The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 2*

Sam and Hank stepped out of the arrivals lounge at the City Airport to be greeted by Captain Beesley of Eustice P.D. "Hey guys, good to meet you, great to have you onboard," he said, shaking each of them by the hand. "How was the flight?"

"Good thanks. Rather pleasant really, sure beats driving, that's for sure," Hank answered with a smile.

"Oh man yeah, that would have been one long-ass haul by car," Sam agreed. "Thanks for sorting that for us; we appreciate it greatly too."

"Not a problem at all," the captain told them, giving them a single nod while raising his eyebrows at the same time. "To be honest, it became a bit of a no-brainer in the end. As I'm sure you know, time is of the essence on investigations like this and we can't really afford to lose another day just for traveling. Besides, it gives us a chance to have a quiet chat on the way to the station. By the time we get through the airport traffic and through the city itself, it should take us about an hour to get back to Eustice; so plenty of time for me to fill you in on the more sensitive aspects of the case."

"Ah, yes we have been intrigued by that," Hank responded excitedly while Sam smiled and nodded in agreement, "seeing as there wasn't much information, to begin with."

"Good to hear and yes, for a good reason," Captain Beesley told them, returning the smile. "The cars in the parking lot across the street, once we get going I'll fill you in on everything and get you both up to speed before meeting the rest of the team." The three men made their way to the car and loaded the luggage into the trunk before setting off on the final part of their journey.

"Now then," Captain Beesley began as the car battled through the heavy traffic around the outskirts of the airport. "What I'm about to tell you is known only by three people, myself and the two detectives who led the original case. Unfortunately, neither of whom are on the force any longer, so in other words, this information goes no further than this car; are we all clear on that?"

Sam and Hank glanced at each other, wondering what they had gotten themselves into. Not that cases weren't confidential, but to be told, this was a first in their book. "Crystal," Hank told him.

"Yup got it", Sam added.

"Perfect, thanks for understanding. Now, before to being killed, each of our victims was held hostage for what seems like an indifferent period. The shortest we know of was 48 hours; the longest we believe was five days. Some were abducted and moved to a different location while others were held and detained within their own homes. We don't know why and we don't really know what happened during this time. However, we do know that each one ended with the victim being strangled with what appears to be some type of paracord.

"Again we don't know if the killer is working alone or if they may have accomplices but once the victim is deceased, someone is making an incision somewhere between two and three inches long just below the chest, and into this, they are inserting a pool ball; seemingly in order as well.

"The first victim we discovered towards the end of 2005 was found with the yellow ball with the number one on it. The second one had the blue number two and so on, right up until the green number six. The body we discovered at the tail end of last week was found with the brown number seven ball in exactly the same position. The cause of death has also been confirmed as strangulation." There was a brief pause in the conversation as the car exited the main city traffic and headed off towards the freeway. The captain glanced at the men and asked, "All good so far?"

Sam and Hank both nodded. "Yeah, no problem," was the answer Sam came out with.

"Good, now for the disturbing part," he told them as the car began to pick up speed. Sam and Hank glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes, although neither facial expression changed. "Victim number six," the Captain continued but paused briefly as if figuring out how to word what he was thinking. "Now, unfortunately, this was the wife of Carl Mitchell, one of the detectives leading the investigation, and even worse, we know this was not coincidental either. She was deliberately chosen and targeted in an attempt to taunt and antagonize us. Just after her initial disappearance, Detective Mitchell even received a threat containing a very disturbing image of his wife." The captain looked into his rearview mirror to gauge the detective's response. Sam closed his eyes and puffed out his cheeks, letting out a loud and lengthy exhale while Hank's eyes widened; the color visibly draining from his face.

"I, erm, well," Hank mumbled, unable to find the right words. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to be so far away from my wife," he finally uttered after taking a moment to compose himself.

"No second thoughts on taking the case then?" the captain asked. There was a brief moment of silence as both detectives let this information sink in.

"No, I don't think so," Hank finally added. "It's not great but I've come here to do a job and I have no intentions of going home until this piece of shit is behind bars."

"Yep, same for me," Sam agreed.

"Was so hoping you'd say that," the captain told them with a smile. "So, following on from that, as I said the rest of the team aren't aware of any of this and are feeling a little perplexed as to why I have called you guys in. Unfortunately, our best detective right now was a junior at the time that this all happened. Obviously, she knows there was a killer but has no knowledge of either the pool ball or of any potential return. While serving as a junior she would have been working closely with Carl and his partner. We believe she even struck up a friendship with Mrs. Mitchell."

Sam winced; they understood very well what that meant. "So too closely connected to handle the case now then," he added.

"Exactly," the captain nodded. "Except, she doesn't know that. So there may be a little resentment towards you guys coming in and handling a case that she will no doubt feel should have been hers."

Sam dropped his head and looked towards the floor, letting out a sigh, while Hank chuckled to himself. "It just keeps getting better," he muttered, his gaze now locked outside.

"Yeah," the captain responded apologetically. "Now you can see why the details we sent over previously were so brief. This is also why we felt the bonus would be appropriate. Don't get me wrong; once we decided to go external, you guys were the only ones we even considered. We are well aware of your work and your record on these kinds of cases is absolutely exceptional."

The two detectives looked at each other finally having something to smile about."So you mentioned that both detectives left the force, was that due to what happened with this case?" Sam asked, firing the conversation up once more.

"I'm afraid so yes," the captain confirmed. "Carl left as soon as the case went cold; felt that he couldn't continue anymore. His partner, Stewart, left a few weeks later. It was also their resignations that lead to the promotion of Sarah Brookes to detective. Both Carl and Stewart are still in town though, if you want to speak to them? After leaving us they set up their own company installing security systems."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Sam told him. "They've probably suffered enough, to be told now that whoever did this has returned and restarted...." He paused and shook his head, "If it had been a bit more recent then maybe but to be honest, with such a large gap between victims, any thoughts or ideas they may have had are probably not relevant any longer."

"You're probably right," The captain agreed as the car finally pulled into the station at Eustice. "Well guys," The captain started, with more than a hint of caution in his voice, "Are you ready to go and meet the team?"