A Striking Similarity Read online

‘Wasn’t raining at the time, ma’am. It didn’t start until later.’ Grant confirmed from his notes.

  ‘New cops always write down so much,’ Penner thought. She remembered when she was new on the force, she would go through a notebook every couple of weeks. Now, she could make one last for a couple of months. ‘Could she have fallen somewhere, hit her head and stumbled here after the bleeding slowed?’ she asked.

  ‘Don’t think so, ma’am. With a wound like that, I would say death came pretty darn quick. If nothing else, she wouldn’t have been able to move very far and I searched the immediate area after taping off the scene. Didn’t see blood or anything. Real strange, if you ask me.’

  ‘Right. Has uniform started knocking on doors to see if anyone saw anything?’ Penner asked, glancing over to see what Millar was doing.

  ‘Not sure, ma’am, but I can find out. If there’s nothing else…?’ Grant put his notebook back in his pocket and looked around for his Sergeant.

  ‘That’s good for now, thanks,’ Penner said. She walked over to see Millar. ‘So, what are you thinking?’ Millar had pulled back part of the tarp and was crouched down looking at the victim’s face. The rain had finally stopped.

  ‘Always a bit creepy when their eyes are still open. Wonder what she saw?’ Millar stood up with a grimace. ‘Look at the size of this gash! There is no way she was going to survive this. Where’s the coroner? We need to move her to see if there’s a lot of blood on her back or road rash or something. Maybe a hit and run?’

  ‘Maybe. But when I was looking earlier I didn’t notice any marks anywhere except on her head.’ Penner pulled the tarp down all the way. ‘See, clean as a whistle. Her dress still looks like it was just ironed. I really don’t know.’

  ‘What time did that constable say he first saw her?’ Millar asked, looking around again.

  ‘Um, just before 12:30 I think. Why?’

  ‘Well, there’s a bus stop just there,’ Millar said, pointing to his left. The sign was about twenty feet from the statue. ‘What time does the bus stop running at night? After midnight, right?’

  ‘I think around 1:00,’ Penner said hesitantly. It had been a long time since she had taken the bus. The city had pretty good service, but she didn’t like the fact she always seemed to end up sitting next to someone who smelled bad or didn’t understand the principle of personal space.

  ‘Right, well then the driver of the bus may be able to narrow down when our girl ended up here. Constable Grant!’ Millar yelled with his booming voice. Grant hurried over.

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘I need you to find out what time the bus made its last run past here and who the driver was. I’m going to want to speak to him,’ Millar said.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Grant ran off to his car.

  ‘Ah, Detectives Penner and Millar.’ It was the coroner, Dr. Faye Pelow, a short, stocky woman in her sixties with a face full of character. A face that had seen more than most people could even imagine.

  ‘Faye, how nice of you to finally join us,’ Millar said sarcastically.

  ‘Hi, Faye, doing well?’ Penner asked.

  ‘Probably better than you—I don’t have to put up with him everyday,’ Faye jerked a thumb in Millar’s direction. ‘So, let’s see what we’ve got,’ Faye said, pulling on her black gloves. ‘Well that’s a nasty hit, eh? Not much blood. Rain?’

  ‘Apparently not. She was covered up before the rain really started,’ Penner said, squatting down beside Faye.

  ‘Really. Huh. Well, let’s turn her on her side and see what her back’s like, shall we?’ The three of them each carefully took hold of the victim and turned her to her left. Millar shone his light down the back of her dress.

  ‘No blood?’ he noticed, surprised.

  ‘Some, but not much. Strange, she would have bled a lot from that hit.’ Faye looked at the dress as they turned the body back to a seated position. ‘No pockets. Why don’t they put pockets on dresses? I’ll never understand why designers think woman don’t need pockets. Did she have a purse or clutch or something?’ Faye asked Penner.

  ‘Not that we found. Could have been a robbery I guess.’

  ‘Could have been,’ Faye said, looking over the body. She ran her hand down the front of the victim, reaching down her neck line, feeling around in her bra. ‘Here we go,’ she said, pulling out a driver’s license and some cash. When heading out with no pockets or purse, a bra can hold a surprising amount of stuff. ‘For you, Detective. Don’t say I never gave you anything.’ Faye handed the card and money to Millar.

  ‘Karen Wong. Thirty-two years old. Well, at least we have a name,’ Millar said, writing down her address before putting the items into an evidence bag he took out of his jacket pocket. ‘Let us know when you get her on the table, Faye. I’d like to be there.’

  ‘Sure, should be sometime later today, maybe this afternoon,’ Faye said, looking at Karen Wong’s eyes, which were still clear, almost alert.

  ‘Well, I guess we should head to Ms. Wong’s place and see if we can get anyone up,’ Millar said.

  ‘I was really hoping to head home, have a shower and a quick nap. Feels like this night’s not going to end,’ Penner said. ‘Thanks, Faye, always a pleasure. Millar, I’ll follow you, you know where we’re going?’

  ‘Yup, shouldn’t take too long to get there,’ Millar said. As they walked back towards their cars, Millar could see Arden wandering around, still trying to get the scoop.

  * * *

  Fifteen minutes later, Millar and Penner pulled up outside of Ms. Wong’s modestly-sized house. It was a typical house for the area with a brick front, fake shutters, and attached to the neighbour’s house by the garage.

  ‘Well, that was some fancy driving. I don’t think you actually stopped at any of those red lights,’ Penner said as she walked up to Millar.

  ‘I looked, no one was coming. The streets are like a ghost town this time of night,’ Millar said, looking at the house. ‘No lights on, but I guess that’s not too surprising.’

  ‘Maybe she lived alone,’ Penner suggested as she got to the front door. She rang the door bell and listened to see if any noise could be heard inside. Millar was standing back to get a good look at the house to see if any lights came on. Nothing.

  ‘Try again,’ Millar said, still watching the house. Penner rang the bell three times in succession, then listened again, trying to have a look through the window next to the door, but it was too dark to see anything.

  ‘Either no one’s home or they’re ignoring us,’ Penner said. ‘What say we just leave our card and come back in the morning. I’m beat.’

  Millar checked his watch. ‘Sounds good to me. How ‘bout we meet at the station at oh nine hundred?’

  ‘Perfect,’ Penner said, pulling one of her business cards out of her coat pocket and sliding it into the door jam beside the handle.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Millar didn’t bother looking at the time when he pulled into his laneway. It didn’t matter. He already knew it was too late to get much sleep before meeting Penner at nine. Grabbing his bag off the back seat, he quietly closed the car door. He walked up to the house and unlocked the front door, throwing his keys on the table and dropping his bag at his feet.

  ‘Well, good morning, stranger.’ He heard a voice coming from the living room as he took off his wet suit jacket and shirt.

  ‘Hey T. Late night or early morning?’ He asked his daughter, Tina, as he walked into the living room.

  ‘Bit of both, you?’ Tina was curled up in a corner of the couch, beneath a blanket.

  ‘Way too late a night. What are you reading?’ he asked, seeing a book across her lap.

  ‘Oh, just some book on profiling by some know-it-all detective guy.’ It was Millar’s second book, the one he had written after finishing a speaking tour at various precincts across the States. During that tour, he had met a lot of other profilers and learned several new ideas and theories. ‘Thought it might help me sleep. Pretty boring stuff!’ />
  ‘Nice, thanks for the review. Do me a favour and don’t post it on-line,’ Millar said, smiling. ‘I need to shower and get a few hours of sleep. What time are you heading to school? I can drive you at eight thirty, if you want?’

  ‘Thanks, but I have to be there early for practice. Don’t forget I have a match this afternoon. Three thirty. You promised this time,’ Tina said. The look in her eye was a cross between accusation and hope.

  Millar paused in the hallway. ‘I’ll try, but no guarantees. We got another body tonight so…’ he started.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I know. The dead always come first. Whatever,’ Tina said, opening up the book again.

  ‘Now that’s not fair, T!’

  ‘Don’t talk to me about what’s fair! When was the last time you actually came to watch me? Probably back in my first year! That’s six years, Dad! How fair is that? As soon as there’s a body you’re there in a flash! Maybe if you spent some time with the living, Mom wouldn’t have left,’ Tina said, slamming the book shut in her lap.

  ‘Tina, you know we were having problems long before I joined homicide. My job had nothing to do with the split.’ Millar rubbed his tired eyes. ‘Look, I’ll do my best to get there this afternoon, okay?’

  ‘Don’t bother,’ Tina said, tossing the book down. She unwound from the couch, letting the blanket fall on the floor and went to the front hall closet. Grabbing her gym bag, she muttered, ‘See ya later,’ before slamming the front door behind her.

  ‘Man, life was so much easier before she became a teen,’ Millar thought as he climbed the stairs to take a shower. Even as a little girl, Tina had always had a bit of an attitude, but it had gotten much worse over the years. Her mother said it was just hormones but Millar really wasn’t too sure. He could profile criminals, but his own daughter was a mystery.

  Only a few short hours later, his alarm went off. ‘How is it eight thirty already?’ he wondered. Getting out of bed, he pulled a clean, dry shirt and suit out of the closet. He dressed quickly and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, something he had evidently forgotten to do before going to bed; his mouth felt like he’d smoked a pack of cigars. ‘My God, I look awful!’ he said out loud, looking at the bags under his eyes. This job had really started to take a toll on him. Late nights, early mornings, not enough sleep and too much junk food eaten while sitting in his car.

  His phone rang as he was straightening his tie. He glanced at the number before he answered.

  ‘Hey, Penner. Get any sleep?’

  ‘Not nearly enough. Change of plans. I’m starved, want to meet at Joe’s for breakfast, then head over to Ms. Wong’s place?’

  ‘Sounds like a plan. I can be there in, say, fifteen minutes?’ Millar said checking his watch.

  ‘Works for me, see you there. Order me a coffee if you get there first. Later.’

  ‘Likewise.’ Millar hung up the phone. He walked downstairs, passing through the living room, his book still on the floor where Tina had dropped it. ‘Not sure why she thinks this is boring. I thought it was one of my better works,’ he thought, picking it up and putting it back on the shelf next to his other two books. ‘Well, let’s get this day going.’ He picked up his keys from the table and headed out to his car.

  Millar got to Joe’s before Penner did. It was closer to his house than hers, since she lived right downtown. More convenient for work and for going out at night, but not as good if you had kids, which she didn’t. He went in and grabbed a table close to the door—it was one of the only tables left. Surveying the diner to see who else was there, he saw mainly beat cops, the odd suit, and one table of old guys, exchanging stories after their morning walk.

  ‘Terry, how’s it going? Been a while. Been busy?’ Joe asked, sitting down across from Millar at the table. Joe was an older guy with grey, straggly hair. He had been a cop in the neighbourhood for almost thirty years, but had to take early retirement because of an injury. He used part of his retirement fund to open the diner. He liked hearing the stories from all the cops that came in—made him feel like he was still working.

  ‘Yeah, real busy, Joe. Had another murder last night, kind of a weird one. Seems like the body was dumped over on Wellington, right at the Terry Fox statue. Strange place to dump a body, right out in the open like that,’ Millar said.

  ‘Strange indeed! Definitely not your usual dump site. So, eating alone today?’ Joe asked.

  ‘No, Penner should be here soon. We’ll get a couple of coffees and the usual when you get a chance. Have to inform next of kin this morning then off to the autopsy sometime today, I think,’ Millar said.

  ‘You got it,’ said Joe, getting up from the table. ‘You know, you’re real lucky to have a partner like Sue.’

  ‘So she likes to tell me…all the time. Speak of the devil,’ Millar said as Penner came in the door.

  ‘Hi, darling,’ Joe said, giving her a hug as she got to the table. ‘Looking good as always! The usual?’

  ‘Thanks. And yes, please.’ Penner sat down across from Millar. She reached over and pulled a hair off of Millar’s shoulder. ‘It’s like your shedding these days. Stress?’

  ‘Probably old age. Definitely noticing more and more hairs in the bottom of the shower in the mornings,’ Millar said.

  ‘That sounds about right,’ Penner said with a smile. There was only a couple of years between the two of them, but Millar looked almost ten years older. ‘You know, a good moisturizer would do you wonders.’

  ‘I’ll take my wrinkles, thanks.’

  While waiting for Joe to bring their coffees, Millar looked around the room again and noticed Constable Grant sitting with a group of cops on the other side of the restaurant. ‘Excuse me for a sec,’ he said to Penner, standing up and walking over to him.

  ‘Constable Grant?’ Millar said getting to his table.

  ‘Oh, hi, Detective,’ Grant said, wiping some egg off of his chin. ‘I was going to stop by your office this morning on my way home. I was able to get in touch with the bus company this morning. The last bus passed by your crime scene at 12:48,’ he said, checking his notes. ‘The driver was a Mister Sanjay Singh. He’s working again this afternoon at 3:00. Did you want me to get him into the office to see you at some point?’

  ‘Just give me his number. I don’t know when I’ll be available. Do you know if the officers that canvassed the area last night got any leads?’ Millar asked, staring at the food on the table. His stomach rumbled.

  ‘Not too sure, sir, but I can find out from my Sergeant, if you’d like.’ Grant started to stand up from the table.

  ‘No that’s fine, finish your breakfast. Just have your Sergeant call me at some point, okay?’ Millar turned to walk back to his table. He could see Joe putting down their coffees.

  ‘Will do, sir,’ Grant said, returning to his eggs.

  As Millar sat back down at his table, Penner was already finishing her coffee. ‘Thirsty?’ he asked, taking a sip of his own. He wasn’t sure how Penner could drink coffee as quickly as she did without burning her mouth.

  ‘Tired. Just trying to stay awake.’ She waved her hand, getting Joe’s attention. ‘Another cup when you can?’

  ‘No problem, Sue,’ Joe said.

  ‘So, what’s the plan?’ Penner asked, turning her attention back to Millar. ‘Any idea what time Faye’s planning on starting in on Ms. Wong?’ Joe arrived with their food and a fresh pot of coffee. ‘Thanks, Joe.’

  ‘For you, anything,’ Joe said.

  ‘Well,’ Millar started, putting pepper on his eggs and potatoes. ‘Not too sure. I’ll give her a call when we’re done. I figured we would head to Ms. Wong’s place later on this morning, see if anyone’s home yet. I’m supposed to go see Tina’s match at three thirty, so hopefully I get time.’ He watched as Penner put ketchup on her eggs. ‘Gross.’

  ‘Whatever, you don’t have to eat it. How is Tina? Still moody?’ Penner asked, having another sip of coffee.

  ‘As ever. Hopefully this teen-aged angst st
uff passes before too long. It gets real tiring, real quick,’ Millar said between bites.

  ‘It’s only really started. You probably have at least two more years, if you’re lucky,’ Penner said finishing off her coffee, looking to get Joe’s attention again.

  ‘Excellent. At least it’s something to look forward to, I guess. So, any thoughts on the dump site?’ Millar asked as Joe showed up with more coffee.

  ‘Got me,’ said Penner. ‘Maybe she was being carried and the person got tired? Really don’t know.’ Penner picked up a strip of bacon.

  ‘Could be, I guess. Even though she was petite, a hundred pounds is a hundred pounds. Dead weight would feel even heavier. Don’t know how far I would be able to carry a body.’ Millar finished off his sausages. He kind of wished he had ordered an extra helping.

  ‘People don’t usually just leave their victims out in the open like that, not unless they killed them there.’ Penner’s phone rang. ‘Hello? Oh hey, Faye. At ten? Sounds good, we’ll see you then. Cheers.’ Penner drained her third cup of coffee. ‘Okay, eat up. We got a date with a body.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Millar pulled into the parking lot of the coroner’s office just behind Penner. The coroner’s office was located in the lower level of a new medical building only two blocks from the police station. Until recently, the old building had been located in the west end of the city, which, depending on the time of day and traffic, could take an hour to get to. Even longer in the winter, if there was a good dumping of snow. The new building was much more convenient. And modern. When they entered the large, brightly lit autopsy room, they could see Ms. Wong’s body was already under a sheet on a stainless steel table. Millar grabbed two masks and a couple of pairs of gloves from a shelf beside the door, handing a set to Penner.

  ‘Thanks. Morning, Faye,’ Penner said, walking to the side of the table in the middle of the room, putting on her mask and gloves. Millar slipped on his gloves but didn’t bother putting on the mask, instead just holding it up to his face.