Match Play by D. Michael Poppe

it’s already happened. We need to get information and alerts to Carlsbad and the courses in the vicinity, probably all of San Diego County. Gibson and Phillips, get on that immediately. Let’s prepare for a couple of days on the road. Dr. Cochran and I will start at Aviara and work our way north. Payne goes east, Gibson and Phillips, you go south.
    “Our artist’s sketch from our first victim’s golfing partners is vague but use it anyway; if anyone identifies this guy or he approaches anyone, they’re to contact us only. He is to be considered armed and dangerous. At the very least, the warning will encourage the public to pay attention; and if we have a suspect, we’ll let him play himself into our hands. We’ll just have to make the best of the false leads, and with such a vague description there will be a bunch of them, but we can’t risk missing him.
    “The tournament officially started last Thursday, the 21st, and it’s unlikely he’s using the same name he used in Phoenix. Make certain the name Steve Johnson is noted on the alerts that accompany the artist’s sketch. Ask the pros to check their teeing lists. We should assume he’s driving. If he isn’t he’s not going to give us anything at the airports or other public transits, so let’s not use our time there; just have research run the usual checks. Anyone have questions?”
    Shaking heads in unison, the team picks up laptops and paperwork and prepares to leave.
    Lou leans over the photo on the table, studying it again and shouts, “Damn!”
    
    Agent Schein and Dr. Cochran arrive at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad about an hour and fifty minutes later. After seeing the sketch, the manager tells them Aviara is a semi-private course, the staff recognizes most of the members and a guest has to be signed in by a member; therefore, it is doubtful that Steve Johnson played there. He looks through the last two weeks of tee times to make sure, but since the Kia Classic just ended he reminds them that spectators often buy tickets with cash. Agent Schein tells the manager that another agent will be interviewing him again and will request the credit card receipts for the last two weeks.
    Schein and Dr. Cochran drive on to Torrey Pines and after an unusually long wait, they finally sit down with the course manager and an official from the LPGA. Both men are apprehensive and not particularly cordial; after all, the suspicions are an affront to the LPGA. The interview proceeds and concludes much the same as the one at Aviara.
    The two investigators take the coast highway and stop at the courses near Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. When they reach the coast, the bright sun is shimmering on the ocean as far as one can see. Dr. Cochran watches the sailboats while Schein drives north. Between the highway and the ocean is some of the most exclusive real estate in Southern California. A fixer-upper beach house can go for millions.
    Lou’s cell phone rings. “Lou Schein.” He listens and then clicks off. “I’ll find a place to exit and turn around; we’re going back to San Diego. He’s killed again.”

Chapter 20
    E mily Cho is scheduled for a crucial appointment with one of her sponsors early Monday morning. She is late and although the staff is accustomed to late arrivals, their concern grows and soon the San Diego Police Department is called.
    “Please check on her,” they plead. “Emily Cho never misses sponsor appointments.”
    The responding officers find nothing out of order during their peripheral examination of the property. One officer knocks several times, then looks through the small windows in the door and sees a torso on the living room floor.
    The officers force open the door and cautiously enter with weapons drawn. It doesn’t take long, after the detectives arrive, to determine that this crime scene is similar to the Phoenix crime cited in the FBI alerts.
    Agent Schein is perplexed. “I don’t quite get it. We won’t know for certain