"Dinner and a movie?" Jasper finished his coffee and pulled his Glock from his desk drawer. He checked the piece and secured it in his shoulder holster.
"Yeah. We did an Avengers marathon." Willis brought his coffee to his desk and picked up the search warrants. "I'll never get tired of those movies."
"You just have a thing for men with big muscles."
"Yes, I do." Willis grinned.
Jasper shook his head with a laugh, donned his suit jacket, then his overcoat. "Who do you want to wake up first, Rychenkna or Penningly?"
"Oh, let's do her first. Her place is smaller and won't take as long. If we hurry, maybe we can get them both out of bed!" Willis downed his coffee and pulled a travel cup from his desk before heading back to the pot.
"You're evil, you know." Jasper started for the door.
"Well, yeah!" Willis filled his cup, snapped on the lid and hurried after him. "I thought you knew that about me. Evil to the bone!"
"Fine, Detective Evil." He pulled the car keys from his pocket and jingled them. "You're driving."
Hutch watched Aleksi push her scrambled eggbeaters around her plate and noticed the tremors in her hands. She wasn't dealing with this very well. He wasn't either, but he had at least been able to eat something.
"My cooking that bad?" He nodded to her plate.
"No, it's fine, I just…" She shrugged. "It tastes funny."
"Fake eggs." He took their plates to the sink. "Sorry I don't have anything else." She had also turned up her nose at granola, yogurt and fruit.
"It's okay."
He turned to see her staring down at her hands. She'd been doing a lot of that. Staring into the mirror was worse; her irises had gone mostly yellow, and the pupils had elongated to vertical ovals. They'd discussed options, but there were few she would agree to, dreading the idea of being stuck in a hospital room or worse while they poked and prodded her. He glanced at the kitchen clock; seven fifteen. He didn't feel good about calling any of his medical friends before eight on a Saturday. He grabbed the coffee pot to freshen her cup.
"I think Jim Bornstein is our best bet." He topped hers off and filled his own. "He's a brilliant physician and a scientist, so he'll be able to think outside the clinical box. PhD in Genetics."
"Yeah. Good." She wrapped her hands around her cup. The surface rippled with tiny concentric circles from her tremors. She sighed. "You think he'll be willing to keep it quiet?"
"I don't know. I've known him for years, and he's a solid guy, but he might want you in a hospital for some of the tests."
"What tests?" She looked up at him and her eyes pleaded with his baser emotions.
"I don't know." He put the coffee pot down and covered her hands with his. "He might want to do imaging studies or collect bone marrow."
"Will you ask him to try to keep it quiet?"
"Of course, but I don't think he'll risk his career for me. We're not that close." He gauged her level of calm—not very—and decided to risk a different tack. "I might be able to offer him something as an incentive, though. Or you might."
"Like what?" He could see the suspicion rising up in her.
"This is something I've never heard of, Aleksi." He pulled her hand away from her cup and worked her fingers between his. He could feel the tiny bumps of scales, the ridges on her nails. "It's got to be something like a retroviral infection, or some kind of genetic switch. Bornstein will want to investigate it. If we let him, offer him exclusive rights to publish…"
"I think it's from the Kamchatka specimen." There was more fear in her tone now than since her initial panic. "I think I got infected from it. Remember when I was sick?"
"Holy shit!" The pieces fit together perfectly. He'd read of dormant infections lurking in frozen specimens, but this one hadn't been frozen.
"Yeah, holy shit." She sighed and swallowed some coffee. He heard her stomach growl. "Offer him whatever you think he'll take to keep it quiet. How early can you call him?"
"Maybe eight without causing a stink. He might even be working today. I don't know."
She glanced at the clock. "Good. Look, I hate to ask, Hutch, but I'm starving, and I don't feel much like going out. Could you get me something before you call Bornstein?"
"Sure!" He stood and took another swallow of coffee before heading for the bedroom. "Let me change quick and I'll pop down to the deli. What would you like?"
"Anything red and bloody will do. I'm going to jump in the shower while you're gone."
"Feel free!"
He donned jeans, tee shirt, and running shoes. He heard the water come on before he was ready, so he went through the bathroom on his way to the front door. She was already in the shower, her head under the spray, steam filling the room. He tapped on the glass and she turned to him with a bit of a start.
"Call me if anything comes up, Aleksi." He leaned in.
"Thanks, Hutch." She bit her lip, arms clutched over her breasts as if afraid to touch him.
"Come here." He knew she needed to feel his support, that he wasn't afraid of her.
She leaned in tentatively and kissed him, quick and sweet. He wasn't sure if it was just the shower, or if she was crying again, but there was a smile on her lips.
"We'll get through this, Aleksi. I promise."
"Okay. Thanks."
He smiled and left her. While waiting for the elevator, wondering what to pick up for her at the deli, he realized that she probably hadn't been joking about wanting something red and bloody. He swallowed hard as the elevator doors opened, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
Don't know why you people can't wait for a decent hour to do these things." The surly landlord mounted the last flight of steps and rifled through his keys. "And I don't know what you want with Aleksi. She's a good tenant and quiet. Not like that roommate of hers, always bringing men home."
"We're sorry for the hour, Mister Halifax, but we do have a search warrant, and when she didn't answer the door we became concerned." Jasper traded a covert look with Willis, who just shrugged. Not a flight risk…right. Not at home at seven thirty in the morning, and no answer on her phone.
The key clicked in the lock and the landlord swung the door open. "You take anything, I want a receipt."
"Of course, Mister Halifax." He nodded to Willis and the two edged into the apartment, cautious, but without drawing their guns. "Aleksi Rychenkna! This is Sergeant Jasper with the Cambridge Police. We have a search warrant. If you can hear me, please say something."
No answer.
A glance confirmed that the kitchen and living room were empty except for a surly iguana that rattled its cage. They proceeded down the short hall. Both bedroom doors opened easily and neither of the women were home. The rooms were tidy, with no signs of a struggle or any hasty departure.
"Well crap," Willis said. "Bad call on the flight risk thing, I guess. You want Rychenkna's room, or the other?"
"I'll take Rychenkna's." He sighed with frustration. "Don't toss anything too badly. Don't know what we're looking for, but we should know it when we find it."
"Right."
Fifteen minutes yielded absolutely nothing. No murder weapon, no computer, no cell phone. She was gone.
"Not planning to be gone long, either." Jasper met back up with Willis in the hall. "Underwear drawer's full."
"Toothbrushes are missing," Willis said. "They both left on their own. Maybe they're together, gone for the weekend?"
"Well, we can call Parks to find out, but the only other thing we can do is try Penningly's place." He narrowed his eyes at his partner. "Any bets?"
"No way." Willis followed him out of the apartment. "You think they both skipped?"
"Don't know, but something's weird. Sorry to disturb your morning, Mister Halifax." Jasper handed over a card. "If you see either of the young ladies, please give us a call. It's important. This is a murder investigation."
"Murder! Whose murder?" The landlord squinted at the card and pocketed it.
"A young man who was working with Aleksi Rychenkna and dating Julie Parks, so both young ladies may be involved." The door closed with a click, and the landlord locked it. "I'll thank you for your discretion on this. The investigation is ongoing, and the last thing we need is a bunch of rumors flying around."
"The last thing I need is a bunch of rumors about murder in my place, Officer Jenkins!" Halifax looked even more surly. "So don't you worry about that!"
"It's Jasper, Sergeant Tony Jasper, and thanks." Jasper led the way down the stairs, thinking that he had enough worries on his mind already, and undoubtedly more to come.
28
A pound of roast beef, a dozen eggs, bacon and a rotisserie chicken were enough to raise the eyebrows of the checkout clerk at Hutch's favorite deli. The guy knew he was a vegetarian and had never seen him buy meat once in four years.
"Picnic with carnivores," Hutch explained with a sheepish grin, taking back his credit card.
"Have fun." The clerk smiled and shrugged as if it wasn't any of his business, which it wasn't.
Hutch left the shop and started back to his place. He'd only made it half a block when a voice from close behind brought him around with a start.
"Dr. Hutchinson!"
He turned to face Derrick Penningly, and thought, Oh crap! Here it comes.
"Hello, Mister Penningly." He squared his shoulders, refusing to be intimidated. "Can I do something for you?" Hutch kept his voice neutral and looked right into his adversary's sunglasses, then recalled that Aleksi thought Derrick was a murderer and swallowed.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you can do something for me." Derrick stopped one step away, gloved hands balled into fists at his sides and shoulders heaving with each breath. "You can tell me what the hell you think you're doing with that email you sent. You've got absolutely no proof that I did anything wrong. Aleksi's the liar here. She's the one who needs to be expelled!"
"I'm not going to discuss this with you, Mister Penningly. If you want to file a grievance, it's well within your rights." He started to turn away, but Derrick grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back around, his grip hard enough to hurt.
"Don't you dare turn your back on me, you pompous fuck! I'm not through talking to you!" Derrick's face contorted, lips curling back.
Hutch felt a tickle of fear. Psychotic, or just angry? He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath to calm his hammering heart. "There is nothing for us to discuss, Mister Penningly. There is evidence that you took data from Aleksi's computer without her permission. That alone is reason enough for expulsion."
"She gave me that fucking data, and she got pissed off when I wouldn't sleep with her! I told the cops that!" He thrust a gloved finger under Hutch's nose like a weapon. "They know the truth!"
"Yes, they do know the truth." Hutch wondered if Derrick would be stupid enough to attack him in public. He almost hoped he would. With half a dozen witnesses eying them both, it would be enough to get him arrested. "They know you accessed Aleksi's computer when she was out of her lab, with me, the chairman of the department, and Congressman Twain. Your stick drive left a fingerprint on her computer, Derrick. Your story doesn't hold up. Your best bet is to leave the department without a fuss, but if you want to file a grievance, it's your choice."
"Fuck your grievance, Dr. Hutchinson!" Derrick seethed, flecks of spittle spraying from between his clenched teeth. "You're protecting that bitch, and I know why! When the chairman finds out you're fucking her, the ball will be back in my court!"
Shit! How could he know? But Hutch realized that it didn't matter. Denying it would only bring trouble later, and the truth could pull the fire out from under Derrick's rage.
"There are no set rules governing relationships between faculty and students, Mister Penningly, but there are a number of laws concerning the theft of research data, lying about collaboration, and fraud." Again, he kept his tone steady. "Walk away from this before is blows up in your face."
"You stick your laws up your high and mighty ass, Doctor! My father's lawyers will fucking bury you!"
Hutch didn't know what to say to that and stood mute.
Derrick Penningly turned on his heel and stalked away, plumes of steam rising from his breath at every step. Hutch turned and started back to his place, thinking that Aleksi might have been right about Derrick all along.
Hello, this is Derrick and I'm sorry I can't take your call. If you're a beautiful young lady, please leave a message and I'll call you right back. If you're not, well, no promises."
There was a beep, and Jasper unclenched his jaw enough to say. "This is Sergeant Jasper with the Cambridge Police Department. It's eight in the morning on Saturday the fourteenth. I'm at your apartment with a search warrant. If you don't call me back in five minutes, we will search your apartment without you here. Please call as soon as you get this message."
He hung up. It was exactly the same message he'd left on Aleksi Rychenkna's line. He paced back and forth in front of Penningly's door until Willis arrived with the assistant manager.
"This is Miss Faun." Willis nodded to the severe-looking young woman. "She's agreed, after making a copy of our warrant, to open Mister Penningly's door for us."
"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Faun," Jasper said. Not that you had any choice in the matter.
"My pleasure." She flashed a tight smile as she opened the door and swung it wide.
Derrick Penningly's apartment was much as they remembered it. It reeked of money, but not much in the way of taste. Definitely a rich kid's bachelor pad. Jasper announced them and got no answer. They both put on rubber gloves.
"Do me a favor and check the kitchen," he told Willis. "Looks like the guy likes cutlery. Maybe there's something under the sink."
"Like a gardening tool?" Willis cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, like that." There was something about Penningly that he didn't like, but maybe it was prejudice against privileged rich brats. He tried not to let that jade his opinion, but not very hard. "I'll check the bedrooms. Have a look over his DVD collections when you're done in the kitchen. I'm interested to know what he likes for entertainment."
"Right."
They went to work.
Jasper entered Penningly's bedroom to the sound of kitchen drawers being rifled through. His first impression was even worse than the one he'd had from the living room. A larger than life framed picture of a reclining nude woman hung over the headboard of a king-sized black-lacquered bed. The photo was blurred slightly, and there was a red sports car above the nude. The picture screamed "I'm a stud!" loudly enough to send any sensible woman running. Yeah, Penningly was a piece of work, alright.
He searched the bedroom thoroughly without displacing anything, found a pair of padded handcuffs in a drawer beside the bed and a video recorder on a tripod in the closet. Great, he thought, glad that he'd taken the bedroom instead of giving it to Willis. He had an even lower opinion of macho rich boys than Jasper, and he didn't want to hear the fallout. He checked the dirty clothes for any signs of blood or rips, just as he had Rychenkna's, and like hers, found nothing. The huge bathroom yielded a copious number of grooming supplies, including a straight razor. He took some hair samples and put them in a small Ziploc. The forensics team hadn't found anything near the murder scene, but this would give them something to compare it to. He gave up and went to the other bedroom.
"Office, huh?" The room did have a desk, but the rest was a blank. The computer on the desk was off, and turning it on only gave him a password screen. If he wanted to know what was on the kid's hard drive, he'd have to get Johnny to hack it. He doubted Penningly would give him the password. He checked the desk drawers, flipped through some magazines, GQ, Sports Illustrated, and a few on Boston. None looked like they'd been read more than once. In the center drawer, he found a rectangular blister pack of pills. There was no label on the back, except for the manufacturer, but he recognized the characteristic + etched onto each white pill. Rohypnol. The video camera in the bedro
om and the handcuffs, and now this. Derrick Penningly was a piece of work, all right. He put the roofies in a ziplock and pocketed them. If he didn't have a prescription for the drug, this was enough to arrest him. In the waste basket he found a few tissues, one with a speck of blood. It put that in another evidence bag.
"Anything?" he asked as he reentered the living room.
"Other than a really tacky choice of DVD's, and a lot of first-person shooter games, no."
"Tacky how?" He joined his partner at the huge entertainment center.
"No slasher movies, or horror. He seems to like guns, fast cars, and bimbos." Willis held up a DVD case that showed all three of those on the jacket. "What did you get?" He nodded at the evidence bags.
"A blister pack of roofies in his desk drawer, a tissue with blood on it from the waste basket, and some hair. He had a video camera set up in his bedroom closet, and padded cuffs in the nightstand. We should download whatever's on that camera and look over his hard drive." He didn't mention the straight razor.
"Well, what now?" Willis put the DVD back where he found it and wiped his gloved hand on his jacket as if he'd touched something slimy.
"Now, I think we need to piss off the Honorable Judge Haverty."
"Arrest warrants?"
"Yep." He nodded to the door and Willis followed him out. "When two non-flight-risk suspects both suddenly go missing and won't answer their cell phones, it's time to bring them in."
"Oh, can I question Penningly?" Willis asked. "I so love it when macho boys cry!"
Jasper couldn't help but chuckle. The crack made him feel a little better, but not much; there wasn't much to laugh about in this case.
Derrick felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out. He glared at Jasper's name on the display and let it go to voice mail. He wasn't in the mood to talk to cops. His temper was still out of control. Fucking computer geeks anyway. One tiny mistake, and he was fucked up the ass.
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