The edge in his voice and look on his face made Hallett call out to Rocky, “Stoppen. Zitten.” It was Dutch for “stop, wait.” Rocky froze in position then sat obediently, but he kept his eyes tuned to the two subjects in front of him.
The chubby drug dealer stuttered, “You, you’ve got the wrong idea.”
Hallett said, “I think I have the right idea. My idea is to have Rocky here rip you a new asshole.” He looked at the other, more terrified brother and said, “You, I might just shoot.”
Arnold Junior held up his hands and said, “You got us all wrong. That’s not why we’re here.”
* * *
Rocky smelled the men before Tim knew they were there. He tried to signal Tim, but he turned around in time. Rocky recognized one of the men as a bad man he had run after and bitten. He scratched at the door, knowing he had to get out of this cage and help his friend Tim. These were bad men.
Tim started to communicate with the other men, and all Rocky could do was pace back and forth in the closed cage and growl, hoping to catch the men’s attention and give Tim a chance to act. He needed to protect Tim, but once again Tim was being too easy on the bad men and not letting him do what he was supposed to do. Bite them.
He felt trapped and desperately wanted to be free. Free to bite.
Then he saw Tim bare his teeth the way he did when he was happy, but Rocky could tell he wasn’t. Silly Tim. Why wouldn’t Tim let him out to bite these bad men? Rocky would never understand humans.
After a short time of more human communication, the door popped open and Rocky was face-to-face with the bad men, and as they turned, he could smell their fear. This was easy.
Then Tim surprised him by saying, “Stoppen. Zitten,” which meant the game was over. He didn’t understand. These were bad men right in front of him, and Tim didn’t want him to bite them. Then he sensed the tension disappearing. He knew he had to stay alert until these men were gone, no matter what Tim said.
* * *
Hallett let Rocky’s presence grab these two morons’ attention.
Hallett said, “If you’re gonna talk, you better talk fast, because both my dog and I are hungry.”
The drug dealer said, “Our dad is innocent.” Then he added, “Of this.”
“You have got to be kidding me. You really think that bullshit is gonna work on me? You remember my last face-to-face encounter with your father? I think you should talk to your smarter lawyer-brother next time you want to pull a stunt like this.”
“He’s the one who said that you were actually a decent, honest guy who did what he had to do.”
That caught Hallett by surprise.
“My brother said you might actually have enough principles to listen to us. But he couldn’t do it officially, and he didn’t think you’d want to talk to him anyway.”
“You mean after he tried to get me fired from the sheriff’s office?”
The drug dealer just nodded his head sheepishly. Then he said, “That doesn’t change the fact that my dad has nothing to do with these kidnappings or that girl’s death.” He paused a moment and looked into Hallet’s eyes.
Hallett’s gut feeling was this guy was sincere.
“My mom can’t swear about my dad’s whereabouts because she has mental issues. She’s not even sure when he’s at the house. We were afraid that Dad was aggravating the situation, so we brought him over to our place. He gets impatient and loud. I already told the detectives that Neil and I can verify he was at our house the two days the girls were attacked, but no one would listen to us.”
“Do you think you would seem credible to a cop?”
The drug dealer didn’t answer. He just hung his head. “What about my brother Joe? Is he more credible?”
“No, he’s less credible than you. He’s a goddamn attorney. Most people would rather hang out with a scumbag drug dealer than with an attorney.”
Then Arnold Junior said, “My dad has a problem, there’s no denying that. That’s why we don’t hold it against you. You might have saved his life as well as made the neighborhood safer. But it’s different now. You can’t believe how different he is.”
“What are you talking about?”
The drug dealer hesitated, finally saying, “He’s taking medicine. Special medicine that helps him with his problem.”
“There’s no cure for pedophiles.”
“This medicine is to chemically castrate him. He knew it was the only way. We’ve been trying to help him, too.”
“Wait. What?”
“He’s taking Androcur, a French drug that’s used on certain sex offenders. He’s doing it on his own.”
“So you’re telling me that he’s taking a drug and between your meth-making shifts you guys are babysitting him. Does that sound about right?”
“We have been advised by our brother not to talk about our business with anyone. But if you can keep that separate, is there any way you could keep an open mind about our father? We’ll do anything.”
“Go straight?”
“Almost anything. But I’m appealing to you as an ethical police officer and as a human being to consider what we’ve told you.”
Maybe this was the brother who should’ve been an attorney. He was very convincing.
Hallett didn’t see anything he could do in this situation, but it still made him think.
33
Claire felt bad about the exchange in the courtyard as she sat in the detective bureau with John Fusco, who was obviously desperate to make his kidnapping case before homicide stole all of his thunder and charged Arnold Ludner with the murder of Tina Tictin. Technically, they were supposed to be working together, and command staff wouldn’t be happy that Fusco struck out on his own, but the positive media attention would probably keep him from getting in too much trouble.
Fusco had explained to Claire that a true kidnapping case was very rare. An actual abduction for money, like she used to see on the old reruns of the FBI TV series with Efrem Zimbalist Jr., was extraordinarily unlikely.
This case was nothing but a series of dead ends. The rag they had recovered near Katie Ziegler had resulted in no positive hits in the CODIS DNA database. There was no other viable DNA evidence at this time. The imprint of the shoe would not be useful without something to compare it to. Neither Katie Ziegler nor the two earlier girls could identify the suspect from available photographs or pick Arnold Ludner out of a photographic lineup. The description from all three girls was virtually identical: The way the man surprised them and drove them to a secluded area indicated that it was absolutely the same creep each time. The fact that Arnold Ludner owned no vehicle himself fit the idea that the kidnapper used stolen vehicles.
Fusco said, “I don’t like sitting at my desk, trying to work out these problems, but I got virtually no more leads on the kidnapping. The homicide unit is covering all the new leads developed from the recovery of Tina Tictin’s body. No one has asked me to come along.”
“And you’re too proud to beg.”
His pout was all the answer she needed.
Sergeant Greene came out of her office and eased down into the chair next to Fusco’s desk.
The sergeant said, “Are you two working with homicide?”
“Not really. I want to build the kidnapping case.”
Sergeant Greene sighed and said, “You know, John, there’s more to this job than winning.”
He gave her a wide grin and said, “But if I win, everyone wins. I may be considered the backup plan now, but we’ll see who gets the recognition for Arnold Ludner’s arrest.”
The sergeant shook her head and said, “The real reason I’m out here is that I’m writing a letter of commendation for the two probation officers who helped us. I need their names and their supervisor, if you have it.”
Fusco looked up the younger probation officer’s name and gave it to the sergeant. Then he said, “The older, tubby one is Bill Slaton. I want to see his reaction to a letter from us. He’s not a particular fan o
f the agency.”
Claire laughed at the depiction of the surly probation officer.
The sergeant said, “He’s the one that got hurt, right?”
Fusco nodded his head.
“How’s he doing?”
“He said his back and side were sore. He’s going to be out at least a more few days. Maybe after he reads the letter of commendation and sees what we had to do to make the arrest, he’ll appreciate the police a little more.”
* * *
Hallett walked into the detective bureau with Rocky close at his side. He saw Claire and Sergeant Greene at John Fusco’s desk. He had subtly taught Rocky to give a brief snarl at the sight of John Fusco every time he walked up. He never failed to enjoy the look of fear on the detective’s face when the dog walked past, turned his head, showed a few of his teeth, and growled. To Fusco’s credit, he had never said a word about it.
Hallett said, “I just had an interesting encounter with Arnold Ludner’s sons.”
The sergeant said, “Where?”
“At the sub shop a few blocks away. They surprised me and wanted to tell me their father was innocent.”
Fusco blurted out, “Oh, please.”
The sergeant got more to the point. “Did they threaten you in any way? Is there enough to charge them with a crime?”
Hallett waved off the inquiry and said, “They were very respectful and made no threatening actions or comments. They just wanted to tell me that someone had questioned them about the earlier kidnappings and they could account for their father’s whereabouts each time. I guess homicide didn’t believe convicted drug dealers.”
Fusco said, “That’s about the only thing we agree on.”
“The sons said their father was on a drug called Androcur that acts as a chemical castration. They said it was part of their father’s program to stay out of trouble.”
Fusco said, “I guess that explains why there was no semen at any of the scenes and he only performed oral sex on the girls. If you can’t get a stiffy, you’ve got to find other ways to have fun.” Fusco looked at Hallett and said, “You’re not getting sucked in by this bullshit, are you?”
Hallett held up his hands and said, “I’m not arguing, just informing.”
Fusco said, “What if you go back to dog walking and I’ll handle the investigation? All we really needed was the cadaver dog anyway. I’m tired of babysitting you guys.”
Hallett touched Rocky’s rear leg with his knee so the dog would snarl at Fusco again. It made him feel a tiny bit better.
* * *
Claire jumped at the chance to be involved in another interview of a young girl. This was just the way to start off Tuesday morning.
Remembering how Smarty had served as a focus for Katie Ziegler after she was rescued in the cane field, Claire brought the dog into the detective bureau with her. She didn’t want to rush things along but really wanted to meet the gang out at the training facility as soon as possible. She also was responding to the tone of John Fusco’s voice. He had never before used the phrase “I need your help.”
Fusco met her as soon as she entered the detective bureau and said, “This girl wants to talk, but I thought you might connect with her better than me. Young girls confuse me.”
Claire said, “You sure you’re not just confused about young girls? It would explain a lot about your extravagant fashion sense.”
Fusco rubbed the sleeve of his expensive suit coat and took it as a compliment, saying, “This is extravagant, isn’t it.”
Claire sighed and said, “Where’s the girl now?”
Fusco led her through the squad bay to the rear interview room. As he was about to open the door he said, “She claims she was attacked Thursday night but was afraid to come forward. She and her mother are waiting inside.”
Claire said, “What’s her name?”
“Michelle Swirsky.”
* * *
Darren Mori sat at the end of the long conference table between Tim Hallett and Claire Perkins. They all appreciated Sergeant Greene including them in a meeting specifically about an investigation. The meeting really had nothing to do with their dogs’ special abilities. He would’ve chuckled at John Fusco’s hysterics if it hadn’t been such a serious subject.
The sergeant had already given an overview of the interview of a young woman named Michelle Swirsky who had been attacked Thursday night. Darren had never been involved in investigations, but even he could tell that every detail matched the previous attacks. The subject was a chubby, middle-aged man. The location was not far from where Tina Tictin had been snatched. His approach had been a surprise, and the victim fit precisely into the age range the kidnapper had been targeting.
The twist on this encounter was that Michelle was a brown belt in tae kwon do and immediately fought back with everything she’d been taught. Her sensei’s name was Rick Morris and he was a retired Coral Springs cop who now worked for the School Board Police. The advantage of having a police officer teach self-defense was that he taught her to fight dirty. She used her elbows and knees the way he had shown her, and when her assailant fell backward into his car, she slammed the door on his legs. This was some special kind of girl.
The sergeant said, “Michelle was with a boy the night it happened and was too afraid to tell her mother anything. It was the news stories about recovering Tina Tictin’s body that made her think she might be able to help the investigation.” She looked at John Fusco and said, “What’s your take on the girl?”
Fusco said, “She’s straight up. I know we sometimes take teenagers’ accounts of events with a grain of salt, but this girl didn’t seem like she was making anything up at all. Her mother sat in on the investigation with us, and I could tell they were both very serious about what happened.”
No one stated the obvious. Finally, Hallett said, “So you think this is the same guy as the other attacks?”
Fusco hesitated, and the sergeant didn’t answer at all.
Hallett was more forceful this time. “Come on. Even a copycat wouldn’t get things this close.”
It took a moment for Darren to catch on to the hesitation. Then Hallett spoke his thoughts aloud. “If she was attacked Thursday night, the attacker couldn’t have been Arnold Ludner. We had him covered on surveillance. He has the greatest alibi of all time. The police were watching me every minute of the evening.”
Now Fusco mumbled, “Bullshit. You been listening to his kids too much.”
Darren heard the anger and frustration in Fusco’s voice and thought back to what Ruben had been telling them. He was trying to read the other subtle clues from the detective, and they told him Fusco wasn’t convinced completely either.
Hallett gripped the end of the table and said, “What good does it do us to arrest the wrong man? That means there’s still a killer out there even if this one gets convicted. Does Ludner have any of the injuries this girl inflicted on her attacker?”
Sergeant Greene stood and did the equivalent of stepping between two brawlers. She said, “Hang on, now. Let’s see what homicide comes up with. There’s a lot of evidence to go through.”
That set Fusco off. “Who cares what they find? Homicide is trying to trash my case. This doesn’t change shit. Either the girl has her times confused or you guys screwed up the surveillance and let him slip past you.”
Darren saw Hallett was angry, but instead of saying something insulting he just said, “Could be.”
That brought Fusco to his feet screaming, “Could be? It has to be.” He looked over to Sergeant Greene and said, “Why don’t we send this guy back to the dog patrol?”
Darren had learned a whole lot about the politics of investigation in just this one meeting.
* * *
Junior had seen the news and understood that now was the time to lie low. He could just creep back into the woodwork where no one would notice him. Not that anyone did anyway. If he could control himself and keep from acting, he’d never have to worry about jail time. After
all that he had seen, jail was not an option.
The only problem with his plan to lie low and sit quietly at home was Michelle Swirsky. The very thought of her made him ache. The idea that she thought she was better than him kept him awake at night. The idea that she had taught him something was insulting and absurd.
He didn’t know if he could ever rest again until he set things straight.
34
Tension bothered Claire. It had since she was a little girl. It reminded her of the arguments her mother and father would have about everything from money to her father’s reliance on all types of drugs. Back then, her bunny, Beulah, calmed her down. She’d stroke the white bunny’s fur as if it had a sedative in its pelt.
Now she found herself doing the same thing with Smarty in the detective bureau. It might have looked like she was trying to calm down the German Shepherd as they sat in the corner together, but they both knew the truth. Not that Smarty minded. At home he acted more like a puppy, following her from room to room and lying across her lap, craving any attention he could get. But he seemed to understand the rules at work and wasn’t used to affection like this in the middle of the day.
Things were tense in the detective bureau since Hallett had brought up the idea that they had arrested the wrong man. She knew it had to be hard for Tim to express his theory when all he wanted in the world was to keep that creep off the streets. She couldn’t have admired him more for his position. So far it seemed like she was the only one who felt that way.
Claire Perkins noticed John Fusco sulking at his desk. She had to ask, “What’s wrong?” She could tell he didn’t want to admit that Arnold Ludner wasn’t good for the kidnappings and homicide. He already had the asshole in custody. But none of the girls, including Michelle Swirsky, could pick him out of a photo lineup. He was already in the CODIS DNA database from his previous arrest and didn’t match anything found in this case, not from Tina Tictin’s body or the rag found near Katie Ziegler.
The only tangible evidence anyone had from the Michelle Swirsky case was a still photo taken from a video surveillance camera on the edge of the building where she was attacked. It showed the partial hood of a sedan. She identified it as the car her attacker was driving. Only a few feet of the hood were visible, and you couldn’t see the emblem or manufacturer. Fusco had taken the photo down to the auto theft task force, and they said it looked like an American sedan but couldn’t be any more specific.
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