The parents waited and waited but no call came in for the ransom. The next week a small lonely body was recovered from a dumpster in downtown L.A. It was just stuffed into a Wal-Mart bag and tossed into the trash. It took a tremendous toll on me that day and when I got back to my apartment I was holding the picture that the kidnapper had left for the parents. I laid it on the hall table and looked into the mirror at the tear streaks on my face. Then I saw it in the mirror, the note was printed backwards and in that weird script. I still could not make out all of the letters. I grabbed my cell phone and called Charlie. He picked me up this time and we were on the way to the station. I flopped it in from of the Lieutenant and told him that we need an artist that was familiar with all these styles to read this correctly. He called down to holding to see who was in the cage right now. There was one that had been picked up for defacing. Get him up here now, was the order. When he arrived, my boss told him that here was a chance for him to get a "Get out of jail" card. It didn't take but one look for him to give us the words.
Bob Anderson was the name printed on the clue. We didn't know if it was the guy, but it was a lead. Sleep be damned, I was wired up as high as I could get and I sat in the station while they looked to see if anyone that could have gotten to the baby had that name or was known by any of the family. I had never seen the Homicide Squad work before and I just sat and watched as they put the information together. It was so organized and logical to me. I ask Charlie if he had every wanted to be a detective. He looked me in the eye and said that he was just a street cop and that was all he wanted to be ever since he was a kid. Little did I know that he was watching me as my eyes got wider and wider as they added to the murder board and strung the clues together and then erased and started over as the person they were looking at, alibied out. I could have sat there all night, but we both were chased out and told to get some sleep, patrol tomorrow and that is a order that came from out Boss. As I was walking out the Homicide Lt. said to my back, "Good work Jill."
The next day after my shift ended I was right back in the Homicide Squad Room. One of the detectives took pity on me and let me look through the folder that contained all the research they had done last night. I took it over to one of the day time desk and spread the papers out. I was studying the papers in front of me and I didn't even see my Lt. walk by and look at what I was doing. Also I didn't see Charlie look in and motion to my boss. I didn't hear him talking about me and the natural aptitude I was showing for absorbing the clues. My field of vision was just the
desk and its contents. I stayed till I was kicked out again, but I was back the next day. Three days later I looked up and yell "I think I got it."
Everyone in the room stopped and looked at the tall skinny carrot topped girl that was sitting in their space. I blushed till my face matched the color of my hair . I held up a piece of paper that was filled with my hand writing. I then began to explain what it all meant. The Lt. of Homicide had heard my yell and had came to the door of his office and motioned to my Lt. who had been drinking coffee with him and both of them began listening to what I was saying.
It all began with the picture. It was shot in a mirror and was backwards just like the name. The name means nothing. It is just his way of saying, "Turn all of this around. Nothing is as it seems." I then looked at the face of the baby closer. His eyes are closed and it looks like there is makeup on his face. I remember my Uncle's funeral and how they had put makeup on him to give that rosy look of life on his dead face. This is what had happened. The baby was already dead when the picture was taken and someone wanted to make it appear that he was still alive. The coroner's report stated that the time of death was hard to calculate due to the condition of the corpse left in an open plastic bag in a dumpster. That is why the bag was not tied closed. He also said that the body had been cleaned before putting into the bag. He thought it was to get rid of DNA and clues left on the body. But it was really to remove the makeup. The killers wanted the time of death to be undeterminable. I then said, "The person that sent the picture was not the person that killed the child. It was a third party who wanted the truth to come out, but was scared to bring it to the police. Maybe an illegal alien housekeeper or gardener."
I then took a deep breath and said, "The scene of the crime is in the home of the parents."
When I met Charlie the next day at the station. He waited till we were alone in the squad car before he ask anything. I laid it out to him and explained how I had reached the conclusions I had. "Well buttercup, you better tie your butt down, cause a storm is about to blow your way." he said. Then he leaned over and kissed my cheek and added, "Good job kid". My face was glowing, I had never heard him say "Good job" to anyone before.
Charlie was wrong about me drawing some kind of heat for my involvement. The squad took all the credit and I was glad. The rest of the case was for the courts and as Charlie says, "We are
no longer involved. Now back to the real police work on the streets." I think some strings were pulled because we had been given a new cruiser and it was last years model Dodge Charger Pursuit 4 wheel drive. It had the big 5.7 Hemi and I was in love. At home I had my Corvette and my Porsche and dreaded driving the old Ford at work. Charlie of course complained about the room, or lack of room in the Charger. I wanted to roll down the window and put my elbow on the window sill, but my partner said that wasn't proper and would ruin the air conditioning.
Teddy Brooks:
My position allowed me to do a little investigating of my own and I found out that the baby case had been solved not by the detectives, but one of the street cops. A woman. I will get a little revenge from her for spoiling my debut. She is like all the other cops, they are fools. The trap I setup was so easy to do as I had watched her and her partner use the same route every day. I ran a red light in front of them and they took off after me to that alley I had prepared. I missed her on the first shot, but it was because her partner pushed her out of the line of fire. He tripped as he did that and I was able to hit his leg. I then ran to my car on the next street.
Officer Jill Thompson:
I woke up the next morning on that fashionable but lumpy couch of mine. How could something that cost that much be so uncomfortable. I drug myself through the routine of getting ready and left for the hospital. When I got there I wasn't ready for the shock of seeing Charlie's ex-wife Gloria sitting in the ICU waiting room with my Lt. and his wife. He introduced me and I sat down and leaned my head back against the wall. Everyone was waiting for the nine o'clock report and time just seemed to slow down and stop. Gloria had been staring at me for who knows how long before I finally looked across at her. "He always gets the youngest partners to train." she finally said and "You probably have a crush on him like all the rest he has trained in the past." I just nodded and said, "Just a small one."
The doctor came out and said only the family can go in. Gloria looked at me and told the doctor. "His only family is sitting over there." I gulped and didn't contradict her and slid into the unit.
Charlie was flat on his back with IVs and monitors hooked up all around him. He noticed me and grinned. He mouthed the words,
"Can't talk." I sat down and held his hand. When I left I thanked Gloria and headed to the station. When I got there I was told I was going to be just sitting around for quite awhile. That didn't last but two days before the head of Homicide came in and told me to go home, put on some plain clothes and come back to work.
It was just a week before another high publicity case came in. A plastic surgeon had been found with her face slashed to ribbons. Whoever had killed her was very angry. I was told to go to the crime scene and learn how evidence was gathered and not to touch anything. Booties and gloves at all time and they better not find any cell phone pictures that I had put on the internet. I was given a clipboard and checked each person as they entered and left the area. At least it was a real job and was useful. I kept my eyes and ears open to every word and action the squad made that
day. Books can go only so far, this was the real world and actions mattered. If clues were corrupted or the chain of evidence was broken, this could cause a criminal to go free. I was determined that "Not on my watch" would be my creed.
Teddy Brooks:
That was even easier than the first one. Joyce had actually dated me three times in high school. I was going to a different school and my shame hadn't followed me there. I was in love with her and it was wonderful. I had heard that the third date was the one where two people always had sex. So I was prepared and picked her up just like the first two times and was nervous and sweaty by the time we got to the dance club that all the underage students went to. It was going great until we headed back to the house. There was a place in Griffith Park that was the favorite place to park and get to know your date. I was so clumsy and couldn't get the condom on and she started laughing. I kicked her out of the car and left her there. I heard that Joyce had called a friend on her cell phone and didn't tell her parents about it.
She had went to college and became a big time Doctor, but now she is just one of the faceless. The surprise on her face when she entered her house and found me waiting. The good thing about surgeons is that they have plenty of sharp knifes at their homes.
Officer Jill Thompson:
Charlie's leg was not responding to therapy. The loss of blood and nerve damaged had been so great that it might never be even eighty percent normal. I cried the night I was told. Katie just whined and slid her head under my arm trying to get me to
stop. I patted her head and told her that I had to get it out of my system and be strong in front of my partner. I visited him everyday after he got out of the hospital and carried my dog with me so we could all walk together. The walking was part of the recovery and I wasn't going to let anyone else do it. Finally he told me that he knew he was not going to be a cop anymore and his ex-brother-in-law had a security business and he was going to go work for him in Seattle. My heart was broken, but I just smile and told him that I would visit as often as I could. Remember I am a rich bitch and daddy has a jet. Seattle is just a couple of hours away for me.
When I returned to work the next Monday, I was informed that my work was sufficient and homicide had request that I stay on as an intern. I immediately called Charlie and he just said, "That is where you belong, kid." He knew that I could make a detective, now to show all the rest I was up to the job.
I was still just a newby and got all the grunt jobs no one else wanted. I collated documents and carried the evidence back and forth to the cage where it was kept. The officer on duty there got to know me really well. The main Medical Examiners office is half an hour drive time, so I got the duty transporting paperwork back and forth. All of this helped me to make friends with the lower ranking personnel that would be essential in the future.
Teddy Brooks:
I must not let the police sway me from my appointed duties. I have three more females that must pay for the miserable life I have had.
Eva was a party girl I met through one of those "show up to the class reunion with a model on your arm" escort business. She was all friendly and as long as I brought gifts, she even went out with me "off the books". It all came crashing down when I suggested that she meet my mother. She informed me that she would never ever be serious about any guy and that I should not call her again. She of course kept all the things I had bought her.
I contacted the escort service and made a date under a fake name. It had almost been a year since she had dumped me. I put on a limo driver outfit I had gotten from Goodwill. I bought a fake beard and dark glasses and picked her up to take her to her date. There was drinks and hors d'oeuvre appetizers setup in the back seat and I waited till she had a couple of drinks from the special liquor I had roofied and when I stopped in Griffith Park she was out of it. I waited till she woke up and saw that her arms were
tied to each of the backdoors, I slowly place a car cushion on her face and listened to her screams till they stopped. Earlier I had got a wino on the street to fill a condom with his sperm and this I put into her vagina with a turkey baster. I left her in the limo I had stolen last week. There were no finger prints of mine as I had worn driving gloves along with the suit I had gotten from Goodwill. There would be plenty of DNA, fibers and fingerprints for the CSI team to analyze, but none of it mine.
Officer Jill Thompson:
I had been promoted to "murder board" duty. While the "real" detectives were discussing the case and calling out relevant points, I would write them on the white board and also post the pictures along with the text. As I was doing this my mind was soaking up the logic from each of the guys in the unit. Each one had a different way of looking at clues and subconsciously I was adding these to my own way of thinking. This was not just a job, this was a learning experience that I could not have gotten from any classroom. Each of these professionals had developed their crime solving methods over the years and they ignored the methods of the other officers in favor of their own. I didn't have enough experience to had fully formed one of my own so I was combining all of the different points of the members of the homicide squad. I remembered that Bruce Lee had taken parts of several martial arts and made his own style. I didn't realize it but I was going to "Kung Fu" my own crime solving ability.
Charlie had told me that the best thing a good cop could have was a "gut" that told them when something was right or wrong. I found out that he was correct and that I was developing that intestinal lie detector. It came together almost at once and I simply knew the answer without physically linking the clues.
Teddy Brooks:
My almost wife was next on the list. She and I had dated for three years and then I asked her and she said "Yes". I was above the clouds for three months till she met another and fell for him. I work in the court system of Los Angeles and her new beau was on the D.A. staff. I only had a criminal justice degree and he had a full Law diploma and was one of those insufferable lawyers. Of course Jane was "oh so sorry" that it had happened, but better before we got married than after. She gave me back the ring and left me alone in my apartment. She will be sorry she cause me so much pain, So much pain.