The Breeze

"Was she alone?" Eddie asked.

"As far as I could tell. She took a room with a large bed but there could have been ten occupants in the room. From her clothes she looked as though she could afford to pay for a double room in a fancy motel if that was what she wanted." I replied.

"Unless she didn't want you to know she was with anyone, for some other reason." Ruth suggested. I knew what she was saying and why. The room screamed quickie.

"That could be true, I guess." I answered. "Hell she could have been a hooker for all I know," I said.

"I'm going to call the SBI crime scene crew," Eddie advised Ruth.

"That should take an hour or more. Let's take a quick look around before we seal this place." Ruth suggested. "Eddie why don't you get the camera. It might be nice to make a few shots before the SBI gets here. You know just to be sure we have some before shots."

"Good idea boss," he said trotting down the long porch.

"Did you hear anything?" Ruth asked me.

"Not a sound, any chance we can keep this quiet. It is going to play hell with business as it is," I said.

"You know we are going to do the best we can. Frankly Johnny this happens once in a while down here. More often in Myrtle Beach or in Wilmington, but still it happens." Ruth said.

"Have you had others like this?" I asked.

"Two last year, this is the first this year." she replied.

"Not the same M.O. I hope?" I asked.

"Who knows, I mean a woman comes to the beach to get laid, instead she gets killed. Who can say whether it was the same man who did them all? Odds are pretty good that it wasn't. Serial killers are pretty rare," she said.

"Do you think this woman had another room somewhere?" I asked the obvious question.

"Probably, also probably complete with a husband." she replied.

"Surely she wouldn't leave her husband at midnight to get laid. That sounds pretty stupid to me," I commented.

"You don't know Wrightsville Island these days. There is just too much money there. The rich yuppies bring the family down for the week, or a couple of weeks. Those assholes go home to work during the week, leaving mommy and the kids to get into all kinds of trouble. She might even be rich enough to have a house up on shell island. Who knows, but we are sure as hell going to find out."

Eddie returned and began shooting pictures of everything in sight. When he finished Ruth put on her surgical gloves before opening the small purse on the dresser. "Not much in this," she said emptying it onto the Formica top of the dresser. "Lipstick, face powder, but nothing else."

"Why would there be? her money and keys are on the dresser," I said.

"How about her driver's license and family pictures?" Eddie asked.

"My guess is she left them either at home or in the car. You did know that the Chevy outside was hers?" I asked.

"I figured as much, first things first though." Ruth said taking a deep breath. She then walked to the bed. "I just hate doing this." She pulled the sheet from the body of the woman being careful not to disturb anything underneath. The only thing which kept her from being totally naked was a dress of pure blood. She had bled like a slaughtered animal. Since her complete torso was covered, it wasn't going to take a genius to recognize multiple stab wound all over her body. I notice right away that she wasn't wearing a wedding band but had the white mark where one had been. The body had a pair of ear rings and a watch so it looked like she removed the wedding band herself before going out on the town.

"Any body parts missing?" I asked.

"Doesn't look like it," Ruth answered.

"Don't you think we should ask him to leave?" Eddie suggested.

"Why Eddie, I'm not touching anything. Believe me I know the drill." I said shortly.

"Take it easy Johnny, I know you have a lot at stake here." Ruth said in a calming voice.

"Right," I agreed.

Rather than say any more, Eddie began making digital images of the body. Since there was nothing left for me to see, I walked onto the balcony. One of the other guest cornered me.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Can't say, the cops are trying to keep it quiet. May have been a suicide. Did you hear anything last night?" I asked. Ruth overheard my question and came to stand inside the door.

"Just the usual grunting sounds of two people making love," the older woman said. "Sounded like they were really going at it."

"Really, did you see the man?" Ruth asked.

"No, I just heard the fucking," the older woman said. She seemed to be enjoying the shock value of her words.

"Didn't you hear the woman scream?" Eddie asked.

"Sure, I heard her scream for about an hour, but it wasn't in pain. At least not the kind you mean." she smiled as she spoke.

"Did you hear the man leave?" I asked. Hell it was my motel.

"Nope, I fell asleep to the sound of the bed banging against the wall. Kind of like old times," she admitted. "You know I wasn't born seventy years old."

"I'll bet you banged a couple of headboards yourself," I said.

"You better believe it sonny, and more than just headboards," she said with a teenager's giggle.

"Ma'am was there anyone with you last night?" Eddie asked.

"Why, you think I killed her?" the old lady asked.

"Of course not," Ruth quickly added. "We just thought someone else might have heard the man leave."

"My tight assed daughter is with me but she was sound asleep and snoring before I fell asleep." the old lady added.

"Johnny we are going to have to speak to everyone on this side of the building," Ruth advised me.

"Why not, I'll go down and get their bills ready. I expect to see them about five minutes after you talk to them." I said turning to leave. On the way to the office, I began to think. I should have noticed if there was another car following. The killer might have been in the car or he might have met her later. If so how would he have known which room. I close the switchboard at midnight, so she didn't make any calls from the room.

I turned to walk back up the steps. "Ruth," I said. "You might look for a cell phone."

"What makes you think she had a cell phone?" Ruth asked.

"Just a hunch," I replied leaving them standing outside the room. I knew Ruth had either called or was about to call for a canvas squad. In about fifteen minutes the place would be crawling with uniformed cops. A death knell for the weekend.

I was surprised how people had changed. I had only one couple check out that morning. Maybe because every motel in the area was filled or maybe people no longer objected to sleeping in a room beside a murder scene. Either way I was just as happy to avoid the mass exodus.

Tisha was pretty upset, but she hung in to finish the rooms.

Lori on the other hand seemed to enjoy the excitement. I don't think the murder was any more to her than a TV type entertainment. Which may have been the way my tourist felt about Mary Amos. I knew from experience that the cops would take most of the day to clear the crime scene. With that in mind, I left Lori in charge while I went to Poppa's for lunch.

"Hey Johnny who got iced down at your place?" Poppa asked before I even found a seat.

"A female tourist," I answered. "How about one of those Mexican burgers."

"So who was she?" he asked.

"Poppa you know I can't tell you that, besides I don't really know. Just some tourist who checked in late last night."

Poppa slid the burger along the counter as he spoke again, "You know we had a couple of killings down here last year. I wonder if it was the same man?"

"I don't know anything about the others, but this one was pretty bad," I said softly.

"They was too, at least that's what Elmer down a the breakers said," Poppa confided.

"Were they both at the breakers?" I asked.

"Yep, two women cut up bad. Cops never even got a sniff of the killer," Poppa said contemptuously.

"Let's hope they solve this one before the word gets out too far afield. It would be really bad for business, if the papers up north carried it." Anywhere outside the beach strip was considered up north. The true direction didn't matter all tourist came from up north.

"You got a point there. Don't want to scare them little money spending tourist away," Poppa laughed. Poppa wandered off to talk to other customers while I finished my burger covered with salsa and mustard. I expected heartburn within the hour.

When I returned to the Breeze, I sent Lori to lunch, with instruction to take Tisha with her. I sat more or less alone in the office until three. At that time Ruth and Eddie came into the room. "How did you know about the cell phone?" Eddie demanded.

"Not too hard to figure. The bad guy either came in with her and hid inside her car while she checked in, which wouldn't make much sense. I mean, the woman would suspect something, if she caught him hiding under the seat. So my guess was she called him to meet her. She had to give him the room number at least." I answered.

"But why a cell phone?" Eddie continued.

"Because, I switch off the room phones at midnight. She checked in almost exactly at midnight. She wouldn't have had time to make the call from her room. So who did she call, or is that confidential." I asked.

"A pay phone outside the K Mart store in Wilmington." Ruth said. Not much chance anyone noticed him at midnight. We might get lucky and some cop drove by but I doubt it. Our man probably wouldn't have done the woman, if he thought somebody might have seen him. Ruth admitted.

"Do you know who she is?" I asked.

"Well she ain't Mary Amos," Eddie said belligerently.

"No kidding sport," I said nastily. Eddie was wearing a little thin about that time.

"Her name is Katherine Peterson. She lives in Winston Salem. She and her husband also have a house on Shell Island. We called him an hour or so ago. He will be coming down to identify the body. I wouldn't be surprised, if he comes to see you." Ruth said.

"Thanks for the warning Ruth. I would hate to refuse to talk to him just because I didn't know who he was." I said aiming the barb at Eddie.

"So you got any ideas?" Ruth asked.

"A couple, do you want to hear them?" I asked.

"You know I do. My motto has always been steal from the best." she admitted.

"Thanks for that," I said sarcastically. "I expect if you show her picture around the Runner and the Holiday someone in the lounges will recognize her. Maybe you can find out if she had a boyfriend or was just on the make." I suggested.

"That's what I planned to do anyway," Ruth stated.

"If the knife from the lab comes back with a serrated rear edge, you might want to try Mercer's pier. A lot of lonely women walk the pier at night." I suggested.

"You thinking fisherman?" Ruth asked.

"No I'm just thinking, she met him somewhere. If she wasn't cruising the upscale lounges she might have just met someone on the pier. Then again she may have been cruising the Tiki or some other tourist trap." I suggested.

"God you are behind the times. The Tiki is now the Hawaiian Villa," Ruth said with a smile.

"Tiki had a fire I suppose," I said with a smile of my own.

"You know it," she admitted.

It was the classic joke. When a club owner wanted to remodel his place, a fire usually broke out. The fires were always in the winter and usually just gutted the interior. Doing little or no structural damage. Even in the winter, the bars couldn't afford to be closed too long.

"My bet is on the Runner or Holiday," Eddie said.

"Which do you think Johnny?" Ruth asked.

"The pier," I answered simply.

"Why?" Ruth pressed.

"She called the K Mart store, not one of the lounges. If he met her in a lounge, it would be suspicious for him to ask her to call a pay phone. My guess is the meeting was set sometime in the afternoon." I said.

"So why didn't she meet him until midnight?" Eddie asked.

"Try this," I suggested. "Kate stayed home to make sure her husband wouldn't call. When he hadn't called by eleven, which is probably his normal bedtime she took the chance to leave the house. She didn't have her friend come to the house, just in case hubby showed up. If he had shown and waited for her, she took a walk on the beach to think. The phone number was prearranged leaving me to believe the date was made early in the day. My guess is the woman was not a cruiser."

"She just got sweat talked?" Ruth asked.

"You know how the salt air and pounding surf works on women," I reminded her.

"Only on tourist," she replied icily.

"I meant that," I said.

"We will have to check them all, but your version makes pretty good sense to me. You know Hubby could have done it. He had plenty of time to drive home before we called.

"Could be but why the call and why would she remove her ring to meet her Husband?" I asked.

"When I talk to him, I'll ask." Ruth said. "You know she might have forgot to replace it when she washed dishes last night."

"Could be, but my guess is she has skin under her nails and is full of semen. It won't match up to daddy bear." I guessed.

"The ultra violet revealed some on the sheets," Ruth said.

"I expected that," I replied. "So when can I rent the room again?"

"You really are a coldhearted bastard," Eddie commented.

"That's me sport," I replied.

"Don't call me sport," he said.

"We are through in there now, but give it till tomorrow night." Ruth said.

I Ignored him. "No problem, I don't have any others to rent, so I am going to take the night off," I replied.

"Johnny don't go messin' in this," Ruth warned. "I take a dim view of outsiders playing cop."

"Not to worry, I don't want to be a hero," I replied.

"I guess on that note we will be leaving you," Ruth said.

"Ruth have the husband take a look around the house. See if Kate bought anything new since his last trip down." Ruth nodded. She knew the drill.

I wouldn't forget a murder easily, especially since it happened in my motel. I spend most of the daylight hours dodging news whores. Sunday morning bright and early a rather ugly BMW pulled up outside the office. It was during the normal Sunday fishermen checkout and arrival times. The man who stepped from the BMW didn't look like a fisherman. I had never seen a fisherman in a thousand dollar suit. I watched as he walked into the office.

"You the owner," he asked nastily.

"Yes sir, can I help you?" I asked knowing I didn't want to hear the answer.

"I think you have done quite enough for me already," he almost screamed. "I am Edward Peterson and I am going to sue your ass off."

I turned cold at his attitude. "Mr. Peterson, I expected you to come asking me what happened. I expected that you would be upset, but why do you want to sue me?" I asked.

"Because you run the kind of place where a stranger can walk into a room, then rape and murder an innocent woman," he shouted.

"Did the cops tell you it happened that way?" I asked.

"They didn't have to. It couldn't have been any other way." he snapped.

"Mr. Sims, I don't think it happened that way and neither do the police. As a matter of fact I imagine we are both suspects at the moment." I said calmly.

"That's bullshit my wife was raped and murdered. You are just trying to prevent me suing." he shouted.

"Tell you what, you go get yourself a lawyer, let him take a look at the facts, then if he feels it appropriate let him file his action." I said it knowing I had obeyed all the laws. I also that he couldn't find a reputable lawyer, who would take a case he was certain to lose.

"I don't need a lawyer, I am a lawyer. I am going down to file the papers tomorrow." he said.

I was quickly losing my temper. I knew he was hurting, but I didn't feel like taking his abuse. On the other hand no one could predict how a jury would see things. "You know, what I really want to do is throw your ass out of here, but instead I am going to try one more time to reason with you. I checked you wife in legally, the door was not broken, before or after she died. She opened it to the man who killed her. I don't see how you can find any fault with me." I suggested.

"Have you ever lost a key to that room?" he asked.

"I have not," I replied. I knew where he was heading and I didn't like it.

"I understand you took over a couple of months ago. Did you have all the locks changed?" he asked.

"Why should I the place had been vacant for six months?" I replied.

"To prevent this kind of thing from happening." he said. "I am going to hang your ass. As a matter of fact I may just kick the shit out of you right now."

I limped around the counter to face him. I looked him hard in the eyes. "You may sue me and you may wind up owning this place, but you damned sure ain't gonna kick my ass. What you are going to do is get the hell out of my office." I said.

"You will be receiving the papers next week. As a matter of fact, I am going to see that they are served tomorrow," he said as he turned to leave.

"Good, I look forward to the formal apology I am going to demand," I said leaving out the part about his slut wife.

After he had gone, I tried to call Ruth at her office. When I didn't reach her I tried her home. "Hello," she answered.

"Ruth this is Johnny, what the hell did you tell Ed Peterson. He just came over here to tell me I was the cause of his wife being raped and murdered. The son of a bitch is going to sue me."

"You may have to take a number. He threatened Eddie with harassment, just because he asked his whereabouts Friday night. To answer your question we tried to tell him our theory, but he didn't want to hear it. His wife was as pure as the driven snow, according to him anyway."

I took a deep breath, then said the words I swore I would never say. "Well it looks like we are going to have to prove his wife met a lover here. To do that to his satisfaction we are going to have to come up with the man." I said.

"I'm sorry Johnny but there ain't gonna be no we shit. You are a civilian." she informed me.

"One who may lose everything, if you don't come up with the killer before he rushes this into court. I figure we got a month but no more." I said.

"You can hire a lawyer and drag this out for years," Ruth suggested.

"I can't afford a lawyer," I said.

"Sure you can, call Bunny," she insisted.

"Just who the hell is Bunny?" I asked.

"My old roommate. You remember Bunny, she roomed with me during the summer while she was in college."

"The ugly kid with the thick glasses and stringy hair. You mean to tell me she is a lawyer now?" I asked.

"You didn't expect her to be a Las Vegas showgirl did you?" she countered.

"Actually, I expected her to be a vet." I laughed.

"Anyway she has an office in Wilmington. I expect she could use the business. You know how those new firms are?" she asked.

"About as poor as a small motel owner, I suspect," I agreed. "If we don't find the guy before the first court date, I will pay her a few bucks to get it continued."

"Good, because we got nothing." Ruth informed me.

"What do you mean you got nothing?' I asked. "There is always something."

"Sure you find us the man and we can match his DNA. Too bad we don't have a DNA data base in this country."

"How about prints?" I asked.

"Thousands of them," she informed me. I should have known that in a motel there would be prints surviving from almost every guest who ever stayed in that room. We even have a rubber glove print."

"God I hope that belongs to Tisha," I said.

"Me too, if our man wore gloves then none of the thousand prints will be his." Ruth suggested.

"Did you get anything on the canvas?' I asked.

"Are you kidding at midnight on Friday, everyone was either sleeping or out drinking. We got nothing but the seventy year old woman's story." Ruth answered.

"How about the clubs and the pier?" I asked.