# XF73320-S081696 |
Kennedy Ryan played with the FBI VISITOR tag attached to her lapel. Twisting it around thoughtfully. It had been a month now since she and the others had found the pink slip on their desks. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about being back at headquarters with this foreign label being branded across her chest. She decided, dropping her hands to her lap, that it felt like someone was pushing on an emotional bruise that needed more time to heal.
She looked about the sparsely decorated office. It was so like Luke, clean and neat. With nothing that wasn't completely necessary and functional. There were no pictures on his desk. In fact it looked as if the office was used for show on the tour or set up for a promotional photo. The only "unofficial" looking object was a beautiful photo on the wall. It was a large flag blowing in the wind, with a early morning landscape in the background. Ken concluded, smiling, his secretary must have picked it out.
Luke, an extremely intelligent man, was very handsome and had one of those photographic memories that Ken had always envied. Unfortunately, he was completely devoid of any personality. Which working for *VICAP was an asset. It allowed him to think like the killers he profiled without his own personality getting in the way. Ken had been his study partner at the Academy and had even been his escort to a few social functions after graduation. But he had stopped calling after her partner had been found dead. It had no longer been "practical" to be seen with her. Ken hadn't minded, but it made his phone call yesterday all that more intriguing.
She looked at her watch, it was 8:12. He was late and that was very unlike him. If it weren't for her terrible curiosity she'd have left by now, God knew how much work was waiting back at the office. As if reading her mind, the door opened up and Special Agent Luke Mitchell strode into the room. Kennedy stood up and turned toward the door. Luke stuck out his hand in a completely mechanical gesture. " Ken it's good to see you. It's been a long time." He said, with a voice that showed little or no past friendship between the two.
"Yes it has" She said the smile slipping from her face.
"Please sit down." He said gesturing down toward the chair.
Kennedy sat down and Luke made his way to the chair behind his desk. He placed the file he was holding down in front of him and slowly looked up at Ken. " I was sorry to hear your department had been.." He paused, " downsized." Kennedy shifted in her chair, seemingly uncomfortable with where this discussion was headed.
He coughed, " It seems we've come across a case that could use your group's...expertise?" He said as if not sure if he had used the right word. " I understand that your group has relocated and are working for a.. think tank of sorts?.." again unsure of his words. He looked at Ken for some sort of assistance over this awkward moment. Ken gave him none." The Bureau is wondering if your little group could help us.."
"Our "Little group", Ken interrupted, " has been, as you so elegantly put it, downsized" She had felt a red heat coming up from under her collar since Agent Mitchell opened his mouth. She rose from her chair and added sarcastically, "I'm sure The Bureau can dig up one of their own to help." she turned and moved toward the door.
"Ken wait... I'm sorry. I'm not good at this sort of thing. I'm afraid I offended you and I didn't mean to do that. We've exhausted all other channels within the Bureau, we need your help."
Kennedy turned around, her hand still clutching the door knob. That was about as heart felt and apology as Luke was capable of. She looked at him hard. Luke had risen and was leaned over his desk. "Two kids are dead..Please Ken." He said.
He had hit a nerve and her hand dropped to her side. No matter how proud or defensive she was, after that last remark she couldn't walk away and he knew that. She walked back to the chair and sat. "Cut the condescending sympathy crap, " She said, " And show me what you've got." A smile briefly lit over his face and he sat back down. He opened the folder and pushed it toward her.
"Peter Ward...heard of him?" He asked.
Ken nodded. How could she not? Protesters against the death penalty had made sure his name had been in the news the last three weeks of his life. Peter Ward was convicted in 1987 of the brutal stabbing of Missy Meyers, a local weather person for WRIC TV in Richmond Virginia. It was said the man had no remorse for his act because he simply couldn't remember doing it. He was very high on Cocaine when they found him hours after the attack. He was sentenced to death by the electric chair. He had exhausted all his appeals and was put to death last Tuesday night.
"What about him?"she asked.
"His fingerprints turned up in two recent killings, a 14 and a 16 year old. Murdered and left by the side of the road outside of Richmond last Saturday." He pushed two photos toward her." If that weren't enough, the bodies were "handled" much the same way as in Meyers case" Kennedy bit the inside of her lip. It didn't matter how many times she saw this kind of thing it still affected her. "The fact these are children and male, provide a couple glaring differences." She said her anger still lingering.
Luke nodded. "Yes, it does. We can't account for it. It is true that a criminal tastes can change over time." He said standing and starting to pace as if he were giving a lecture. He was in his element. "However, there were other details that differed slightly. For example the victims had died from a drug overdose and the stab wounds were inflicted postmortem. Under normal circumstances, we would be thinking copy cat. After the fingerprints came back a Peter Ward..." He stopped, his face showing a man that could not handle things that didn't fit. " I thought of this Berston character...." He trailed off and looked at Ken, " I dug into the case file and seeing your association with it...I thought you may provide a little insight here. I have little experience with Ghost murders. Berston is the only other case on record, where authentic fingerprints of a proven dead man have reappeared at a new crime scene."
Ken pulled at her sleeves as she crossed her arms. "I'm assuming you ruled out the possibility that prisoners had been switched before the electrocution?
"We have. The warden verified Ward's identity at the time of death. Also the county coroner's office fingerprinted him during the autopsy. The prints matched the prisoner print card on file. The man killed and buried by the State of Virginia was most definitely Peter Ward."
"And where do the Kids fit in here?" Ken said ,tapping the pictures she had turned face down on the desk.
"No connection to Peter Ward, that we can find. They did, however, have a connection to one another. Both were heavy drug users. Crack cocaine mostly, according to friends. They both died from an overdose of heroine. Also, according to friends, they hadn't used it before. We learned from a trucker, who picked them up, that they were hitching their ways to New York and met one another on the road. One was from the Miami area the other from Atlanta. The bodies were found along the side of the road about 2 miles from the truck stop the Trucker dumped them at. The trucker has been cleared." Kurt sat down again. "Are you going to help us with this one? I've got 7 other cases that need my attention right now..and this one doesn't follow my normal case load."
Kennedy closed the file. "Will we have full cooperation with the Bureau?" She asked, slightly bemused. She knew that OMEGA had technical support and inside avenues that would put the FBI to shame, but without the FBI badge or clearance, digging into prisoner assessment protocols and *AFIS records would be difficult and time consuming.
"You have the every resource of the VICAP at your disposal." He answered.
Kennedy stood up and pull together the case file. " I'm swamped right now too but I'll see what I can do. No promises."
*VICAP = Violent Criminal Apprehension Program
*AFIS = Automated Fingerprint Identification System
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Kennedy Ryan stepped into the office brimming with morning activity. Her eyes tired and her appearance somewhat mussed. Ken explained her appearance to Abbe. It seemed she and Vic were on a case that involved alot of stakeout time wich had ment little sleeping time. Abbe gave Ken a sympathetic look and ask if there was anything she could help with. Kennedy passed over the case Luke had given her this morning . "I owe you one Abbe." Ken said. Abbe just waved her off.
The group decided to split into to two groups to cover more ground. Beck, Tyler and Gates headed off to investigate the Coroner while Stillwater, Meyers and Cai investigate the jail where Peter Ward spent his last days.
Beck's group found the Coroner a friendly man , yet often lost in deep thought. After some questioning and some trial an error they found that the man buried couldn't be identified as Peter Ward. There were some *mistakes* dealing with the autopsy of Ward.. the most important being the routine autopsy fingerprints, that would assure Mr. Ward's identity, are missing. Also missing are the print cards from the jail, used to match the ones the coroner had taken and to authorize the burial. The Coroner tells the agents that the fingerprints were verified before burial and although he is fairly sure it was indeed Peter Ward..there is no solid proof to that effect. The interview is cut short by a phone call the coroner receives. The assistant responsible for printing Ward's body, has been found dead. The coroner and Agents dash off to the scene.
The group at the jail finds that the Warden is a busy guy, but a chatty guard shows them to Ward's cell. The agents find very little in the Jail cell but two things are very important...first a pair kitchen rubber gloves. The guard explains that Ward was a bit of a neat freak. Since he was going to the chair the Warden felt it ok to indulge the death row inmate. Stillwater glances around the room..feeling something isn't quite right he slips a glove unseen into a evidence bag. Then he scans the tiny cell once more as Cai and Meyers talk to the guard outside the cell. He sees two empty bottles of rubber cement from a small garbage can. The guard had told the group that Ward had been an *Artsy Type* but Jakes knowing that Ward had a drug problem thinks this kind of indulgence was a bit beyond the call. Even if he was to die. Cai and Meyers learn from the Guard that the jail is very overcrowded. Which makes jail the empty cell next to Ward's odd. Seems a fellow murderer(Sydney Benton) was sent to maximum security the same day Ward was put to death.
Finally after a tour of the facility the Warden has time to see them. Jakes excuses himself back to the call and puts in a call to Ken.. asking her to dig up any information on Sydney Benton. Also he tells her he is going to Fed Ex some evidence to have it catalogued, printed and send him back the results.
Meanwhile Cai and Meyers find the Warden too friendly and eager to help. He is very evasive and seemingly forgetful. He does verify it was Ward that was put to death and no there was no switch made. But when asked about the other prisoner Sydney Benton he is a bit shaken. He does know Benton was sent to a maximum security facility but he has no idea where he was sent . Also with all the overcrowding in the jail he will have to have his secretary dig up Benton's records and that could take days. The Warden smiles and says when he finds it he will be sure to pass it on.
Cai and Meyers are escorted back to the car. Both discussing their mistrust of the Warden. Meyers puts in a call to Beck and finds out about the new murder of the Coroner's assistant. After dropping off Jakes to send his package to Ken, Cai and Meyrs head for the new crime scene.
The crime scene is a dead end street in a wooded park. The assistant has been shot in the head and is still untouched. The group spreads out looking for clues as the Coroner, a bit shaken. deals with the body. The group comments that this murder is very different than the other they have been dealing with. The use of a gun is way off base from the Ghost killer they seem to be chasing. The group does find something. A piece of cloth in a tree above the car. It seems to have been placed there on purpose.. It is part of a prison uniform. The Agents get it down and seal it as evidence Beck making a mental note to send it to AFIS for prints.
As the group helps to load the assistant's body into the Medical examiner van, Beck and the Coroner realize at the same time that her shoelaces have been tied together. The Coroner and Beck exchange a knowing glance....This couldn't be a Copy Cat. Missy Meyers, the woman Ward was sent to the chair for killing, had had her shoelaces tied together. This was not a piece of evidence shared with anyone from the press. It was not even mentioned in Ward's trial. The Coroner reveals that the two boys killed earlier in the week also had their shoelaces tied together.
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Fax To: Jakes Stillwater or Abbe Beck
Richmond Holiday Inn
Fax From: Ken Ryan
UN Special Division - DC
Name: Sydney Clark Benton
AKA Ben Brown
Ben Clark
Place and Date of Birth: Clement AL 03-23-48
Social security number: 265-80-9631
Summary:
Juv. record - unavailable
06-04-78 - Arrested for purchasing drugs from an undercover officer and charged with intent to distribute.
09-19-81 - Probation granted
12-21-82 - Arrested for possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
05-02-85 - Probation granted
02-07-87 - Arrested Murder 3 counts.
Written in Ken's Hand across the bottom.... From what I can tell all drug charges were involved heroine.. The murder counts were three younger boys and it was thought he was their drug supplier. I could not locate a transfer to another prison. He is supposed to be in the Richmond facility awaiting the chair. I hope this stuff helps.
As for the items sent.. The rubber gloves tested for prints.. came back clean..no finger prints but traces of rubber cement found in the finger tips. The rubber cement bottles have fingerprints other than Wards. They match up to Warden Kenneth Johnson- Richmond facility (whose prints are on record because they need all law enforcement to be printed to identify all prints that might be at a crime scene) Also, of course, a partial print of yours Jakes.
Good Luck
Ken
*END PART 1*
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