Diamond Murders

"Let's get someone to talk to the crowd," Amelia suggested, "sometimes the killer likes to watch and we need to take note of anyone who seems too anxious to help in any way."

After assigning officers to interview the crowd Amelia and Andrew went over to the body which had already been identified.

"Oh god!" Andrew said softly as he recognized the victim.

"You knew him?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah I knew him." Andrew replied, "I was his training officer before I got moved to homicide. He was a good cop with a good future in the department."

The murders were now in a whole new light; one of their own was now a victim.

"This is exactly like the others." Medical Examiner Walter Lassidar said as he examined the body, "down to the lipstick. Who in the hell is doing this?" he murmured under his breath.

"Here's a hotel receipt." The ME said after he emptied Frank's pockets.

"That's just two blocks from here." Andrew said as he motioned for Drew and Lisa to come over. He watched the crowd as Paul moved around taking pictures and sneaking in a few of the crowd. Somehow he knew that whoever she was, she wasn't in the crowd but they needed to be thorough.

"Get over to the hotel and let's hope that housekeeping hasn't gotten to it yet" Andrew said, "a forensics team will be there in a few minutes, keep me posted."

A few minutes later Lisa was interviewing the manager of the hotel.

"Yes he was here." he said as he looked through the guest log from the night before, "checked in at eight-nineteen."

"Was there a woman with him?"

"Yes but don't ask me what she looked like because I can't tell you..... Why do I remember him but not her?" he asked.

"Good question." Lisa replied, "Are your security cameras working?" "Yes... I suppose you want the footage?"

"I would at least like to see it." Lisa replied.

While she waited for the manager to get the tape she checked on Drew.

"Anything?" she asked.

"No and housekeeping swears that they haven't been in here, you?"

"The manager is getting the security tapes as we speak." she replied, "keep your fingers crossed that something shows up."

Lisa watched the tape in disbelief, Frank was on the tape and his arm was positioned as though it was around someone but there was no one there.

"I have to take this." she told the manager who only shrugged not really seeming all that concerned that one of his guest who happened to be a cop was murdered.

"Didn't happen here did it?" he asked when Lisa asked about his reaction.

"No but..."

"Then I'm not going to obsess over it."

*******

The team met back at the conference room to compare notes. Andrew had an appointment with the captain for later in the morning to give updates on the case; he hoped that they had something to tell him.

As with the other cases there was very little physical evidence that was of use. There was the single strand of black hair and body fluids from the couple having sex.

"Everything is exactly the same!" Bill exclaimed exasperated.

"Cindy, you talked to the man who called it in, what did he have to say?" Andrew asked.

"Not much, he's a city sanitation worker and was heading to work when he spotted the body. At first he thought that it was a bum but changed his mind when he saw how well dressed the vi.... Frank was. Then he thought that it was a mugging victim and called as soon as he realized that he was dead, he says that he didn't touch the body."

"He didn't see anyone around?" Andrew asked.

"He says he didn't." Cindy replied.

"Drew, what do you have?" Amelia asked.

Just as Drew was about to begin his report there was a tap at the door. A young patrolman nervously opened the door and stuck his head inside.

"Excuse me but could I please speak to Detective Martin?"

"I'm Detective Martin." Andrew said, "What do you need?"

"I'm Officer Hank Johnson, is it true that you think a woman killed Frank?"

Andrew gave the young officer a wary look before replying.

"You know that I can't divulge that information."

"I know... sorry. It's just that Frank was a friend of mine and..."

"Officer do you have something to tell us?" Andrew asked his tone curt.

"Oh, yes sir." The officer replied nervously. "Maybe it's nothing and I hope that I'm not wasting your time..."

"Hank," Amelia said softly, "tell us what you saw and heard."

"I saw Frank last night at the Driftwood; he came in alone but left around seven-forty five with a hot number on his arm."

Andrew sat up straighter, "Can you describe her?

"Sure! She was around five feet seven inches tall, one -hundred twenty pounds give or take a few, black hair that fell to about mid back and blue eyes. She was wearing a white blouse with a black miniskirt and stiletto heels."

"I want you to meet with a composite artist!" Andrew said excitedly. They had just gotten their first big break, now if they could only catch the bitch.

Andrew gave everyone assignments to do while he and Amelia met with the captain. Reenergized, everyone set out about their tasks. Bill set Hank up with a composite artist who would then make copies of the drawing to pass out to everyone and Drew and Shirley went back to canvas the area around the bar and hotel to talk to people that they may have missed.

After the meeting with the captain Amelia and Andrew went to the morgue so that they could sit in on Frank's autopsy. Each of them was hoping that the autopsy would give them more clues as to solving the mysteries of the case. Unfortunately the medical examiner could offer no new information with the exception of one thing.

"I doubt that a pump was used." he said. "If that were the case the veins and arteries would have been collapsed."

"Then how?" Andrew asked.

"Vampire?" the ME quipped, "I don't know but if you find out tell me."

As they drove back to the office Andrew decided to pick Amelia's brains.

"What are your impressions?" he asked.

Amelia took a moment to formulate her answer.

"This has got to be one of the most perplexing cases that I've ever worked on." she replied, "The unsub is very highly organized, intelligent and resourceful and to date her only mistake was being spotted by the officer which if you think about it was very careless on her part. These are the questions that are going through my head,

You heard the description of her, she's beautiful! So why doesn't the hotel manager remember her? How is she able to convince her victims to comply enough so that she can drug them and if she isn't using a pump to drain the bodies how is she doing it and what is she doing with the blood? There hasn't been a trace of blood spotted in any of the hotel rooms- how is she managing that?"

"And," Andrew added, "Where is she getting the anticoagulant? My understanding is that it's a hundred times more effective than heparin and the blood would be useless because of it."

"Maybe she's like Elizabeth Bathory- the so called Blood countess." Amelia said.

"Who?" Andrew asked.

"Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian Countess during the late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries who is reported to have killed somewhere around 700 young women for their blood. The story is that she bathed in it because she thought that it would keep her looking young."

"Nice! What happened to her?"

She was tried and then walled up in a tower with only a slot big enough to slide her food and water through. She was never released and spent the last four years of her life there." Amelia replied.

"So that's your official profile?" Andrew asked laughing.

"No." Amelia replied with a smile, "just imparting some interesting history but here's something else that's bothering me, how did she get the body out of the room without attracting any attention?"

"And how do you not show up on camera?" Andrew added. "How do we proceed from here?"

"I would suggest that we keep the photo of her out of the press for now but we give one to every cop in the area, we also need to pick out the most likely places that she'll try to pick up her next victim. Maybe we'll get lucky and grab her before anyone else dies." Amelia replied as a feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach.

The rest of the ride passed in silence as Amelia tried to think if they had missed anything and Andrew was formulating a plan on how to best utilize his resources to catch this woman before she killed again. He wondered if the captain would give him at least one more person to help with some of the leg work.

Everyone was back at the station sitting in the conference room looking exhausted. They all needed to sleep; their brains were no longer functioning.

"Go home." Andrew said when he walked in, "Be back here by 8AM and bring an overnight bag, we have a lot to do before the next night that she kills."

*******

Andrew was the first to arrive; his hope was that the captain would be there early so that he could get the meeting with the captain over with. Much to Andrew's surprise he received the extra help that he had requested.

"I'm giving you Jason Standish for your core group; he'll be a fresh pair of eyes and may have some insight that could make a difference. Also starting tonight we're adding extra patrols to the night shift just in case she changes her time table."

In the end the captain agreed that the sketch of the woman and all information should be kept away from the press for now.

"We don't want her getting a heads up and moving to another area." he said.

The day was spent going over clues and evidence and forming a plan. In the late afternoon several of them went to the bars and hotels that they thought the woman was likely to go to talk to the night staff. After several heated moments of conversation, Andrew decided to take a calculated risk and to leave a picture of the woman at each of the places of business. If the woman showed up she was not to be confronted but the police were to be called immediately.

By March seventeenth all of the surveillance was in place and after a long night in which four muggings and one attempted rape had been stopped it was clear that the guest of honor wasn't going to show. Andrew met with the Captain that morning already knowing that he was going to be taking some heat for the amount of overtime his task force was generating. He spent a good hour begging for one more night but it wasn't the captain that he needed to convince. Finally after a long and arduous talk with the mayor he was granted his one more night.

March 18

The night started out as the others had.

Quiet.

Andrew was starting to become concerned that he and the captain had stuck their necks out for nothing.

"Andrew," Amelia said seeing his anxiety, "this was a good call."

"Where in the hell is she?" Andrew asked not really expecting an answer.

It was quiet for the rest of the task force until about nine pm. Lisa who was partnered with Drew asked him to stop at 'O'Shay's Pub' so that she could use the bathroom. After parking they went inside where Lisa headed to the restrooms while Drew ordered a couple of sandwiches and diet cokes for them and settled in to wait for both the order and Lisa.

As soon as Lisa walked into the restroom, she saw the woman that they were looking for standing at the sink. Without saying anything, Lisa stepped into the first empty stall and pulled out her service weapon, a Glock twenty-two forty caliber pistol. Next, she pulled out her cell phone and called Drew.

"She's here in the restroom, hurry before anyone else comes in."

Lisa stepped out of the stall, aimed her gun and called out in a loud, clear voice, "Baltimore City Police! Place your hands on the wall and do not move!"

Diamond turned to face Lisa and sneered, "You've just made a mistake love." and began to approach her.

Lisa couldn't believe that the woman was still coming at her even though there was a gun pointed at her.

"Stop or I will shoot!" Lisa called out as she wondered where in the hell Drew was.

Diamond smiled and threw herself at Lisa who discharged two rounds into Diamond's chest. Lisa watched as the blood flowed from the woman's chest amazed that the woman was still coming for her, hadn't even slowed her down.

Diamond snarled as she felt the bullets slam into her. They weren't fatal but they would cause her considerable blood loss. She reached out, grabbed Lisa by her neck and twisted effectively snapping Lisa's neck as if it were no more than a twig.

She dropped Lisa's body and then heard Drew on the other side of the door. She launched herself at the door almost taking it off of its hinges and surprising Drew. Without looking back Diamond disappeared into the crowded pub and out onto the street. Blood continued to flow from her wound causing her to become weaker by the minute, she had to feed and soon. She cursed as she thought about the fine specimen that she had picked out for her meal that evening. If the clumsy woman sitting next to her hadn't spilled her drink on her she would be enjoying her dinner.

******

Drew had just gotten off of the phone with Lisa and was by the door when he heard the shots. Before he could open the door it blew open and driving him backwards and slammed him into the wall knocking the wind out of him. He staggered to his feet and ran into the bathroom. The second he saw Lisa he knew that she was dead, there was no way that she could be alive with her neck and head at the unnatural angle in which it lay.

Panicked and grief stricken he called for help.

"Officer needs assistance O'Shay's pub on Baltimore Street! Shots fired! Officer down! Need backup and medical assistance!"

Andrew's heart stopped when he heard Drew's voice. He started the car and flew up Orleans Street and had just made the right hand turn onto Central Avenue when Amelia spotted Diamond.

"There she is!" Amelia said pointing at Diamond who was running toward a school building.

Andrew sped into the school parking lot and parked his eyes on Diamond who stopped, looked at them with her face already changed into its true form, her eyes were nothing more than black orbs with no discernible pupil and her mouth hung open revealing her fangs. She seemed to be taunting them as she grinned and then jumped through a window twenty feet away.

Amelia and Andrew looked each other in disbelief.

"What in the fuck was that?" Andrew whispered, "Did she have fangs? And what was with that face?" he added.

"I... I don't know." Amelia replied in a shaky voice.

"Are you alright?" Andrew asked.

"I'm fine." Amelia replied after a minute. "Now let go get this bitch!"

Andrew went to the trunk of the car, got out a shotgun and handed it to Amelia.

"There are extra shells in the glove box and grab the flashlight too." he said as he checked his own weapon.

Amelia got the shells and flashlight before chambering the first shell and turning on the tact-light that was mounted on the shot gun.

Andrew had already called in giving all of the pertinent information. The thought to wait crossed his mind but he didn't want to take the chance that the subject would get away. He turned the volume of his radio all the way down and began to make his way to the window where they had seen the woman go in.

They cautiously peeked into the classroom hoping to spot the woman but she was already gone. Andrew used his jacket to cover the broken glass on the window pane, climbed in and then helped Amelia in.

******

Diamond knew that she was being followed, saw the car approaching and decided to let the cops see her as she truly was. Her goal was to lure them into the building so that she could feed from them so that she could speed her healing. Because she wouldn't be having an orgasm the paralytic/anesthetic component of her saliva would be ineffective but even so, they were no match for her, even together. She looked around for a place to lay in wait for them.

******

Andrew and Amelia slowly moved toward the door that led to the hallway and opened it. Andrew went first looking both ways and listening before proceeding.

"Cover the hall while I check out the room across the hall." Andrew whispered.

"Be careful!" Amelia whispered back as her eyes swept up and down the length of the hall.

Andrew ran across the hall as quickly as he could trying to make himself as small of a target as possible and opened the door. Finding the room empty, he went back to Amelia and they repeated the process until they reached the end of the hall which opened into a large common area. To the right was the office and the main entrance, the entrance to the cafeteria lay to the left. Next to the cafeteria was the gymnasium and directly across from it was another long hallway.

They cleared the cafeteria and office areas without seeing any sign of the woman. Andrew was beginning to wonder if the woman had somehow given them the slip but deep down he knew that she was still in the building. He could almost feel her; he could almost feel her evilness and knew that Amelia was feeling it too.

They moved to the Gymnasium next. This was the room that was going to be the hardest to clear because of its size and many blind spots. Andrew leaned over to Amelia to give her instructions.

"Stay with me and keep your eyes and ears open. I'll watch our backs and you watch the front."

Amelia gave him a nervous nod and they slowly entered the gym. They were no more than ten feet in when a noise above them caught their attention. He saw the woman dropping down towards them and pushed Amelia out of the way. Amelia wasn't ready for the hard shove lost her balance and slid twenty feet across the slick gymnasium floor before coming to a stop.

Andrew had just enough time to raise his arm before the woman slammed into him knocking him to the floor as he grabbed his arm. Before he knew what was happening the woman had his wrist in her mouth, had bitten down and was greedily drinking from him. Managing to keep a hold of his weapon, Andrew fired off four rounds before the woman yanked it out of his hands and tossed it away.

Amelia struggled to her feet, ran over to the woman and wrapped her arms around her neck from behind and pulled her back from Andrew. The woman snapped her head back making contact with Amelia's nose crushing it and dazing her. Diamond reached behind her, grabbed Amelia and flipped her so that she was flat on her back.

Diamond looked at Amelia and smiled, "I don't usually drink from women as their blood isn't as sweet as a male's but for you I will make an exception." Without pause Diamond grabbed Amelia by the hair and exposed her neck. She licked her lips and bit deep into Amelia's jugular vein and began to feast.

Distracted by feeding from Amelia, Diamond didn't notice Andrew now weakened by blood loss retrieve the shotgun. She didn't notice until she felt the weapon pressed tightly against her right side. She released Amelia to turn to Andrew and screamed in pain when she felt the shot slam into her side.

"Go to hell bitch!" Andrew murmured as he pulled the trigger again. He watched with satisfaction as what was her face was nothing more than a red mass. He dropped the gun, took out his radio and made a frantic cry for help.

"Two officers down! Need assistance now!" he screamed as he removed what was left of his shirt and tried to staunch the flow of blood that was coming from Amelia's neck. He passed out a few minutes later not realizing that he hadn't given their location in the school.

Four minutes later the first police unit arrived followed by medical support.

Detective Andrew Martin died on the way to the hospital and Special Agent Amelia Hensley died a few minutes after her arrival. They were the last two victims of the woman known as Diamond.

The medical examiner was at a loss as to how to explain why a woman who had just died and was still warm looked like a one hundred year old mummified corpse.