Clues to Lucy Kate Kidnapping/Murder

TLC 02/2

Leira scanned the crowd as they pulled up and parked behind the short line of black and white Austin police cars. It was her usual practice when first arriving at a crime scene. Never know what kind of clue is sitting right out there in front. The oddest things becomes important later.

She quickly formed a visual map of the area in her head. Behind the blocks of starter home ranchers and two-story houses was a dense patch of woods that was full of homeless people who rarely came out during the day. Leira had cruised past this area many times in the middle of the night, checking on leads and seen the small crowds milling about in the parking lot. The taqueria truck in the far corner of the lot would have been buzzing with activity till sunrise. They would be the best witnesses. Leira saw Hagan near the door of the mart, interviewing a couple of officers.There was a sheen of sweat on his face. Leira recognized all the signs of a case going sour, fast.

“Anyone go into the woods to talk to the transients?” Leira turned her attention to the line of woods just a few blocks away. The tops of the older oak trees were visible from where they stood. “Not yet, no,” Ritchie said.“Well, then, grab a few more people and see what you can find out,” Hagan said impatiently.“Hold on,” said Leira. “Don’t head out just yet. Look, they’re not suspects. They’re possible witnesses. Don’t treat them like suspects. Don’t mess with their belongings. Don’t threaten anyone with anything. Don’t find reasons to arrest anyone. We need them to cooperate and we need them to want to do it, now. Is that understood?” “You have an hour to find something,” she said. “If you can do it in less time, that’s better. Don’t edit what you hear, just write it down. Let us decide what’s useful.” “Now, go. Go!” Hagan ordered.

“Where’s the dead guy?” “The owner. He’s behind the counter. Damnable thing. He died on his knees, still propped up. His head is resting on the shelf back there. Near as I can tell, the dumb fucker bent down to get a sawed-off, but never got back up. The gun is still there, under his head. Well, what was left of his head.” “And the child?” “His six-year-old niece. A Lucy Kate.” “According to his daughter… That’s her sitting in the patrol car over there doing her best to pull it together. Leira looked over and saw the young woman sitting in the back seat with the door open, resting her head on the seat in front of her. Reality still hasn’t sunk in, she thought. “According to his daughter, he was babysitting while the mom worked a night shift stocking a Walmart.”

“The money from the register is gone,” he said, scowling, “but you should see it in there. Neat and clean. No fuss. Except for the blood splatter from the victim, nothing else is out of order. It’s like the killer waited for the store to be empty. No sign of anyone rushing out, or hiding behind something.” “Or they let him pass,” said Leira. There was a well-known code among the homeless in the rougher parts of Austin. See nothing, do nothing, say nothing. “And if that’s what happened and whoever this is didn’t shoot any of them…”“Then this is more personal, and he would have known about the code.” Let's go see the body. She turned away, and pulled on a pair of blue gloves and booties before stepping into the store.

“Found anything yet?” she asked the older technician, Harriet who was carefully picking something up off the ground with tweezers. “Oh, hey Leira. Nothing definitive. So much useless DNA in this place, including way too much old semen. What are people thinking? The little girl was sleeping back there…” She pointed toward the door behind the counter that was open slightly. “No signs of a struggle or any resistance. She may not have been awake.” Leira glanced at the food racks closest to the door. Several of them were empty. The same was true of a few of the boxes of candy just underneath the front of the counter. “There were people in here,” she said, pointing. “You know this because…” she asked. “Because the shelves that aren’t near the door are all full like they were recently stocked, but everything close to the door is just about picked clean. Easier to grab and go. But there’re no bloody footprints. No one went near the body, including whoever shot him. OK if I go back?"

“Yep,” said Harriet. “We’re done. I told the coroner to wait till you got a look for yourself. I know how you like to see the crime scene. What’s it saying to you?” “That they wanted the girl. This guy is collateral damage.” Leira bent down to get a better look at the dead man. His finger was resting on the trigger. He’d been inches from coming out ahead.

“The mother came rushing in, hysterical, and had to be dragged off and medicated,” Hagan said. “No father to speak of. Mother swore up and down the father wouldn’t have cared enough to do this.” “You know, the thing that bothers me the most, is that whoever did this knew not to shoot any of the homeless people standing around. Even if they were all outside, which is unlikely, he would have still been visible but nobody cared. This wasn’t personal. It was professional,” she spat. She glanced down at her hands and saw her fingertips start to glow cherry-red through the thin blue latex gloves. She balled her hands into fists and looked away, unsure whether her eyes were glowing. She needed to get to Correk. “Excuse me,” she said, stepping carefully back around the counter, keeping her head down.