photographs, I have to say that your killer is again, the disorganized type. The crime scene is a mess and there is no attempt to dispose of the body. Actually it appears he wants others to see his handy work.”

Doc Edwards entered the room. “I just ordered a pizza. Anyone want a beer while we wait?”, he asked.

“None for me thanks. How did you make out in Philadelphia?”, asked Wallace.

“Fine. I applied for a visa. I don't foresee any problems. One requirement is graduation from an accredited medical school, which I did. I may have to take an exam. That's no problem, but I do have to decide on just what type of medicine I want to practice.”

“You're a pathologist”.

“So? That doesn't mean I want to continue to be one. I'll make a decision some time down the line. I'm leaning towards geriatrics but being a GP would be OK. There's a possibility that I can hook up with the Rockingham Medical Center. Sharon has her practice in the same shopping center. If I don't, then I'll open my own office or as they say down under, surgery”.

“Hey, what ever makes you happy, as they say”, Wallace responded.

“Speaking of what makes you happy Robert. Why is it that you continue to keep Mary at arms length?”, asked Sharon.

“Is that what she told you?”

“No, and she doesn't have to. I see the love she has for you. It's in the way she looks at you. At the same time I see as well as detect your attitude towards her, an attitude that signals stay away from me”, Sharon explained.

“Maybe it's for her own good”, Wallace answered.

“How could that be? You might appear to be the hard, tough, police officer on the outside, but inside you are soft, and sentimental. Manfred has told me about the difference between the real you rather than the professional you.”

“How you on one hand can spend hours studying a criminal case, going over evidence and witnesses in your mind and on the other hand sit and listen to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scherherazade. How when you were a young patrolman walking your beat one night in the bitter cold took a swagman and bought him a meal of hot soup.”

“Your