chapter 17

word count: 1082

a press conference had been called for three o’clock this afternoon.. originally it had been scheduled to cover the progress that was being made on the media dubbed  “piano wire killer’s” most recent victim,, the only such victim that had fallen within buzz’ jurisdiction,, a 22 year old female,, found naked and decapitated in a downtown thruway motel.. 

however, in the light of the most recent discovery of yet another body, a dead child none the less,, the shoot was bound to take a dangerous curve. buzz was scheduled to take the mic,, which meant he had just over two hours to prepare a statement suitable for public consumption on both cases.. that is why he had opted to do the parental notification,, and preliminary background on seven year old bobby brown’s case himself.. time was of the essence,, and there was no margin for error..

buzz knew anything he said to the media today would be dissected shamelessly,, and therefore his choice of words was imperative..  he knew his hands on interviews with both sets of distraught parents was integral to laying out the groundwork depiction of positive police involvement that would be necessary in both cases..

the “piano wire killer’s” most recent victim had been identified, by digital fingerprint analysis on the scene, as maddie seavers,, a student at the local campus of the nationally renowned,  baneberry college.. 

since they lived out of state,, buzz had personally contacted seavers’ parents by phone and notified them of her untimely demise.. they were flying in this afternoon, and could be expected to have been picked up at the airport, and safely deposited at the precinct, by the time buzz returned to the office.. he had an interview with them scheduled immediately upon their arrival. 

this interview, as was the one he had held earlier in the day, (directly following a positive identification by brown’s mother, his estranged father could not be found in time for the identification) were crucial in establishing his living breathing presence on both cases.. his omniscient presence was an integral part in the image buzz had carved out for himself in the public eye.. he was determined not to let that slip simply because he had way too much on his plate.. 

whereas buzz had been hands on at the crime scene on the seavers  case,, due to time restrictions he had been forced to leave the actual crime scene investigation in the brown case to department protocol.. preliminary crime scene investigation had fallen, by their luck as first detectives on the scene, to two very capable detectives,, hank bower and gil bettencourt.. 

bower,, at  55, and fast coming up on retirement,, had 30 years on the job,, sixteen of them in homicide.. though continually passed over for promotion,, due to what buzz deemed “unconventional police work”,, bower had an above average closure rate and he could be counted on to cross his t’s and dot his i’s therefore never losing a collar to a technicality..

bettencourt,, a 47 year old latino male born and raised on the hard streets of eastern new albany,, came to homicide seven years ago, from the city’s drug task force,, where he had been outstanding undercover agent for nearly eight years..  what he lacked in actual homicide experience,, he more than made up in profiling skills.. buzz had long admired bettencourts ability to get under the skin of his perp,, and although he would have liked to have seen more initiative toward promotion on bettencourts part,, buzz knew that had no bearing on his effectiveness on the street.. he was a natural..

pleased that the luck of the draw had placed two such dedicated detectives on the brown case,, buzz felt comfortable focusing his attentions on his upcoming interview with seavers’  parents. buzz formulated his presentation of the emotionally charged case to the parents, as he drove, blue lights flashing, through the congested midday traffic from new albany elementary to the 45^th street station house..

without divulging any of the intimate details of the case, buzz would indicate to seavers’ parents that it was highly likely that their daughter had fallen victim to what was just now being revealed as the work of a possible serial killer.. two other victims had, in the very recent past, been discovered in much the same set of circumstances.. although neither of them had been discovered within the jurisdiction of the 45^th street homicide division, buzz would assure seavers’ parents that they had the combined efforts of all three law enforcement agencies involved,, and thus the chances that their daughter’s killer would be brought to swift  justice were tripled..  

it sounded good in theory,, but in actuality there was a turf war going on between the three agencies,, as to who had formal jurisdiction in the case.. neither of the other agencies were, as of yet, forthcoming with any information,, each held on tight to all of the evidence surrounding their particular case in hopes that they would be awarded a full jurisdiction that would supersede incumbent precinct boundaries.

buzz would be damned if he wasn’t going to keep a strangle hold on this case..  it was his first shot at a serial killer,, the potential for upward mobility following a satisfactory outcome to such a case was enormous.. it could be just the stepping stone he had been waiting for,, the one that would thrust his career, once again onto the fast track, and this time he would stop at nothing short of the office of chief of police.. 

secretly,, buzz cursed the timing of the discovery of the body of little bobby brown.. it’s very presence was a direct threat to his being awarded jurisdiction in the seavers case,, as it could easily be interpreted (and justifiably so) that buzz already had too much on his plate.. it could be argued that buzz had neither the man-hours nor the manpower required to bring a case of this magnitude to its knees.. very frankly,, from buzz' vantage point,, such a judgment call was simply, not acceptable.. there was entirely too much riding on this case.. there were favors to be called in.. big favors.. and buzz stood willing to extract as many of them as were necessary to bring this case home to the 45^th street precinct.

as he swung his car to a quick stop in one of the three parking spaces designated for homicide,, buzz’ phone cell phone began to ring.. it was trudy.. again.. stupid bitch.. didn’t she watch the news??