He gave her a sultry smile. “Well, then that gives me a whole new incentive to work extra hard on this case.”
Just then, Roy came walking up to them. “I hate to interrupt you love birds, but the Captain wants to see us in his office.”
“Thanks, Roy. I want to ask you a favor.”
“Sure, anything for you.”
She looked at him seriously. “We need to stop all references to any type of relationship between Dan and me. I think his safety could be at stake.”
“You’re right, my apologies to both of you. We don’t know who this guy is. From now on, I’ll be nothing but professional.”
They all walked into the Captain’s office together, and he asked Dan to shut the door. “I have some extremely important news that we need to keep among ourselves. Detective Peterson and I made a plan to secretly tail Michael Vitale. It turns out that he has some very interesting friends. Last night he went out to a bar with the other suspect David Benson, Detective Stacey Morgan and another SVU detective named Della Warren. I personally find this connection between our two suspects and Stacey, who knew immediately about the rose delivery, very incredible!”
Roy looked amazed and perturbed at the same time. “Sir, you don’t suspect Stacey of something, do you?”
“Burns, I know that she’s your friend, but it looks suspicious to me.”
“But, Sir, she has been here for years.”
“I’m not saying that I think she’s the killer, Burns! I’m saying that she might be leaking information to this guy without knowing it. I also find it interesting that out of all our transfers the only two who are suspects, just happen to know each other socially.”
Laura thought about that for a moment. “Sir, could it be a coincidence that they all wound up at the same bar together last night? Was it a known cop bar?”
“Yes, it was. That’s why my friend will continue his tail for a few nights. I’m telling all of you this, so that we can limit the amount of information we feed to Stacey.”
“You know, that could also work to our advantage, Sir. Maybe we could use her to feed him information that we want leaked out.”
The Captain nodded his head in agreement. “Excellent idea, Peterson, as long as we do it so that her safety isn’t compromised.”
Roy couldn’t keep quiet. “With all due respect, Sir, if she’s hanging out with a serial killer, shouldn’t we warn her?”
“We are walking a fine line here, Detective Burns. Any variation in the way someone acts towards him, could warn him that we know who he is. Believe me, I have wrestled with this since I found out late last night. But if we alarm her, we might risk him running and never being caught. That might relieve our immediate problem, but it could unleash him on another unsuspecting city. I think we have a shot at catching him, if we play our cards right.”
“This might be one of those greater good compromises, but I just want to voice my objection. We should let her know that she’s in danger.”
“I understand your feelings, Detective Burns, but for right now, the best we can do is to keep our eyes on the situation. Do not say anything to her, and that is a direct order.”
Laura felt bad for Roy. “I know you like Stacey, but we can’t risk compromising this case. We will do everything we can to protect her. Now let’s get back to work.”
They returned to their office and started working. When Laura sat down, she noticed two files on her desk that she couldn’t remember being there the night before. Suddenly, Roy yelled out, “Hey, has anyone seen the two files I had out on the buildings managed by Searchlight?”
“Burns, I think these are them over here on my desk.”
He walked over to Laura’s desk and picked up the files. “Yeah, these are the ones. What are they doing on your desk?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. They weren’t here last night when Murphy and I left for the bar. Also, my change purse, which I keep in my top drawer, is now in the middle drawer. I think someone has been in my desk.”
Dan walked over to her desk, holding the top of a diet soda can with just his fingertips. “Anyone have an idea who this belongs to? This wasn’t here last night either.”
Laura and Roy looked at the soda can and said that it wasn’t theirs. They all looked at each other, and Laura motioned them into the break room. “Do you guys think someone was in here last night while we were gone?”
Dan looked at Roy. “What time did you leave here?”
“I left right after you two. I wanted to get home to have dinner with Sara and the kids.”
Laura was worried about the situation. “Guys, if someone was in here going through our desks, they could have all kinds of information about our case. I’m just relieved that I had the photo file with me at the bar, and brought it back in here today. Do you think I’m being paranoid?”
Roy shook his head. “Boy, that’s all we need right now. We’re already handicapped on this case. Now, if we have this guy going through our desks, we’ll never get ahead of him.”
“I’m going back down to see the Captain. Can you two look over your desks, and see if anything else is missing or disturbed? Murphy, please take that can down to Ralph and have him check for prints right away.”
“Sure, and then Burns and I will go take an inventory of our desks.”
Laura entered the Captains office with an exasperated look on her face. “Sir, I think someone was messing around our desks last night while we were gone.”
“Are you sure?”
“Files and a change purse I keep for the vending machines were moved. Murphy had an empty diet soda can on his desk, and none of us drink diet soda. He’s taking it to Ralph for prints. I think whoever did it, used my change to buy a soda and then made themselves comfortable while going through our desks.”
Captain Rutledge looked frustrated. “Damn it all, Peterson! We need to find out who was in there. I’m having Ralph’s team install a camera there today! Ralph can monitor the footage each morning when he comes in, and let us know. This nutcase is attacking us on our own turf! If it’s war he wants, then war he will get.”
“Thank you, Sir. I would feel better knowing that we had some surveillance up there. Just make sure that it isn’t obvious, and the recording device is well hidden.”
The Captain nodded with approval. “I’ll have Ralph stage some scenario, so we can hide what we’re doing. It will just look like a work crew of some kind.”
“I’m starting to feel like I’m in a James Bond movie, instead of a precinct!”
When she got back to her desk, her phone rang. It was Ralph letting her know that the prints on the can belonged to Stacey Morgan. After thanking him, she asked him to notify the Captain. Dan and Roy came over to her desk and informed her that they both thought someone had been going through their things. “Guys, the prints on the soda can belong to Stacey!”
Roy looked shocked. “Man, you have got to be kidding me! What in the world would she be doing going through our desks?”
“She wasn’t up here drinking a soda yesterday before you left for the evening?”
“Absolutely not, Peterson. The last time I talked to Stacey was a few days ago when that rose was delivered to you.”
Laura looked conflicted. “Burns, I know she’s your friend, but this makes her association with our suspects even more suspicious.”
“I have to agree with you. If I take our friendship out of this, and she was any other cop in here, I would suspect her of something immediately.”
“Okay, from now on if she comes to see you, make an excuse to get her out of here fast. Until we find out what she’s up to, I don’t trust her around anything. Also, I think we need to start locking up our files on this case every night.”
Dan looked around the office. “Hey, that cabinet over there locks. I can clean out what’s in there now, and we can use that.”
“Great idea, Murphy, you can work on that, if you don’t mind. We can get a couple of those cardboard fil
e holders, and store all the stuff in the break room. I think there are some empty ones in the supply closet.”
He gave her a big smile. “Don’t worry; we will keep our secrets safe.”
“The problem is that we shouldn’t have to. Not here, where we depend on a safe work place.”
“Yeah, I know. I was just trying to keep things positive.”
Laura was about to answer him, when two men entered their office and announced that they were there to inspect for a rodent problem. She frowned at them. “A rodent problem?”
“Yes, Detective Peterson, Dr. Foote said he was up here and smelled a rat.”
She tried to muffle her laughter. “Well if he did, then we better check it out right away. Where would you like to start?”
“Don’t worry; we will take care of it from here. Why don’t all of you go get a cup of coffee, or something? We won’t be long. Is that an artificial plant hanging over there?”
She looked in the direction he was pointing. “Yes, I have a silk thumb. I can grow anything made out of silk.”
He smiled at her and winked. “I hear rats like to hide in plants. I better go inspect that right now. And if you have any questions, Dr Foote will be getting a full report daily.”
“Thank you so much for your prompt service.”
“My pleasure, Detective, if there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s a rat.”
She shook her head and went into the break room to join Roy and Dan. They all looked at each other and broke out in laughter. “Leave it to Ralph to come up with a humorous scenario! How do you suppose they are going to run wires and all that stuff, without someone seeing them?”
Dan got a sly look on his face. “Spoken like the woman who can’t even program her phone.”
She gave him a disparaging look. “Don’t make fun of the technically challenged.”
“Okay, I won’t. I’m willing to bet that they are going to do a wireless connection to a receiver somewhere else in the building.”
“Did you just make that up to sound very cleaver?”
He laughed at her. “Don’t trust me yet, huh?”
She looked deeply into his eyes. “I trust you more than you will ever know.”
Roy cleared his throat. “Okay, break it up you two. I thought we weren’t going to be making goo-goo eyes at work any more.”
She blushed and took a fake swing at Roy. “You take all the fun out of everything, but you’re right. Until we get a clear idea of what we’re up against here, we need to cool it.”
Dan looked at Roy. “Okay, Dad, the kids will be good. Thanks for keeping an eye on us.”
“Hey, I just want the two of you to be safe. Who am I going to heckle, if you guys aren’t around?”
She smiled at him. “Let’s all three of us take a lunch break while these guys work.”
When they got back from lunch, Laura headed to see Ralph. He wasn’t there, but she saw Stacey looking through one of his files. “Hi, Stacey, what are you doing down here?”
She looked startled to see Laura. “Oh, I just needed some information for a case I’m working on. Ralph isn’t here right now.”
When Jim walked into the room, he had a puzzled look on his face. “What can I help you ladies with?”
Stacey became very flustered. “I’ll just wait until Ralph gets back, thanks.” She immediately left the lab in a hurry.
“What’s going on, Detective Peterson?”
“Stacey was in here looking at that file, Jim.”
He picked it up and looked through it. “This is the forensic file on Amy Montgomery. Why would she be looking at that?”
Just then, Ralph returned from an appointment. “Why would who be looking at what?”
“Detective Morgan was just down here looking at one of our files on Amy Montgomery.”
Ralph’s eyes narrowed. “Thanks, Jim, was she by herself?”
“I went to the bathroom, and when I came back both ladies were in here.”
Ralph turned to Laura. “What did you see?”
“Actually, Ralph, not much. I walked in and startled her. She said she was looking for a file from a case she was working on.”
“Hmmmmm, that’s very interesting. And she was looking through Montgomery’s file? She has nothing to do with that file.”
“She has nothing to do with the files on my desk either, but that doesn’t seem to stop her!”
Ralph looked baffled. “What do we think she’s up to?”
Laura shrugged. “Possibly no good. How is that camera thing going to work?”
“It’s on a timer and will run between seven in the evening until seven in the morning.”
Laura was dismayed. “Will we have to go through twelve hours of recordings every day?”
“No, it’s motion activated. It won’t record unless someone is in there. So, we won’t have to look at anything, unless someone has triggered it.”
Laura smiled widely. “You are so cleaver, Dr. Foote. Now, how are we going to keep your lab safe?”
“I shouldn’t even have to worry about that. What is this world coming to when the annals of the morgue are no longer sacred? Jim, I think we are going to keep the main door locked, when no one is in here. I will have keys made for everyone we trust. Next, we will have a buzzer installed, so that it rings in the back if some one comes in during working hours.”
Laura looked troubled. “I’m sorry you have to go through all of this on account of my case. I just don’t know where I feel safe any more. Roy really trusted Stacey, and now look at what’s happening. Our criterion, for who we can trust, has been people who have been with the force over the one year mark. Now, it looks like even that’s out the window.”
“Don’t worry about Jim and me. We can take care of our end. Just be very careful, continue to wear your device and let the Captain know where you are at all times.”
“I will, and speaking of him, that is my next stop.”
When she walked through his office door, Captain Rutledge looked at her face and started to worry. “Maybe I should just move my desk up to Homicide.”
“Sir, I just came from the lab, and Stacey was down there going through Ralph’s files on our case.”
“That’s unbelievable! What in the world is she doing that for?”
“I don’t know, but Ralph is locking up the lab, and we’re going to lock up our files at night. Plus we now have a motion activated camera in our work space. I feel like I don’t know who to trust any more. Am I being too paranoid?”
“No, I am afraid that we need to be extra vigilant, from now on. I always lock my office door at night when I leave. The only people who come in here are the cleaning crew, which we have had for years. I will start locking up any sensitive files in my desk. I’m very disappointed in Stacey. Let’s see what we get on your cameras tonight. Have Burns give her a call and tell her that you guys got a juicy lead today, and just leave her hanging. Then we will see if she makes another trip to your desks tonight.”
Laura looked relieved. “I’ve always hated technology, but now it looks like it might turn out to be my best friend.”
She went back to her office, to tell Dan and Roy about her encounter with Stacey. “Burns, the Captain requested that you call her with some erroneous information, just to see if she comes up here again tonight.”
“Will do, I’ll tell her that we’ve uncovered some evidence that will blow the lid off of our case, but that I can’t talk about it.”
“Perfect, thanks.”
CHAPTER 14
When the three detectives congregated in the office the next morning, it was obvious that someone had been there. The night before, each of them had placed a few objects exactly three inches from the edges of their desks. All of them had been moved to some degree, but Roy’s desk was the worst. He had left one of Stacey’s favorite candy bars in a drawer, and it was gone.
Just as Laura was about to call Ralph, he and the Captain walked in with a DVD. They all went into t
he break room and watched a video of Stacey taking their desks apart looking for the new clue. Roy was shaking his head. “Man, I didn’t see this one coming. I was afraid for her safety and now this.”
Captain Rutledge knew from experience what it felt like to be betrayed by a friend. “Roy, if it’s any consolation, none of us saw this coming. I know that doesn’t make it any less hurtful, but we do empathize with what you’re going through.”
“Thanks, Sir. How long do you think she’s been doing this without us knowing?”
“That’s hard to tell, but it would explain things like how he knew that we were wise to the Emily Anderson persona.”
Laura felt sorry for Roy, but she knew that they had to press on. “Sir, in light of this development, do you want to consider the possibility of her being an accomplice?”
Captain Rutledge looked sad. “It’s entirely possible. She was seen at that bar with our suspects again last night. Now, if we warn her about the company she’s keeping, we may actually be warning him!”
Roy acquiesced. “I’m in complete agreement with you guys. I was letting my emotional side compromise this case. Where do we go from here, Sir?”
“I would like to let things progress over the next couple of days, and see if this behavior continues. That will also give me more time to decide if I should talk to her.”
Laura didn’t want to sit by and do nothing. “Sir, what should we do in the mean time?”
“I think maybe all of us should go out for a drink tonight, at a certain bar. That way we make an appearance, and see if we get a reaction. Stacey and her friends get there around nine, so I think we should be there by eight thirty. If we are there first, it doesn’t look like we’re following them. When they come in, Roy can casually strike up a conversation with Stacey and invite them to join us. That way we can watch the relationship between them up close and personal, so to speak.”
Dan was curious about where they were going. “What’s the name of the bar, Sir?”
“You’re going to like it, Detective; its name is Murphy’s.”
The Lady Killer Page 14