THE BODY COLLECTOR
The rain came down with such force that it knocked over trashcans and caused everyone to seek shelter almost immediately. It hit the city strong and fast causing power lines to rip from their poles. Harris had a hard time driving through the devastation, even with his windshield wipers struggling to improve his visibility. The downpour was unrelenting as it showered on New York all through the night, and no one was sure when it would let up. He squinted out the front window of his dirty maroon sedan searching for the building address as a song by ACDC blazed over the car speakers. After scrutinizing over the numbers he realized he was finally on location. He took a deep breath and checked his holster to find his gun nestled in place. He then withdrew the keys from the ignition and began to imagine what was in store for him. Dispatch had called him at home around midnight requesting that he investigate a murder that occurred only a few hours ago. He looked over the steering wheel as he saw that the scene was congested with numerous cops roaming around and multitudes of news media and onlookers just waiting to catch a glimpse of something. But there was one observer who stood out from the rest. He seemed too high-class to be associated with the media, and too wealthy to be living anywhere around here. He was a tall thin man with a long black overcoat that seemed expensive. He stood idle with both hands in his coat pockets and no umbrella to shelter him from the rain. Everything about this gentleman seemed different. But what was extremely odd was that he would not stop staring at Harris. The two locked eyes for what seemed an eternity until Harris’ line of concentration was thrown off by the police helicopter’s spotlight that shined directly into his eyes. Once he got his focus back the gentleman was gone. He then brushed it off as nothing; something he’s always done since he was a kid. Harris appeared older than his late twenties due to the stress of his occupation, and although he never ate right he was always in good slender shape. He looked into the rearview mirror and noticed his bloodshot eyes and unshaven face. As he exited from his vehicle a young officer approached him.
"Detective Harris?" asked the officer with a slight admiration in his voice.
"Yeah . . . wait a minute. Is that you Danny?" asked Harris with some astonishment.
"Yeah, I finally made it to homicide. Man it’s good to see you, it’s been awhile." Danny then handed a file to Harris who opened it as they began to walk through the barrage of officers towards the building. The two walked over a gutter that seemed more like a river as it carried trash along down the street.
"So fill me in on what you know so far,” said Harris as he flipped through the pages. The front doors to the twelve story apartment building were large and narrow with finely detailed carvings into the wood which gave them a gothic appearance. As they entered the building, a tidal wave of heat and ferocious body odor filled the air. Harris tried to act as if neither bothered him.
"The 43 year old victim's name is John Jameson; his wife Victoria left him about six months ago, they’re not officially divorced yet but as far as we can tell he’s been living here the whole time. He's had no priors and no tickets."
"Not even speeding tickets?" asked Harris with an almost sarcastic look on his face.
"Not even jaywalking. The last person to actually see the victim alive was the landlord who said she saw him two days ago when he returned from dropping his wife off at the airport.” Danny tried to keep his glasses clean from the drops of rain and sweat that prevented him from seeing the paperwork. His glasses gave him a somewhat librarian look which fit well with his body type. He was almost too thin to join the police department and was actually denied until Harris put in a good word for him. Ever since then Danny has always looked up to Harris as an older brother.
“How was the body found?” asked Harris.
“John was attempting to have an affair with a woman by the name of Gloria Ramirez. She stumbled across the body earlier tonight, supposedly with his wife out of town John had set up a dinner date.”
“So if this Jameson guy wanted to work things out with his wife Victoria, then he probably didn’t want any chance of getting caught with another woman.” A look of disgust came over him as he glazed over his wedding ring while pushing the button to recall the elevator to the ground floor. Harris couldn’t help but notice a couple of homeless men in their late fifties sitting in a pile of filth just a few feet away. They stunk of feces and urine and mumbled curse words that could barely be heard. He wasn’t wanted here, none of them were.
“We questioned Gloria for about an hour at the station, but she didn’t know anything. All she said was that she thought that the apartment building was a joke and when she arrived at his door, it was slightly open so she proceeded to enter, and that’s when she found the body. By the way, before we go any further you might want to put this on.” Danny then handed Harris a surgeon’s mask.
“Is it really that bad?” asked Harris.
“I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of things, but this is definitely unique in the morbid sense. Just be prepared for the worse. We’ve planted a guard at the door, not just to keep the evidence safe, but to protect everyone from accidentally seeing what I hope to never see again.” The elevator doors opened and the two entered. Harris could see that the building was almost entirely abandoned; except for the occasional homeless person living in one of the many unoccupied units. That’s probably why the smell didn’t alarm anyone, but what kind of woman would agree to meet a guy in a place like this.
“Where did John meet Gloria?” asked Harris as he looked over the inside of the elevator.
“According to her, she states that they met at a local supermarket over the frozen foods section. Tonight was supposed to be their first date.”
“Did she know about his wife?” Harris already knew the answer before it left his lips.
“No,” replied Danny. Lined all over the elevator walls were mirrors, most of them broken or cracked. Harris couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked. He had a good muscular build and short black hair with tints of gray scattered on the sides. His eyes were dark and red, signs of sleep deprivation. He appeared worn and tattered, as if he were dragged through years of shit and blood and left out to dry in the hot sun. “Where has the time gone,” he whispered.
“Okay, so now where’s Victoria and has anyone notified her yet?” asked Harris.
“The landlady said she overheard Victoria talking about her parent’s home in Fresno, California. We’ve got guys working on locating her as we speak.” The eight floor button lit up as the elevator doors slid open. In front of the two men lay a long and narrow hall full of trash and roaches. The walls and floors were one piece of horrid red upholstery which gave off a deathly appearance. Rats ran along the baseboard in both directions as roaches crawled all over the walls. The two commenced to walk through the filth when Harris noticed that all the apartments on their floor were empty; all except the one that lay at the end of the hall which read apartment #827. Harris took a deep breath and prepared himself the best he could before he finally made his way around the door jamb and into the living room.
The visual was incredible and surreal. Everything in the living from the furniture to the rugs was pushed against the walls. All the windows were boarded shut and what little light did come through had to fight against curtains made of bed sheets. The living room floor was completely free of any debris except for the small amounts of blood that lay directly underneath the body of John Jameson who hung upside down suspended by his feet. Rusty razor wire was used to secure John’s ankles to a hoist that had been set up to hold his weight. The same wire was also used to restrain his arms to his sides. Harris gathered that he must have been struggling for awhile because the wire had dug its way into the tissue and muscle of the victim making it barely visible. The victim had obviously been tortured due to the lacerations and whip marks that covered almost his entire body. His eyes had been removed along with both thumbs. Harris scanned the entire room and noticed something on the floor by one of the large covered windows. He went towards the wall where a table lay on its side and reached into the pile. He moved his hands around for awhile until he finally withdrew two cracked wine glasses. Then looking to Danny said, “Have the guys at the lab take a look at this. I just want to cover all the bases.” He then gave the evidence to Danny who labeled and placed it in a bag marked evidence.
“Why do you suppose the killer hung him upside down?” asked Danny with genuine curiosity. Danny had already been up here and wasn’t the least happy about his quick return. He could feel the sweat underneath his clothes build up again, he wanted to break open a window but kept the urge locked away.
“I’m not entirely sure, but during the medieval times when someone would want to torture their captive, they would hang them up side down to prevent them from passing out due to loss of blood. Whoever did this wanted to make sure that John didn’t have the luxury of missing out on his own punishment.” Harris walked over to the body that slowly swung gently from side to side.
“Why did you say punishment? You don’t think that this was the work of some asshole trying to mimic the ones before, you know like a copycat?” Danny asked as he too looked over the body.
“No, this wasn’t random. There was a lot of thought put into this. The killer must have known that he had time to work. Why else would he have taken the time to clean his workspace? Along with that, he hoisted the guy up in a way to maximize his time with the victim. The killer wanted to punish this guy for something. What I don’t understand is why remove John’s eyes, furthermore what significance is there in cutting his thumbs off? And above all else, I don’t think that this was a copycat” then after a moment of silence he continued, “he was here, this is definitely his signature.”
Danny felt a cold shiver crawl along his spine. If what Harris had said was true, then that would make this guy number eight on the death toll.
“Where did John work?” asked Harris.
“He worked at the police pound for about ten years.”
“Find out if he had any enemies, also have some guys go over all his calls whether on his cell or at home. Have them also keep track of his credit cards for any future purchases.” Danny then got on his cell phone as Harris began to investigate the back hallway, bathroom, and bedroom. There wasn’t much to look at in John’s bedroom; all he had was a mattress and some old take out thrown on the floor. There were no signs of forcible entry through the one window he had. The walls were painted with a dingy bluish yellow and an old picture of Jesus hung right above where John’s head would have been when he slept. Harris then made his way through the hallway and into the bathroom. This is where the core of the stench was originating from. The bathroom was small with a roof that leaked and seemed ready to cave in at any time. There was blood smeared on the bathroom tile and in the sink. Yet the bathtub was empty except for the residue left behind from blood that was poured down the drain. There were no feminine products of any kind which led Harris to wonder if Victoria ever came to visit for more than a couple of minutes if that. Come to think of it there was nothing that hinted of a female presence throughout the entire apartment; then he noticed something in the trash.
“Detective Harris, I’ve got something.” Harris entered the living room with open ears.
“I just got off the phone with the Fresno Police Department. Yesterday morning Victoria’s parents filed a missing report on their daughter. Apparently she never made it to Fresno. The police followed up on it and discovered that her ticket was never used; she never boarded the plane out of New York. I’ve already got a search in progress at the airport; if she’s there we’ll find her.” Danny felt impressed with himself.
“Have someone go over the surveillance tapes at the airport, also was there mention of her pregnancy in the report?” asked Harris.
“Pregnancy, Victoria was pregnant? What makes you believe that?”
“I found a pregnancy test in the trashcan. Don’t leak this out to anyone especially if her parents don’t know yet.”
Harris walked back to the body and studied it for a few minutes more. Then suddenly a small detail caught his attention. John’s mouth was taped shut. If the killer knew that nobody was around, then why go through the trouble of keeping John quite. Harris pulled the tape off showing John’s disfigured jaw and lips. Rigor had slowly set in and prying the mouth open would prove to be difficult.
“Danny, bring your flashlight.” Danny ran over shining the light across John’s face. Harris put his index fingers from both of his hands between John’s lips to try and pry the mouth open. But they slid in incredibly easy, as if the numerous lacerations on John’s lips and mouth were intended for just that purpose. He was then almost able to slide his whole hand in. He anticipated hitting John’s teeth but they were gone; the killer must have extracted them all. Once inside the mouth he swirled his fingers until he felt something peculiar which he then pulled out. It was a small plastic bag covered in blood. Using a pair of tweezers that he carried with his evidence pouch, Harris slowly opened the bag and lifted out a small piece of paper; which after he unfolded read:
Kill the impious one, equal if not worse than Oedipus; kill the antagonist of children,
Kill me!!!
“What the fuck Harris. What is this guy trying to say?” Danny gave a perplexed look as if slightly confused. Placing the note in an evidence bag and sealing it, Harris began to stare into the empty sockets as if searching for something.
“Okay, you win. Everything seems to pointing to our guy.” said Danny.
“Have you ever read the Greek tragedy “Oedipus the King”?” asked Harris.
“No, can’t say that I have English isn’t one of my strong suites.” Danny said with a sound of aggravation.
“Oedipus was a figure that slept with his mother without knowing and later the two had children together. Once our main character found out, he decided to punish himself for his acts by gouging his own eyes out leaving him blind to wonder as a beggar for the rest of his life.”
“I’m sure that John didn’t sleep with his mother, so where is this going?” Danny felt as though somewhere in the city the killer was laughing at him. He almost felt inadequate as if the killer was too smart for him.
“John didn’t sleep with his mother therefore he wasn’t equal to Oedipus, but what would you consider worse than that? If you follow the same line of thinking, then the antagonist of children would be one that sleeps with them which would then make him very impious.” Harris thought about what he said with great detail. He was going out on a limb but everything seemed to fall together. Danny walked across the linoleum covered floor towards Harris carrying a folder full of paper.
“Have you forgotten already? John’s clean there’s absolutely nothing on this guy. No one’s even filed a complaint against him. Even his work performance evaluations are spotless.” Danny hated to contradict Harris, but he just couldn’t imagine two complete opposite views of the same person. “And even if you are right, why would the killer want to rip John’s eyes out and what about the damn thumbs?”
“I think maybe John was the one who took his own eyes out, I’m still not sure about the thumbs.” Danny was dumbfounded, was Harris going a little too far with his theories.
“So what you’re saying is that you think John was a pedophile?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Harris as he stared right at Danny. The two stayed motionless for about a second until Harris finally stepped away turning his back to Danny.
“Listen Danny, you’ve done enough for tonight. Go ahead and take off, I’ll finish up the rest.”
“Are you sure?” asked Danny “I mean if you need me to stay I’ll be more than happy to.”
“No really, I’ve just got a couple of more things to look over.” Harris appeared tired when he spoke.
“I’d be bullshitting if I didn’t say that you didn’t look like shit Harris. Just be careful and get some rest.” Danny was really more worried about Harris’ state of mind. Sure Harris was smarter than most guys, but tonight Danny saw a new angle of him that was both brilliant and scary. Danny also felt a little upset with himself for doubting Harris.
“Before you leave, have someone comb the grounds for possible buckets of any size.”
“Buckets?” asked Danny.
“I think our killer might have carried the blood that he drained from the living room into the bathroom where he emptied the contents into the tub, therefore maybe the buckets have prints on them. Although I doubt it, I think he’s too smart for that. Also before you leave have someone put paper bags over John’s hands to preserve any evidence underneath his fingernails.”
“No problem. The rains coming down hard so get home before you get too tired to drive that old piece of shit sedan of yours,” Danny jokingly said with a hint of worry. He then turned and walked out of the apartment leaving Harris all alone with the body.
Harris walked along the walls fiddling over the trash and belongings that were piled knee high. Then he noticed off into the corner of the living room was an old television that had a stand underneath it covered with a bath towel. The portion of the stand that was not blocked by the dirty green towel appeared the spine of a book. Harris walked over and pulled the towel to the side revealing numerous books of different colors and sizes. Placing his finger along the spine he began to slide his finger across each book in hopes of finding a particular one. Then his finger came to a complete stop when he found a book entitled “Famous Greek Tragedies”. When he slowly pulled it out from the shelf he heard something fall to the floor. Looking down between his feet lay a roll of undeveloped film. His heart skipped a beat as he contemplated whether he was meant to find it or not. Either way he was going to develop it in hopes that something good would come of it. And with that Harris thought it best to call it a night.
The journey back down the elevator and out of the building itself seemed a long and filthy one. Once he stepped out into the rain his mood became better. He felt death roll off his body by the force of heavy raindrops. He then realized that he must have been upstairs for quite awhile because everyone was gone except for the occasional wandering citizen and a few squad cars roaming the streets. The impact of the rain drops felt harder with each passing minute. Harris made a run for his sedan and without losing stride had the door closed, ignition turned on, and wipers going. He had the day off tomorrow so he planned on sleeping late, but above all else his priority would be to turn in the roll of film.
“TAP, TAP, TAP”
Harris looked out his car window to see the same distinguished gentleman from earlier. He appeared to be in his fifties with silver white hair, but his face hardly had a wrinkle on it. Maybe Harris didn’t see him coming because he wore all black from his shoes to his coat.
Rolling down the window Harris said, “If you’re here for an interview or any information about the case, get with the Public Information Officer downtown. He’ll answer anything you want.” He then quickly rolled up the window and putting the truck in gear heard the sound again.
“TAP, TAP, TAP”
Harris grew frustrated as he rolled down the window.
“Did you not hear me the first time?” asked Harris sarcastically.
“Yes sir, but I’m here for another purpose. You see your attendance is required tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. at The Clive Building in downtown.” The gentleman then handed a piece of paper to Harris. “Here is the address, please don’t be late. Tardiness is looked at quite disdainfully.”
Looking over the address Harris said, “Who exactly are you and why should I go?”
The gentleman then putting his face closer towards the window replied, “Division 2 requires your assistance.” Harris had nothing to say for this had to be a joke.
“Division 2 doesn’t exist. So if you don’t mind could you play these games with someone else?”
“On the contrary Detective Harris, Division 2 is much alive and real. Have you at least heard of it?” Harris couldn’t help his curiosity and felt compelled to continue the conversation.
“Division 2 is a private organization within the government with ties into everything and with no jurisdiction. Division 2 is just a rumor it doesn’t exist and if it did it would have been mainstreamed along time ago. So thank you Mr.?”
“Trenton, Mr. Trenton but everyone calls me Colonel. In spite of everything that you’ve said Division 2 can only hope that you honor their invitation, and with that I bid you farewell.” The Colonel then turned and walked down the sidewalk through the pouring rain until he reached the end of the street where a black luxury vehicle picked him up. Harris saw all of this in his side mirror while wondering what he would do tomorrow. Maybe it was the pouring rain along with the sound of thunder or maybe it was just fatigue setting in, but there was something not quite right about the address. He’s worked in the city almost his whole career and has never heard of a Clive Building.
Dawn broke and the sun emerged shinning its rays across the skyline. Harris could barely open his eyes as he awoke and lay still staring out his large bedroom window that overlooked the city. It was amazing he thought, just last night everyone in New York probably thought the world was going to end by a massive flood, and now the skies were clear and not a cloud could be seen. Harris rolled over and peeked at the alarm clock, it said 09:00 a.m. He finally took the initiative to sit up in bed. He replayed the conversation from last night over and over again in his head; what if everything that old man said was true? Now he was just letting his mind wonder, but at the same time it was just too strange to pass up. After he showered and shaved, Harris gathered his gun and keys and began to make his way to the door when the phone rang. He thought it over and decided to pick it up in case it was Danny.
“Hello.”
“Detective Harris, this is Anthony the doorman.”
“Oh yeah Anthony, what can I do for you?”
“There are a couple of suits waiting for you; they said they were your ride.” Harris thought for a moment who they could be and decided against meeting them.
“Tell them I’ll be down in a second,” said Harris contemplating his next move.
“Yes sir.” Once he hung up, Harris quickly made his way to the floors back stairwell. He then cautiously sprinted down each flight hoping that he wouldn’t run into anybody. He was on the second floor platform when the door on the first floor stairwell opened. Harris stood motionless with his hand wrapped around the handle to his gun underneath his coat for a moment waiting for what ever was to happen. Then two elderly women came in and after seeing Harris yelled at him.
“These damn elevators need to be fixed; you make sure you let someone know.” The old woman then began shaking her cane in his face until he finally agreed to talk to some imaginary maintenance man. The two women then continued up the flight of stairs as Harris opened the door and peeked into the lobby. Once the coast was clear he made his way across the floor and just before he walked out the revolving doors he caught a glimpse of the two men. They appeared well armed with communications equipment attached to their ears. They were definitely on the higher end of the food chain. The larger of the two had a deep scar than ran down his left eye. Harris then quickly made his way to the parking garage and exited in his car before anyone even noticed. Things were becoming complicated real fast and Harris believed that whoever was at this meeting might be able to fill him in, that is of course if the meeting actually does exist. After ten minutes of driving Harris pulled in front of the Clive Building. After examining it he realized that not only did the building stand before him, but it had to be one of the tallest in Manhattan. He sat in his car wondering how he could have missed it all these years. As he slowly walked through the lobby doors he noticed a few guards on each side of him with the latest in military hardware strapped to their bodies; he could feel the security guards tense up. They seem to have zero tolerance for unidentified visitors. Then the one who appeared to be in command took a step forward in front of Harris. Just when he was about to deliver his speech as to why he was there the security officer in charge said, “Detective Harris there awaiting your arrival on the 28th floor.” And with that he moved to the side and let Harris through. The tension quickly dissipated as he eased his way to the elevators. Everything seemed so strange and foreign, even the inside of the elevator was top notch. The interior resembled that of a hotel as opposed to an office building. The lighted display across the elevator doors read 24th, 25th floor; soon he would find out the truth. It now read 26th, 27th floor; and yet no matter how strange the situation, he wanted just a small piece of it all to be real. As soon as it hit the 28th floor the doors slowly glided open.
A large oak reception desk lay in front of him with state of the art computer systems and equally impressive furniture. The lobby area was massive in space with corridors extending off into several directions from the entranceway. The whole level was lined with hardwood planks. The air felt crisp and clean and smelt of Jasmine.
“Detective Harris?” asked a beautiful young Hispanic woman with long black hair, dressed in a black business skirt and white blouse. She appeared to be in her early thirties and when she spoke she carried a soft accent.
“Yes,” replied Harris.
“Could you please place the palm of your hand over this glass panel?” As he lay his hand over the glass a light began to scan it from top to bottom as if searching for prints, then a feeling of a hundred simultaneous pricks surged through his hand giving a shocking sensation. After a moment of silence and awe the receptionist then stood up and said, “Please follow me Mr. Harris,” the two then began to make their way through the largest of the three hallways located directly in the center of the lobby behind her desk. The hallway was lined with deep midnight blue textured paint, and the opening was both grand in height as well as length. There were no pictures or plaques of any kind, just a few plants here and there. Nothing about this floor felt sterile or office-like. In fact it felt quite the opposite; more cozy and inviting. The secretary then began to slow her pace as they approached a set of large burly oak doors with old cast iron hardware.
“Their waiting Detective,” said the receptionist as she spoke dryly and without any emotion; then after giving Harris a slight smile she turned and walked away. Harris stood in front of the massive doors reflecting on thoughts and scenarios. He didn’t know what awaited him on the other side. Maybe this was all an elaborate hoax or maybe this was the real deal. Harris felt his palms sweat and his respirations increase. This was ridiculous; he had to take control of his fear of the unknown. Then grabbing both handles, he slowly opened the doors.
He became bewildered and shocked as he desperately exhausted all his senses trying to absorb everything that lay before him.
“Copyright © 2004 by Robert Dominguez Jr. All Rights Reserved.”