Picture Perfect

Chapter 51

As Hayley and Jameson pulled up to the Mastro home Jameson spoke up, "So we were wrong? About Jenna that is."
Hayley looked and sounded pissed, "We don't know that. This could just be a coincidence."
"Hayley we've both been in homicide long enough to not rely on things being a coincidence."
Hayley shrugged, "You never know."
"Whatever you say boss." Jameson replied.
Hayley sighed and said, "Look, for my own sanity right now I need to believe Jenna is our killer. Because if she's not then there's still a psycho out there ready to attack the only family I have."
Jameson smiled, "I knew you had a thing for Ashlee."
"Not how you think." Hayley admitted.
    "Well are you gonna explain or leave that up in the air?" Jameson prodded.
    "Long story short I doubly disappointed my blood family which left me on my own at twenty-two."
    "How so?" Jameson asked. She had never heard Hayley's story so she was curious.
    "My parents are rich and brilliant. They sent me to the best private schools since I was four. Needless to say when I told them I wanted to be a cop the day after my college graduation they considered it beneath them and me." Hayley said with a heavy sigh. "They wanted me to be an accomplished lawyer or doctor like them but I wanted to follow my own path."
    Jameson nodded, "I can respect that. Especially since I've seen your apartment, you definitely don't live off your parents money."
    Hayley laughed, "Yeah that is a direct result of the second disappointment."
    "Which was?" Jameson prodded.
    "My being gay!" Hayley stated, then after a moment explained, "My parents are extremely conservative and devoted Catholics."
    "Ahh." Jameson said with a sympathetic nod.
    "Both things came out at once and my parents threw me out of their home and their lives." Hayley said sadly. "Then at the academy I met Ashlee. She didn't care about my history or my sexual preference. She was mostly friendly from the get go. She helped me out not only professionally but also personally and for that I'm in her debt. She welcomed me into her family and honestly gave me back what I had lost because of my stupid parents. So you may wonder do I love Ashlee? Of course I do but as family, not in a romantic way."
    Jameson just nodded. She wasn't sure what to say. She had just learned more about Hayley than she had learned in the few years they had worked in homicide together.
    Hayley spoke up, "Well enough of the personal shit, we have a crime scene to check out." She said as she got out of the car.
    As they signed into the crime scene Jameson asked the officer at the door, "So what have we got?"
    The young officer gulped and replied, "It's bad in there."
    Hayley and Jameson nodded to each other and Hayley spoke up, "We'll determine that."
    As they walked into the living room Hayley could understand the young officers comment. Two adults and a child shot execution style was disturbing but she wasn't sure if this was their killer.
    "Not the same MO as the others." Jameson commented. "At least not completely."
    "True," Hayley said with a nod. "This seems rushed to me. Not like our killers usual scene. There are random bloody footprints around, though only leading towards that room there, not away from."
    They followed the prints and discovered the room was a bathroom. Jameson spoke up, "This is weird. I've seen the pictures of the other scenes and they were so neat."
    "Very true. And look at the footprints. They're not even, as if the person walks with a limp." Hayley observed.
    "Are you thinking a copy cat?" Jameson asked.
    Hayley shrugged, "Anything is possible but I'm not sure." Hayley was thinking about something Kayla had mentioned from one of the other crime scenes. Someone at another scene had tracked uneven footprints in part of the house. It wasn't solid evidence but it leaned towards the same killer. She was about to say something more when her phone rang. She looked at who it was and said, "It's the Captain, I'm gonna go outside. Take a look around and see if anything else jumps out at you."
    Hayley walked outside and into the backyard as she spoke, "Hey Captain."
    "What does it look like Williams?" He asked.
    "Too soon to tell. Man, woman and child dead. Staged but all three were shot. They were killed and staged in the same room which is different. There could be some trace evidence because it seems rushed and sloppy."
    "And obvious pictures missing?"
    "I actually can't tell Captain, there are boxes all over the place. Looks like they were in the process of moving in or out I suppose."
    "That's unfortunate." He said with a sigh. "There's more Hayley."
    "Another family?"
    "Not yet. Ashlee has another potential suspect, Tara Winters."
    Hayley was surprised, "The other photographer from Jenna's team?"
    "Yeah, except the real Tara Winters died five years ago in Chicago."
    "That's not good." Hayley replied. She thought back to when they went to the portrait studio and realized the woman in question had a slight limp, she began to feel worried. If this woman was the killer and she killed this family then she may have rushed because she had somewhere else to be. Hayley could only think of one place and the idea scared the shit out of her, she prayed she was wrong.
    "For now check out the scene and I'll let you know more when I know more." The captain replied.
    "Sounds good Capt." Hayley said and headed back into the house. As she headed back in looking around she looked around and said to the CSU guys, "Make sure you guys bag and tag these proof sheets on the coffee table."
    "I've been looking around," Jameson chimed in. "Do you really think this is the same person?"
    Hayley shrugged, "Could be but this seems rushed. All three victims were shot. At the other scenes only one was shot."
    "Plus the murder and the staging was done in the same room. That could be because the killer felt rushed but what's the hurry on this one?" Jameson commented.
    "The Captain told me something that might explain that." Hayley started but was interrupted.
    "Detectives, you may want to see this." One of the crime scene techs said.
    Hayley and Jameson walked over and looked at the sheet of proofs the guy was holding up.
    "Son of a bitch!" Jameson said. "This may be why the killer rushed here."
    Hayley replied, "We need to get to Ashlee's house, now! Captain said Ash thinks Tara Winters is a possible suspect. I think she might be right."
    "From the portrait studio? Where did that come from?" Jameson asked, confusion obvious on her face.
    "A hunch from Ashlee. Turns out the real Tara Winters is dead and this woman was using her identity." Hayley informed her as they headed out of the house.
    Jameson quickly switched from confused to pissed, "Are you kidding me? Then who the fuck was that woman at the portrait studio?" She shook her head then said, "Oh shit, she had a limp. Said she tweeked her knee a few weeks ago."
    The answer to the women's identity they were both thinking went unsaid as Hayley put the car into gear. Ash she started driving the Captain called again.
    Before she could speak he said, "We just got word of an explosion near Ashlee's house. Get there now!"
    "Already on our way Capt. The killer left proof sheet's of Ash's family at the scene."
    "Back up is in route but you'll probably beat them there." The captain informed her. "Assess the scene but proceed with extreme caution. I thing it goes without saying that this suspect has become extremely unpredictable, who knows what you will find."