The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 6*

The other tape had provided a very similar story to that of the one they had listened to previously. The two detectives had offered up suggestions that had linked their suspect to either the crime or the crime scene while Anthony Drummond strenuously denied all implications. And in the case of the third victim, he had also provided an alibi backed up by several witnesses. Which, they all would have placed him elsewhere at a critical moment. In truth, neither Hank nor Sam were surprised by this, after all, Mr. Drummond had been released without charge shortly afterward.

"Well I think this still fits in with your theory," Sam told his partner. "Let's check the video shall we? Just in case." Sam switched the TV on and pushed the video cassette into the built-in player. As expected it had contained a recording of a local news program which had indeed showen a spectator catching a baseball while Anthony Drummond was clearly seen standing nearby applauding and cheering. "Ok, so what did we get from the recent attack?" Sam asked, removing the tape and returning it back into the evidence box

"Pretty much nothing really," Hank answered glumly. "The cause of death was confirmed as strangulation and a number seven ball was found in the same position as the first six. Otherwise jack shit. The body was discovered in her own home and the place was spotless."

"Ok, so what we have here is all we have to go on," Sam confirmed.

"So far, yes," Hank nodded.

"We need to get some more info on Drummond then; like who is he? Where does he go? Who does he see? The more we can find out the better really," Sam said, writing down the questions.

"Definitely," Hank agreed. "I'd say we have about a day and a half to go here before we really finish up with these damned files. What we really need," Hank continued, raising his eyebrows towards his partner, "is to get someone to do a background check on him while we finish up on these files." Sam sighed knowing exactly what he meant by that.

"Okay, I'll go see the captain," he groaned, adding a roll of his eyes.

"What were you saying about getting stuck in without begging for help?" Hank laughed.

"Ugh, yeah one day buddy just not today clearly, but yes I can't wait," said Sam with a wry smile.

Hank was refilling his coffee machine as Sam returned to the office and glanced up as the door opened.

"He's getting someone on it," Sam said, closing the door behind him. "So hopefully we'll have something to look into by the time we clear all this," Sam gestured at the remaining papers on the desk and sighed as he took his seat.

The rest of the afternoon had been a fairly quiet and sedate kind of one or at least it was until around four pm when the air was suddenly filled by a rather heated argument taking place just outside the office. Although the voices were raised, neither Sam nor Hank could quite make out exactly what was being said. They did, however, manage to pick out enough to realize that the subject of the argument was them and their presence here at the precinct. Sam, who was just about to head out to the bathroom, seated himself back down, careful to avoid the situation currently underway in the corridor. After a few minutes, the volume began to drop and the arguing seemed to fade. They both looked at each other as a shadow appeared in the frosted glass.

Both Sam and Hank glanced at the door as there were three taps on the door. Sam got up and opened it gingerly, cautious of what he might find on the other side.

"Afternoon guys," Captain Beesley greeted them both. "I'd like you to meet detectives Brookes and Moorland," he said presenting them with the two people standing outside the office. "Detectives Johnson and Harvey," he then added turning to face the two detectives in the corridor while extending an open hand into the office towards Sam and Hank.

"Good afternoon," Sam said offering his hand.

"Hello again," Hank called out waving from behind his desk.

Dustin Moorland glanced down at Sam's hand without making any attempt at shaking it or even extending his own hand in return and mumbled something inaudible. Sarah Brookes tilted her head to one side and lifted one corner of her mouth, not uttering a word. Both of them clearly did not want to welcome or even greet the two guests but somehow managed to do just enough to appease the captain who headed off towards his own office realizing that this was as good as it was going to get. The two locals almost immediately turned away and headed in the opposite direction having made no vocal response at all.

"Well that was fun," Sam joked closing the door again. "Guess we won't be going round for dinner any time soon." They both laughed before turning their attention back to the task in hand.

Another twenty-four hours later they had finally placed the last of the files into place and sat back with a satisfied smile. "What do you think?" Hank asked. "Shall we go and see the captain now and see what they've dug up on Drummond? Or wait until the morning and start afresh?"

"As tempting as that sounds, let's go see what we've got, then we can then give it some thought overnight if need be and start investigating first thing tomorrow," Sam suggested.

"Sounds good," Hank agreed and they both got up together to go and collect the reports from the captain's office. The captain put his phone on loudspeaker and dialed an extension number connecting with the officer he had tasked with completing the background check.

"Oh I'm sorry," the junior detective began. "Haven't got anything on that one yet. Been really busy with several other checks and reports and haven't had a chance to look into that." Sam and Hank looked at each other knowing that this was a feeble excuse and that their request had been ignored, which caused them to shake their heads.

This was a serial killer case and even if the officer wasn't aware of that it was still a murder investigation. What could have possibly taken precedent over that? Nothing, in their minds, could be more important. Any doubts they may have had before were now gone. Apart from the captain himself, they knew that they were on their own on this one. No help, no back-up, just themselves. If they were going to collect that bonus they were going to have to earn it the hard way.