Chapter 3: All in the Family
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It was nearly a quarter past 11 p.m. when Cassidy and Alan gave up on the search. Don Stafford was committed to rotating more officers in to scour the vicinity for another full day. He was under orders to search as much of this section of the wildlife refuge as he could within that time. Cassidy and Alan knew that any new find would be referred to them, but it was their suspicion that all the buried corpses in the area had been recovered. The last corpse was removed from the ground more than two hours earlier. All total, nine bodies were recovered and sent to the medical examiner’s office. When Cassidy and Alan left the excavation site, they planned to visit the medical examiner’s office next.
The entry point outside the wilderness refuge was gridlocked with onlookers and the news media. Two news helicopters hovered high overhead along with one police helicopter. The parade of bodies being hauled out of the wilderness refuge in medical examiner bags and M.E. vans had triggered intense interest in the area. When Cassidy and Alan arrived at their car, several reporters attempted to question them about their find in the refuge. They gave a standard ‘no comment’ reply and got into their vehicle. Between the mob of people and parked vehicles at the entrance and the collection of vehicles in the narrow street outside the refuge entry, all creating a traffic nightmare, they were unable to drive faster than a slow walk until they were a block away from the refuge entry point. It took them ten times longer to exit the refuge than it did to enter, despite the assistance of uniform police officers.
During the ride to the Medical Examiner’s Building, Alan was in a state of bewilderment about what had happen that night. It was by far the largest event to happen to him as a lead detective. He had participated in large investigations in the past as part of a team, but he had no direct responsibility for the outcome of those. The discovery of these bodies had him considering the effect this case would have on his record as a NYPD detective. Considering his upcoming retirement, he hoped the find would elevate him to Detective 1st Grade, but he suspected that would only occur if he solved the case. Alan had no illusion about that possibility happening soon. Experience told him that serial killer cases were never easy and that it often took years to find the perpetrator.
“This is big,” Alan began to chatter introspectively. “This is going to get us noticed by some higher-ups. We need to dot all our I’s and cross all our T’s on this one.”
Cassidy was in a completely different frame of mind than her partner. At the moment, she did not see nor care how this case would affect her career, and she cared nothing for the attention it was bound to attract. What she saw was the beginning of a puzzle that she had to figured out. It was her job. Figuring out what happened and why was what she was paid to do. Failure to accomplish that task would be for her a personal failure, not a public one. Her mind was already entertaining theories and analyzing scenarios. She paid no attention to Alan’s musing. Her brain was too busy guiding the course of the vehicle they were in and assessing the facts as she knew them so far. In short order, she had driven Alan and herself from the excavation site to the Medical Examiner’s Building and was out of the car with Alan, as usual, two steps behind.
“You know detectives, it’s not like we don’t have enough work to do already,” Dr. Ethan Coulter complained with snide humor.
Ethan was in the middle of examining one of the bodies from the excavation site when he glanced up and noticed Cassidy and Alan enter the autopsy lab. He turned his attention back down to the corpse on the table after his little comment.
“Hey, think of it as job security,” Alan countered without hesitation.
“I am a New York City Medical Examiner, Detective Mercer,” Ethan returned dryly. “How much more job security do I need?”
Alan laughed briefly before conceding with a, “yeah you got a point there.”
Cassidy ignored their exchange. When she entered the lab, her attention went straight to the desiccated corpse in front of Ethan. The doctor had removed enough extraneous material to provide her with a far better image of the remains. For the first time, she was able to identify the sex of the corpse by its physical features rather than by its clothing. It was clear to her that the body on the table was female. This new level of recognition stunned Cassidy for a moment. The body became a person and not just an excuse for an investigation. A need to get justice for this person quickly welled up within her and she expressed it with a sharp and humorless inquiry to the doctor.
“What can you tell me about the bodies?”
Ethan noticed that there was no jest in Cassidy’s inquiry, and he responded in a sober and professional manner.
“Not much, six of the nine remains are female. There is no obvious cause of death, but that is not completely surprising since all but one of the remains have or is in the process of transitioning into dry remains. The remains of the ninth is too far along in its decay for fingerprinting. What I can tell you, based upon my preliminary examination, is that they are adults but not elderly and their clothing appears to be rather high end. They’re over there.”
Ethan pointed to a display of clothing on a long countertop along the wall. Cassidy hurried over to the countertop and began examining the clothing. Periodically, she would photograph the clothing with the camera in her tablet. Alan followed behind with less enthusiasm. While they examined the clothes, Ethan continued with his report.
“My guess is that the women are between the ages of 20 and 35 and the men between 25 and 45. The first victim died more than six years ago, and the last victim died about eight months ago.”
Cassidy questioned the doctor again without looking up from the tablet she was taking notes on and the clothing she was examining.
“When can we expect to know how they died?”
“Dr. McCullough may have something on that tomorrow before the end of the day. She’ll need to do a detailed examination that I don’t have the time to complete. If death was caused by some form of traumatic injury then she should be able to get some idea on that, if not the specifics.”
“So, we don’t know when, we don’t know how, and we don’t know who,” Alan enunciated sarcastically.
Cassidy ignored his remarks. Her thoughts were on notating all the labels on the victims’ clothes. Ethan responded without a second thought.
“Well, learning who they are shouldn’t be a problem,” he casually declared just before directing his attention back onto the corpse in front of him.
“Why is that?” Alan challenged for more details.
Ethan looked up with a start in response to Alan’s stern query.
“Oh well, they all took care of their teeth. I found loads of dental work, all totaled, and one of them had an operation—a broken arm. He’s got medical pins just below the left elbow.”
Cassidy and Alan spent another twenty-minutes taking notes on the available information, then they rushed off to the 122 Precinct. During their brief time at the station, they opened a new file on this investigation, logged the disposition of their efforts up to that moment and then set off for their respective homes. For Cassidy, that meant going home to an empty house. It was one a.m. when she climbed into her bed. At six a.m., she was up and preparing for another day. At 7:00 a.m., she was walking through the kitchen door of her parent’s home.
“Hi, Mom,” Cassidy greeted.
“Hi,” Margaret Tremaine acknowledged with a look over her shoulder. “You want some breakfast?”
Margaret was in the process of preparing the morning meal.
“No, just coffee,” Cassidy answered as she began to trudge her way through the kitchen with a large shopping bag full of clean clothes for her children. “Are the kids awake?”
“Just barely,” Margaret returned. “Are you taking the day off from work?”
“No, I’m going in late,” Cassidy answered in a tired voice. “I brought some clean clothes for the kids and I’ll take them to school before I go in.”
“You didn’t have to bring clothes for them. We still have the clothes they left behind from their last sleepover. They’re all washed and ironed.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, l forgot to get those.”
Cassidy was on her way out of the kitchen when she passed her father on the stairs to the upper level.
“Hi, Dad.”
Daniel Tremaine acknowledged the greeting with a grumbled, “good-morning.”
Daniel paid little notice to his daughter’s presence beyond those words. He anticipated seeing her there at the start of the day, and he was never in his best mood before his morning coffee. Cassidy was all too aware of his morning ritual and gave his grumbled reply no real attention. She passed him without hesitation and went to her old bedroom where her two children—Cynthia, seven; and John, six—were struggling to get their day started. She joined them in on their efforts.
Cynthia and John hurried into the kitchen twenty-minutes later all dressed for school. After cleaning up behind them, Cassidy followed her children downstairs and into the kitchen five minutes behind.
“This you?” Daniel asked as he held up the morning newspaper.
Cassidy noted the headline, ‘9 Bodies Found,’ before responding with a “yes.”
Daniel returned to reading the article with a brief disapproving shake of his head. Cassidy noticed her father’s disapproval then turned her attention to the coffee percolating on the counter. Cynthia and John were seated at the table with their grandfather munching away on pancakes and bacon.
“What time did you get in last night?” Margaret asked while cleaning up behind her cooking.
“It was too late for me to come here,” Cassidy evaded.
Cassidy knew that her mother would worry about her if she told the exact time. Margaret noticed the evasion and was familiar enough with her daughter to know that the time was very late.
“Should you be going in to work today?” Margaret questioned with concern.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Cassidy returned as she snagged a strip of bacon from the serving plate at the center of the table before going back to her cup of coffee on the counter.
“Well, at least eat some breakfast,” Margaret pleaded.
“I’m good, Mom. I’ll get something at work.”
Margaret shook her head in resignation and went back to cleaning the kitchen. Cassidy continued to lean against the counter drinking her coffee while her children ate, and her father ate and read the newspaper. This went on in silence for a few minutes and then Jared came down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. He was dressed in sweatpants, a tee shirt, and he looked as if he had just awakened. Cassidy was confused to see him enter the room.
“There she is; the detective of the hour,” Jared mumbled at first sight of his older sister by three years.
Jared was an NYPD Patrol Officer, and he worked the four-to-twelve shift. He had his own apartment in Brooklyn which is what made his presence at his parent’s home in the early morning so unexpected to Cassidy. Margaret and Daniel’s oldest child was Aaron. He was two years older than Cassidy, married with three children, had a home in Harlem and was an NYPD Patrol Officer also.
“What are you doing here?” Cassidy asked. “I thought mom and dad kicked you out,” she added with humor.
“We did,” Daniel grumbled from behind his paper.
“We did not,” Margaret quickly disputed sharply.
“I stopped by after work and decided to spend the night,” Jared explained matter-of-factly.
“You mean you came over to raid mom’s refrigerator,” Cassidy extolled, now suddenly aware.
“I was hungry, and I didn’t have anything at home,” Jared explained as though he had no other choice.
“Have you tried buying groceries?” Cassidy admonished more than questioned.
“I’ll have to give that try,” Jared returned sarcastically.
“This isn’t the first time he has gotten your mother up in the middle of the night to fix him something to eat,” Daniel tossed out with indifference.
“Mom!” Cassidy blurted out in astonishment. “I think it’s about time you set some boundaries with your youngest child.”
“I’m happy to do it,” Margaret countered as she continued to clean.
“Mom, can I get some pancakes and eggs?” Jared asked as he stepped over to the empty chair opposite Cynthia and John.
“Yes,” Margaret answered with a smile.
Jared sat in the chair and turned his attention to his niece and nephew.
“Hi munchkins,” Jared greeted his niece and nephew with an exaggerated smile.
Cynthia and John returned his greeting with giggles, waves and a “hi Uncle Jared.”
“You know, if you keep treating your mother like a short order cook, I’m going to start charging for the meals,” Daniel admonished behind the greetings from his position at the head of the table.
“No, you won’t,” Margaret corrected sternly.
“Good morning, Dad,” Jared said with a smile.
“Good morning,” Daniel responded as he put down his newspaper and examined his son. “How was your night?”
Their father’s interest in Jared’s night and not hers had the effect of being irksome to Cassidy. She more than halfway expected her father to have some interest in this new case she was working.
“It was quiet for the most part. You know how it goes,” Jared answered with a shrug.
“Yeah,” Daniel agreed with an attentive smile. “But don’t let your guard down. The streets will turn on you just like that.”
Daniel emphasized his point by snapping his fingers. Daniel was a proud retiree from the NYPD Patrol Officer Force. He spent his entire thirty-year career patrolling the streets of New York City. He was more than a little proud that his two sons had chosen to follow him into this profession. This was not true for his daughter. He feared for her safety in what he considered a man’s profession. The only solace he got out of her becoming an NYPD police offer was her transfer into the detective division of the force. In his mind, being a detective was far less dangerous than the job of a patrol officer.
“So, how was your night, big sister?” Jared asked with a smile. “Your find was the talk of the department last night. Is it true that they’re still out there digging?”
Daniel immediately lost interest in the conversation and returned his attention to the newspaper. Cassidy noticed her father’s reaction to the change in topic.
“We don’t think they’re going to find anything more,” Cassidy replied softly.
It was customary in the Tremaine family to avoid using certain words around preadolescent children. Because of this rule, the family made efforts to avoid using the words murder, kill, shoot, stab, body and their like around their preteens.
“So, what was the final count?” Jared asked with enthusiasm.
Cassidy almost whispered back, “nine.”
“Nine what, Mommy?” Cynthia asked while looking back over her shoulder at Cassidy.
“Cars, Baby,” Cassidy quickly answered. “We found nine cars that were stolen.”
Cynthia accepted her answer and went back to finishing the last of her breakfast.
“Hey, nine cars are nothing to sneeze at,” Jared returned with an excited expression. “You solve this case and they just might bump you up a grade.”
“No chance of that,” Daniel proffered introspectively from behind his newspaper.
Cassidy gave her father a steady look after his remark, then turned her attention back to her brother.
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Cassidy dismissed with a shrug. “I just want to know what happened.”
“You’re not going to know what happened,” Daniel declared as he turned a stern look on his daughter. “Cases like these are almost never solved by the detective that opens the case file. The investigation just keeps getting passed down for months and years until the perp makes a mistake or stops for reasons unknown. You’re just spinning your wheels.”
“I’m good at my job, Dad,” Cassidy argued back. “Don’t tell me I’m spinning my wheels.”
“Honey,” Daniel began in a conciliatory tone. “I’m just saying that being a detective is all clerical and lab work now. It’s not the exciting adventure you find depicted in paperback novels. You spend your day trying to attach names to the worst acts that people do to people. It’s not something that anyone should see. It’s nothing that I ever wanted my daughter to see.”
Cassidy chose not to respond to his remarks. She knew that the conversation was straying into verbiage that she did not want her children to hear. The tension between her and Daniel did not escape Margaret and Jared’s notice, and both thought it best to change the subject after a moment of silence. But before either of them could, Daniel elected to rally on in the same vein.
“You could have been a teacher like your mother, or a nurse, or even a homemaker,” Daniel expressed with frustration.
“So, could Aaron and Jared,” Cassidy rifled back with more than a hint of annoyance. “Come on, get your coats on,” she instructed Cynthia and John behind her last remark.
The two kids had finished eating and were listening to the conversation when Cassidy instructed them to leave the table. They climbed out of their seats and raced out of the kitchen. Daniel waited until they had left to room before responding to Cassidy’s heated response in an apologetic tone.
“I can wrap my mind around divorcing that jerk, okay. You should have never married him in the first place, but joining the force, I don’t understand that.”
“I have an associate degree in criminal justice,” Cassidy returned with a look of astonishment.
“Just a waste of money,” Daniel mumbled back with a shake of his head.
“Well, Dad, I’m just trying to get you value for your dollar.”
“Okay, come on you two,” Margaret interceded. “This debate never gets resolved. Let it go.”
Cassidy and Daniel said nothing behind Margaret’s admonishment. After a few seconds of silence, Cynthia and John raced back into the kitchen dressed in their coats. Cassidy promptly instructed them to say their goodbyes to their grandparents, which they did with hugs and kisses. Cassidy then opened the kitchen door and the kids ran out of the house.
“Bye, Mom, bye, Dad,” Cassidy said with a hint of regret in her tone.
As she turned for the doorway, Margaret responded with a “goodbye honey.”
By the time Cassidy got one foot through the doorway Daniel spoke up with a closing remark for his daughter.
“I just want you to be safe, Cassidy.”
“I know, Dad,” Cassidy turned back to say with a sympathetic expression. “But I don’t want to be safe. I don’t want to live my life being safe.”
Cassidy gave her father a momentary look of sorrow, turned and went through the doorway.
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