The Lady Killer by Paizley Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

find the breaker and shut it off, so we can work.”
    “Is this the same guy?”
    “It appears that way. The body is in the same brutal condition that all the others have been found in, except for no glue, tape or slashed throat. The dog beneath the body looks like one of those dust mop types. She has a pink, rhinestone collar and a pink bow to keep the hair out of her eyes.”
    “The dog is female also?”
    “Yes, I didn’t give that much thought, until you mentioned it. The dog is female also. Hmmmmm, interesting. What do you make of that?”
    “I’m not sure, but I know this guy is trying to make a statement of some kind. He leaves something different at every scene, and that one item is the only thing that’s different, other than the type of rope. The women are all treated exactly the same. Their clothes are missing, and the purse is left behind, so we’ll know immediately who they are. I told Detective Murphy that the killer might have placed the second victim here, because he was upset that the first victim hadn’t been found. Dan thought that he didn’t want her found, or he wouldn’t have padlocked the door. So, he must have wanted her found now. The question is why?”
    Ralph shrugged and bit his lip. “That I can’t tell you, but there is one big difference about our freezer girl; psycho boy built a shrine to her. Go in and take a look.”
    When Laura entered the freezer, she saw the body hanging with the dog beneath it. On the back wall was a shelf with candles, artificial flowers and a framed picture of a woman, who looked somewhat like the victim or at least a sister. There were also six frozen roses, placed one on top of the other. She turned around and called Ralph back in. “Did you see these?”
    “Yes, like worship or something.”
    “There are six of them. Is there any way to tell how long each one has been here? I’m thinking this top rose looks to be in pretty good condition, compared to the rose on the bottom of the pile. What if he has been returning and placing a rose on her altar every month?”
    Ralph looked impressed. “Interesting observation, I’ll have CSU check on that theory. You always think differently than almost any other detective I know.”
    She looked at the picture sadly. “Why kill someone you loved enough to build an altar to?”
    “There’s a fine line between love and hate, as the old saying goes.”
    She nodded in agreement. “Maybe this guy was jilted by his first victim, and that set him off on a string of revenge murders. Thanks, Ralph, let me know if you find anything else on this one.” She couldn’t stop staring at the altar. “He left her alone in here to freeze to death, while in extreme pain. What could she possibly have done to make him hate her that much?”
    “Whatever it was, it looks like he’s still very angry.”
    “Well, so am I! This has to stop! Ralph, I want pictures and then everything bagged except the walls and floor!”
    Laura left the walk-in with determination in her stride. This psycho wasn’t going to get the best of her. She thought about the suffering these poor women must have gone through, and an empathic shiver ran through her body. Looking around, she found her two partners. “Okay, guys, enough is enough! We are going to hit this one hard. We have a fresh start in daylight. Burns, I want you to run down everything you can on the current victim, Julia White. Call the Captain, and fill him in on what we have found. Ask him not to release any news about finding the freezer victim, because I want to devise some kind of trap. Then have him set up a hidden surveillance team on this building for the next few nights. Maybe we can flush this guy out.”
    Roy gave them a wave as he was leaving. “I’ll get going on that. Also, I want to check connections to this building or the realtor. See you guys back at the office.”
    She turned her attention to Dan. “Murphy, what’s the name of the freezer victim?”
    “Tamara