Fatally Linked

by Juliann Vatalaro

  CHAPTER 28

  DANI AND KATIE COULDN’T GET out of the building fast enough. As soon as they got to the car, Dani took out her phone, turned it back on and called Detective Michaels.

  “Michaels, I need a sketch artist in my office in half an hour.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I also need you to start running the following names. Check known gangs for guys named Tim or Drums. Run Drums through the list of local bands we have on file. The last one is Tyron. Check the database for registered bartenders and gangs.”

  “No problem.”

  Dani hung up and turned her attention back to Katie. “Dr. Warren asked you to try to remember what Tyron looked like. Did you get a good picture in your mind?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  Dani checked her messages as she explained to Katie what was going to happen. “The sketch artist will be waiting when we get back to the office. I’d like you to work with him to see what you can come up with.”

  “Sure, whatever you need.”

  “Jake and I are going to have to go talk to Dr. Oberman without you. We can’t take the time to wait for you.” There was a message from Peter at the morgue to call him.

  “That’s okay. I’ll just work with Wilson when I’m done with the sketch artist.” Katie gave Dani half a smile. “That is if it’s still okay if I help out with that.”

  She dialed the morgue as she continued her conversation with Katie. “As long as you’re up to it, you can stay on the case. As we all know computers are not one of my strong points. You’re a big help in that department.”

  When there was no answer she left a message for Peter to call her back.

  Katie’s smile grew as Jake and Dr. Warren walked up to them. Dani asked. “Did you find anything?”

  “No,” Jake said shortly and got in the passenger seat.

  Dani thanked Dr. Warren and got in the car. They were quiet all the way back to the precinct. As requested, a sketch artist was waiting in the squad room. They made a quick call to Lizza before setting Katie up in her office with the sketch artist. Lizza had everything set up for the memorial. It was going to be at four p.m. Saturday afternoon in the hospital chapel. While Jake made sure Katie was still going to be able to concentrate after finding out about the memorial, Dani took a few minutes to catch up on everyone’s cases. It was a little after eleven a.m. when they headed out to the clinic.

  It’s already been a long day and it isn’t even noon yet.

  “Where does Wilson stand?” Dani asked Jake as they got in the car.

  Jake had called Wilson while Dani got a rundown from the other cases the squad was involved in.

  “He’s talked to two of the Fallen Angels already this morning. Nothing came of the interviews. They’re both over seventy and haven’t been in contact with any of the club members for over twenty years. He’s on his way to another now and has one more after that.”

  They were quiet until Dani parked at the clinic. She turned to Jake before they got out. “Did you move the blanket?”

  Jake nodded.

  “Are you okay?”

  He shrugged. “I had to see. This may sound weird, but all my life I felt like something was missing. Nothing that would stop me, nothing that would distract me from my goals… but something was missing. Sometimes when I was supposed to be studying, something would pull at me. I could never explain it. It didn’t make any sense. Not until the day Zach walked up to me. Then it all made sense. I had a twin brother. I felt him off and on through the years and suddenly he was there. And now he’s gone.”

  Jake got out of the car. Dani held his arm as he tried to pass her. “He’s still in your heart. I don’t know if it will help, but I told Katie anytime she wanted to know something about Zach, I would tell her. That goes for you, too. Don’t be afraid or reluctant to ask because you think it will hurt me.”

  Jake hesitated before nodding. “Thanks. I just might take you up on that.”

  As they headed for the clinic doors Dani’s phone rang. Caller ID told her it was Peter calling back. She held Jake up and answered. “Peter, what’s going on?”

  “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get you and Jake for the past hour.”

  “You have me now. What’s so important that you would take that attitude with me?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Textler came to pick up Willy’s body. Only according to them the body we have in the morgue is not Willy’s.”

  “What are you talking about?” She grabbed hold of Jake’s arm. “Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker so Jake can hear this.”

  “What’s going on, Peter?” Jake asked.

  “As I just told Dani, Mr. and Mrs. Textler are here for Willy, but they say the body we have is not Willy’s.”

  Dani and Jake sighed in unison. “Are they still there?” Dani asked.

  “Yes, they’re trying to figure out where their son is.”

  “We’re on our way,” Jake told him and turned back to the car.

  Dani was right behind him.

  “I asked them to stay to talk with you. They said they’d give you an hour to show up, which was up about ten minutes ago. They have to get home. They need to find out what is going on with their son.

  “We’re ten minutes out. Don’t let them leave.”

  Dani hung up, took out her strobe light, and hit the sirens. It may have been stretching the rules a bit, but there is no way they were going to miss talking to the Textlers.

  Jake slammed on the brakes in front of the morgue bay doors. He wasn’t going to take the time to find a parking space. Dani jumped out before the car came to a complete stop and ran into the morgue.

  “Where’s Peter?” she asked the receptionist.

  “In his office. I’ll buzz you in.” She hit the button under her desk to open the doors.

  Jake and Dani ran back to Peter’s office and entered without knocking.

  “Peter, what’s going on?” Dani asked.

  “Lieutenant,” Peter stood up. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Textler. They say the body we have is not their son.”

  Dani held out her hand. “Lieutenant Castello and Detective Santos. I’m sorry if we caused you any pain, but the person we have looks exactly like Willy’s yearbook pictures. I hate to ask you this, but are you absolutely sure that it is not your son?”

  Mr. Textler answered. “Our son broke his left collarbone when he was ten years old. He has a scar from the surgery here.”

  He touched his shoulder just under his collarbone on the left side. “There is also a slight bump in the bone.”

  He rubbed his finger over the bone. “The boy in there doesn’t have either.”

  Dani and Jake looked at Peter. He just shrugged. Jake asked, “Did you by any chance use a fertility clinic to help you conceive?”

  Mr. Textler looked at his wife before turning back to Jake. “Why do you ask?”

  “Has Peter told you that we have two other similar cases?”

  “Yes.” Mrs. Textler whispered her answer.

  “We thought we had an ID on one of the other victims. Turns out it wasn’t who we thought. She also has a remarkable resemblance to a yearbook photo. The parents of the girl in the photo told us they used a clinic to help them conceive.”

  Mrs. Textler slowly sat down and nodded. “Yes. We used a clinic. We tried for five years. Eventually we realized we needed to find out why we weren’t getting pregnant.”

  Mr. Textler continued. “My count was good, but they were slow swimmers.” He smiled. “We went to the clinic. It took two tries, but Fran was pregnant.”

  “It took two tries?”

  “Yes. The doctor said the procedure doesn’t always take. After the first time didn’t work, we considered adoption, but Fran really wanted her own child. So we tried again.”

  Dani asked, “What was the name of the clinic and doctor?”

  “Doctor Oberman, the Family Way Clinic, here in New York.”

  Dani and Jake looked at each oth
er. “Would you mind giving us a DNA sample?”

  “Why? What’s going on? He’s not our son.”

  “Sir, we have reason to believe that your first attempt worked and the boy in there is your son.”

  “How can that be? They said it didn’t take.” Mrs. Textler grabbed her husband’s hand.

  “We need to find out what’s going on,” Dani told them. “It would be a big help if you would take the test.”

  “The choice is yours,” Jake added. “The other couple took the test and it turns out that they are the parents of the girl.”

  “Are you saying that Dr. Oberman stole our sample and created a child? Our child?”

  “We’re not saying that. Not yet, anyway,” Dani answered. “But we are going to look into it. Please take the DNA test. It will be a big help.”

  Mr. Textler looked at his wife and shrugged. “Let’s just do it so we can get out of here and go find Willy.”

  Dani nodded to Peter who immediately took out the swabs. She wanted to get the sample before they changed their mind. When it was done she asked, “I know you’re in a rush to get home, but can you tell us where Willy is supposed to be?”

  Mr. Textler answered. “He’s supposed to be in school. It seems he disappeared almost two months ago.”

  “And nobody told you?”

  “Believe me, we’ve already been in touch with our lawyer. That school will be closed by the end of the month if we have any say in the matter.”

  Jake continued, “We were told you were out of the country?”

  “Yes, my company has been contracted to build a school in Kenya through the Peace Corps. Willy wanted to finish out the semester here. Since he’s in college and lives on campus, Fran decided to come with me. She’s been helping to set up the classrooms and hunt down books and supplies.”

  “In college? It was a high school yearbook we matched his picture to, wasn’t it?”

  “Actually, it was a private school. I believe the students are from junior high through high school age,” Peter answered.

  “How old is Willy?”

  “He’ll be seventeen next month.”

  Dani rubbed her eyes. Jake rubbed the back of his neck and asked, “By some chance, is Willy a genius? Math being his best subject?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “He befriended a girl we know. She’s a genius, and he helped her with her calculus and analysis homework.”

  Dani asked, “Has Willy ever run away before?”

  Again they looked at each other. This time Mrs. Textler sighed. “He left the private school he attended twice. Once to go to a baseball game, and once he came to New York for a weekend.”

  “So it’s possible he could be here now?”

  “Yes, it is.” Mr. Textler took his wife’s hand. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to find him.”

  “We may be able to help you with that.” Dani nodded to Jake.

  Jake took out his phone and called Katie. “Do you have a picture of Willy?”

  Mrs. Textler opened her wallet and handed a picture to Dani. “We’ll put out an APB on him.” She handed him her card. “Please call us if you find out anything from the school or his friends.”

  Jake hung up and walked back to them. “She said they hung out at the library and in the park. No specific place in the park, though.”

  Dani handed him the picture. “Get this out over the wire. Have a car head over to the library and make sure the park patrol keep their eyes open.”

  Jake smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Then he left the room.

  “We’ll do what we can from here. Again, I’m sorry we put you through this.”

  She motioned with her head for Peter to walk them out. She needed a minute to slow down and work out their next step.

  CHAPTER 29

  DANI TOOK OUT HER PHONE to call Wilson, but it rang before she could call up his number. “Castello,” she answered.

  “Lieutenant, it’s Michaels. We got the warrant to open Daren Becket’s file. He was arrested for attempted rape and assault when he was fifteen. He was in a stolen car when it happened. Charges were dropped before the trial started. It’s not listed but I made a few calls and it seems that Daddy’s bank account was one hundred thousand dollars lighter when the record was sealed.

  “Damn it. He did try to rape Katie?”

  “It seems that way.”

  “Do we have any leads on where he is?”

  “Nope. Nothing yet, but we’re all looking for him.”

  “Anything on any of the other guys?”

  “Possible lead on Tyron. We ran the sketch through the system. Last name is Porter. Just some minor vandalism charges. Social Security shows a payment to his account from Hooters on 42nd Street last quarter. I’m going to head over there for an early dinner.”

  “Take Martin with you. If he’s there, I don’t want any chance of losing him.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “How did you get that information?”

  Michaels laughed. “Do you really want an answer to that?”

  Dani smiled to herself. “No, I guess I don’t. Keep me informed.” Dani hung up, took a deep breath, and called Wilson.

  “What’s up, Lieutenant?” he answered.

  “You tell me.”

  “Nothing is panning out. None of these guys have been in touch with any of the other club members for years. They do confirm what Pop said about the tattoo being for a member’s granddaughter. They all showed it to us. It’s a close match. I’d say just the eyes of the angel are what make it different. It looks to me the eyes on their tattoo are sadder than the ones on the teens. We’re on our way to the last one on our list now.”

  “I need you to hold off on that.” She explained to him what they had found out about Willy. “I need you to go to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and get the Sasakis. I don’t care if you have to arrest them. I want them here to ID this girl ASAP. Use whatever means is fastest to get it done. I’ll approve it.”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’re on our way.”

  Jake was just hanging up when Dani stepped out of Peter’s office. “APB is set.”

  “Wilson and Fleming are on their way to get the Sasaki’s. Michaels got a lead on Tyron.” She filled him in on the information Michaels gave her. “She’s grabbing Martin and heading to Hooters for an early dinner.”

  “And we’re heading back to the clinic?” Jake inquired.

  “Yup. We’re headed back to the clinic. Hopefully we’ll be able to make it through the door this time.”

  They continued into the clinic. “You’re lead,” Dani said as Jake held the door for her. Dani’s phone rang before they made it to the reception desk.

  “Castello.”

  “He’s here,” Michaels said. “What do you want us to do?”

  “Arrest him. We’ll meet you back at the precinct.” She grabbed Jake’s arm before he could speak to the receptionist. “We’ll have to come back. They found Tyron.”

  As soon as they were out the door they started running for the car. Dani grabbed the light and stuck it on the roof of the car.

  “Where?” Jake asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Back to the precinct. Hopefully they’ll be there before us.”

  Slamming on the brakes as they pulled into the parking spot, Jake turned the car off and yanked the keys from the ignition. They didn’t bother going to the squad room. Dani knew Michaels would have Tyron in an interview room. They headed for the third floor and down the long corridor. There were only three interview rooms, each one only eight feet by eight feet. Each one had a table and two chairs—one for the interviewer, one for the interviewee.

  Unfortunately they were all empty. Dani took out her phone.

  “Michaels, where are you?”

  “About five minutes out. We ran into a little problem.”

  “Which was?”

  “He bolted. It took us a minute to run him down. He probably needs some med
ical attention, but we decided he would live ‘til after you talk to him.”

  “I’ll be in my office. Let him sweat it out for about twenty minutes and give me a call.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She hung up and turned to Jake. “We have about a half hour. Let’s go see what else Katie has dug up on this guy.”

  Jake stared at the empty interview rooms a moment before following Dani. Maybe he shouldn’t be in the room. Holding back from killing this guy is going to be the toughest thing he’s ever had to do.

  “Katie, tell me about Porter,” Dani ordered as she pulled out a seat next to her.

  “Not much on him. Some robberies when he was a teenager. A few more after he turned twenty-one. No jail time. Probation for three years. Just got off around Christmas. He’s been working at Hooters for three years. Lives in the Village. Studio apartment. Pays all his bills on time. I’m still looking, but I don’t think there is anything else.”

  “I’d like you to listen in on our interview. If you think he’s lying about anything, you let us know.”

  “Okay.”

  “It may get a little rough. Are you sure you can handle it?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be okay. He didn’t do anything to me. He didn’t help me, but he didn’t hurt me.”

  “Good.” Dani patted her hand. “While we wait, a few other things have come up. You know the Textlers said the body we have is not Willy’s.”

  “Yes, but whoever he is, he was still my friend, and he’s still dead.”

  “Maybe. Did you happen to ever see Willy without a shirt?”

  “No. It’s winter. He always had a jacket on. Actually, even when we were in the library or café he kept his jacket on.”

  “I don’t suppose you ever asked him why?”

  “Nope. Didn’t seem to matter.”

  Jake took her hand. “Do you want to see him? Maybe something will pop in person that you didn’t notice in the picture.”

  She gasped. “Oh, I don’t think I can do that now. I mean, if you really need me to, I will, but I’d rather not. It will be too hard just now.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not necessary at the moment.”