“Please tell us what happened Jarvis,” says Garcia.
“I was sleepin’when I heard some loud noises behind my house, you know, shoutin’ and stuff. Then I hear some bangin’, like trash cans being dumped on the ground. So, I get up and go out back to see what’s happening and I see this dude on the ground moanin’. He has blood all over him and trash is spilled out everywhere.”
Garcia continues with the questioning. “Did you see anyone else?”
“Yeah man, there was some guy runnin’ away down the alley”
“What direction?”
“Uhhh, it would be east direction.”
“Can you describe him for us?”
“He was a big dude. It was dark, so I couldn’t see very well, but he had dark clothing.”
“You said big. How tall do you think he was?”
“At least over six foot.”
“Any hat or anything?”
“Uh, yeah, he had some type of hat on, black I think.”
“Do you know what type of hat?”
“Looked like one of those fancy hats with the short brims.”
“Like a beret?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Do you know what race this person was?”
“It was pretty dark, but my impression was he was a white dude.”
“What do you mean by impression? Did you see he was white?”
“Not really, but from the back, I just sees him as a white guy. His mannerisms and all, if that makes sense.”
“Sure. What about facial hair or glasses?”
“I really didn’t get a look at his face.”
“When you first came out, was this man attacking the victim?”
“No, by the time I came out, I just saw this big dude runnin’ away.”
“Okay, is there anything else at all you can remember about this person? Anything can help.”
Harden thinks for a moment. “Yes! I remember he kind of ran funny like.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like he was favorin’ one leg.”
“Like limping?”
“Yeah, kind of like limpin’ while he was runnin’.”
“Where did he go?”
“Once he got to the corner he turned and was out of sight.”
“What did you do when you saw all this?”
“Well, I checked on the stabbed dude and saw he was hurt really bad, so I ran back into the house to get my cell. I then dialed 911.”
“Did you touch anything or move anything Jarvis?”
“No sir, well, maybe one of the trash cans to check on the guy, but nothin’ else.”
“Did you know the victim?”
“No.”
“Thank you so much Jarvis, we appreciate your cooperation,” Garcia tells him. “If you remember anything else at all, please call me.
“Sure will. I hope you get this guy. The whole neighborhood is upset this is happenin’ on our streets.”
After the interview concludes, Jackson drives Harden back home.
Garcia confers with Ricci, who sat in on the interview. “This is the second witness now who has seen a suspicious tall person in dark clothing, beret type hat, and a limp. I’d say we now have a real lead.”
“I would agree,” replies Ricci.
The following Monday, the detectives meet for their regularly scheduled meeting.
“Good morning everyone,” starts Commander Marshall. “Not a good weekend, obviously, but at least we have a little more information than we had last week. Who wants to start?”
“I will,” says Garcia. “The best news is that we now have a description of our likely killer. He has been described as a large person, over six feet tall, wears dark clothing, dark beret-type hat, and most importantly, walks with a limp. If he is the same person seen by Mrs. Henderson over two years ago, he may have a beard and wear dark-rimmed glasses. And, our witness thinks he may have been white, but he’s not sure.”
“If he is as large as described, it may explain why he can quickly overcome his victims,” adds Jackson.
“It wasn’t quite as easy for him this time,” says Sgt. Pennington. “The blood evidence at the scene indicated a struggle. Then we have the bloody handprint on the garage, maybe to regain his balance, and of course, he was unable to leave the knife on top or near the victim. Our witness almost caught our killer in the act.”
“Is our witness solid?” asks the Commander.
“Oh yes,” responds Garcia. “He is a reliable witness. It’s my belief that our killer heard Mr. Harden coming out of his house and that’s when he took off running. Harden did not see the suspect attacking the victim, but did see him leaving the scene.”
“I think that’s a fair assumption,” agrees the Commander. “Could this witness be our suspect and he’s lying about this mystery person running away?”
“I don’t believe so,” replies Garcia. “He seemed perfectly legit and has no criminal history. He also had no blood on him, other than on the bottom of his slippers.”
“What about forensics?” inquires the Commander.
“Not much,” says Cindy Cross, one of the department’s criminalists invited to the meeting. “The handprint had no ridge detail. In a blood print, it would be quite common to have some ridge patterns from fingers or the palm of the hand. Given that there were none, we believe the suspect was wearing gloves. We have not found any blood at the scene other than the victim’s. However, in analyzing the blood spatter evidence our analyst believes the suspect is right-handed. The elliptical shape of the blood spatter provided directional information indicating the victim was facing east when stabbed, as we know the victim was stabbed multiple times from the front. The blood spatter then came from the point of attack in a northeast direction. Our analyst believes the most likely source of the spatter was from the suspect quickly pulling the knife out while stabbing the victim at least two times. This motion would have flung blood off the suspect's hand and knife. Another theory is the victim resisted by knocking the suspect's arm away as he was being stabbed. We also found a series of round blood drops six feet from the point of attack and toward the direction of the knife. This blood likely dropped from the hand or knife as the suspect moved away.”
Cross continues, “We also found some blood smears leading from the scene.
