

Jigsaw Jill Vol 1-5

by

Gary W Hancock

Copyright Gary Hancock 2020

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Prologue: Homicide Detective John P. StJohn was a Los Angeles Police Department Homicide detective. His ability to put clues together and solve many high profile cases earned him the name "Jigsaw John". Even to this day, a officer that can piece together seemly unrelated clues is often called "Jigsaw". This story even though it is fictitious is dedicated to him.

Officer Jill Thompson:

I was looking at my partner laying on the ground behind the squad car. The life slowly leaking out of his body through a leg wound. Those vests don't protect all of your body and either the killer was a marksman or just got lucky. It doesn't really matter in the end. Shot is shot. The shooter had gotten away cause I was to busy trying to stop the flow of blood and calling for help from anyone that could hear. An EMT crew was on the way and every cop car in the vicinity was responding to the "officer down" I had broadcasted over the radio. Charlie was going in and out of consciousness. I kept talking to him about anything that came to mind.

I started as far back as I could and told him about growing up with two parents that were as rich as could be. Dad had gotten into the tech world and bought tons of stock on those startup companies and had sold out before the Dotcom bubble popped. I really don't know how much he made but it must have been a couple hundred million. He met mom when she was doing the modeling bit right after she got out of high school. It wasn't his money that attracted her, because her family had come over from Italy traveling around the tip of South America and brought grape vines into Napa Valley. They must be worth a billion. So you see I was brought up in a house that had every thing money could buy. My parents really love each other and when mom got pregnant they just went wild with anticipation. How such a handsome man and a fashion model mom could have such a plain baby is a mystery.

Jillian Fiore Thompson was born July 31, 1994 named after both of her grandmothers. Not really a heavy baby but very long. Flaming red hair with the piercing blue eyes of a born interrogator. My physique would plague me for years.

Charlie, Charlie pay attention. I am telling you things I never told anyone else. Where was I, oh yes, I was born a skinny baby and grew up in luxury. It was ok while I was at home with all

the people that loved me, but life forces you to go to school at the tender age of six.

Mom couldn't have any more kids due to complications during my birth so I was it for the family. Only the best for my parent's only child and they enrolled me into the Academy for Rich Bitches. At least that is what I called it. The movie "Mean Girls" doesn't even compare to that place. It was bearable for me till I turned twelve. The other girls started getting their "shape". Me I was just getting tall. I soon was the tallest one in the class and taller than some of my teachers. My shape was that of the number "1". I could hear them talking about me and making sure they were just loud enough for me to hear. "I'll bet she is a member of the "IBTC" and giving me the nickname "Ironing Board".

By the time High School rolled around, I was six feet tall and had the highest grades in the class. This only added fuel to the fire for those female classmates of mine. It is only a miracle that I didn't just withdraw into a shell of pity. But one thing I got from my parents was that neither of them belong to the group know as "quitters".

Teddy Brooks:

I tracked Mona down today. She has been on my mind for ten years and now I had my turn in this play called "Life". When I was in the ninth grade she made a fool of me in front of all the other students. I loved her the first time I saw her and had finally worked up the courage to ask her for a date and she humiliated me when she looked at me and said, "What girl would go out with a loser like you." and she laughed in front of everybody. We were at the wooded area where all the kids hung out and smoked after school. I ran all the way home that day and cried in my room till my mother came home. I told her what had happened and she told me not to worry about that piece of trash and that one day I would find the right girl to marry and be happy.

Mona had married the captain of the high school football team. They had a pretty little house in a nice neighborhood. He owned a chain of sporting good stores and was traveling between them all the time. I think Mona is just as pretty now as when she was fifteen. She is not laughing at me now. The duct tape over her mouth keeps her moans and screams quiet and the plastic ties hold her arms and legs spread apart on the bed in her pretty little house. I am in charge and she is the one that is nothing now. I placed a pillow over her face and said, "Don't worry Mona, just go to sleep."

Officer Jill Thompson:

Charlie pay attention don't you go to sleep on me. I am going to tell you why I always want to drive the patrol car. It began when I got old enough to get my license. I told dad that I wanted a Corvette or a Porsche. He looked at me and told me they were just too hot and fast for a first car. For the first time since I was five, I pouted and stomped off to my room. I came out for dinner and when I approached the table I could hear them talking about what to do. Dad looked at me and said, "Between the end of school and your birthday. You will be in a different school. I called around and arranged for you to attend the Skip Barber School of Racing. First the Teen Safety and Survival School, then a One Day Driving School, a One Day High Performance School, a Three Day Racing School and finally a three day Advanced Racing School. I have also scheduled you for what is called an Evasive driving course that is given to police, bodyguards and Secret Service Agents. If you pass. Your choice of car." If you don't pass every single one of them, then I pick the car.

I am sure Daddy thought there was no way I was going to pass them all. Adults that have been driving for years, can't pass the racing classes the first time. But I was motivated and had been slipping around driving my best friend's Mustang GT350 for four months. Mulholland and Laurel Canyon are very crooked and I had been flying down them almost every day after school. I scored so high on the classes. that the instructors told me that I should think about racing for real. But I already knew what I wanted to do in life.

Remember the first day we rode together. You told me that as the older officer you would drive and I just ran to the car and got in. Grumbling you sat in the passenger seat and said, "First screw up, you lose the wheel position." I then put the car in reverse and flew backwards across the parking lot and did one of those 180 turns and headed to the street. I'll never forget. You leaned over and said, "Ok, you drive."

Where is that EMT. I looked at my watch and it had only been five minutes, it seemed like hours. Charlie's breath was getting shorter and shorter and I felt my heart skipping beats as I pressed on his leg trying to stop the red stain on the ground that was just getting bigger and bigger. Then the sound and lights

filled the air around me as hands picked me up and moved me to the side as they began to work on my best friend.

The hospital was just as bad, I couldn't do anything to help. I just sat there and brooded over what had happened. How did we just get fooled so bad? I could see now that it was obviously an ambush. The car had ran a red light in front of us. I turned on the lights and floored the accelerator. We had chased him only one block when he pulled into the alley and jumped out of the car. He had a shooting nest prepared that had a low wall that let him shoot over it only exposing his head and shoulders. I slid the car up next to his and jumped out. Charlie saw the gun first and hit me in the side knocking me to the ground. He was shot in the leg and laid in the open in front of the car. I started firing at the wall and drug him back to the shelter of the squad car. My door was still open and I reached in and used the radio.

My reminiscing was interrupted when the Lieutenant came up and sat next to me. All I could do was apologize for my partner getting shot and just started to babble about what had happened. He sat there till I stopped talking and told me that it was a trap. The guy had gotten away. There was a tunnel behind him that went to the next street and he must have had a car waiting. The Doc. came out and said Charlie had survived the surgery and we would have to wait till tomorrow to see him. Lt. told me that I should go home. I was on desk duty till everything was figured out.

Teddy Brooks:

I left her where she had laughed at me. The wooded area is now a shopping center and I put her where she belonged in the trash dumpster. That is the first but not the last of these inhuman people that made my life so unbearable. When I get through with my mission, all the women will be scared for their lives in this forsaken town,

I was expecting more from the newspapers, but that baby case overshadowed my work and it was put on the third page. I have to do something to make them pay attention to me.

Officer Jill Thompson:

When I got home my dog Katie was happy to see me. At least someone liked me today. I took her for a quick run. I had picked up a 32oz. cup of Egg Noodle soup at the Hunan Cafe on Sunset, I drive right by it everyday when I leave my place on Tanager Way

and go down to the Los Angeles Police Department - Hollywood Station on Wilcox, which is right off Sunset also. The people at the friendly neighborhood type store always greet me like their long lost daughter. I sipped on the soup like it was a drink. I then sat back on the couch and let my mind go into a place I really didn't want it to.

Charlie and I have been partners for four years and a couple of months. He is the only partner I have had. Despite all the objections and arguing by my parents, I got a degree in Criminal Justice at American River College in Sacramento. My father said "She is probably doing this just so she can drive fast." I went through the fourteen week course at the police academy and was placed in Charlie's experience hands for my rookie training. We matched like pieces of that puzzle that would forever be linked to my name.

The streets of the neighborhoods that were in out patrol area were the people that belonged to my family's crowd . Most of the houses and apartments were upper upper class and I found myself explaining who my parents were and that it didn't make any difference to me. I would bust a crook with a silver spoon in his mouth just as quick as a gang banger. I didn't want him to find out that I was really rich from someone else. So I told Charlie about my parents and where they lived. Just don't talk about it with the rest of the guys please, is all I told him.

Our street patrol duties threw us into one of the most publicized cases of the year. The kidnapping and infanticide of movie star Gina Godbolt 's son and heir to her husband the Chocolate King's fortune. This was the story on all the front pages for a month. We were on patrol only two blocks away and were the first unit on the scene. The only clue, that was not released to the public, was a picture of the kid being held up with a graffiti symbol on a wall behind him. It had been left at the front gate just out of range of the security cameras. We had all looked at that picture dozens of times and tried to make sense out of it. The stylized letters just didn't spell anything .

The parents waited and waited but no call came in for the ransom. The next week a small lonely body was recovered from a dumpster in downtown L.A. It was just stuffed into a Wal-Mart bag and tossed into the trash. It took a tremendous toll on me that day and when I got back to my apartment I was holding the picture that the kidnapper had left for the parents. I laid it on the hall table and looked into the mirror at the tear streaks on my face. Then I saw it in the mirror, the note was printed backwards and in that weird script. I still could not make out all of the letters. I grabbed my cell phone and called Charlie. He picked me up this time and we were on the way to the station. I flopped it in from of the Lieutenant and told him that we need an artist that was familiar with all these styles to read this correctly. He called down to holding to see who was in the cage right now. There was one that had been picked up for defacing. Get him up here now, was the order. When he arrived, my boss told him that here was a chance for him to get a "Get out of jail" card. It didn't take but one look for him to give us the words.

Bob Anderson was the name printed on the clue. We didn't know if it was the guy, but it was a lead. Sleep be damned, I was wired up as high as I could get and I sat in the station while they looked to see if anyone that could have gotten to the baby had that name or was known by any of the family. I had never seen the Homicide Squad work before and I just sat and watched as they put the information together. It was so organized and logical to me. I ask Charlie if he had every wanted to be a detective. He looked me in the eye and said that he was just a street cop and that was all he wanted to be ever since he was a kid. Little did I know that he was watching me as my eyes got wider and wider as they added to the murder board and strung the clues together and then erased and started over as the person they were looking at, alibied out. I could have sat there all night, but we both were chased out and told to get some sleep, patrol tomorrow and that is a order that came from out Boss. As I was walking out the Homicide Lt. said to my back, "Good work Jill."

The next day after my shift ended I was right back in the Homicide Squad Room. One of the detectives took pity on me and let me look through the folder that contained all the research they had done last night. I took it over to one of the day time desk and spread the papers out. I was studying the papers in front of me and I didn't even see my Lt. walk by and look at what I was doing. Also I didn't see Charlie look in and motion to my boss. I didn't hear him talking about me and the natural aptitude I was showing for absorbing the clues. My field of vision was just the

desk and its contents. I stayed till I was kicked out again, but I was back the next day. Three days later I looked up and yell "I think I got it."

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at the tall skinny carrot topped girl that was sitting in their space. I blushed till my face matched the color of my hair . I held up a piece of paper that was filled with my hand writing. I then began to explain what it all meant. The Lt. of Homicide had heard my yell and had came to the door of his office and motioned to my Lt. who had been drinking coffee with him and both of them began listening to what I was saying.

It all began with the picture. It was shot in a mirror and was backwards just like the name. The name means nothing. It is just his way of saying, "Turn all of this around. Nothing is as it seems." I then looked at the face of the baby closer. His eyes are closed and it looks like there is makeup on his face. I remember my Uncle's funeral and how they had put makeup on him to give that rosy look of life on his dead face. This is what had happened. The baby was already dead when the picture was taken and someone wanted to make it appear that he was still alive. The coroner's report stated that the time of death was hard to calculate due to the condition of the corpse left in an open plastic bag in a dumpster. That is why the bag was not tied closed. He also said that the body had been cleaned before putting into the bag. He thought it was to get rid of DNA and clues left on the body. But it was really to remove the makeup. The killers wanted the time of death to be undeterminable. I then said, "The person that sent the picture was not the person that killed the child. It was a third party who wanted the truth to come out, but was scared to bring it to the police. Maybe an illegal alien housekeeper or gardener."

I then took a deep breath and said, "The scene of the crime is in the home of the parents."

When I met Charlie the next day at the station. He waited till we were alone in the squad car before he ask anything. I laid it out to him and explained how I had reached the conclusions I had. "Well buttercup, you better tie your butt down, cause a storm is about to blow your way." he said. Then he leaned over and kissed my cheek and added, "Good job kid". My face was glowing, I had never heard him say "Good job" to anyone before.

Charlie was wrong about me drawing some kind of heat for my involvement. The squad took all the credit and I was glad. The rest of the case was for the courts and as Charlie says, "We are

no longer involved. Now back to the real police work on the streets." I think some strings were pulled because we had been given a new cruiser and it was last years model Dodge Charger Pursuit 4 wheel drive. It had the big 5.7 Hemi and I was in love. At home I had my Corvette and my Porsche and dreaded driving the old Ford at work. Charlie of course complained about the room, or lack of room in the Charger. I wanted to roll down the window and put my elbow on the window sill, but my partner said that wasn't proper and would ruin the air conditioning.

Teddy Brooks:

My position allowed me to do a little investigating of my own and I found out that the baby case had been solved not by the detectives, but one of the street cops. A woman. I will get a little revenge from her for spoiling my debut. She is like all the other cops, they are fools. The trap I setup was so easy to do as I had watched her and her partner use the same route every day. I ran a red light in front of them and they took off after me to that alley I had prepared. I missed her on the first shot, but it was because her partner pushed her out of the line of fire. He tripped as he did that and I was able to hit his leg. I then ran to my car on the next street.

Officer Jill Thompson:

I woke up the next morning on that fashionable but lumpy couch of mine. How could something that cost that much be so uncomfortable. I drug myself through the routine of getting ready and left for the hospital. When I got there I wasn't ready for the shock of seeing Charlie's ex-wife Gloria sitting in the ICU waiting room with my Lt. and his wife. He introduced me and I sat down and leaned my head back against the wall. Everyone was waiting for the nine o'clock report and time just seemed to slow down and stop. Gloria had been staring at me for who knows how long before I finally looked across at her. "He always gets the youngest partners to train." she finally said and "You probably have a crush on him like all the rest he has trained in the past." I just nodded and said, "Just a small one."

The doctor came out and said only the family can go in. Gloria looked at me and told the doctor. "His only family is sitting over there." I gulped and didn't contradict her and slid into the unit.

Charlie was flat on his back with IVs and monitors hooked up all around him. He noticed me and grinned. He mouthed the words,

"Can't talk." I sat down and held his hand. When I left I thanked Gloria and headed to the station. When I got there I was told I was going to be just sitting around for quite awhile. That didn't last but two days before the head of Homicide came in and told me to go home, put on some plain clothes and come back to work.

It was just a week before another high publicity case came in. A plastic surgeon had been found with her face slashed to ribbons. Whoever had killed her was very angry. I was told to go to the crime scene and learn how evidence was gathered and not to touch anything. Booties and gloves at all time and they better not find any cell phone pictures that I had put on the internet. I was given a clipboard and checked each person as they entered and left the area. At least it was a real job and was useful. I kept my eyes and ears open to every word and action the squad made that day. Books can go only so far, this was the real world and actions mattered. If clues were corrupted or the chain of evidence was broken, this could cause a criminal to go free. I was determined that "Not on my watch" would be my creed.

Teddy Brooks:

That was even easier than the first one. Joyce had actually dated me three times in high school. I was going to a different school and my shame hadn't followed me there. I was in love with her and it was wonderful. I had heard that the third date was the one where two people always had sex. So I was prepared and picked her up just like the first two times and was nervous and sweaty by the time we got to the dance club that all the underage students went to. It was going great until we headed back to the house. There was a place in Griffith Park that was the favorite place to park and get to know your date. I was so clumsy and couldn't get the condom on and she started laughing. I kicked her out of the car and left her there. I heard that Joyce had called a friend on her cell phone and didn't tell her parents about it.

She had went to college and became a big time Doctor, but now she is just one of the faceless. The surprise on her face when she entered her house and found me waiting. The good thing about surgeons is that they have plenty of sharp knifes at their homes.

Officer Jill Thompson:

Charlie's leg was not responding to therapy. The loss of blood and nerve damaged had been so great that it might never be even eighty percent normal. I cried the night I was told. Katie just whined and slid her head under my arm trying to get me to

stop. I patted her head and told her that I had to get it out of my system and be strong in front of my partner. I visited him everyday after he got out of the hospital and carried my dog with me so we could all walk together. The walking was part of the recovery and I wasn't going to let anyone else do it. Finally he told me that he knew he was not going to be a cop anymore and his ex-brother-in-law had a security business and he was going to go work for him in Seattle. My heart was broken, but I just smile and told him that I would visit as often as I could. Remember I am a rich bitch and daddy has a jet. Seattle is just a couple of hours away for me.

When I returned to work the next Monday, I was informed that my work was sufficient and homicide had request that I stay on as an intern. I immediately called Charlie and he just said, "That is where you belong, kid." He knew that I could make a detective, now to show all the rest I was up to the job.

I was still just a newby and got all the grunt jobs no one else wanted. I collated documents and carried the evidence back and forth to the cage where it was kept. The officer on duty there got to know me really well. The main Medical Examiners office is half an hour drive time, so I got the duty transporting paperwork back and forth. All of this helped me to make friends with the lower ranking personnel that would be essential in the future.

Teddy Brooks:

I must not let the police sway me from my appointed duties. I have three more females that must pay for the miserable life I have had.

Eva was a party girl I met through one of those "show up to the class reunion with a model on your arm" escort business. She was all friendly and as long as I brought gifts, she even went out with me "off the books". It all came crashing down when I suggested that she meet my mother. She informed me that she would never ever be serious about any guy and that I should not call her again. She of course kept all the things I had bought her.

I contacted the escort service and made a date under a fake name. It had almost been a year since she had dumped me. I put on a limo driver outfit I had gotten from Goodwill. I bought a fake beard and dark glasses and picked her up to take her to her date. There was drinks and hors d'oeuvre appetizers setup in the back seat and I waited till she had a couple of drinks from the special liquor I had roofied and when I stopped in Griffith Park she was out of it. I waited till she woke up and saw that her arms were

tied to each of the backdoors, I slowly place a car cushion on her face and listened to her screams till they stopped. Earlier I had got a wino on the street to fill a condom with his sperm and this I put into her vagina with a turkey baster. I left her in the limo I had stolen last week. There were no finger prints of mine as I had worn driving gloves along with the suit I had gotten from Goodwill. There would be plenty of DNA, fibers and fingerprints for the CSI team to analyze, but none of it mine.

Officer Jill Thompson:

I had been promoted to "murder board" duty. While the "real" detectives were discussing the case and calling out relevant points, I would write them on the white board and also post the pictures along with the text. As I was doing this my mind was soaking up the logic from each of the guys in the unit. Each one had a different way of looking at clues and subconsciously I was adding these to my own way of thinking. This was not just a job, this was a learning experience that I could not have gotten from any classroom. Each of these professionals had developed their crime solving methods over the years and they ignored the methods of the other officers in favor of their own. I didn't have enough experience to had fully formed one of my own so I was combining all of the different points of the members of the homicide squad. I remembered that Bruce Lee had taken parts of several martial arts and made his own style. I didn't realize it but I was going to "Kung Fu" my own crime solving ability.

Charlie had told me that the best thing a good cop could have was a "gut" that told them when something was right or wrong. I found out that he was correct and that I was developing that intestinal lie detector. It came together almost at once and I simply knew the answer without physically linking the clues.

Teddy Brooks:

My almost wife was next on the list. She and I had dated for three years and then I asked her and she said "Yes". I was above the clouds for three months till she met another and fell for him. I work in the court system of Los Angeles and her new beau was on the D.A. staff. I only had a criminal justice degree and he had a full Law diploma and was one of those insufferable lawyers. Of course Jane was "oh so sorry" that it had happened, but better before we got married than after. She gave me back the ring and left me alone in my apartment. She will be sorry she cause me so much pain, So much pain.

Jane had kept her old apartment even though she was living with her new man. I asked all the people at the courthouse about the new girlfriend the A.D.A. had. I found out that she had not told him or anyone else that we had been engaged. She was just playing me. I waited till I knew that the Lawyer was going to be out of town on a case, and then I sent a package to her old place. I had kept a copy of the keys she had given me when we were engaged. When she arrived to get the delivered box, she of course open the door to check on how the place was doing. I let her get in and when she went toward the bedroom, I stepped out of the closet and hit her on the head.

When Jane woke she found out that I had moved her to the A.D.A.'s apartment. She was tied to the four corners of their bed. I had duct taped her mouth to prevent her screaming. When I walked into the room, she looked at me with fear on her face. She struggled against the bonds on her limbs, but I have become very good at tying women up. I unrolled the knifes that I had taken from Joyce's apartment and Jane went wild upon seeing them.

Officer Jill Thompson:

Sometimes a case will come in that upsets even the toughest detective. I didn't get to go to the actual crime site, but the pictures were enough to send me to the bathroom the first time I saw them. No one laughed when I returned. The woman was killed just like the plastic surgeon, but there was more blood than you could believe. The victim had been flayed alive to get that much bleeding. The medical examiner had determined that the surgeon had been smothered with a pillow and was dead before being cut to ribbons. This latest was still alive when he began cutting on her. This was done by someone with so much hate against this woman, that it was almost unimaginable.

Jigsaw Jill:

I woke up at two in the morning. How I had even slept with the visions of that horrific scene in my mind, I don't know. But now I had to get to the office and put down on paper what was rambling in my brain. I backed the Porsche out of the garage and swung by Ihop on Sunset and got some coffee and donuts to go. Yes, cops eat donuts. There was no one in the squad room and I rolled a new murder board out of the closet and put it beside my desk. I pulled all the murders that might have been done by a single male over the last six months and started going through them. When

eight o'clock rolled by the guys started coming in. As each enter the room they looked at me, but I didn't even notice them. They just sat back an watched as I would pull something out of the stack of files and put it on the board. I would then go thru more files and suddenly pull another sheet out and add to the board. As the narrative built with the display, the guys started putting their heads together and began muttering to each other. The most senior detective suddenly jerked his gray head back and opened a filing cabinet and took out a single sheet and placed it on the board. That was the first time I noticed them sitting around my desk. I looked at the piece of paper and saw that it was mine and Charlie's shooting. I slapped myself in the head and said "How did I miss that, I guess I was just to close to realize the connection." The Lt. spoke to me. "Jill when you get ready I would like a full report."

When I got ready. I still wasn't sure what I had. My inner mind was running the show and my outer self was trying to catch up. I said, "I have to talk to Charlie."

Teddy Brooks:

Mother died and I will have to put off the last one till I bury her. She wanted to be with her parents back in Illinois and that will take me a week to accomplish. I am not in a rush to finish. I don't know what I will do when my goal is completed.

Jigsaw Jill:

Mona Williams - Duct tape and tied to bed, smothered. Married

Dr. Joyce Carson -Smothered , face slashed. Widow not remarried.

Eva Smith - Raped, smothered. Escort

Jane Watson - Duct tape and tied to bed, face slashed. Engaged to A.D.A. John Parsons

My "GUT" told me that these were done by the same person. With Jane Watson being the one with the most connection to the murderer. He had smothered all the others, but he made sure that Jane had, what we call "Psychological Horror", before she died. The slow death of cutting her face to pieces was the cruelest form of torture and he had followed though with it without remorse. We must look deeper into her life. Who was she before she was the girlfriend of John Parsons. I turned to the others and asked out loud, where did she use to live?

All of a sudden I stopped talking, I had just given what amounted to an order to guys that were two or three levels above me and my face went red with embarrassment. Behind me I heard the voice of authority repeat the order I had given. I slowly turned and said, "I guess this is the best time to give my report to you Lt."

Teddy was wrong, one of Jane's friends had know about the fake engagement and when questioned, Teddy's name came up. We asked her about where Jane was living before moving in with John. "She was paying the rent on an apartment that a cousin of hers had. He had to move to a new job and she took up the payments. Her credit score would not let her rent one under her name." Well the .C.S.I. tore the place apart and found one set of fingerprints that were in just about every part of the place. Whoever it was had been over there dozens of time. They were on file and we had a name. Teddy was living with his mother and there was no one at home. A neighbor said his mother had died and didn't know much more.

Searching the house turned up all the names of the women murdered except Eva. They were part of Teddy's life. The escort service did have Teddy's credit card on file, so that made it all of the murders tied back to Teddy. But where was he?

Teddy Brooks:

It was a good thing that mother wanted to be buried back home. When I drove back to LA, I saw the cars parked in front of my house. How had they found me? I pulled to the side of the street half a block away and used the camera I always carry with me and watched through the telescopic lens at the people going in and out. There she was the last woman to ruin my life. The tall redheaded witch. I had failed once, but not twice I thought. I know where she lives.

Jigsaw Jill:

I had my egg noodle soup in one hand and Katie's leash in the other when the gun fire started. I hit the deck and let the leash go. I always carry and as soon as I spotted the shooter, I fired in his direction, he jumped in his car and took off. My neighbor was in her yard and yelled "I got the dog." So I got back into the Porsche and back out of the driveway like James Garner. With rubber burning off the wheels I took off down the street. Teddy

took the next turn and was a full two blocks ahead. I have a hands free phone and yell 911. I gave my badge number and location as I took the Yellow German two seater up through the gears. I wasn't gaining on the suspect. He was getting all the traffic breaks and I was in a car without cop lights and having to dodge everybody. I could tell he was headed to Sunset. I turned on Sunset and started catching up. I was meeting squad cars and they were turning around to follow. He turned left on Laurel Canyon, he was heading to the hills. I had him now. No way anything in California could out run me on that road. My cell phone rang and it was dispatch linking me into the radio frequency. There was not a car in position to block him on the other end of the canyon road. I grunted a reply and pushed the go peddle down further. I started to bless my father for making me learn all those racing moves and my little sports car just walked up on the other sedan like he had stopped to take a leak.

I was probably the only person in the world that would pull a pit maneuver with a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet but the little all wheel drive spun the other car into the ditch. I slid sideway to a stop and leaned over the back of the car where the engine is. I had my gun out and was waiting for backup. A black and white pulled up about two minutes later and took up position on the other side of the car. As we yelled at the driver to step out and put his hands on his head, a gunshot rang out and the car horn started blaring. Teddy had taken the coward's way and blew out his brains. I lowered my gun and started to shake. The ride up the road had taken all of my adrenaline and now my body was beginning to feel it. One of the cops from my old traffic unit came up and said, "I knew you were going to wreck that flashy car one day." He just slapped me on the back and then he said, "Good job, damn good job."

After a fitful night with my little dog next to me trying her best to comfort a still shaky twenty something skinny red headed plain girl, I got up and headed into the squad room. The guys just nodded to me like it was just any old day. I sat down and the Lt. came in and said, "After the stunt you pulled yesterday, dashing through traffic in a non official car and breaking just about every road law in the state, there is only one thing I can do with you Jigsaw". I looked up as he had never called me that before and I knew he had served with the real Jigsaw Jones. There was a shinny new gold badge in his hand and he handed it to me. "Try not to let the name down." He turned and left. Then I saw that all of the guys knew about it already and were just waiting for me to arrive. This was going to be the rest of my life and I was looking forward to it. But first I had to call Charlie.

Jigsaw Jill vs The Solver.

The Second Kill:

I drag the body into the bedroom where I want it to be discovered. I lay the weapon next to the victim and make sure I leave no trace that can reveal my true identity. This is where I want them to start looking. I moved to Los Angeles to see if this Police Department can do their job. I left Montreal when I realized that I could go on forever without those Canucks every catching me. It is no fun if you are not challenged. I read about the female detective and made sure to commit the crime in her area, Hollywood. I knew there would be plenty of villains among the rich and famous.

Jigsaw Jill:

My new partner came in the door at little late. He had an extra cup of mango pineapple frappuccino for me. I took a sip and smiled for the first time today. We have been working on three cases and none of them had revealed very many clues. The brass upstairs have been giving me all the headline cases that had gone cold in the last few months. The other guys either solved the case in a couple of weeks, or it was shuffled off to me. The reward for good work, is more work. This was true here in the Homicide Squad of the L.A. Hollywood Division. If you are rich or famous, you were dumped on our division.

They had paired me up with a real good looking charmer. When we walked down the street, I could see people looking at us like, "Why is he with that girl." Paul Denver was his name and he treated me just like all the other women and that made me feel good. When he had first saw my new Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet in the parking lot. He said "Which cop here is on the take." I laughed and told him it was mine. "I wrecked my old one doing a PIT maneuver on a serial killer." "I guess the department bought you a new one." he said. "No I wasn't on duty at the time." The look in his eye spoke volumes. Just who was I partnering up with, must have been running through his mind. I told him who my parents were and told him not to wonder who I was, but what I did as a detective. He held his hands up and smiled that gorgeous smile of his.

I had been sitting at my desk for only a couple of minutes when the Lt. came into the squad room and told us that we were primary on a new case. He gave me an address I recognized immediately and he said, "Now people." The unmarked Charger I had been issued roared out of the lot with me behind the wheel as usual. "I'm going to have to get used to a lot of things I see." said Paul. I was the one who smiled back now. "We can have a race at the Police training grounds any time you want if you think you can take the wheel from me." Once again he just raised his hands and smiled. "I've heard about you, so no dice on me racing for anything."

The house had a black and white in the drive. I told the officers to closed the driveway gates to keep press and snoopers out of the crime scene. CSI had not gotten here , but I keep plenty of booties and gloves in the trunk and told the uniforms to dress up and help clear the mansion. It was a three story that looked like it had come from the movie "Gone With the Wind". The victim was in the bedroom on the second floor and there was a single GSW to his chest. A old fashion Harrington & Richardson Model 733 .32 S&W Long revolver was on the floor next to the body. I reminded the street cops to look but do not touch or move anything. The Rev. Joshua Argent the leader of the Suriname Church in L.A. was nude on the thick carpet of his house. I knew that this was going to be a powder keg when it became news. He had one of those Mega-churches downtown and its membership was in the thousands. He also had a TV show and of all things, a car dealership.

When CSI arrived I told them where we had been in the house and reassured them that nothing had been moved. I also informed the unit head that the brass had told me to stay on scene and that they wanted the entire house gone though if it took at week. "We are going to take this room apart after it is printed and photographed." my partner said. I like this guy I thought.

After the tech had taken all the clothing out of the huge closet, Paul tapped the walls just like you see in the movies and when he noticed a difference in the sound, he got a large magnifying glass and when over the wall inch by inch till he found a seam beside the molding on a corner. Further inspection found the switch. The wall slid into a pocket and a space half as big as the bedroom was on the other side. There were filing cabinets, computers and pictures of young girls in various states of dress. Our Rev. was a Pedophile. I reminded everyone that not a word of this till we finish the investigation. This is going to be a big case and this kind of person does not work alone, there will be others. We do not want to scare them off.

I looked at the computer screen and saw a post-it note right in the center of the display. It just said, "We all have to answer when God calls, the good and the bad. I help the bad answer the call." There was a signature, "The Solver." Oh great we have a vigilante.

I took a picture and sent it to the Lt. and he texted back. "Drop all other cases. Figure it out Jill".

I told Paul to get ready to spend all of his time with me for awhile. He put that smile on me again. I haven't had anyone do that to me ever. I had been invisible to guys all the way through high school and college and I would be fibbing if I told you that it didn't make my heart skip a beat or two. I only had two close girlfriends, one of them I just started hanging out with. She worked in the coroner's office and when I was carrying the files back and forth as the grunt rookie detective, I spent a lot of time talking to her. The other lived next door to my parents and we had grown up playing at each others house. Wait till I show them a picture of Paul, they will squeal in their beer.

The front gate to the Rev.'s mansion was operated by a encoded wifi signal. It recorded each time the gates was opened or closed. Someone had opened them at two in the morning and closed them thirty minutes later. Plenty of time to kill, find the hidden room, leave a note and disappear. I called the Computer Crimes Unit and asked them to see how hard it was to access the gate controls and get back to me as soon as possible. Just then the CSI unit head called and ask that I join him in the foyer.

He was standing just inside the door frowning at the carpet. He said. "The house staff had stood right here after they call 911. A ten foot circle is stomped down as they fidgeted while waiting. It almost obscured the killing zone. The Rev. was shot here. Somehow the killer had gotten him to the front door and did him in". He looked at me as I wrinkled up my nose and said, "He then carried him up the stairs and put him in the bedroom?" The CSI guy just shrugged his shoulders. The scene on the second floor was staged for some reason and that would be the first thing I would try to solve. The rest of the house didn't provide any additional information. Paul and I headed back to the office to put together the notes we had taken and look for answers. One of the main questions was how did the staff not hear the gun shot if it was down stairs? The answer turned out to be simple and confusing at the same time. He was not shot with the revolver found in the bedroom, but with a nine mm pistol. You can't put a suppressor on a revolver and make it work because of the space between the cylinder and the barrel. However you can put one on an automatic. Why did he leave that old gun?

The rest of the day went by as we talked and proposed theories and then shot them down. I got a text at five and it said, "Surprise party at your house." It was the girls. I needed a break, so I headed to my apartment. Let me explain about my life long friend Wanda Gail Fitsimons. She had been my best friend up until we were thirteen. Then like almost all young girls, a guy came between us. He took up all her time and made me so jealous because I didn't have anyone else that wanted to hang out with me. This went on until we both moved out of the parents home and made homes of our own. I became a cop and she went into her father's business. He owned three newspapers across the country. Strangely not the ones in Los Angeles. We ran into each other at of all places the oriental place I go to almost every day. The Hunan Cafe on Sunset was my favorite place and the egg drop soup was divine. She had been staying in Boston and was now moved back to California. One thing led to another and we made up, hugged and it was like we were ten years old again. I love having someone to talk to about personal things and now I had two. One was almost as rich as I and the other was the rock steady friend I needed. Rosie Clarke was the brain. She was from the Cayman Islands and had a degree in medicine, but it wasn't recognized in the U.S. but it had easily landed her a job in the corner's office. She had been doing autopsies for so long, that she was just never wrong about the cause of death in a case. It seemed that they just talked to her so she was know as "the death whisperer".

I had only drank one beer and just got through showing them Paul's picture and describing the smile that made me weak in the knees, when my official cell phone went off. I just moaned and answered ,'Detective Thompson'. Rosie and Wanda both mouthed the word "Jigsaw" as I motion them to be quiet. "Yes sir, I have had one beer. Ok, I will wait for Paul." The looks in my friends eyes asked many questions. I informed them that a high profile homicide had just occurred and I could not tell them the name, but Rosie will know in a couple of hours. As if on cue, Rosie's phone rang.

The Third Kill:

The offer I made her for the German WWII dagger was far beyond its value and she knew it. I saw some artifacts from that era for sale at one of the auction houses in Europe and tracked it back to the woman in L.A. It was just like it was suppose to be . I would show the money she made by living on the heartbreak of others. Her family had stolen and killed the owners during the darkest time in Europe. The stolen valuables of war's victims would be revealed and maybe restored, but that is not my vocation. I enter the house and she leads me back to the game room and shows me the knife. I quickly flip it over and plunge it into her heart. I notice that the door/wall was not fully closed to her storage vault. I did a quick inventory in my mind and put the note on the best painting in the room. I then close the door. I didn't want to make it too easy to find.

Jigsaw Jill:

We pulled up to the sprawling estate and the street cops had already secured the driveways in and out. There were two of my squad's members already inside the door. Manny was the oldest of our group and he took lead in the investigation. Once again we cleared all the rooms first and then went back to the game room where a well dressed woman in the twenty five to thirty year age group, was laying on a pool table with a knife sticking out of her chest. The knife was a old World War II German dagger with a Swastika on the handle. Manny flipped back in his notes and said, "This is Ms. Gretchen Braun and she is the head of Braun's fine chocolate inc." I thought to myself here was another billionaire dead. We all looked at each other and the same thought was in all our eyes. Once the CSI were done, we were going to look this room over with the proverbial fine tooth comb.

I told Paul, "If you can find a secret room here, I will buy you a steak dinner." He put that smile on me and replied, "You're on Redhead." Damn if he didn't pull a book out of the floor to ceiling bookcases that ran all the way around the room, and a click was heard. We had been moving and looking at all the objects and gaming paraphernalia for over two hours and of course he would find it. "Alexander's Steakhouse tomorrow night" Paul whispered in my ear. I blushed like a thirteen year old and said, "I am a woman of my word."

The exposed room was really a climate controlled vault. I looked at what was hanging on the wall and it truly amazed me. My parents had drilled all that culture into my head and apparently some of it had stuck. I looked at the first painting and almost screamed the words out, " Vincent van Gogh, The Painter on the Road to Tarascon" . I began telling the rest about the painting that was supposedly burned in a museum in Magdeburg, Germany during a bombing raid. I eased it off the wall and turned it over. On the lower left the Swastika had been stamped on the frame. I looked at the rest and said, "Dime to a dollar all of this is stolen Nazis art." Paul had walked to the other end of the room and motioned for me to come to him. I went and there was a Rembrandt with a post it note sticking to the bottom part of the frame. "All the sweet treats in the world cannot quench the bitter taste of war and thievery. The Solver". Who the hell was the guy and how did he find her and what she had done?

There was nothing else in the house that looked like it didn't belong there. Her house staff had all had the night off. Her gaming skills were not isolated to the video type. She was a well know martial arts fan and knew how to handle firearms. Staying alone was something she did all the time. It looked like she must have knew the killer for him to get close enough to stab her. There was no sign of resistance or struggle. We didn't bag and tag the art, that would be for experts. We, I mean me, made a list of all we could identify. The guys just didn't have the Rich Bitch Academy training in the fine arts that I had. It was a long list. Fifteen painting some of which I thought I could tell the painter, but had never seen or heard of the portraits before. This was going to turn the art world on it head. Most of the rest were medals and weapons that had neat little place cards next to them that made it easy to identify. The names on the cards were names that belong to the highest ranks of that National Socialist German Workers' Party and some of them were never caught. Made me wonder about her grandparents and who they really were.

I woke up with my phone ringing and when I looked at the clock, it was only six in the morning. Rosie's smiling face was on the caller id and I thought something must be wrong. When I answered she said, "Why didn't you call me last night before you went to bed. I had to find out about it from one of the other detectives." I thought she was talking about the murder but then she said, "You have a date with Paul...." I couldn't help but smile and said to myself, "I have a date." I told her that I would fill her and Wanda in on it at lunch if I could spare a few minutes today. "You better", was the reply. I crawled to the shower and started my day.

Lunchtime rolled around and we had not added anything else to the murder board for Gretchen Braun. I headed to le Petit Four and its sidewalk tables and a meeting with my group. They had arrive early and had a cold lemonade waiting for me. We ordered and I told them I was only going to get a small salad, cause I got a date tonight. I recounted the bet we had made and I won no matter how it came out. Then I got a little serious, "He is my partner and this may not be that kind of date. More like two guys having a beer and burger." They just rolled their eyes and nodded.

I called the beauty shop my mother always uses and begged them to work me in. Being that my mom was probably their best client and I had never been there, the curiosity about me was probably the reason they agreed. When I arrived the head of the Shoppe, Marie, came out and took one look. I told them they only had two hours and she frowned and said, "I will do what I can do in that short period of time, but I really need a week." I bit back my reply and just sat down. There were four women and Henry working on me. Hair, nails, lips, and eyes. I felt like I was being pulled apart and reassembled. They would not let me look till they got all of it done. Then Marie told me that my mother had sent a dress and shoes over and I was to put them own before I looked in the mirror.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo. Cinderella looked back at me from the mirror. I gave up on trying to look beautiful when I was in high school and had not gotten the full treatment as an adult. I balanced myself on those tall heels and turned to look at my butt and I had one. For the first time in my life there was a shape to my body. The gown mom had picked out had a v neck with a fold of fabric running down each side to add to my extra small chest. I just stood there till Marie pushed me in the back and said, "Leave and have a good time. You do not have to be in before Midnight."

The Big Date:

I pulled up in front of Paul's apartment in my little Yellow Roadster and beeped the horn. He came out in a dark gray jacket and slacks with an open collared blue shirt. I swear he looked like he had just stepped out of GQ magazine. He opened the door and swung in. He didn't see me till he turned in his seat. Talk about a mouth dropping open and his blue eyes got even bluer. "You clean up nice Red." he said. I just put the car in gear and roared off. I didn't know what to say anyway. No one had ever talked to me like that.

The steaks were the ones that the cows were hand massage all their lives and it lived up to the flavor and tenderness you would expect. The meal was excellent and I was driving so I had a very small glass of wine at the start of the meal. The food and time should take care of the alcohol by the time we left. Paul seemed to have a very good time and he told me all about his childhood growing up in foster homes after his parents were killed in a home invasion. He was a cop so no other kid had to go through that. I of course told the directly opposite story and it was funny that we had landed up in the same spot coming from two opposite directions. The restaurant was closing and I flipped my card to the waiter and for the first time Paul kind of looked uncomfortable. "Don't worry I said, I plan on winning this back from you."

I parked in his driveway and before he could object, I kissed him. He looked at me and said, "You know we are partners and this could be trouble." My insides froze up but he leaned over and kissed me back. "I love trouble." he said and shut the door. Did I have a story for the girls.

First Kill: A few weeks earlier.

Madam Camille Péché was involved in the worst of crimes. The smuggling of people from anywhere in the world to the Americas. I had been monitoring her communications for the last six months and she only delivered a third of her paying clients. The rest were abandoned in the desert or found dead in locked cargo pods. She was collecting on other people's hopes and dreams. This is one that I will take great pleasure in relieving of life. Money was all it took to get an appointment. The look on her face when I put the chloroform rag over her nose was priceless.

Jigsaw Jill:

I did my best to appear normal at work, but it seemed that everyone knew about me and Paul. It could just be my imagination, but I don't think so. I didn't have much time to worry about gossip because a tip had lead the Los Angeles Port Police to a container and when they cut the lock, a body was found sitting tied to an ornate desk chair. No cuts or gun shot wounds were evident. A purse with her driver's license was at her feet. When they went to her house they found a post-it note on the door. We were called. The front door was unlocked, just like all the other cases. The house had been secured, but no on had gone in. I pushed open the door with my left hand and I went right, Paul went left. No one was in sight. The rest of the squad entered behind us and we slowly went from room to room clearing the house. I then read the folded note pinned to the door. He wanted to make sure the wind didn't blow it away, I guess. It was longer than the others. "Mademoiselle Péché was a movie star in France, but her star burned out. She found a way to keep her expensive lifestyle by preying on the lives of others. Péché can either be a fruit or it can be the worst colored sin. Her name fits. The Solver."

Inside her study was the crime scene. A ledger was open on the desk and , I swear, a old time candlestick with blood and hair on it was lying across the pages. We found nothing else in the house that seemed to be out of order. CSI was having a field day dusting for prints and taking pictures. I was sure that the prints we were looking for, would not be here.

I went to the coroner's office to meet with Rosie and see if they had found anything. Rosie was her usual happy self, I don't see how with her surroundings, and she asked about Paul. I just blushed and didn't answer. I changed the subject by asking, "Give me the low down on how she died." Rosie took a long drink out of her water bottle and started. "First of all she has been dead for over two weeks, how much longer, we may never know. She was first hit over the head with a small metal object about the size of a police nightstick. It didn't kill her. We also found traces of chloroform inside her nose and around her mouth. She was tied to a chair and a piece of duck tape was put over her mouth so there was no noise that could have been heard outside the cargo pod. With the heat inside that container over ninety degrees, and she had no water or food. MS. Péché suffered a horrible and pain filled demise."

Only two to go:

It had been a weeks since they found Mademoiselle Péché and I was waiting for the hot shot detective to catch on. I had a mole in the department that was giving me information on the progress of the case. He thought I was a reporter trying to get a scoop. It is just too easy in the current world to corrupt the innocent. I have two more on my list and then I will move on. I had hoped that I could quit early, but alas that doesn't look like the case.

Scarlatto's is well know for their exquisite hand made diamond jewelry. He sells to all the stars and millionaires, but he had a dirty little secret. Like his name, his diamonds are farmed with the scarlet colored blood of miners. Rebels and terrorists use the money he pays them to expand their operations in the Cote d'Ivoire, Africa. How many children does it take to make a carat? I will send him to a place that he can ask the proprietor. All of histories evil are there already and he can join them. What special little hell can I put him thru before he dies?

Jigsaw Jill:

I had the murder board set up the next morning before the crew arrived. Paul had me a coffee and pastry which made my morning. He sat back and looked at what I had written on the board.

First: MS. Péché -- candlestick - killed in study- found locked in cargo pod

Second Rev. Joshua Argent -- gun(revolver) - killed in bedroom- found nude

Third Frau Braun-- knife(dagger) - killed in gaming room - found on pool table

Forth ?????

Manny, who is the most experienced one in the room is always the first to follow my logic, jumped up after the second one and said, "Hell he is playing Clue." Peach color, silver or white, brown. The weapons are classic to the game and the rooms. Gaming room with a pool table is the billiard parlor. Why didn't I connect the dots." I finished the board and they said, "I don't know if this gets us any closer to catching the guy, but at least we know his pattern. Going down the list of everyone in town with a name that means a color and is suspected of a crime, would take years." I tapped my marker on the board then said, "He is not after people that are know to be bad, he is after those that are not even thought of as crooks. If you are rich and some people suffered making you rich, then that is who he targets. How does he get the information on their crimes that no one else knows?"

Forth kill:

My informant has let me know the detective has gotten part of the solution correct. I am pleased, but will she be able to thwart me. I will have to be extra careful to avoid a trap when I strike Mr. Scarlet. I will move the time table up and meet him tonight. I had an appointment for next week, but I will tell him that I have to leave the country and will knock off twenty percent if he can do it right away. His greed will lead him to his doom.

Jigsaw Jill:

Paul came over and we had a Netflix and Chill night with all its implications. I am not really that experienced, but I figured he knew that and would take it easy. A couple glasses of wine as we watched about half of a Jessica Jones show and the rest is rated "R". I woke up at five and kicked him out so he could go get ready for work. I told him that I was not prepared to let everyone in on my personal life and he better act normal. As soon as he left, I stepped into the shower and dreamed a little as the hot water flowed over my body. I actually had a real boy friend. Who would have thought.

I needn't have worried about anyone noticing me, the whole squad room was being emptied as I came in. " Griffith Observatory", said the Lt. "get your butt there now." I met Paul in the parking lot and we grabbed the cruiser and took off to the Park. There was yellow tape all the way around the building and the guys who normally worked there were just standing around outside. As I climbed the steps up to the main room, I noticed a camera on a tripod at the southwest corner. I made a note of that and then went into the building. A man was hanging from the big refracting telescope and I could not see a note on his corpse. I motion to Paul and led him outside to the camera on a tripod.

The note was stuck to the top of the camera. The note was a little different. "Mr. Scarlet profited from the suffering of the downtrodden. Maybe raising him up in the air will raise awareness of his crime. The Solver". I flagged down one of the officers that was already here when we arrived. "Have you found out his name." He responded, "Yes he had a wallet on him. It is Scarlatto, Antonino Scarlatto." I looked at Paul, "He knows we know and is just taunting us.", I said. Paul just looked at me confused. I bent over and looked in the eyepiece of the instrument. It is focused on a building , it must be five or six miles away." I told him it was one of the Nikon P900 and the zoom is just ridiculous. I read the sign on the building and it was the African Consulate. I told Manny where Paul and I were going. He looked at us with a twinkle in his eye and told us to get back before dark. "Oh God he knows."

We walked in the front door and approached the desk. I introduced myself and ask to see someone in charge. The clerk behind the desk said, "We have been expecting you and you have a package that was delivered today." He put the small transparent Tupper Ware container on the desktop and I could see a purple Crown Royal bag inside. I motioned him away from the package and mouthed the word "BOMB." I called the Disposal Squad and told the desk clerk to tell the highest ranking official what was going on. We left the building like Elvis.

I got the box back two hours later and the tech looked me in the eye and said, "You are not going to believe this." The head of the Africa Delegation was there when I opened the plastic box and pulled the bag out. I dumped the heavy contents on the table and there was more diamonds that I had ever seen in my life. An old man came out of the group that was just standing around in amazement and picked up one of them and put it to an eye loupe that he had pulled out of his pocket. This is definitely a blood conflict diamond. There is no laser inscription on the facet. The note that had been left made sense now. We were technically not inside the U.S.A. at the moment, I had to leave the diamonds, but took the bag and box. The lawyers would have to work it out.

I saw the light blinking on my desk phone as soon as I sat down. Rosie had left me a message, "Come down as soon as you can, this is business". I reached her still in the autopsy room. "We got the body on the table and cut the 'Y' and opened up his throat. It was packed with diamonds." So if he had them in his throat, then he wasn't killed by hanging and he was probably killed some where else." My head was starting to hurt, this was too much information.

I looked back at the board, the order was the answer my overworked grey matter said. The first was a real life multiple murderer. The second, a molester of children, The third a hereditary war criminal. Forth had been an accessory in violet criminal acts in Africa. Then it hit me. They were lesser and lesser crimes as we went down the list. The next would be something that is thought to be bad, but not necessarily criminal. And their name would be a color. He had focused on me from the start and I knew that the next would be his last. He was at the bottom level of bad in his mind. My mother's maiden name is "Rosso" or Italian for red. Her family made wine and there are lots of people that think drinking is the work of the devil. He was after my family, I just knew it. I called Dad and told him to get Mom and get in the "Panic Room". They knew me and knew that I didn't get upset about little things, so they locked themselves up. I called to Manny, get black and whites to my parents and tell the Lt. what is going on. I left.

The charger was way to slow for me right now and I blew out into the street in the screaming little yellow car. I didn't look at the time when I left, but I can tell you that it was world record time. I slid to a stop next to the three police cars already there. One of them was a sheriff's deputy. If you want fast response just let them know it is a cop or her family. We take care of our own. Inside the house and up to the Panic Room I went. I was breathing so hard and didn't slow my breath down till I heard my mom's voice over the intercom asking if it was clear. I sat down on the floor next to the hidden door that led into the safe room and put my head on my knees. The cell phone on my hip rang.

The voice was one I had never heard before, it had a slight accent I couldn't discern but it was perfect English. "Congratulations Detective, you solved the unsolvable. I was worried that you couldn't, but I underestimated your skill. I am on the way out of your country as I speak. Tomorrow I will call you to set up a Skype video at one o'clock. There is one more crime to reveal. Don't wear you heart on you sleeve till then." He hung up without me saying a word. I was so glad that Dad and Mom were ok, the rest just didn't matter.

Jill:

The whole squad was gathered around my desk at one o'clock when the phone rang. I answered and it was him. Use my name "Solver" and connect. I did and a face that had a very bright window behind it came on the screen. You could not make out what his features were but the scene outside the window was somewhere in the Middle East. The tall mosques and building with the round pointed tops were evident all over the landscape. I sat there not talking, letting him lead and maybe he would give something away. There was a laugh from him and a video started up replacing his face. It was a underground parking lot and a man had his back to the camera. Paul walked into the scene and started talking to the unknown man. There was no sound but Paul gave him a large envelope and he gave a bundle of money back. The video ended and the unknown face was back on the screen. "Goodbye now detective. Until I find a different game to play with you. I will take my leave." The call ended.

I looked over at Paul and said "Why". He tried to explain, "He said he was a reporter and wanted a scoop on the case. You know I came up in foster care and didn't have anything. I look at you and you have it all." I stood up and tears were flooding out of my eyes and down my cheek. I pulled the cuffs from my belt and for the first time since I had put on a badge, I didn't feel the thrill of saying my favorite words, "You have the right...."

     Jigsaw Jill Police Detective II

Prologue: I can see Polly leaving the Indian restaurant with her little box of food left over from the chicken and spinach dish that she had ordered tonight. The coupon for a free meal I had left on her car was sure to entice. Working girls like her aren't like in the TV shows where they make hundreds of dollars a night. A meal that they don't have to budget is always welcome. She turns and heads down Durward Street, making an easy target for me. I wait until she is almost to my parked van and I catch up with her with the stun gun out, a quick jolt, and I catch her before she hits the ground. I then toss her into the back of the van, and I am down the street in an instant.

Hollywood Division Detective Squad Room:

I wasn't in plain clothes today. I had on my dress blues as my Lt. presented me with my new Police Detective II stripes and my face had the silliest wide grin that spread all the way from one ear to the other. I had worked hard for this and it made me proud. My mom and dad were standing behind me and for the first time since I had put on the uniform, they looked proud of me too. Like most parents, they had not understood what drove me to pick this career and tried to talk me out of it many, many times. I felt like I was on top of the world. The last few months had been so very hard. The worst was the betrayal of my first love. That scar went all the way down to the bone.

The tradition in our squad was to award a new commission with a two week leave to celebrate. I had gotten my BFFs Wanda Gail and Rosie to agree to go to London with me. I told them that we would ring the bells on Big Ben, at least. Dad had loaned us the jet and Rosie was excited to be flying on a private airplane for the first time. I told her to wait till she leans back and there is no little kid kicking the seat and everyone has a window. I told them to just pack two outfits because Daddy gave me the card to use. We are going to dress like the locals and not stick out like tourists. First thing we do is go shopping in London!

Brick Lane Police Station:

PC Hugh Collins was one of the first police officers to the scene on Durward Street and he noticed the CCTV cameras as he turned the corner off of Vallance Road. The entire line of them was covered with black paint or some other type of coating. Then he saw the body lying on the sidewalk. There was a small pool of blood spreading out from the corpse. The scene was like one of the horror movies he had loved as a kid. Now he looked back onto that age and just wondered what he was thinking when he thought it was so cool. Back at the Nick, Hugh sat down at the computer and logged onto the HOLMES2 network. This is the primary system of collating all the information and cross referencing it to match with other crimes.

The name on the victim ID card was Myra Chilson and she lived at 28 Underwood Road. The primary report on her wounds was horrific. Her throat had been slit twice from left to right and her body mutilated with one deep jagged wound, several incisions across the abdomen, and three or four similar cuts on the right side. The small amount of blood at the scene may indicate she was killed elsewhere. Hugh then entered the interview he had conducted with the victim's neighbors. The overall opinion was she made just enough to survive in London by working at one of those small gift shops on Brick Lane. One of the men in her building hinted that he had heard she sometimes worked at one of the escort services. She was pretty enough to go to events on the arm of a man that needed a feminine element to offset a lifestyle that would have gotten him in trouble with his well-to-do, ultra-conservative parents. With all these rumors, none of the other residents in her building actual had known her real name till I told them. She had told them to just call her Mary. Well that was close to the name on the ID and Hugh just thought they had heard wrong.

No witnesses, and if the coroner's report didn't turn up some trace evidence, this would be a very long investigation. Hugh sat back and when he saw Detective Chief Inspector Lawson enter the Murder Squad Room, he quickly picked up his notes and acted like he was still entering information into Holmes2. Murder/Major Investigation Teams (MIT) was the official name of the unit in which Hugh was a junior member. He had spent two years on the streets in uniform before this opportunity to transfer into plain clothes due to a shortage of detectives. He had to show them he had the stuff to be a proper Police Detective and also pass the required written test. Keeping your profile low enough to dodge the Chief but outstanding enough to impress the Inspector was the ticket to a career in law enforcement. The Holmes2 program gave out a beep just at that moment. The name it showed for the address he had entered was not the same as on the ID. The listed tenant was Mary Ann Walker.

Inspector Amanda Dickerson was a slightly under-forty, short-haired redhead that was well known for her street fighting ability. When she first joined the force, a trio of soccer hooligans had gotten into a brawl at New Cross Hobgoblin Pub and she had taken all three of them out solo. The story was that two of them had permanently higher voices after the fight. Hugh thought to himself, "I know that I am not going to irritate that ginger. If I can stay on her good side it will greatly benefit my career, for she was known for defending her people to the higher ups." Hugh left the station to head back to his flat. If he could have seen into the future, he probably would have taken a two month vacation to the south of France.

Downtown London:

Jill had arranged to use her parent's apartment that sits in the middle of Knightsbridge, between Kensington and Buckingham Palaces. You can sit at the front window and see the changing of the Queen's Royal Guar. It was one of the best places in London. Hyde Park was within walking distance and Princess Diana's memorial was on everyone's list. When Jill was a little girl she sat in the window seat and watched the Royal Family go by in their carriage and dreamed of her Prince swooping down from his horse and carrying her off. When she saw the movie, The Prince and Me, she saw Eddie reach down and pull Paige onto the back of his horse and it filled her teenage heart with the hopes and dreams of her childhood self. Now while she was thinking of her real-life prince that had let her down so badly, she ducked her head and cried. There was a yell from the other room and her best friends said, "Let's hit the dress shops."

Handbury and Brick Lane:

As soon as the PC found the body mid block of Hanbury, he noticed the cut throat, her mid section cut open, and its contents lying beside her. His call into the Bishopgate station was sent immediately to Inspector Dickerson. She walked past Hugh's desk and said, "Quit pretending to work and come with me." Hugh jumped up and grabbed his coat and followed. The short drive brought him to one almost identical scene as the one on Durward Street. Hugh looked up and down the street at the CCTV units and once again they were covered with black paint. One of the techs had determined that probably a Super Soaker water gun filled with a solution of paint and a thinner to prevent it clogging, had been fired from a distance and disabled the video surveillance.

Inspector Dickerson looked at Hugh and said, "I want the name and background of this girl on my desk in an hour." She turned and left Hugh on the street without even a car. The officers looked at him and just shook their heads. One of the female PCs leaned over and said into his ear, "I would get hopping if I were you."

Finger prints can be taken by a smart phone and sent into the Holmes2 database in just a few minutes. If they are of someone that has been put into the system, the identification is almost immediate. This murder victim had been detained twice before for disturbing the Queen's peace by being drunk in public. Her name was Anna Chapman and she was only twenty seven years old. She lived two blocks over on Princelet Street and worked at the Preem , an Indian restaurant on the corner of Brick Lane. Hugh looked at the ID she had in her purse. The address was the same but the name was different. It showed that her name was Mia Penn Cahan. Their was some kind of thought in the back of Hugh's mind but it wouldn't come to the surface.

Staggering back to the apartment with all the clothes on Carnaby Street:

Wanda Gail had gotten the London Evening Standard while they were shopping and she sat down to thumb through it. Her father owned several newspapers, but this one was free and depended on ads to pay the costs. She thought that with the failing circulations of her pop's rags, that this might be the future of all newsprint. Jill came into the room and saw the headlines screaming that a serial murderer was on the loose in London, and what were the coppers going to do about it. Wanda Gail tried to pull the paper back from Jill, but once Jigsaw sees an unsolvable crime, she locks her pitbull jaws on it and will not let go. The paper had the locations right, but the reporter had gotten the original ID names that were on the bodies from his "inside" source and they were the phony ones. This was what Jill had seen and what caused her to get so excited.

When both of her friends said "No way", Jill left alone to look at both of the crime scenes. She decided to stretch her legs a little by walking toward Hyde Park. Then the desire to get to the murder scenes took over. She saw a taxi right outside of the entrance to the park and walked up to the cab and gave the driver a wad of bills and said, "I want to hire you for the day." The driver looked at the amount of money and thought that the crazy American didn't know the value of English pounds and who was he to educate her. This was more than he made in a month! He flipped the meter off and said where to. Durward Street WhiteChapel she said. Once they were there, the driver just sat in the parked car and watched her walk up and down Durward, pausing from time to time to look at the cameras and businesses on each side of the road. She walked into the cell phone and computer store on the corner of Vallance Road. Fifteen minutes later she emerged holding a new laptop and got back into the cab. Jill looked at the driver in his rearview mirror and said "now to Hanbury please".

Neither of them had noticed the young man that was watching them from a plain yellow Ford Asbo. PC Hugh Collins made a note of the girl and the registration of the taxi. He put his car in gear and followed them straight to Hanbury. Hugh then watched again as the young lady did the same routine as before. She went into the Al-Amin travels and stayed almost twenty minutes before she emerged and headed back to the taxi.

The next stop on her trip was in front of the Harry Gosling Primary School on Fairclough. Hugh watched as she got out and looked up at the CCTV cameras and then walked up and down the adjoining streets before returning to the cab.

Jill gave the driver the address of where she was staying. He raised an eyebrow and started back to her apartment. When they got there, the driver jumped out and opened her door. "My car is at you disposal madam", he said with a flourish of his hat and gave her a card with his direct number. Jill told him that he was her choice for London travel from now on.

Hugh parked his car and slipped down the street toward the doorway Jill had entered. He noted the address and went back to the car to find out what he could on this visitor to his country, cause even with the proper English clothes she was wearing, it was painfully obvious that she was American.

Holmes2 has the answers, but not all the questions:

Hugh entered the address and the owner of the property came up immediately. It was an American company, Thompson's Investments Worldwide. It showed the value of the business at more than a billion sterling. The owner's picture was actually a lovely woman. Her husband was standing beside her with his arm around her waist. They looked like the perfect couple out of a magazine ad. A further search on the company website turned up a daughter. It was the mystery girl. He quickly typed in Jill Thompson, Hollywood, California. There were several, but six foot and the reddest hair he had every seen brought the selection down to one, Police Detective II Jill Thompson. Now what in the world was a foreign copper doing at his crime scenes?

The next day proved to be one of great surprise to the PC as his early morning call brought him back to the same spot that the red headed American had visited just the afternoon before. He looked up at the CCTVs and they were now painted over and there was a body lying where there had been none yesterday. He knew for certain that the ID on the victim would prove to be false. It listed Beth Dister but the fingerprints were those of an Elizabeth Long. She had been cut almost entirely thru the neck, but her abdomen was untouched. It was as though the killer had been interrupted and fled without finishing.

Hugh printed out the picture of the American snooper and the notes he had taken yesterday afternoon and with great fear in his heart, walked resolutely into Inspector Amanda Dickerson's office.

Meanwhile back at the flat:

Wanda Gail was lying on the bed with her phone in her hand. She was making up a list of all the clubs she wanted to see tonight. Rosie was perched on the window seat staring out, hoping to see either the Queen or James Bond. Rosie's mother had seen the Queen in 1994 when Elizabeth II had visited the Cayman Islands, and Rosie had grown up with the tales of fancy dress and pomp. Jill was in the bath soaking in the biggest bed of bubbles you have ever seen. The door to the main room burst open and armed British Bobbies filled the room. The two girls eyes' were almost popping out of their heads as they had no idea of what was going on. A plain clothes cop entered behind the others with a red headed woman behind him. He looked straight at the frightened women and said "Where is she." Both of them immediately knew that Jill had gotten herself into the middle again and they just pointed to the bathroom.

Jill had once told her friends that , "Not only am I tall, plain and flat chested, I can't carry a tune if it had handles on it." So of course she was submerged up to her neck in the bubbles with her ipod ear wicks plugged in playing Bohemian Rhapsody singing her heart out in something between the keys of C and E. Her back was to the door and Hugh stepped around to the front of her before she even knew he was there. If Hugh hadn't had the gun pointed at her, she probably would have came out of the tub and attacked. But with nothing she could really do, Jill looked him in the eye and pointed to a towel. As Jill stood up and wrapped the terry cloth around her, she made sure that a brief glimpse of her was exposed. Jill looked him in the eye and thought, "Surprise me in the bath and I will make sure that you have a lot to explain to my father when he brings down the Chief Superintendent's wrath."

Back at the Nick:

Jill asked for one phone call and of course she called her parents. It wasn't half an hour when Detective Chief Inspector Lawson called Inspector Dickerson who called PC Hugh, who got Jill and they all went into the Detective Chief Inspector's office. Detective Chief Inspector Lawson told them that he had gotten a call from his boss, whom he had not spoken to outside of official functions for over a year, and he wanted to know what the hell was going on and why they had the daughter of a friend of the Queen in jail. Everyone in the building could hear him shouting and words like "suspicious behavior but no actual crime" and "armed constables with guns drawn" and "accosting a helpless naked female", could be discerned even through the sound proofing of the station.

Home again home again:

When Jill, Rosie, and Wanda Gail returned back to the apartment, they found the door had been repaired and even the paper was refolded and put back on the bed. Her friends looked at Jill and said , "Spill it." Jill began telling them about the taxi ride and visiting the two streets where the murders were committed. She then told them that she didn't think the officials had gotten the connection and she was going to have to go back down to the station and hope that they would listen to her. Jill said, "I had planed to give what I had found over to them tomorrow but they broke in and packed us off. I know I have some things that they don't. When I saw that all the street cameras were not working, I found a computer store on the corner of the street and got some videos that were shot out the front window. I then found a travel agency on the other street that had security also. Both of these were run by immigrants and the U.S. is not the only country where they won't talk to the police. I bought a laptop and got the videos to go along with it. I bought a really nice travel package from the other place. You just have to know the language (Jill held up her first two fingers and rubbed them together in the universal sign of money)."

Both the women said at once, "I want to see the video." Jill plugged in the new laptop and opened the street scenes. She then explained that neither place had a view of the murders, but by watching the vehicles passing at the times of the crimes, maybe they could catch the same one passing by both places. The time that night was spent, not at clubs but staring at the screen. The actual time the bodies were placed on the street was not known, so several hours of videos were going to be looked at. Jill had already determined by the amount of blood stains still on the cement that they were not killed where they were found. At two in the morning a break was called and all three went to bed.

The next morning as the trio were eating their traditional English breakfast the staff had prepared, there came a knock on the door. Rosie opened the door and there was a bobby with his cap in his hand asking to come in. Rosie looked back at the other two and all shrugged shoulders and nodded OK. He was almost at the breakfast table when Jill recognized him as the plain clothes of the other night. Jill knew right away that her call to her father had cost him his job. As a plain clothes officer herself, she felt a knot in the pit of her stomach and knew that she couldn't stand going back to uniform. Hugh was trying to apologize when Jill stood up and hugged him and said she was so sorry. Hugh was caught off guard as he was expecting such a rich woman to laugh in his face. He looked at her in a completely new light. Sometimes the beauty of a person is not in the physical, but in the spirit that is underneath and that changes the appearance of the person. Once you see the beauty that is the soul, how can mere flesh compare.

Two continents are better than one:

Jill made Hugh sit and eat cause she knew he hadn't been able to do anything since the dressing down he had received at the head of the Metropolitan Police Service. He told her that he had been only a Police Constable assigned to the Murder Squad and had been trying to move up to Detective permanently. Jill told him that was the exactly the same way she got her Gold Badge. Hugh said now he would be on street duty the rest of his career. Jill looked him in the eye and said, "Not so fast English boy, I have got something that might change all that, if you are game."

Hugh called the Inspector and told her that he would like to take a couple of days off. She told him that he could take a couple of weeks if he wanted, she didn't really care. Hugh turned back to Jill and said that everyone is trying to cover their rears and me not being around would let them ignore the incident.

Wanda Gail and Rosie informed Hugh and Jill that this was not a working holiday and they were going to see the action and would be back sometime tomorrow morning. Jill and Hugh barely looked up from the laptop and a couple of hours later, the same panel van passed by both of the murder sites. Hugh told Jill to close her eyes as he signed into Holmes2. Jill giggled and wrapped a Dr. Who scarf that she had been wearing across her eyes. Hugh was able to access video from the next street over and there was the van driving down the road. The plate on the rear of the vehicle was visible and a name popped up on the screen. It was registered to a woman, Darcee Edith Owens Number 7 Apt 23, Burslem Street.

Jill brain clicked and the pieces fell into place. Jill turned to Hugh, "When we get to her house, she will be dead. Her neck will be cut and a neckerchief will lie below the cut , the contents of her purse will be arranged between her legs". "The Hell You Say" came out of Hugh's mouth before he could stop it. Jill looked at him and told him that if she was right, then she knew who the next victim would be. Jill loaded into Hugh's Ford and they drove to the address. The black van was parked on the street. Hugh looked at his phone and the decision to call for backup or not was bouncing from one side of his brain to the other. Doing the right thing is sometimes the hardest thing to do. Hugh dialed the phone and said, "Officer needs help at number 7 apt 23, Burslem Street. May be related to mutilation on Durward and Hanbury. Armed response requested."

It was just as Jill predicted and Hugh looked at her with a mixture of wonder and fear. Was she part of the murders. As if he had said it out loud, Jill turned to Hugh and said, "I have a long story to tell you that started here in London when I was ten years old."

As told by Jill:

Mom and Dad loved to travel and I tagged along during the summers when I wasn't in school. For my tenth birthday they ask where I wanted to go and I said England. I just love the house we had and there was always guards dressed in the colorful outfits at the Queen's palace. I could stand in the big bay window and see them marching back and forth. And when the Queen and her escorts would travel in the official black carriage, it would delight me to no end. It was the best birthday ever but I didn't know that it would also become the turning point in my life.

When we were traveling to the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, Dad got a little bit lost and we ended up in WhiteChapel. There were signs on several of the shops and pubs featuring tours of the "Jack the Ripper Crimes". Just like every kid, I wanted to know what that meant. My parents quickly drove on past and tried not to answer any of my questions. Of course that only made it more mysterious. The next day I got one of the staff into my room and asked her about Jack. She told me the story of the uncatchable Ripper. I then decided that I would find out who he was and solve the riddle of his identity. This became a passion throughout my childhood and into my teens. I read every book and old English newspaper I could find. This is the reason I became a Police Officer.

So when I read about the modern day murders, I immediately recognized they were anagrams of a mix of the real names and the popular names of the victims of Jack. The street names have been changed over the last one hundred years and when the computer system, Holmes2, encounters the information, it being just a machine, couldn't relate the names and streets to the Ripper cases. It takes a human brain to make the logical jump.

Back to the present:

Hugh said, "I think it is time to let the higher ups know what you have deducted." Jill groaned a little, thinking about the last visit to the Police Station. It turned out different than what she had imagined. The Chief Inspector had instructed the Inspector who told PC Hugh to setup an office in one of the interrogation rooms and let Police Detective II Jill Thompson use it with him as her assistant. It seems that there had been quite a bit of talk back and forth from LAPD and the Metro Police. The two red heads, instead of butting their "red heads" together, looked into each other eyes and saw two very determined women in a man's world who had gained the respect of each of their superiors. In wonderment, Hugh just sat as his feared Inspector smiled and offered her hand to the younger American. He had just witnessed the Iron Queen of the Nick look upon someone in a way he had never seen before. Inspector Dickerson said, "OK Jigsaw, how do we catch this Wanker." This confused Hugh even more, why did she just call Jill, "Jigsaw". Wanker he understood. Jill looked at Hugh and saw his puzzlement and mouthed the words, "we'll talk later".

Little did any of the people realize that they had an audience behind the one way mirror of the room. The Superintendent of the London force was sitting with a handsome couple. They all were intent on the discussion of the ongoing case.

Jill was giving her recap of what she had found. Mary 'Ann/Jane' Kelly will be the name of his next victim. The original killer stopped after killing her, so if we don't find her, we might lose the last chance of identifying whoever is butchering women." Jill then went on to add, "This is where the Victorian era detectives lost the trail and we must not do the same. I think the solution to these crimes is not in the victims, for he is picking them just for their names and not as his personal choice. Serial killers have a reason, warped as it might be, but a real reason they pick their prey. The ones I have investigated had different views of why they killed. One killed to right the wrongs of a world that he perceived. The other was a true psychopath but even he had a method of choosing victims. There is a pattern here. Let's look deeper into the women chosen and see if there was a person who had the best motive to kill just one. I would not look at the first or second as they most probably are just camouflage. The third or fourth would be the object of a non-serial serial killer. I don't think he will wait till last."

The woman behind the glass just leaned over and put her head on the man's shoulder and a small smile came to her lips. She whispered, "So focused and sincere this one." The line was delivered in a "Yoda" imitation voice. The man grinned and replied. "Even in the darkest moments you can make me smile. But that focused part she get from you. I remember when I first laid eyes on you. It was here in London and I was just starting to expand my company into other parts of the world. I was meeting with a fashion designer who I had built a portfolio of investments that fit his way of thinking. He told me that going with him to the show would best express the workings of his mind. I was sitting right next to the runway when you came out and the place went wild with camera flashes firing from every part of the room. You put one foot in front of the other and strode down the narrow stage like you were the only person there. Focused on the job, Jill gets that from you". His wife turned toward him and said, "When I did the next show in Paris, there you were again. I had noticed you the first time, so maybe not as focused as you think." Her husband then said, "Well I had done such a good job for the London client, that he recommended me to his friend in France and there I was watching you from the side of the room. Well I did suggest that we go to the show this time instead of the client. So a little stalking but the next time was not my doing." This brought a small laugh from Jill's mom.

The light begins to shine:

Jill looked up from the pile of papers, maps and photos. White's Row is where Mary Jane Kelly's body was found in 1888. She was killed in her apartment. I looked at Google Maps and the street was just a single block. 'Can your Holmes2 pull up all the tenants on that block' asked Jill. Hugh typed for only a couple of minutes and a list of over one hundred names appeared. There were no Kelly's or Mary Jane on the list. Hugh watched as Jill closed her eyes and she began to squint. He thought how cute she was at that moment. Her hair seemed to glow an even brighter shade of red. Jill's lips were moving ever so slightly and you could hear a low mumble as the thought process was displayed in the lines of her face. Behind the glass the woman held her hand up to her throat as she watched the wonder that was her daughter. Tears were slowly edging down her cheek and she felt a tissue being placed in her hand by the man she loved so much. "Look at the young constable" she said, "That is the same look I was getting from you and why when you decided to go to the south of France and lay on the beach until I showed up." Jill's dad did a little grunt and replied, "Show up, you didn't show up, you made an entrance. When I was sitting on the shore, I saw this woman come out of the surf in a little white bikini and flip her wet hair back over her head. It was Ursula Andress from the movie Dr. No coming straight at me. When you got closer I saw that it was my beautiful model. There was no way it was an accident." The Superintendent had been listening and he spoke up for the first time since they had started the story, "If you don't kiss your wife right now, I will rule it justifiable homicide if she strangles you." They did.

The scene in the other room had not changed during Jill's parents remembrance of their meeting. She still had her head down and muttering. Then all at once the red headed American opened her eyes and pointed to a name. Kally Jean Remy Apt 4. It is like a magician trick, once someone shows you the answer it becomes so simple. Hugh picked up the Airwave and called for officers in that area to respond to the address as well as an armed response team. There they found Richard Long, the ex husband of Elizabeth Long, in bed with Mary Jane Kelly. Ms. Kelly was not even aware of her boyfriend's real name.

The Superintendent of the London Police Force just shook his head in amazement and looked at the couple beside him. "I wish I had a child like that." was all he said. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson opened the door into the room and when Jill saw them she brightened up and hugged her mother. "Why are you here", she asked. Her father said, "You didn't think that a call from my daughter that had been arrested naked would bring me across the ocean?" Hugh face got as red as Jill's hair and he began to stutter out apologies. Her mother let them know that everything now seemed in order and she was going to the house and relax for awhile. As she started to leave she said, "I think I will skip the bubble bath."

The whole thing laid out.

That night all three BFFs, Jill's parents and Police Probationary Detective Hugh Collins, gathered around the dining table and as all of them pointed to Jill she started to talk. "Well when I saw the newspaper and the locations of the bodies I knew it was a copy cat Jack. The names they listed I untangled immediately as the names of the real victims. The killer's wife's name was the inspiration for the whole string of murders. Her name was the same as one of the A.K.A.s of an actual victim of the Ripper. Elizabeth Long was also know as Elizabeth Stride. The third one in the list of five that were butchered in WhiteChapel." Jill went on to explain, " Richard Long was supposed to have died six months ago in Australia. He had been planning for over a year. He really hated his ex wife because when they were divorced, she got everything he owned. Richard had been able to put some money away in a Swiss account that wasn't touched by the courts and he used most of these funds just to kill her." Hugh interrupted her by saying, "You speculated that it was the third or forth that would be the key. Amazing."

Jill acted like she was cross with him and then continued where she had left off. "He went so far as to start an affair with Mary Jane Kelly that lived on the other side of London. He convinced her that he was in love with her and that her ex husband was trying to cause her harm. The apartment he got on White's Row was for her and he said that they should put it in another name for even more protection. So Kally Jean Remy was born. He saved her for last so he could also have a place to hide, and for his pleasure. He would have eventually done her in just to complete the legend of Jack. We were not able to save the other four and for that I will always be sad."

Hugh said, "I understand all of that, but I do have one last question, well maybe two. The one I have for your parents is why does it show your wife as the owner of your company? Robert Thompson laughed. Jill spoke up, "Let me tell it Daddy, I love to tell the story. It was when Mom was pregnant with me. They had been married just over two years. Daddy gave her two pieces of paper he had his lawyers draw up. The first was the transfer of Thompson Investment from him to Mom. The second was a lifetime employment contract for Dad in that company. As he told Mom, you can divorce me, but you can't get rid of me. You see Hugh, my parents have been in love ever since the first time they saw each other. Now what was your second question." Hugh blushed and said, "I think we better go into the other room for me to ask you that one." Wanda Gail and Rosie gave each other a high five and said, "Boyfriend number two."

England swings like a pendulum do:

Jill rolled over and looked at the empty side of the bed. She sure wanted Hugh to spend the night. Well he brought her back to the apartment just before sunrise, so it really would not have been night. The idea of sleeping with him while her parents were still in the upstairs room was so new to her that she was blushing just thinking about it. They were jetting back to California today, so maybe she could wrangle another date with her PC Probationary Detective. She heard the other two talking in the sitting room, so she swung out of bed and slipped on her dressing gown. A complete account of last night would be insisted on. Oh well.

Wanda Gail and Rosie were just sitting down to lunch when Jill joined them. Halfway through the tale of the date as she recounted both of them sitting in a booth on the London Eye watching all the lights and the clock on Big Ben. Hugh had finally worked up enough nerve to kiss her. Even with the little experience that Jill had, it was wonderful. The other two were hanging on each word and Jill noticed that Wanda Gail kept glancing toward the bedroom. Jill said, "Not with Mom and Dad here!" They just laughed and said things like, "Wait for tonight" and "Ambush in the bedchamber". This got them laughing like thirteen year olds. Jill's phone dinged indicating a text. Jill swiped left and two words appeared. Skype Solver.

Jill felt a cold chill run down her back. Rosie took one look at her and knew the look that had been on her friend's face when she arrested her boyfriend was appearing again. The look of fierce determination mixed with the heartbreak of her soul could not be missed. Jill turned the smart phone around and showed them the message. Wanda Gail said, "Just don't answer it." The last time the Solver had threatened her family. Jill knew that if she didn't play his games, he would go after them again.

The laptop came on with that stupid Windows jingle and Jill clicked on the little icon that started the teleconference program. She entered "Solver" as the destination and a picture of a person in front of a brightly lit window once again made his face and body just a black silhouette. He spoke and it was changed into an artificial voice, just like last time.

The specter's words grated on Jill's nerves and it caused her to get mad as soon as she heard him call her Jigsaw. "I watched with interest that you have finally gotten over the weak boyfriend and found a very proper copper. The romantic scene on the giant Ferris Wheel, I think it is called the EYE or something like that, warmed my jaded heart." Jill came out of the chair and shouted at the image on the screen. "You mess this one up or hurt him in any way and I will never quit looking for you! I will spend every cent I can get my hands on, and if you know my family, that is a massive amount of money, to find you or put a bounty on you head. There will be no where you can go and not be looking over your shoulder at every sound you hear."

"Calm down, calm down, I have no intention of attacking anyone in your little circle." the blacked out figure said. "This will just be a little test of you mental abilities, nothing else." He then went on, "I stumbled onto a group of very bad individuals who are planning crimes against the British people. In fact, this group deserves everything the law can do to them. I will be sending you some clues on your cell phone, so keep it handy." The screen went black.

Jill didn't tell her parents about the Solver's call. If she did they would refuse to go back home. So she wished them a good trip and waved at the jet when it left. It was barely out of sight when her phone dinged. She had Hugh and her two best friend with her as they all climbed into the same taxi she had used to scout out the "Jack the copycat", murder scenes. He had introduced himself to the group as Bernard, their temporary chauffeur. Jill read the message out to everyone. "Elementary my dear Jigsaw, why don't you come around for tea." was all it said. Wanda Gail said, "Even I know that means 221b Baker street." Jill looked into the rearview mirror and said "Drive on Bernard".

221B Baker Street is the location of the Sherlock Holmes Museum and is quite the tourist destination. When they arrived, Bernard was the only one that didn't start searching for some kind of message on the outside or inside of the museum. After an hour looking at all the places that were accessible to the public they called Bernard back and sat in the car. Jill said, "Let's look at this text again. It doesn't really say the clue is at 221b, it just asks us for tea. Sherlock's housekeeper always made the tea and there is a Hudson restaurant next door." Out of the car and into the Cafe. After they got a table a waitress came over and set a tea tray out before they could order. "I think this is what you are looking for." She said. Jill looked at her questionably and the server held up a picture of Jill and indicated she had been paid to deliver the tray to her.

When Jill picked up the teapot, there was an envelope underneath. Taking a deep breath she opened the flap and pieces of cut up newspaper were poured onto the table.

Jill looked back into the envelope and there was single sheet of paper. "Check my desk" was the only thing on the page. Rosie spoke up, "We looked at his desk at the museum and there was nothing but old books and a couple of the newspapers from the 1890." Since it was just next door they went back to it and did a thorough search, but turned up nothing that would relate to the present day. Hugh said, "He was an imaginary person and his real desk does not exist. But Mr. Doyle's desk that he wrote the stories on might." A INTERNET search found the only mention of a desk was a portable one where Doyle wrote several of the stories. It was located in New York now. "Well that can't be what the clue meant." Jill explained. Then she looked a Hugh," Is there another Sherlock museum?" she asked. Back on the INTERNET and a quick search brought them to The Sherlock Holmes Pub in Piccadilly Circus, London. It had a life-size replica of Holmes' office. They all yelled, "Bernard".

There sitting on the desk was a boxed jigsaw puzzle with a bow and Jill's name on the outside. Surprisingly Hugh took charge. He told the owner that this was official police business and they needed a table and five, no make that six orders of fish and chips. One goes to the cab outside." Jill emptied the box onto the table and about two hundred puzzle pieces came out. The four seekers started putting it together and inside of thirty minutes there was the message. Once again it was five words.(Day Underground House Target London)

There wasn't a piece of paper with another clue like the last. Jill said, "I think the next place we go is in the words we already have." Once again Hugh spoke up first, "Chatham House". The taxi was filled with excited young people once again and Bernard headed across London to the "Royal Institute of International Affairs", also know as Chatham House.

Once they arrived the first thing that caught their eyes was a brochure with the future events listed. There it was "Middle East and North Africa Energy 2018". With the "oil" clue that has got to be the one. There was an information desk and Jill went up to it and asked, "My name is Jill Thompson. Was a message left for me?" The very bored-looking man in a security outfit looked at a clipboard and said, "Do you have any identification." Jill knew this was the right place.

The team waited till they were back in the taxi before opening the 8x10 envelope. There were five pictures this time. (A clock showing 8:30, the outside of the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the Olympic rings with 1972 in the middle. a set of dental picks, and tongue depressors.)

A sheet of paper was included this time. On it was the words, "You have it all. Good Luck."

Jigsaw Time:

When they got back to the apartment, Wanda Gail, Rosie, Hugh and Bernard (he had gotten himself excited about catching the crooks that he left his cab on the street and came inside for the first time) started talking about the clues and what they meant. After about ten minutes they realized that Jill was not talking. She was sitting as still as she could with her eyes closed and mumbling words that were to low for anyone to hear. Hugh said, "I've seen this before. Any chance on lunch? Wanda Gail said, "Watch this. She reached over and pressed a buzzer and a voice came over the speaker asking what did she need.

When they were half way through the crème brulee, Jill came out of her "trance". She said, "Today is Saturday and we have until eight thirty Monday morning to prevent a car bomb at the Baker Street Tube station". Hugh looked up and said what he had said once before, "The hell you say." Jill looked at him and said, "Sometimes you talk just like an American."

She went on to say that it will be a branch of the PLO that will claim they are the descendants of the Black September movement. A car or truck will probably be outside the underground entrance on Baker Street and during the busiest time of the morning, 8:30, it will detonate. And "I don't care how good this solver thinks I am, there is no way I will use dental picks and tongue depressors to disarm a bomb."

Hugh picked up all the clues and told everyone that he was going to call his Inspector and meet her at the Nick to go over what they had learned, then make a plan for Monday. He started for the door then turned around. "I know this is not proper, but it can only be official police at that station Monday, Sorry" Hugh told them. Jill said, "That is the best, I will be right here waiting on your report." Hugh turned, stepped out and closed the door. The other two girls opened their mouths to protest, but Jill put a finger to her lips and pointed to where Hugh's hat still sat on the chair. Hugh stepped back in and looked at them, picked his hat up and left again. "It's an old trick to catch us talking about going Monday." was Jill's reply to their unasked question. Jill turned to Bernard and ask, "What are you doing Monday?" "I think I am driving three very devious ladies to Baker Street" the cab driver said.

Jill didn't even hear from Hugh on Sunday. Plans were being made to reroute all the traffic and people that they could and Hugh was probably right in the middle of it. She thought to herself, "I'm going to remove that probationary from his title." Jill had plans to make herself. One of the things she was going to have to do was to locate a very illegal firearm and a baton. She had a stake-out of her own. Bernard and her two friends would park farther down the street and watch the station. She was going to go incognito with a wig and a bra of epic dimensions. Taking away her most telling traits should provide the edge to catch that SOB that has been a thorn in her side for too long. She looked at her phone and saw that the police cell phone jammers were up and running. Now should be the time when he would be watching the fun he had provided for himself and his guard would not be as high as he normally had it.

Jill looked up and down the street and all the people were looking at their phones and shaking them and holding them up to get more bars and all the normal stuff that people do when their mental pacifier malfunctions. That is all but one. He had a cap pulled down with a coat big enough to hide his shape. Jill just strolled up behind him and pressed the Glock forty caliber into his back. There was a little squeak of surprise. When this happened Jill realized that the he was not a he. She thought back to the dark outlines and voice changer that could hide the gender. But then she remembered the back of the payoff person that had swayed her lover from the straight and narrow. He was a man but he could have just been a paid lackey. There was no reason the Solver could not be a woman. It explained how the victims were killed at close range. They didn't perceive a threat from a woman.

Jill said, "Don't you think I won't shoot you. You threatened my family and you ruined my friend. Walk toward that taxi." Jill shoved her inside and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. She secured the prisoner. Jill then told her driver, "Bernard swing back by the apartment and I am going to let Rosie carry something inside of me. Then down to the Metro Police Station. Oh I mean Nick." Bernard laughed and said, " We are going to make a proper Constable out of you yet."

When Hugh and the rest of the response team returned with three prisons of their own in tow, he saw Jill sitting with her own. Jill told them that this person was wanted in Los Angeles for at least four counts of murder. The inspector told Jill that she thought she could obtain a hold for her till they could arrange a deportation hearing. Jill beamed at Hugh, "Got them all"? Hugh looked up and smiled, "Yes" they were sitting in the van trying to get the phones to work when we broke the windows with gas grenades. They are just as meek as lambs right now." Jill waved and told him that she would be at the apartment tonight.

When Hugh arrived at the apartment, one of the staff let him in saying, "Miss Wanda and Miss Rosie have gone out and not expected till morning. Miss Thompson said to go on into her flat and she would greet you there". Hugh stepped into the sitting room but no one was visible. Then he heard this ear-hurting off-key rendition of Born to be Wild coming from the bath. Slipping his coat and tie off he slowly opened the door to a tub full of bubbles and girl. Hugh grinned and said, "I think even I can puzzle what this scene is all about." And he did.

Jigsaw Jill:

Christmas Slaying in Italy

Homicide Detective John P. StJohn was a Los Angeles Police Department Homicide detective. His ability to put clues together and solve many high profile cases earned him the name "Jigsaw John". Even to this day, a officer that can piece together seemly unrelated clues is often called "Jigsaw". This story even though it is fictitious is dedicated to him.

I leave the quiet snow-covered little village and drive as far up the mountain as I can. The permanent snow line is only a mile from the end of this road. At that elevation no one will find my piccola donna cara. Her candle surely burned brightly, but now it will remain frozen, ageless in the packed snow of the mountain. If she had not been so nosy in my business, we could have had a long and wonderful life.

**Gressoney Valley, Italy** :

I am glad that grandma and gramps could come along with us. They have had a rough year with the grape orchards in flames in Napa. I know they will rebuild, but it takes a decade for mature grapes to appear and longer make fine wine. They may never see the end result. My two uncles Roland and Ronald (the twins) have taken over the day to day operation and I am sure they will carry on the family tradition. The rest of our crew include, Mom, Dad, Rosie and Wanda Gail. After the non-vacation in London, I had promised them a real one in Italy.

We arrived in the little village of Staffal in the Gressoney Valley. It only has a permanent population of sixteen. One of my cousins in Italy owns a Chalet outside the town and that is our destination. This is also where one of my great-great-great Grandpas was born. He left and traveled down to the lower lands and met his wife and started the grape fields that would be brought to California. When my parents met on the French Rivieria, they decided to get married after only knowing each other for a week. She told Dad that she knew the perfect place to have the wedding. So this village means so much to our family.

My what a chalet:

Even Jill gave out a low whistle when she walked into her cousin's little country house. The vaulted ceiling gave it the old turn-of-the-century look of a ski resort. There was an ten foot round, sunken, open fireplace in the center of the den with the smoke vent going straight through the ceiling. The couches were arranged around it in a circle. The stairs and banisters were made of multi-colored wood and led up and, with a walkway that went along all four walls, connected the entire second floor. There was a set of stairs on the west side as well as the east side. You could go from the east to the west without coming back down to the den. The rooms were on the north wall, the east wall, and the west wall. The south end of the building had the main entrance and there was a large outside porch above the entrance you could only access from the second floor. Jill took charge and shouted pick a room!

When the girls returned to the main floor they had changed into skiing apparel and waved bye to the elders as they left for the slopes. Jill has arranged for a four wheel drive Porsche rental, which had caused Wanda Gail to just looked at her and ask, "Can't you ever be a normal person." "Nope", said Jill. There were two sets of skis and a snowboard on the roof of the car. Rosie had the board. She might be from the warm Caribbean islands, but she had really taken to the snow back in California.

After a long day on the mountain the young ladies returned to the warm comfort of the Chalet. Jill's family had arranged for Ristorante Il Fienile to supply meal service during our stay. Jill's mother and grandmother had visited the small restaurant that was only five miles away. The owners Alberto and Giuditta spoke little English and the Americans won their hearts when not only did they speak Italian, but spoke it with the local accent. Grandma Rosso told them that her grandparents came from Gressoney-Saint-Jean just ten kilometers down the road. The next hour was spent determining if they were related. Unfortunately not related, but still regarded as real Italians. The restaurant normally did not cater, but in this case one of the owner's nephew, as they put it, needed the work. He would do the delivering to their lodge.

When Rosie bit into the Il Diavolo pepperoni pizza with habanero and jalapeno peppers, she exclaimed, "Its hotter than my mother's Creole cooking." While everyone else ate it in little nibbles, she wolfed it down like she had been starving for a week. The rest of them filled up on some wonderful pasta. After the meal the entire group was stretched out on the couches in front of the large circular fireplace. It was story time. Jill spoke up, "Mom you told Rosie and Wands Gail about meeting Dad. Now tell them the rest of the story about you getting together."

Maria started out by saying, "You have heard about Robert and I meeting in London and then throughout Europe at the fashion shows. And my little trip to where I had found out he was going to be on the French beach. I confess that I made a show of coming out of the water right in front of him and acting like I didn't know who he was. The truth was that I noticed him sitting with my designer in London and then again sitting with the other dress designer in Paris. I couldn't keep my eyes off him and it was all I could do to look like I wasn't interested. He chased me all over Europe till I caught up to him. That innocent accidental meeting at the ocean's edge made him make up his mind and he asked me to dinner. We were inseparable and on the third day, Robert asked me if I wanted to go anywhere else. I thought about here, or at least down the road in Gressoney-Saint-Jean. My family had migrated from there. The forth night after our first date, we were in this valley only ten kilometers from where we are sitting."

"The next morning we decided to go to the local Bazaar." Maria continued, "When we got there Robert asked me what was my full name. I told him it was Maria Celeste Camilla Rosso. "Why do you ask?" He just replied, "Four of these booths have Rosso in their store names." I laughed and told him about why this town was special to me. He then led me to one of the Rosso booths where a old man making jewelry sat. Robert tried to ask a question, but the old man replied " Mi scusi non parlo inglese." I laughed and asked Robert what he wanted to say as my grandmother had made sure her grandchildren could "talk a proper language" as she called it. You could see Robert gathering up all his courage before he talked. "Ask him if he could make us a pair of wedding rings." The world went a little out of focus and when I could see again, I asked, " Potresti farci un paio di anelli di nozze?" As you can tell from my story, my husband never did ask me to marry him directly. Wanda Gail and Rosie laughed and said that was the most romantic thing they had every heard. Jill's Mom had to arrange her own surprise proposal. Jill spoke up, "Just wait for the rest of the story". The girls turned back to Maria with anticipation written all over their faces.

Maria continued, "The jeweler asked if we had any American coins." Of course Robert and I lived off of credit cards and only had Euros in money. I looked around and saw a couple of thirty year olds who were obviously Americans. I went to them and asked if they had any change I could purchase. A old fashion coin purse with flowers on it was pulled out and I gathered nickels dimes, and quarters. When I brought them back and laid the change on the table, the craftsman added some Italian coins to the pile. With me translating he said, "I need to measure your fingers and I will make matching rings with one Italian coin mated side by side with an American coin."

"Two days later we were married by the magistrate and here we are back again (as my daughter would say) to the scene of the crime. Bedtime all, as we have skiing to do tomorrow.", Maria said as she grabbed her husband's hand and led him up the stairs.

The next morning a little ways up the mountain:

A construction crew was putting in a new cell tower to get better coverage to the villages along these very active ski slopes. The work trucks labored up the little road as high as they could drive and, with a snowcat pulling a sled, they went farther up into the snowline. As kismet would have it, a warmer that usual summer had melted the snow pack and when it refroze the decade-old corpse of the young girl was forced close to the top. One of her hands was exposed like she was reaching for help. The driver of the snowcat saw the bit of bright red cloth and stopped to investigate.

A hard day of skiing:

Jill , Rosie, and Wanda Gail had been going up and down the slopes just about as fast as they could. The ski lift was only a couple hundred yards from the Chalet and when noon came they headed back to get lunch and a warm drink. That was when they heard the hee-hawing of a European police car coming up the road.

Jill walked out into the street to get a better look, as Rosie just sighed and watched her best friend go into cop mode. Wanda Gail glanced back at Rosie with the "so much for our vacation" look on her face. The cop car got closer and closer until it came into view and streaked past them and then took a small unpaved road just before the path to the ski lift and parked. It was a Lamborghini with the marking and light bar of a police cruiser.

Like a moth to a flame:

Jill followed the officers to the top of the hill where ribbons and tape marked the spot where the body was found. Jill slipped under the Polizia tape and was looking at the ground around the hole where the body had been. A tall blond in a full length leather coat, came up behind her and spun her around and started talking rapidly in Italian. Jill's grasp of the language was not as good as her Moms and she began saying "Slow down." The other woman flashed a badge and spoke in perfect English. "What do you not understand about the tape blocking the road." Jill always carried her badge under her shirt even when not in California. Holding up the chain with the detective shield hanging from it, Jill spoke, "Sorry force of habit." That is when Wanda Gail caught up to them. Jill's friend said to the Italian officer, "This is Jigsaw Jill the number one detective of the Los Angeles Police Force. I am sure you have heard of her exploits in America and England." The Italian woman shook her head and said "No".

While they were talking none of them had noticed a small woman edging up to the crime scene. There was a recorder in her hand and she was also holding a pad on which she was drawing. She was a reporter from the La Gazzetta newspaper in Turin. The police had not answered her calls for a briefing on this crime and she had been frustrated till now.

Meanwhile Wanda Gail had filled in the tall blond Italian cop on the exploits of her best friend and informed them that if they would let Jigsaw help, she was sure the solution to their problem would be shortly forthcoming. "I think the Italian Polizia is up to the job without help from pushy Americans." was what the Italian blond officer of the law told them. "Please leave my crime scene and go back to your skiing." Two uniformed cops helped Jill and Wanda back across the tape and stood in the path so they could not return back up the hill. Jill stomped off toward the Chalet, while Wanda Gail headed to town.

Wanda Gail sat down at the sidewalk cafe and ordered a hot cup of cocoa. The reporter from the crime scene came up and asked if she could sit and talk for a little while about her friend Jill. Well the American newspaper heiress never turned down an opportunity to brag about her relationship with the famous detective. The talk turned into an hour of details about the cases in Los Angeles and the Ripper case in London. When it came out that Jill, and not the London Police, had prevented the bombing on Baker Street, the reporter's eyes lit up and a wide smile crossed her face. She was thinking, "Here is a scoop that has not been reported before." It was getting dark and the impromptu conference broke up.

A very rude awakening:

The next morning when Jill made it down to breakfast, her Mom was holding a newspaper in her hand and had that look on her face that Jill hadn't seen in years. "Well I see you made the news again." Ms Thompson said. Jill grabbed the folded paper and even she could read the Italian printed on the front page with a drawing of her at the crime scene. "Mom", Jill asked, "Does this say that I am taking over the murder case from the local police." Maria Thompson spoke, "That pretty much covers it. And if you read the inside pages, it covers just about everything you have done since becoming a police officer." They were talking about how the reporter had dug up all these facts overnight when Wanda Gail and Rosie came down the stairs from their bedrooms. Jill looked at her best friend and it didn't take a detective to see who had blabbed. Wanda Gail said, "I didn't know she was a reporter and you know how I love to talk about you."

The home of the careful killer:

Carlo Esposito was a singularly unnoticeable person. He had driven a taxi up and down the Gressoney Valley for the last fifteen years. This morning he was reading the Turin paper and getting more and more angry by the minute. Not only was the Polizia going to be trying to find out who had placed the body in the snow, but this nosy American was involved. He had gotten away with the crime for over fifteen years due to what he believed was the incompetence of the Italian Justice system. The local cops were all corrupt and didn't try any extra effort if the solution to a crime wasn't obvious. He had to find some way to discourage the red headed snoop. He gassed the car up and headed to the other end of the valley to find out what the American knew.

Meanwhile on the slopes:

Rosie had found out that there was a local contest for snowboarders and she entered. For a girl from St. Croix she was no snowbunny, rather more like a johnny extreme. She rode the board in a goofy foot position and really threw herself into the tricks. This would be her first time to board against someone from another country and she was going to go all out. The fact that she was black drew just as much attention as her riding. Rosie was determined to make them forget the color of her skin by winning the whole damn thing.

The day of the contest, all of her friends (even Jill's Grandparents) were there and had made up a banner with Rosie's name next to "St. Croix". Rosie was inspired and made a couple of the flips that she had only been able to complete about half the time. They did the competition by eliminating someone each round and it had gotten down to her and one of the local guys. Competing against the boys was Rosie's favorite way to snowboard. She was ahead on points and got to go last. The other rider did five tricks going down the hill and was scored an 85. Rosie knew that she could do 90 if she did that Frontside 540 Indy with a flip. "All or nothing" she roared, as she took the run down the slope. Her rails were perfect and she spun and grabbed the board on the small jumps. The large hill was coming up and Rosie set her body square on the board and lifted off the ground in a huge jump. 540 degree spin with her rotating her legs up over her head and back toward the ground. She almost made it. Over rotating on the flip caused her to hit the hard packed snow leaning to one side. Her left leg bent at an angle that was more than it was designed.

Jill and the gang got to Rosie immediately and found her lying on the snow with a man inspecting her leg. "I am Doctor Albert Schmidt," he told them in good ole American English. Jill looked at the rather tall and muscular person. He didn't have what you would call a Hollywood face, but looked more like Charles Brunson. A rugged profile that had more character than looks. Jill stared into his steel blue eyes and stuttered when she tried to ask about her friend. Dr. Schmidt said, "We will have to x-ray it, but I think she just sprained the ankle."

The ambulance arrived and several of the snowboarders loaded Rosie into the back. Jill said to the doctor, "I don't think she will be lonely at the clinic." Then she added, "I feel that I owe you at least a cup of coffee." He just looked at her with a smile and motion for Jill to take the lead. Jill was thinking, "Here I am taking advantage of my friend's misfortune to pick up a guy."

The doctor finds out more than he thought he would:

On the way to the little cafe, a Lamborghini came screaming up the road and parked in front of the Chalet where Jill's family was staying. The same blond officer got out and went to the door. Jill thought to herself, "I better go ahead and get that coffee now, because I am sure I will be fussed at later." Putting on a smile like nothing had occurred, she sat down at the little table outside the lovely cafe. Albert looked at her then leaned back and said, "I feel there is something you want to tell me." Jill thought that this guy is perceptive and maybe this is the right time to tell him about my family before we get any further into our relationship.

Jill started out with, "I don't know if you read the paper, but there is a story about me on the front page." The young doctor looked at her with puzzlement in his face and said, "I have not seen an English paper since I have been here." Jill laughed and continued, "No it is a local Italian paper. My family originated from here in the 1800s and Mom and Grandma speak Italian with the local accent. I ,on the other hand, can barely struggle through it." He laughed and motioned for her to continue. Jill took and deep breath and decided to let it all come out.

"Ok, my family is loaded with money. Now don't talk till I am through. I am the black sheep of the whole bunch. All I ever wanted to do was to be a detective since I was ten years old. When it became time for me to go to college, I told them that I wanted to go to a local college and get a degree in law enforcement. Mom and Dad knew that it was useless to try to talk me out of it. After I graduated, I started working with the Los Angeles Police Department. It was what I was born to do. After a couple of years, the other officers started calling me 'Jigsaw Jill' for my skill in solving complex crimes. So here we are. Almost forgot, there was a body found just off the road and I kinda snooped at the scene and a reporter found out who I was and wrote a big story on me and my taking over the investigation. That part is not true, but it has gotten me into hot water with the local Polizia. Ok I am done." Albert looked at her and asked just one question with a chuckle. "Just how loaded are you?" Jill collapsed in the chair with laughter.

Round two with the Italian cops:

The tall blond Polizia officer was sitting in the den. Mom introduced her as Ispettore Sophia Bianchi of the Polizia di Stato. Knowing that the Inspector spoke perfect English, Jill didn't even try her Italian. Jill started off with, "Let me explain about the story in the newspaper. I had nothing to do with it and have not spoken with any reporter since leaving America." The lovely blond was dressed in a Prada woolen dress and top with a pair of 4 inch heels that made her look like a fashion model. She said, "Your mother has been telling me all about you. It seems that we are, as you Americans say, third cousins. So I can't be mad at family for very long. We do have a quick temper, but it is over with quickly also. Now let me talk to you about why I am here. The young lady that was found in the snow has been identified. She is an American that disappeared while on vacation in Turin. It has been over fifteen years since she was last seen." Jill immediately asked, "Where in the U.S. did she live?" The Italian officer replied, "Not from your Los Angeles, but she was from your state. The report stated that San Francisco was her residence. So it might be of help if you could call on your fellow officers and see if there was anything that was left out of the original investigation on their end. Since it was over a decade ago, we are not getting much information on this frigid case." Jill said, "We call it a cold case and I will be very happy to find out what I can. I know a couple of guys in San Fran and they will help me." Jill's mom broke in and pointed out that it was time for lunch and she was famished with all the skiing and such. She insisted on Sophia staying. Jill felt a relief in having the police force off her back and made a promise in her head that Wanda Gail would not talk to that reporter again.

Since it was three in the morning in California, Jill thought that she would try to call her friends there about six tonight. Finding out that the victim was American really got the juices flowing and Jill could not wait to find out how she died. The main part of the meal was over and they were relaxing over coffee when Jill asked, "Sophia could I look at the autopsy report? You have stirred up my curiosity and it might be relevant to the officers back in the states. You never know what will mean something to the parents of the deceased that has not been considered in the case of the missing woman. Well not missing now." Sophia looked like she was going to say no, but instead said, "If you give me your email address, I will get it sent to your tablet. It will be in Italian, but with your mother here, I am sure you will not have any trouble in understanding it. Now I must leave this very pleasant company and return to work. Ciao."

Outside the Chalet:

Carlo was sitting in his taxi as he watched the front of the house. The fancy Polizia car had been there for over an hour. He thought, "It is true. The American is helping the Law and he would surely be found out if he let them gang up on him." He had to do something to break up their investigation. How had he gotten himself into this predicament over a woman. Lucy had followed him that night when he met the head of the Luciarda Clan . Maybe she was suspecting another woman was causing him to be out later than usual each night. How foolish of her. He had never strayed in that way and was truly a one woman man. Giorgia Luciarda was the boss of the Clan and Carlos was trying to booker a deal between her and his boss in California.

Fifteen years ago:

It was December 2000 and a meeting was set up in the little resort area of Staffal. Carlos and his girlfriend had been staying in Turin a hundred kilometers to the south. The snow would make it a two hour drive. Carlos kissed his girlfriend and left her at the door of the hotel. He didn't know that she had rented a car and was on the road as soon as he left. Jealousy had blinded her to any other reason for the sudden "meeting" that he had to attend. This would turn out to be a fatal decision on her part.

Carlos was counting in his mind the money that he would make during this trip to his native country. The famiglia back in San Francisco would be proud of him and it would boost his standing in the group. The Luciarda Clan would also make plenty of money and it would give him a reputation locally that would springboard him into the international scene. This weekend would make him enough money that he could put Lucy up in a big house back in the states. Everything was roses in his life.

The meeting was at a little cafe in Staffal that had been taken over by the head of the Luciarda. It was the perfect camouflage. Carlos went in and was winning over the locals to the plan to smuggle girls that they had gotten from the Albanian mafia at $2000 each from Italy to the Americas. The Clan gotten into prostitution after Giorgia Luciarda took over the leadership following the arrest of her father and brothers. She was known respectfully as "La principessa" (The princess). After her arrest, she kept running the criminal organization from her prison cell. The couple that ran the cafe were just her mouthpieces and relayed her orders.

Just as the meeting was breaking up, two of the guards that had been stationed outside dragged Lucy into the room. "She was listening to everything that was said", reported one of the men. Carlos tried to tell them it was just his silly girlfriend, but the other would not listen to him. "Since you brought her to Italy, you have to get rid of her." was the command from the couple in charge. Carlos knew that he had no other choice. He took her outside and pulled his gun and held it to her head but could not pull the trigger. He looked at one of the guards that had found her and said, "I just can't do it." The man pulled his pistol and put a round in the back of her head. "Now get rid of her, you should be able to do that at least." grunted the other guard. Carlos loaded her into the car and left.

Report from the Golden Gate City:

Jill had been on the phone with the detectives in San Francisco and they told her that they would send all they had on the decedent named Lucy Connors. It turned out to be full of surprises as Lucy was a known associate of a Carlo Esposito. Carlo had been a member of the Lanza crime family and he was thought to be dead after he and Lucy disappeared. Now her body had turned up in Italy and according to the Coroner's report, it looked like a mob hit. This raised questions as Lucy was suspected to be connected to one of the wise guys back in San Fran.

Jill called her new cousin Ispettore Sophia Bianchi of the Polizia di Stato to see if she knew of any local players in organized crime. There were two major "Clans" with one of the leaders serving time at the moment. Jill knew that "behind bars" usually didn't stop activity from well placed felons. But why would they knock off this girl?

Carlos strikes:

I am sitting on top of this mountain looking down into the valley at the doorway of that redheaded bitch. The car of the other policewoman pulled up twenty minutes ago. When that tall skinny copper sticks her ginger colored hair out again, I am going to put a thirty caliber round into it. She will be dead before she hears the shot.

The blond is coming out and the other one should be right behind. I can see the arm of her sticking out from the threshold and I start to put pressure on the trigger. As soon as her body appears I shoot. She is down. But wait! There she is coming out behind the one I shot. No time for another shot as they scramble behind the car.

Man down in Staffal:

Jill and Sophia looked at the body just outside of the doorway. It was the nephew of the cafe owners who had been bringing the rest of the family their lunch. He was dead. Jill heard a car crank on the other side of the valley and turned to Sophia. "He is getting away. Sophia toss her the keys and said, "Let's see if the tall tales about you are true. Please no PIT maneuvers with my Lambo." The roads were clear of ice and snow and it was twisty and steep, just like Jigsaw loved.

The road curved back and forth onto itself and you could see the traffic below in quick glimpses. The car they were chasing was an older model and seemed to have a taxi sign on the door. Each curve brought the Lamborghini closer and closer and Jill knew that when they hit the bottom of the next valley she would be upon him. Then farther long the road Jill could she sheep coming out of a pasture and the timing would be close. He was going to make it, but she might be stuck on this side of the herd. Sophia started swearing in Italian and Jill had pushed the go pedal all the way to the floor and then gave up and hit the brakes hard, sliding sideways up to the bleating flock. She just sat there beating on the steering wheel till Sophia put a hand on top of her fingers and held them there. "As you Americans say, 'Can't win them all'" Sophia said in a low voice. "Let's see if we can figure out who he is."

The only clue was the taxi sign on the door of the get a way car. It of course could be a fake but needed to be pursued. The Italian police car was equipped with a computer that quickly listed all the taxi drivers in a fifty kilometer radius. Jill got on the phone and talked to the techs in California who compared their pictures with known criminals and Carlos's name popped out. Not only was he alive, but he probably was the one that took a shot at them and killed the bystander. The equivalent of an APB was issued for his capture and a description of the automobile that was seen leaving the mountain scene was sent out.

Inside the apartment of Carlos Esposito:

Everything had gone wrong. Not only was the American cop alive, the whole Italian police was after him. If he escaped them, he would still be hunted by both families of Mafia and no where in the world would he be safe. Carlos dropped the suitcase he had started packing and slumped into a chair beside the kitchen table. He had lain the rifle he had shot with this morning on the table top and placed his Beretta 9mm beside it in the tricky shoulder holster he always worn. There just was no place else to run. Giving up to the cops would just put him in prison where his "friends" could get to him. With nothing left to gain, he got his smart phone out and type a confession to Lucy's parents asking for forgiveness in not letting them know where she was for all those years. That completed, the reluctant killer did his last act of violence.

Farewell to a new cousin:

The next morning Jill was awaken by the ringing of her cell. It was Sophia calling with the report of finding Carlos's body and his confession. Jill replied that she was glad that this was over and she could go back to her vacation, even if it only had one more day to go. Sophia replied, "The only regret I have is that you didn't get to jigsaw the murder, I would have loved to see you do it. Alla prossima!". The last gladdened Jill's heart for it meant not only did Sophia like her, she also regarded her as family.

Jill called her new doctor and told him to meet her for breakfast. Albert replied, "Check your watch, it is after twelve. Meet you for lunch." Jill, not to be corrected, said, "Ok Brunch it is". This was the start to the last day of her vacation and also to the beginning of a relationship with someone that wasn't in law enforcement.

The day zoomed by with the couple wandering around the village and just talking about each other's life. The newly found doctor was just as taken with her as she was with him. Jill realized that she didn't even know where Albert was living. They just never had gotten around to discussing either one of their hometowns. Jill paused in her thoughts and questioned herself, "Do I let this be one of those beautiful love affairs in a distant country that you can remember for the rest of your life, or do I want to try to make a permanent relationship?" She looked at Albert who had stopped talking and was just looking at her. He said, "The look in your eyes just now was of a place far, far away and you were not here with me." Jill looked him straight in the eyes and lied, "I was thinking of how this day had gone and the odds that I would be doing this with you. When I left on vacation, I figured that the only thing I would do would be skiing. Wanda Gail and Rosie would be the ones that had all the romance in the snow". The night comes up quickly in the valley between the high peaks. Jill took his hand and said, "Let's head back to the Chalet."

Under the stars:

Jill led the rugged face doctor up the stairs and around to the glass doors of the balcony. She opened them and strolled out onto the glassed-in second story porch that was directly over the front door. From up here they could see the town and the open sky above. It was heated and the glass was free of frost and snow. The heat coming off the buildings in Los Angeles made the air shimmer and dimmed the light of the celestial bodies. Here the cold air here made the stars seem closer and brighter. One could just reach out and gather up an armload of the tiny twinkling light. This along with the man beside her, made Jill think that here was perfection in its entirety. Jill sat on the chaise lounge and patted the seat beside her and it was immediately filled by the man. He leaned in and she met him with a kiss that lingered on his lips. He leaned back onto the lounge and she followed his lead and soon she was supine upon his chest. When he ran his hands up and down her back, it felt like static electricity was flowing through her body. She felt something different than what she had been feeling with the other men she had shared her womanhood. This was deeper and more complete. Could this be actual love? He moved his hand lower down her back to cup her warm cheeks. She knew that this was moving quicker than it should, but her body just wouldn't let her mind and her mouth stop him.

If they had looked toward the door, both would have jumped apart. Wanda Gail had her hand on the handle and was looking at them from the other side of the glass door. She quietly backed away and went down the stairs to the big fireplace. Rosie was sitting on one of the couches with her ankle elevated and pointed to the hearth and said, "There is a pot of cocoa being kept hot and cups on the end table." Wanda Gail got one and filled it. She sat down beside Rosie and drew her knees up under her and leaned back into the cozy overstuffed couch. "Rosie, don't go up to the porch Jill has boyfriend number three, or soon-to-be boyfriend number three up there and I can't wait till tomorrow morning and a full accounting of their activities." Rosie just laughed and said, "Girl you don't have any morals where it comes to digging out the story, do you?"

Packing up to leave:

Jill had her suitcases laid on the bed and was trying to stuff all she had brought and what she had purchased here into them. Being they were going back on the private jet, she could have just thrown them into a garbage bag and dragged it out to the car. But her father probably would not let them be seen traveling like that. Just as she had put the last item in the overstuffed duffle and was hoping it would not burst, her phone chimed. A text popped up and simply said, "Laptop".

A chill had ran through her veins as she called out, "Wanda, Rosie get in here." The girls showed up with Rosie still with a walking cast on her leg and asked what was going on. Jill showed the message and they all drew a deep breath and remembered the last time that had happened. Jill looked at them and said, "Just as well see." She turned on the little laptop and as soon as it booted there was a message that said, "Skype call." Jill said, "It just can't be, she is in prison."

As soon as Jill pressed the accept key, A familiar figure in front of a bright window appeared. The specter of all of Jill's worst dreams spoke, "Jigsaw I am so disappointed in you. Not only did you not get the correct killer of Lucy Conners, but you allowed the real one to take another life. I am so very sorry to inform you that your new cousin didn't make it back to the station in her very fast car. You don't have to find her killer because I had him taken care of. I guess I will have to keep watching out for you and clean up your messes when you are not thorough enough. OH, maybe you should check on your boyfriend a little better. Bye for now."

The three women just sat there for several minutes before Jill used her phone, first to call Sophia's number and then her office in California. Sophia's phone just rang and rang. Jill gave up and dialed Los Angeles. The detective on duty answered and Jill asked him to check on the status of her nemesis. He called the prison and they said that the inmate was in her cell. He then requested a visual check. The guard grumbled but agreed to go and see the convict. He told the detective that here she is and used his phone as a camera to show him the woman sleeping. The L.A. cop was recording the whole thing just in case Jill wanted to see herself. When he showed the video to Jill. Jill screamed, "That is not her. Someone else is in her cell. The Solver has escaped."

LAPD

The Amazing Phillo rolled from side to side in his bed. His dream was a very disturbing one. In his mind he could see a figure that was effortlessly jogging down the wide dirt trail around Stone Canyon Reservoir and enjoying the rush of endorphins that all long distance runners experience. There was a motor in the distance that seemed to be coming closer. Phillo's only thought was what was someone doing riding a motorcycle on a running trail. He could now see that the runner was a young blond woman that had stopped to look at the approaching motorcyclist. As she turned her head to look back, she only had a few seconds to see the person on the bike and the long sword in his hand. As he passed, the quick thrust of the blade ended her life in one brief flash. As the head rolled down the hill from the trail, the murderer put the long knife back into its holster and sped off. The silence of the forest closed in and the trail was empty of all human traffic. Like a corny old pulp detective comic, night fell and a lone coyote bayed in the distance. Phillo awoke in a cold sweat and did a quick look around his room to make sure he wasn't still in the woods.

Jill scooted into the underground parking garage at the precinct. The bright yellow Porsche made an interesting contrast to the line of black and whites parked in rows. Her own official car was a 2017 Caprice PPV. It couldn't handle like the little German car, but it did have a 155 MPH V8 under the hood. It was painted a common off brown that refused to shine no matter how much you washed and waxed it. It was pretty much the best undercover car you could get. Dull and uninteresting looking but a real sleeper when the action got going.

She jogged up the stairs to the second floor "bullpen" and waved at the other officers already there. The pot in the corner provided her with a not so fresh, but hot cup that was fifty percent of her daily caloric intake by her dumping plenty of sugar and milk to the black liquid just to make it drinkable. She then slid into her chair in front of a desk covered with pages of print that had her notes scrawled all over them. She had been working on a series of smash and grabs that seem to be using a local charity thrift store to fence the goods. Care would have to be used with plenty of evidence to link the crimes to the head of the group or the publicity would be horrible and the department held up to ridicule for picking on the poor and needy. Even with her Police II badge, she was the youngest in her department and got the hot potatoes that no one else wanted to handle.

The phone rang and it was Wanda Gail calling to remind her of girls night sleep over at Jill's apartment. The other member of their group was the newly appointed Deputy Coroner Rosie. This was the first time all of them had been free to celebrate Rosie's new title. Fondue and wine were the main items on the menu and a private copy of the new chick flick "Midnight Sun". Wanda Gail could always get an advance copy of movies due to her father's newspaper connections. Jill hung up the phone and let a small laugh out as she thought about enjoying an evening at home with those two crazy people. Well at least one crazy person. Wanda Gail could come up with the most outlandish stories about the news. As Jill got back to the crime reports on her desk, she didn't know that this would be the last free night for weeks.

No news is puzzling,

Phillo had spent the morning on the internet searching for a report on the death of a young woman like the one in his dream or vision or whatever it was. He finally convinced himself that it was just a dream. He had a client that was due at three this afternoon and he had to prepare for her. The private investigator had gotten him several photos of the inside of her house as well as copies of all the portraits hanging on the walls. His genealogy search of her family on the internet sites had found several direct, less than desirable, past generation members for this upper class, soon to be less wealthy, socialite. Great Great Grandfather Grover Peabody of the Boston Peabodys was going to unload one of his darkest secrets to this gullible woman. Phillo wondered just how much she would be willing to pay to keep this "family secret". But first he would have to bring up facts that the "mark" thought no one else knew. That and his showmanship was the way into her confidence and trust.

Phillo slept in the back of his studio, which made it convenient for his mysterious appearances in the front room. He would wait for the sucker to turn away from the hidden door and then he would step in and when they turned back it would just seem Phillo had come from thin air. It always gave him a rush when this happened. He also wore this ornate ring and carried a skull topped walking stick. A   
nything to get the client in the mood to accept the "logic" that he would be spouting. This is how he could afford the Mercedes and the silk suits he so enjoyed. In this moment of satisfaction of his life, the memory of the other night's dream suddenly sprang into mind and he shivered.

New assignment:

The Lieutenant dropped a file on Jill's desk and said, "Put this at the first of the line and see if you can figure out a lead." It was the headless jogger file. Jill opened the folder and started looking at the pictures of the crime scene. The torso that was sprawled in the middle of the dirt trail was surreal with its little yellow card marked "A" beside it. The head was over twenty five feet across the road and down the bank beside the water. It had the "B" card placed at its side. Jill looked at the cut mark and could tell that it was a clean cut all the way through the spine of the neck. It would take a very sharp blade welded with tremendous power to make such a separation. There were only two sets of foot prints with one set coming up to the body and turning around to leave. That set was most probably the person who had found her. As Jill looked at the crime scene a tire track off to one side caught her eye. There were not suppose to be any vehicles on this trail. She felt in the left hand drawer for her magnifying glass and zeroed in on the tread. It was not a car but a motorcycle. She leaned back in the chair and tapped the end of her nose in concentration. The speed of the rider and a sharp blade of a long knife would be enough to sever the head off the body easily. She then leaned forward and called up the crime database to see if any other crime had similar tire treads. There was one just a week old.

A low level member of the Gambino Crime Family was found in an old abandoned garage with almost all of his head blown off by a shotgun. There was a trail left when the bike tire went through an old oil puddle and printed itself on the concrete. It was thought to be a gang related hit. Jill looked at a picture of the gangster and compared it to the young jogger. What could both of these have in common besides the motorcycle?

The spirits are about to speak:

The séance was going like a ball of fire. The recent widow, who had change her name back to Peabody, was entranced with Phillo's knowledge of her innermost thoughts. He was just about to bring in the family secret when the lights, that had been dimmed, suddenly flared into full brightness and then complete darkness. Phillo's hair stood on end when a low moan permeated the room. "Why am I here. Who are you. That sound, it is the evil riding a motorcycle." was heard coming from the dark. Then a scream that penetrated right to the spinal cord echoed off the walls. The lights returned to their dim state and as Ms. Peabody looked across the table wanting comfort and reassurance from the Great Phillo, all she could see was an overturned chair and curtains that still waved to and fro from the passage of the physic. Phillo had left the building.

The Solver leaned back in her arm chair and smiled. The speaker and camera she had placed in the physic's shop had worked well. She had wanted to send Jill clues but Jill had quit answering her phone calls. Well now they would be from the spirit world. What a priceless joke!

Downtown at the Coyote:

Lil Araña was counting the money he had just gotten for bringing the young putas across the border. They thought they were coming to jobs as maids for rich white people. Now they would make money on the streets for their pimps. He chuckled to himself that it was so easy to fool these stupid women. He was going to be the rich man with a large mansion. He was so caught up in his daydream that he didn't hear the motor till the machine was almost on top of him. The baseball bat swung from the moving bike scattered his brains all over the wall behind him. The man tossed the bat onto the pavement and roared off into the night.

Phillo woke up breathing rapidly and as he felt his head, his hand came away covered with sweat. What was he going to do. He must be going crazy.

Gathering the clues:

The Lt. leaned over Jill's desk and said, "The gang task force sent over another murder by a killer on a motorcycle. This time he used a baseball bat." Jill looked down at the photos that had been tossed on top of her desk. The gruesome pictures were even worse than the headless body. The well known smuggler of young females was barely recognizable. Lil Arana had been in the business for at least twenty years. He started as a runner for the 19th Street gang and worked his way up the chain till he broke away and began this human trade between the U.S. and Mexico. Well, the authorities could now scratch him off the "usual suspects" list. A small light came on in Jill's head. Bad-good-bad. Could this be the tie between the murders? It just was not enough information to make that jump yet.

The pages that had come over with the photos listed a witness that had seen the drive-by bashing. She read the name out loud. Maria, of course her name would be Maria. Ms Cortez was the young lady of the night with the blood plastered to the wall of the corner she worked. "I better find her quick before she forgets what happened, or disappears." thought Jill. Time to grab her partner and warm up the Chevy.

In the short career of Jigsaw Jill, she had already had four partners. The first, her mentor, had gotten shot and was forced to retire. He was the owner of a very successful private security company now. The second was the first she had a sexual relationship with and later had to arrest him when he leaked information to her arch nemesis "The Solver". The third she didn't even want to think about. He folded under pressure and was now living the life of a cloistered monk in the mountains of Mexico. Now this new one had been forced on her by the policy that detectives did not work by themselves but in pairs. His name was Greg Manchester.

Jill thought he probably came to Hollywood to be an actor and changed his name seeking the big screen. Not getting parts, he joined the police force. He was quite a looker and when they showed up at a crime scene, everyone came up to him like he was the boss. Jill would always have to inform the press and public that she was the lead and all information came through her. Still, it was hard to get mad at Greg. His dazzling white toothed smile would just melt your heart.

The description that Ms Cortez gave them was just the basics. No, she didn't recognize the rider of the motorcycle and no she didn't know one brand of bike from another. He was sitting on the machine and his height wasn't determinable. A helmet covered the head and the actual sex could be either, but he handled the bat like a guy. The only piece of actual evidence was the perp was right handed. So much for this witness.

Jill noticed one girl in the crowd that was writing furiously on a small pad and recognized the up and coming reporter. Wanda Gail glance up and smiled. That look in her eye meant that dozens of questions would soon be coming Jill's way tonight when the gang met at her house. Jill thought, "Oh well, it was about time someone else had put the murders together and figured out that a serial killer was operating in the L.A. Area."

Cheese and gossip:

Wanda Gail and Rosie arrived at Jill's apartment together. Wanda had a bottle of red wine and Rosie had her homeland Captain Morgan Rum that she claimed to have had in her baby bottle the day after she was born. Both were in good spirits and ready to dig into fondue and murders. Jill had bought some shredded Gruyere, Cheddar, and Emmentaler cheese and they had been melted into a gooey mess. She then poured the mixture into the fondue pot and lit the little burner. The bread and veggies were cut and ready for the skewers. This was going to be fun.

The first item on the agenda was the revelation of Jill's new serial killer theory. "He just seems to kill at random and not the same weapon every time. Really we have not found him using the same method twice. The only link is he appears to use a motorcycle in his crime." said Jill. Wanda Gail expressed her theory that it was not the same murderer, but the police were trying to make a super criminal out of him to explain their lack of success in catching a suspect. Jill sat back a little and expressed that could be true and she had only been given the case this morning. Rosie just leaned back and ate her cheese-covered snacks and sipped on the Rum Cola that was in her hand. Crime stuff she dealt with everyday and it was a change of conversation she wanted.

"What about your Doctor from the Alps." Rosie asked. "Has he been in contact?". Jill smiled and pulled her long legs up under her in a most unusual coquettish manner. "Well, he called the station looking for me the second week after we returned. We met at Osteria Mozza and it was a fab dinner. How he got us in on such short notice was remarkable. He followed me and my little Porsche in his black Mercedes to my place and I made him breakfast the next morning." Jill then said, "I had the most sneaky idea. I pressed him up against that wall. He was in his bare feet and as he was kissing me, I put a scratch just at the top of his head." Wanda Gail looked where Jill was pointing and said, "Where is the tape measure?" Jill laughed and said, "I've already done that. Six feet and six inches. He makes me seem so small and delicate. I can now wear heels." Wanda Gail and Rosie were hanging on each line as Jill related the more delicate parts of the encounter. Both of them were shouting "Well, well what next?"

That is when Jill told them about Albert's good and bad news. Albert had applied to Doctors Without Borders before he had met Jill and had gotten the assignment and destination. "I will be in the middle of Africa for the next year." he told Jill. "If I hadn't promised and they hadn't needed me so badly, I would love to stay with you." Jill kissed him on the forehead and shoved him out the door saying, "Go my love and save the world. I will be here when you return." "So he left you to travel the world. Has he called?" Rosie asked. Jill started telling the story of the next week after he left for the other side of the Earth. It seems that the group he is with has a satellite phone that one of those Arab Princes he had operated on just after they arrived, gave them. It wasn't one of the new ones but you could set it up and call out. He had talked for a solid hour about all the things he was doing and seemed very excited. He told her that all they could do in this tiny village was Doctoring and playing poker. He told her that he had been playing cards with one of the locals, and thought he owned a goat now. He then told her that she couldn't call him, but he would call back in a week. Rosie smiled and said, "Ah, true love."

If Rosie could have seen what went on in the room after Albert had hung up, she would have been swearing instead of swooning. Albert turned to the other person in the room and said, "People like us should never fall in love." He walked over to the window and stared out over the skyline of Los Angeles.

FBI steps in:

When Jill entered the squad room she was a little hung over from the cheese and wine from the night before. She flipped the folder over and started reading the report again about the motorcycle killer. They had finally gotten a break, the baseball bat he used the other night had broken and the part left at the scene came up with a partial fingerprint. Running the print had resulted in not one but over 200 hits. It just was not enough of a print to single it down. Jill spread all the different folders, one for each murder, across her desk, hoping for some kind of connection springing to her mind. When it came time to go home she still had not made the type of leap that she was famous in doing. Wanda Gail and Rosie were coming over tonight again and it would be an eagerly awaited treat.

That night the gang had settled down and started talking about the same things they had the night before. Rosie was insisting that Jill hop on the family jet and visit Africa. Wanda Gail was saying that Jill shouldn't chase after him so obviously, but think up a reason for her to be in that part of the world. The girls were throwing ideas back and forth and drinking wine when the doorbell rang.

When Jill opened the door a woman and a man stood there. The female could not have been over five foot tall. She was holding out a badge flasher that said, "FBI Special Agent Margaret McCulloch." Jill blink and thought, "Why is the FBI here instead of the precinct?" The agent asked to come in. Jill stepped aside and both of the visitors entered and went over to where the other two ladies were seated. The Agent introduced herself to the other two. "I am Special Agent Margaret McCulloch and this is my husband Frank." Wanda Gail's eyes snapped open wide. "The writer!" she said. Margaret nodded and spoke to Jill.

*** Agent McCulloch and her husband are in the series that starts with "Inside the Mind: The Chase for the Twin Killer by Gary Hancock – Smashwords.com."

The print your department recovered from the baseball bat had a flag that I set to direct any crimes to my desk. We have been tracking a group of a least three, maybe four, professional assassins that acted usually in a group of two to carry out murders inside and outside the country. One of them is an expert sniper and maybe a female. At least one time a woman was seen leaving the area of the shooter's nest. The man spoke up saying,"My wife is a world class rifle expert and if they come up against each other, my money is on Maggie."

Agent Margaret seemed to ignore him and continued. "One of the other is a close range basher. Knifes, clubs, and an occasional shotgun, these are his choice of battle. In close and down and dirty. One of the victims that survived for a short while said, "The Griffin". He then died. Now the last we know is probably an ex-CIA person. Our gun experts claim that he is using the out-of-production Colt Woodman and the striations show the presence of a silencer. Truly a classic kill weapon and the two shots to the back of the head are the signature of the CIA. Well, that is all I can give you and hope you will return the favor." The Agent opened an envelope and poured the contents out. There were three cards.

"As you can see, one of them is a Griffin. Paladin is spelled out for us and research said that the third is one of God's Archangels." Jill asked, "From where did this information come?" The FBI woman replied, "This is the main reason I came to your house instead of the station. A note with the cards said to give this to my dear friend Detective Jigsaw Jill." Jill knew immediately who sent this but did not inform the other officer. Agent McCulloch added, "That is all and I will bid you good night till we met again." Jill shook the couples -hands and let them out of the house. Rosie and Wanda Gail both exclaimed, "Wow."

Mystery death squad:

Albert had just gotten off the phone and walked over to the blonde woman in the room."Paula, are you sure Simon is doing these murders?" The woman replied, "I saw him in Los Angeles airport and lost him when he got on his motorcycle and weaved through the traffic where I could not follow. I told you that he went crazy when I got back from Italy. It is some kind of plan to break you and your girlfriend up. The fact that you told the redheaded cop my real name set him off even more." Albert remembered the next day after their night under the stars and Jill running into him and Paula in the village. Albert said, "For some reason I just couldn't lie to her that day." Paula snorted and said, "What would grandpa say about that." Albert laughed and said, "Just shoot the bitch." That made Paula laugh also.

Grandpa as a young man started as a policeman in Berlin. When World War II started he was inducted into the 35th SS-Police Grenadier Division of the German ninth army. They were badly mauled on the approaches to Berlin during the Battle of the Seelow Heights, and the division was destroyed during the Battle of Halbe. He was captured by the Soviets and spent two years in one of their prison camps, before he escaped. The wall around Berlin had not been built and his knowledge allowed him to escape to the west. The OSS, who later would be called the CIA, had tracked him down and recruited a spy with knowledge of Germany and a great hatred of the Russians.

When Grandpa got too old to perform the duties of an assassin he "retired" from the CIA. He could not talk any of his children into taking over for him, but when the three grand kids got older,he groomed them in the ways of stealth and homicide. Each of them belonged to a different child of his, so it was a band of 1st cousins. Albert, Simon, and Paula were all quick studies. Each displayed a talent in a different area of mayhem. Simon was the basher. Up close with a knife, sword, or club was his favorites, But he also liked the damaged of a large bore shotgun. Paula was the girl with the long gun. She could drop a Gazelle running at full speed from a distance you would not believe. Albert was the coolest of all of them. He took grandpa's favorite weapon, the Colt Woodman .22 that he had kept from his CIA days, and took that skill up to another level.

Grandpa instructed them to choose a cover job as they would not be under the protection of a federal agency. The old man had planned to hire them out for the jobs that the politicians did not want the U.S. to officially be involved. Simon said that he was just going to be a surf bum and that would let him travel around the world looking for waves. Paula choose the life of an independent writer; no office and no one to watch her travels. Albert said, "I am going to be a Doctor." Simon asked."Doesn't it take about seven years for that?" Albert replied,"I am not going to work in America and I know a foreign college that will give me a fair education and a degree in three years. I plan on working for Doctors Without borders and that will give me all of Africa, South America, and most of the rest of the world to move around without questions. Now we will meet here in four years to form our group."

Simon spoke up,"We have not chosen our spy names, I have a perfect one myself. I am the Griffin. Cause I am strong and wily." Paula thought for a moment and with a twinkle and smile in her eyes announced, "My name is Paula Dunn and from now on also it will be Paladin and my dear Albert, there is only one name for you. You are going to be a doctor, an angel of mercy. Hail Archangel, with a flaming sword, or in this case a little .22, you will strike down all that rise against us."

Another vision:

Meanwhile, a dozen blocks away, a fitful "seer of the future" was tossing and turning as a new story played out in his brain. Marilyn Albright hurried from the Los Angelos Metro to her office building. It was midnight and the Tokyo stock market had already opened and she was late. Phillo could "see" her almost running down the street while he seemed to be floating in the air above the city. The street noise was at a minimum because of the hour, but a deep rumble could still be heard. It seemed to be coming closer and closer. The helmeted rider quickly came up behind the young woman and, if as by magic, a loop dropped over her head and settled around her neck. The rider increased the speed of the bike and the young stock trader was jerked off her feet and plummeted to the ground behind the wheeled vehicle. She was dead within a few feet as she was pulled down the rough pavement. Phillo could see the Highland Metro Stop sign before the scene faded from his "sight".

Phillo decided that enough was enough, and clad in only his P.J.'s, drove to the Hollywood Police station to report what he had "seen". They put him in a holding cell after he told the story about all the murders he had "witnessed". It was the first thing Jill saw the next morning. Someone had put the file on her desk with an "If you need a good laugh." note paper clipped to it.

Active shooter:

Jill entered the parking garage and drove toward her designated slot just as men started pouring out of the elevator. Her partner, Manchester emerged and shouted at her. "Sniper, max effort." Jill opened the front trunk of her yellow speedster and removed a vest, helmet and an AR-15. A girl just has to be prepared she thought. She plopped down in the passenger seat and they set off with "blues and toos" as her favorite Bobby would say. The drive ended in the hills of the nearby park and they advanced with SWAT in the lead over the rather steep rise.

When she got to the top of the path they were following, the goal of their effort was easy to see. The small prostrate body laying on top of a long silenced rifle had golden hair spilling out of a black ski cap that did nothing to hide the massive hole in the back of her head. There was no way that she had survived the savage attack. Jill looked around and saw that she was the senior detective on the scene and took over.

"OK everyone fan out and see if you can find signs of another without disturbing the "Crime Scene Unit's" evidence. Jill then knelt down to the body and put her head next to her best friend Rosie's. "lets see what her face looks like." Jill said. Rosie slowly turned the victim's head around. Jill could not help but let out a gasp. Rosie looked her straight in the eyes and said. "What is it girl." Jill stuttered and finally let out a statement that made Rosie's bright eyes open even wider. "I have seen her before. When I was wandering back up to the village in Italy to have a late lunch after the night under the stars. Albert was talking to a woman holding a map and she claimed to be a fellow American that was lost. She introduced herself as Pauline Dunn." Jill let out a snort and continued. "Pauline Dunn- paladin. Just how stupid did they think I was." Then she laughed. "I guess they were right." Jill then amended her search order. "Look for an eaten apple." That was met with looks of wonder and she just said, "Don't guess, just look."

One of the young uniforms called out that he had found an apple with a slice taken out of it, as well as what looked like the place the rock used in the murder had been dislodged. That was all the trace this careful basher had left on the hillside. Manchester and Jill walked back down to the car. He asked, "Do you mind dropping me off at central office, I just remembered that the Captain wanted to talk to me. Just leave the squad next to your toy car and I will take care of it tomorrow." Jill nodded and welcomed the time to start thinking on what had just gone on.

Fools rush in:

When she pulled up in the parking spot next to her German Canary Yellow bomb, there was a little struggle getting out with her still in full battle dress. She had just plopped her helmet loosely on her head as she turned around, a glimpse of wood out of the corner of her eye caused her to jerk back and just a portion of the blow caught the side of the Kevlar cap and it went spinning off into the wall of the parking structure. Even the partial hit was enough to buckle her knees and cause her vision to go dark. Griffin had caught her cold.

Jill never fully lost consciousness and even with the flashing lights in her vision, her hearing was functioning well enough to make out the footsteps on the sand covered pavement as the professional assassin circled her, dragging his Louisville Slugger, if he was true to form. It was a silent taunt that was designed to torture the victim mentally as much as physically. Jill's muscle memory caused her right hand to fumble with the holster that had the Glock encased. But as soon as she cleared the gun, the bat once again came down. This time on the knuckles of her hand and the weapon when skittering off down the aisle till it hit one of the car tires and stopped. Things were just getting worse every minute and Jill knew that if she didn't come up with a plan, this would be her last Jigsaw. An uncompleted one at that.

As Jill lay on the concrete floor with the blood flowing from the cut on her head to form a small pool of scarlet, Griffin stood over her with a smile of triumph that made his deranged eyes more evil than ever. Jill slowly turned her head toward the approaching embodiment of the devil in human form, but her eyes could not focus and just an outline of the criminal was all she could see. There was a small noise to the left and Jill, along with the killer, turned to see who/what was there. She could feel more than see Griffin raise his forty two inch hickory stick preparing to end her young life. "Not this time cousin" Came out of the dark, followed by the sound like a staple gun clipping a stack of papers. It sounded twice. Then the crash of a body hitting the ground and the almost musical bouncing of the bat as it rolled away. There were more footsteps as someone came closer and the repeated staple firing that Jill now knew was the legendary sound of the Colt Woodsman .22 caliber C.I.A. famed pistol. Two to the back of the head of the professional coup de tate.

There were two hands gently holding her head, then a light appeared and flashed in each of her eyes. A probing of the scalp where the blow had struck and she was laid back on the ground. Then the thick curls were pushed aside and a small kiss lingered on her cheek. "You're safe now," were the only words she heard as he stood back up. The beep bloop of a cell phone and he spoke," Broadwich, Archangel here, Simon has been taken care of in my standard fashion. My redheaded detective will be OK. Call her office and let them know she is in the parking garage and needs immediate help." She could then hear him slowly walk away and the sound of metal being thrown into a trash can.

T   
hree girls go native:

Three weeks later on the most expensive nude beach in Australia, Jill laid on her stomach with a knitted floppy beach hat on her curly red head and a small towel covering her buttocks. "I should never have let Wanda pick out our vacation/recovery location" Jill thought. Rosie said it didn't matter to her. She was from St. Croix and there are a couple of unofficial clothing optional sites that she liked to visit when she was home. Nevertheless, Jill kept her head down and concentrated on the last few weeks and the personal as well as professional turmoil she had experienced. So hard was she lost in these thoughts that she didn't even see the man who sat down next to her. The voice made her sit up on her heels as the hat and towel fell off.

Doctor Albert Schmidt or Archangel, whichever you preferred, was sitting only inches away with no obvious weapons on him. Jill lit into him with all the red headed fury for which her stereotype was noted. She was still ranting when two of the local men came up and told her, "That's the way to straighten him out, Shelia." This caused her to look down at her state of dress and down on her stomach she flopped. Albert calmly reached over and replaced the towel over her rear with a chuckle.

Jill reached behind her and pulled a white terry cloth robe out of her bag and slipped into it. She tossed the small towel over Albert's lap and asked if he had some clothes handy. Just at that time the other two women walked up. Rosie looked him straight in the eye and said, "Criminals don't get to look at her so please keep your eyes forward." Wanda Gail just giggled. Albert nodded and said, "My bag is just down the beach and I will be back in a minute.

Jill just looked at her friends and informed them that she didn't know the story why he was out and free, but would let them know as soon as she found out. Albert showed back up with some slacks and an open shirt and walked next to Jill as they headed to the parking lot and the hotel limos. Of course he was staying in the same hotel.

As they walked across the lobby Jill pointed to a bank of elevators just beside the main desk. She waved her key card and the doors opened. There were only three buttons on the wall. Jill didn't press any of them . "Shelia, top floor", she said. A panel slid open and Jill pressed her hand against the glass exposed. The car sped off to the top. Albert had been watching the whole time but had not said a word. When the elevator stopped, it opened onto an entire floor. It was indeed the top of the building. He had seen the little towers on top from the ground but never knew they were the penthouses. Jill spoke to the air, "Shelia, we are going up stairs." There was a curving staircase that led to another, smaller platform in the center of the room. It contained two queen sized loungers on which Jill jumped onto one. Albert eased onto the second. Jill once again spoke, "Night sky". The glass ceiling which had shown sunshine and clouds, started to darken and the stars one by one popped out.

All of a sudden Jill exclaimed, "OK buddy why aren't you in chains?"

Albert started out telling her what had happened after he left her in the parking garage. "I got off the phone with my grandfather and knew that with my two cousins dead, I just didn't really have any more close family. I walked all night thinking how everything had gotten screwed up. Grifftin, I couldn't think of him by his real name anymore, had cost me everything I valued. When he found out that I had met you and had told grandfather that I was going to quit the family business, he just went insane. He thought that if he could discredit your police work by killing in your area and evading arrest it would somehow result in us breaking up our relation. I know it sounds crazy, but he was crazy."

"Was our meeting in Italy planned" asked Jill. "No" Albert replied forcefully. "I didn't even know who you were till that newspaper article. Paula and I were doing a job in lower Italy and headed up there to relax and hide out. That article was what she was showing me when you walked up on us the next morning after that 'starry starry night'. " Then he got back to telling her about the day after the night of her baseball bat attack. "I knew that I was going to be the number one subject of a search and one of the things I had going for me was that officially I was still in Africa. So I better get back there quickly. You are not the only one that can get a private jet and in less than a day I was back in my camp. I staged a vehicle crash with all the bruises including a big one on my head that required me to be admitted to the hospital run by a couple of Aussies that owed me big time. Back dating their charts, and I was incapacitated at the time of the shooting in Los Angeles. I am changing my ways, but do not want to go to jail. None of the people I actually shot were innocent."

Jill said, "I hear the girls coming in. Just lie back while I discuss your fate with them." Jill wandered down the stairs and saw that pjs and slippers had already been donned by the pair and hot cocoa served. Jill ducked into her room and slipped on her flannels and bunny shoes and flopped on the big couch beside them.

"OK, I need plenty of help to decide what to do with Albert. I know he had to kill to save me but I will never forget the two extra shots after I was safe. What kind of monster can kill someone he knows like that, no matter what he had done?" Rosie sat up and said. "What other two shots. That creep only had two, one in the heart and one in the head. If the feds had not seized all the evidence, I could have told you which had killed him." Jill told her story again about her going in and out of conscienceness but she insisted there had been four shots. A light then came on in Rosie's eyes. "One of the techs said that the bat looked like it had been shot. Oh my, he killed the bat!"

Jill slowly sat up and put her mug on the table in front of the couch. Then she sprang toward the stairs with those little bunnies taking two at a time. She disappeared around the curve and then a yell from Albert, "Don't jump on a sleeping assassin." Jill just laughed and covered all the other talking up with her own mouth.

The two remaining women looked at each other. "Guess that settled that", said Rosie. Wanda Gail said,"I was going to ask him if I could do a book on his adventures, but I think that is going to have to wait." Rosie rolled her eyes and said, "Ya think?"

Two weeks later:

Jill got a phone call from her Lt. back in L.A. "Jill, that F.B.I. Agent you met , FBI Special Agent Margaret McCulloch, will be by your hotel room within the hour to facilitate your return back here. As soon as possible." Hanging the phone up, she yelled at her room mates to get everything packed, she had been ordered home.

True to what Jill suspected as a personal trait, the door bell ranged ten minutes before the advised hour's waiting time. Jill looked at the FBI agent and said, "I know badge routine follows, I have a jet ready to leave as soon as I get to the field. You coming along." This caught Margaret for a second and she was not one to be caught off guard very often. So they left the fun of the beach for the unknown reception back home.

Once they landed in L.A., Jill was escorted in the standard black SUV of the federal government to her police station. Margaret led her inside and indicated the interview room instead of the meeting room. This was going by the book regardless of who Jill was. For the second time our hero was on the wrong side of the table. This was the first time in the U.S.A. that she had had the privilege.

All the interview centered on was her relationship with Albert/Archangel. Truthfully she could say that evidence that he was the alleged assassin was not sufficient to legally charge him. All this got was a snort of disbelief from the other agent that was sitting beside Agent McCulloch. Margaret shot him a glance and folding up her notes said, "Your boss the Chief wants to see you, but don't leave town without letting us know.

Now it's official:

Normally her "boss" referred to the Lt., the fact she was instructed to see the Chief did not bode well. Jill walked right up to his desk and looked him in the eye. "Gun and badge?" she asked. He just nodded and then spoke, "Till we can get this straightened out Jigsaw". He had been the first to call her that and in that one word a ray of hope gleamed.

Down the hall to the stairs and out in the parking garage. Past the spot on the ground where she had lain half dead till her knight, well probably not white armored, had saved Jill's life. Her trusty Porsche stood ready to carry her home. Sliding into the seat she cranked up the six cylinder and let out the clutch. It bucked and died. Somehow it was in third gear instead of first. "Take a deep breath and start over."Jill thought. The car started forward but without that flare she normally showed. The drive to her house was a short one and she slid once more out the door and clicked the door locks. "On a convertible what real good does that do." popped up in her mind. As the house door opened to her voice command, her dog Katie came tearing around the corner, but skidded to a stop. Sensing something wrong, the pooch watched her mistress drag herself over to the couch and sit. Jill reached and pulled the puppy up into her lap and leaned her head over its furry body and the immensity of the situation hit like the Griffin's blow to her head. Tears started and Jill could not stop them. Her whole world and the reason she had for getting up each day had just disappeared.

Footnote: If you think I should continue this series, please leave me a comment or do you think I should just take Jigsaw apart and put her in a box on the shelf.

