The Esther Code Read online

  Once Jamie ended her relationship with Steve, Seth tried to pick things up with her. He invited her to his place to hang out and casually asked her to dinner. She pushed him away quickly. At first Seth had been confused, but then he realized that Jamie rejected him because he was still dating Karen. It was an awkward moment. By the time Seth broke things off with Karen, Jamie had already moved on to date a guy from her Criminal Psych class. Timing was still not in Seth’s favor. Yet one thing Seth could hold on to was their friendship. Their mutual Forensics friends became a group that hung out constantly. By the end of his schooling, Seth was the best of friends with Jamie.

  Seth graduated first and found a job working with the FBI at the National Crime Lab in Quantico, Virginia. It became a cycle: Jamie would pick up a new boyfriend, and Seth would miss his chance. Seth would drive the hour to double-date with Jamie and her new guy. He knew that it often annoyed his own dates, who did not want to spend two hours in the car on a Saturday night. Over time, Seth stopped looking at Jamie as someone he wanted to date and accepted that they would just be friends. But whenever he found himself without a girlfriend, those romantic feelings he still had towards Jamie would creep up.

  Jamie had initially planned on pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology. Seth suggested that she come to work for the Bureau, which encourages its employees to continue higher education. To his delight, Jamie was interested in this prospect. She was close to graduating and looking for direction, which the Bureau could provide. Seth helped introduce her to important contacts and advised her to take classes that would make her stand out against the myriad of applicants. Jamie relied on him for these contacts and for information.

  Once Jamie finished her Masters in Forensic Psychology, their combined efforts paid off, and she received a very competitive and sought-after job with the FBI. She started as an analyst with the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime in Quantico. It was a great entry-level job for a recent graduate.

  Seth was elated to have Jamie working at the Bureau. He helped her find an apartment not far from his own. They began to hang out more often. When she started, she never imagined she would go on to be a Special Agent. But she began to shine right away as an analyst and drew the attention of her superiors. Jamie proved that she was gifted in critical thinking and analysis. She also became interested in investigative fieldwork, rather than just analyzing data that was collected by someone else.

  It is no easy task to make it to the FBI Academy to become a Special Agent. After three years with the NCAVC, Jamie submitted her application. Seth remembers the phone call he received from an ecstatic Jamie saying that she had passed the first hurdle and would be scheduled for the first phase of testing. Seth was happy for her and frightened at the same time, for she could be transferred almost anywhere in the country once she became a Special Agent.

  Jamie did well with the battery of written tests and breezed through the fitness test. Then she was off to the Academy for twenty weeks of intensive training. When Jamie was in the Academy, Seth found himself again without a girlfriend. The thought of dating Jamie surfaced again. But he knew that one of the surest ways to lose a good friend is to date them. Besides, having a female best friend was useful. Jamie answered all of his questions, even personal questions. He could get advice, from dating rules to sex tips. With someone like Jamie, it was beneficial to stay friends. That had been his conundrum. It still is. He likes her, and he loves her.

  By the time Jamie finished at the Academy, they had been through so much together that it seemed a good time to make a move. But it was also likely that she would be transferred to another part of the country, so they might end up parting ways anyway. After all of his efforts, Seth could not catch a break. The twenty weeks in the Academy had pretty much ended Jamie’s relationship with her boyfriend, but it was near the holidays, and she did not want to break up officially and be alone.

  Seth remembers well the New Year’s Eve party at Barry Shapiro’s house. Jamie brought her boyfriend, and Seth brought a date.

  As the festivities wore on into a long night, Seth found himself alone with Jamie. He hoped it would be a magical moment and thus invited Jamie to accompany him to the backyard. There was a warm, welcoming fire pit with people milling about. The night was crisp and clear. It was romantic to watch the fire dance toward the stars.

  They sat down on a log, and Jamie huddled close to Seth, away from the cold. He took her hand without thinking and rubbed it between his own two hands to keep it warm. She giggled slightly and put her head on his shoulder. Seth looked down at her, and there was a moment that the world around them seemed to stop. He leaned down, and she moved her lips closer to his—the long-awaited kiss was only a brush away.

  “There you are! I’ve been looking for you.”

  Seth and Jamie froze and both looked up to see Seth’s date tottering from one side to the other.

  “Hey...aren’t you guys cold?” she asked, ostentatiously rubbing her arms and shoulders.

  After that awkwardness, Seth had second thoughts. He decided to see if Jamie acted differently towards him after she broke up with her boyfriend. Were there any signals? Was he looking too hard for them? His fear of rejection from his best friend kept him from making a move. If he had had a chance, he had blown it…and he knew it.

  A knock on his office door jerks Seth back to the present. A young man his own age stands in the doorway. The newcomer has short, curly brown hair. His normally-large brown eyes are swollen with an obvious lack of sleep.

  “Shap, what have you been up to lately?” Seth hails his friend and subordinate. “Not women and booze again?”

  Shap just shrugs and offers his excuses, “Sorry I was late again today. I promise to work extra tonight to make up for the time this morning. And I can work over the weekend to make up for the couple of days I missed last week.”

  Seth considers for a moment, watching Shap closely. He met Barry Shapiro the first week of college. Actually, Shap was the person who made Seth look into forensic science in the first place. Looking back, Seth could hardly have imagined that they would end up working in the same lab at the FBI. The group of friends that Shap had led had been, in the best of times, tightly knit. Shap and Seth started on the same day at Quantico, and now Seth is Shap’s supervisor. They have always been close, but lately their bonds are looser. Still, their past makes it difficult for Seth to be stern with Shap.

  Seth sighs and consents, “Alright, that is a good compromise. I can handle that. Just promise me you will be on time to from now on.”

  “You bet,” Shap smiles.

  “I don’t want to lose a man like you. You’re one of the best guys I have in this lab.” Seth speaks sincerely, but he instantly regrets what he has said. Hopefully, Shap will not use that honesty to manipulate Seth in the future.

  “Thanks, Seth, I appreciate the vote of confidence. Well, I better get back to it.”

  “Great, thanks.” Shap withdraws from the doorway and heads to his station.

  Seth stands a moment, thinking to himself. Shap could easily be sitting at this desk if he had just been a little more driven. Soon enough, memories of Jamie drive Shap from Seth’s mind.

  A few years had passed since the New Year’s Eve party, and they were still best friends. If given the opportunity, would he go for it again? There were good arguments on both sides. Another opportunity did finally present itself, and that was how Chris came into the picture.

  It was four months ago. Jamie had just broken up with her boyfriend. Seth had not been dating anyone. It seemed like he finally had the timing right. Of course, he had to be careful about approaching Jamie right after a breakup. There should be a cooling-off period, or Seth might find himself the “rebound” guy. On the other hand, waiting too long always gave Jamie time to meet someone else. It was a delicate situation.

  A Halloween party at Shap’s house created the perfect opportunity for a romantic overture. He asked Jamie to go with him, and she accepted. S
eth spent a pretty penny to rent the perfect costumes for them both. They needed to match, so that everyone would know they were together. He would be the Dread Pirate Roberts, and she, Princess Buttercup. Seth had overlooked the outrageous price because, if he was going to let Jamie know his true feelings for her, he had to do things right.

  Seth can still remember the pain he felt when they arrived at the Halloween party. Jamie started scanning the crowd for prospects—not for herself, but for him! Despite this setback, Seth determined to continue with his plan and let her know how much he loved her. There would be plenty of time during the night, or even on the ride home, for him to find the right moment to tell her. After a couple of dances and cups of punch, Seth left to use the restroom. When he returned, he was irritated that Jamie stood talking to Chris, who was wearing surgical scrubs. As Seth approached them, Jamie signaled with her hand for him to come over.

  Seth can still remember every bit of conversation from that night. He had spent hours before the party examining each of his past mistakes. He would not let Jamie slip through his fingers again.

  “Seth, this is Chris. He’s a ‘doctor’.” Air quotes accompanied the word “doctor.”

  “Yes, I can see that.” Seth was not impressed.

  “No, I really am a doctor. I came straight from the hospital,” Chris asserted with ill-concealed pride.

  “Oh, then nice ‘costume’.” Seth matched Jamie’s quotation gesture.

  The music in the background changed, and Chris announced, “Man, I love this song! Come on, let’s dance.”

  He pulled Jamie into the middle of the crowded dance floor. There were thirty or forty people already there, bobbing and bouncing to the music.

  “You guys go, I’ll be right here,” Seth called out, though he knew they would never hear him over the pounding music. Shap must have seen what happened because he walked up a minute later and gave Seth some punch and a sympathetic look.

  At that moment, Seth’s only consolation was the knowledge that he had Jamie all to himself on the ride home. Since Jamie had just met this “doctor”, surely she would not go home with him. But this consolation was short-lived. The ride turned out to be unforgettably unpleasant. Jamie was a little tipsy and talking incessantly.

  “What did you think of Chris?”

  “He was a bit pretentious, don’t you think? I mean, here we are together at the party with matching costumes, and he hits on you big time. How did he know we weren’t a couple? Seems kind of arrogant to me.”

  “No, it’s not like that. You missed it. He came up to me and was like, ‘Hey Buttercup, where’s Westley?’ So, I told him you were in the bathroom. Chris goes, ‘I always wanted my own Buttercup. He’s a lucky guy.’ So I told him we weren’t dating.”

  “He still seemed a little cocky to me.”

  “Maybe. I’ll find out this weekend.”

  “This weekend?” Seth attempted to push down his anger and surprise.

  “Yep. I gave him my number. We’re going out Saturday night.”

  Seth looked over and saw the smile on Jamie’s face. “Shit! I really blew it,” he muttered under his breath.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Never mind.”

  Seth sighs, coming back to the work in front of him. These are painful memories. But he still clings to the hope that, maybe through all the mistakes, complications, and misunderstandings, he might one day catch Jamie’s eye. He shakes his head and declares to the empty room, “I can’t help it. I love her.”

  Chapter 11

  Jamie slouches into her office chair. She has read each file at least twice, hoping to see something that would give her a lead to follow. As with any case, there are many things to consider, but this case is also quite different. She sees the similarities in the evidence, but they do not provide a direction. There is nothing that might lead to a suspect.

  Her scrambles of the words produced nothing but gibberish, with no discernible significance. She pulls out the list to try once more to find a clue.

  “pars hon dota”…pandora shot, hot pandoras, harpoon tads, hap donators, shap tornado, tornado haps, toad orphans, toads orphan, north posada, hoard pantos, photo sandra, torah dapson, radon pathos, adapt honors, host a pardon, oaths pardon, shoot pander, honda pastor, arad photons, dash patroon, adopt sharon, drant shampoo, than parados, stop hornada, hood spartan, ana dropshot....

  Most of Jamie’s results are not even real words. The computer-generated list does not differ much from her own, and none of them make any sense. Why kill an old man and leave a note that says, “adopt sharon,” or, “host a pardon”? Shaking her head, Jamie moves on to the next note.

  “por ot ha”…para hot, par oath, rap oath, oar path, harp oat, apt hora, hot para, pah tora…

  There are not as many outcomes for the second note. It is pretty much worthless, unless some rapper has a song called “rap oath.” Jamie doubts it, but she looks it up on the Internet. There are quite a few results and several YouTube videos, but nothing connecting it to murdering old men.

  “dol fon”…fond ol', no fold, flood n, nod flo, fondlo, fool dn, lo fond…

  The third note also yields nothing. Knowing that her efforts might be fruitless, Jamie forges ahead.

  “parmo sh ta”…ham pastor, port masha, mast pharo, mats aroph, prom hasta, soap thram, amah sport, hoar stamp, asap morth, tora phasm, maps torah, host param, shot param, sam haptor, oath ramps, mash porta, arm pathos, ram pathos, past mohar, amor paths, roam paths, atop harms, atop shram, pram oaths, atom sharp, atom shrap, rap thomas…

  It is another dead end, unless there is a pastor named Ham. Jamie sighs again and files the scrambled words into a new folder of her own research and work. It is time to go back to the concrete facts.

  She does an exhaustive search of the individual names of the victims. The search returns nothing that stands out. She finds only the usual life achievements, and nothing revealing a motive for murder.

  Jamie rubs her forehead pensively and erases the names in the search bar. An idea pops into her mind, and she types in the individual words from the notes. Each search brings up nonsense. Searching further, Jamie tries all of the words from the notes together in the search bar. Yet another dead end. Typing in the initials from each note also returns nothing. Jamie combs her fingers through her long black hair, then twists it behind her head and secures it with a pencil. There must be something that can give her a lead. A knock on her door startles Jamie and makes her look up immediately.

  “Hey Jamie, I’ve got the information you wanted on the victims—backgrounds, police records, and tax info.” Phil Clark towers in Jamie’s doorway, holding up the files. “A couple of them were quite well off. Could be a case of follow-the-money.”

  “I hope it turns out to be that simple. Thanks, Phil. You’re the best.”

  “No problem.” With a smile, Phil ambles into her office and sits in the chair across from her desk. He thumps his large fingers on the wooden arm of the chair. “But I’m afraid I don’t have good news for you.”

  “Not surprising. This case is all dead ends. Watcha got?”

  He hands her the files. “Here are all the police reports and criminal records on the victims. Needless to say, they were normal, law-abiding citizens, and nothing more.”

  “Really?” She had been hoping for something in their backgrounds, a connection that would lead her to answers. Something. Anything. “Nothing at all?”

  “Well, two of them had quite the lead foot. But aside from speeding tickets, these old guys are clean. No big crimes, no little crimes, just a parking ticket along with speeding tickets, all of which were paid on time and with no complications,” Phil summarizes, still tapping his knuckles to an unheard beat.

  “Great. Thanks.”

  “No problem.” Phil stands up to leave. “Before I go, is there anything else I can do?”

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  Jamie delves into the files that Phil brought. Pulling out each re
cord, she arranges the files side-by-side to examine them. Not one of the victims had ever lived in the same city, or even the same state for that matter. No similarities in occupation. There is nothing connecting any of the murdered men to each other.

  Moving on, Jamie searches through their family histories. They have no apparent relation through marriage or cousins. Rubbing her forehead again, Jamie starts looking at birthplaces. That might give her some insight.

  Two of the victims were born in Germany, two in Argentina, and one in Poland. Each of the victims immigrated to the U.S., but it is not unusual for men in their late eighties and nineties to be immigrants. If the perp only wanted to kill immigrants, he would not have needed to travel so widely around the United States.

  Jamie reviews the information again, and this time, something catches her eye. Hans Bierman was born in Argentina. It is a strange name. She would expect Jesus or Paco, not Hans. Jamie remembers from her history class in college that there were lots of families that fled to North and South America during World War I and World War II. Maybe Hans Bierman’s parents were among the lucky few who escaped the war.

  Glancing back at the other three files, Jamie notes that not one of the victims emigrated from his country of birth. Two came from Brazil, one from France, and one from South Africa. Jamie discovers that Fred Schmidt legally changed his name from Friedrich Seiler before coming to the U.S. Of course, many immigrants changed their names before entering the country.

  Although Phil already gave her an overview, Jamie carefully combs through the criminal records. When looking for a needle in a haystack, one has to be very thorough. But each victim is clean, except for one or two speeding tickets and some parking tickets. Model citizens in every way.

  Jamie concludes that, if nothing connects their pasts, then the victims are connected in the present, by their deaths. Something has to link them. She looks at the timing of the murders. September, March, October, March, and February—the months seem as random as the victims. It is strange that the killer waited nearly a year between victims four and five. The previous four were spaced about six months apart. Why wait so long? Normally, serial killers are sporadic, taking advantage of an opportunity that presents itself. They hardly ever go a whole year without killing again. To Jamie, this anomaly suggests organization.