2019-09-14 - Copycat Kill

Andrea Johnson had been sent all officially to speak with Isabella and Byron. Catching them together didn't seem to take much effort, just asking the both of them to meet her at the harbor itself during a less populated time. There was part of it cordoned off of course, crime tape and everything. One of the officers was complaining to another about how low they were getting on it while the other assured there was some on order, if the killer would just slow down a little. Andi is down by the water, the body was already fished out but clues were to be found. She waits though, while forensics combs the scene. She'll look after.

Byron Thorne was a busy man who was dealing with frightened and agitated tenants of his own due to the recent murders among other things which also needed his attention. Being a busy man, however, that means that by the time he receives word from Johnson, he was already dressed to tackle the day, possibly already having met with a client or two, before deciding to pay a visit to the hospital to see someone.

So when he arrives at the harbor to meet up with both Andi and Isabella, he has on a fitted dark navy hued blazer worn over a black buttoned down and a slate colored tie. Tailored black slacks cover his long legs while his feet are tucked into well-polished black Oxford shoes. His hair is worn slicked back to keep the edges from his eyes. Expensively dark sunglasses shield those eyes from the glare of the sun.

He's familiar with Andi Johnson, having known her since before he'd left Gray Harbor for college. It's rare that they get a moment to breathe and catch up with life. This was not the moment to do just that. "Andi, looks like you were put on the case. I had called the GHPD office for more information, I'm just glad that they didn't shut me out for being too nosy for my own good."

She lives in the area, so it probably isn't surprising that when Isabella arrives, she is on foot, and dressed for a day out in the water; a tanktop over a swimsuit, a pair of shorts and sandals that make the most out of her careful pedicure and the array of three silver toe rings that have been split between both feet. Green-gold eyes framed by her aviators sweep over the harbor, and takes a good, deep inhale of the briny air, before following the path and finding their growing collective somewhere at the end of it. Byron stands out, as usual, dressed as stylishly as always - as if he had stepped out of the cover spreads of GQ and not trying to make a fortune in a small town that has done its level best to swallow its children - him included.

She recognizes Andi from high school, only a year above her - older now, but some of her more memorable characteristics remain; they've corresponded over the last couple of weeks regarding their shared family history, and reminder of the fact, that both their bloodlines have been tied by together by marriages and tragedies, gives an added weight and color to this unexpected-but-not reunion. Brisk, businesslike strides take her within conversation distance of her schoolmates, a silvery flash of a smile towards Byron, as bright and cutting as he expects from her. "Hey, Byron," she murmurs.

Her attention falls on Andi, extending a hand for a shake. "It's been ages, Detective," she muses; her smile lingers. "How have you been?"

Andi had it easy. Her black pants were tucked into her boots and her black shirt with the patches of the police department tucked into her pants. Her uniform was simple. On her utility belt are all the regular fixtures, her cuffs, night stick, pepper spray, holster with weapon inside. It wasn't exactly light. However, she has diving gear in the cruiser also. With the approach of Byron, Andi wears as warm a smile she can manage under the circumstances. "With so much going on, they're having us question even those with the smallest of details."

Andi has always been friendly, even if not forthcoming after her marriage and subsequent divorce from Jack Wellington. Another townie with a questionable past of missing friend in his background. And now the two were newly dating again. He's several ears their senior. Extending her hand out she shakes Isabella's with warmth. "Busy, so very busy. But I suppose we all have been. It's good to see the both of you."

Motioning towards some of the cordoned off section she offers, "That's where he was found and unfortunately there's not much else to tell. I'm hoping either of you have something more to input. Of course there's the statements I'll need each of you to fill out that. That can be done tonight in the comfort of your home and dropped off at the station by noon tmorrow. Otherwise, can either tell me if you've seen anything off? Something that sticks out most to you?

Out of the two of them, Byron would have the least amount of experience and knowledge when it comes to handling a corpse, but he'll move alongside the others with interest, even if he already has his own ideas on the kind of person the deceased is. "The body is with the coroner right now?" A curious look given Andi. "I'm primarily here to see whether the victim in the harbor matches the MO of our serial killer. Same with the victim at Bayside Road. Just trying to get a confirmation anyway."

He'll go on to say, "The victim at Bayside matches that MO, but without knowing who the victim in the harbor is, aside from having his throat slit, the method somewhat matching how the serial killer has dealt with their victims, that's all that I have to work with." Byron will just assume that Johnson knows all about the Gohl murders. He gives a quick look around the area, trying to find any signs of how the victim found his way to his watery grave and whether there's any traces of anything that could be used to determine what happened or who the victim was.

In a small town, gossip travels fast and while Isabella has been over a decade divorced from the complicated tangle of human relationships that often come hand-in-hand in such close quarters, it did not take her long at all to catch up with the most recent, though considering her own interests and the nature of her work, she is still somewhat behind in catching up with the latest hot goss, but when it comes to Andi, that is a different story entirely - her newfound connection to her has made her attentive to the local word around her, and her relationship with Jack Wellington was relatively well-known.

Her fingers clasp the other woman's in a hearty shake, her smile warming considerably at the uniformed woman's gregarious manner, head inclining slightly. "It's good to see you, too. It's been so long that when you asked us here, I thought I wouldn't recognize you - but I did. God, this town is never going to let any of us go." She releases her fingers then, sliding her hands in her pockets.

She lets Byron go first, though the information he provides isn't new to her - she and he had been involved since the beginning, her attention intent on his profile until the end of his explanation. "I'm happy to make a statement as a resident," the archaeologist replies, after listening for a few moments. "On the record, I didn't really see anything unusual and when I glimpsed the corpse in passing, I didn't really recognize him. The method of the killing, though. It sounds like the modus operandi of the serial killer that's been active here for a while now, like Byron said." There's a brief pause - but only for a few, before she speaks up quietly. "Off the record, it might be related to what you've written to me about before." Green eyes with their gold shards lift to meet Andi's eyes, referencing the letter the woman had written her when her mother had been claimed as one of the Ghoul's victims. "But Byron and I can't know that for sure unless he's identified and see who he's related to."

"While we're not giving out details to the general public, I can speak with you two about it. I was told that you may have something to input, Miss.." Thinking better of it, she corrects herself. "Isabella. I have the identity of the deceased." Indeed she does know all about the murders and attempted murders and what had happened. With the glimmer herself, she understood about the possession.

Andi listens to the both of them, even writes down a few things before offering them both their witness statement papers to fill out. "Just put word for word on those what you know what you witnessed, like you're relaying it to someone who knows nothing about it. I'll give you until tomorrow to return it. I know sometimes things come to you after writing it out."

With that handed over she nods solemnly to Isabella. "Krissy is protected right now. My father is a former police officer and he's defending her with his life." It's meant to be a reassurance but she sounds a little distraught that Krissy would be in danger.

"Over here," she motions, changing the subject from her 'sister' to the murder again, she walks over. "He was found over here and it's been concluded he was killed and dumped here. The blood is somewhere else, not with the body. This is new, so it makes me lean to thinking it's a copycat murder since none of the other victims were moved."

Bluntly honest, she turns back to face them. "The victim is Raymond Marker. His throat was slit ear-to-ear. He is estimated to have died around midnight on the 12th/13th."
She continues on with, "He's 35, heavyset, and has no family local to speak of. His ex-wife lives in Portland. They have no kids and have been divorced for a number of years with no contact."

"That's the bulk of what we know thus far."

Thorne looks like he understands when Johnson first brings up that as officers and detectives, there's very little that they are allowed to share. He's heard that told to him very often in recent weeks. Though, he does brighten, curious eyes looking to Andi when she lets them know that she has the identity of the victim. "Do I also need to write a report? For just being witness to all of this?" He's talking about this information given, as he wasn't anywhere near the harbor at the time of the murder.

Trailing behind the two women, constantly surveying the area with attentive eyes, he returns back to the conversation when Andi talks about her family. What he says isn't reassuring nor is it always something easy to do, "The best way to protect her. Or any of your family is most likely to have them leave town. If only temporarily." Though he really means permanently, when he says this, "Moving with little notice is a difficult thing to do, especially if you have no family that can take them in. But that would be my suggestion."

Once they reach the area where the body was dumped, Byron is hopeful to find any traces of blood, a shred of clothing, but none of that is made available to him. And unfortunately, the harbor is vast that even though he's standing here at the exact location to where the body was found, there's not much he feels comfortable with doing knowing this fact.

What does give him hope is when Andi opens up and mentions the victim's name, giving a description of his wound to go with a theory that this may be a copy cat murder. "Marker. 35." He's setting all of this to memory. "I wonder what business he had here, assuming that he's from Portland himself." There's a moment where he's crouched down near the water's edge, looking contemplative, before rising to stand once more. "You may be right about it being a copy cat, but now that there's a name, that's something to work on to see whether he has any relation to the Addingtons or ...Baxters still." That's all that /he's/ interested in. Not some random murder. "I'm glad that you've been so forthcoming with information with us. It really helps to move the process along."

The green-eyed archaeologist takes the foray into informality in good stride, and even seems to welcome it. "Andi." There's a teasing twist to her smile. "Nice to meet you again."

She takes the piece of paper in her grip, folding it carefully and slipping it in her pockets. "I'll scan it and e-mail it to you once I've filled it out, and then have the original delivered to the precinct by courier," Isabella murmurs - if nothing else, being a career academic also means that she knows the ins and outs of the office, and really anything to do with documents. But once they start moving through, she follows. She takes up the other side of the detective as they walk, so she can gauge and assess the conversation better, and as Byron contributes, her attention sweeps across the familiar landscape of the docks and the bay.

"I mentioned that in my letter to you," she says, when the entrepreneur brings up the idea of moving Krissy away from town, just for a little while. "Is that something your father would consider? We've been trying to keep track of members of the families that have been victimized by what's happening, but there's only so much police, and so many eyes."

When they stop at where the body was found, she slowly lowers herself in a crouch, to bring the site to her eyeline, but she is largely a researcher, and while some of the same disciplines overlap, she is no amateur detective, or even an investigator of any stripe. The place where the body is found, though, is one that captures her interest, though she's paying close attention to the way the water moves along the shore. Andi seems to anticipate her question though, when she decisively concludes that the body was killed somewhere else, and then dumped. "Have you tried Mister Marker's residence yet?" she asks, looking over towards the woman. "You said that the blood's probably somewhere else - if he doesn't have any local family to speak of, and he died around midnight, chances are high that he was probably home. That's the first place I would look, anyway."

She lifts her eyes to look at Byron, gesturing to him. "That'd be the second place I would look for a connection, also, see if he's related to either family."

"Only if you have any new information to give or if you've witnessed any of what I told you." Andi tells Thorne. With that though, Andi watches them look over the area much as she had done already and even if it shows her in a poor light she really hopes they see something she doesn't.

"That's my next move. Investigating his residence and checking for whether there's been a bleach scrubbing there. Or even blood under the lighting. I don't want to leave anything to chance. We're also looking for all vehicles registered to him to look into."

Andi tucks her hands in her pockets. "My parents are taking Krissy to an undisclosed location. If you would like to know, Isabella, I'll make it known to you, but I'd appreciate your discretion in it too. I'm sure you understand."

"I have a lot left to investigate and once I know more, you'll know more. Are there any questions you have other than how he's related to either Baxter or Addington or if he is at all? Anything you think I should look into specifically?"

Byron looks as if he has all of the information that he needs right now. The man's identity was what was crucial to him. "Very good. If I do learn something interesting about Raymond Marker on whether there's a connection of any sort to match the rest of the killings that's going around town, I'll keep you informed, Andi." With his phone in hand, he's either taking notes or running his own Google search right now. "I'd hate to think that it was a copycat, but anything is possible. It just means that we have another whackjob in town who is most likely not a specter."

With the note taking, he gives the section of harbor where the body was dumped one final look. "Thank you for your help, again. Right now, I have digging up information to do," Possibly by hiring a private eye, "And a friend in the hospital who needs visiting." Before he departs, he adds, "We're close to putting an end to this once and for all." This is spoken to Johnson, "Then everyone in town," Baxters and Addingtons alike, "can finally breathe a sigh of relief to help ease them, a little, from their grief. I'll catch up with you both later. Maybe over some beers." He turns to make the walk back to his car in the parking lot, "I know that I'll be needing it."

"That's a good idea," Isabella tells Andi. "Maybe he's got a GPS that'll tell you where he's been that day. Most cars have that now, right?" Unless his vehicle is a very old model.

She unconsciously mirrors the other woman's gesture when she slides her hands in her pockets, her fingers doing the same as she rises. There's a hint of a smile, at the detective's offer. "If she's being ferried out of the city limits, it's probably best that I don't know. If she's being moved within the city, though, I'd say tell someone capable who isn't connected to this who you can trust." Perhaps Jack? Andi's father is probably already regularly checking in, so she doesn't see the need to point that out to a professional who has made a career out of serving and protecting. "If something does happen that's strange around her, though, let me know right away. Alright? I know a few people who might be able to help."

With Byron taking his leave, she smiles faintly at the detective. "I'll do the same, I'll keep you posted. Stay safe, okay?"