Free Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer by Gary C. King Page A

identification.
    "Are you Dayton Rogers?"
    "Yes." The slightly built man invited the two
detectives inside. Turner noted that Dayton, aside from the blue
coveralls he was wearing, basically fit the description of the
suspect seen fleeing the crime scene. He also immediately detected
an odor of alcohol on Dayton's breath and saw that his eyes were
bloodshot. As they followed the suspect, Turner and Detloff
carefully observed the building's layout. They also looked for
obvious clues, such as additional droplets of blood or bloodstained
clothes.
    The interior consisted of a vast room with
workbenches to the left, several storage bins to the right, and a
reception counter directly in front of the entrance door. In a
large area directly behind the counter there were lawn mowers,
chain saws, mechanical weed cutters, Rototillers, and various other
types of electrical and gas-operated machinery lined up in a long
row side by side in varying states of disrepair. A wood stove sat
in front of the counter, apparently used for heating the building
during the winter months.
    In the work area to the rear, tools hung on
the wall in a very sequential order. The workbenches were clear of
all tools that weren't being used or worked on. For a repair shop,
it struck Turner as somewhat unusual that the building was so
clean—immaculate, in fact— and that it was so very well
maintained.
    Turner observed two doors along the north
wall. As he followed Dayton, he noticed that one of the doors led
into an area which appeared to be the business office. It, too,
seemed very orderly, everything in its place. The other room, next
to the business office, was equipped with a countertop and a sink,
and on the countertop was a Mr. Coffee machine, which was just
beginning the brewing cycle. As Turner followed Dayton to the
center of the area behind the front counter, he observed while
standing amid all the machinery that Dayton's right hand had
several bandages on it.
    When he turned to face the detectives, Turner
informed Dayton that they were there because his pickup had been
described as leaving the scene of a "very serious incident." Rather
than go into detail, Turner left it at that, purposely withholding
information known only to the perpetrator and the police. Instead,
he unobtrusively focused his attention on every movement, every
action and reaction of his suspect to see if he would inadvertently
give anything away.
    "I've been here all night working," said
Dayton calmly. He was almost too composed, reckoned Turner. It
seemed unusual, just as it had with Deputy Beckwith, that Dayton
didn't press him for details about the crime he was
investigating.
    "Have you loaned your truck to anyone
tonight?"
    "No. The truck has been right here all night,
too."
    Turner stood approximately two to three feet
from Dayton and again recognized the strong odor of alcohol that
came from Dayton's breath. When he mentioned it and asked Dayton to
account for his whereabouts the previous several hours, Dayton
coolly explained that he had been at his shop all night drinking
bourbon and strawberry mixer. Turner noted that Dayton's pupils
were dilated, but his speech was not slurred and he spoke and
walked without difficulty. Turner concluded to himself that Dayton
had been drinking but was clearly not drunk.
    "Mind if I check your truck?" asked
Turner.
    "No, go ahead."
    Turner went outside and opened the hood of
the pickup. He placed his right hand on top of the engine's valve
cover, but quickly took it away. It was still hot, too hot to
touch. Dayton, or at least somebody, had recently run the engine
hard, decided Turner. Very hard. The detective went back inside the
shop.
    "Been here all night, huh? Haven't gone out
all night, have you? So why is the engine so hot?"
    "I forgot. I let it run for a while."
    "Why did you let it run for a while?"
    Dayton said that he had gone to a nearby
Safeway store earlier that morning to get a cup of coffee. Turner,
however, quickly pointed