The dissolution of lore

Chapter 8

Jennifer Sanderson was an Anthropology student at the University working on a Masters degree.  Her grades had gotten her a scholarship, and a research grant in the area of Myths and Lore.  The picture they showed on the news showed a beautiful brunette, with beautiful green eyes and a Hollywood smile.   According to her friends she was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.

 One Saturday night while out with her friends, she had just vanished.  The police had kept up the search for two weeks, when they got a break.  A homeless man found her body in an abandoned warehouse, naked and drained of blood.  The autopsy showed that she had been alive up to twelve hours before she had been found. She had died of exsanguination, two slit marks were found on each of the jugular veins.   The police investigated for two more months then gave it up as a cold case.

Aaron opened the middle righthand side drawer of his desk, pulling out a box of Kleenex and placing it within reach of his two clients. 

" I will not waste your time rehashing what the news released." Tim said, his voice seeming numb, " My daughter was found on a work bench, positioned like someone was going to prepare her for burial. There were wounds on her, but she hadn't been beaten.  There were ligature marks on her wrists and ankles from when she was tied up.  The autopsy found no signs of sexual assault.  Thank God she hadn't had to deal with rape before she died.   The Coroner did mention one thing that struck me as odd, he said that she did not have a high level of adrenaline or other stress related hormones in her muscles.  He said she wasn't scared when she was killed.  The police found no real evidence at the crime scene"

 "Ok, " Aaron said "So that rules out the sex trade, I have seen way too much of their handy work. Taking good care of the body, guilty conscience, Maybe?"

Gennie was quietly weeping, but kept eye contact with Aaron as her husband continued,  "That was what the police concluded as well. Without any leads, and no real evidence to go on the police put the case into cold.  Not enough manpower.  The Detective on the case suggested we talked to you, and gave us your card.  We were not going to call upon you, but Dianna said you were the best."

Aaron looked at him a little puzzled as he did not know the detective on the case. "Which Detective gave you my card?" He asked inquisitively 

" A Detective Edwards." Tim shared in the numb tone. "He said there might be a lead you would have better luck following, as they just could not afford the manpower and you had better contacts who, as a police officer, would not talk to him at all."

Aaron was a little surprised his friend was on the case, Martin would have called on him for help.  Off the record of course.  He knew he would have to call him later.  He would have to find out where the red tape was that would not allow Martin to investigate.

Aaron stood up from his desk, walked around to the front and leaned on his desk. "ok, before I can commit to this investigation, I have a couple of questions. If I find the perpetrator, what would you like done?"

Gennie spoke up before her husband could respond, "Justice must be done." 

"Ok, but does that mean we hand him over to the police, even if it means he might get off?" Aaron pried. "Or do they just stay missing?"

"Mr. Flynn, I will leave that to you, I just want to know that the man who killed my daughter will not get away with murder." Tim said in a steady voice, "That being said we would like evidence that you have tracked down the killer"

Aaron nodded, then asked another question. "Do I have your permission to do what ever needs to be done to solve this case, that could included killing the killer?"

Gennie quickly responded "Aaron, we understand that this investigation may be bending the laws, but we support you and trust in your decisions ."

"We just need to discuss fees and any thing that might help me get started" Aaron stated as he stood back up.

Standing up from his chair, Tim reached inside his coat and pulled out a folded envelop, and handed it to Aaron. "Please send us a bill each month for your fees, we will let you know when we would like for you to stop. There is a black credit card in there for you to use for expenses, up to one million dollars.  I trust you and if there is a charge on the card I am curious about I will ask. I have also included our personal contact information should you need to get in touch with us. We already have all of your contact information from Dianna Matthews. You should know that the reference from Dianna is the reason we chose to visit you today.  Please email any documents to the e mail I have given you as they will come directly to me. " Tim said in a very business like manner,  as if he was just concluding a transaction. Shaking Aarons hand he added, "Thank you for taking the case, we have faith you will succeed where the police failed"

Aaron returned the hand shake and responded, "Thank you Tim, I hope I live up to your faith in me."

When Aaron turned to Gennie, she had already  gotten up out of her chair. She pulled Aaron into a hug whispering into his ear, "I know you will."

Aaron returned the hug, then led them from his office to the front door.  He opened the door for them.  "Good bye Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson"

"Good Bye Mr. Flynn" They both responded and walked toward the elevator.

Aaron closed the door and returned to his desk where he sat down. Running his hands through his hair he kept thinking about the difficulty of this current case.  When he looked up he saw the envelop sitting on the desk

"I now have a black credit card" he said to himself in total amazement