The Crucifix Killer - Chris Carter [119]
‘It’s official, we finally have a match for our victim,’ Doctor Winston said. ‘Who was she again?’
‘Her name was Victoria Baker. Canadian . . . had been living in LA for four years,’ Garcia replied.
Hunter kept his eyes on the fingerprint images on the computer. ‘We’ll run the other two prints against the police database just in case,’ he finally said, obviously bothered about something. It wasn’t until they were back in Garcia’s car that he spoke again.
‘We’re back to square one where links between victims are concerned. This screws up our “sex party” theory. George Slater probably never heard of Victoria Baker.’
Garcia ran both hands over his face and rubbed his eyes in the process. ‘I know.’
‘We have to find out where she was abducted from. Her place might give us some clues, but we won’t get a warrant until tomorrow.’
Garcia agreed. ‘We also have to contact her family in Canada and let them know.’
Hunter nodded slowly. That was one task they both could do without.
‘I’ll do it tonight,’ Hunter said.
As Garcia parked his car back by the RHD building Hunter wondered if he looked as tired and defeated as his partner did.
‘I’ll talk to Captain Bolter about the warrant and hopefully we’ll have it first thing tomorrow morning,’ Hunter said. ‘I’ll meet you here at around ten-thirty, first I’ll try and get another list of patients from one more hospital.’
Garcia rested his head against the headrest and took a deep breath.
‘Go home, rookie,’ Hunter said stealing a peek at his watch. ‘It’s not even nine o’clock yet. Spend the night with your wife. You need it and so does she. There’s nothing more for us to do tonight.’
There was always something to do in the office, but Hunter was right. There was nothing else they could accomplish tonight. Garcia thought of what had happened the night before with Anna and he could do with being home before she’d gone to bed at least once this week. They’d been working on casino time for weeks, never knowing what time it was. Even a tiny break would be welcome.
‘Yeah, Anna will appreciate me being home tonight.’
‘That’s right,’ Hunter agreed. ‘Get her some flowers on the way home. Not some cheap bouquet, something nice. Remember, buying somebody a present indicates your knowledge of that somebody’s personality, so get her something that you know she’ll like,’ he said with a reassuring smile.
Fifty-Three
Garcia took Hunter’s advice and dropped by Markey’s, a small convenience store on North Rampant Boulevard. It stocked just about everything, from flowers to booze, and their meatball sandwich and freshly brewed coffee weren’t bad either. Garcia had stopped there plenty of times back when he used to be a detective for the LAPD. It was a small detour from his way home, but he was sure Anna would appreciate his effort.
The tall, very attractive blond behind the counter greeted Garcia with a wide smile showing beautifully formed teeth. Garcia smiled back and ran his hand through his hair in an attempt to look a little more presentable.
Garcia decided to take a nice bottle of red wine home as well as the flowers. It’d been some time since he and Anna shared a bottle and she loved a nice bottle of Rioja. The flowers were displayed right at the store entrance, but Garcia ignored them for the moment.
‘Excuse me, where do you keep your bottles of wine?’
‘Right at the back,’ the blond girl replied with a new smile.
Their selection wasn’t exactly impressive, but then again Garcia wasn’t exactly a connoisseur. He chose a bottle by price. The more it costs, the better it should taste, he thought. He went back to where the flowers were and chose a nicely arranged bouquet of red roses.
‘I guess this will be all,’ he said placing everything on the counter.
‘That will be 40.95 please!’
Garcia handed her three twenty-dollar bills.
‘She’s a very lucky lady,’ the blond girl said, handing back his change.
‘Excuse me!’
‘The lady those flowers are for . . . very lucky lady.’ She smiled again and Garcia noticed how young and pretty she was.
‘Oh! Thank you,’ he blushed.