Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1) (7 page)

Jesse and Annie took their seats at a long table filled with other diners.  After the server took their orders, Jesse leaned across the table and put his hand over Annie's hand.  She was tempted to withdraw it, but let it be.

"I think you picked this place because of its lack of privacy," Jesse said with a scowl.

"I was going to suggest Luigi's, which isn't much more private, but it's closed on Monday," Annie said with a smile in her voice.

Annie handed Jesse a folder.  "Here's a copy of all the notes I have so far.  There's not much to see, so there's really nothing to discuss.  We can just eat lunch and be on our way.

"I'll be reviewing copies of the hand-written reports from the deputies and detectives who talked to the witnesses and canvassed the homes and businesses located in the vicinity of the crime scene.  When they come in, I'll fax them to you."

Annie saw the longing in Jesse's eyes and her heart felt heavy.

"So, how was your visit with your sister?" Annie said.

"It was way too short," Jesse said.  "She has a beautiful gallery full of Native American art."  Jesse reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet pouch.  "I thought you might like this - no strings."

Jesse handed it to Annie.  When she opened it and removed the beautiful beaded necklace, she was at a loss for words.  "Oh, Jesse, it's beautiful.  I can't accept it, really I can't."

"Yes, you can.  I said 'no strings'.  I want you to have it and I thought of you the moment I saw it."

"Thank you so much," Annie said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.  "I have a dress that's a perfect match."

"Annie, I know commitment scares you.  I don't know what else I can do.  Maybe I simply need to back off and give you some space and see what happens."

Annie tucked the necklace into her messenger bag as the waitress started bringing the many dishes that comprised their lunch.  Jesse looked at all the food and shook his head.

"Besides," he said, "the way we eat, we would always be so stuffed with carbs each day that 'pillow talk' would be a non-issue.  We would sleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows," he said, grinning as he dug into his French fries.

"It's a good thing we both have excellent metabolisms and work out regularly, or we would look like wart hogs," Annie said, laughing.

Annie attacked her soup and the French bread and butter.  For several minutes they ate and savored the excellent food brought to them.

"How are you going to spend the rest of your afternoon?" Jesse asked, as they were sipping their coffee, both feeling stuffed from all the good food.  "I have to be back in Court by 1:30 PM, but this trial should wrap up today."

"A nap sounds like a good idea, but I don't see that happening," Annie said.  "Right now I'm heading over to the morgue to get a copy of Jane Doe's fingerprints so I can scan them in IAFIS and see if anything turns up."

"I didn't want to discuss the murder during lunch," Jesse said, "but what evidence do you have to go on so far?"

"Not much, Jesse, not much at all," Annie said.  "I hope Laine or Deputy Coroner Schillings come up with something we can work with.  Right now there isn't anything specific.  The uniforms will continue to canvass the area and we will start putting together the Murder Book with whatever reports and other bits of information we have.  Solving a murder isn't a fine science; it's based on a lot of luck and intuition.  I wish the general public and the politicians realized that."

"Well, you've got the best working with you on this one.  Laine and Deputy Schillings give every investigation their all, as well as Tom with his many years of experience.  When is the autopsy, do you know yet?"

"Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM.  We'll see you there, right?"

"Yes, Annie, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Annie laughed.  "That's good, Jesse.  As I get information, I'll pass it on to your office.  I have a feeling this case will be full of challenges and won't be easy."

"Well, the first thing is to try to find out who she was and where she came from.  Maybe that will answer some questions," Jesse said as he got into his Mustang and headed back to Court.

Monday, 13 August 2012, 1:45 PM

After Annie left Wool Growers, she drove over to the morgue to pick up fingerprint cards to scan into the FBIs databases for a possible match.

"Hi, Annie," the receptionist, Nicole Tunnicliff, said as Annie entered the office.  Earlier, Annie called and talked to the forensic pathologist scheduled to perform the autopsy on 'Jane Doe' and requested fingerprint cards.  It pleased her that Dr. Preston Richards, whom she liked and respected, would be working this case.

"Hey, Nicole.  Where's Doc?  He said I could pick up the fingerprint cards that Deputy Coroner Schillings took at the crime scene on our 'Jane Doe'.  I'm going to scan them in and hope the online databases will have a match."

"Yeah, he told me.  He's in his office at the moment, so you can catch him there."

"Thanks, Nicole," Annie said as she headed for Doc's office.

Annie breathed a sigh of relief when Nicole told her that Doc wasn't in the morgue.  It was bad enough that she, Tom, and Jesse would be attending the autopsy the next day.

"Hey, Doc," she said as she knocked on the open door to his office.

"Hi Annie.  I bet you want fingerprints so you can get the ball rolling?" he said, as he gave her a big grin.  Annie loved his infectious smile and the constant twinkle in his eyes.  

"Yes, one of my top priorities, besides finding who killed her, is finding out who she is.  I imagine somewhere there is someone who is wondering what happened to her.  Even though the news isn't good, it's always better to know the truth than to wonder."

"Here you go."  Doc handed Annie a manila envelope that held several copies of the fingerprint card.

After Annie signed for them, she said, "I'm going to send her fingerprints to the State and local databases, as well as the International data bases, in case someone has them on file but, for whatever reason, hasn't forwarded them to the International data bases.  If there are even prints for her in any system."

Both Annie and Doc knew that all fingerprints weren't eligible for inclusion in the FBI International databases, so it was standard operating procedure to check local and State databases as well.

"Is the autopsy still scheduled for tomorrow?" Annie said.

"Of course, homicides have priority, as you know.  You need to be here a little before 9:00 AM so you can get suited up and ready.  Tom and Jesse will be attending also, right?  I heard the DA assigned Jesse to this case."

"Yes, they'll both be here."

"When I mentioned Jesse did I detect a frown on that lovely face of yours?  I know he wants more than a professional relationship from you, which is apparent.  Is that a problem for you?"

"I don't know, Doc.  It could be.  I've seen too many failed relationships between people in this field.  I treasure Jesse as a friend, and would hate to lose him because of a failed romantic involvement.  It could happen, you know."

"Yes, I've seen it also and it can be devastating.  I worry about Tom sometimes.  Since the murder of his wife so many years ago, he hasn't even looked at another woman.  I think his scars run deep and may never be healed."

"I know, Doc.  That's a sad story, and I see the pain in his face when he remembers what happened.  I don't know what the answer is.  I can't even sort out my own life, let alone someone else's.  Besides, we may think we know what's best for another person, but we don't," Annie said.

"The only word of caution I have, Annie, is not to transfer the pressure you get from your family to settle down and have kids onto Jesse.  He's a good man.  I think if you let him know how you feel, and how your family treats you, he'll better understand your resistance."

"You're right, Doc.  I need to talk to him straight up and let him know what my fears are.  Thanks for the advice and for caring.

"I appreciate the quick turn around on the prints, Doc.  I'll see you bright and early in the morning."

As Annie turned to leave, Doc said, "Oh, Annie, by the way.  These spider bites are a real puzzle.  I am comparing each one to the charts I have that track the progress of a black widow spider bite, and they seem to have occurred over a period of several days.  I'll have more information when I do the autopsy and have time to analyze each bite, but it is perplexing."

"Maybe we'll know more tomorrow.  Just thinking about spiders crawling over her body gives me the creeps," Annie said, as she visibly shivered.

Doc laughed, "Take care, Annie, and stay out of trouble."

Annie echoed his laughter as she left his office.

When Annie finally got back to her desk, she called the deputies who took the witness statements at the scene to see if their reports were ready. 

Deputy Hermosillo arrived shortly with copies of the hand-written reports.

"This is what we have.  None of the three at the scene had much to say that you don't already know.  We will wait a couple of days and follow up with them again just in case they remember something significant, or even insignificant, as well."

Deputy Hermosillo placed the folder on Annie's desk and she rewarded him with one of her cheerful smiles.

"Several deputies are still canvassing the area around the crime scene, but businesses and residences are spread out and they haven't returned yet. We're trying to determine which businesses are located such that the employees would travel on South Fairfax Road.  We will talk to those employees specifically who go to work in the early morning or late evening hours."

"Good work, Raoul.  Could you let me know as soon as the deputies turn in their hand-written reports?  And make sure to ask them if they told each person interviewed to go to the substation in Lamont to sign the typed reports."

"I already mentioned that to them.  They're on top of it.  They'll take their original reports to the substation to be typed up and I'll bring a copy of the original statements here for you."

"Thanks, Raoul."

Later in the day, Annie called Laine DelMonte to see if she or her crew had found anything unusual at the crime scene.  She hoped there would be some clues to help them identify the victim, or whomever put her there.

"I did find some leaves that aren't indigenous to that area," Laine said.  "They look like they're from an olive tree.  They have the light color underneath and are the right shape.  I'm going to have them checked to make sure.  Unfortunately, there are many olive trees in this County, so it won't really narrow down where she might have been.  At least we can be fairly certain that she was somewhere else before being moved to the vineyard."

At 4:30 PM Deputy Hermosillo returned with copies of several of the hand-written reports. 

Annie was sitting at her desk going over, once again, the three statements by the men from the crime scene.

"Hi Detective.  Here are some of the reports from the field.  I'm afraid there isn't much information.  No one remembers hearing or seeing anything."

"That's kind of what I was expecting, Raoul, but we still have to give every avenue a try.  Thank you for returning these to me so quickly."

"You're more than welcome," Deputy Hermosillo said as he left the room.

A couple of minutes later, Tom returned from his visit to the crime scene.

"Tom, have you talked with the sketch artist yet?" Annie asked.

"Yep, I sure have.  I uploaded the photos to my computer and emailed the ones of the victim's face to Sarah and she will have sketches done and delivered here shortly.  She knows we want them for the press conference."

"Great.  When she brings them, have a couple hundred copies made and give them to deputies all over the County to distribute at the Malls and other public places.  We need to find out who this girl is."

Annie gave half of the reports to Tom to review and she took the other half.  They spent the next half-hour going through the reports, and weren't surprised when they found no new information to help them with their investigation.

Sarah arrived with her sketches and Tom made copies to go with his press release for the press conference, as well as for the deputies.

Sheriff Quinn walked up to the temporary podium that was set up for the Press Conference in the courtyard at the front of the Courthouse.  Three of his deputies were busy passing out the police artist's sketch of the unidentified victim, 'Jane Doe' as well as the Sheriff's official statement.

"Good afternoon," he said as he looked around the gathering.  "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Sheriff/Coroner Mick Quinn - Q U I N N.

"You've all received a copy of the artist rendition of what the victim, 'Jane Doe', probably looked like during life.  She appears to be a Hispanic female between the ages of 23 and 30.

"She was found, as you'll note in the report, in a vineyard on South Fairfax Road between DiGiorgio Road and Buena Vista Road this morning around 5:30 AM.   The body, which was nude, was located about 20 feet in from the black top and had most likely been placed there during the preceding twenty-four hours.

"There was no obvious cause of death.  We've scheduled an autopsy for tomorrow morning.  At that time, we will issue a statement with more information, if there is anything new to add.

"That's all the information I have at the moment and this is what you will find in the report.  We are hoping that someone will recognize the woman from the police sketch and contact the Sheriff's Office.

"Thank you."

Several hands went up and the clamor to answer more questions arose from the crowd.

"I will not be answering any more questions at the moment because there's nothing else I can tell you.  As I said, Doc scheduled the autopsy for tomorrow morning.  Perhaps then we'll have more answers.  Nevertheless, as you know, the autopsy report and the toxicology reports will take a while to be completed.  We will be doing DNA fingerprinting to see if there's a match.  That's really all I can tell you."

Amid the calls of "Sheriff, Sheriff, Sheriff Quinn" the Sheriff, Sgt. Collins, Annie, Tom, and Jesse turned around and entered the Courthouse.  When the crowd finally dissipated, they made their way back to their separate offices.