Hunting Death

Chapter 16

Nearly a week after he searched the Melton property, Damien had managed to go through every report, every receipt, every scrap of paper he'd been given, and he hadn't found anything. Not only did Keith and Robert keep their records in perfect order, he found absolutely nothing incriminating in any of them. Their orders appeared timely and everything coincided with the product they'd found at the clinic.

He was, however, a little curious about some of the chemicals ordered. Having spoken to the forensic pathologist down at the lab he discovered that while not traditionally found in Veterinary medicine, Keith might have used the compounds to aide somehow in the healing process, but would need extensive knowledge in pathology to even attempt something of that nature, as mixing chemicals and running controlled tests or experiments could be rather dangerous.

Of course, this information merely made Damien even more suspicious of Keith Walker and prompted him to look further into his background. He'd run a standard criminal background check after the first attack, but seeing as he found nothing and the man always came up with an ironclad alibi, he didn't bother running a more thorough check into the man's personal life.

He supposed now would be as good a time as any given this new bit of information. Something about Keith set off alarms in his head, the man just didn't sit right with him, but he couldn't have said why. All outward appearances, Keith seemed like a genuine hero. He rescued and rehabilitated unwanted dogs, he gave them hope, he gave them new lives.

But there was more, there had to be more. The four women were proof of that. He may not have had any idea what really happened to any of them, but he knew Keith Walker had something to do with it.

He hit another wall with his latest background check though too. Vital statistics listed Keith Walker as having been born in 1983 on an American military base in Germany, giving him US citizenship. His parents listed as Lucas Romano and Kaila Walker, his father an Italian general, and his mother an unmarried sergeant in the Army, thus why he took his mother's last name and moved with her back to the US.

He'd been raised in New Jersey, and according to transcripts attended college in Maryland, studying Public Health, before getting a degree in Veterinary medicine. Which would explain his interest in pathology as well. Everything about Keith Walker appeared to be squeaky clean. He literally couldn't catch a break.

Until he finally did.

He'd been about to leave the station for the night when the hot new records clerk, emphasis on the hot, came into his office.

"What's up Ace?" He asked.

Ace, her first name Beverly, recently transferred in from Boston and hoped to work in forensics someday. For now the twenty-one-year-old with the long legs and the hot ass, worked in the records department while she studied down in Maryland.

"I've been going over those papers you gave me, and well, I found an anomaly, so I did some more research, and, you're going to want to take a look at what I found." She beamed, obviously proud of herself as she opened a folder on the desk in front of him and showed off her find.

"Well, I'll be damned," Damien said thinking out loud. "This is good Ace, really good."

"I hoped you'd think so. I also hoped you let me keep digging, I like this whole sleuthing thing, logging evidence, and filing papers all day isn't all it's cracked up to be you know."

"Yeah, of course. I'll ask the captain to bring you in on the case, I sure as hell wouldn't have found this otherwise."

Ace smiled, she liked Damien, both smart, and handsome, he also held a reputation for being damn good at his job, which she respected. Apart from Molly, a girl in her English Composition class, she really didn't have any friends, and she hoped one day that Damien might consider her a friend, or maybe even something more.