Again he walks around the area but nothing else comes to his attention so he climbs into his car again and starts for home. He calls home again on his cell phone and this time Marlene answers. “Hi honey. I’m on my way home. Lunch in an hour or would you like to go out for a bite?”
“Oh Mike, I just came in from the grocery store. I’ll put us on a bite here. Have you been jogging all this time?” She sounds sarcastic.
“No, I was jogging by the airport and noticed I had my briefcase with me from the last trip so I started digging into an insurance fraud case I have that occurred at the airport. I’ll be right home and fill you in. See you in a bit, dear.”
“By the way, work called and wants you to take a load to the Okanagan tomorrow. They said they already called Len and you’re to call them.”
“Thanks, dear. See you in a minute. I’m just over on South Fraser.” He punches off on the phone at the stoplight and speed dials CPX. He gets a local dispatcher and says, “Jerry, its Mike. What you got on for me tomorrow? The wife said to call.”
“Half load to Zellers in Kelowna then pick up a trailer in Sicamous for here. Don’t have the numbers in front of me but the paperwork will be ready tomorrow at nine.”
“Right. I’ll be there. Is Len coming in the morning?”
“That’s a roger. He said he’d see you at eight on the dock. Anything else?”
“Sounds like your busy. Guess that’s all. Take care.”
He pulls in the driveway and dials Trudy, but there’s no answer. He grabs his brief case and heads into the house. “Hi, hon. I’m going to grab a shower. How long till lunch?”
“Whenever your ready. Don’t I get a kiss?”
Mike grabs her and bends her back over the table as he kisses her. “How’s that!” He grins and heads for his office in the basement. He drops his briefcase on the desk and goes back upstairs to the bedroom. He strips and gathers a robe around himself as he goes to the en suite bathroom. He hears the water running as he comes in and calls back down to the kitchen, “Thanks, hon. I’ll be right with you.”
He strips and pulls back the shower door to find Marlene waiting for him with a grin on her face. “Janet’s laying down and I thought I might join you.” She reaches for him.
Later, both in robes, they enjoy lunch as Mike explains about the insurance fraud case he has. “Seems this kid may have arranged the theft of his own vehicle to get the insurance money so he can buy a new one. This case shouldn’t take up a lot of time unless I stumble onto something obvious. These cases are hard to prove. I’ll just have to do some legwork and see what I can come up with. Anyway, I’m going to be down in the office trying to make some sense of it for a while this afternoon. Can you keep Janet out of my hair?”
“I’ll try. What time do you go tomorrow?”
“Have to be up by six thirty. I want to be over there by eight thirty so I’ll have to leave shortly after seven. It’s just a turn around trip: one to pick up at Sicamous after a delivery in Kelowna. At least that’s all for now. It can change any time, but I should be back late tomorrow night. Then I should have Friday off. Maybe I can work on this insurance thing then.”
Mike retires to his office and closes the door. He opens his briefcase and draws out the file on Florence Hanson. He opens the file and looks for the victim workup.
Top left on the page is a recent photo in color of a plain brown haired, blue-eyed girl, fairly attractive in decent makeup with a saucy tilt to her small nose. Her hair is cut short and styled in a modern way to show off earrings that match the necklace she’s wearing. Good cleavage indicates a probable D cup beneath the off the shoulder gown she was wearing for the photo. Beside the picture it says her name was Florence Elaine Hanson (formerly Tremblay), ex wife of Robert Hanson of Surrey. Place of birth is listed as Simcoe, Ontario. Date of birth places her at twenty-three years of age. Place of residence is listed as a small house in Port Coquitlam. She was divorced about a year ago after a marriage that lasted two years. Her height is five foot, five inches and her weight is one hundred and eighteen pounds. Tattoo of a small butterfly is noted on her left breast and another of a jungle cat near her pelvis. No other distinguishing marks are noted.
It also says they lived in Burnaby when they were married, but she received half the property settlement when the place in Burnaby was sold. Further to that settlement she sued and won an assault case against him and received an award that almost wiped him out. Hmmmm, grounds for murder? Mike could see Robert driving her off the side of a bridge or hitting her with the first thing that came to hand but to plot a voluntary sexual liaison with her then strangle her. It just doesn’t make sense. He turns from the write up to the photos of the crime scene.
“Well Flo, there you are.” He mumbles as he studies the photos. “Definitely a padded blanket and the dispersal of fluids indicate she was not brought there after having been murdered somewhere else. Also the torn disarray of clothing indicates she was murdered where she lay. He gets a magnifying glass from his desk drawer and studies the photos in detail. The purple bruising around the neck and dark cast to the skin certainly seem to support the idea that she was strangled. There is ample bruising in the pelvic region as well and it’s difficult to make out the tattoo even though her pelvic area is close shaven. There is something obscene about the way her vagina gapes open in the photo but the whole photo is obscene for that matter. He studies another close up shot of her crotch and turns to the early forensic report. He studies the findings but does not see what he’s looking for. Maybe the more detailed complete forensic report to follow will explain what’s puzzling him. He’ll have to try and get Nina to at least check it for him.
Again he scans the overall shot and notices she has one earring in one ear but the other one is missing. He turns to the attending officers’ reports and finds that the missing earring was found in the grass about seven feet from her left side. It also indicates her panties were found lying beside her as if carelessly discarded. He goes back and checks the photo. Sure enough, there they are. He had thought that it was a hanky or Kleenex in the grass beside her or possibly debris. He concludes she must have removed them herself, again indicating a willingness to be there.
He again raises the magnifying glass and studies the area all around the body for anything. The blanket is bunched up in places consistent with a struggle and he tries to picture her fighting with her assailant. Something is not right but he can’t put his finger on it.
Her dress is unbuttoned all the way down and spreads under and around her, appearing to be torn in one area near the bust and her bra is skewed around no longer covering her breasts. He looks closer and can see no evidence of bruising around her breasts except where it appears a strap cut a path on the edge of one; again consistent with a struggle. The tattoo of the butterfly is clear in the photo, although turned in such a way as to make it hard to see. Why no damage to the breasts if it was a sexual pervert who attacked her? That’s what was bugging him. That’s it! And why were her hands behind her back? Again he checks the attending officers’ reports and finds that her hands were tied behind her back. Well, that explains that.
Still, there’s something else. He can feel it in his bones but what can it be? He starts at the top of the photo and works his way down with the glass. Damn! He’s missing something. He knows it. He glances at other shots but whatever it is, it eludes him. Finally he gives up but he knows his mind will keep working on the puzzle and he will wake one morning with the answer clear in his head. He just has to be patient. But does he have time?
Mike puts the file away in his briefcase and locks it. He goes upstairs and tells Marlene he has to go out for a while but will be back in time for supper. He throws the briefcase into the Mustang and drives around to a local service station. “Fill her up.” He watches in the mirror as the attendant fills the gas tank. He debates what to do next. He should slip in and see Ray. He’ll be at the Remand Center awaiting trial or he might be out on bail if he has a good lawyer. He pays for his gas and decides to call Nina. If she answers he’ll ask her where they’re holding Ray. If someone else answers he’ll hang up.
“RCMP, Port Coquitlam Detachment, can I help you.”
“Nina, it’s Mike.”
She whispers, “Not now.” and hangs up.
“Damn!” He dials the Remand Center in Maple Ridge and asks if Ray Chauffe is being allowed visitors. They inform him that Ray is being allowed visitors. He thanks them very much and gives his name. He requests to be added to his visitor’s list. The girl asks him some questions and says he will have clearance to visit if clearance is granted by tomorrow. He thanks her very much and hangs up. Well, now he knows where Ray is, Lower Mainland Regional Remand Center or LMRRC as it is known by the guards who work there.
He leaves the gas station and goes home.
“Any calls while I was out?” Marlene looks up from rolling out some pastry dough and says there wasn’t. Mike peeks over her shoulder and watches her quick movements as she sits a pie plate lightly on the dough, slashes with a knife in a circle and lifts it off then clears away the excess and places the shell into the pie plate.
“What you making?”
“What does it look like? It’s apple pie. We have a lot of those apples you got to use up.”
“Did you save some out for Jeff and Nina?”
“She said you were getting her a crate next trip.”
“Oh. I wish people would tell me about these things. I’ll be over there tomorrow, so I’ll get another crate then. If she doesn’t want them, I can sell them easy enough. Did you get a lot of applesauce done up?”
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