serendipity sanchez had come up through the ranks quickly, and at eighteen, was the youngest detective in the san francisco homicide division.
she had never been afraid of hard work, and now she plopped a report down on mona's desk as thick as a pile of newspapers hot off the presses with an extra in 1939.
a report on the zombie negative 5.748 murders. that mona had requested sixteen hours ago.
mona ran her thumb along the edges of the report. "this looks very impressive, sanchez. before i get into it, can i ask you one question?"
"of course."
"the last percentage number we had for one perp was 64.7 - something like that. i gave it to the media. " mona looked at serendipity. "is that number up or down?"
"up."
"how up?"
"to 89.2."
"i see. and what's your number for coming up with this 89.2 in a week?"
"i don't give a number in a report - i would say about 10 or 11 percent."
mona looked out the rain-streaked window at bryant street . "that's not very good."
serendipity stood a little straighter. "you asked me - that's what i think."
"of course i want you to tell me what you think." mona continued looking out the window. "the d a and the chief of police are very interested in this case."
"that's only to be expected," serendipity answered.
mona turned back to serendipity. "and as usual are free with their suggestions."
serendipity made no reply.
"suggestions like bringing in somebody from outside. just as a quote consultant unquote."
"no way!"
mona smiled. "of course it's not up to us to decide. if the chief wants to bring somebody in… but i talked them out of it. for now."
"thank you."
"oh, i didn't do it for you. i hate bringing outside people in, at any level. it just confuses things." mona rolled her eyes a little. "especially when you consider who they were thinking of bringing in."
serendipity was a little confused. surely mona didn't mean… "you mean…"
"dave turner."
"dave turner! that asshole!"
"yes, my feelings exactly. all right, sanchez, while i'm looking at this report - " mona paused, and glanced at the first page under the cover page. " i see we are off to a good start, using code z-5 instead of the whole zombie whatever…"
"yes, i saved some paper that way."
"while i am reading it you can start trying to find our friend z-5. you have code orange for everything, don't bother with any more reports until i ask for one… contact me at - " - mona took her own phone and quickly programmed it - " maz-5, got that?"
"maz-5."
"good. let's get on it, so we won't have to worry about dave turner or anybody else."
mona looked back down at the report lying flat on her desk.
serendipity turned and left the office.
she walked rapidly down the hall. "dave turner!" she thought. she had had one encounter with dave turner and it was enough.
but she was almost relieved.
it could have been mack treacher.
***
report on the series of possibly linked homicides : 150-3- dupre, 150-24-wardell, 150-33-gomez, 150- 47-chancellor, 150-48-jane doe, 150-66-john doe, 150-67- martindale.
link code (within this report only) : z-5
prepared by: serendipity sanchez, detective, homicide
part 1: homicides considered individually
150- 3 - dupre p 2
150- 24 - wardell p 33
150 - 33 - gomez p 61
150 - 47 - chancellor p 94
150 - 48 - jane doe p 130
150 - 66 - john doe p 141
150 - 67 - martindale p 149
part 2: consideration of possible connections p 190
connections p 191
statistical analysis p 203
part 3: probability of 2 - 7 perpetrators p 207
probabilities p 213
part 4 : probability of single perpetrator p 218
part 5: effect of media coverage/involvement p 230
summary and action plan p 247
mona prided herself on reading every word and every number in the reports she got. it was one of the reasons for her rise to head of homicide.
but maybe she needed a cup of coffee first.
***
a few short blocks away, mack treacher's face lay flat on the counter of the booth in the 953 club on 7th street.
boom boom shifted mack's head so he could breathe a little easier as he slept.
"he's not coming around," she told ashlee. "he's just going to have to sleep it off."
ashlee checked the time on her phone. "i don't know if i can wait for that. i have to be…"
"honey, it doesn't matter where you have to be. just go. i'll take care of him."
"are you sure?"
"yes. give me your number. if i get anything useful out of him i'll let you know."
"i got a couple of coaches coming in with a playbook. i told them i'd meet them at the airport."
"already? they don't waste any time."
"no, not if you are first round. even- even if you are only number eleven."
"all right, just go then."
"i can trust you?"
"of course. if you can't trust me, who can you trust? i work for the bugle. truth is my business."
"all right." ashlee got up quickly, and after one last look at mack with his head down on the booth, headed for the door.
as soon as she got outside, her phone rang and she took it out. she had expected it to be from the london broilers coaches she was going to meet but it was from serendipity sanchez.
finally calling her back.
to be continued
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