Criminal Continuum: Teen Criminal Investigation Unit - Ch 9

Good Friday

Friday morning came with a slight frost on the Berkeley streets. It was always a bit exciting when the cold weather came to the San Francisco Bay Area. It meant that the holiday season was fast approaching. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day all pop their heads up like prairie dogs peering from a desert valley hole. The twins have tentatively planned to see a movie with some friends later if their parents approve. Kelly has a report to do for her history class and the Dance parents need to solidify their San Francisco weekend plans. Uncle Jim already confirmed that he would be more than happy to have a family and friend picnic in Golden Gate Park on Sunday. “After all,” he said over the phone, “I am not here in California that often, am I?”

As Rebecca and Robert headed out their home’s front door they called out to their mother, “Bye, mom.”

“Don’t be too late,” she replied, “Remember, we have a big weekend planned.”

“Ok,” the twins shouted back.

“And remember to get some dinner, too.”

“We will,” replied Robert, closing the front door behind him and Rebecca.

“Kell, do you need any help with your report?” questioned mom down the basement stairs

“No, but if I do I’ll come and get you.”

“Ok, dear. See you later.”

As the door to the basement shut, Mrs. Dance decided to give a call to Zekenia Brown to see if he and his family would like to join them for Sunday’s outing.

“Hello,” Mr. Brown said, answering his living room phone.

“Hi, Mr. Brown,” Mrs. Dance replied politely, “This is Felicity Dance down the block.”

“Oh, yes, so nice of you to ring. How are the children doing?”

“They’re just fine, thank you, and yourself?”

“I’m doing fairly well, but not particularly looking forward to the cold winter months I must say.”

“I know what you mean, Mr. Brown.”

“You can call me Zekenia if you wish, Mrs. Dance.”

“I’d like that Zekenia and you can call me Felicity.”

“Sounds like a pretty good deal to me,” he chuckled.

“We were wondering if you would like to join us for an outing to Golden Gate Park this Sunday and bring along your wonderful family. We haven’t seen your grand-daughter or great-granddaughter in such a spell it seems.”

“I would love to join you, but my grand-daughter and her family already left for the weekend. They went down to Malibu to enjoy some sun before the cold weather sets in.”

“That’s wonderful, Zekenia, that you can come. Can we pick you up about 9:00 a.m. or so, if that is not too early?”

“Too early?” he laughed, “I am up before 6:00 most mornings, my dear. Sometimes us elderly folk take naps during the day, you know. Then we sleep a bit less during the night.”

“Ok, 9:00 it is.”

“Thanks for thinking of me, Felicity.”

“Our children are so fond of you and you have been a wealth of information to them since they were just little ones.”

“Yes, they do have a lot of questions and very good questions I must say.”

“Bye, bye.”

“Bye,” said Zekenia, hanging up his phone before heading out to his yard to do a bit of gardening before it got too dark out.

“That’s fantastic,” Mrs. Dance thought to herself, “This will be a great weekend. I better give my sister a call and see if they can make it too.”

Her sister, Kevin and little Philip confirmed that, they too, would be able to make it for the picnic, which now had developed into a potluck style lunch.

When Mr. Dance arrived home he had some exciting news to tell his lovely wife.

“Hello, dear.”

“You’re home a bit early for a Friday commute evening.”

“I got off a bit early today. I have some good news.”

“What?” After a short pause, she continued, “You won’t keep me waiting all night before you tell me, will you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Well?”

“My partner, Suzie, is soooo looking forward to Sunday’s picnic. She is anxious to meet Jim.”

“Wow, maybe you are a matchmaker after all.”

“It can’t always be the females who do the matchmaking,” he replied proudly. “She may bring her parents also, you know, Cheng Long and Lin Wen Chow?”

Mom responded quickly, “Oh, yes. I think we met them at Suzie’s promotion to Lieutenant about four years ago.”

“Yes, that’s them.”

“Don’t they own a large import business in the City?”

“Chow Imports,” answered Jonothan, “That’s the name of it.”

“This is stacking up to be quite an outing,” she said, “My sister and her family are coming and Mr. Brown from down the street.”

“Oh, that is so nice of you to have invited Zekenia. He is such an intelligent and friendly, down-to-earth type of man. I really enjoy talking to him.”

“And so do our children,” remarked Mrs. Dance.

“They sure know how to pick good contact folk.”

“They learned from the best,” laughed Mrs. Dance.

Mr. Dance smiled and replied, “Well, maybe not the best, but right up there, anyway. I got in contact with Cadet Jim Connors and he will meet us there. So it will be a fairly large group.”

“The weather is supposed to be sunny and calm all day,” commented Mrs. Dance happily.

“Great. Anyway, where are the kids?”

“Kell is doing her homework, a book report, down in the basement and the twins have gone to the movies with some friends.”

“Then I’ll get a bit of reading done if you would be so kind to prepare dinner tonight, that is,” he said, “if that’s alright with you? 

“That’s fine, dear. Maybe you can barbeque one night soon.”

“Sounds great to me.”

“Dinner in about an hour then?”

“An hour it is,” he replied.

Mr. Dance dug into his police books regarding new approaches to homicide investigations, Mrs. Dance did a bit of tidying up around the house before fixing dinner. She was gathering and sorting items for the Sunday picnic, so they would not need to rush home Saturday evening and need to get ready for Sunday’s big gathering.

Kelly finished her report at almost the same time as dinner was ready. The three remaining family members sat down to a quiet meal together and talked about their day and their plans for the weekend ahead.

“Don’t forget to dress in layers this weekend,” Mrs. Dance reminded Kelly during dessert.

“I won’t.”

“The weather can change abruptly in San Francisco. One minute you may feel a bit warm and just a short while later it can get very chilly.”

“It was a beautiful day today,” commented Mr. Dance as he took another bite of his pie. “The sun was shining and there was very little wind. Of course, it was a bit cold earlier in the morning, but once the sun was shining for a couple of hours it was really nice out.”

“I think that just being in San Francisco can make the weather seem better than it really is,” commented Mrs. Dance.

“What do you mean, mom?”

“When you are in a place and enjoying yourself you just don’t seem to notice or even care that much about the weather sometimes.”

“Oh,” Kelly responded, “Sort of like when we go to the snow and don’t know how cold our feet are until we get in the car to come home.”

“Exactly, young lady, exactly.”

“Who all is coming for the picnic on Sunday?” questioned Kelly with great curiosity.

Mom started off, “Uncle Jim, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Sara and little Philip, Suzie Chow--”

“Oh, I like her,” Kelly interrupted, “She is so nice and so smart.”

Mom continued, “Suzie’s mom and dad, Cadet Jim Connors--”

Kelly interrupted again, “Wow, this is so great!”

“... and Mr. Brown from down the street.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked him to join us,” Kelly said smiling.

“... and, of course, all of us.”

“Quite a crowd for a picnic,” dad interjected quickly, “It’s good we are going to Golden Gate Park, I think we will need the space.”

“We sure will,” said mom.

“Kell,” asked dad, “What is your book report about, anyway?”

“Unsolved crimes,” she responded, “I checked out a book from the library on the subject and we had to write about how unsolved crimes can affect people’s lives, people’s fears, the laws, and how these crimes relate to history.”

“Sounds fascinating, sweetheart,” dad replied, “Did you enjoy doing your report?”

Kelly answered, “Yes, it was exciting, not only to learn about the crimes, but to see how many of them affected history and still do today.”

“Anything in particular?” inquired dad.

“The Zodiac killer from our home area and Jack the Ripper were very interesting. I think the mystery is more exciting than the actual crimes they committed.”

“That is a superb observation, Kell, and one that many older people don’t quite understand, even in our day.”

“Sometimes wondering about something is easier than knowing the facts,” mom interjected, “Many people don’t like concrete answers, they sort of have better control over others’ doubts that way. They can dodge the facts if the facts are not completely known, for instance.”

“But when one has the facts and answers, it makes them feel a bit insecure in themselves,” Kelly observed, “Is that right?”

“Yes,” mom added, “and that diminishes the authority of the person presenting the information if they do not have concrete facts and true answers. It makes the topic just a matter of opinion.”

“Turning every aspect of life, experience and thought into a relativistic philosophy of self-interpretation,” Kelly stated rather authoritatively.

“You guys are losing me now,” dad said with a laugh, “I feel I am at a conference with psychologists and psychiatrists, or something.”

“Oh, dad.”

“I’m just amazed at how much my little girl knows, that’s all.”

“Dad.”

“There’s nothing like a good philosophic discussion, is there?” jested Mrs. Dance.

“Nothing like it,” dad replied.

“Did you work on the Zodiac case, dad?”

“No, Kell, that was before my time.”

“He killed a taxi driver I read.”

“Yes, he claimed responsibility for that crime and numerous others, dear.”

“And the Ripper in England was never caught either.”

“No, but a lot of people have a lot of ideas about who the criminal was.”

“Do you, dad?”

“As I have studied each of the prime suspects over the years, each seem to be fairly good candidates to have perpetrated the crimes, but I still have a lot of questions about the Ripper case.”

Mom jumped in, “And we are looking back in time about one hundred and twenty years or so and that makes it difficult to gain a proper perspective on the facts, since we are so far removed from that time period.”

“One thing that has always bothered me is that the one letter that had a piece of evidence contained in it was lost,” remarked dad.

“I read that in my book,” responded Kelly.

“It makes me wonder if a policeman was involved, but we will probably never know.”

“I had the same thought, dad,” Kelly exclaimed, “How did the evidence disappear so easily in such a high profile case unless someone on the inside was involved?”

“It happens sometimes I must regretfully say, but not that often these days,” replied dad, “but I still have my curiosities about the person from a profiler’s viewpoint.”

“How the person had to be comfortable with the area and familiar with it; how they knew how to escape the crime scene in a hurry if necessary; how they would not be noticed as strange to the area if seen there; and how they were able to elude police for those few months even though the police were looking for them?” Kelly questioned.

“You hit the nail on the head, Kell. You never cease to amaze me.”

“How about me?” mom asked her husband, “Do I amaze you too?”

“Always, my dear, always.”

“Dad,” Kelly addressed her father, “Do you think that in our chaotic world of unpredictable crime, the serial killer mystique provides empowerment and enticement for the romantic proclivities found in the darkened corners of our soul’s evil nature,”

“If I could understand your question I would try to answer it, my dear. As I said, you never cease to amaze me.”

Next Chapter

Chapter Ten: Film, Friends, Food & Fun