“Motive.” There was something they hadn’t considered. “Why would someone want to murder Jane?”
“Are we assuming the killer knew it was Jane whom he was murdering?”
Amanda’s head was starting to hurt. “I think we have to assume that until we find out otherwise.”
“Okay. Motive. Jane was very annoying.”
“True,” Amanda agreed. “But the last person she annoyed other than us was Juice, and if there’s one thing I know about pimps, it’s that they don’t kill their girls. They want them working. They’re product.”
“I’ll call the jail and see when Juice got out, just to make triple sure.” Evelyn tapped the pen against her chin. “Maybe the murderer was someone who saw Jane talking to us at Techwood? The whole compound lit up when we arrived. There’s no way it wasn’t broadcast to the rooftops that Jane was talking to two police officers.”
Amanda felt unsettled by the thought that she might’ve been partly responsible for the girl’s death. “Write that down as a possibility.”
“I hate to think we had anything to do with it. Then again, she wasn’t exactly baking cookies for the PTA.”
“No,” Amanda agreed, but Evelyn had only seen the pictures. “Have you ever had a manicure?”
Evelyn looked at her fingernails, which were clear-coated, just like Amanda’s. “Bill treated me to one last Christmas. I can’t say that I enjoyed having a stranger touch my hands.”
“Jane’s fingernails were perfect. They were filed and polished. I couldn’t’ve done a better job myself.”
“That manicure was ridiculously expensive. I can’t imagine Jane having the money.”
“No, and if she did, she’d spend it on drugs, not getting her fingernails polished.” Amanda remembered, “Pete said something interesting about the attacker. He said the man was angry, uncontrolled.”
“How in the world can he tell that?”
“From the way Jane looked. She was beaten all over.” Amanda tried to think it through, but she found it was easier to talk it out to Evelyn. “I guess we should be asking ourselves what kind of person is capable of this. And then, ask how he would do it. He obviously used his fists, but he had the hammer, too. He busted open the lock on the access door to the roof. But then, we need to consider how he was able to get the better of someone like Jane. She wasn’t bright, but she was street-smart.”
“Who, how, and why,” Evelyn summarized. “Those are very good questions. If Juice isn’t the answer to them, then who is? Someone Jane has seen before. A regular customer who knows where she lives.” Evelyn tapped the pen again. “But, then, this is what we’re saying: He knocked on the door. He gave her a manicure. Then he threw her off the roof.”
“He strangled her before he threw her off the roof.”
Evelyn asked, “Pete told you that?” Amanda nodded. “That seems like a more plausible scenario. Jane screamed like a stuck pig when you kicked her, and that was barely a tap.”
“You didn’t say that at the time.”
“I was scared,” Evelyn admitted. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Amanda told her. “Maybe we could ask around and see if any johns are into choking.”
“I know a gal who works undercover downtown. I’ll see what she knows. But even if there is a guy out there who likes choking women—and something tells me there’s more than one—how are we going to find his real name? And if by some miracle we do find his name, how on earth would we link him to Jane?”
Amanda offered, “Pete scraped some skin out from under Jane’s fingernails. He said he could match the blood type against a suspect. See if he’s a secretor or a nonsecretor.”
“Eighty percent of the population has secretor status. Nearly forty percent is type O-positive. That’s hardly narrowing it down.”
“I didn’t know that,” Amanda admitted. Evelyn was much better at statistics than she was. “Let’s go back to the puzzle before we’re both late for work.” Amanda picked up where they’d left off in the timeline. “Next, we met Mr. Blue Suit, aka Hank Bennett, at the morgue. He admits he hasn’t seen his sister in years, which might explain why he couldn’t identify her.”
“Or, he’s just too arrogant to admit that he can’t.”
That seemed far more likely. “I still find it odd that Lucy Bennett didn’t have a record. She’s been on the game at least a year, probably more.”
“Neither does Kitty Treadwell.” Evelyn looked sheepish. “I radioed dispatch on my way here. They ran through all the variations for me. There was no record for a Kitty Treadwell.”
“How about Jane Delray?”
“She had two pick-ups several years ago, but nothing recently.”
“Then her fingerprints are on file.”
Evelyn frowned. “No, they’re not. I asked. A lot of the older records have been purged.”
“That’s convenient.” Amanda updated the information under each girl’s name. “We need to work on Andrew Treadwell. He’s a lawyer. He’s a friend of the mayor’s. What else do we know about him?”
“Jane intimated that he was Kitty’s uncle. She point-blank said that Kitty was rich, that her family was connected.”
Amanda said, “That article in the newspaper listed Andrew Treadwell as having only one daughter.”
“He’s one of the top lawyers in the city. He’s politically powerful. If he has a daughter who’s been pimped out on the streets by a black man, do you really think that’s something he’d advertise? He’d more likely use his money and influence to keep her hidden away.”
“You’re right,” Amanda allowed. She stared down at the diagram. “Don’t you think it’s odd that Lucy and Kitty are both out on the street and one of them has a brother working for the other’s uncle?”
“Maybe they met at a self-help group.” Evelyn smiled. “Whores Anonymous.”
Amanda rolled her eyes at the joke. “Are we still assuming that Andrew Treadwell is the one who sent Hank Bennett to talk to Hodge last Monday?”
“I am. Are you?”
Amanda nodded again. “Which may support your theory that Andrew Treadwell doesn’t want it to get out that he’s related to Kitty. We could be looking at it wrong. Who does Treadwell want to hide the relationship from if not his buddies at City Hall?”
“Bennett is quite a piece of work,” Evelyn mumbled. “He’s one of the most arrogant asses I’ve met. And that’s saying a lot considering the guys we work with.”
Amanda tried to recall Hank Bennett’s terse answers to their questions outside the morgue. She should’ve written them down. “Bennett said he sent his sister a letter at the Union Mission. Do you remember him saying when?”
“Yes. He mailed the letter to the Mission when his father passed away last year—this time last year. Which reminds me: Jane said Lucy has been missing for about a year.”
Amanda wrote down this information under Lucy’s name. “When you asked Bennett if he knew the name Kitty Treadwell, he told us to watch where we put our noses.”
“Trask,” Evelyn remembered. “That was the man he talked with at the Union Mission.”
“He said Trask or Trent,” Amanda corrected. The exchange stuck in her head because her mother’s maiden name was Trent.
“We have to call him something for now,” Evelyn pointed out.
“Trask,” Amanda suggested.
“Okay, Trask told Bennett that he gave the letter to Lucy, which means he must know Lucy. If he works at the Union Mission, he might know all of our girls. Oh, Amanda—” She sounded devastated. “Why didn’t we think to go to the Union Mission in the first place? All the hookers go there when they need a break. It’s their Acapulco.”
“The mission is just up the street,” Amanda reminded her. “We can still talk to Trask, see if he remembers anything about Lucy—or Jane.”
“If we’re lucky, they’ll tell us Lucy’s alive and well and on such-and-such corner, and why are people saying she’s been murdered.” E
velyn looked at her watch. “I have to check in at Model City, but I could meet you there in half an hour.”
“That should give me enough time to call the Housing Authority and figure out what I’m going to do with Peterson.”
“I’m sure Vanessa won’t mind taking him.”
Amanda tucked her pen back in her purse. “I feel that’s a bad situation brewing.”
“Maybe. Listen, I’ll try to question Hodge again, but I doubt that’ll get me anywhere.” She scooped up the pieces of construction paper and stacked them together. “I just have such a bad feeling about all of this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think Lucy Bennett’s dead either way.”
“Possibly, but it could be drugs, not malfeasance.”
“Have you read about all those girls in Texas who disappeared around the I-45 corridor?”
“What?”
“A dozen or more,” Evelyn told her. “They’re not even sure where the bodies are.”
“Where do you hear these things?”
There was no shame in her smile. “True Crime magazine.”
Amanda sighed as she watched Evelyn climb into her station wagon. “I’ll see you at the mission.”
“Deal.” Evelyn slowly pulled out of the parking space. “And I wouldn’t worry too much about Vanessa,” she called through the open window. “Who do you think told me about the guy behind the counter at the Plaza Pharmacy?”
“Mandy!” Vanessa called as soon as she walked into the station.
Amanda pushed her way through the crowd. The station was full. Roll call was a few minutes off. Amanda glanced into the sergeant’s office, but it was empty.
“Hurry!” Vanessa was sitting in back again, practically bouncing in her chair. She was wearing slacks and a flowery blouse. Her gun was holstered on her hip. She was dressed in men’s shoes. Amanda was beginning to wonder if she was worried about the wrong sex where Vanessa was concerned. At least she was still wearing a bra.
“Lookit what I got.” Vanessa held up a credit card as if it was a bar of gold. Amanda recognized the logo of the Franklin Simon department store. And then her jaw dropped at the punch-typed gold letters spelling out VANESSA LIVINGSTON underneath.
“How did you …” Amanda sank down in her chair. She was almost afraid to touch the card. Then she did. “Is it real?”
“Yep.” Vanessa beamed.
Amanda could not stop staring at the card. “Is this a joke?” She glanced around to see if anyone was watching. No one seemed to care. “How did you get this?”
“Rachel Foster over in dispatch told me about it. All you have to do is show them six months’ worth of pay stubs.”
“Are you kidding me?” Amanda hadn’t been able to get her apartment without Duke guaranteeing the rent. If not for the city providing her a car, she’d be on foot. “They just gave it to you? Just like that?”
“That’s right.”
“They didn’t ask to speak to your husband or your father or—”
“Nope.”
Amanda was still dubious. She handed back the card. Franklin Simon was all right, but they were doomed to bankruptcy if they were handing out credit so freely. “Listen, can you do me a favor today and ride with Peterson?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t you want to know why?”
The guttural sound of someone vomiting filled the room. It was joined by other men making similar disgusting noises. Butch Bonnie walked into the station, his fists held up as if he was Muhammad Ali. Amanda had forgotten how ill he’d been at the crime scene last Friday. Obviously, the rest of the squad had not. People clapped and laughed. There were even cheers from the black side of the room. Butch did a sort of victory spin as he made his way toward Amanda.
He leaned on the table. “Hey, gal, you got my stuff for me?”
Amanda reached into her bag for the typed report. She dropped the pages on the table beside him.
“Why you bein’ so cold?” he asked. “You on the rag?”
“It’s what your partner did to Evelyn Mitchell,” Amanda shot back. “He’s an animal.”
Butch scratched the side of his cheek. He looked rough. His clothes were wrinkled. His face was unshaven. There was a distinct odor of alcohol and stale cigarettes sweating from his pores.
Amanda stared straight ahead. “Is there anything else?”
“Jesus, Mandy. Cut him some slack. His wife’s been giving him enough crap at home. He don’t need to come to work and catch lip off another skirt.”
She forced herself not to soften. “Your notes had a factual error.”
Butch tossed a cigarette into his mouth. “Whattaya talkin’ about?”
“You said you ID’d Lucy Bennett off a license in her purse. The evidence receipt didn’t list a license of any type.”
“Shit,” he mumbled, then, “S’cuse the language.” He skimmed his notebook, compared it to her typed report. “Yeah, I see it.”
“How did you ID the victim?”
He lowered his voice. “Off a CI.”
“Who?”
“Never you mind who,” he told her. “Just fix the report.”
“You know they can’t change the evidence receipt. The carbons are in triplicate.”
“Then change the report so it says someone recognized her.” He handed back the typed report. “There was a witness on scene. Call him Jigaboo Jones. I don’t care. Just make it work.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “You’re the one whose signature goes at the bottom.”
He looked nervous, but said, “Yeah, I’m sure. Just do it.”
“Butch—” She stopped him before he could leave. “How did Hank Bennett find out his sister was dead? You usually specify that in your notes, but this time, there’s nothing.” Amanda pressed a bit harder. “Lucy didn’t have a record, so it seems strange that you and Landry were able to locate next of kin so quickly.”
He stared at her, unblinking. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head. She didn’t know if Butch was just now asking himself the question or wondering why Amanda had posed it. Finally, he told her, “I don’t know.”
She studied him, trying to detect duplicity. “It seems like you’re telling me the truth.”
“Jesus, Mandy, hanging around Evelyn Mitchell’s turning you into the wrong kinda gal.” He pushed himself up from the table. “Get that report back to me first thing tomorrow morning.” He waited for her to nod, then went to the front of the room.
“Wow,” Vanessa said. She’d been strangely quiet. “What’s going on with you and Butch?”
Amanda shook her head. “I need to make a phone call.”
There were two telephones in the front of the room, but Amanda didn’t want to make her way through the crowd. Nor did she want to run into Rick Landry, who’d just walked into the station. The clock on the wall was straight up at eight o’clock. Sergeant Woody was still not here. Amanda wasn’t surprised. Woody had a reputation for hitting the bars before work. She might as well use his office.
Nothing much had changed since Luther Hodge had vacated the space. Paperwork was scattered across the blotter. The ashtray was brimming over. Woody hadn’t even bothered to get a new mug for his coffee.
Amanda sat down behind the desk and dug into her purse for her address book. The black leather was cracked and peeling. She thumbed to the C’s and traced her finger down to Pam Canale’s number at the Housing Authority. They weren’t close friends—the woman was Italian—but Amanda had helped Pam’s niece out of some trouble a few years ago. Amanda was hoping the woman wouldn’t mind returning the favor.
She checked the squad room before dialing Pam’s number, then waited while the call was transferred.
“Canale,” Pam said, but Amanda hung up. Sergeant Luther Hodge was heading back toward the office. His office.
She stood from the desk so fast that the chair hit the wall.
“Miss Wagner,” Hodge said. “Has there been a promotio
n about which I am uninformed?”
“No,” she said, then, “Sir.” Amanda scuttled around the desk. “I’m sorry, sir. I was making a phone call.” She stopped, trying to appear less flustered. The fact was that she was stunned. “Did you get transferred back here?”
“Yes, I did.” He waited for her to move out of his path so that he could sit down. “I suppose you think I’m holding water for your father.”
Amanda had been about to leave, but she couldn’t now. “No, sir. I was just making a phone call.” She remembered Evelyn, her boldness in confronting Hodge. “Why did you send me to Techwood last week?”
He had been about to sit at his desk. He paused midair, hand holding back his tie.
“You told us to investigate a rape. There was no rape.”
Slowly, he sat down. He indicated the chair. “Have a seat, Miss Wagner.”
Amanda started to close the door.
“Leave that open.”
She did as she was told, sitting opposite him at the desk.
“Are you trying to intimidate me, Miss Wagner?”
“I—”
“I realize your father still has many friends in this department, but I will not be intimidated. Is that clear?”
“Intimidated?”
“Miss Wagner, I may not be from around here, but I can tell you one thing for sure. One thing you can take straight back to your daddy: this nigger ain’t goin’ back into the fields.”
She felt her mouth working, but no words would come out.
“Dismissed.”
Amanda couldn’t move.
“Should I repeat my order?”
Amanda stood. She walked toward the open door. Her competing emotions compelled her to keep moving, to work this out in private, to formulate a more reasoned response than what actually came out of her mouth. “I’m just trying to do my job.”
Hodge had been writing something on a piece of paper. Probably a request to have her transferred to Perry Homes. His pen stopped. He stared at her, waiting.
Words got jumbled in her mouth. “I want to work. To be good at … I need to be good at …” She forced herself to stop speaking long enough to collect her thoughts. “The girl you sent us out to interview. Her name was Jane Delray. She wasn’t raped. She wasn’t injured. There wasn’t a scratch on her. She was fine.”
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