Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) (3 page)

“We don’t know they were decapitated here.” Rochelle’s condescending tone oozed out of her. “That’s pure speculation. They could have been dumped here.”

“Despite the glaringly obvious conclusion an experienced homicide detective would make given the volume of blood you can barely avoid tripping over when you walk into this place, I don’t recall ever factually concluding they were decapitated here, Detective Rochelle.” Vinny looked at her hard then turned his gaze on Barnes. “Did I, Detective Barnes?”

“No sir.” Barnes shook her head, much like a dog would wag her tail in anticipation of a treat. “Your only assertion, sir, was that a mess would have been made and that someone wanted things tidy.”

Vinny nodded. “That’s what I thought too. Thanks for clearing that up for me. It’s called deductive reasoning, Detective Rochelle. You should try it sometime.” He gave Rochelle a scowl then looked past her as he noticed a large figure coming up the driveway. “Go get updates from the forensics teams while I deal with whoever this is. I want a full report on everything before you take off to meet with that security manager.”

“Yes sir.” Barnes turned on her heal and headed down the cobble path with an almost robotic determination. Rochelle muttered something under her breath, shoved her notepad into her jacket pocket then slumped after her partner without another word.

With the heavy-duty lighting set up to illuminate the house, Vinny could only make out the black silhouette of a behemoth headed towards him. Squinting against the glare and forgetting the blue paper booties on his feet, Vinny stepped out the threshold and met the approaching man on the porch. A porch, Vinny noted, that was the size of his entire backyard.

“Lieutenant DeLuca? Sir?” The man stretched out his hand to Vinny.

“Yeah? Who’s asking?” Vinny squinted to get a good look at the fellow, hesitant to accept the offered hand.

“Sir, I’m Detective Dillon Cole. I was instructed to come here rather than the Bureau.” He continued to hold his hand out, certain that recognition would kick in any second.

“Oh! Yeah!” Vinny promptly shook the man’s hand and noticed that despite only being a few inches taller, the man seemed huge to him. “Right, sorry. I forgot I told them to have you meet me here. I figure we could hit the ground running, see how you do.”

Dillon Cole was a carefully chiseled slab of heavy duty stone. As solid and imposing as a mountain. He stood six-feet, three-inches and instantly reminded Vinny of a Roman gladiator, the way he was built. With a sharp jaw and keen green eyes, Vinny got the impression right away that this guy would be excellent protection for Lou on the streets. It didn’t hurt that Lou would probably only make it to his elbows as far as height went. The image made him chuckle to himself.

“Alright.” Vinny got back to business. “Let’s show you what we got, make the rounds then you’ll give me your impressions. We’ll go from there.”

“Yes, Sir.” Dillon retrieved a small, leather-bound notebook from his inside jacket pocket and immediately began scribbling notes.

Vinny couldn’t help but notice that Dillon was not looking at the paper as he wrote. It made him a little jealous. That talent could come in real handy when his wife, Vera, was dictating orders. He had reviewed Dillon’s file briefly the day before and vaguely remembered that he had recently moved to Los Angeles from Washington State where he worked in some small town station for several years. Cole seemed a little young for having been there that long and first impressions made him more of a military man to Vinny than a tree-hugger cop. Dillon’s precise movements and respectful demeanor just didn’t jive with country lawman.

The newcomer wore a tailored navy blue suit and crisp white shirt with a simple gray and navy striped tie. His shoes were high-end lug-soled lace ups, not the standard cop shoe to be sure, which Vinny found to be a smart move. Dressing to impress and not sparing expense when it came to taking care of your feet were two things Vinny appreciated. It was also probably impossible to buy a decent suit off the rack given the man’s hulking build.

“OK sport, let’s take a look, shall we?” Vinny turned and started to head back into the house when Dillon gently pulled him by the shoulder.

“Sir?” Perhaps it would be wise to re-boot.” Dillon grabbed two sets of blue booties from the box and handed one pair to Vinny. “Those two detectives tracked a lot of dirt up here. Better safe than sorry, don’t you think?” Vinny looked down at his own feet and realized he still had the old ones on.

“Ah geez! I need coffee.” He ripped off the soiled foot covers, took the new pair from Dillon and pulled them on. “Nice catch sport. I appreciate it.”

“No problem Sir. I realize it’s very early and you are spread thin. I am fully briefed on the situation with Detective Donovan and am looking forward to meeting her. I am also aware that you are expecting you’re first child so I’m certain sleep is a rare commodity for you these days. Congratulations by the way, Sir.” Dillon’s sincerity made Vinny pause.

“Thanks. Thanks a lot sport.” So far Vinny was liking candidate number eight. Only time would tell if he would be completely sold on having him as his replacement as Lou’s partner. He really hoped so. Vinny was running out of options.

They started inside, going through each room meticulously but finding absolutely nothing. Aside from the hardware and fixtures, each room was barren and sparkling clean. Aside from the small holes in the walls where they assumed art and pictures once hung, the house itself looked as though no one had ever moved in.. It was a hollow shell that smelled of decomp and cleaning solvent. When the two finally headed outside, Vinny set their path from the far left of the property and they began a spiral sweep of the grounds. Scanning with their flashlights, Vinny couldn’t help but notice that Dillon was lagging a bit, fondling, sniffing and sometimes even tasting leaves and branches. When he saw Dillon get down on all fours, sniff the grass then actually pluck a blade and eat it, Vinny simply couldn’t take it any longer.

“Are you some sort of freaky raw food vegan or something?” It was all Vinny could think of given Dillon had just come from up north, a notoriously earthy region often known for its extreme environmentalism and beyond organic eating habits.

Dillon looked up at him, slightly confused. “What?” When it occurred to him how his behavior appeared, Dillon flustered and got up quickly, dusting himself off. “Oh! No! Sorry, I was just...”

“You realize you’ve been grazing through this place?” Vinny cocked his head, baffled. “You got a theory or you just hungry?”

“No sir, I’m a normal carnivore.” Dillon suddenly felt ridiculous. “I’ve just been noticing a few things and was checking them out. A theory, but I’m not sure how far fetched it is just yet.”

“You gonna share any time soon or do I just keep thinkin you’re some special kind of fruit cup?” Vinny asked with a smirk.

Dillon snorted despite his mortification. “I’d rather wait until we are finished and I have more data before I give you just wild speculation. If you don’t mind, sir?”

Vinny shook his head as he turned to continue their sweep. He could only imagine what Lou would be saying if she was there to witness Dillon’s bizarre behavior. “Just don’t start eatin’ bugs. I dunno if I could handle that.”

Dillon chided himself silently for his lack of composure. He had been trained better than that. First impressions were critical and he had planned to conduct himself in a far different manner. The problem was that he had not expected to spot evidence of what looked to be quite an elaborate operation at his first crime scene with Vinny. Dillon’s gut was screaming at him but too much was riding on this case. How he handled himself would dictate his fate and the stakes were too high for him to rely solely on his gut. He was going to need hard data to back it up before he uttered one word out loud.

The two men continued to search the grounds and despite the odd exchange earlier, things seemed to fall into a solid rhythm. As they worked their way through the grounds and were given short briefings from the various investigators and techs they met up with as they went. When they finally finished their full spiral and were about to head back out to the front of the property, Caroline appeared out of nowhere holding a tray with three large paper mugs baring the colorful logo of a local coffee joint Vinny loved.

“Hey there fellas. Thought you could use a little juice to keep ya going. I had one of my interns make a run.” Caroline beamed a smile so bright at Dillon that Vinny almost had to squint. “And who might you be?” Her southern drawl sounded thicker then usual.

This time it was Vinny who rolled his eyes. “Caroline, this is Detective Dillon Cole, contestant number eight. Dillon, this is Deputy Medical Examiner, Caroline Devereux.”

“Ohhh! Well hello!” Caroline was not exactly subtle when it came to the male persuasion and this was absolutely no exception. She offered him her hand in true debutant fashion.

“Candidate number eight?” Dillon looked at Vinny with confusion then caught himself. “Ma’am, forgive me.” His West Point training kicked in immediately. He took her hand and bowed slightly at the waist. “It’s a pleasure.”

“It certainly will be.” She hadn’t meant to say it aloud but she wasn’t about to apologize.

“Aw geez Caroline! The kid just got here!” Vinny yanked the tray of coffee from Caroline’s other hand. “Which one is mine?”

“The one with the giant red “V” on it, Sherlock.” Caroline slowly retracted her hand and gathered her composure. Candidate number eight definitely had her vote and she was going to call Lou and tell her so as soon as it was a respectable hour. “Here, let me.” She pulled Vinny’s coffee from the tray and handed it off to him then passed one to Dillon. “Cream and two sugars. Light and sweet, just like me.” She smirked as she sipped from her cup. “I hope that’s OK.”

“Oh for cripe’s sake.” Vinny yanked the tray out of Caroline’s hand and swatted her over the head with it. “Hey Doc, mind putting that engine in neutral and getting back to the case a minute? I mean I appreciate the coffee and all but, seriously? The words ‘sexual harassment’ mean anything to you?”

“You are such a killjoy. I hope that kid of yours doesn’t turn out to be a girl or her life is gonna suck.” Caroline stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey!” Vinny took a step toward her. “That’s hittin’ below the belt!”

“If the shoe fits!” She took a step towards him and stuck out her chin in an act of defiance.

“Uh, excuse me...” Dillon stepped between them. “Can someone clarify the ‘candidate number eight’ thing for me? I wasn’t briefed on that.”

Caroline and Vinny looked at him then looked at each other with obvious embarrassment.

“It’s nothing, sport.” Vinny composed himself quickly. “Just a little humor between pals is all.”

“Right, sorry. Just a little joke.” Caroline smoothed her hair back and sipped her coffee. “I apologize for my behavior. Sleep deprivation I guess. Getting a little slap happy.”

“Nothing to apologize for ma’am.” Dillon smiled at her and took a sip of his own coffee.

“Thank you for the coffee ma’am. It’s perfect, thank you again.”

“Call me Caroline, please. Ma’am is my mother.” She grunted. “And you’re welcome.”

The sound of morning birdsongs was growing along with the light of day and the majesty of the estate’s grounds were coming into full view. They were standing at the far side of the yard, on a sprawling patio area that butted up to a massive rectangular pool. On the furthest side of the pool was an infinity fall that made the water look like it spilled out into the sky.

“So there is absolutely no way anyone could have hauled all the contents of the house out this side.” Vinny pulled his focus back on the case and walked around to the infinity edge of the pool to take a good look in the growing light.

“No way that I saw when I was snooping.” Caroline said as she followed him and Dillon, to the far edge.

The yard dropped down a mild slope and then into a steep hillside that eventually lead to the massive canyon behind the estate. A dozen steps lead down to where the falls of the pool fell into a trough which rested on another patio below. The far end of the patio dropped off in a steep grade that was swallowed up by the canyon. On the patio were several chaise lounges and a substantial firepit. It was a secluded area set off from the rest of the manicured grounds.

Once you hit the property line, there were hundreds of acres of nature between where they stood and anything else. The nearest road was miles away and the terrain was thick with sumac, old oaks, boulders and chaparral. There would most certainly be a trail had anyone tried dragging anything through the canyon this way. Driving any sort of vehicle through the dense vegetation was simply impossible without leaving a visible trail.

“No one came this way.” Vinny was certain. “If no trucks came to haul the stuff away, it was either air-lifted or vanished into thin air.” He turned to head back towards the house. “I’ll make Barnes and Rochelle go over the security footage for this whole community for the past month.”

Caroline snorted. “That’s gonna score you major love from those two.”

“You say that like I care.” Vinny tried to hide a grin.

“I can go over it if you prefer, Sir.” Dillon volunteered.

“Hell no.” Vinny waved him off. “We got more important things to do. I’ll let those two have the fun stuff.”

Dillon seamed confused for a moment but Caroline took the liberty of informing him that they didn’t much care for the two detectives and that the detectives surely didn’t care much for them. He nodded in understanding and quietly grinned, making Caroline even more certain that she liked the guy.

As the three walked along the east side of the property towards the front yard, Vinny was stopped by a uniformed deputy who quietly relayed something to him as he handed him a slip of paper.

“Crap.” Vinny dragged his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath.

“What’s wrong?” Caroline looked at him with concern.

“The neighbor across the street.” Vinny turned and looked at Caroline, clearly not happy. “Jane and Matt Michaels. Jane is demanding to speak to me, and only me. She’s giving the deputies a hard time with the canvas.”