„Conti was an aberration,“ Jack said. „He got so riled when Conti – what was it – ’publicly assassinated’ Kristen. That was… personal. Now he’s back to business.“
„Maybe he’s rattled,“ Kristen said thoughtfully. „He lost control with Conti.“
„Which could be another reason he missed Carson last night,“ Abe said. „I want to know how he lured Carson to the ambush. We know Skinner got a delivery the day he was murdered. Let’s find out if Carson did, too.“
Spinnelli frowned. „Ask him.“
Mia shook her head. „We waited around after the surgery, just to see if he’d come to, but he didn’t. The hospital’s supposed to call us when he regains consciousness.“
„What about Munoz?“ Spinnelli pressed. „How does he connect to Carson?“
Mia shrugged. „ Carson told the guys at the scene he’d hired him as his bodyguard.“
„Apparently a lot of the defense attorneys are doing that,“ Kristen said dryly. „One of them faxed me his bill just before I left the office yesterday afternoon.“
„Hell of a bodyguard,“ Jack muttered. „Guy didn’t even have a gun.“
Mia frowned. „You didn’t find a gun? He had a holster. I remember seeing it when they zipped up the body bag.“
„We didn’t take it,“ Jack said. „The only thing we got from Munoz’s body was his phone.“
„Then somebody else took it,“ Abe said. „Somebody saw the shooting go down and took the gun before the cops got there.“
„Maybe the killer took it,“ Jack said.
Mia shook her head. „Then why didn’t he take Munoz’s cell phone, too? That’s how we knew where to find them – the cell phone.“
„GPS again,“ Jack said. „You’re right, Mia. If he’d had the presence of mind to take the gun, he should have seen the cell phone, too. It was clutched in Munoz’s hand.“
„That means we have a witness,“ Abe said.
„Who saw a van with a fictitious magnetic sign,“ Kristen sighed. „So what?“
„One of these days we’re going to have a witness who actually sees something worthwhile,“ Abe insisted. „Marc, can you get somebody to sweep the pawnshops? My bet is that Munoz’s gun wasn’t cheap, and whoever stole it will hock it.“
Spinnelli wrote himself a note. „I’ll ask Murphy to do it. He just closed a big case.“
„Whoever took it probably has a couple guns of his own already,“ Mia muttered.
„Everybody does but me,“ Kristen grumbled.
Abe’s lips curved. „You can pick yours up tomorrow, but if you want to visit it first, you can come see Diana Givens with us. Since you’re on an ‘overdue vacation.’“
„What?“ Jack asked openmouthed. „What happened?“
„I got put on administrative leave. The defense attorneys say I’m a menace.“ She said it deadpan and Mia snickered.
Abe’s lips twitched. „We’re punchy, Marc. None of us got any sleep last night.“
Spinnelli looked over at Kristen. „You didn’t go to the scene, did you?“
Kristen shook her head. „No, I but I couldn’t sleep either. I did some research last night while you were at the hospital with Carson.“ She tapped the stack of papers on the table in front of her. „With the exception of the Blade members and Angelo Conti, every one of the attacks has been related to a sexual assault. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern, though. There’s no chronology. He jumps a year forward, back, then forward. There’s no commonality in sentence except that not one did any physical time. Some got off entirely, a few were plead down. He’s got lawyers and defendants. I’d say he’s choosing his victims at random, but that the deck’s stacked with sex crimes.“
„Okay.“ Spinnelli gestured to the papers in front of her. „So what’s in those?“
„All the sexual assaults I prosecuted over the last five years where the perp did no physical time. I don’t think there is a connection between the cases. But the killer has a connection to one of these cases, I’m sure of it. It may not be one of the victims he’s already avenged. Maybe it’s still to come. Maybe the others are…“ She shrugged. „Public service.“
„Our humble servant“ Jack blew out a breath.
„Exactly. Anyway, chances are good that the next time he strikes, it will be someone on this list, either a perp or his lawyer.“
Spinnelli recoiled. „Please tell me you’re not suggesting we guard all those people.“
„No, Marc. But remember how Westphalen thought there had been a trauma recently? Well, you’ve investigated all the original victims so far and found no real trauma around the time of the first killing – Anthony Ramey. I thought I’d start calling the victims of these cases and finding out how they are. Find out if any of them have experienced significant trauma.“
„If it’s the killer, they won’t admit to any recent trauma,“ Jack said.
Kristen lifted a brow. „I thought of that. This isn’t going to necessarily be a smoking gun. It may eliminate some of the names on this list. Do you have a better suggestion? You have DNA, one unconscious man, a partial fingerprint and a bullet“
„The man may regain consciousness and the bullet we can trace,“ Abe said.
Kristen shrugged. „So trace it. My looking up old cases shouldn’t affect that.“
„It could help, Abe,“ Mia said slowly. „Besides, Kristen’s on ‘vacation.’ If it were me, I’d be nuts without something to do.“
„There is that,“ Kristen admitted. „Other than finishing my basement mantel, I’d just be twiddling my thumbs and that would drive me crazy. I’m not suspended from John’s office, I’m just not working any active cases. Nobody said anything about archived cases.“
Abe understood the need to keep busy. He’d thrown himself into the job when Debra was shot. Most days, it was the only thing that kept him going. „Do it from here,“ he told her. „I don’t want anyone tracing calls to your house.“
„There are a lot of names here,“ Spinnelli said. „This will take you hours. Days.“
Kristen looked at each one of them sharply. „Look, we’ve got nine bodies. Nine. I don’t plan to go to any of their funerals and cry, but they’re dead nonetheless. Skinner left behind a wife and kids. They deserve justice if nobody else. My life is on hold and my mother was threatened last night. Until we catch this guy, I have all the time in the world.“
Tuesday, February 24,
9:15 A.M.
Mia leaned against the glass countertop, staring at Diana Givens who stared at the bullet through a magnifying glass.
„Well?“ she demanded. „Have you seen it or not?“
Diana glanced up, annoyed. „Keep your pants on.“ She bent her head down, squinting. „Intertwined M’s or W’s. I haven’t seen anything like this, but one of my customers might.“
„So where can we find your customers?“ Mia pressed.
„Well, I told you I was going to invite them over, but I didn’t think you’d be back with a good bullet so soon.“ She passed the bullet back to Mia and grabbed a sheet of paper from under the counter. „Here. I’ll give you their names. You can talk to them if you want.“
Mia gave Diana a smile. „Thanks. We’ll owe you one.“
Tuesday, February 24,
11:30 a.m.
„I hate hospitals almost as much as morgues,“ Abe grumbled.
Mia kept her eyes on the rising elevator display. „I know. You told me last night while we were waiting for Carson. Several times.“ The bell dinged and the doors opened. „Don’t be such a baby. Come on, I want to talk to him before he goes unconscious again.“
A nurse frowned as they came into Carson’s room. „He’s in no shape to talk.“
„He’s alive,“ Mia snapped. „That puts him in better shape than the nine bodies in the morgue.“