Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [story read aloud .txt] 📗

“I simply haven’t got the time to go looking for it, but I can point you in the right direction. It stood out because it was in Connecticut, where as you know, the locals don’t kill each other. I read about it in the Journal, it was in one of those coast towns that are so pretty, New Haven, Guilford…”

“Madison?”

“…yes. Yes, I believe it was Madison.”

“What was it? What was the homicide?”

“Please bear in mind that I only read about it in our professional journal. This was not my jurisdiction. As I recall, it was a male body, mid forties, well dressed, not in the system so back then he had not been identified, and he had been decapitated. I believe it was a single, clean cut. The article was actually about the state of decomposition when the body is exposed to the elements in extreme cold. The article was in the spring issue so, if memory serves, the body was found at some point during the winter, 2014 to 2015.”

Dehan frowned and scratched her head. “Well, could it have been Jack Connors’ body?”

“Of course not, Carmen. John Doe’s DNA is in the system. We searched for matches for Connors and none popped up.”

“Sure…”

“That really is all I can do for you, Carmen.”

“Yeah, thanks, Frank. That was really helpful.”

She hung up and immediately called me. It rang a few times and went to voicemail.

“Stone, something has come up you really need to know about. Your hunch paid off and this could be a lot more complicated than you think. Call me as soon as you get this.”

She found the case report and spent the next hour trawling through 2013 homicide reports where there was some kind of mutilation involved. She found nothing of any interest. Shortly before lunch, she called me again and got my voicemail again. That made her nervous because it was totally out of character for me not to answer her calls.

At that point, Consuelo, one of the team who had been assigned to review the homicides from 2013 to 2015, approached her desk.

“You got something?”

“I think so. We found this report filed by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department.” She handed her the extract from the file. “White male, mid forties, found in Sherwood Milpond, Westport. That’s just past Norwalk, like thirty miles from New Rochdale?”

“I know where it is. I drove past it just the other day.”

“The body had been decapitated and dumped in the pond. The cut was described by the ME as having been made with surgical precision. It was found April, 2015. I called the Fairfield Sheriff’s Department and they said the body has not been identified or claimed, and the head was never found.”

“That’s excellent work, Consuelo. Thanks, keep digging. But do something for me, will you? I want you, personally, to focus only on 2013 and 2014. Forget 2015.”

“Forget 2015?”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “OK, sure, I’ll do that.”

After that, she made her way up the stairs to the chief’s office. On the way, she called my number again and again got my voicemail. She went upstairs and knocked on the deputy inspector’s door.

“Come!”

She stepped in and he smiled at her. “Carmen, what can I do for you?”

She took a moment to organize her thoughts, then outlined the case.

The deputy inspector listened and nodded. “I remember it. It caused quite a stir at the time.”

“Yes, sir. It was always assumed, and we assumed, that the murder was about Jack Connors and Helena Magnusson.”

He frowned. “Logically, it would be.”

“But, as you know, Stone had this notion we should look for other similar bodies…”

The deputy inspector made a face of long suffering and sighed. “Yes, how’s that going?”

“Well, sir, as always, it’s beginning to look as though he was right. But it gets more complicated.” He gestured at a seat and she sat across the desk from him, still talking. “Jack Connors had a lover, Penelope Peach. We discovered that, contrary to what was originally thought, Penelope believed that Jack was going to leave his wife and marry her. Penelope had lied about this in the original investigation, and later to us.”

“I see… Carmen, where is John?”

“That’s the thing, sir. She didn’t only lie about that. She also claimed she hadn’t spoken to Jack on the day he died, but in actual fact, she telephoned him shortly before he left the office, and was never seen again. Stone went to confront her with these facts.”

“Oh.”

“But there is more, sir.”

“More?”

“While he was talking to Penelope, I was helping the team to look for prior cases of decapitation. We have found two. Now, here is where it gets a little complicated, and I don’t really know what it means.”

“Spit it out, Carmen.”

“We first met Penelope in Madison, Connecticut. She said she was visiting her fiancé’s senior partner. So to avoid awkward questions, we met her at the hotel. Now, as I said, we have discovered two bodies, both from 2015, both decapitated with surgical precision, one in Madison and the other in Westport, forty miles from Madison, roughly halfway between here and there, and on the same highway.”

“Have you discussed this with John? What does he say? Where is he?”

“He is not answering his phone, sir. I’ve called him three times so far and it just goes to voicemail. It’s been…” She glanced at her watch. “It’s been a little over two hours.”

“Take a couple of cars and go to her apartment. Bring her in. Why didn’t he do that to start with? Why didn’t he bring her in straight away?”

She sighed. “I don’t know, sir. When he’s on a roll, he doesn’t always share his thoughts.”

“He should have brought her in and you should