Murder on the Opinion Page is a mystery thriller about people who disappear after they write a letter to the editor. Veteran police detective, Dan Kawowski and forensics intern Jane Dockery, suspect a serial killer is on the loose. Why would someone be kidnapped and murdered for writing a letter to the editor? Kawowski and Dockery search for the killer, and stumble upon a plot no one would ever dream could happen. This couldn't happen in America, could it?

Murder on the Opinion Page

By Tony A. Powers

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Tony A. Powers
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-9257-0

Chapter One

"Officer needs assistance, shots fired," the voice cackled on Lieutenant Dan Kawowski's police radio.

"Two Caucasian males traveling west in a blue Mustang near 39th and Ingersoll, allegedly robbed Wells Fargo Bank. Armed and dangerous, use caution," warned the dispatcher.

Kawowski reached down to check his automatic shotgun on the seat beside him. He always preferred to use his shotgun rather than his service revolver in situations like this. Suspects usually surrendered peacefully when he trained his shotgun on them.

Another officer had picked up the chase.

"56 in pursuit, heading west at 45th and Ingersoll," said the officer, with sirens blaring in the background.

Lieutenant Kawowski had a hunch the suspects were heading for the I-135 freeway entrance at 60th and Ingersoll. Otherwise they would get boxed in by the neighborhood streets. He was close by.

"54 setting up block at 60th and Ingersoll freeway entrance."

"10-4," the radio shot back.

Kawowski quickly backed up to the freeway entrance in his white unmarked Ford and blocked the ramp. A red light flashed in his front window. He opened the car door and stood behind it, his shotgun at the ready. He could hear police sirens in the distance.

He hoped this wouldn't turn into a gun battle. In his nearly forty years as a Des Moines, Colorado, police officer, he counted five times he actually had to discharge his weapon at a suspect. He had seen enough shooting and killing in Vietnam forty years ago. He checked the rounds again in his pump shotgun and adjusted his bulletproof vest.

The same vest had saved his life two years earlier when a suspect pulled a hidden gun and fired. The shot would have hit him right in the heart. He suffered a bruised chest instead. He didn't like to shoot to kill. He already suffered enough post-traumatic stress.

Why hadn't he returned to Vietnam to find the love of his life, Lan Cao Ky? Blaring police sirens and squealing tires refocused Kawowski as the blue Mustang came screeching to a halt just feet from his cruiser. He trained the shotgun at the bewildered suspects, ready to pull the trigger if he saw a gun.

"POLICE! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST! GET OUT OF THE CAR WITH YOUR HANDS OVER YOUR HEADS! NOW!"

The Mustang's front doors slowly opened and a voice tinged with fear cried out, "Please don't shoot, mister. Please don't shoot. We're getting out."

Kawowski moved quickly to arrest the suspects, angrily slamming both of them down on the hood of his cruiser and handcuffing them with precision quickness. He took it real personal whenever an officer was threatened with injury or death. DMPD was his family.

He decided to give these punks a little lecture.

"Discharging a gun at a police officer is going to get you both prison time. You could have killed or seriously injured an officer by recklessly firing a gun."

Kawowski bent over so his face was just inches away from the suspects' ears.

"Did you two idiots hear me? Do you understand what could have happened here?"

One of the suspects started to whimper. The other was so scared he started to shake. "I'm sorry, officer."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, son. Officer Holmes, would you please read these morons their Miranda rights, transport them downtown, and book 'em. I need to relax a little."

"Bank robbery suspects in custody, Kahooski made the collar," cracked the police radio.

"Lieutenant, don't you get tired of everyone always mispronouncing your name?" chuckled one of the officers.

"Don't you remember my little saying?"

"We know. Wow yourself while skiing and you will always pronounce it right."

They all laughed but Kawowski knew some of his officers had dodged another bullet. One of those guns fired today could have killed or wounded an officer. "We have to find a way to control guns on the streets," he thought. He would write a letter to the editor about gun control and send it to the Des Moines Crier, the city's main newspaper.

Back at headquarters, Kawowski finished his police report on the arrest. This was small potatoes. There was a much bigger crime that needed to be solved. People had disappeared without a trace over the past two years. A serial killer was on the loose in Des Moines, Colorado. The city was scared and Kawowski had to do something about it.

Chapter Two

"Hello, Lieutenant! I'm the new forensics intern, Jane Dockery, from Dixon University," came the voice from outside Kawowski's office door.

"Well, I am very pleased to meet you. Dan Kawowski." He rose from his desk to shake the hand of the attractive young woman. She reminded him of Special Agent Scully on television's X-Files, with her flaming red hair and penetrating blue eyes. Kawowski directed her to sit down. He returned to his desk, feeling her penetrating stare. He could tell she was sizing him up.

"I guess you're my mentor."

"I'll try and teach you a few tricks of the trade. Tell me about yourself."

"I am studying criminology and forensics at Dixon. I am twenty-three and have a permit to carry and a brown belt in karate. My goal is to be either a crime scene investigator or fantastic detective like you."

Kawowski felt his face flush a little and hoped she didn't notice. He was already impressed with Jane Dockery. He had helped instruct dozens of interns in the past, but she seemed already leaps and bounds above the rest.

"What you have learned in the classroom you can now practice in the field. There are some basic things to remember right off. Never contaminate a crime scene by stepping in blood, mishandling DNA, or touching glass or windows without rubber gloves. I'm sure you already knew that. Are you ready to go to work?"

"Yes."

Kawowski handed Dockery a huge missing persons file, and a photo of twenty-four-year-old Marie Hoe fell out on the desk. Kawowski noticed Dockery staring at the picture so he briefed her about the case.

"She recently vanished. She's the fifth person in the last two years to disappear. They all vanished without any crime scene. We may have a serial killer on the loose who doesn't like to leave bodies or evidence lying around. What's puzzling are both men and women have disappeared. So it's probably not a sex offender we're dealing with. Please familiarize yourself with the file."

Dockery looked dwarfed by the huge file stuffed with pictures, notes, and crime reports.

She immediately began studying the contents. Kawowski glanced again at the photo of Marie Hoe. She reminded him of Lan Cao Ky, the beautiful French-Vietnamese girl who had worked in Bravo Company's mess hall in Vietnam. He had fallen in love with her.

Why hadn't he returned to Vietnam to find and marry her? For forty years, she had called out to him in his dreams. He would wake up drenched in sweat, agonizing over what happened to her.

He was Sergeant Kawowski then. A platoon sergeant in Bravo Company, 9th Infantry Division, Dong Tam, South Vietnam. It was fall 1968. He stared at her in the mess hall. She stared back. It was love at first sight. Her father had been a French Army officer. He was killed in the French Indo-China War. She supported her mother by working in the mess hall. One day Kawowski noticed Lan walking towards him in the base camp. He waved and she came up to him with a beautiful smile. He checked to see if they were noticed and then asked her...