Dream Clues - Chapter 1

Author's Note: Other chapters are available for your review.
Prologue: "Dream Clues - Prologue" 
Chapter 1: "Dream Clues - Chapter 1" 
Chapter 2: "Dream Clues - Chapter 2" 
Chapter 3: "Dream Clues - Chapter 3" 

Dream Clues - Chapter 1

Scene: Centennial Olympic Park.

Detective Daniel O’Reilly arrived at Centennial Olympic Park, the murder scene. It was only five in the morning and the day was starting badly. To add insult to injury it was cold. He moved to Atlanta from New York to get away from the cold weather, but February in Atlanta was chilly. It was only 23 degrees, but the wind was blowing from the north. It made it feel like the temperature was in the teens.

He was grateful that he had worn his gloves, but at 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, when the wind hit his exposed face it sent a chill down his back. His short haircut did not help. He wore his brown hair longer when he was an undercover agent, but his new boss liked his detectives to look clean-cut. He thought to himself at least it was going to be a sunny day requiring his sunglasses. His 36-year-old blue eyes were too sensitive for the harsh Georgia sunlight. He smirked to himself when he thought of New York. After all, in New York, there was snow in Central Park and a Nor’easter was forecasted for tonight. He was grateful to be in Atlanta and away from the snow.

Daniel believed that Centennial Olympic Park was a fun and family oriented park. He had come to this park on many occasions to eat his lunch. During his visits to the park, he would watch the children play in the Fountain of Rings and observe families share time together.

Family, one thing Daniel never seemed to make time for in his busy life. His job had always sucked up all of his personal time. He was much too busy to sustain any lasting romantic relationships much less have time for family. The women in his life just could not understand why most murder investigations started before 9 a.m. and that the investigation would consume nearly all of his time sometimes-lasting weeks on end. The results were always the same for Daniel. There would be tears, arguments and then the inevitable, “I can’t live like this anymore” right before his latest female companion would storm out of his apartment.

Daniel approached the officer standing next to the reflecting pool. “Morning, Jim. Who found the body?”

Police Officer Jim Brown nodded his head toward a small group of people standing by the fountain. “He goes by the name of Peeves. He’s a homeless guy who comes here early in the morning to rob the pool of small change.”

Daniel looked over at the group and noticed two police officers, his partner Detective Kate Elmore, and a small black man covered in what appeared to be layer upon layer of clothing. He looked like he had not taken a bath in months. “Did he see anything?”

“It’s hard to tell. He seems disoriented. It could be drugs or alcohol, or he’s just crazy. I’m betting on the latter. I found him hiding behind the old man statue over there.” Officer Brown pointed toward the Gateway of Dreams sculpture. The sculpture pays homage to the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Daniel was one of hundreds of out of state police officers that had volunteered to travel and work security in Atlanta during the summer 1996 Olympics. He had worked security at Times Square many times during the annual New Year’s Eve celebration that provided the much requested crowd-control experience that the Atlanta officials were looking for during the Olympics. It was during this time in Atlanta that he decided to leave New York City. He fell in love with the people, culture, weather, and the southern history. To Daniel’s dismay, his friends in New York would always say that Daniel moved to Atlanta because he fell in love with sweet tea. This would always paint a smile on Daniel’s face, shortly followed by him nodding his head and saying, “Damn, right!”

Daniel directed his attention back to Officer Brown. “Thanks Jim. The crowds should start arriving in a few hours. Make sure you position some officers at the entrance gates to turn the tourists away until after we are done here. Also, I noticed that the press was starting to arrive. Keep them back.”

“I’ve already called for crowd control back-up. They should be here in a few minutes.”
“Great. Stay warm.” Daniel walked over to Bob Harper, the Medical Examiner on-site. Daniel observed the body of a Caucasian woman lying on her back next to the pool. She had blonde hair, approximately 5-foot-3, 125 pounds, and she appeared to be in her twenties. She was clearly wet, probably from the reflecting pool.
“Morning, Bob? Are we looking at the same guy for this one?”

Daniel always thought that Bob was an odd-looking character. His 6-foot-4 lanky body seemed to overwhelm most of the victims he analyzed. Bob glanced up at Daniel.

“Hey Danny. Yep, appears to be the same M.O. She looks like she was in her early to mid-twenties.” Bob looked down at the victims’ face. “Bless her heart, she reminds me of my daughter. I’m going to have to call her tonight.” Bob paused and then looked back at Daniel. “Anyway, she appears to have been strangled like the others and the pen injury looks to be post-mortem.”

Daniel bent down over the victim and looked at the pen protruding out of her left eye. “What was the T.O.D.?”

Bob looked up at Daniel with a look of frustration on his face. “Danny, this is not CSI. I can’t be that precise. Those stupid T.V. shows drive us real professionals crazy.” Bob paused and saw the shared frustration on Daniel’s face. “My best guess is that she died in the past six hours. However, the body temperature is off due to the coolness of the water in the pool where her body was found. I’ll know more once I get her body back to the lab.”

“Did you get pictures of the body before removing it from the water?”

“Yeah, and I’m fix’n to bag the hands for trace analysis later.”

“Thanks Bob. Give me a call when you know more.” Daniel could not hide the frustration in his response to Bob. He had been the lead detective on these murder cases for two weeks now with no suspects or motives identified.

Daniel walked over to the edge of the reflecting pool and sat down on the cold marble shelf. With a long sigh, Daniel pulled out his notepad and pen from his coat pocket. He opened the pad to a blank page, but instead of writing, he found himself staring at the victim.

Daniel shook his head in disgust and unbelief. He could not understand why three young women had been brutally murdered in the past two weeks. He also could not understand why their bodies were discarded in such public venues where children visit.

The only common links between the victims were the method of murder and the type of location where their bodies were disposed. They were all strangled and a ballpoint pen was jabbed in to their left eye. What was the significance of the pen in the eye? Why was the pen in the left eye and not in the right eye? This latest murder victim was dropped at Centennial Olympic Park. The other two victims were located at Candler Park and Piedmont Park. What was special about these parks other than accessibility and limited traffic after dark? These were just some of the questions that were bothering Daniel.

Daniel knew that it was going to be a very long day. The paperwork required for a murder would take him hours. Hours he did not have to waste. Someone was out there, on his watch, killing young girls and he had to stop them. He needed to find something that linked the victims. What could it be? What was he missing?

Author's Note: Other chapters are available for your review.
Prologue: "Dream Clues - Prologue" 
Chapter 1: "Dream Clues - Chapter 1" 
Chapter 2: "Dream Clues - Chapter 2" 
Chapter 3: "Dream Clues - Chapter 3"