Cry for Me Read online

  Jim advised Rick that Gilberts Police had been notified and they were sending an investigator to the Coroner’s Office to pick up the file and evidence. He told Rick that the file he was holding was a copy that he could keep as well as the photographs.

  There was a knock at Jim’s door and in the doorway stood a short stocky uniformed officer from the Gilberts Police Department. Sgt. James Hallman was the only Investigator at the small police department. “Hello gents, Sgt. Hallman, Gilberts Police. I am here to pick up the autopsy report and evidence for a one, Karen Watterson.”, stated Sgt. Hallman.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Sgt. Hallman. I’m Deputy Coroner Schauer. This is Detective Sgt. Miller and Officer Keyes of the South Elgin Police Department. Do you have a few minutes? I think you may find interesting, what these two officers have to share with you.”

  Sgt. Hallman shook hands with Rick and Dan and took a seat. Rick, Dan, and Jim took turns filling in Sgt. Hallman on what had happened in South Elgin and the similarities with the Gilberts case. Sgt. Hallman stated that he had heard of the South Elgin murder from the Courier News and a couple of Kane County Sheriff’s deputies he was talking with. “At least he gets his news from credible news sources unlike City Heat Gazette!” thought Rick. The four of them discussed the case in depth and Jim brought Sgt. Hallman up to date on what Curare is and its effect on the human body. Sgt. Hallman felt over whelmed as he tried to take in all the information. He thought he was on his way to pick up a file that would wrap up what looked to be an open and closed suicide case.

  Sgt. Hallman thanked everyone and offered any assistance and evidence that Miller and Keyes may need from his case to aid in their investigation. Miller thanked him and offered the same to Hallman and invited Hallman to their station to take a look at the war room. Sgt. Hallman accepted, and told him he would stop by Monday morning around 9:00am. He wanted to take the weekend to scour the crime scene and canvas the neighborhood getting as much information as possible. Sgt. Miller was eager to get his hands on Adam Bosch in his interview. He invited Detective Miller and Officer Keyes to sit in on the interview and Miller gladly accepted.

  Miller and Keyes drove back to the station busily discussing the findings with each other. They compared the startling similarities and agreed that it had to be the same killer. Some things just did not add up. The first victim was a gay male prostitute and hacked up by the killer and placed at a public place to be easily found. The second victim was a professional woman, strangled to death, and staged as a suicide concealed in a closet. “Why hide one victim and try to conceal the fact it was a homicide and then display the other for all to see and make no attempt to conceal it as a homicide. The killer removed the glands for Christ’s sake!” thought Rick. “That’s it!! That’s fucking it!!” shouted Rick. Rick’s out burst startled Dan who had been gazing out the passenger window mulling over the case in his own head.

  “The killer did not just mutilate the first victim Dan. The sick son of a bitch removed that pour bastard’s glands!” exclaimed Rick. Rick felt he was really onto something here.

  Dan thought it over for a few seconds and replied, “You may be right Rick. But one thing puzzles me. Our first vic was a male. The killer removed his breasts. Do men have glands in their breast?”

  “I have no idea Dan. But we are going to find out!” replied Rick.

  Rick was trying to figure out why someone would want to remove human glands. “What do glands contain?” wondered Rick. “They contain fluid. But not the same fluid; is there some common denominator between the fluids contained in the glands removed?” Rick’s mind was in high gear as he presented new questions for Keyes to jot down. They needed get the answers to these questions and fast.

  Rick picked up his cell phone and called Jim. He explained his new findings with him and asked him if men had breast glands and if the fluid contained in these glands had one common ingredient the killer may be after. Jim told Rick he could answer his questions over the phone as best he could and would also present them to Doctor Martin, the Medical Examiner. Rick put Jim on speaker and told Keyes to take detailed notes.

  Jim began with identifying each of the glands removed. He started by listing them. Tear glands, Sinus, Saliva gland, breast gland and the testicles. He then went on to break down each of the glands function and fluid it contained. He started with the tear glands and explained that it contained tears, obviously. He told them tears consisted of water, mucin, lipids, lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin, lacritin, immunoglobulins, glucose, urea, sodium, and potassium.

  Next he explained that the sinus cavities contained mucus and that mucus cells were rich in glycoprotein’s and water. Keyes was busy writing away trying to get all this information down interrupting occasionally for the spelling of word.

  Jim talked about the saliva glands and that it was made up of mostly water and important enzymes needed to aid in the digestion of food. Jim explained to Rick that men did have glandular breast tissue but not like a woman. Both males and females have glandular tissue within the breasts, however, after puberty the glandular tissue begins to develop in response to estrogen release in females. There would normally not be any fluid in a typical male’s breast unless they were on an estrogen regimen which did not show up in victim number 1’s toxicology.

  He tackled the testicles last. He knew this would take a bit more explaining. When one thinks of what a testicle produces they think of seminal fluid or semen. Semen is actually made up of components from three different glands or areas, 65% of semen is produced from the seminal vesicles, 30 to 35% by the prostate, and 5% from the testicles and epididymes.

  Jim explained that semen contains citric acid, free amino acids, fructose, enzymes, phosphorylcholine, prostaglandin, potassium, and zinc. The average volume of semen produced in a single ejaculation varies from 2 to 5 ml. The semen from a single ejaculation may contain between 40 million and 600 million sperm, depending on the volume of the ejaculate and the length of time since the last ejaculation. Jim pointed out that only the testicles were removed along with the penis. He explained the testicles are a bit more complicated then one would think. They have two main objectives. One is to produce sperm and the other is to help to keep the body in good working order as they are part of the endocrine system. Testicles make several types of chemical substances. They are not simple chemicals, but are very complicated and very important to life. Making these substances is controlled by the pituitary gland which is a small gland in the brain.

  Rick thanked Jim for the information. He looked at Keyes who was going over his notes. He told Keyes to write up his notes and print them out when he got back to the station. Rick wanted this information in the file and on the “war board”. He still could not wrap his brain around as to why the killer needed the glands. He knew there was significance to this but didn’t know what it was. He did not immediately notice any similarities except maybe water. This made no sense to Rick. Water could be found just about anywhere. Why would the killer go through all that trouble to just to extract a very small amount of water? No it was not water the killer wanted. It was something else. Rick was convinced.

  Once back at the station Rick and Keyes finished up writing reports on the new information they collected. Today was far more productive then Rick had anticipated but it also brought on a whole new set of mysteries and questions. Rick told Keyes to go home and spend time with family. Rick had planned on calling Sgt. Hallman tomorrow and tagging along with him as he conducted his investigation. He gave Keyes, Sunday off and told him to enjoy life and his family. That they would hit the bricks hard early Monday morning and that he would contact Keyes if anything major came up in the mean time.

  Rick drove home trying to clear his head of everything that was rattling around in it. He needed to get his mind off it for awhile. He decided to give Sam a call and see if she wanted to catch a movie. Samantha was ecstatic when Rick called asking her to the movies. She could not believe Rick wanted to see her two nights in row
. She told him she would be ready in about half an hour and that he could see what ever he wanted and that she would even eat some junk food with him at the theater. This made Rick laugh. He needed to get his mind off this case, if only for a short time, and she was just what the doctor ordered.

  Chapter 7

  The sun was shinning bright on this Sunday morning. A weak cold front pushed through overnight, lowering the humidity level greatly. “This weather is perfect.” thought Samantha as she began her stretching routine. The weather had been very hot and humid over the past week and Samantha welcomed the cooler weather. The forecasted highs for the next several days were to be in the low to mid eighties with very low humidity. There was a slight breeze out the North West and Samantha could not wait to get jogging. She was leaning up against the balcony railing of the unit above her stretching out her ham stings when she noticed Rick’s police car was not in the parking lot. She was not all that surprised to see that Rick was working this Sunday. Rick had filled her in a little on the second body last night on the way home from the movie.

  Samantha had a great time last night with Rick. She had been so surprised with the sudden call from Rick to go out for the evening. She knew that Rick did not want to be alone with his thoughts at the end of the day and needed someone to help occupy his mind. She was happy that he picked her to be that person. She was ready to be there for him every night should he ask. She even rearranged her schedule at the Gym to make herself available in the evenings should Rick call. She had alluded to dinner tonight last night when Rick was leaving. She casually mentioned that she had a new grilled salmon recipe that she wanted to try but did not have a grill, knowing that Rick has a grill and loved salmon. Rick had replied by telling her that he had a grill that never gets used and that she was welcome to it any time to which she replied, “Very cool, maybe tomorrow night?” After her run she planned on going to the store to pick up some fresh salmon and get back home so she could find a recipe.

  Samantha heard the rear door to the apartment building open and then shut. She turned to see who it was. It was Gene Harris. Gene recently moved into unit 3A about 2 months ago. Unit 3A is two units above Rick’s. Samantha did not know Gene very well but has talked to him a few times. They seem to have the same laundry day and have run into each other in the laundry room on several occasions. Samantha was not sure what to think about Gene. He had been very nice to her and a perfect gentleman, but there was something about him that she could not quite figure out. For example, no one in the building knew where he worked or when. You can usually tell what shift the other occupants worked without asking because their car would be gone at the same time everyday for over eight hours. On a couple of occasions, while chatting in the laundry room, Samantha had casually hinted as to when and where he worked and Gene had just kept talking or folding laundry as if he did not hear her. She was thinking of bringing this to Rick’s attention but did not want Rick to think she was a busy body.

  “Good morning Ms. Anderson. Beautiful day today.” said Gene as he walked down the three steps leading from the door to the sidewalk.

  “Good morning Gene. Yes it is!” replied Samantha. That was another thing that she found odd about him. He insisted on calling her Ms. Anderson despite her telling him Samantha was fine, several times.

  “I see you are getting ready for your morning run. You’re out later than usual.”

  Samantha thought it was odd that Gene would know she was out two hours later than normal. “How would he know that? I rarely run into him when I go out to jog.” thought Samantha “It’s Sunday. I slept in a little.” responded Samantha.

  “Oh I see.” replied Gene.

  Samantha could tell he was headed to his car before bumping into him. She saw this as an opportunity to quiz him about where he works. “You headed off to work, Gene.” asked Samantha.

  “No. I’m headed to my car. I need to get something out of it.”

  “Of course! Silly me, it’s Sunday! You don’t work on Sundays, do you?” chuckled Samantha. She tried to play it off as an air brain mistake.

  Gene did not answer her. He just stood there looking at her for several seconds. Samantha was beginning to feel uncomfortable with this awkward moment of silence. She politely excused herself and turned to start her run when Gene blurted out, “Are you free for dinner tonight, Ms. Anderson?”

  The words hit Samantha like a stun gun. She froze in place. She turned to Gene and with the kindest face and sweetest apologetic tone responded, “Oh no, I am not Gene. Rick, from C1, is going to show me how to use his grill tonight, so I can borrow from it time to time. He doesn’t use it much.” She was hoping that she did not look creeped out because that is the way she felt.

  Gene said, “Ok.”, and then turned to walk to his car. Samantha took this as a cue to start jogging. She really felt uncomfortable by his request. She was not sure why. She has been asked out by lots of men. She thought maybe it was because he was little different from most men she is around. She dreaded laundry day now. It is going to be very awkward now around the building. She decided it was probably best to avoid him for awhile and do her laundry at the laundry mat in town. The laundry mat in town was no where near as convenient as the one right down the hall from her apartment but she was willing to endure the inconvenience over having to do laundry with him.

  Gene reached his car and turned towards the direction that Samantha had started her jog. He looked at her as she started to run down the sidewalk. He stared at her buttocks and was admiring the way they looked in her tight black running shorts. Gene was very attracted to Samantha. He loved her beautiful blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He felt as though he could stare into them forever. When he would look into her eyes he felt like he could see her soul and if he could, he would just absorb her soul somehow into him. Gene loved everything about her. He yearned to touch her smooth tan skin. He thought she was perfect in every way. He was not fond of women with large breasts and thought Samantha’s breasts were perfect. He guessed them at a B- cup and often fantasized what they may look like. “Oh how would I love to see her naked and now I will never have the chance because of that scumbag cop! What does he have that I don’t?” thought Gene.

  Gene opened his car door and grabbed two plastic bags from his front seat. He went back up to his apartment. He set the bags on his kitchen counter and began to unload the contents. The bags contained misc. items that he had picked up the evening before from the local home improvement store. He opened a drawer in the counter and placed two packages of AA batteries, some clothes line, 4 landscaping nails, and a ball-peen hammer in it and shut the drawer. He walked into his living room and turned on his police scanner. Gene had no television and often passed the time listening to his police scanner or the radio.

  Gene was getting more and more upset as he thought about Samantha and Rick. “He needs to mind his business. He is going to push me over the edge.” Gene thought to himself. Gene could feel a pain beginning to build in the pit of his stomach. This pain was all too familiar to Gene. It has plagued him most of his life. It was a deep burning pain that hurt deep down inside and would come on whenever Gene felt as though no one cared for him, especially women.

  He was so attracted to Samantha and had everything planned out and now his plans were about to be ruined. The pain would become so bad that it would eventually overcome him to the point where it incapacitated him. He we would slip into a catatonic state and curl up in the fetal position, for days sometimes.

  He ran to the refrigerator to get his medicine that would ease the pain. He reached and pulled out a capped test tube vial. He pulled off the cap and drank the contents of the vial. Gene could feel the cool liquid as it began to extinguish the burning pain that has plagued him for so many years. “Oh, doctors are so smart. “Take your meds Mr. Harrison.” Your meds did not do shit!! I found the cure! I did the experiments! You would not listen to me! Only one thing can kill my pain! The pain from other people! That’s what cures my pain! Not y
our expensive medicines! Human tears carry pain and I drink others pain!” thought Gene.

  Gene had been hospitalized for many years at Elgin Mental Health Center, a state run psychiatric facility located in Elgin. He was released over a year ago due to budget cuts. The state had relocated him to a halfway house but that did not work out. He applied for disability and welfare and was approved. Between the state and the federal government, his apartment, groceries, and all utilities, were paid for and he even received a Social Security check monthly.

  Gene was becoming more relaxed after drinking the tears. They were the tears of Karen Watterson. He went into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. The pain was gone now. He was getting tired and wanted to nap. He laid there, thinking of his accomplishments after being released from the psycho ward. He was proud how he was able to identify, that in order to kill this pain, he needed to consume the pain of others. At first, he did not know how this could be done. He knew that he needed to conduct experiments. He formulated a plan, saved up his money, and set out to conduct his experiment. It was easier than he thought it would be. He was nervous when he called to set up the appointment with a gay prostitute that goes by the street name as “Manimal”. He later learned of his real name, Jim Rush, when he read it in the City Heat Gazette. It was so easy to set up the appointment. He enticed him by offering twice his price and promised “Manimal” could “be on top”.

  The hardest part was getting a hold of the Curare, but he could thank the state for that as well. Before the budget cuts that released him, earlier budget cuts created overcrowding in his ward and he ended up sharing a room with a drug dealer who was acting as if he was insane, to skirt real jail time. He also, was subsequently released.

  Once he had his male prostitute in the hotel room that he had rented, injecting the Curare was quite easy. He poured Rush a glass of wine and told him he wanted to perform oral sex on him. Rush was all too willing. Rush removed his clothing and laid back on the bed, naked. Gene had hidden the hypo in his shirt pocket. He climbed on the bed and began performing fellatio on Rush. Once he saw that Rush was caught up in the act he plunged the needle into the large vein of Rush’s penis and injected the Curare, with one quick push of the plunger.