Istanbul

Like I've said before...Every Now and then you get lucky....My good friend, Lt. Sissy Van Buren says that luck has nothing to do with it...that hard work pays off.. Maybe today, we are both right...

"We Got a break Keith....The boys found this van.....I told you their hard work would pay off." said Sissy ,who looked on at three of her detectives like a proud mother...

"Yes you did say that Sis...I just hope it turns us up a credible lead....But I take nothing away from the guys.. This was good detective work...Painstakingly good work." I said.
After an intense search with the help of a few  FBI agents and their wonderful state of the art machinery and Detectives borrowed from Auto Theft and hours of cross referencing...Detectives Tyriq Pile, James Barlow and Anthony Hopkins got a make and model of a van at two of the crime scenes and at all three places our six victims were last seen alive...including a trendy couples cafe called Istanbul.

Hop even found the same Van parked outside of Istanbul on all three nights that our three couples vanished and the night that Detective Sam Jones's two missing persons vanished.. on a traffic cam and using a street cam got the plate and name of the owner....

He got a plate and a make on the vehicle. They found the van, but it had been washed down thoroughly with bleach and hot water...There wasn't a trace of DNA or fingerprints or any other forensic evidence anywhere...Except the tires....

Hazel's team found traces of dirt and granite unique to the area around the Schuylkill River area....  At least we had the name of the Van's Owner.

This proved fruitless...

Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace, Sirena Pile and Angie Belton-Barlow found the house where the owner of the van was living.. They descended on it with five uniformed officers brandishing shotguns..

"I hope this is our guy...I really would like to wrap this case up...I'm starting to get tired of it." said Carlotta.

''Starting to? I was tired of it after it stretched into a week.."said Sirena..

 ''Everytime I need to get my hair and nails done...Seems like we get a serial killer or a spree killer case." mused Angie as they approached the house of the van's owner...

Only to find out that the man had reported his van stolen a month before.....The man also alibied out for all of the murders too....

So despite the fact that we more than likely found the van used to transport the bodies...We had no idea who stole it and who had been using it. 

Hazel did come up with something interesting....

"All three girls had been drugged with a ruthie and were likely unconscious when they were sexually assaulted...The husband was probably shot to death first, then the girl was assaulted in the van and tossed in the water.." said Hazel.

Sissy, who had been there when they discovered the van and was here now, when they raided the house of the owner of the van was starting to feel a little discouraged..

''Wow...They had gotten so close and now we are back to square one.. This killer is pretty elusive." she said.

"I know...but guys like this always make one mistake...Sometimes it's overplaying their hand." I said.

''If he overplays his hand...Somebody else will die..If they haven't already."said Sissy..

II-

Detective Duke Baylor had gotten off the phone with Sissy and his wife, Hazel...

FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge looked at him...He didn't look too hopeful..

"Anything?" she asked.

"Nothin...That was Siss...The Van was washed down with Bleach and Hot water...No Prints, No DNA...Hazel found some dirt samples that match the river area under the tire treads...but that's it..." said Duke.

"I heard that they found the owner..." said Sharon..

"They did...but he reported his van stolen a month ago...Auto Theft verified that....And Top ,Sirena and Angie said he alibied out for all of the dates of our murders and for Detective Jones's Missing person case." said Duke..

''Wow...Well I've got something...I ran this case through VICAP , to see if any homicides  like this occurred anywhere else....It turns out there was. In New Haven two years ago....Two couples vanished just like ours and was found by the river banks....Same M.O.  The husband shot to death...The woman raped and found clad only in her panties and bra...,clothes floating in the water....Both cases were unsolved...and in both cases...Detectives found a stolen car, bleached down.....Then just like that...The killings stopped.. I talked to the Chief of Detectives there and his theory is that the killer just moved on." she said.

''Yeah.. To here." said Duke.


III-

 Duke grabbed missing persons Detective Sam Jones and they both went to the couples diner known as Istanbul...

 "Classy Joint...I might bring the missus here.." said Detective Jones...

''I thought you got divorced a while ago ."said Duke..

''I did...but I remarried...THE SAME WOMAN! Aint that a hoot?" laughed Detective Sam Jones..

Duke laughed

''That is funny Sam...Are you serious?" laughed Duke..

"Yeah, serious as Cancer....We got re-married last year..." said Detective Jones..

The Manager walked over to the two...

"Can I help you ?" he said ,smiling wryly...."You're in luck.. We have a salute to LGBTQ couples next Thursday night." he said.

"We are not a couple...I'm Detective Edwin Baylor....Criminal Investigation Division-Homicide...and this is Detective Sam Jones, Missing Persons." said Duke.

The Manager was now visibly embarrassed..

"Oh So Sorry...Detectives , what brings you two here..?" he asked..

Duke showed him photos of all six of our victims partying in his club.....

"This was the last place these people were seen alive...and this footage was taken from your club...during their last known moments...They look familliar?" he asked.

The manager looked at them....

"I know Valary....I don't know the rest....I mean...This is a trendy ,kinda themed place.. Couples come here after a night of drinking to chill out.. wind down...We have coffee here...beers...no liquor or hard stuff.. Lots of people come in...I don't know one from the other...I uh know Valary....He uh is a known drug dealer, but he never sold or did any business in here...He was here with his wife and they were uh like all of the other couples..."said the manager...

Detective Jones showed him a photo of his two missing persons....Ponita and Ryan Townsend.. The manager's eyes got as wide as saucers..

"Them, I know...At least her...She was here alone at first...She kept complaining to me all night about some jerky guy trying to hit on her...She had turned him down several times...but he wouldn't take no for an answer...Her Husband came in and there was an incident...he laid the guy out and I had to ask them all to leave...The troublemaker was driving uh ahhh a white van...That's all I know.." he said.

"Can we see the footage?" asked Duke...

"Sure."

The footage showed them the entire incident...

"This guy was smart....He sat with his face facing opposite of the camera....You can't get a good bead on him.."said Detective Jones..

"But look right there...Nooooooooooo ,It can't be....I don't believe it." said Duke..

"You know this guy?" asked Detective Jones....

''Yeah and he's the last guy I would suspect of being involved in something like this." said Duke.

IV-

Meanwhile , the rest of us had returned to Headquarters and Sharon was about to drop a bombshell on us...

"Guys...I told Duke some of this...but I hadn't got the rest of the information yet....Sit down." said Sharon...

''Aye Caramba...This doesn't sound good." said Carlotta , who was sitting on my lap...I was getting an erection...which I knew she could feel...She whispered in my ear...

"Ouuuu, but this feels good papi.Ummmmmm" she said.

I blushed...

"What is it Sharon?" asked Sissy...

"I ran this case through VICAP , to see if any homicides  like this occurred anywhere else....It turns out there was. In New Haven two years ago....Two couples vanished just like ours and was found by the river banks....Same M.O.  The husband shot to death...The woman raped and found clad only in her panties and bra...,clothes floating in the water....Both cases were unsolved...and in both cases...Detectives found a stolen car, bleached down.....Then just like that...The killings stopped.. I talked to the Chief of Detectives there and his theory is that the killer just moved on." she said.

''So he moved on to our fair city huh?" said Tyriq.

Sharon laughed...

"That's what Duke said...Duke and Sam Jones left out to go to that singles club.. Istanbul....I was back on the phone with the Chief of Detectives in New Haven...I asked him if they ever had a suspect....He told me that they did...but that they had no forensic evidence or an eyewitness...Just footage of him at two of the scenes...but no footage of him actually doing anything...It was too weak to hold him on and they couldn't get a confession.. after grilling him for 48 hours. So they had to cut him loose...He moved out of town after that and the "Couples Killings" as they called them stopped..." said Sharon..

''And began again, two years later...here?" said Jimmy.

"So uh this suspect have a name?" asked Sirena..

"Yeah and they sent me a photo...Take a look.." said Sharon...

"Oh My God!" said Hop...

"WHAT??? THIS MUST BE A MISTAKE!" I said.

"No Mistake...The "Couples Killings" took place in the winter of 2013-2014.....Our guy left New Haven in April 2014 and began working at Sam Mothers Diner in the Summer of 2014.....Last year was relatively quiet and then something set this guy off and he started killing again...That's our guy." said Sharon..

"Awwww...and he always got my coffee order just right." said Sissy...

The photo in front of us was of Charles Kohl..."Chuckie" our delivery guy....

Could he be the Schuylkill River Killer?

I sure hoped not...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)