The Devil's Water: Scenic City Murder Series #1 Read online

  “Here’s one from over ten years ago.” Clutch said, picking up a freezer bag and examining the date on it.

  “Yeah, Gary was definitely a trophy keeper.” Tasha added. “I bet Monica Balzer’s interior labia is somewhere in this mess.”

  “That’s what bothers me so much about the cavalier attitude toward animal abuse.” Clutch stated. “Aside from the fact that I’m an animal lover, I just don’t understand why people view the killing or maiming of animals as simply child’s play.”

  “So many times, they start that and move on to humans eventually. Look at Dahmer.” Tasha added.

  “Well, grandma had to know something about this. The neighbors said that house pets would go missing and never turn up again. I guess we see what happened to them.” Wilder replied.

  “Jeff, you said that there were graves outside?” Clutch asked.

  “Oh yeah. Massive places where you could tell the dirt had been dug up. We haven’t found any human remains but a lot of cats and dogs.”

  “So there’s no sign of Flo Jenson?”

  “Nope. He had to have taken her with him unless he dumped her somewhere. He wants his dumps to be public knowledge so he makes no real effort to hide the bodies. I figure he has her somewhere.” Wilder said. “You want to see the basement now? That’s where he held his vics.”

  “Sure.”Clutch said as he and Tasha moved out of the kitchen and followed Jeff back down the hallway to an unlocked door.

  “Watch your step. It’s dark down here.” Wilder said as he opened the door. He picked up a flashlight that was sitting at the top of the stairs. “I got this out of my car. There’s absolutely no light.” He said. He turned the flashlight on and directed its’ beam down the stairway before beginning to descend. Tasha and Clutch followed behind. Once they reached the landing, Tasha noticed the vastness of the dark space as Wilder shone the beam around. “It’s big. I guess it runs the length of the house.”

  “Yep. There’s three bedrooms down here and a bathroom. From what I can tell, he kept the vics chained up in bed.”Wilder said as he proceeded down a narrow hallway. Once he came to the first door, he opened it and shone the light in. Tasha noted that the only thing in the room was a bed with chains and cuffs on the four corners of it. She noticed a light switch and turned it on but nothing happened. Only darkness. “Yeah, that’s been tried.” Wilder said. “No lights work down here. There’s bulbs but I think they have all burned out.”

  “Did he use candles?” Clutch asked.

  “We found no evidence of that.” Wilder said.

  “Perhaps he used a night vision apparatus. That would’ve given him a distinct advantage over the victim.” Tasha noted.

  They moved to the second bedroom which was a little further down the hall than the first. “Same set up.” Wilder said. “You see the same lone bed in the room with shackles on the four posts of it. Nothing else in the room.”

  He moved out of the room and down the hall to a third door with Tasha and Clutch following. He opened the door and shone his bright light inside. “Oh wow,” said Clutch. There, lying on the middle of the mattress was a small stuffed animal. Tasha walked over and examined it. “It’s a puppy dog.” She said as she handed it to Clutch. “It still looks new.” He said to Wilder.

  “Yeah, I have no idea why he would give his victim a stuffed animal.” Wilder said.

  “Because he had some affection for her. This was Carol’s room. He had held her the longest and he had grown close to her in his own way. The stuffed animal was to comfort her.” Tasha said.

  “I wonder if he knew her before he abducted her.” Clutch said as he glanced back at Wilder.

  “We’ve found no evidence of that. Still, it’s worth looking into. Now that we have the name ‘Gary Berndt”, it ought to be a lot easier.” Wilder stated.

  Clutch set the dog back down on the bed and followed Wilder and Tasha out into the hallway. “There’s just one more thing to look at.” Wilder said as he walked to the other end of the hall. He opened a door and shone the flashlight inside. “The bathroom,” he announced, as he let Clutch and Tasha walk in and past him. Tasha noted that the tub looked dirty. The sink had soap scum and hair all around the basin. “The one room in this house that the bastard never cleaned.” Tasha observed. “Clearly the tub and sink have been used. I guess he put his victims in here to freshen up after he raped them.”

  “Is that the end of our guided tour?” Clutch asked Wilder.

  “Yep.”

  “Good. Let’s get the hell out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.”

  All three of them walked back up the stairs into daylight again. It took Tasha several seconds for her eyes to adjust to the light. She could only imagine what it was like for Carol Shipley to come out of the dark after months of being kept in the dungeon. Now, Tasha wondered if Carol would ever be able to see the light again.

  CHAPTER 21

  Later that evening, Tasha Yoder sat on her couch drinking a beer. She had flipped through all the channels on her TV and came up empty. Finally, she gave up and turned it to TV Land. An old episode of “Sanford and Son” was playing. Tasha remembered the show from the 70’s and she had liked it. Now, however, it just appeared hopelessly dated. She took a swig of beer and realized that her eyes were heavy. Just as she shut them, the phone rang. Tasha reached for the receiver.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Tash. This is Clutch. I been thinking about what we need to do. I think it might be time to unleash the hounds.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Tasha asked as she took a long gulp of her beer. She hoped that Clutch hadn’t heard her. Too late.

  “Are you drinking?” he asked.

  “Yep. I’m having a beer.”

  “Just one?”

  “None of your business. Besides, I love the taste of beer.”

  “If I had a dime for every alcoholic over the years who has told me that.”

  “Well, I do love the taste of beer, Clutch.”

  “No. You love the taste of a warm chocolate chip cookie with a cold glass of milk. You love the taste of co-cola. You don’t drink a twelve pack of them in one sitting though.”

  “Yes, teacher. Now would you mind telling me why the fuck you called?” Tasha snapped.

  “I think it might be time to move on to the next step. I think I need to get our leak to meet with Hank Gamblin and fill his head full of the kind of shit to make Gary play another card.”

  “Operation impotence is in effect?”

  “Yep.” Clutch answered. “I really think that would be all it would take to make him do something desperate enough to get caught.”

  “Based on what I’ve gathered, I think it would enrage him.” Tasha agreed.

  “OK. I’m thinking of approaching Vicelli in the next few days. I’ll get him to go squeal to Gamblin. Hank will probably have it in the paper the next day.”

  “Then what are you gonna do?”

  “Depends on what I tell Vicelli. I’ll figure it out as I go along. No worries.”

  “Famous last words.” Tasha said as she took another sip of beer. She signed off and hung up the phone. Finishing the last bit of beer in the bottle, she noticed that Redd Foxx was laying another guilt trip on Lamont by faking a heart attack. Tasha laughed as she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Tasha Yoder was tired and she was going to do something good for herself for a change. She threw the empty beer bottle in the trash and went to bed.

  CHAPTER 22

  Exactly three days later, Daniel A. Mclutcheon sat at his desk with the phone receiver in hand. He had dialed in house and in two rings there was a “Yep” on the other line. “Martin, I need you to come to my office.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Martin Vicelli said.

  Clutch hung up the phone and reached across his desk to grab a candy jar that was perched behind his computer. He took out a strawberry filled hard candy, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. A copy of the Times was lying i
n front of him. The headline read “Devils Water Killer Identified”. Gary Berndt’s name was finally out there. Clutch glanced over Ryan Skopics’ official comments once more. Clasping his hands behind his head, Clutch leaned back in his chair and waited for Vicelli to arrive. He was praying this would work. Lives depended on it. Not only the life of Flo Jenson but of anyone else Berndt was looking to abduct. A light tap on his door pulled Clutch out of his thoughts. “Come in.”

  Martin Vicelli strolled in and took a seat by Clutch’s desk. He offered Clutch a smile and Clutch smiled back graciously though what he really wanted to do was kick Martin’s ass up between his ears. He noted Vicelli’s hair. Martin had used some sort of hair treatment on it ever since Clutch had known him. He slicked it down close to his scalp and straight back. Clutch remembered the way Gamblin styled his hair. They both resembled slick rats. Indeed, they made quite a pair.

  “I guess you know what this is about.” Clutch began.

  “Well, I figure you have information you want me to deliver to Gamblin. Either that or you’re taking me off desk duty and want me to do something different.”

  “No Martin. You’re not coming off desk duty so don’t get your hopes up.” Clutch responded with a great deal of satisfaction. “This is about Gamblin. I want you to give him a call and tell him you need to meet as soon as possible. You got me?”

  “When do you want me to call?”

  “Today. He’ll probably want to hook up pretty soon, like within a day or two, because he loves the thought of any information he may garner on this case. You’ve given him plenty to whet his appetite.”

  Vicelli’s eyes darted away from Clutch’s intense glare as his cheeks turned a rosy red. “Yes sir.”

  “Anyway, I want this done in person. I want you to give him more information on Gary Berndt. I want you to tell Gamblin that investigators believe Berndt has a type of sexual dysfunction. That he is impotent.”

  “What? I mean, everyone knows that Berndt was a serial rapist.” Vicelli responded.

  “Yes but they don’t know what he used to rape the women. We want Berndt to believe that police think he was impotent and had to use foreign objects to rape the women.”

  “And what’s the point?”

  “The point is to make this asshole mad. Raging fucking mad. Mad enough to do something drastic.”

  “You’re willing to risk another life for this idea?”

  “Look, Vicelli. We don’t know where Berndt is. We may never know unless we push his buttons a little. It’s a gamble we have to take and you’re gonna go to Gamblin and feed him a load of horseshit about Berndt being impotent. That’s your job. If you don’t like the sound of it, maybe you should’ve thought about that before you started spilling your guts out to the prick. Of course, if you don’t want to cooperate, there’s always Internal Affairs. We can and will go down that road.”

  “No! I’ll do it.” Vicelli said in a very high pitched voice. His cheeks were turning rosy again and a line of perspiration was forming over his upper lip.

  “Good. I’m glad we understand each other.”

  “What time do you want me to get in touch with Gamblin?” Vicelli asked, his voice quivering.

  “Well, you don’t really do anything that important anymore.” Clutch said as he smiled. “There’s no time like the present.”

  “What if Gamblin doesn’t buy it?”

  “Oh, he’ll buy it. It’s just spectacular enough that Gamblin will think he’s got the dish of the fucking century. Besides that, you’re a salesman at heart, Martin. A used car salesman, of course, but a damn fine one.” Clutch’s eyes were dancing as the stared at Vicelli. He was really enjoying this. “Go on now. Get to it.”

  “Yes sir.”

  At precisely 5:01 PM, Daniel Mclutcheon walked through his front door and tossed his keys on the table in the foyer. Locking the door, he strolled into the kitchen and opened the freezer door. He took out a Lean Cuisine, popped open the top and put it in the microwave. A soft trilling sound from behind the breakfast bar pulled his attention away and he rounded the counter to see Happy staring up at him. “Hey, boy. Did you have a good day?” Clutch asked him as he leaned down and scratched him behind the ears. Happy stood up on two feet and begged to be picked up. Once in his companions arms, Happy began purring. Clutch smiled down at the cat and gave him a peck on the cheek. “That’s a good boy, buddy. You want to watch TV?”

  Clutch walked into the den, cat in arms, and grabbed the remote control. He turned the TV on and noted that a used car commercial was on. Dandy Dan’s used cars. This made Clutch think of Vicelli and he couldn’t help but laugh as he held Happy close to him. “Know what, buddy? We’re about to apprehend Berndt. Won’t that be good? Then the case will be solved.” he said. The cat slit his eyes, opening and closing them slowly. Happy was getting sleepy. He trusted Clutch completely and loved him totally. He only wished he could speak sometimes. He only wished he could tell Clutch that the day he came home from Berndt’s house, he could smell things. Strange smells of all different kinds. He wanted to tell his human companion that, no matter how much he wished it, the case was indeed far from over.

  CHAPTER 23

  The Bonefish Grille was a popular restaurant located close to Hamilton Place Mall. Usually packed with people, it served a number of high end seafood dishes. Good seafood places were few and far between in landlocked Tennessee. Of course, there was a Red Lobster right around the corner but Martin Vicelli didn’t like the Red Lobster. Honestly, he knew few people who did. He sat at a table, sipping his ice water and waited for Hank Gamblin to arrive. He looked at his watch and noted that Hank was already 15 minutes late. Vicelli hated tardiness. He glanced around the room and noticed that it wasn’t as crowded as usual. Perhaps, since school had started back, people had become busy with other things and couldn’t take a break from the kids to have a night out. A waiter passed by and refilled his glass with water just as Hank Gamblin entered the front door. He began looking around the room and Vicelli raised a hand to motion him over. “Hello Martin.” Gamblin said as he sat down in a chair across from Vicelli. He smiled a wide shit eating grin. “I didn’t know you liked the Bonefish. It’s one of my favorite restaurants”.

  “It’s a chain but at least it ain’t the Red Lobster.” Vicelli replied.

  “Too true.” Gamblin smiled and picked up the menu sitting in front of him. A waitress approached from behind Vicelli and came to stand beside the two men sitting at the table. “Gentlemen, would you like something from the bar tonight? Perhaps a Bombay Sapphire martini?” she offered.

  “I’ll just have water.” Martin replied.

  “Yes, I think I’ll have Woodford Reserve on the rocks.” Gamblin said, looking up at the waitress. He smiled as he watched her walk away. It wasn’t lost on Vicelli that Gamblin was eyeing the waitress’ ass.

  “Look, Hank. I think I have some information which you might feel is very valuable.” Vicelli said, breaking Gamblin’s concentration on the waitress’ posterior.

  “What kind of information?”

  “It’s sensitive information that pertains to the Devil’s Water case.” Vicelli answered. “And it’s stuff you haven’t heard before.”

  Gamblin sat back in his chair. He narrowed his eyes to mere slits. He seemed to want to analyze Martin Vicelli much like a seasoned poker player would. Martin knew he couldn’t take the heat. He hadn’t been able to with Mclutcheon and he wouldn’t be able to with Gamblin. He was a really shitty liar. He reached up and wiped a hand across his face. Martin was trying to disguise the fact that he was really trying to remove the sweat which was accumulating on his upper lip. He hoped Gamblin hadn’t noticed.

  “Here you go, sir.” The waitress said as she approached the table and handed Gamblin his drink. Hank took it from her and swirled the Kentucky Bourbon around in the glass before taking a sip. “Are you ready to order?” she asked both men.

  “Yes ma’am. I’m ready.” Hank said smiling up at the wai
tress. “You first, though.” He said to Vicelli.

  “I’m not really that hungry.” Vicelli said to the waitress. “You go ahead, though.” He directed back at Gamblin. Martin Vicelli really wasn’t that hungry. His stomach was doing flip flops.

  “Well, I’ll have the Chilean Sea Bass.” Gamblin told the waitress.

  As she hustled off to turn in the order, Gamblin focused his attention back to the man sitting directly in front of him. He narrowed his eyes once more and Vicelli felt like he was sitting in front of an inquisitor. Gamblin picked up his glass and swirled the booze around in it one more time before taking a sip. He examined his ice cubes before finally glancing back up. He was looking Martin Vicelli dead in the eyes. “Here’s the thing. I really don’t know how you can help me anymore than you already have.” He stated. “I’m already a bit of a local hero because of this whole mess. My name is out there. Hell, I’ve even gotten some job offers that sound much more enticing than what I do now.”

  “Yes, but this new information is very juicy.” Martin responded. He could feel his upper lip getting wet again.

  “Well, I can’t imagine what it is. I don’t even know that I want to. I mean, we know Gary Berndt is the killer. We know what kind of car he drives, where he lived and how he got here. We know that he started doing this as a young adult with animals. We’ve even seen a picture of the guy and posted it in the Times. Skopic held a press conference, remember? The only thing we don’t know is where he took that whore from Rossville Boulevard. Other than that, what more do we need to know?”

  Martin could feel beads of sweat popping up on his forehead. He took his white linen napkin and wiped it across his face. “Is it hot in here or are you just nervous?” Gamblin asked.

  “Just nervous, I guess. I mean, I really shouldn’t give you this information and I’m afraid it might get back that I was leaking information to you.” Vicelli lied.