By Jane Prendergast
Enquirer staff writer

The homicide detective can still see, in his mind, the soot outlines of the little sisters' pigtails on the wall of their burned bedroom. The girls died huddled together, screaming for help as a man who'd stolen their mother's keys and robbed their house set the house on fire, trapping them inside.

Now, a dozen years later, the case still sticks most in the heart of Spc. David Feldhaus, Cincinnati's most-veteran homicide investigator. Though it remains the most stomach-turning scene in his 15 years of delving into killings, it delivered him the opportunity to do the part of the job he says makes the rest worth it - telling a grieving relative the killer had been arrested. The convicted killer, William Garner, was sentenced to death.

Fifteen years in homicide - it's a length of time many colleagues can't comprehend. For his tenacity, he'll be honored today for superior achievement by the Rotary Club of Cincinnati.

He says he really can't explain why he has stayed so long, except that he loves the work. He said he gets up every morning, says his prayers and asks God to help him do it. He says he doesn't take the work home.

Feldhaus, 54, joined the force in 1975. He recently retired, going into the deferred retirement program that allows officers to continue working in their assignments as if they hadn't retired. He chose to stay in homicide - he said he'd planned to work after retirement anyway, and he likes the camaraderie of the unit.

He jokes that when he dies and goes, hopefully, to heaven, he'll carry a list of homicide victims. "I just want to say, 'Hey, who killed this person and this person and this person? I just have to know.' "

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com