Deja Vu Again

The next day, Carlotta, Tyriq ,Jimmy, Sissy and I sat in the apartment of our dead girl's fiance...He was distraught...

Carlotta rubbed his back and attempted to comfort him...He was really taking this hard...

"I-I-I can't believe it...We were engaged...We were going to be married next week...Everything was set...We were supposed to be going on our honeymoon...I can't believe it..."he said through sobs...

"Brian, did you have a rival for her affection? Was there anybody you can think of who would have done this?? A Jilted lover, A jealous woman even?" asked Carlotta..

"No...No...I can't think of anybody..Lawdddddddddddddd have mercy..."he said ,sobbing uncontrollably......Then he looked up...

''She did tell me something.." he said..

''What was that?"asked Sissy....

"It was nothing....She said there was this guy, Weird guy in the coffee shop that was always checking her out and sometimes she would swear that he would be listening to her conversations...She thought he might be following her..." he said.

''She ever give you a description?" asked Carlotta.

"No....She talked about him for about a month...then she stopped talking about him." he said.

Jimmy whispered to me...

"Carlotta and I have been through this girl's life....We've interviewed everybody at her place of work..They all loved her...We checked her financials...credit was solid...nice strong bank account...no strange or sudden movemant of money, no nothing...and we interviewed family and friends and we are like at a stand still...Not a soul had anything bad to say about this girl...No jealous boyfriends..nothing..."he said.

"So she was just shot at random?" I asked..

"Looks that way...but I may have found something else...I put a team on the Street Cams..The ATM cams and the traffic cams for up to a twenty mile radius...and I found two things...This guy in a hoodie standing outside the coffee shop with his back turned and carrying what looks like a violin case and putting up a flag a green flag right over where our girl was shot."said Tyriq..

''What is the flag for?"I asked...

"To measure wind velocity and to help him zero in on his target better...He was hiding in plain sight..taunting us...."said Tyriq...

Carlotta rubbed Brian's back and said-

''We have good leads..I'm going to do everything I can to see that your fiance's killer is brought to justice." she said...

I had never seen her more serious since I had known her.

No sooner than those words left her mouth when her phone rang again...

She answered it...

"Carlotta!! Carlotta...is this you." came the voice of a man who was crying ...

"What do you want you sick bastard?" she said..

We all looked at her..

"Don't call me names...Don't call me names....I can't help it...I have to drop another one....Everytime I think of what she did to me,I get so angry...I need you to stop me...Lawdddd have mercy..I don't wanna do it...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Please stop me..Please.....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.." he sobbed...

Then a gunshot was heard.....

''Aye Mios Dios!!!"said Carlotta.."I think we have another murder!"said Carlotta..

"Oh My God!!! Where?" asked Sissy...

"I don't know." said Carlotta...Tears were streaming down her face.....

II-

 One Hour Later-

We got a call from Sirena and Hop...There had been a murder in center city, just a few blocks from the first murder...

The five of us rushed to the scene...

Several CSI people were already there, snapping photos, collecting shell casings...and looking for evidence...Uniformed police officers were keeping the crowd away and helping Detective Tony Hopkins take witness statements..

Meanwhile, Carlotta,Sissy, Tyriq and Jimmy walked over to where Sirena and Hazel had on latex gloves and were looking at an attractive and shapely Asian woman....sprawled in the street...her lifeless eyes staring emptily at the fading winter sun....a gunshot wound in her chest, near her heart..a cup of coffee she must have been holding spilled out on the sidewalk...Just like our victim last night..

"Her name is Alice Woo, 25....She was engaged to be married...In fact...Her wedding was in two weeks..She's a doctor or was a doctor."said Hop.

 "Hey Guys...This looks just like the one you caught last night Lotta.."said Sirena...

"Just like last night..This shot came from a distance of about 200 feet....judging by the angle of the shot and the way she fell.."said Hazel..."I'll know more when I get her to the Morgue. This shot came from the opposite direction though...down there"she said and pointed...

"This guy doesn't discriminate I see..Our victim was black."said Jimmy...

 Tyriq walked over..He had been talking to the CSI people...

" Damndest thing...This is the type of shell used in an M-16 ...It's military...She was hit ,center mast...in the chest...She died instantly...She never saw it coming...Just like our victim.."he said..

 ''And Just like last night...I got a call right before it happened...Only you guys caught it."said Carlotta..

"Tyriq ,put a team on the perimeter just like you did yours....Sirena..You and Hop find out if your girl knew Chica's girl....Do a thorough check of her life...In and out..There must be a connection." said Sissy.

Hop was talking to the young lady who had been with her at the time of her death...The conversation sounded eerily simullar to what we had heard last night...

"So you two had just left the coffee shop, is that right?" asked Hop...

"Yes...We had gone to the dress shop...I was going to be her maid of honor..We went and got tumblers of hot Coffee's...We were talking...She was excited about her wedding in two weeks....We were just talking and then she collapsed..."she said..


"Did you hear anything? ,Did you see anyone?" asked Hop.

"No...We were just walking and talking and laughing...We stopped for the light at the corner and the next thing I know, she tossed her cup of coffee up in the air and fell to the ground..."said the woman who was still crying profusely and shaking...

 Some Tactical squad officers were talking to Sirena...

"You the primary?" he asked..

"Yes..I'm Detective Sirena Pile.."she said.

"I'm Lt. Hankerson...We think we got a bead on where that shot might have come from..."he said.

Sirena looked at Hazel...

"Release the body Hazel
"she said.

 "This is pretty much cut and dry anyway...We know the cause of death and we have shell casings.."she said.

"Rico Look, another flag?"said Carlotta ,who cut the flag down...and placed it in a plastic evidence bag..

"Our Killer's calling card...Hey you guys...Not a word of this to the press." said Tyriq to the uniformed policemen working the scene...

"Come on guys..Let's follow the Tact squad boys."said Jimmy..

III-

We traveled about 20 blocks west to an empty studio apartment....

 Hop looked around...

"I suspect our guy is homeless...He has a lot of time on his hands...which is how he finds these empty buildings...This building was condemned...It was ready for destruction within a week."said Hop..

"He didn't need a week...just today..and last night...I wonder if he is the common denominator in all of these killings...Maybe he dated both of these girls and they jilted him and he's coming back at them."said Sirena..

"Both of them were engaged..Both of them were planning to get married within the next two weeks..How would he know that?"I asked.

''A Caterer or wedding planner might know that."said Jimmy.

"That's worth looking into Jimmy."said Sissy.

Carlotta looked at the open window...Used an electronic telescope and zeroed in on the block where the murder occurred...

"Oh My god...It was right here....Just like mine...Only he shot down wind this time."she said....

Carlotta and Tyriq surveyed the room...

 "Look Top ,He set up right here...on this bench....Just like last night...It was perfect...He had a clear view and an even better shot...and he took aim and fired..." said Tyriq...Carlotta nodded..

''He could have gotten an even better shot from the roof."said Sirena.

''That's what I said last night."said Jimmy.

"Look around guys...It's daylight..broad daylight...He'd be seen...he of been seen last night...but right now..Definitely....This afforded him the perfect cover.."said Sissy.

Carlotta and Sirena found two shell casings....

"Bag this and tag it."said Sirena to a uniformed officer...

"I found an empty bottle of pills."said Hop who passed the bottle to another uniformed officer...

"I know what those are...They're anti -anxiety pills...I'm amazed this was sold over the counter....I'm still looking into where this was purchased...Hopefully I'll get lucky."said Jimmy.

 ''He called me both times before he killed these girls....Now I know how you felt last year Boss Lady when that nut job was calling you."said Carlotta.

''He's taunting us...He is daring us to catch him." said Sissy.

"But you know something...He sounds almost remorseful ,like...like he didn't mean to do it."said Carlotta.

''Why is he calling you? Where did he get your number?? "I asked..

"I don't know...I wish I knew.."said Carlotta..

''Just what we needed right before Christmas...A sniper at large...The City is in a state of panic right now...Guys...We've got to get this guy and fast..."said Sissy...

I put my arms around both Sissy and Carlotta....

I wondered how many people would have to lose their lives before we caught this guy?

It was a frightening thought.

(TO BE CONTINUED)