SACRIFICES (2 page)

              Brad casually walks toward the kitchen and notices the other officers standing by the door that leads to the basement. “What do we know guys?” he quietly says in almost a whisper to not be heard in the living room by the victim.

              The other investigator says in a low-pitched voice as well. “
Looks like the creep broke in through a basement window, came up the stairs here and well
.” He tries to figure out a way to say the obvious but by the look on Brad’s face he just nods with an understanding look. “You know.” Lifting his shoulders not sure what else to say.

              Brad walks toward the sink and feels his foot stick.

              “The empty glass right there was knocked out of the victim’s hands and made the mess on the floor.” Sergeant Detective Avery the second highest ranking detective at the fifth precinct behind Brad explains. He points to the glass on the floor next to a lower cabinet in front of the stove.

              “So there
was
a struggle?” Brad asks as he tries to remain quiet knowing that the victim’s in the living room. Brad looks around the kitchen trying to take it all in. In this line of work sometimes it can be the things that are right in front of you that you can’t see, that give you the answers you need. It takes years to know what to look for.

              Brad puts on a pair of white rubber gloves and proceeds downstairs to the basement looking for any possible clues. He gives the crime scene a few minutes once over. He goes to the basement and checks out the point of entry and tries to see if he can figure out what it might take to gain entrance to this old Mansion. He checks out the basement for any other possible clues and heads back upstairs to leave the main work to Detective Todd Avery.

              On the way through the living room Brad walks toward the young lady and signals for Dorothy. Dorothy whispers to the pretty young blonde and follows Brad to the front porch.

              Dorothy Spencer is a fifteen-year veteran of the Seventh Precinct on the other side of town. She's thirty-seven years old, married with two children, a son who is fourteen and a daughter that’s six.

Dorothy's husband Tony is a professional businessman at a large Chicago accounting firm. Although they are as different as night and day they still remain as close as ever. Tony learned to deal with his policewoman wife a long time ago. Knowing his wife like he does, Tony knows he didn’t have a choice.

              Dorothy has the reputation as a
tough
cop. She takes her job seriously. Lots of guts and heart has given her an impeccable service record throughout the city.

              Once outside Brad grins. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you young lady, how’s Tony?” Brad places his hand on the small of her back as they walk together into the suffocating night air.

              “He’s not too bad,” She smiles then looks away. “How you been doing?” Her smile disappears and she looks toward the wood front porch floor trying to say the right thing. “I know it has to be tough on you since Nichole…you know, how have you been holding up?” Dorothy takes him by the hand.

              Brad looks toward the street then back at her. “It’s been almost two years now. It’s real tough but I’m doing my best…” He says as he nods his head and then walks toward the banister on the front porch and takes a seat. Brad repositions himself on the handrail not liking to talk about the loss of his wife so he changes the subject quickly. “So what happened here?”

              Dorothy walks over and takes a seat next to Brad and explains. “Stephanie Caruthers, the pretty blonde, says she was doing dishes...”

              Brad interrupts. “Is she married?”

              “...Yes, her husband is out of town on business, anyway she grabs her glass of tea from the kitchen counter after she finished doing dishes…” Dorothy reaches over and swats away a mosquito from Brad’s shoulder and she continues. “…walks toward the living room and notices that the door to the basement is slightly opened. She jumps because she knows they
always
keep that door closed. They don’t use it that often. Then just a few seconds later someone comes running out wearing all black clothing and a ski mask.” Dorothy places her hands on top of the handrail of the porch and moves her shoulders around stretching.

              “A ski mask has holes for the eyes and mouth; could she tell the color of his skin?” Brad wonders as he places his hands on his thighs as he sits on the wood handrail.

              “No, I asked her the same question and she said it happened so fast that she couldn’t make out anything, it was all just a blur.” Dorothy adds as she turns and watches one of the officers walking out of the front door.

              “Did she have any idea how big he was or his build?” Brad places his hand on his chin hoping to get at least some kind of information to go on.

              “This poor girl was in such a state of shock I don’t think she could tell anything at all. He charged her and held a rag over her mouth with obviously
ether
or
chloroform
. He held her down and she says she blacked out.”

              “What happened when she came to?” Brad inquires.

              “When she came to she was tied up, her hands were tied together and so were her ankles, there was a rope that ran from her wrist to her ankles under the coffee table, she was on her knees, lying over the coffee table in front of the couch with her hands dangling on the other side of the coffee table…” Dorothy moves closer and whispers. “…her cordless phone was places next to her hand and her underwear was put back on.” Dorothy shakes her head and shrugs.

              “WHAT? This seems pretty strange to me.” Brad says as he stands up and starts to walk the massive front porch that could easily hold a hundred people.

              Dorothy follows him as he walks toward the door and looks at the distraught young lady on the couch. “Me too.” Dorothy shakes her head feeling the same way Brad does.

              “She doesn’t remember anything at all?” Brad asks as he rubs his head with both hands.

              “Nothing but being tied up when she came too.” Dorothy looks away.

              “It’s just…it seems strange…doesn’t it?” Brad explains to the veteran officer of over fifteen years that’s had the misfortune of being involved in hundreds of these types of cases.

              “Not that strange Brad. I’ve seen things that,” She hesitates. “Let’s just say, whoever it was that raped this girl had no intention of killing her or even hurting her physically, besides the rape itself. And by that effect the
piece of shit
pulled her panties back up. He took the cordless phone from the kitchen off the charger. Then he placed it close to her hand so she could call for help when she came to. This was strangely enough to be sympathetic as well as humiliating. The creep wanted her found in this position but at the same time he didn’t want her naked…so to speak.” Dorothy looks away not quite sure what all of this means.

              “Has the husband been notified?” Brad wonders as he wipes a bit of sweat from his forehead.

              “A call has been placed but he was out at a meeting, his hotel left him a message to call when he returned.” Dorothy explains as Darrin walks out to the porch using his handkerchief to dab the sweat from his face.

              “Could you excuse us for a minute Darrin?” Asks Brad as he walks toward the handrail of the porch and smiles at Darrin.

              “Sure boss.” Darrin says as he walks toward the car catching his breath. The heat is taking its toll on everyone; even healthy young people are having a tough time with the intense heat and overwhelming humidity.

              “He sure is a cute young kid isn’t he?” Dorothy smiles as she watches him walk away.

              “Yeah he’s cute, and yeah he’s young.” Brad says as he looks away. “I’m breaking the youngster in. He graduated top in his class at the academy, top ten at the U of I, you know you’re run of the mill genius.” Brad places his hands into his pockets as he walks around the porch.

              “Isn’t that something, those good looks and he even has brains,” Dorothy adds with a smile shaking her head then smiles again. “Just like you around twenty-years ago.”

              Brad shyly grins and glances away. “Anyway, Dorothy I want you to stick close to this girl. Be with her when they do the test at the hospital, when the shrink starts asking her questions. I would appreciate it if you would do me this favor. You‘ve already spent time with her tonight. When she goes through the test and questions it will make her feel better if you‘re by her side. Everyone one else will make her uncomfortable. Who knows, as a little time passes she might remember something else about the attack.” Brad explains as he places his arm around her and walks with her to the front door.

              Brad gives her a peck on the cheek and smiles. “Tell Tony I said hi.” Dorothy grins and walks back over to the girl.

Brad walks back into the kitchen and notices Todd Avery writing down something into his notebook. “When you get everything you need, and CSI is done doing their thing, I want you to report directly to me first thing in the morning.” Brad starts to walk away.

              “Sure Brad. Does this mean we’re going to be taking the case?” Todd looks up with his ink pen still in his hand.

              “Yes. And I don’t want any of the details to get out about this understand?” Brad takes a few steps toward Detective Avery.

              “Sure I understand.” Avery says as he walks toward the basement door.

              Brad gently pats Todd on the back and walks through the house, smiles at Dorothy and continues to his car. Darrin’s leaning against the drivers’ door. “What’s next?”

              “We go home.” Brad says as he dabs the sweat from his forehead.

              Brad gets in and starts the car. He quickly turns the air-conditioner on ‘HIGH’ as he pulls away from the house. He uses his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his eyes and adjust the vent to blow the cool air into his face.

              The recent heat wave is almost unbearable, even under the shade of darkness the heat and humidity are still incredibly overbearing.

              “So what do you think Darrin?”

              “It seems a little strange.” Darrin shrugs.

              “Tell me what you think is so strange about this case.”

              “It just seems a little strange; it’s hard to explain.” Darrin tries to put this ‘on the job experience’ tonight into words in a way to not embarrass himself in front of a man whose reputation is legendary and quite intimidating.

              “Try.” Brad requests firmly seeming anxious for input from a fresh out of college mind.

              Rookie Darrin Turner is 22 years old. He’s 6’ tall and he weighs 170. Very athletic, he plays on the police department’s softball team, and he bowls on a league. Darrin was an outstanding athlete in high school and college.

              He has the pretty boy charm and the college boy talk to go along with it. He has blond hair and blue-eyes, fit trim and smooth. He looks as if he was ripped from the pages of a modeling magazine. Not known for having any long relationships the rookie gets around. Growing up in Peoria, Illinois he set his sites right after high school for the bright lights and the action of the big city.

              “What is so strange about what happened tonight?” Brad slows down and pulls over to the side of the road to give his young counterpart an opportunity to give his perspective.

              “One of the things that’s usually coincides with rape is violence. This case didn’t seem to have the text book violence that usually goes along with a rape case.” Darrin tries to explain his thoughts in a scientific tone to hopefully impress his mentor.

              “Why do you say this?”

              “It’s hard to put into words. But just from what Detective Avery said and what I overheard the other officers talking about. It seems like the attacker put her to sleep so she didn’t know what was going on, and then he put the phone close to her so she could call for help when she came to. The attacker didn’t steal anything, I noticed her Rolex lying by the sink in the kitchen, and her purse was next to that. They were right by the cordless phone charger so the attacker would have had to seen it. When she looked through the purse she told the officers that nothing was missing,” Brad listens to him shaking his head feeling proud of his advanced knowledge at a young age. “She even said there was almost a thousand dollars in cash in the bank envelope, never touched. She didn‘t have any cuts or bruises. Which tells me that the attacker didn‘t hit her or get physical as happens in a lot of attacks.” Darrin exhales hoping that answer was what was right and what Detective Jostler hoped it was.

              “Your good kid, I wasn’t sure if you noticed the watch. But you’re right. It doesn’t seem
normal
to me either.” Brad nods his head feeling proud of his ability to see this much only being a rookie. Brad then turns and explains. “Although it’s important for you to know that rape, in general, is an act of violence.
Meaning
, a rapist is most of the time, driven mentally and physically so it’s not that out of the ordinary that nothing was stolen, I just want you to understand that. Rape is a crime of violence and monetary gain is
rarely
a motive.”