Wicked Deceptions - Amy Cecil Page 0,59

I could tell… She was always smiling. She was a wonderful woman to work for.”

“And you said she had no family?” Daniels had to ask again just to make sure.

“Yes, she never mentioned any family and never had visitors.”

“Good, well let me explain to you what happens from here. Once my forensics team is finished gathering evidence, we will turn the body over to her next of kin.”

“But she had no family.”

“Well, we believe that she had a sister. Hopefully, we will be able to track her down.”

“I see.”

“Thank you, Bently. You’ve been very helpful.” Daniels and Shark both turned to leave. “We’ll be in touch. I’m sorry for your loss.”

When Daniels and Shark returned to their car, neither of them spoke. Both were contemplating all that they had been told. Twenty minutes later, they arrived back at the station.

Daniels went back to his office and buzzed Brady. “Got any more information on the victim’s sister?”

“No, sir, still a dead end on the sister. We know she had one, just don’t know who.”

What the hell? “Thanks, Brady. I want you to do one more thing for me.”

“Anything.”

“I want you to get some guys out to the Bunny Man Bridge, and I want them to scour the area again. I want that head.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get my team right on it.”

It was getting late, and Daniels was tired. He had a raging headache and decided to call it a day. However he wanted to look over the case file one more time. As he opened the folder and began to peruse his notes, he realized his first mistake. There was no picture of the victim in the file and he neglected to get one from the victim’s butler. He scribbled a note on the outside of the folder, gathered his things and went home. He took his case file notes with him. He knew he was missing something, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

***

After staying up later than he wanted, Daniels made his way into the office the next morning. At about 10:30 a.m., his cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he saw it was Anna. He thought to himself, Hopefully, she will have some answers.

“Hey, Anna.”

“Hey, I think I got something for you. Do you have some time where we can meet?”

“Yeah, I’ll be at the station all day. Come on by.”

“See you soon.” She disconnected the call.

Anna arrived a little before noon. She approached Susie, who motioned her to go on into Daniels’s office. “He’s expecting you.” She walked in and made her way to his desk, then dropped her briefcase on the end. She opened it and pulled out a small stack of papers.

“First of all, I think your murderer may be a woman.”

“A woman?” Daniels questioned. There goes the angry-lover theory. And then that thought caused him to pause. Not necessarily.

“Yes, those hatchet wounds in her abdomen are shallow, indicating that the assailant didn’t have the upper body strength to break through skin and bone.”

“Well, then how do you explain the severed head?”

“There is a lot more bone and flesh to go through in the abdomen area than the neck.”

“Oh yeah, I guess.” He looked at her curiously, waiting for more.

“We’ve got a woman in our database who matches the profile.”

“What can you tell me about her?” Daniels asked.

“She’s the same age as the victim, worked at Integrated Dynamics, and knew Brandon Andrews well.”

“That’s where the victim worked, and Brandon Andrews was her husband.”

“I know. When your man indicated her identity, I did some digging of my own.”

“So what makes you think that this woman is the one, besides the obvious connection? Is there a motive? Has she committed this type of crime before?”

“Well, she’s been a suspect in two murders over the last three years; however, we’ve never been able to charge her. One case, she had an airtight alibi. On the other, she claimed and had proof that she was out of the country. Both murders were committed in this area, not at the Bunny Man Bridge but in Fairfax County, and the weapon—are you ready for this?”

Daniels nodded.

“It was a hatchet. And, both victims were women and had their heads severed. The heads were never found.”

“Do you think she has a motive?”

“Well apparently, she had an affair with Brandon Andrews. It ended right after Abigail started working there, but it could be key.”

“Yes, it could be.” He leaned back in his chair. “After talking with the family butler, I suspected