“Good.”

****

They arrived at the address the medical examiner had given Jason. It was a tiny house in old San Antonio and it clearly did not belong on the front of Good Housekeeping. Maybe on the front of Demolition Journal. It was white with a green roof and a small porch across the front. They avoided the hole in the bottom step and moved onto the creaky porch. Jason knocked.

No answer. He knocked again.

From inside some movement could be heard and eventually the door opened to reveal a short, blonde haired girl with bleary eyes. Her make-up from the previous night still on and smeared.

“Yeah.”

Jason showed his badge.

“I'm Detective Strong and this is Detective Layne. Mind if we ask you a few questions?”

“What about?”

“Does Jennifer Samples live here?”

The girl paused, looking from Jason to Vanessa and back again.

“Yeah, she's my roommate.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Why? Something wrong?”

Vanessa stepped forward.

“Can we come in?”

The girl gave them a scared look.

“I...I guess so.”

She swung the door open and led the way into the tiny living room. Jason stayed standing while Vanessa sat next to the girl on the couch. She looked younger than their victim.

“What's your name?” Vanessa asked, softly.

“Barbie… Barbie Jenkins.”

“How old are you, Barbie?”

“Nineteen”

Jason was taking notes while Vanessa talked.

“There's no easy way to say this. Jennifer was found dead this morning.”

The girl caught her breath and tears welled up in her eyes. Jason saw her start to shake. She was too young for this life, like so many others, and it broke his heart every time he saw it.

Vanessa pulled a mug shot photo out of her pocket and showed it to the girl.

“Is this your roommate?”

The girl stared at the picture, tears running down her face. She nodded. Vanessa put the picture away.

“Can you tell us the last time you saw her?”

“We were standing with some friends three nights ago when a guy pulled up. Jenn approached him while the rest of us talked.”

“Where were you?”

“South Presa”

Both detectives were familiar with South Presa street. In an industrialized section of town, it was the largest area for prostitution in San Antonio.

“Did you see him?”

“No.”

“What about his car?”

“Not really, except it wasn't a car, it was a pick-up.”

“Can you remember what kind or what color?”

“No, I didn't really look that close.”

“And you haven't seen her since?”

“No”

The girl had wiped her sleeve across her face and Jason watched as Vanessa touched the girl’s arm.

“I'm sorry about your friend. Do you know if she has any family we should contact?”

Barbie shook her head.

“She was from Palatka, Florida but she never talked about her family.”

Vanessa gave Barbie her card.

“If you think of anything else, will you call us please?”

They left the girl on the couch, clutching a pillow.

****

Back outside the house, Jason shook his head.

“That’s no life for a young girl.”

“It’s no life for anyone.”

“Of course, but when they’re that young, it’s so hard to understand.”

Vanessa knew what he meant, and like Jason, it made her angry. She focused on the investigation.

“It’s likely our guy is cruising, looking for a victim.”

“Yeah. It also seems he knows where to look.”

“Based on the last time she saw her friend, and the time of death the medical examiner gave us, it would appear our guy kept the girl about 24 hours.”

Vanessa looked back at the house as they drove away.

“Barbie. Doesn’t fit. That’s no Barbie doll life.”

Chapter  3

Jason was in first the next morning and sitting on his desk was the autopsy report on Jennifer Samples. He had been wrong about the victim being raped. A vaginal swab had produced no DNA and there were no signs of forcible intercourse.

He pulled out the post mortem diagram and examined it. She had ligature marks on her wrists indicating she had been restrained, Doctor Davis felt zip ties had been used, and as he had suggested at the scene, she was killed by a single gunshot to the heart.

The blood on the wine glass was the victims.

Vanessa had sat down at her desk and he didn't know she was there until she spoke.

“Morning, JD.”

He looked up from the report.

“Morning. Davis sent the autopsy report up.” He closed it and slid it to her while he summarized. Vanessa ignored it. She had a file on her desk this morning, too.

“I have a hit on my case file description I put out yesterday. It’s a case report from detectives in Austin. Six months ago, a twenty year old female was found shot once through the heart. The body was naked and propped up. In her hand was a bloodstained wine glass.”

Jason had moved around his desk to read over her shoulder. He looked at the photo of the Austin girl, then picked up the autopsy report from his desk. He showed Jennifer Samples picture to Vanessa. She was nearly a twin for the Austin girl. Dark Hair, Mid back length. Thin with big eyes. They laid the two pictures side by side. Taking into account the wine glass, a chill ran up Jason's spine.

Vanessa punched him in the arm. Jason groaned. She was up and moving.

“I told you, didn't I? I told you the wine glass was a signature. I'll brief the lieutenant and we'll head for Austin.”

Jason looked at the name on the Austin file.

Marcie Walker.

****

Vanessa read through the Marcie Walker file some more while Jason drove the hour and a half to Austin.

“She was found at Walter Long lake, east of the city. A 9 millimeter bullet and casing were recovered. The bullet had been lodged in the tree, just like ours. The blood on the wine glass was the victim's. They took a DNA swab but it was negative and there wasn’t any sign of rape. No fingerprints were found and the victim's clothes were never recovered.”

Jason suddenly remembered he hadn’t gone to Evidence to sign out their bullet.

“Did you sign out the bullet and casing?”

“Right here, zippered bag.” She flipped open the glove compartment so Jason could see. “I’m giving even money it’s a match for the one Austin PD has.”

“Seems likely. Doc Davis was right, though. Forensics said the bullet wasn’t good for much but verifying the gun caliber. The casing gives us the best hope of a direct match to the gun.”

Vanessa flipped the page and continued.

“Marcie Walker was a student at Austin Community College and had just started her sophomore year. She was from San Antonio, where her parents still live. She graduated from Lincoln High School.”

Jason took the exit off the highway and turned right onto 8th street.

“Is the parent’s address in the file?”

“Yes. West San Antonio.”

“We need to go see them when we get back to town.”

They pulled up at Austin police headquarters and parked. They were met at the front desk by Detective Nina Jefferson. She was black, short and stocky, with brown eyes and curly black hair. She carried herself with the air of an experienced officer despite not looking much older than 25. After introductions, they shook hands and started towards the elevator.

“Good trip down?”

Jason gave her a wry smile.

“It never is, thanks to the traffic. Coming into this city takes forever.”

Detective Jefferson laughed.

“We do our best to make you feel part of the crowd.”