by Casey Hill
So many implications, worries, decisions….
Well, for the moment all she could do is just take each day as it came. It was early days yet, and by her reckoning she couldn’t be more than five weeks into the pregnancy tops. She could only steel herself to get through this as best she could.
She wavered at the thought of Chris, and how to face him, given the breakthrough between the two of them. Just when she’d wondered if there might be something good happening between them; if they might even have a future, now that possibility was ruined for good.
Chapter 32
‘OK,’ said Julius, the next morning at the lab. ‘Brace yourself. I’ve got something for you, and I think you’re going to be happy.’
‘Great,’ said Reilly. ‘I’m all ears.’
‘The DNA we took from Nico Peroni matched some of the trace found in Rose Cooper’s flat and Harry McMurty’s.’
‘What about the other two?’ asked Reilly.
Julius looked disappointed. ‘No, nothing from Armstrong and Worthington. No yet, anyway. But this is pretty major, Reilly. Peroni was all over McMurty’s place. I mean, everywhere.’
Reilly felt bad for making these findings feel small. The team had been working so hard lately. ‘It’s great news,’ she said. ‘Really it is. We finally have something to hold the guy on.’
And it was good news. They were one step closer. Peroni fit the bill in so many ways. And yet … no, she wouldn't go there; she wouldn't go down that route. These days Reilly no longer trusted her instincts.
They just had to bring Peroni in and confront him with the evidence against him.
Nico Peroni was in bed when the detectives came for him, and he looked the worse for wear.
‘You’re ruining my life,’ he cried, as he pulled on some trousers.
Gary and Lucy were waiting in the kitchen. They had a warrant to go through the house and look for any other evidence that would help put Peroni in jail. Gary looked down at his feet as the man was led past them, but Chris noticed that Lucy’s eyes bore right into the suspect’s face. He knew that she was thinking of her own sister, and the fate that had befallen her, whatever it was. He wondered what Reilly had done with the new information about the Keating brothers, the discovery that had rattled her enough the other night to send her into his arms.
The ride back to the station felt long, made worse by Peroni’s muffled sobbing in the back. He looked at Kennedy and saw that the older detective had composed his face into a mask. No wonder people thought cops were emotionless, thought Chris. Look at what they had to face every day. There was so much pain in the world. People did each other so much damage, and they kept doing it. Humans had the power to brand others as monsters, and to become monsters themselves. The infliction of pain begat more pain.
He thought of his ex-girlfriend, Mel with a mixture of regret and pity. She had been the complete opposite of Reilly. She was a lively brunette, and he had fallen in love with her because she was kind, compassionate and had a wicked sense of humor. Until all of that, and his life - their life - was ruined by some random scumbag. Now, Mel was a shell of the person she used to be, and Chris could no longer reach her. He looked out the window, wondering why he was thinking about all of this again. He knew why though. It was because he was fairly certain that such happiness was about to be wrenched from underneath him again. At least this time, he hadn’t been in too deep. He wondered if Reilly had taken a test and if his concerns were realized.
If they were, what would happen next? Not with them; Chris knew that ship had no doubt sailed, but how would Reilly cope? He supposed it was none of his business but he knew that something like this would be a major upheaval for a woman like her. Still, again it was none of his business, Reilly had told him as much when he’d made the suggestion.
They pulled up at the station. Chris found he had little appetite for interrogating the falling-to-pieces Nico Peroni yet again, but he would have to do it.
‘We’ve got Peroni in a holding cell, awaiting his lawyer,’ he told Reilly over the phone. ‘Your crew is at his place already.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘I’m especially interested in his reaction when you confront him with the DNA evidence that we found at the Cooper and McMurty scenes.’
‘You’re not coming in?’
‘No need. We’ve got enough on him.’
Her voice was clipped yet he sensed something underneath her tone, something more fragile. ‘Reilly, are you OK?’
‘I just can’t talk about it right now, Chris. I’m sorry.’ And just like that he knew his worst fears were realized. She’d taken the test; she was pregnant.
‘I’m here if you need to talk,’ he said uselessly.
Somehow, he didn’t think she would be seeking him out any time soon.
Lucy and Gary sometimes played a game when they were searching a house, or an area that didn't require the same concentration as a full-on crime scene. It was called “What do I have in my hand?” Of course, they never played it when the boss was around. That would not go down well. But sometimes they found really odd things in places and it was a bit of fun to make each other guess.
They had already done it this morning with a tiny bird skull and a lipstick that had been, according to its display case, Katharine Hepburn’s.
Gary enjoyed being alone on a job with Lucy. Even if they didn’t speak, it just felt good working side by side. ‘Any movement on the cold case?’ he asked her now.
‘I should be asking you that question,’ she replied. ‘No, nothing that I know of. She’s pretty tied up with the Chef investigation of course so I wouldn't expect anything different. I don’t know why she’s stopped the hypnotherapy, though. I really thought that we were getting somewhere.’
‘Maybe she’s just worried about you,’ said Gary. He surveyed the suspect’s bookshelf. He certainly had the library of a killer: Famous Murders throughout History Grey’s Anatomy, Women and Deadly Secrets. Added to that he had all of the seasons of Dexter on DVD. It didn’t mean anything, Gary himself watched Dexter. Still, it was a bit weird.
‘She doesn’t need to be worried about me,’ said Lucy, carefully going through the contents of Nico Peroni’s desk drawers. ‘This guy has some really strange stuff. Like this.’ She held up a cross on a silver chain. The cross appeared to be made of bones.
‘Nice,’ said Gary.
‘This place gives me the creeps,’ said Lucy. ‘But anyway, Reilly doesn’t need to be worried about me. I’m fine. I can take care of myself.’
‘Of course,’ said Gary. ‘But I think the boss sees you as a kind of protégée. You’re definitely her favorite.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ She d blushed a little and Gary could tell that she was really pleased with the thought.
He looked around the room. Lucy was right. This place was creepy. All signs pointed to this being the guy. There were huge black and white posters on the walls of women in 1920’s attire, holding weapons.
‘I’ll be glad when we’re finished here,’ he said. ‘Those posters are enough to give me nightmares. In fact, to ward off that likelihood, maybe you’d like to go out later and take in a movie? Nothing scary of course…’
He looked over at Lucy. She wasn’t listening.
‘Gary,’ she said, but her voice wavered. ‘Guess what I’ve got in my hand?’
He looked at what she was holding and automatically took out the phone to call the boss.
Chapter 33
My little bird was not at group tonight. It is more than frustrating. There is so little time, and everything is ready.
Instead I had to spend an hour running next to an over-excited middle aged woman who kept up a running commentary about her children. Talk slower, run faster I wanted to tell her.
But I have to keep good relationship with these people if I am to see Constance again. What if she never comes back? Young women are like that. They flit from one thing to another, taking what the
y need from each thing that takes their fancy. Is it too soon simply to ask her out? To offer to cook for her? This is a harder one than the rest. There were expectations there. This is something far more delicate. Constance has not sought me out. She is not looking for a relationship, or sex. She thinks of me as a helpful acquaintance.
I need to get closer to her, somehow.
Kennedy and Chris were getting nowhere fast. Peroni was steadfastly refusing to tell them how his DNA may have been present in the Cooper and McMurty scenes. Added to that, he had engaged a fancy lawyer who knew his way around the interrogation room.
‘Isn’t it true that you have already falsely accused one person for these murders?’ asked the lawyer. He was a small, skinny man, with a chin like a dagger. ‘Harry McMurty’s name was dragged through the mud because he was framed as a killer. It caused the victim’s families much unnecessary pain. If McMurty was framed, is isn’t it possible that my client was also framed? Isn’t it possible that you are making yet another terrible mistake?’
Chris was becoming frustrated. ‘The samples from Rose Cooper’s flat were taken months ago,’ he said. ‘Why would someone try to frame your client then?’
‘Someone with a long game,’ said the lawyer. ‘You may not know much about fine dining, Detective Delaney, but my client is a successful man. There are many who would only love to see him ruined.’
Kennedy tried again. ‘Mr Peroni, any way you help us now will be remembered later on. You are only making this worse for yourself. Now, tell us, can you explain how your DNA may have ended up at those crime scenes?’
Peroni shook his head again and his lawyer held his hands out in exasperation. ‘Gentlemen, this is getting ridiculous. My client is clearly as clueless as you are. You must let him go.’
‘It’s our right to hold him for twenty-four hours,’ said Kennedy.
After Kennedy and Chris had a break, they were ready to go in and keep working on Peroni, when suddenly Reilly appeared at the station.
‘What are you doing here?’ Chris asked, worried by the slightly maniacal look in her eyes. ‘What’s going on? Are you OK - ’
Kennedy entered the room and instantly got a read on the tension. ‘Everything all right, folks?’
‘Yes,’ said Reilly, giving Chris a warning look.
She smiled at the two of them and held up something in her hand ‘I’ve just been to Peroni’s house. Look what we found.’
Chris held the little white bag in front of Nico Peroni’s face. The suspect’s eyes widened, and then closed when he saw it. Reilly watched intently from behind the mirror.
‘How did this bag of antimine come into your possession?’ asked Chris. Of course, they had no confirmation that the substance was anti mine just yet. They needed to get it back to lab first. But Reilly was pretty sure.
Nico Peroni just shook his head. Faced with the truth, he was finished talking.
‘We’re holding you under suspicion of the murders of Rose Cooper, Jennifer Armstrong, Harry McMurty and Naomi Worthington,’ said Chris.
As she heard Chris say it, it was the best that Reilly had felt since her return.
Finally, they had him.
Having delivered the substance to the lab and overseen the preliminary analysis, she was about to leave early in the hope of a well-deserved night’s rest when both Rory and Gary approached her at cross angles.
‘OK,’ she sighed defeatedly. ‘You go first Rory.’
‘I’ve managed to find an online profile for a person that both Naomi Worthington and Jennifer Armstrong were communicating with,’ said Rory. ‘It goes back to a fake email address, but the same address has been used to create a Facebook page for a guy called “Danny Prime”. Probably a fake name too. The profile is full of pictures that have been ripped straight from Google images. It’s amateur.’ He sniffed derisively. ‘Anyway, this guy is really active on running pages and things like that.’
Reilly was confused. ‘But we’ve got our guy,’ she said. ‘Nico Peroni didn’t have any dating profiles set up. We’ve combed his laptop.’ She wasn’t sure how to feel about this development. It was a bit late in the piece, but she would have to look into it. The fact that the guy was a runner piqued her interest though given the fitness angle running through the evidence all along. Was it possible that Peroni hadn’t worked alone?
‘And Gary,’ she turned to the other tech once Rory had left.
‘OK, first of all, don’t be mad …’ he began.
‘Now that you said that, I already am a little bit.’
‘I was doing a little more work on the Grace Gorman case.’
‘OK…’
‘And I just did a search on the house where we found the necklace. I dug up some more information on the ownership history. It’s up for sale at the moment and I got in touch with the seller Janey Smith — sister of that OAP Martin O’Toole, pretending to be an interested party.’
‘I’m not sure if that’ll help, we already know that the brother died years ago and it doesn’t look he had anything to do with the more… recent occupant.’
‘Maybe but the woman, Smith has agreed to meet, and I thought she might be able to shed some light on a few things about the house and what it was like when her brother was still living there, maybe the story behind the wigs or something?’
‘I don’t know Gary, that’s probably one for the task force.’ She sighed. This was the problem with imbuing the team with the same kind of work ethic as your own. Of course Gary wanted to chase this up himself, when it was painfully obvious to everyone that no-one trusted the task force guys. ’When are you meeting the sister?’
‘Tomorrow afternoon. Any chance you’d come along? That would be brilliant.’
Reilly didn’t feel brilliant when she got home. Yes, it had been a successful day. It was always good to get a killer off the streets. Peroni hadn’t confessed as yet, but his complete unwillingness to defend himself or even speak was as good as. They had enough evidence to see him convicted which was the main thing. Pure antimine was hard to come by.
She cooked herself a nutritious meal: spinach, asparagus and quinoa salad with a steak. That seemed like it should have all the vitamins she needed.
She felt so restless. It was as if she should be doing something, every moment, to prepare for what lay ahead. But what? All she could do was wait for the next eight months or so to pass. Isn’t that what all women did? At some stage she would have to start making more concrete arrangements, but it was early days now.
In fact, it was so early that she still couldn’t be certain of anything. People got false positives all the time, didn't they? She had to book an appointment with a doctor just to be sure. She would do that soon.
After dinner, she took a long bath. She hadn’t spoken much to Chris today, though he was obviously curious. She couldn’t bear to talk about anything just yet. But to be honest, it was nice to know that he was interested at least. It made her feel as though she hadn’t completely wrecked their friendship after all.
She pulled herself out of the bath and looked at her dripping body in the mirror. Had it changed? Was it making its own secret preparations for motherhood? She couldn’t see that it had changed. Maybe she looked a little bit … fuller overall, but that could be explained by the lack of exercise she had been doing since she got back from Florida. No, it was impossible to tell. For something like that, she needed the diagnosis of a professional to make sure.
The information that Rory had given her before she left work was still niggling at the back of her mind. It was probably just a coincidence, but it was worth looking into.
She sighed and opened her laptop and typed in the hack link that Rory had given her. Even when something was over, it wasn’t really over.
The page was private, but because of the password that Rory had given her, she was able to see it. Pretty innocuous stuff. Just posts about running, really. It was set up so that no one could add him as a fri
end, but he interacted regularly with the running club in the Phoenix Park, in particular conversing with one young girl who wanted advice.
Unfortunately, there was no way to find out who he really was. Lots of men set up fake profiles for dating, so that wasn’t suspect in itself. Probably he was just married. It was weird that he had a bogus Facebook account, but then some people tried really hard to maintain their privacy. After all that heavy thinking — about everything, Reilly thought she deserved to get some rest.
Sleep didn’t come easy, though. The events of the past few weeks went running through her head like the wind that was blowing outside. For Reilly, it still didn't feel as though anything was put to rest.
Chapter 34
Why do you look so different from your profile pictures?
Oh, those aren’t of me. I only use this thing so that I can keep up to date, I don’t like to have my life plastered all over the place.
Fair enough, lots of my friends have pages like that. Maybe I over-share.
No, it’s good. Your pictures are really nice. They remind me of family.
That’s really sweet.
You keep icing that hamstring, OK? I want to see you back at the track next week. I don’t want to have to run with someone else again. Such a pain.
She’s beginning to trust me, I can feel it. She didn’t come last time because she had an injury. But she actually messaged me to tell me that. She reached out to me. The time is coming closer.
In other good news, Nico Peroni has been arrested. It’s mixed news, actually. The heat is off me, for now, but it’s not great news for the business. I would prefer for all of this to be taking place far away from me but I have to take my wins where I find them.