Chapter 2

 

    He had just closed the file on a robbery case involving the theft of millions of dollars taken from several banks across the U.S and Canada. The theft ring would steal customer’s card numbers from the ATM machines and reroute the money to a fake account overseas under a false name.

 

    The phone on his desk rang “Kroft here” he answered. “Nolan its Carter, say I need you to come and help us on a serial murder case” he said. Nolan could tell that Carter was worried it showed in his voice. “How many bodies you got?” , “We got five now, the body of the missing woman Gloria Leer just showed up and doesn’t look like the Ghost is going to slow down before we can catch the son of b***h” Carter said with growing frustration. “I’ll pack and be there as soon as I can get a flight out” Nolan hung up.

     Showing his FBI creds, to the officer controlling traffic in and out of the crime scene, Nolan Kroft ducked under the familiar yellow crime scene tape and was greeted by his long time friend and ex-partner Captain Carter Novak. They had worked together as detectives in the NYPD’s homicide squad until Nolan took the job as a profiler for FBI’s Special Investigations Unit.

    There just went the weekend he was planning to take Janel up to his cabin in the mountains.

 

 

    Nolan exited the gate at La Guardia he grabbed his ride from the airport and hopped on Northern Blvd headed toward Oakland Park. Passing Shea Stadium where he had gone to his first baseball game with a group of boys from the local community center. He could smell the hot dogs he had consumed by the dozens, and hearing the crack of the bat brought back good memories.

 

    The afternoon was hot and humid, the local weather man predicted late afternoon thunderstorms. Parking in the concrete lot, Nolan walked a short distance to the scene, which was swarming with various law enforcement personal all working at a fast pace to stay ahead of the impending rain that would wash away the crime scene.

 

 

 

     Flies buzzed around his head as he stood over the body. “Do we have a positive ID, Frank” Nolan said. A stout man with a receding hair line looked up from what he was doing and smiled. “Didn’t think we would be working together ever again, and yet here we are” he said handing Nolan the victim’s wallet. “It is her” is all Nolan said. He had been following the string of murders and knew Gloria Leer was the fifth, and it didn’t seem that the killer was going to slow down any time soon.

 

     “Who found her?” Nolan asked. “One of Oakland Park’s grounds keepers, he was mowing the weeds along the edge of the trail and happened to look down into the drainage ditch and seen the body” Carter informed. “Don’t let him leave before I get a chance to talk to him” Nolan requested. Turning back to Frank “How long she been here?”, “By the liver temp, I’d say forty eight hours” . Nolan was trying to create a time line of the killer’s murders in hopes of seeing a pattern emerge. “What about cause of death?”, “Well, from what I can see by the bruises around her neck I’d say she was strangled to death, but I won’t know for sure until I get her on the table”.

    Walking over Nolan introduced himself to the grounds keeper. “Have you ever seen her before?” Nolan asked showing him a picture of her. “That’s the missing woman from the news” he exclaimed. “Yeah, have you seen her before?” Nolan asked this time a little impatiently. “A few times, she always jogged this path really early in the morning, I would run across her when I was mowing” he said. “Did you do any work on this path Monday morning?” Nolan asked. “No, I was working on the landscaping around the front entrance, why?” he asked. “Can you tell me who was on the crew that morning?” Nolan asked. “There were three of us, John Sawyer, Darius Jackson, and me” he said. “If you think of anything else, please give me a call” Nolan said handing the grounds keeper his card. “Oh, I’ll need a ride up to the front since I can’t use the mower” he turned and said. Nolan motioned to one of the officers to give him a ride.

 

    Nolan took a look around the crime scene. At the top of the hill leading down into the ditch where the body lay, he noticed a set of footprints and a few cigarette butts on the ground. “Carter” Nolan yelled. Walking over to stand where Nolan was Carter looked where he was pointing. “It looks as if our killer was standing here admiring his handiwork before he left” Nolan commented. “Why risk getting caught?” Carter asked. “Most serial killers like to take risks with each murder it adds to the thrill, but if you noticed that Gloria was still wearing her wedding band, she still had her wallet with everything still in it, so her killer most likely took pictures before he left, all serial killers like to take a token from their victims, this one takes pictures” Nolan said.

 

    Suddenly they could hear the roar of helicopter blades. Looking up they could barely make out the insignia of a T.V station on the side of it. “Well, the circus is finally in town” Nolan said. “Yeah, just in time for the show to start” Carter commented with annoyance.

 

    “Listen up people I want nothing to go out without my say so” Nolan announced.

 

    That evening’s headlines read

             Ghost strikes again, victim number five found in Oakland Park, police unsure how to proceed.   

 

 Tossing the paper across the conference table at One Police Plaza Nolan reared back in his chair to look at the murder board he had been constructing on his laptop. He was looking for similarities or any kind of pattern in locations where the bodies were found, or in the victim’s appearance, there was nothing. ‘The only thing I can see is that they were all strangled multiple times, meaning that the killer likely has a strong need for control and power over his victims’ he thought.

 

    In all his years as a homicide detective and now as a FBI profiler, he has seen his share of dead bodies. Some had been beaten so severely that ID was almost impossible, some were shot, while others were stabbed, it never ceases to amaze him of what humans are capable of doing to each other , until now. The amount of lengthy torture these women went through until he decided to allow them to die almost unnerved him.

 

 

Author's Note

Here is Chapter 2 I would appreciate any tips you can give me.