The Fifth Girl

Homicide Lt. Sissy Van Buren and I sat on the roof of her precinct...It had been a muggy day with highs up to 80 degrees...The night sky was clear and a cool breeze was blowing...I had a Coke, She was smoking her third cigarette!

"Those things will kill you you know." I said with a smile..

" A lot of things can kill a person..."she remarked.

"Do tell." I said.

"Your dead girl, Angela Manson had been missing for six weeks....She was shot twice..in the back of the head... I think she was killed somewhere else and brought to that old abandoned house.
There was no blood splatter or trail in the house at all...My men tossed her apartment...It was surprisingly in order....Bed made up..nothing missing, purse there, intact...Car there, full of gas
and with the keys on the front seat." said Sissy Van Buren.

"Know what I think?" I said.

"What?" she said.

"I think she knew her killer...I think she let her killer in and whoever it was pulled a gun and took her somewhere....Took her somewhere and killed her and then disposed of her." I said.

"I'm thinkin the same thing.....She's been dead so long though that we found little to no DNA evidence....No fingerprints, nothin..." she said.


I then showed her a photo of the five women.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's our girl...That's her on the left....and see these three other women?" I asked.

"What about them?"

"They are all missing too...Haven't been heard from in days and it's the same thing...Their places are immaculate..their wallets are there full of cash and credit cards and if they own a car,it's there too." I said.

"How do you know they are missing?" she asked.

I pointed to Anjanette Benson....

"Her? I hired her to work at the magazine...she was a real eager beaver type....Never showed up for work.....This one here...Her name is Alma Sanders...She's a real estate agent...Worked with my wife , also missing....Nothing touched in her house.....Car in front of the door...Purse intact....everything...hasn't been seen or heard from in a week and this one...her name is Brenda
Young...." I said.

"Her I know...Her parents filed a missing persons report on her a few days ago...that's an active case."said Sissy Van Buren.

"How do these girls know each other?" she asked me.

"I don't know....I mean, Angela, Anjanette and Brenda are all in their early twenties, but Alma is about 37....it just doesn't fit...." I said.

"Who is the fifth woman?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said.

"You think all of the missing women are connected?" she asked.

"I didn't at first...but now I do." I said.

"So you're saying we have a serial killer on the loose." she said.

"That's exactly what I suspect." I said.

"Got any suspects?" she asked slyly smiling.

"If I did...You'd have the evidence you need to bring the person in and I wouldn't be up here on the rooftop  talking to you." I said with a smile...

"Yeah...I suppose that would be so." she said with a laugh as she lit another cigarette....

"You know...those things will kill ya." I said again as she lit up....She looked at me and let the smoke drag slowly in the night air...

I smiled...Sissy was still very ,very sexy....Even if she did smoke...

She looked at me....

"You worried about me Kevin?" she asked, looking at me slyly..

"Well in a sense...yes...Something happen to you and I'd have to talk to Lieutenant Tragg and he doesn't have a rooftop as nice as this...amongst other things you have that are...ughhh, nice!" I said giving her the side eye...

"I'm going to quit...And thanks for the uh compliment...and uh stop looking at me like that." she said and laughed... I laughed too.

An hour later, I met Robert Foxworth at Josie's for drinks....

"Any luck Kevin?" he asked.

"Not a thing...All I can ascertain is that whoever killed these women is someone they all had in common." I said.

"So you think they're all dead Kevin?" he asked.

"In all likelihood..yeah..I do....I'm just bein real....We tossed their houses and apartments and all we found was more photos of the five of them.....What I don't understand is Alma's connection to them...She's 37..and these girls are all in their twenties.." I said.

"Yeah...what would she be hanging around with those young girls for?" asked Robert.

"How well did you know Alma Robert..What do you know about her?" I asked.

"Well, Real Estate was her side thing...She was a career counselor at the high school." he said as
he sipped his rum.

"What? Career Counselor? High school?? What High School?" I asked...

"That school that Cock Robbins teaches at...He knows Alma..." said Robert..

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I asked.

"You didn't ask me." He said.

"Pay Gus for that drink...Let's go see Cock." I said.

At Cock Robbins house , Robert and I showed him a photo of the young ladies...And much to my surprise, he knew them all...

"Oh yeah...they were my students...I taught Angela and Anjanette four years ago...They graduated....and Alma is a counselor..a guidance counselor." he said.

"Was a guidance counselor...I fear she's met the same fate as Angela Manson...possibly, Anjanette. Brenda was my student too and then she went off to college and came back as a student teacher....Alma counseled all of them..." said Cock.

"Was there anybody , any guy they all had in common?" I asked.

"Oh ..I..I don't know...Man, I don't get into all of that stuff..." he said.

"So these girls all knew one another." I said.

"Alma was dating a guy.....a guy that used to be one of her students...but she broke it off...She was trying to get her real estate licensce and he was kind of needy...He was nobody important..
I saw him the other day..." said Cock.

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Anthony something or other..I didn't really know him that well." said Cock.

"Where can we find this guy?" I asked.

''I don't know where he lives." said Cock.

"Okay..well who is this fifth girl in the photo?" I asked.

"Oh that's Ebony Jameson, a real heartbreaker...she was." he laughed.

"You seen HEr lately?" asked Robert.

"I saw her today....She works at Mabel Jenkins joint...waiting tabels. She might still be there, she was coming on at four..." he said.

"Come on Robert ,let's get over there." I said as we raced to my car.

When we got to Mabel's Soul Food Joint....There was no sign of Ebony! No sign at all! I didn't like the way this looked.


"Mabel.....Have you seen Ebony?" I asked.

"Yeah..she clocked out ten minutes ago...you just missed her."said Mabel.

"How did she get here? Bus? " I asked.

"Nah, she gotta car, a Blue 2009 Jetta." said Cora-beth.


"Like that one out front?" asked Robert.

"Yeah, that's her car." said Anita.

Mabel, Cora beth, Anita ,Robert and I walked out front and there was the car!! It was a 2009 ,Blue Jetta. The keys were in the ignition....Her purse was on the floor of the car, filled with cash and credit cards....so was her Blackberry!!!! The door was open....Robert and I looked
around...There was no one on the street at all!

"What's goin on?" asked Mabel as Corabeth and Anita looked on...

"I wish I knew." said Robert....

We were too late.....Ten minutes sooner and we might have prevented this girl from getting snatched....Who was doing this? Why?

"Mabel was anybody in here talkin to her? Anybody peculiar?" I asked.

'There was a guy...nice lookin guy, kind of built...They laughed and talked for a minute...He bought a turkey burger...but he left before she did." said Mabel...

"What was he driving?" asked Robert.

"I didn't see his car." she said.

"Damn......Damn..Damn...Damn!" I said pounding my fist in my hands.

"Kevin..." said Robert...

"What." I said.

"I'm not scared man. but I'm just sayin" he said.

"You aint scared? Well,it's good to know that one of us aint." I responded.

(To be Continued....)