The Missing Teen

Chapter 6

"Let's review what we have and haven't got in terms on evidence," commander Thorne said in preparation for her and detective Cole's upcoming second interrogation of Zelina Vega since her arrest for murder. Simultaneously, detectives Flair and Rollins would be talking to Aleister Black again. The entire Intelligence Division team were currently assembled in the office.

"We haven't got the circular saw," Cole said. It hadn't been recovered from Black and Vega's house, or their shed. It seemed likely that they had somehow disposed of it, knowing that it would be incriminating evidence if things went wrong for them.

"But we do have these," Flair said. Two full face respirator masks were sitting on her desk, contained in large plastic evidence bags.

"Yes. Bayley, I want you to get them to the lab," Thorne ordered. "I want full DNA testing. I'm willing to bet we can recover DNA to prove who was wearing them, and even though they've been cleaned, we might find traces of AJ's blood."

Martinez nodded. "I'll get over there as soon as we're done here."

"We also have the receipt for the bunch of items they bought at the hardware store," Rollins said.

"And CCTV footage of Vega at the checkout, purchasing it all," Clementine added.

"And of course we have Vega's blood on the doorframe of AJ's bedroom," Thorne said. "The bitch thought she had done such a good job of cleaning up after herself. Not quite good enough."

"Don't forget the messages they sent to each other about kidnapping someone," Cole said. "They can try and play it off as a joke, but to me it establishes motive."

"Agreed," Thorne said. "Lastly, we have Andrade Almas, who unknowingly helped Black get rid of the body in that storage container. He has agreed to testify in exchange for all charges against him being dropped."

"It's a damn good case we've got against them," Flair said.

"Yes. But I want a confession, ideally from both of them," Thorne said. "Okay then, dismissed. Charlotte, Seth, go break Black. Adam, you're with me. I'm going to enjoy this."

Zelina Vega looked annoyed when Thorne and Cole walked back into the interview room. She had been kept there for over two hours, with uniformed officers checking on her regularly, and offering food and bathroom visits. Cole saw the extended delay and the irritation it had caused as a good thing. If Vega lost her cool, she was more likely to slip up, potentially saying something incriminating.

"Well, Zelina, the past couple of hours haven't gone well for you," Thorne said, sitting down at the table.

"Tell me about it. The frozen pizzas you serve are terrible."

"Wisecracks, that's cute," Cole said, sitting next to Lucy. "Let's see what you can do with this one: We found traces of your blood on the doorframe of AJ's bedroom."

Vega's shock was visible for a second before she managed to compose herself and try to bluff it off. "That's not possible."

"It's factual," Thorne said coldly. "Your blood was there, and so was AJ's. You did a great job of cleaning the bathtub you cut her up in, but you weren't quite so thorough in her bedroom. Tell me, how did you feel while you were cutting your cousin into pieces with a circular saw?"

"I didn't kill AJ. I didn't cut up her body. I don't own a circular saw," Vega protested.

Cole said, "Guess what, genius? I'm guessing your boyfriend is a bit stupider than you are. Maybe it was him who unpacked everything you bought from hardware store? Whichever one of you it was had the brilliant idea to leave the receipt in a cupboard for us to find. From that, we now have CCTV from the store of you, Zelina, buying everything on that receipt, including a circular saw."