Syd Parker - The Killing Ground

Meghan waggled her finger at Rebecca. “Tsk, tsk Detective.” The word Detective dripped with disdain. “What the world didn’t need was his spawn.”

“And that was your choice to make?”

Meghan slammed her fist down. “Of course it was my choice. I’m the only reason she was pregnant in the first place.”

“How did you kill them?”

Meghan studied her for a second, measuring her up. “The case files tell you all of that, I’m sure.”

“Yes, they do.” Rebecca nodded. “But as I said before, we weren’t quite sure of some of the details.”

“It was quite easy actually.” Meghan studied her fingernails. “Women are so trusting these days. They don’t sense danger. It made killing them rather simple.”

“And raping them and leaving DNA at the scene? Kind of hard for a woman?”

“Not really.” Meghan smug smile returned. “You’re a lesbian, Detective. I’m sure you know that there are tools out there. A strap-on and a condom full of semen. It’s not that hard to figure out.”

“And taking the baby? How about that, Meghan? Was that easy too?” Rebecca’s tone bordered on contempt.

Meghan’s eyes softened slightly. The only sign that she cared about life at all. “They were my children. I was saving them, Detective. Can’t you see that?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I couldn’t let them grow up in a world where love and vows mean nothing. I couldn’t let them be in a world where people like Christine could steal everything from them.”

Rebecca’s stomach turned. Meghan honestly believed she had done some magnanimous turn by killing them all. She swallowed as Meghan looked on expectantly. It was almost as though she took joy in what she had done.

Rebecca clasped her hands on the table. “What about Phillip Stein? Why him?”

Meghan looked at her askance. “Detective, everyone knows the perfect murder is the one you commit without being caught.”

“So, you steered us to him?”

“Giving you Phillip was as easy as leading a pig to the slaughter. You had already fucked up and caught the wrong guy once. You needed to break the case. All I needed to do was put the suggestion out there and you would find a way to fit the pieces into the puzzle.” The ghost of a smile formed in the corner of Meghan’s mouth. Her eyes looked almost triumphant.

Another wave of nausea. “Nine people are dead because of you. Doesn’t that bother you?”

Meghan sneered again. “They all died because of Christine. She still needs to die.” She leaned forward, put her finger on Julie’s picture and slid it in front of Rebecca. Their eyes locked. “She will die too.”

Rebecca felt a cold chill slide down her spine. “No one else will die. I promise you this. You will rot in jail.”

“Ahh, Detective.” Meghan smiled eerily. “As I said before, that’s the thing about the perfect murder…not getting caught. You have nothing on me. No way to tie me to any of them. At the most, you have assault and battery on a federal agent. But as you already know…” She rolled her finger in a circle near her temple. “…I’m crazy. I’ll do a little time in a cozy institution somewhere for a year or so.”

This time it was Rebecca’s turn to smirk. “The funny thing about evidence is you never know where it will pop up.” She looked over her shoulder and nodded.

The smile disappeared from Meghan’s face as the door opened and two officers deposited several bags of evidence on the table containing items that she immediately recognized.

Rebecca picked up a bag containing specimen cups. Meghan’s face blanched. “They’ve already been tested. Richard Hudson and Phillip Stein.”

Meghan swallowed. “Where did you get that?”

Rebecca picked up the next item. “I’m pretty sure that if we test the epithelial cells found on this strap-on with yours, they will be a match.”

“All that proves is I’m into penetration.” Meghan crossed her arms defensively.

Rebecca pulled the case folder out that the officers had just dropped off. She pulled several pictures of perfectly preserved fetuses out and lined them up in front of Meghan, who jerked away quickly. She cocked her head. “How am I doing so far?”

“You’ve got nothing, Detective.” Meghan said stoically, but her disdainful hubris was gone. “None of this ties me to the murders.”

Rebecca leaned back and smiled cryptically. “The funny thing about the perfect murder is there is no perfect murder. You made a mistake. You thought you had committed the perfect murder. That’s the problem with thinking you're smarter than everyone else.”

There was a flash of panic in Meghan’s eyes before it was replaced with cold fury. “You’re just trying to trip me up.”

“Not necessary.” Rebecca leaned forward. “You did that on your own.”

Meghan eyed her skeptically. “How so?”

“It’s funny how people will talk, isn’t it?” Rebecca smiled condescendingly. “You thought you had everything sewn up perfectly. Frame the perfect person. Leave behind nothing that really ties you to the case. This was all found at the clinic. It would be easy to fit it to Phillip Stein, just like you wanted. You figured it would be enough to convict someone else.”

“You’re fishing.” Meghan said flatly.

“Am I?” Rebecca countered with barely veiled civility. This was the moment she had been working up to. The coup de grace. The finishing stroke. “What you didn’t figure into the equation was human emotion.”

Meghan stared at her blankly.

“You see when you got Phillip Stein fired, you took away Ruth Dawson’s chance to get pregnant. She was perfectly happy to start talking once we asked the right questions.”

Meghan blanched. She couldn’t have known about that, could she? Stupid cunt!

As if on cue, the door to the interrogation room opened with an ominous creak. This time it was Jordan, who came into the room carrying a manila folder. “Here you go.”

The air in the room crackled around them. Jordan handed the folder to Rebecca, nodded at her and shot Meghan a murderous look.

Meghan saw the smug look of satisfaction of Rebecca’s face, and her breath caught. She knew what the folder contained. She was now the hunted. She was the prey. She balled her hands at her side angrily. “I want my lawyer.”

“Believe me, you’re going to need more than that.” Rebecca shot her a cold smile, the feeling of having finally caught the killer filling her with a sense of pride. To drive the nail further into the coffin, Rebecca pulled a specimen bag out and smiled smugly. “You got too cocky, Meghan. Your last victim fought back. The scratches on your face, we know how you got them, and I’m pretty sure the cells found under the victim’s fingernails are going to point to you.”

Meghan shifted and touched the raw skin subconsciously. She could no longer hide the fear. Her world was unraveling right before her eyes and the stupid bitch in front of her was the reason.

Rebecca opened the folder and pulled out six pictures. She slid them across the table silently. Pictures of every victim besides Julie stared back at Meghan. She began to rock back and forth, the instinct to flee overwhelming. “I’m not saying anything else.”

“You don’t have to.” Rebecca stood up. “I’m sure that the jury will just love the fact that you took pictures of your victims, and that each one of those pictures was found in a hidden access panel that only your fingerprint would open. And as far as your crazy plea goes, I hope you do a much better job acting for the jury.”

Meghan stared back at her, unmasked fury in her eyes. “You won’t get away with this. I’m coming after you too.” Meghan shoved her chair back and lunged at Rebecca. No sooner than she jumped, her face was slammed into the table, and her arms were twisted behind her.