Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1) (21 page)

At 5:00 PM, Tom and Annie walked up the path to the front door of the modest bungalow in the south area of Bakersfield where Ted and Fiona Adams lived with their son, Charley.  They were reluctant to disturb this family during their time of grief, but they needed answers and they needed them fast.

Ted Adams opened the door, keeping the screen door between him and Tom and Annie.

"Yes, can I help you?" he said.  It was easy to see he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before.

"I'm Detective Tom Weston from the Kern County Sheriff's Office and this is my partner, Detective Annie Avants.  First, please accept our condolences for the loss of your nephew, Peter.  We realize that the events of yesterday were traumatic and we hate to disturb your family, but we have some urgent questions for your son, Charley, that might be important in two murder cases we are working on."

"Charley?  What could he possibly tell you?"

"Actually, it has to do with the boots he was wearing last night when you came into the Sheriff's Office.  They have a very unusual sole pattern and we would like to find out where someone can buy boots like that.  So far, we've come up empty-handed.  They seem to be a special issue military boot for troops in the Middle East."

Ted reached up, unlatched the screen door, and pushed it open.  "Come in, then.  I'll fetch Charley.  He's in his room."

Tom and Annie entered the neat, modest living room and took a seat on a plaid covered couch in front of a pine coffee table.  A few minutes later, Ted and Charley entered the room.

Tom stood up and introduced himself and Annie as Ted and Charley seated themselves in two armchairs that faced the couch from across the coffee table.  Tom was pleased to see that Charley was wearing the same boots he wore the previous evening.

The scent of freshly brewing coffee wafted in from the kitchen.

"I've asked Fiona to make some coffee," Ted said.

"That's very kind, thank you," Annie smiled.

"Charley, we're not here about the tragic accident last night involving your cousin Peter.  Whether you were there, or not, or fled or not, is between you and the Tulare County Sheriff's Office.

"Last night when you and your parents came to the Sheriff's Office, I noticed your boots.  The sole on them is unique and I realized I saw a similar pattern recently that has to do with an ongoing murder investigation.  Have either of you heard about the two young Hispanic women who were murdered recently?  One was found near Lamont and the other was found just outside of Pumpkin Center."

"Yes," Ted said.  "We did see that on the TV.  Tragic."

Tom continued.  "There were boot prints found at both crime scenes with the bodies.  They were the same, and distinctive.  When I saw your boots, I thought they might be the same or similar."

"Now wait a minute," Ted said. "You don't think Charley had anything to do with those murders, do you?"

"No, Mr. Adams, we don't consider Charley a suspect.  We are just trying to determine where those types of boots come from," Tom said.  "Now, let me continue.  Detective Avants called the Tulare County Sheriff's Office and they said they found a boot print at the site of the accident and took photographs and did a cast.  She explained our interest in the boot prints and they immediately faxed over their photograph."

Annie set a copy of three photographs on the coffee table.  It was easy to see that all three boot prints were from the same model of boot.

"As you can see, the boot prints are all the same.  Our question is where did you get your pair of boots?"

Charley looked agitated and crossed his hands over his chest before he spoke.  He squirmed around in his chair and it was obvious he didn't want to talk about the boots.

Just then, Fiona entered with a fresh pot of coffee and cups, which gave him a short reprieve.  She put the coffee service on the coffee table and took a seat in an adjacent rocking chair.

"Thank you, Mrs. Adams," Annie said.  "This is most gracious of you."

"OK, Charley, answer the Detective.  I don't remember seeing those boots before, either," Ted said.

"I got them from work," Charley said in a quiet voice.  "I work at the Goodwill Store over on White Lane.  I move the items people leave in the outside bins when the store is closed to the inside of the store for sorting.  Normally, we don't touch the items people leave, although I know some workers who do help themselves.  This was just so strange."

"How was it strange, Charley," Annie asked.

"I got to work early one morning, about a week ago, and I saw an SUV parked by the bin.  I could swear the man was lacing up a pair of shoes, so my immediate impression was that he had taken something out of the bin.  That's not good.  I have to watch out that homeless people don't come and steal all the new stuff, as much as I feel sorry for them.

"I told him we weren't open yet, that we didn't open until 8 AM.  He replied that he was just dropping something off, but I was sure he took something from the bin.

"As he drove off, I checked the top of the bin to see what was new and I found these practically brand new boots right on top.  I wondered why on earth someone would leave them and take something else.  The boots were dusty, but they were almost perfect, and they were my size.

"Well, I hate to admit it, but I don't make a lot of money and my Nikes were in sad shape.  So, I took them."

Annie and Tom looked at each other.  The White Lane Goodwill wasn't that far from where they had found Carmen's body just a week before.

"Do you remember what day it was, Charley?" Annie asked gently.

"I'm off on Monday and Tuesday, so it was Wednesday."

"That would have been Wednesday, August 22nd, between 7 AM and 8 AM?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, I guess.  It was last week on Wednesday."

"What kind of vehicle was the man driving?" Tom said.

"It was a dark blue SUV, an older model because the paint was starting to oxidize on the hood.  It was like a Ford Explorer."

"Charley, can you describe the man who you talked to?" Annie said.

"Yeah, he was almost six feet, maybe 5'11", medium weight, not fat or thin, he had light brown hair in a regular normal haircut and I think he had brown eyes.  He was wearing a dark green baseball cap.  He had on a regular shirt, not a t-shirt, and I think he was wearing jeans when I saw his leg as he laced up the shoes he took."

"Well, here's what we think.  The latest victim was dropped off that morning in a cornfield on Wible Road just south of Taft Highway.  The pathologist thinks she was put there sometime between 5:00 AM and 8:00 AM.  Her body was spotted at 12:45 PM by the local postmistress.

"There were boot prints left at the scene.  We took photos and made casts.  We also took soil samples from around the prints.  That would be these photos, here," Tom said, as he slid the photos from the second crime scene over to Charley.

"There's a good possibility that after he dumped the body in the cornfield, he came here to get rid of the boots.  He took a different pair from your bin and left these boots behind.  If we can get a match from the soil on these boots with the soil samples from the crime scenes, then at least we'll know what kind of boots the perp wore.  This could be critical evidence to tying where he lives to the victims and the crime scenes.  There's even the off-chance we'll get some fingerprints."

"My God," Mr. Adams said.  "Do you really think Charley was talking to a serial killer?"

"There's no way to know for sure at this point, but we will need to take the boots in as evidence and have them tested to see if there are any particles of dirt that match the two crime scenes."

"Of course," Mr. Adams said.  "Fiona, can you please get a plastic bag and Charley, take them off carefully so you don't dislodge any dirt from the soles.  Don't worry, son, I'll take you shopping today and buy you a nice new pair of boots."

Charley did what they said and Tom carefully placed each boot into a separate evidence sack and then put them in the bag Mrs. Adams provided.

"Now, we have one more task for you, Charley," Tom said.  "Can you meet with our police sketch artist and describe the man you talked to so she can do a drawing of him?  We can have her come here so you don't have to return to the Sheriff's Office," Tom said.

"Sure, I can do that.  I get off work tomorrow at 3 PM.  Can she come around 3:30 PM?"

"Yes, I will get a message to her and have her meet you here.  Her name is Sarah.  The sketches sometimes take a while to get just right, so plan on a couple of hours."

The two detectives stood to leave and shook hands all around.

"Again, we're very sorry about Peter.  Please pass our condolences to his parents, also."

Mr. Adams showed them to the door and Tom and Annie returned to the Detective Bureau.

Thursday, 30 August 2012, 8:00 AM

Annie arrived at work bright and early the next morning, bringing the tagged sack with the boots from Charley Adams with her.  There was no way she was going to allow the chain of custody for these boots to be questioned.

When Tom showed up at 8:30 AM, she laughed.

"Good morning, lazy.  Did you have a good rest?

"I've been here for at least an hour," Annie said.  "Would you like a cup of freshly brewed coffee to help you wake up?"

"Sure, bring it on," Tom said.

"I see you've got the boots in tow," Tom said as he thanked Annie for the coffee.

Annie laughed.  "I handcuffed them to the bedpost and they were still there this morning, so I'm certain no one has tampered with them during the night."

"Isn't that a little extreme?"

"Nope.  These boots could answer a lot of questions.  I'm not taking any chances of them not being able to be introduced into evidence if we ever get to that point."

"OK, so what's your next step?"

Annie took a sip of her coffee and thought a moment before she answered Tom.

"I'm heading off to the Kern Regional Crime Lab on 18th 

Street to have their Trace Evidence Unit analyze them.  I'm hoping they'll still be able to match the dirt samples Laine took.  Listen, could you call Tulare County and tell them what we found out about the boots and what we're doing with them?  I doubt that they'll need them since Charley told them he was at their crime scene and fled, but you never know.  Also, they have soil samples as well.  Could they send us some by courier so we can use them to eliminate the soil from their crime scene?"

"Sure," Tom said.  "Just let me get this coffee perking around in my system and then I'll be right on it."

"OK, I won't be gone long," Annie said as she left the Detective Bureau.

The Forensic Science Division of the Kern County District Attorney's Office was located on the fourth floor of 1300 18th Street.  Annie called ahead of time and made an appointment to speak with the Laboratory Director so she could explain exactly what was going on with the boots.

"Hi, Salma," Annie said to the receptionist at the front desk.  "I have an appointment with the Laboratory Director to talk about these boots."

"Have a seat Detective.  I'll tell him you're here."

A couple of minutes later, the director came out and told Annie to follow him.  They went into his office and she explained the history of the boots, as she knew it.  He signed off on the boots, protecting the chain of custody, and called the head of his Trace Evidence Unit.

"We'll get them processed as soon as we can, Annie," the Director told her as she rose to leave.  "That's a strange story, but I've heard stranger ones over the years."

"Thanks.  I'll be waiting for your report.  This could really be a big break in our case.  These boots are different so we're hoping there aren't many places where they could be purchased.  That may give us a lead on our murderer."

Tom got up from his desk as he turned to Annie and said, "I'm going to go check out two Army-Navy Surplus Stores and see if I can get a line on those boots.  I should be back in a couple of hours.  I've got all the photos plus Laine's report.  I can't think of anywhere else a civilian would be able to buy them here in Bakersfield."

"We don't know that our killer wasn't in the military," Annie said.  "Maybe he got them legitimately while he was serving in the Middle East."

"That could be, but these seem to be fairly new.  If he had them since Desert Storm, or even later, they'd still be more worn out."

"You've got a point," Annie said.  "I'll be curious to see what you find out.  Charley wasn't too happy about giving them up."

"I think he was more worried about getting fired by Goodwill for taking them," Tom said.

"What are you working on?" Tom asked as he looked over at the stack of papers on Annie's desk.

"I got a print-out from DMV of all male registered owners of Ford Explorers and I'm going over the names to see if anything clicks.  Especially owners who live in the South area.  Do you know how popular these Ford Explorers are in Bakersfield?  I'll be old and gray before I'm done."

Tom laughed as he headed for the door.  "That's quite a picture.  Little old granny Annie hunched over her print-outs with a huge magnifying glass, saying 'I know he's here, I know he's here, I just have to find him'."

Annie could hear him laughing all the way down the corridor.

"That wasn't that funny," she said to no one in particular.