Brush Creek Charlie, D. B. Reynolds [top non fiction books of all time TXT] 📗

the neighbors talking?”
“Nah, not even the nosy ones.”
“You talk to the jogger?”
“Got a bit of information out of her.”
“Like what?”
“Said she stumbled upon the body after running a few times around the park trail.”
“Anything else?”
Carey heisted his shoulders and said, “Well, Jerry, she said she saw some creepy looking guy standing up in the bushes.”
“She get a good look at him?”
“Said she only got a split-second glimpse of him. But, check this out, Jerry, she said his face looked like it’d been ravaged by acne.”
Overstreet snapped his fingers. “He’s got to be the same psycho who slaughtered those two women found in Brush Creek.”
“Also, the same scumbag who attacked Richie and Seth around the tunnel in Brush Creek.”
“The black women who’ve been turning up dead here in Gillham Park.”
“What about them?”
“Is there a possibility he could be responsible for killing some of these women?”
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but Doc McKinnis could help answer our questions.”
Ask and one shall receive. Master medical examiner, Dr. Anthony McKinnis, arrived at the crime scene from just the mentioning of his name. Dr. McKinnis trotted up the dirt trail carrying his well-supplied forensic kit, along with his helpers from the forensic crime lab.
“Good morning, detectives,” Dr. McKinnis acknowledged with a spirited smile.
“Morning, doc,” Overstreet replied, coating his voice with the warm coffee.
“Came as soon as the department dispatched me.”
“Another body found here in the park.”
“Bodies are turning up here in Gillham Park more and more.”
“Killers are more clever than we give them credit.”
Dr. McKinnis slipped on a pair of latex gloves and went to work. With the body mainly nude, he observed a series of burns and lesions along her legs and arms and upper torso. Detectives snapped closeup and distance shots of the body. The sight wasn’t pretty at all. A woman who’d been abused most of her teen and adult life, caused the doctor and the detective’s more sensitive side to surface. He turned her head to face him and then swung his head to the side.
“Doc, what’s wrong?” Overstreet asked, moving closer to the body.
“Well, detective, our vic was suffocated to death after mud was forced down her throat.”
Carey and Overstreet moved even closer. They noticed the compacted mud and debris spilling out of her mouth. Soft beats thrusted their hearts into neutral. Nobody deserved to die in such a harsh way.
Dr. McKinnis pointed to a dark area on the woman’s face. “Looks like our vic was struck in the face with a blunt object.”
“Hammer, stick, pole, or maybe a big rock or something?”
“Take your pick, one or all of them.”
“These sickos become more brutal with time.”
Dr. McKinnis pointed individually to the many cuts and scrapes up and down her body. “Also, looks like she’d been stabbed a few times with a knife or razor or other sharp object several times. I’d say that she suffered a lot of abuse over the course of her life.”
“Any guess to how long her body’s been lying in the park?”
“My guess is anywhere from a few days to a week.”
“After your autopsy, doc, I need to know if she’d been sexually assaulted before she was murdered.”
“Absolutely, detective.”
“Can we meet you in the morgue in a couple’a days?”
“Sure can, detective.”
“Thanks, doc.”
Carey and Overstreet drifted further along the park’s dirt trail. For several minutes, they searched for any helpful clues. One of the lesser experienced detectives signaled for them to come to where he stood.
“That’s rather unusual, Jerry,” Carey said, itching to catch a monster killer with a high IQ and thirst to kill.
Overstreet slipped on a pair of latex gloves. He reached down to pick up a dark blue purse made of shiny pleather material. Digging around the contents, he discovered a makeup compact, some condoms, a medical card, and a Missouri identification card.
“Won’t be hard making a positive id on this woman.”
“Makes our job a little more simpler.”
“Carey, make sure these contents get to the crime lab.”
“Sure thing, Jerry.”
“Yeah, and make sure homicide does a thorough check on our vic. Maybe we can get some leads on what happened to all the vics found dead here in Gillham Park, maybe even our two vics found in Brush Creek. I’m gonna do a brief interview with the woman who came upon the body before we wrap up this crime scene.”
“I’ll let ya know what I find out, Jerry.”
“Great.”
A homicide detective’s work was never done.
Overstreet received a growl from Turbo as he approached Colleen holding a pen and notepad. “Mam, I’m Lieutenant Jerry Overstreet with the KCPD’s homicide division. I know that you were interviewed by Detective Schroeder, but I’d like to ask you more detailed questions about the man you saw hiding up in the bushes.”
“Go right ahead, detective,” Colleen submitted, holding a tight grip around Turbo’s leash.
“His face, you did get a good glimpse of his face?”
“I did, but it was lightning quick.”
“Would you recognize him if you ever saw him again?”
“I would, and he looked like he’d been stabbed in the face with an icepick.”
“Like a nightmare-of-a-face?”
“Very good description, detective.”
Overstreet slipped out a folded-up piece of white paper. “Did he look anything like this composite drawing?”
Colleen scrutinized the drawing. “Detective, there’s some resemblance between what I saw and the drawing you’re holding.”
“Would you put it on the soul of your parents?”
“Yes, I would.”
“And he ran away when you spotted him?”
“Yes he did. When my dog Turbo barked wildly at him, he knew that it was time to get the hell away from the park.”
“Would you have turned your dog on him had he come closer?”
“No doubt.”
“It’s good that you had your dog with you, or you might’ve been his next victim.”
“I’ve been warned about this area by many people. Any sane person would go through this park with some type of protection.”
“Mam, I do thank you for your time and your cooperation.”
“You’re welcome, detective.”
Overstreet directed his staff to finish processing the crime scene and get all the pertinent evidence to the crime lab. The body was shipped off to the morgue, and now the KCPD only hoped for clues to lead them to the psychotic animal who exclusively killed women for sport.


CHAPTER—33

Detectives Overstreet and Schroeder decided to meet in one of the upper-floor offices inside the forever busy KCPD headquarters building in downtown. Two days following the discovery of the brutalized nude body in Gillham Park, the duo decided to put their heads together. They had to come up with a plan to apprehend the man who murdered women without just cause. Both men were two tired souls. Their detective work started affecting their home life. Their wives complained constantly about them not spending time with them or their children.
As for Overstreet, he had already put two sons and a daughter through college. His children had their own children to defend for, and he barely got a chance to see his grandchildren since all of them lived outside Missouri. On the other hand, Carey was the budding father of four young children, two girls and two boys whose ages ranged from three years old to twelve years old. Carey’s wife, in particular, got frustrated with cooking dinner and him not showing up on time to eat with his family.
Regrettably, both detectives took their work dead serious. Their home life suffered tremendously as a result of them wanting to bring down a cold and calculated serial killer. Overstreet thumbed through a number of papers inside his cluttered office. It bothered both men on how someone kept killing and not getting caught.
“Tell me something, Jerry,” Carey said, his fingers crossed in suspense. “Do you link the last vic found in Gillham Park with both our vics found in Brush Creek?”
“None of those murders are mine’s to link,” Overstreet specified. “But the DNA found in Brush Creek doesn’t match up with anything found in Gillham Park.”
“There could be some commonalities between the two, but we can’t say that one suspect is responsible for every last one of the murders.”
“Doc McKinnis told us at the crime scene that the vic found in Gillham Park had been beaten and suffocated to death. All those other black women found murdered in Gillham Park were also been beaten and killed by some sonofabitch shoving mud and twigs and granule rocks down their throats. Some of them had been raped and sexually molested before he’d killed them.”
“When compared with our vics found dismembered in Brush Creek, the method of killing is totally different.”
“Which says that we’re dealing with two separate killers who’re committing murders within close proximity.”
“Exactly!” Carey bolted. “The Brush Creek killer and the Gillham Park killer have no connection, whatsoever. It’s by coincidence that they’re operating within the same vicinity with no knowledge of one another.”
Detective work was never easy. But the rewards came into fruition whenever they brought down the people who took innocent lives.
Overstreet flipped open a file with detailed information about the latest Gillham Park murder victim. “Our latest vic was identified as Marsha Penn, twenty-six