Tears in the Sand

By Laura Burke

Someone’s killing the richest men and women in the world, and they’re doing it in the most inexplicable way.
New York City Detective Masson was a lone wolf. It had been 15 years since the murder of his last, and only partner. Faced with the most diabolical case he’d ever encountered involving a strange poison that caused the corpses to age abnormally fast, he took a risk and joined forces with a female rookie. And then, the unthinkable happens, his worst fear is realized, and she too is murdered.
More determined than ever to solve the case or die trying, Detective Masson comes face-to-face with the madness when a mysterious woman is spotted in each of the cities where the murders occurred. He tracks her down in Colorado but finds no solid evidence that she committed the murders herself, and her evasive answers to his questions only baffle him. At what cost, what higher price must Detective Masson pay in order to solve the case?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laura Burke
• Release date: Sep 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311931283

Laura Burke

I have always been and always will be a storyteller. Since childhood, I have dreamed of becoming an author. Now, as I see my stories in print, my dream has become my reality. Since I was eight years old, mysteries have been my passion, especially murder mysteries. So much so, that after working as a nurse for twenty years, I became a Private Investigator. I worked in close contact with police officers and detectives on several closed-case files with amazing results.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Eric Masson, a lone wolf on the New York Police force, was a Detective with twenty years on the force. He was working on his own; and for the past ten years the reports of his arrest told it all. Even though his Captain insisted he had to have a partner, he would do everything he could to discourage them. After only a couple of trips with him they would ask for a transfer or a new partner because working with Masson was impossible. He had been close to his partner ten years ago, but he was shot in the line of duty and Masson took it really hard. He thought it was his fault and therefore he refused to work with anyone else.

Eric didn’t need to play nurse maid to a runny nose kid just out of the academy. Most of the partners he had been teamed with had more than enough experience to be a good partner if given half a chance. All had worked their way up the ladder just like he had.

Eric was a good cop and his track record excellent. His arrest record was always on the up and the bad guys always convicted without question. He did everything by the book, never waving even an inch out of line.

Being a very good looking guy – six foot tall, black wavy hair, muscles on top of muscles – the women all threw theirselves at him. Though single and a great catch, he wasn’t interested in women – or men. Married to his job, everyone said. He only had one mistress; he only needed one in his life right now and he made it very plain to anyone that set their sights on him. Dating on occasion, he never took any of them seriously.

He was of Italian blood, and with the bulging muscles showing through his shirt you could tell they were all well defined. His dark olive skin looked as though he lived on the beach. Even in the wintertime he looked well tanned. He worked out at the police GYM daily and many of the officers that worked out there were somewhat intimidated by his appearance. He thought it was funny that when he walked in several of the officers would leave.

Nearly three o’clock in the morning the telephone rang waking him from a sound sleep. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was the Captain calling. Not wanting to answer he moved slowly, reaching for the receiver and moving it up to his ear. He never called this late unless it was very important. It was Friday and the last time he had seen his bed was two days ago. He had just solved a case he had been working on for the past six months. He always got his man with his persistence and he never stopped to smell the roses as they say.

It was the beginning of spring, his time of the year when all the crazies came out of the wood work. It wasn’t too cold or too hot. He could turn off the heat and you really didn’t need air conditioning. Being on the fourth floor he could open up the windows to let the light breeze blow in. When he walked into his apartment this was the first thing he would do. The gentle breeze blew into the room making the air fresh and renewed. Taking his clothes off and laying them across the chair beside his bed he watched the white curtains covering the windows blow in the wind. Lying in his queen size bed he could feel the breeze and saw the movement of the curtains became hypnotic, and his eyes gently closed with deep sleep following. He loved this time of the year which made him feel he could whip all the bad guys by himself.

The interruption of the telephone ringing wasn’t what he was looking for. Lying there, he tried to get his nude body to move, but it was refusing. Eric finally sat up on the side of the bed. He looked at his gun and thought about shooting the telephone.

Yes. He wiped the sleep from his eyes. He tried to make sense of what the captain’s words were telling him.

Masson, this is Captain Harris. I need you to go over to 1648 Vine Street over in West Islip. You know the area; it’s in the Estates area. The address is 1648 Vine Street; do you have it? It’s the home of Samuel Huges.

What seems to be the problem?

He’s dead. Captain Harris’s voice began to rise.

So? Masson, still half asleep, wanted to go back to sleep.

So, he is only the richest man in the city. He built an empire on Wall Street. He also owns most of this city. The Captain was becoming annoyed could feel his blood pressure rising.

So?

Look, the Mayor got the call first and he called me. He wants our best man on this case to wrap it up quickly before anyone gets a word about it.

Captain, this sounds like any of the other detectives could take care of it. Just because he was rich and knows, or knew the Mayor why do I have to be the one. I just got to sleep, and haven’t seen my bed for over two days. Okay I’ll be there as soon as I can.

Look the Mayor said our best and you’re it. Officer Davidson is on the scene and he said it looks like he died several days ago. He also said the body looks funny and therefore it’s your job to find out why he looks funny.

Okay Captain, I’m on my way. Slamming the telephone down and mumbling to himself, he headed for the shower. Looking into the mirror and he could see dark circles under his eyes and his face looked pale. Not bothering to shave, he dressed and headed out the door.

He didn’t usually question the Captain, but since this guy was a big tycoon and as it looked like the Mayor was going to get his way, he knew the Captain would be hearing from the Mayor if he didn’t go to the scene. And everyone else in the city with any high up status would be calling also.

He was dressed in a dark blue suit and a light blue shirt with a matching tie. He looked down at his shoes and could see they needed polishing, but he didn’t care right now. He took the elevator down to his car. He loved his shiny black 2010 Chevy Camaro. Nobody touched his car. It had jet black interior and he kept it shining like his shoes. It had taken him nearly six months of bargaining with the motor pool manager to finally let him sign for it.

With the pedal to the metal it took him nearly an hour to arrive at the huge estate of Mr. Huges. Mr. Huges had made millions on the stock market and from the properties he owned. His wealth was known worldwide. He surrounded himself with beautiful women, lots of security with guns and special automobiles which were all bullet proof. Everyone in his employment were checked out and rechecked several times before they were hired.

There had been an auto accident that tied up the traffic to the Island. Pulling into the driveway he saw the huge black iron gates which were being guarded by two security guards who looked like they belonged to the mob. There were a couple of New York uniform police also at the gate. He promptly showed his badge and waited for them to call up to the main house for instructions. The large iron gates began to slowly open. Their movement impressed him with the smoothness; no jerking or any noise was heard. They had to be at least twelve feet high and made of steel and painted jet black. The brick wall looked at least ten feet tall around the perimeter of the property. There was no way anyone would have scaled the wall or the gates. Over the radio he heard instructions to proceed up to the front door.

It was hard to believe that anyone could afford such a lavish estate. It must have been set on ten acres of land with the house set in the middle. The house was a three story home made out of brick and a lot of glass. The driveway, leading up to the front of the house, wasn’t made out of concrete, but all brick pavers. He parked his Camaro. He had it supped up and nobody could catch him or outrun him. It was a gas guzzler, but he didn’t care; it was his black beauty, his car.

He started up the steps to the front door. He started to take the huge brass doorknocker in his hand to knock on the door when it seemed to open on its own. Walking inside, he felt he should be using the back door, not the front. He had the overwhelming desire to take off his shoes when he entered so that he wouldn’t track any dirt inside the immaculate surroundings. The ceilings were so high that he had to put his neck way back just to look up to the top of them. He hated to think what the upstairs looked like. He had heard about the way these people lived but never guessed he’d ever really get to see it firsthand.

The floors throughout were black and gray marble; the entire first floor. The walls were painted with marvelous colors but nothing really bold. Carved walnut hand rails on the stairs showed the winding way to the next floor. Modern art adorned the walls and you could tell just by looking at it that it was priceless. The rooms were huge, he could tell just at a glance. Just the entryway was bigger than his whole apartment twice over.

Okay, who found the body? he asked, not wanting to waste any time. The whole place had made him uncomfortable. His thoughts were back at his apartment and his bed.

I did sir, just after midnight, Officer Davidson spoke up. Eric looked at his very pale color and it seemed this was his first dead body.

What made you find the body?

A call came in from a woman saying that she thought a man was dying at this address and when we arrived the security team told us there was nothing wrong. They told us they would check on him themselves. We instructed them since this was a call into the police station we had to follow up. We would go in with them to make sure everything was alright.

What happened then and where is your partner? Detective Masson looked around but couldn’t see the other officer anywhere around.

He’s reviewing the surveillance tapes for the past month in the security office.

Did the security guards let you into the house?

They didn’t have a key on them, so we had to go over to the guard’s room over on the other side of the house to bring back a set of keys to the front door. We walked in and found him sitting at the dining room table just like he is now. He had a glass of red wine on the table, a bottle in the ice bucket with no ice and the water warm, his head back, and it looked like well; see for yourself.

Masson walked into the dining room and there he was, sitting at the head of the table. The table was long and appeared to be made out of black walnut. The chairs the table sat twelve or more at a time. It looked like he had the life sucked out of him by a vacuum. His face was drawn and puckered and the skin on his arms and hands looked like dried prunes. He hadn’t seen anything like it before in his entire career. His clothes were falling off his body. The only thing holding them on was the fact that he was sitting in a chair. The chairs were all upholstered in red velvet which stood out against the black walnut wood and looked very plush. The placemats were fine white linen and the flatware was made out of pure gold shining under the crystal chandelier.

The plate in front of him was fine solid white bone china. There were three glasses sitting in front of him, one with red wine, one with what appeared to be water, and the other empty. You could tell he didn’t want for anything.

When was the last time someone saw him alive? He looked straight into the eyes of the officer and then at the security guards.

I don’t know sir. The security guard turned to look at the police officer.

Officer please take the security guards into the living room. I want to speak too both of them.

Yes sir.

Has anyone called the coroner?

Yes sir, I did after I saw him; then we called the station. The coroner’s on his way.

Walking into the living room he looked around at the priceless items on the mantel of the fireplace, pictures of him shaking hands with at least two presidents, a couple of governors and what appeared to be several senators. The mantel was made out of what appeared to be dark cherry wood; also hand carved, and had a mirror like finish on it. The expensive furniture embellished the room; it had to have been purchased and shipped over from overseas for he had never seen anything like it – priceless. The guards looked at him as if he had two heads and they looked very nervous. They were standing almost at attention like soldiers with their hand clasped behind their back. Masson looked at them and it didn’t make a lot of sense to him.

Both of you have a seat.

No sir, we’re not allowed to sit on the furniture. It’s against the boss’s rules.

Your boss is dead; I don’t believe he’ll mind if you sit on the furniture, but if you want, then stand. Look, when did you see your boss last? Everyone could tell Masson was in charge and everyone jumped when he spoke.

Well, we come on duty at eleven and work until seven. We don’t ever see him unless he goes out for the evening. Then it’s just to let him in the gate when he comes home. Sometimes he doesn’t come home; he stays in the city at his condo.

What is your job exactly?

We walk the perimeter of the property and watch the gate. Nobody comes in unless we’re told in advance the boss is expecting them. We have a list of who to let in and who not to.

Did he have any visitors tonight?

No sir, he hadn’t any visitors for about two weeks now. He’s been locked up in his house, not going out at all. He hasn’t called down for us to let anyone in either. The bolder of the two spoke up but kept looking over at his partner.

What about deliveries, any deliveries this week?

We don’t know; they take deliveries in the daytime as far as we know.

I need the phone numbers of the security of the dayshift. One of you get those for me. Thanks, that will be all for now. Oh, by the way, do you have a list of people who are to be called in case of an emergency?

Yes sir, do you want us to call the ones on the list?

No; I want you to give me the list.

One of the police officers walked into the living room to find Detective Masson. Sir the coroner is here.

Fine, I’ll be right there. You two give one of the officers the list. Don’t forget to leave your names and addresses.

Can’t we leave?

No, don’t leave until seven when the other guards come on duty. Also don’t tell them anything right now; we’ll take care of it. Make sure we can contact you. We may want to ask you more questions.

Officer, go with them and get their full names and addresses. Also they are going to give you a list of emergency contacts; bring that to me.

Masson walked back into the dining room when the coroner walked up behind him. Hello Detective Masson, how are you this evening or should I say this morning?

Hi doc, the body is in here, the dining room. Walking down the huge hallway the doctor looked at the walls and marveled at the painting on both sides.

He looked at the body and then at Masson. He picked up his bag and turned to walk away. What kind of joke are you guys trying to pull?

Not a joke doc. This is the way they found him, honest.

Turning back around and setting his bag back down on the floor, he started again to check over the body. He just shook his head. I can’t do this. Turning away he started to walk away as he mumbled under his breath.

Look Doc, this is no joke. Let me introduce you to Mr. Samuel Huges.

Yeah, sure it is. You get an old man out of bed in the middle of the night to play a practical joke. I don’t think it’s very funny and I don’t appreciate you guys trying to pull this off as Mr. Huges whom I know personally. Doc formed a tight fist with his right hand and shook it at Masson.

Look Doc, this is Mr. Samuel Huges. Tell him Captain because he doesn’t believe me.

Doc, it is Mr. Huges I swear. The Mayor wants this case wrapped up quickly. We’re keeping a lid on this case, so log him in as a John Doe, understand?

Without another word he carefully started to examine the body. He could only shake his head back and forth. Masson didn’t like the gesture.

The crime scene investigators had arrived just after the doctor. As they started picking up everything and dusting for prints Masson tried to keep out of the way. There was a plate of spaghetti in front of him and it looked as if it had been there for a week. The red tomato sauce on the plate was completely dried up and the spaghetti was as hard as a brick. They picked it up in one lump to put it in the bag. Each bag was labeled with the date and time. This guy was only fifty six but he looks like ninety or more; a wrinkled up prune."

Officer, I want a list of everyone that has come in or out for the past two weeks. There must be a log; I want that log. I want to know who buys his clothes, shoes, food, and his toiletries, even who his barber is, or hair dresser; get their home addresses, understand? I also want to know the names and addresses of his driver, all of his personal guards, and his house keeper, get the picture? This also includes his office staff downtown, his secretary included. Anyone this man has talked to in the past month.

Yes sir, I’ll get right on it.

The officer was green and inexperienced, you could just tell he’s out of the academy by only a few months, but he was trying too hard to impress Detective Masson.

Masson, I can tell you this; he didn’t die from natural causes. This is a homicide in my opinion. I just don’t know how yet; for there doesn’t seem to be any markings on the body I can see at this point. The body is so dehydrated. Once we get him back to the morgue and examine his body closer we’ll be able to tell you more. For right now I can tell you, he appears to have been dead for more than two or three days. I just can’t get a liver temperature because of the condition of the body.

You think this guy actually died a couple of days ago, huh?

I just don’t know. He looks like he has been embalmed without the embalming fluid being added. The doctor stood there scratching his head as they loaded him up on the stretcher to take him to the morgue.

Well; see what you can do. The chief is breathing down my neck and he said we have to close this quickly. Masson looked around to see if the Captain heard him.

Okay Masson, I’ll see what I can do. Check back with me in about three to four hours; we’re really backed up downtown. I tell you, because of who this is, I’ll give it top priority; that okay with you?

Thanks doc, you know as well as I do the bigger the fish the more publicity it seeks.

The crime scene investigators had finished bagging everything. They were loading up their truck to return to the lab. The sun had come up and it looked as if the day would be perfect. It had been unseasonably cold this winter and this weather was a welcome sight. He had already talked to the guards and let them go. The housekeeper came in and immediately got into the living room for questioning.

Hello, I’m Detective Masson and I have some questions for you.

What happened here? Why you need to ask me questions?

Your boss Mr. Huges has been killed. What do you do for Mr. Huges?

Oh my God, what you mean killed? The words coming out were very broken for her English wasn’t that good.

Just answer the questions ma’am.

My name is Rosa Martinez. I, Mr. Huges’ housekeeper. I work for Mr. Huges for over fifteen year. He hurt nobody. What you mean; dead?

Well, we found him this morning in the dining room dead. We need to know everything you can tell us about his routine that you know.

I tell you, I don’t know anything. I come in two time week, wash clothes, change beds, make clean house and order grocery.

What store do you order his grocery from?

The local store they deliver to him once a week. I order Monday and then Friday, I order him food for weekend sometime.

Do you have a list of what you order every week?

Sure he leaves list on counter for me in kitchen. I never see him; only on Fridays. That is my payday and he writes my check before he leaves for work. He also leaves early except on Friday when he waits to pay me and then leaves. This past Friday he called me and asked not to come in and left my check at gate.

Does he do this a lot?

No, but if he’s going out of town he tells me not to come in, but always leaves my check at the gate for me to pick up on Friday.

The list he left for you to place his food order; do you remember what was on it?

Only the usual things: bread, pasta, olive oil, bacon, eggs. I keep tell him he no eat right. Too much pasta going to kill him. Every night he eats Spaghetti. No good for you, but he never listen.

I thought you said you never see him?

No I not see, except on Friday, but every night I know he eats spaghetti because he leave dish in sink with pots.

That’s what he had in front of him on the table. It didn’t look like he ate much of it. What type of sauce did he use? There wasn’t any empty jar in the trash, or does he make his own sauce?

No, no, he has special sauce. He made his own before, but someone sent him a new sauce a month ago and he ate it every night, said he couldn’t get enough of it! The jars always put in dishwasher. He not like dirty jar in garbage. Has to wash in dishwasher all jars.

What is the name of the sauce, and where do you buy it from?

I no buy it, it just comes to door. It come every week like he called for it or they know when he out. I no work for two week, he no want me to come. He call on telephone that he no feel good and I should stay home. He no want my children get sick. He say he call me when he better. I have to put in the meat order for large party he have next month. I come to see freezer to see what he need. That’s why I come today.

Okay, don’t touch anything and you can go home for now. Leave your telephone and address with the officer and if we need to talk to you again we’ll call you, all right?

Yes sir, I go now, you need me you call.

Gracias, Mrs. Martinez.

Picking up her purse she hugged it close to her chest and walked over to the officer. Taking her arm he led her out to the squad car for the ride home. She had to shield her eyes for the flashing red and blue lights hurt her eyes. This was a great blow to her. Now she had to find a new job to support her family. She had three children to bring up by herself. Mr. Huges had been her employer for the past ten years. He had been part of her family to her.

When they were walking out the door Masson stopped her. Mrs. Martinez, did he have a gardener that worked here on a regular basis?

Se, Pablo, but he not been here for four week. His mother very ill and he went back to Mexico. Mr. Huges sent him home to be with her a month ago.

Thanks again. Officer please have someone take her home.

Detective Masson headed outside to see if he could find any evidence around the house the others might have missed, like a broken window, door jimmied or anything that might suggest an intruder had compromised the grounds. Slowly walking in the green grass he kept his eyes peeled. It had recently been mowed, so if anything was out there he would surely see any tracks of an intruder. His foot pushed the short grass to one side not stirring up anything. Then he decided it would have been impossible for someone to have scaled the wall, so this was a waste of time. There were security cameras all over the place and they would have picked up something. They would have had to come through the gate.

The only way in was the gate and that was guarded twenty four hours a day and there were two guards that walked the grounds twenty four hours a day. Plus there were surveillance camera at every turn, in the trees, the door, the main gate, and the only gate in or out of this estate. They were everywhere you could think of. There were flood lights all around the perimeter of the house and on the wall; he even spotted a couple in the trees. They were on motion sensors, so if someone did come over the wall the place would have lit up like a Christmas tree.

He walked back into the house. Look, I’m going over to the security office and pick up the security tapes. I want to see who came and went from this place in the past two weeks.

Sorry sir, we don’t usually keep them; if nothing happens we tape over them.

So looking at the tapes would be useless is what you’re telling me?

He wondered what the other officer had been watching if they didn’t keep the tapes? He wanted to confront him, but decided he’d wait and ask him later in private. He had an idea, but didn’t want to say anything. They entered the guard house and there he found the officer sitting with his back to the door watching the screen. Mason looked over his shoulder and saw it was tapes of Mr. Huges having sex with different women.

Officer, are you having fun?

He turned so quickly around in the chair that it fell to the floor as he jumped to attention when he saw Masson standing there. His face became brilliant red and sweat started rolling down his face. Sorry sir, I was, I mean, I wa, wa, was go, g, going over the tapes to see if someone was here to hurt Mr. Huges sir. His words came out garbled; he was truly embarrassed and was having difficulty explaining his actions.

I think you should just go back to the house; we’ll discuss this later at the station. Masson picked up a telephone book lying on the desk and slammed it down. It startled the officer. When he jumped up, his chair flew backwards and into one of the security officers. They both backed up against the wall as if they thought they were going to be shot.

I believe you’re done here officer; go help the forensic team load up their equipment. Masson tried to sound normal, but the veins in his neck were bulging out and the officer knew he was in deep trouble.

Here sir, this is the tape for the past twenty four hours. His hand was shaking as he handed it to Masson. This is the only tape we have.

Are there any tapes in the guard house? Do you have separate recording for the grounds and the entrance?

No sir, they are all tape to this location.

He put the tape in the evidence bag for the lab to go over. He knew it would be of no use, but he took it anyway. There just seemed to be something wrong about what they were saying. There had to be more tapes than what they were admitting to, and he wasn’t just talking sex tapes.

Jumping into his car he started the engine and with his right foot pushed down on the accelerator and the Camaro lunged forward spinning down the driveway to the gate. He wasn’t thinking about the gate being closed. The door being open made it easy for him to speed right onto the road squealing the tires as he turned right onto the pavement. Heading back to the station he looked down at his watch. He could see it was nearly one in the afternoon. No wonder his stomach made loud noises; he hadn’t had breakfast or lunch. It would be another hour or two before the doctor would have anything for him.

Picking up the telephone, his fingers dialed the local pizza delivery. The pizza arrived and he noticed the weird noises from some of the others in the station. He totally ignored them and began looking on his computer to see if he could find anything similar to this happening in the city. He began looking throughout the city for the past month or two to see if any other precinct had reported similar deaths.

The Captain came out of his office and saw Detective Masson sitting there eating pizza. He could see Masson was completely absorbed in the computer screen as if it was suddenly going to have all the answers, but the frustration on Masson’s face told him everything.

Masson, you look like death warmed over. Your clothes even look like you’ve been sleeping in them. By the way how’s it coming along?

The expression on Masson’s face was indescribable. The veins in his neck started to bulge and the Captain could see his heart beating through his temples. Sir, I can’t think of an answer to justify the way I look. I had just put my head down when you called me this morning. It had been nearly three days since I was home. I haven’t been able to pick up my dry cleaning for the past two weeks, so don’t, just don’t!

Hey man, easy there. Go home and get some sleep for a couple of hours. The Captain was backing up to his office trying to show Masson that he understood his condition. Look, everything will wait until you come back. Okay?

Sure, maybe you’re right; a couple of hours of sleep and fresh clothes with a hot shower will at least make me feel human again. I think I will go home for a couple of hours. Masson picked up his jacket and walked out to the parking garage where his car was parked. The first stop would be at the dry cleaners to pick up his dry cleaning.

Looking around his apartment he saw the shadows on the bedroom wall. He knew it was over into the evening. Stretching his arms and hands over his head he brought a smile on his face. Feeling much better he walked into the small kitchen and put on the coffee pot. Next he took a shower and dressed in a clean suit with a white shirt. He decided not to put on a tie. The coffee scent filled the apartment. Taking a travel mug he filled it to the top and felt like he had slept for twenty four hours when it had only been a couple.

Walking into the station he looked at the clock on the wall. It showed five thirty. He hoped the Captain had left for the day. When he reached the top of the stairs he looked into the captain’s direction. There he sat behind the desk with the telephone to his ear looking down at his desk. Slowly he looked up and saw Masson.

Masson; here now! Captain had his arm in the air motioning to Masson to his office. He hung up the phone. That was the Mayor on the phone. Where are we on this case?

I don’t know. I just came back to the station.

Have you talked to the coroner yet?

No sir, he told me it would take about three to four hours but it’s only been a couple, so I’m trying to be patient. The lab is running all the evidence they found in the house, but even they haven’t found anything yet. I called them before I left my apartment. There was no forensic evidence found at the house. All the fingerprints they collected are of all the employees and Mr. Huges. None was found that didn’t belong.

Masson’s thoughts went back to the doctor and the autopsy he was performing on Huges. He seemed to be on his own time schedule. Funny looking little man; completely bald with one sprig of hair on the top, in the middle of his head, his eyebrows so bushy he could have combed them over his head for hair. He had commented one time to him about this and the doctor had answered that he tried that, but they kept falling into his eyes so that he had to cut them. Now they were just bushy, so it didn’t bother him as much. The rosy checks and a very small mouth made him look like a Santa Claus.

He had never let Masson down before and Masson knew he’d come up with answers and clues to help him catch this killer.

Chapter 2

A young female officer walking through the detective’s area with messages in her hand heard someone yelling, but wasn’t sure who they were hollering at. Hey rookie; can’t you hear? Masson shouted out at her again. Rookie come here.

Yes sir?

Check out the past year and see if you can find anyone that has died in a similar fashion as Mr. Huges.

The entire office knew about Mr. Huges’ death and that Masson had been assigned to the case.

Sir, are you talking to me? She also looked around the room to see if he meant her or someone else.

Masson looked around the room and then at her. You’re the only rookie I see; do you see another one up here?

But sir . . .

Here, sit right here at this computer and see what you can come up with.

Yes sir. What area of the city sir and how did Mr. Huges die?

I want every unexplained death in the entire city and the outskirts as well. I’m going over to the morgue. Call me if you find anything, I mean anything at all. Understand?

Masson still hadn’t answered her question about how he died. Turning away from her he started walking really fast toward the door of the station and he was still giving out orders.

Yes sir, I’ll call you. Sir, what is your cell phone number?

Looking annoyed, he shouted out his cell number as he walked away. The rookie was lucky that she had super hearing or she wouldn’t have been able to get all of it. She didn’t want to be rimmed out by Detective Masson by asking him to repeat it. She had heard how he had chewed up and spit out others for little things that most detectives wouldn’t have paid attention to. Masson being a real perfectionist, she knew she had to be smart about her questions.

Detective Masson drove over to the morgue. He walked into the building hoping there would be answers from the autopsy.

The coroner had to rush through the autopsy, which he didn’t like doing. Masson hoped this time he hadn’t taken one of his hour coffee breaks before finishing. Everyone knew he liked his coffee breaks for he would have a snack with his coffee. The size of his belly proved he loved to eat. He also liked smoking his cigars. He would always tell everyone who complained that they didn’t have to stay; his lab, his rules and he’d do whatever he damn well pleased.

Hello Masson, just in time. I just finished. It’s better if you come over here. I want to show you something. I’ve only seen this once before, about a year or two ago if I remember correctly.

The doctor walked over to the table where the body lay and Masson followed. Huges’ chest was still wide open along with his skull. The skin was pulled back and tacked down to expose the inside of the chest cavity. Masson looked at the chest opening and then turned his attention to the skull.

Doc, what in the world is this; some type of joke? If it is, I’m not laughing.

Now you know what I said at the house; this couldn’t be Mr. Huges, not the one I knew. This man has only been dead for about forty eight hours, as near as I can tell; he couldn’t have been dead any longer than that. The spaghetti in his stomach, well, it was still moist. This is why I know he hasn’t been dead longer than that.

You said something about you had seen this before about a year or two ago. What did you mean? Do you know what killed this guy? What about the other case.

Very strange case I don’t believe it was ever solved. If I remember correctly, a computer wizard, or something to do with computers he had a partner in a software company. They started it from scratch and then there had been a falling out between the partners. Anyway he ended up buying out his partner but shortly afterwards he ended up dead.

Do you remember the detective on the case? I don’t remember anything about something happening like this.

I can’t remember now, but I think I still have the file somewhere here if you need it. Anyway I believe they found him in his office; by the way he lived in his office, the same way as Mr. Huges did. His body was wrinkled up like a raisin too and when I opened him up I found him almost the same way. All of his blood had been drained from his body and replaced with a salt solution. This is the only difference in the two cases.

"I don’t understand Doc; all of his organs are completely dried up. Even his brain is like dried paper strips. What would cause this? You said something about being