Chase // Van McCann

8. Linked

I couldn't believe it. Another body? My mind instantly went to overdrive wondering if they were related at all or if we were dealing with two different murderers. We haven't even solved one and there's already another one. Bondy and I grilled Joe, forcing him to tell us everything he knew.

This was still a new development so we didn't have a lot of information yet. All we knew was that there's been a body found in the woods along the Burke-Gilman Trail and that it was found by a young woman who was walking her dog this morning. Her dog went off sniffing around the woods until he came across an overpowering scent. The body was dumped in a duffle bag and thrown carelessly into the woods. It was literally out in the open with no attempt at trying to hide it.

I was already picking apart the differences between the two but I still didn't know enough to link the two or make a case that they were different. The first body was found in the water and there was an attempt at hiding the body. I mean the killer went out of his or her way to dump the suitcase into the water, being sure to weigh it down with rocks. For the second body, there was no attempt to hide the body. I don't know how visible it was but it's along a popular trail used by many pedestrians and bicyclists alike. Seems reckless if you ask me. This killer was asking to be caught or wanted the attention.

I knew the city was gonna freak out as soon as news got out about this second body. A killer on the lose amidst a pandemic and the police don't even have a person of interest. Our phone lines will be busy for hours with a surge of tips and questions about how the investigation was going and we had absolutely nothing to tell them in return.

As soon as we heard the news, I was instantly not hungry anymore but I knew I had to eat. It was going to be a long day, that I knew for sure.

I basically vacuumed my food; didn't even taste it nor do I remember what I ate. I was torn between heading out to the crime scene or sticking around long enough to hear what Peter McLeod had to say. It looks like I didn't have to decide because Bondy said we were heading out. We parked our car on the street and walked towards the Burke-Gilman Trail. A section of it was blocked off but there was a way for pedestrians and bikers to get around it. Although it wasn't completely blocked off, passerbys curious about what was going on ended up blocking the go-around, causing traffic around the area. The scene was chaotic but Bondy and I managed to sneak through the crowd and into the crime scene. News reporters tried to get ahold of us as soon as they knew we were part of the team but we ignored them, heading straight for where the crowd of people were.

Like last time, the duffel bag had been whisked away, on its way to the medical examiner. People were taking photos and I managed to push my way through the small crowd to see where they marked where the duffel bag used to be. It wasn't directly out in the open like they made it out to be. Instead, it was slightly off to the side under a large bush. Depending on what color the duffel bag was, I could see how the bush could conceal the bag. Also, the path was not an official paved path but a man-made one made by people who used the trail.

I wondered what would've led the young woman and her dog here. The entrance to this hidden path was concealed by brush and can easily be missed by anyone. My guess is that the dog was curious and led his owner to the body. I could feel a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Bondy had managed to fight his way towards me.

"I talked to officers back there and found summat very interesting," Bondy said. I couldn't make out his expression with the mask on.

"What is it?" I pressed.

"This second body is definitely linked to Erica Foss."

"What makes you think that?"

"They found Erica's phone and wallet in the duffel bag, linking the two crimes together."