The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 6*

"Aha, well the two cassette tapes are here, that's a good start," exclaimed Sam, removing each of them and placing them on his desk. "What else do we have?” he questioned. “An evidence bag with, oh a small piece of fabric, label reads paracord with a question mark, found on the neck of victim number five,” he said as he focused to read the words a little better. “Well, that’s a bonus, wasn't expecting that. Oh wow, an old videotape? I know this was a few years ago but that's pretty old school tech." They both had a little laugh and Hank looked over Sam’s shoulder at the stuff.

“What else is in there?” Hank asked and Sam continued removing the items.

"An envelope with Apex Cleaning LTD Payroll written on it and a small business card that says ATD cleaners; Anthony Thomas Drummond. Ok, that's interesting. We have another box...," Sam trailed off as he removed the lid from the second box and cringed. "Ok, that would be the pool balls found with each of the bodies, damn should have seen that one coming," Sam muttered as Hank chuckled to himself while Sam replaced the lid over the pool balls. "Oh, and a chemical analysis of each of the balls," Sam finished off as he scanned his eyes over the reports before putting the lid back on the evidence box and picking up the two tapes again. "Now then, what are we going to play these on?"

Hank closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "my turn to go and pester the captain then?" he groaned.

Sam gave him a smile along with a nod as he said, "hopefully things will settle down soon and we'll be able to get on with it without needing help all the time." Hank rolled his eyes before he left the room and headed to the Captain’s office. He knocked when he was there and popped his head in when he heard the ‘come in’. Hank offered him a smile and explained what they were looking for.

"Ah, easy one," the Captain told him, giving him directions to the storeroom. "There's a couple of tape decks in there to play them on.”

"We also found an old videotape," Hank added.

"Yep, same room, there's an old television in there with a built-in VCR player for you. Anything else?" the Captain asked.

"Actually, yes sir, while I'm here. Does the name Apex Cleaning LTD mean anything to you?"

"Apex? Yeah sure, we don't deal with them anymore but they used to have the contract to clean the precinct."

"Hm, is that all?" Hank said looking disappointed

"Erm, no," the captain added, looking thoughtful. "They also had a forensic cleaning department that we used to use. They would clean up the crime scenes after we'd finished investigating them."

"Really? Now that's more like it!" Hank smiled. "So why don't we use them any longer?"

"I imagine they were outbid when the contract went out for tender. Not my decision, I'm afraid. You'd have to speak to the commissioner about that, that's all her department."

"Ok, maybe I'll speak to her the next time she's here. I just wondered if it was a disciplinary thing or something along those lines," Hank probed.

"Oh no, nothing like that," the captain confirmed. "From what I do know, they were quite good. Actually, I think they were just undercut," the captain added on.

"Ok nice one; thank you, sir." Hank nodded at the captain before heading off towards the storeroom with a spring in his step.

Sam looked up as the office door opened and saw Hank pushing a trolley in and both shook their heads at the old school technology.

"Ok, got us a tape player and an old TV VCR combo for the video," Hank told his partner before relaying the information captain Beesley had just provided him with.

"That’s good," Sam told him, immediately heading for the evidence box and removing the envelope with Apex Cleaning LTD payroll written on it. A quick glance at its contents instantly confirmed that not only was Anthony Drummond an employee of theirs but also that he was on the list of registered forensic cleaners. "Interesting," exclaimed Sam. "So, not only would he have had access to the tools and equipment needed but would also have had the necessary knowledge to clean up the crime scene before we arrived. Plus there were traces of an industrial cleaning solution found on three of the pool balls."

"Hm," said Hank, curiously. "I'm even more intrigued as to what is on those tapes now." Sam agreed with his partner and grabbed one of the tapes putting it into the player. They both sat back in their chairs and listened intently as Sam hit the play button.

It had turned out to be the second of the two interviews recorded nearly two weeks after the discovery of the sixth victim and the wife of investigating detective Carl Mitchell, who was not present at any point throughout the interview. Anthony Drummond had remained calm and at times, even appeared to be sympathetic towards the two detectives interviewing him. He did, though, remain defiant insisting that he had absolutely nothing to do with this or any other killings.

The evidence had shown that Mrs. Mitchell's body had been discovered at a community center that had been closed for the holidays. Of the two staff members who worked there and held keys to the center, one of them had been receiving hospital treatment and therefore unable to do the crime, while the other had been out of town visiting friends and family and had a solid alibi. There was only one other key that had been left with Apex Cleaning LTD as they were contracted to look after the building.

After being contacted by the police, Apex had confirmed that Anthony Drummond was, in fact, given the task of cleaning and making sure the building was ready for reopening once the holidays were over. Anthony Drummond, however, had provided himself with an ironclad alibi. He was claiming that at the time of death, he had been at a local baseball park and had even been shown on the local TV news channel after a fellow spectator that was sitting in the row in front of him had managed to catch the ball after one of the players had hit a home run. This, in turn, won him a large sum of money in a long-standing promotion the team had been running.

"I'm guessing the videotape in here contains the news clip showing Drummond at the ballpark," Sam said stopping the tape player as the interview drew to a close.

"Yeah, I expect so," Hank nodded. "So, on the basis of that, we're looking for two people," he added and Sam nodded in agreement

"I would think so, yes and the two of them are conferring and collaborating with each other in order to make it look like one killer while simultaneously providing an alibi for one of them each time?" Sam offered and Hank drummed his fingers on the desk.

"Yeah, that could work," Hank added looking thoughtful. "It was the way he claimed to have had nothing to do with the “killings” that got me thinking though," he said, putting the quotation marks around the word ‘killings’ with his fingers. "Sounds to me like Drummond is possibly supplying the victims; abducting them, holding or detaining them, and maybe even delivering them to the eventual killer, and then returning after the deed to clean up the scene before they both disappear."

"Wow," exclaimed Sam, "That is quite brilliant! And very plausible, to be truthful. In fact, that would also explain the gap between the victim’s disappearance and the actual deaths." They both smiled and nodded at each other. “Ok let's see what’s on the other tape then"