“What doesn’t?” Rourke asked.
“Benevuto altering department records,” Harry said. “First, he couldn’t have known that we had a witness who took down one of our tag numbers until the second day after the murder, because that’s when we knew, that’s when our witness told Morgan that there was one plate number that he didn’t turn over to me. So what would prompt Nick to alter the records a day before there was even a hint that we might tumble to the fact that he’d been to Darlene’s apartment? Unless…”
“Unless he killed her and was covering up the fact that he knew her,” Vicky said.
Harry nodded slowly. “That’s right. And if he was the murderer why wait to cover it up until after the body was discovered? Why take the chance that someone would come across those records before he could change them?” Harry shook his head. “I just don’t see it. And I don’t see Nick as a realistic suspect.”
“Why not?” Vicky asked.
There was an edge to her voice that Harry picked up on. “Look, I can see Nick running into Darlene Beckett and deciding he wanted to try to get into her knickers. I can even see him taking the initiative and seeking her out for the same reason. Hell, there aren’t many women who Nick Benevuto would take a pass on and certainly not one as sexually appealing as Darlene.”
“But?” Vicky pressed.
“But while Nick may be many things, stupid isn’t one of them.”
“I’m not getting your drift,” Rourke said.
“My drift is simple, cap. Nick’s been a detective for a long time, and he’s pretty well known in the police community. Darlene was supposed to be on a short leash and she was being watched not only by the probation department, but by the prosecutor’s office and certainly by the media. If one prosecutor, one reporter, one anybody saw her with Nick, they’d be all over it.”
“Like flies on shit,” Rourke added.
“And Nick would know that. So I can’t see him getting heavily involved. A quick toss in the hay, sure, but nothing more. And for him to be the murderer, it would have to have been a lot more.”
“How so?” Vicky asked. The edge in her voice had become defensive now.
Harry softened his own voice. “If we’re thinking of Nick as a legitimate suspect, the only logical motive I can come up with is that he became seriously involved with Darlene; that he followed her from the Peek-a-Boo Lounge, caught her having it off with another guy, and killed them both in a jealous rage. And that just doesn’t make sense to me.” Vicky started to object but Harry raised a hand, stopping her. “I can see him altering records to hide the fact that he was seeing her, but I even have some trouble with that because of the time line.”
“So who altered the records?” Morgan asked. “Who else would have a reason to alter them?”
“Good question.” Harry shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense for anyone but Nick to have altered them. So we’ll ask him. One thing for sure, I don’t want him on the team anymore.”
“That’s a given,” Rourke said. “I’ll put him on restricted duty-duty unrelated to this case-until this computer records business is resolved. As of right now, the whole matter is in the hands of Internal Affairs.”
Harry winced. “I wish you’d hold off on IAD. I don’t need them climbing all over this investigation.”
“No can do, Harry,” Rourke said. “Whether you like it or not, IAD will be part of it until we know what happened to those records.”
Nick Benevuto looked more curious than concerned when he entered Pete Rourke’s office. Harry studied him closely, looking for a tell. As far as Harry could see, Nick had no idea what was coming.
Rourke laid it out slowly and deliberately, and with each sentence Benevuto’s face moved from mild embarrassment, to concern, to outright anger. But beneath it all Harry could detect fear as well.
“So I spent some time with her,” he said when Rourke finished. “Where’s the fucking crime?” He glared in turn at Rourke, Harry, Vicky, and Morgan. “It was purely business, and as far as anyone in this room is concerned, and for the record, I never laid a hand on her. If you’re looking at me as a suspect in her murder, you’re either desperate or you’re out of your fucking minds.” He turned his attention to Morgan and sneered. “And as far as your big theory goes that I altered department records, you listen up, junior. I wouldn’t know how to alter a fucking computer record. I know how to turn it on and type up a fucking report and that’s it. You don’t believe me, you ask my partner. We need anything done on a computer, he has to do it.”
“Just calm down, Nick,” Harry said. His voice was soft and steady.
“Calm down, shit, Harry! You know me. You think I killed her?”
Harry ignored the question. “How did you meet her?” he asked instead.
Nick studied his shoes for a moment. “I was interviewing a dancer at that club, the Peek-a-Boo Lounge. I thought she might have witnessed a murder when she was working in a joint in our jurisdiction. It was the Bruder case, Jeffrey Bruder. Happened late last January and this dancer disappeared right after I started my investigation. I finally caught up with her in early March. The case is still open. You can read my daily reports and cross check ’em in my notebook.”
“So where does Darlene Beckett come in?” Rourke asked.
Benevuto shook his head and let out a breath. “She was at the bar. I saw her and recognized her, and when I was finished with my witness I struck up a conversation.” He shook his head again. “Her case had just finished up in court and it wasn’t very hard to recognize her. Hell, she was all over TV and the papers. And I knew she had gotten probation with some pretty heavy restrictions, so I asked her if she was supposed to be there.”
“Just being a good cop, right?” Vicky threw in.
Benevuto looked at her as though he wanted to grab her throat and hang on for at least a week. “That’s right, lady. ” The final word was spoken with pure venom.
“Alright, knock it off, both of you,” Rourke snapped.
“What happened then?” Harry asked, throwing a look at Vicky.
“Well, she tells me there are no restrictions on her going to a bar, or restaurant, or anything like that. She says she’s just restricted about where she can live-like not close to a school, or playground, or anything like that. And she can’t hang out in places where kids hang or teach anymore.” He shrugged. “It was bullshit, of course, bars are always a no-no.”
“So you just kept chatting her up,” Vicky said, ignoring Harry’s silent admonition. He threw her another hard look.
Nick glared at her. “That’s right. And I even got her phone number and address, and told her I’d give her a call sometime. She seemed interested in the idea.”
“And it never registered with you that she was on probation and not a suitable social contact for a cop?” Rourke asked.
Nick looked him straight in the eye. “I wasn’t imagining her as a social contact. You think I was gonna start diddling some broad who fucks kids? I wanted her as a snitch.”
“Oh, Christ,” Vicky said.
Nick rounded on her. “Fuck you, lady.”
“Knock it off,” Rourke roared. “This is the last warning for both of you.”
Harry held up a hand. “So you called and dropped by her place,” he said.
“That’s right.”
“How many times?”
“Three, four, I’m not really sure.”
“We have you for two, both times in department cars,” Rourke said.
“It was more than that. Your neighbor missed one or two.”
“Was she wearing an ankle monitor the three or four times you saw her?” Harry asked.
Nick looked off as if trying to remember, then slowly shook his head. “I don’t know. I think she was wearing slacks each time I saw her.”
Harry held his gaze. This time the tell had been there and he wanted Nick to know he had seen it.
“So did she agree to be your snitch?” It was Rourke this time, skepticism dripping from every word.
Benevuto either didn’t hear it, or chose to ignore it. “Yeah, after a fashion,” he said. “The second time we met-that was the first time I went to her apartment-that’s when I hit her with the idea of working as a confidential informant. She wasn’t hot for the idea, but when I pressed her, told her I might be able to do her some good with her probation officer if she ever got jammed up, she said she’d keep her ears open and call me if she heard anything. I let it go at that, for the time being. Later I pushed her to see what she could find out from this dancer I interviewed at the Peek-a-Boo. The one I thought knew something about the Bruder murder.”