Eli's Project

The LAPD had a reputation for misconduct and mishandling of cases. In Detective Madera “Dee” Segura's opinion, it wasn't because of bad officers. You can't judge all the apples on the tree because of a few rotten ones on the ground. In the 15 years, she had lived and worked in L.A, she had seen a lot of horrible things, but she had made friends and allies in the Force. Decent officers just trying to do their job, just like her. Then she moved to Oakland. She didn't necessarily want to leave the LAPD, but the transfer had meant a promotion to Detective and a bit of a slower pace. Of course, Oakland had crime, and horrible things happened here, same as anywhere else. It came down to a matter of scale. Los Angeles had 3.9 million residents and almost 10,000 officers. Oakland, in comparison, only had about 434,000 residents and 750 officers. There, she had been just another Badge, lost in the crowd; here, she could have a career and make a good name for herself. Away from the dark stigma of the LAPD.

Somehow, she knew this case was special as soon as she got the call, waking her up at 6 AM. She was to report to the Oakland International Container Terminal, a young woman was found dead at the Port, that was all the information she was given. For some reason, she had tingles running up and down her spine. It's not like this was her first case, her first deceased victim. She had seen plenty of murders in LA. But somehow, this just FELT different. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to get herself together and dressed. As she splashed some water on her face, brushed her teeth, and got her clothes on, a thousand questions flitted through her mind. The who, what, where, when, why, and how of it. Until she got on the scene and saw with her own eyes what she was dealing with, it was all speculation. A good detective makes solid conclusions based on facts, not assumptions in her imagination. But this was the part of the job she loved most. The anticipation of a puzzle to solve and questions to answer.

Dee grabbed her coffee, jumped in the car, and within 20 minutes, was on the highway headed toward the water. According to her GPS, she was going to 2505 Middle Harbor Rd. When she got there, she had to stop at the gate, flash her badge to the Security Guard, and he pointed her around to the back of the building. When she pulled up she was surprised to see only one police cruiser and the Forensics van. Why were the Techs here already? Shouldn't the Coroner still be here? Had they removed the body already? Dee got out and walked up to the Officer standing at the yellow tape. She flashed her badge and a smile and he let her through. Dee was at least glad to see Cherry Kirkland working the scene. Cherry was one of the best CSIs working for the OPD and had become one of Dee's best friends since she had moved to town. Dee always called her Sundae because of her unfortunate name.

“Hey Sundae, what's up? What are we looking at?”

“Well, there's two crime scenes and a WHOLE lot of blood. That's why I'm at this one and not the other one. Sgt. Collins knew that any other Tech might just come to this one, take pics, take blood samples and not see anything else. He knew I would be extra thorough. I mean there's not much here, other than this huge puddle of blood. There's no body, no fibers, no weapon, not even any bloody footprints. I mean how do you spill this much blood and leave no bloody footprints??? The murderer would have had to be covered in red goo, at least on the soles of his shoes.”

“Okay. So, what else do you see? What are your theories so far?”

“Well, since there is nothing here but the blood, I think our murderer slit her throat a few feet away, then pushed her over here in between this container and this huge long stack of used tires. There's some blood spatter on some of the tires at the beginning of the stack line. That indicates arterial spray, so that's probably where she was cut. Then he stepped back. He walked away, not far, but far enough so that he didn't get himself dirty and bloody. He just waited for her to fall, bleed out and die. Brutal and cold. And there is only one set of small sneaker prints leading to the puddle. Women's, size 7 or 8, I'd say. She only made it two or three steps. Once she was dead, he picked her up and carried her to our second scene. That's why I think it has to be a man, he had to transport the body. Probably a large and strong man if he carried her that far and put her in the position she was found in. I don't think they traveled by vehicle because all of the nearby tire tracks are from 18-wheeler tractors and trailers. No tire tracks from passenger cars or vans. But this is a shipyard... Of course, there are tractor-trailer tire tracks all around here. There are also quite a few footprints, boot prints around nearby, some even traveling through this narrow area, around our puddle of blood. But... again... this is a shipyard. There are dozens of men, all wearing steel-toed work boots walking all around here, all day long, working. None of the prints close to our scene are bloody or look to be different from any of the others. And I've looked all around here, 100 ft in all directions. No more blood, none that is visible anywhere else, just here. But I'm still looking.”

“So, a contaminated crime scene? A 1000-piece puzzle with an extra 1000 pieces from other puzzles mixed in the box. Wonderful. That's just great. But if anyone can untangle this, it would be you. You are the thorough one, that's true. Does the Shipping company over there have cameras outside? Do you know if we got any footage? And you said there was a second scene. Where? Is that where the body is?”

“Oh yeah. That's where 90% of the evidence is. All the other techs and Sgt. Collins are over there, processing and collecting. Interviewing witnesses. That type of thing. The coroner's there too, he should have info for you. As for the cameras here, there's nothing much. It's simply an office building. Nothing here is valuable enough to safeguard and protect with high-tech security. They have a few cameras but they mostly cover the inside, the front door, and the parking lot. There's only one camera here at the back of the building, but it mostly covers the loading docks and the back doors. Sgt. Collins already requested all the footage from last night but I doubt it caught anything. I don't think it covers the edge of the lot, over here in the corner. I'll tell you, though, brace yourself. The 2nd scene is, um, let's just say... dramatic. As I said, this guy is brutal and cold. It's a helluva of a scene, savage and on public display. Lots of looky-loos. Talk about a contaminated crime scene..... It's one of the worst I've ever seen in my whole career. ” Sundae shook her head.

“Good Lord. Out in public where?”

“Next to the Port complex at Shoreline Park. On the Oakland Mast. You'll see it when you get there. Can't miss it. As soon as you pull into the entrance, look up. Have fun.”