Glamorous - A Grace Bishop Novel - Chapter7
© Denise Bossarte
Grace
sat in the campus cafeteria, pouring over a forensic journal while chewing on a
ham and cheese sandwich she’d grabbed from the
vending machine. The school deli stocked it with fresh food several times a
day, and she didn’t have much guilt about resorting to a machine for dinner.
She’d been in no mood to cook tonight before heading to work, her thoughts
preoccupied by what she’d experienced with Beth at the hospital. The journal
was a welcome distraction, being a favorite subject in college. She continued
to learn as much about forensic science as she could to enhance her PI
skills.
The cell phone beside the discarded plastic
wrap from her sandwich rang with a riff from her favorite Pink Floyd song,
signaling a call from Billy. She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth and
answered.
“Heya, Billy,” she said before taking a
deep pull from her can of Dr Pepper to wet her throat for the conversation.
“Hi Gracie, are you on break?”
Spot on timing as usual; a somewhat
endearing trait.
“Yep, I’ve got another few minutes before I
need to head out.”
“Great. I wanted to hear what happened with
the girl at the hospital…”
“Beth,” Grace interjected.
“Beth,” Billy repeated. “And I wanted to
check on you. Find out how you’re doing, first time back and all,” he continued
the concern clear in his voice.
“It sucked, but I got through it,” she
said. “Danny ran interference for me, and I closed down tight to avoid
attracting anyone. It worked out well.”
“Sounds like you faced your demons head
on,” Billy said with satisfaction.
Grace barked a laugh. “I’m not sure you
would say that. I almost threw up all over DL’s shoes by the time I made it to
Beth’s room. The hospital smells always get to me.”
“Yeah, that smell gets me too,” Billy
admitted. “Too many policemen in the family, too many visits to the hospital
for gunshot wounds. I’m not looking forward to it being me any time soon.”
Grace made agreeing sounds.
“I was able to read Beth,” she said.
“What did you see?” Billy asked. “Anything
helpful?”
“I definitely got a face and a bit of
personality,” Grace stated before laying out the rest of the vision to Billy.
“His eyes changed color?” Billy asked and
Grace heard the skepticism in his tone.
“That’s what Beth saw,” she said trying not
to be defensive in response. “It was like someone threw a switch and there was
a different person; one moment Dr. Jekyll, the next Mr. Hyde.”
“I understand it’s what you saw, Gracie.
But it’s still a strong pill to swallow,” Billy said.
“For you and me both,” she replied with a
sigh. “But what concerns me more is this sense of being under a spell. This man
forced her to go with him despite how much he was creeping her out. I felt how
desperate she was to get away, but she couldn’t control herself.”
“Like he hypnotized her?” Billy offered.
“Something like that. More like compelled
against her will, but I don’t understand how he managed to do it,” she said.
“Do you think you’d recognize him in the
mug books? Do you want to come down to the station? Have the police artist draw
up a picture of him?”
Grace considered it for a few seconds
before answering in the negative.
“No, I don’t believe this guy is someone
who’s been in trouble with the law before; too clean cut, too professional
looking. Then what are we looking for? Someone up the food chain in drug rings
or a crime family?” she suggested.
“It would be an awful high risk of exposure
for that type,” Billy disagreed. “No need to go trolling for girls on the
street corner. Might be sex trafficking, but why such an open and obvious
approach?”
“It’s possible he likes it personal, the
thrill of the chase?” she proposed.
“Maybe.”
“Did Chris find out anything? Any other
girls or women missing the last two years?” she asked.
“Yes,” Billy said, sounding satisfied.
“Turns out the city has over 2 dozen main locations for prostitution inside the
city limits. Plus several hot spots which come and go over time.”
“I didn’t know that,” Grace said. “Was
Chris aware before he looked into this?”
“I’m sure he did,” Billy said, laughing
with chagrin. “Because he bet me $50 he would get me the information I needed
in two shifts. Fool that I am, I took him up on it and lost.
Turns out last year a city councilman’s
wife got upset about her husband’s late night escapades and threw a massive
stink. The Chief did a bit of a crackdown on prostitution in response. It was
more for show than for real effect. But Chris helped by identifying the prime
areas based on earlier arrest records and interviews with patrol officers
across the various precincts.”
“Well, it’s great for us. Sorry you lost
$50, though. Did he find something to help our case?”
“He said it was curious. In the past year
since he last checked there are several prostitutes whom dropped off the radar,
not one arrests for prostitution, possession, etc. He talked with a few
patrolmen too. They confirmed those girls hadn’t been around for some time.”
“They wouldn’t notice this earlier?” she
asked.
“There’s turnover at those locations. But
when asked, they admitted some of the most senior girls were no longer working
those areas.”
“I take it there wasn’t a major social
program underway to remove ladies from the streets in the last year?” Grace
proposed.
“No, Chris confirmed that too. The data
aligns with what you thought. But nothing conclusive yet.”
“That means we have three things,” Grace
theorized, ticking them off on her fingers as she noted them out loud.
“One. Young homeless girls disappearing.
Two. Prostitutes aren’t seen at their regular locations anymore. And three. A
girl whose attacker convinces her to approach him against her will. But then he
turns and tries his best to hurt her when someone intervenes.”
“That doesn’t mean they are connected,”
Billy countered.
“I know. But I’d like you and DL to compare
notes in person and test for a connection. Can Chris give you a list of names,
locations, and best date estimates for when the prostitutes were last in those
locations?”
“Sure, shouldn’t be a problem.”
Grace looked at her watch. Her break was up
five minutes earlier and she needed to be back at work.
“I gotta run,” she said as she rose from
the table, tucking the journal under her arm and carrying the remains of her
dinner to the trash can. “Let’s all get together at my place Tuesday night and
see what we can figure out.”
“Sounds good,” Billy said, already
distracted as he turned his attention back to his job. “See you soon.”
Grace thumbed the talk button to end the
call and headed out the cafeteria doors, her thoughts bouncing back and forth
between DL’s case and the big reveal planned for Danny’s upcoming birthday
party.
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