Page 20 of The Writer

CHAPTER TWENTY

Log 10/18/2018 23:16 EDT

Transcript: Audio/video recording (body cam of Detective Declan Shaw)

Transcriber note: Video malfunction. Recording is audio only.

[Detective Declan Shaw] Transcriber, I’m entering the apartment of Ruben Lucero, aka Lucky. My partner, Jarod Cordova, is already on scene. [ Knock .] You in here?

[Detective Jarod Cordova] Yeah. In back.

[Shaw] Pew. For the record, this place smells like ass. He’s got a pest problem. Roaches. Mice. Probably rats. I’m no expert, but I’m guessing that’s because the untidy fuck has old food rotting everywhere. Pizza boxes. Half-eaten cans of ravioli. Spoiled carton of milk just sitting out on the counter. Piles of newspapers and magazines nearly to the ceiling. Clothes everywhere. Who the hell lives like this? It’s a hoarder’s paradise. Jarod, where are you?

[Cordova] Bedroom. Look at this.

[Shaw] Give me a second. My camera’s been acting up, so I’ve got to describe this place for the record.

[Cordova] Mine’s in the car. Should I get it?

[Shaw] No. It’s fine. Happens all the time. Looks like Lucero carried his unique decorating style into his bedroom. Crap piled everywhere. More clothes. No furniture. Mattress on the floor. I imagine those sheets were white once. CSU could spend a week in here and… is that rope?

[Cordova] Rope. Handcuffs. Bucket in the corner. I can smell it from here. It’s a makeshift bedpan.

[Shaw] So this is some kind of dungeon?

[Cordova] I saw a sleeping bag in the other room, balled up in the corner. I’m guessing he slept out there when he had someone in here.

[Shaw] Jesus.

[Cordova] Yeah.

[Shaw] Maybe he planned to nab Maggie. Bring her here.

[Cordova] She fought back. Something went wrong. He killed her in the park to cut his losses.

[ Forty-three seconds of silence .]

[Shaw] Did you look at these books?

[Cordova] Not yet.

[Shaw] You know any of these? V. C. Andrews, Vampire Academy , John Green, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Little Women .

[Cordova] They’re all young adult. Skews female.

[Shaw] We’ve got pictures between some of the pages. Cutouts from magazines. Young girls. Barely legal–type stuff.

[Cordova] Not just magazines…

[Shaw] Is that a Polaroid?

[Cordova] Yeah. Not porn, but girls.

[Shaw] For the record, we’ve got a Polaroid image of a girl, maybe thirteen, fourteen, tough to say. It’s taken from a distance. She’s sitting on a bench reading, seems unaware she’s being photographed. What book was it in?

[Cordova] Great Expectations . Looks like a library book. Got a bar code on the spine.

[Shaw] Here’s another. White Oleander . Another Polaroid inside. We need to get CSU in here to process all of them. Run the girls against the missing persons database. These books might all be souvenirs.

[Cordova] Do any of them belong to our girl? Maggie Marshall?

[ End of recording .]

/MG/GTS