Recycle - 4. Chapter 4

The second through ninth people who were attacked went almost unnoticed. Their tattoos were reported, but accounts came in scattered: Amherst, South Hadley, Northampton, and other nearby places with colleges. It took the second one in Waldron for Elena to start putting them together.

In the series, the first wasn’t even theirs. That was fourth: Amherst, Northampton, South Hadley, Waldron, Westfield, Greenfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield, and then Waldron again.

“Too bad it didn’t start over in Amherst,” senior detective Don Burris noted. “There’d be a pattern.”

“We don’t have enough for a pattern yet,” Lt. Ike Omari pointed out, and Don grinned.

“Just trying to help.”

“It’s all welcome,” Elena told them. “And I’m happy we have the first repeater – if you can be happy about that sort of thing.”

Sgt. Jae Ryu laughed. “It breaks up our routine,” she joked. The six daytime officers were having an informal lunch meeting, mostly sitting at their desks.

“Rather than the usual small town stuff,” Rob Perez agreed. He was also a sergeant.

“And Northampton didn’t want to take over?” Owen asked. “They usually do.” He was the only one standing, leaning against his office door.

“At the moment, they’re not saying,” Elena went on. “They still think it’s college pranks so feel it’s below them.”

“More important things to do,” Jae commented, using air quotes.

Elena hesitated. “Frankly, I hope they’re right.”

“What else could it be?” Don pursued.

“More serious,” Owen offered. “If someone misjudges the drugs.”

“I don’t think he means to do that,” Ike objected.

“What makes you think it’s a guy?” Elena asked.

“Well, you know... darts... guns. Seems like guy stuff.”

“That’s what I thought,” Owen agreed.

“Except I started shooting darts at five,” Jae advised them, almost with a smile.

“With Velcro tips, I’ll bet.” Don was grinning. “So did my kids.” He was sure Jae remembered that she was younger than his youngest.

“It could be a woman,” Owen confirmed. “So let’s just call it ‘the shooter.’”

“It? You really swallow this stuff,” Ike jibed.

“‘It,” Owen insisted.

“Yes, Sir.” And Ike snapped off a salute – which made no sense since none of them wore uniforms, except for dress photos.

“Anyway, you’ve heard about the first student,” Elena pushed on. “The one here... Because they’ve all been students.”

“A mix of boys and girls?” Don asked.

“Women and men,” Owen corrected. But he said it lightly.

“It doesn’t matter,” Elena overrode. “None of them seem to involve sex – no one’s been touched that way. It’s just a quick dart, wait, groggy, pass out, tattoo, leave.”

“There’s your pattern,” Jae offered.

“Well, almost,” Elena allowed. “There have been a couple of kids who played right into whoever’s doing this – passed out in public... in not really isolated areas.”

“The dart wasn’t used?” Ike inquired.

“Not that we know of.” And Elena told them about the first repeater. “She was one of the exceptions – there’ve been three. Good opportunities the shooter simply grabbed.”

“How so? On this one?” Ike wanted to know.

“She’s another Waldron student,” Elena answered. “But she’d been to a frat party at UMass. And she’d gotten drunk but had the sense to get a ride back.”

“Good for her,” Don commended.

“Though she didn’t go straight to bed,” Elena admitted. “Said her suitemates were making too much noise.”

“There’s always that,” Jae seemed to recall.

“Instead, she sat on a dark bench and looked at the moon and stars.”

“That’s safe,” Rob joked.

“In most cases, it might be,” Elena continued. “It was right in front of her dorm... barely out of the light.”

“Did she pass out?” Don asked.

Elena nodded. “She thinks so. Then she woke up with the tattoo.”

“How much later?” Owen questioned.

“She can’t remember. She left the party around one – the friends who were with her agree on that. And it’s a half-hour drive from Amherst...”

“Faster at that point,” Ike said. “It’s only thirteen miles.”

“So she could’ve been on the bench by 1:30,” Elena confirmed.

“When did she wake up?” Owen asked again.

“About 3:00,” Elena went on. “Said she noticed that on her clock as she fell into bed.”

“When did she see the tattoo?” Jae wondered.

“The next morning – in the mirror. Said it was a shock.”

“I’ll bet,” Rob agreed. “But couldn’t it have happened at the party?”

“She insists she was sober.” Then Elena considered. “But how sober can you be when you pass out a half-hour later?”

“When did she file the report?” Ike wanted to know.

At that point, Owen took over. “Sunday morning – Cassidy put it in our system. He was working the front desk, while Tabish and Espinoza were out in town. When I saw it Monday, I gave it to Elena since she handled the first one.”

“And you met with the girl?” Don asked Elena.

“That afternoon,” she explained. “She gave me more details. That’s also when I met her friends.”

“But the bench would’ve been light,” Ike objected.

“When I first saw it – yes. But I went back that evening... when it was dark enough... and it’s ten feet from the nearest lamppost.”

“So the shooter got lucky?” Rob asked.

“That’s part of a pattern,” Elena told him. “First with a guy in Holyoke... though that was more drugs than drinking... easy stuff... pot. But the other one – in Greenfield – was definitely alcohol. The kid passed out on his parents’ porch.”

“And they’re all students?” Jae wanted to confirm.

“Yes. College... University... Community college...”

“I wonder if the shooter’s one?” Don asked. “Or just more comfortable around them?”

“Could be either,” Elena agreed.

“And that’s all we have to go on?” Ike asked.

“Everything so far... and I gathered this by calling around for two days.”

“And so far, the total’s ten?” Jae also wanted to confirm.

“That we know of... there may be others. People who haven’t called... or come into the stations.”

“Out of embarrassment?”

“Or they realized the tattoos wouldn’t last.”

“Is there any regularity?” Owen asked. “Say only weekends?... well, Friday and Saturday nights?”

“Not really. It’s like the shooter goes out every night and – as Rob said – sometimes gets lucky.”

“So it’s stalking as well as shooting,” Owen restated.

“Technically,” Elena agreed. “Though in some ways, it’s more like Jae and her Velcro darts – low end practice on something harmless, like field mice. Which we always have too many of.”

“In any case,” Owen summed up, “that’s what we have, and that’s what Elena’s working on. So if any of you have any suggestions...”

They all agreed to think.

“And now, we’d better get back to work,” Ike reminded the group.

“And what do you think we’ve been doing?” Rob cracked.