The Night Stalker

Ninety-Two

Chief Cooper slotted his fishing rod into the appropriate hook next to his chair and turned to face Hunter.

‘When I left LA this morning, my main concern was finding the log sheet for the Harper crime scene. There are only eight names on it.’ He retrieved his notebook from his jacket pocket. ‘Yours and two of your officers, Kimble and Perez. The Sonoma County sheriff at the time, Sheriff Hudson and two of his deputies, Edmunds and Hale. The county coroner at the time, Doctor Bennett and a forensic investigator, Gustavo Ortiz. Is that right?’

Chief Cooper didn’t have to think about it. He nodded immediately.

‘Can you remember if anyone else saw that scene, anyone at all? Someone who somehow wasn’t logged onto the sheet?’

The chief shook his head firmly. ‘No one else saw the scene. Not once we got there.’ He poured himself some more coffee. ‘The Harper house was only about a block away from the old police station. Tito, their neighbor at the time, called the station saying he heard a gunshot. Tito was, and still is, a pretty accomplished hunter. So when he said he heard a shotgun being fired, I knew it couldn’t have been a mistake. I was at the station when he called. It took me less than a minute to get there. I was first at the scene.’ He paused and looked away. ‘I’d never seen anything like it. Not even in case studies. And to tell you the truth, I hope I never see anything like it again.’

The sky was getting menacingly dark and the wind had picked up a notch.

‘A minute after I got to the house, Officers Kimble and Perez arrived. I knew straight away I had to get the County Sheriff’s Office involved. Despite our restricted experience with homicides, we all knew the protocol. We immediately isolated the house. No one other than the three of us had access to the scene.’

‘Until the sheriff and the coroner arrived,’ Hunter added.

‘That’s right. As you said, Doctor Bennett, who is now retired, had an investigator with him, Gustavo Ortiz. He’s now the chief coroner investigator for Santa Clara County. Sheriff Hudson had two deputies with him, Edmunds and Hale.’

Hunter nodded. ‘Chief Suarez told me. Edmunds is a captain now and Hale is assistant sheriff. They both live in Santa Rosa.’

Chief Cooper confirmed this. ‘No one else entered the house or saw the scene. I am sure because I was there until all the photographs were taken and the bodies removed.’

Thin rain started falling, but neither man moved.

‘The Harpers had a son, right? Andrew,’ Hunter said.

Chief Cooper nodded slowly.

‘I’ve been through all the files down at the station. There’s no photograph of the body, no autopsy report and no mention of what happened to him. It’s like all the files on the kid are missing.’

The way Chief Cooper looked at Hunter made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

‘His files aren’t missing. They aren’t there because his body was never found.’