Cold Blue (23 page)

“Jesus, Chuck! I got buck fever the first time I shot a rifle at a deer—shook like a little girl. I can’t imagine shooting a bow at an armed cop and having the nuts to follow the arrow up there. Whoever our
someone
is—he’s killed before.”

“I’d bet on current or ex-military. Maybe Special Forces,” Lagrone said.

“Or SWAT. Something to check into.”

“There’s something else we should consider. What if Price didn’t activate his emergency button? What if our shooter did? We never did find his radio.”

“Why the hell would the killer hit the emergency button?” Hull asked.

“The only thing I can think of is he wanted us to find Price’s body sooner rather than later. Either that or he was sending a message.”

“The damned knife in his throat was message enough. Maybe the killer was only hitting buttons—didn’t know what he was doing?” Hull pondered out loud.

“If what we’ve been guessing about this guy is true, that doesn’t sound likely.”

“I agree. We pretty sure our killer hit the button?”

“No. Just something to consider. But Price’s emergency button was activated eleven minutes after he went 10-97. If I were a betting man, I’d guess Price was killed within a couple of minutes of arriving on scene.”

Hull had already reached the same conclusion. Price had probably checked the front door, found it intact, and circled the house. It had likely taken him less than a couple of minutes to reach the back door.

“You’re probably right.”

“Another thing; everyone who knows Price says he carries a cell phone—always. We couldn’t find one on his person or in his car.”

“No shit? We need to start pinging that phone right now, Skull.”

“One step ahead of you. It’s off the grid. Suspect either turned the phone off or removed the card.”

“Figures. Why do you think the killer risked taking a phone off Price’s body with a house alarm waking up half the neighborhood?”

“Only one reason, boss. Whoever killed him really wanted that cell phone. The question is, why? To get information, or to destroy it?”

“We need to get his phone records ASAP, Skull…I know, I know, you’re one step ahead of me.”

“Always am. Don’t have ‘em yet, but we’re working on it.”

The two men sat staring at the desk between them before Hull broke the silence again. “You said something interesting when you were giving me your theory. You said the killer waited for Price behind the shed. Not waited for an
officer
, but waited for
Price
.”

“I didn’t mean to imply the suspect knew the specific officer he was going to kill, though that’s obviously something we’ll have to look at,” Lagrone explained as he studied his boss’s sour expression. “There’s something you’re thinking, Bob. Let’s hear it.”

Hull paused a few moments before responding. “Close the door, Chuck.”

Lagrone performed the task and returned to the couch.

“From the scene it’s obvious this was a premeditated murder on a police officer. Let’s have a discussion presuming Price was specifically targeted. We have no evidence of this, but let’s travel down the road a ways and see where we end up.”

“Okay, Bob, but I get the feeling you’ve already traveled down this road.”

“Just wild speculation; speculation facilitated in part because it was Price who was killed. He just happens to be one of the most loathed officers on the department, and in my opinion, probably dirty as hell. In fact, if he were killed in a drive-by I’d just chalk it up to one of his associates popping him. But this bow and arrow shit doesn’t fit that profile. I think we’re looking at someone with a tactical background.”

“I know what you’re saying. Bit of a coincidence that one of the most despised officers on the department gets taken out with a professional-looking hit.”

“If Price was specifically targeted, I’d have to say the hitter was a cop. What do you think?”

Lagrone thought for a full minute before responding. “I’d agree with you. First, the killer would have to know Price’s hours and days off. Second, he’d need to know what beat Price worked to make sure he was the one who responded. Third, he’d almost have to be in possession of a police radio to know if Price were available to take the call. Fourth, he’d more than likely be knowledgeable about how we handle alarms. So yes, if we are
assuming
Price was specifically targeted, I’d say the killer is probably a cop and probably TPD.”

“Big assumption—yes. We’re just tossing around ideas. I don’t want to think one of our own did this either. In addition, the killer would have known officers tend to advise on alarm calls. I also agree he’d have to be in possession of a police radio, not just a scanner that would be skipping around all the different frequencies; otherwise he’d never be sure he was going to end up with Price in the backyard. It would also explain how the killer would know how to activate an emergency button—if in fact the killer did hit the button. Okay, with all these assumptions taken into consideration, who on this department has the motivation, the skill, and the cold-bloodedness to pull this thing off?”

“Again, I think you’d be looking at someone ex or current military, someone who has killed before. Maybe someone fresh from Sand Land who doesn’t get the shakes about taking a human life anymore.”

“I agree the suspect has killed before. You don’t carry out your first killing with a fucking bow and Buck knife. I could see someone using a rifle or something, but I can’t imagine a first-timer taking a guy out the way Price was killed.”

“We also need to consider some SOT guys; a couple on the team have multiple kills,” Lagrone added.

“So assuming Price
was
targeted, we’re looking for a Tulsa police officer with an array of tactical skills who has killed before and has a beef with Price.”

“I can start compiling a list,” Lagrone offered.

“Do it on the down-low. If the brass comes up with the same idea and asks you about it, just tell them we’ve already considered the possibility and we’re investigating it. If they want more, refer them to me.”

The two men sat on opposite sides of Hull’s desk both staring at the cluttered workspace with unfocused eyes. Lagrone shook his head.

“There’s something more you’re not telling me.”

“Skull, are you having psychic fantasies again?”

“Kiss my ass. I’ve worked with you long enough to read you like a cheap comic book.”

Hull looked up at the ceiling and let out a long breath. “Chuck, we’ve been making a ton of assumptions, and I’m about to throw out a name with absolutely no just cause. I’m way off the fucking reservation with this one, and I don’t want my mentioning his name to turn him into a suspect on this deal. Got it?”

Lagrone slowly nodded his head; he rarely saw his boss this concerned. “Understood.”

“Let’s talk about Jonathan Thorpe.”

Hull didn’t follow the announcement of Thorpe’s name with any further discussion. He let it hang in the air and studied Lagrone’s reaction. Having worked with his lead investigator for decades now, Hull watched the older man’s face parade an assortment of responses—surprise, contemplation, and possible acceptance.

“But before we talk about John, let me ask you a question. If someone killed your wife and children, and you found out who it was, but the police didn’t, what would you do?”

“You know what I’d do. I’d kill ‘em deader ‘n’ shit. So would you,” Lagrone stated emphatically.

“It’s hard to even imagine something like that. But, yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d kill them. If I didn’t have any proof that could be used in court, I know I would.”

“You think
Price
killed Thorpe’s wife and daughter?”

“I don’t know shit. I’m fucking thinking out loud and pretty pissed at myself for doing it.”

Hull would question Lagrone in an effort to support or poke holes in his own theory. He wouldn’t make that theory known until he’d asked all his questions, if he revealed it at all. Generally he let Lagrone reach his own conclusions through the questions he’d posed.

“Okay, Chuck. We both agree if our family was murdered and we knew the shithead who did it, we’d most likely kill the bastard…especially if we didn’t think the police had enough to get a conviction. First, do you think John would react the same way?”

“Without a doubt.”

“I agree. Secondly, for months John has been pestering me for information in reference to his family’s murders, and understandably so. Then, when Marcel Newman was killed, I spend an hour with the kid, and he never brings it up. Chuck, tell me the reason why someone who has asked me about his family’s murders every time I’ve seen him for thirteen months suddenly stops asking?”

Lagrone thought for several seconds before responding. “Either he’s stopped grieving and decided to move on, or he’s given up hope.”

“Can you think of any other reasons?”

“Or he’s discovered the answers.”

“Which one do you think most likely applies to our boy?”

“He doesn’t strike me as a quitter, Bob.”

“Me either.”

“Chuck, this morning I called the ME’s office. You know the shoulder wound Marcel Newman had? ME said the injury was likely caused by an arrow.”

“Whoa. That’s definitely strange, but doesn’t implicate Thorpe; just a possibility that these two murders are related.”

“We haven’t had a murder with a bow and arrow in twenty-five years, and then we get two within a week of each other. Not to mention that the one back then involved a Tulsa police officer as a suspect.” Hull paused for a few seconds before continuing. “Assuming Price was specifically targeted, we agreed the suspect was probably TPD, has killed before, has tactical skills, is one cool customer, and has a beef with Price. Now the motivation is unknown, but John certainly possesses all the other attributes. Again, this is pure speculation, I can think of other officers who possess these skills as well.”

“I realize we’re just talking here, Boss. I like the kid, and I know you do too.”

“Hell yeah, I like him. This discussion doesn’t go past the two of us. Let’s discuss what we know about John, starting with the murder of his family.”

THIRTEEN MONTHS AGO, DURING THE
early morning hours, Thorpe had arrived home from work, pulling his undercover truck into the driveway of his South Tulsa residence. In subsequent interviews, he reported sensing something wrong as soon as he inserted his key into the front lock. He stepped into the entryway, registered the rear door standing open, and then saw the body of his wife, Erica, lying in the hallway surrounded by a pool of blood. He reported running to Erica’s side to check her condition, instantly recognizing she was dead. He then charged up the stairs to his daughter’s room where he found her lying on her bedroom floor, bloodied, shot in the back of the head.

Thorpe had been immobilized by shock and didn’t immediately phone 911 or check the house for possible remaining assailants. Instead, he sat on the bloody carpet and held his fallen daughter. After some time had passed, Thorpe hadn’t been sure how long, he used his cell phone to call dispatch and report the murders. Uniformed officers arrived in minutes, but because detectives were already working a separate double homicide, it took them considerably longer to respond.

Hull had been at the scene of the double homicide in North Tulsa where two brothers, Deandre and Damarius Davis, were murdered and their bodies set on fire. Still working the scene, dispatch informed him officers had another homicide in South Tulsa. He’d told dispatch to instruct the Southside officers to hold what they had, that it would be a while before they could respond. About a half hour later an officer called his cell phone and notified him the other crime scene involved an officer’s family. Enraged he hadn’t been informed of that fact earlier, he immediately responded to Thorpe’s home.

Usually, Hull assigned one of his detectives to head each case—with his oversight—but in this instance, he decided to take the lead himself. Upon arrival, he found Thorpe in a state of mild shock, sitting in a patrol car outside his home. Hull felt a great deal of empathy for the man; Hull had children of his own and couldn’t fathom having to go through a similar experience. He also knew, regardless of the circumstances, Thorpe would have to be investigated for any possible involvement in his family’s murder. Statistics show the husband/father is generally the offender in such situations. It’s tragic enough to lose one’s family in a violent manner, but to have your peers suspect you of being their killer would devastate most men.

Hull quickly determined Thorpe had been with several of his officers during the time frame of Erica’s and Ella’s deaths. Speculation arose the killings of the Double D brothers the same night in North Tulsa might have been related. Damarius and Deandre Davis had been shot to death on a dead end street before their bodies and vehicle were doused with gasoline and set ablaze. The heat from the fire had been so intense their remains were barely discernible. The seats had completely melted down to the coils. The vehicle in which they were burned did fit the general description of a car that’d been seen parked in Thorpe’s neighborhood around the time of his family’s murder. The Davis brothers were documented gang members, and Thorpe supervised of the Organized Gang Unit. Hull looked into the possible connection, but the two brothers and Thorpe had only limited contact with each other. Associates of the Davis brothers were interviewed, but as usual didn’t know anything about anything.

Luckily, Thorpe’s whereabouts during the murders of the Davis brothers were also confirmed, eliminating any suggestions he hired the brothers to kill his family, then later killed the brothers to cover his tracks. The only red flag in relation to Thorpe was the fact he’d taken out a life insurance policy on his Erica shortly before her murder. Thorpe explained he and his wife’s family didn’t exactly care for one another, and he didn’t want to depend on his father-in-law for help raising Ella in the unlikely event his wife died.

Hull was certain Thorpe had no involvement in the death of his family. However, the media has an insatiable appetite for attractive, murdered white women and their angelic children, and the department knew the case would receive plenty of attention. Despite Hull’s assurances that John wasn’t a suspect, his superiors ordered him to discover everything he could about Thorpe’s past so there would be no surprises. With Lagrone’s assistance, Hull led this discreet investigation himself. Their research uncovered more than they’d anticipated. Some of these revelations they passed along to their superiors; others they thought best kept to themselves.