Daddy's Gone a Hunting

40

At the crime lab, both the interior and the exterior of the wrecked van were methodically examined for evidence that might lead the police to the vagrant who had spent so many nights there. The empty bottles of cheap wine and the stacks of yellowing newspapers were brought out and methodically dusted for fingerprints. Ragged pieces of clothing were studied for stains of blood or other bodily fluids, as well as identifying labels. The padded floor and walls of the van were scrutinized under special lab lamps to make sure that no possible clue would be missed. Strands of human hair were placed in plastic bags.

Of enormous interest was the family picture in the battered silver frame that had been found in a corner of the interior, covered by a shabby sweater. “That picture was obviously taken decades ago,” Len Armstrong, the senior chemist, commented to his assistant, Carlos Lopez. “Look at the way those people are dressed. My mother wore her hair like that when I was a kid. The father’s shaggy haircut, with those long sideburns, are like the pictures I’ve seen of my uncle in the seventies. And this frame has been around for a long, long time.”

“The question is whether the picture has anything to do with the guy who was squatting here, or is it something he found in the garbage,” Lopez replied. “The marshals might want to try posting it on the Internet to see if anyone recognizes it.”

They were nearing the end of the stacks of newspapers. “We’re going to get enough prints off these to keep the FBI busy for a month,” Lopez observed. Then, his voice suddenly crisp, he said, “Wait a minute. Look at this!” He had uncovered a spiral notebook in the midsection of one of the newspapers and opened it.

The first page contained only a few sentences: “Property of Jamie Gordon. If found, please call me at 555-425-3795.”

The two chemists looked at each other. “Jamie Gordon!” Len exclaimed. “Isn’t she the college kid whose body was dragged out of the East River about two years ago?”

“Yes, she is,” Lopez said grimly. “And we may have just found the place where she was murdered.”