“Nope, first time he came to us he said his name was Smith and that’s what we call him. But most people coming into this part of town don’t go by their real names. We don’t require identification,” Knight added with a smirk.
“How about a tag number or description of the car and the guy?”
“No tag number, but he GQ all the way, baby. We gave him the nickname for a reason. He’s about my height, bulky and dark hair. Drives a BMW 5-series. Real sweet ride.”
CHAPTER 52
I LEFT KNIGHT STANDING on the side of the road. As I walked back, I could feel his eyes on me. I turned back once, he nodded his head at me and turned back to his crowd. Bishop Moore stood with Bobby in front of the house.
“You’re crazy,” Bobby said to me as I approached. Then he walked back into his house, waving to Bishop Moore as he slammed the front door and disappeared from sight.
Bishop Moore reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. “You know he’s right. But so crazy you might get more done than the cops.”
“If you always let fear stop you from doing what’s right, nothing will ever get done.”
“You okay here waiting? I’m going to head back to Ms. Cecelia’s if you don’t need anything else,” Bishop Moore inquired. I always had the feeling he had a little crush on Ms. Cecelia, but at their age I didn’t know if either would entertain it. They should.
“I’m fine,” I reassured. “The cops and my friend Cooper should be here any minute. I’ve got some calls to make anyway while I wait. Plus, I think Bobby is going to keep an eye on me,” I said, pointing to the house where Bobby peered out at me from the front window. We both waved to him. He slipped back, disappearing from sight.
After Bishop Moore left, I sat down on the curb and tried George’s lawyer for the first time. I had missed a few calls from George. He left me a message with Bard Epson’s office and cellphone numbers. I tried both. I had to leave a message with his secretary at his office and left a voicemail message on his cell. I tried to sound urgent in both and hoped for a prompt return call. Now that George hired a lawyer, a lot was pending on how we’d move forward with the case.
I tried George but had to leave a message when he didn’t answer. George was technically my client. I hadn’t been updating him on our progress or what exactly I had been doing. Some clients want the full report while others don’t care and just want the outcome at the end of the investigation. Given how much George had paid us and how crazy this all had become, no matter what Luke and Cooper said, I felt I owed George at least an update.
Cooper pulled his truck up to the curb, and we walked together down the alley.
“What did they do?” Cooper asked, walking around the SUV.
“You know, the usual. Destroyed all evidence and hoped no one would find it here,” I said sarcastically.
“Do you know who set it on fire?” Cooper asked.
“No, but I suspect it was whoever was with Maime. By what the neighbor said, she went willingly.”
Cooper went back to his truck to grab his camera and walked back to me.
“This case gets stranger and stranger. I want to show you a photo I took today. I didn’t get the chance to show Luke. Maybe you’ll know him. I don’t.”
Cooper showed me several photos of Dean’s car and the guy who Cooper saw meeting with him the night prior. I didn’t recognize the guy either. I had been gone from Little Rock long enough that there was a decent amount of turnover at the police department.
“Got any more details from the scene today?” I asked. So much had happened it almost slipped my mind that Cooper was coming back from the scene of another victim.
While we waited for the cops, Cooper filled me in on the new developments, including Luke’s confirmation about the jewelry. I had never noticed George’s initials on the bracelet. I was surprised to hear what Luke had found. I was also glad to hear that Luke planned to hold a press conference.
The details were flowing out about these cases fast and loose. There was a lot of misinformation out there and even more that was potentially true but remained unconfirmed. I knew how much Luke hated making formal statements to the media especially on camera so I hoped the crime scene guys would hurry up and get here so I could be there at the press conference.
After about a ninety-minute wait, an entire crime scene crew finally pulled up. They got down to their work quickly after some preliminary questions.
Luke’s partner Tyler pulled up alone a few minutes later.
“Well, well, well look who showing us up,” Tyler said, appraising the damage. “What do you think? Is it Maime’s?”
“I can’t say for sure. There’s a pretty good witness who saw a woman fitting her description dropping it off on Friday night right before the fire started. You know they called this in and the fire department couldn’t be bothered to show up. Neither could your colleagues. It’s been here since her disappearance,” I scolded him.
“Not my department. Make a formal complaint to your boyfriend,” Tyler said, smiling at me.
CHAPTER 53
LUKE WAS AS READY as he was ever going to be. He stood in front of the police station with his arms resting on the podium that was set up for the press conference. He had the official statement typed out in front of him.
There were a sea of reporters, cameras, and bystanders filling the parking lot waiting for him to speak. His captain and other city officials stood behind him. Tyler was still at what was potentially the scene where Maime’s car was found. Luke would much rather have been there.
Little beads of sweat formed on his bald head and were starting to roll down his back. He wanted to get this done and over with. Luke was meeting with the medical examiner first thing the next morning. He had called right before the press conference to tell Luke he had made some interesting finds and similarities between the victims. They debated putting off the press conference until they had that information. Purvis advised that what he had to say was definitely not media ready.
Luke stood there under the hot lights and waited for the press to get their cameras ready and the cue to begin. He would give his statement, short and sweet and then take a few questions. He looked out into the crowd and felt a little relief to see Ben, Cooper and Riley amid the reporters. At least there were a few friendly faces.
Luke raised his hand to silence the crowd and indicate he was about to begin.
“Good evening,” Luke said, his voice a little unsteady but gaining more confidence as he continued. “As you know, four women have been recovered from the Arkansas River in the last three days. We have been able to identify two of the victims so far. The first woman found was Shannon McCarty, Congressman Mike McCarty’s daughter. Sara Bloomfield, a thirty-two-year-old woman from Little Rock was the second to be found Wednesday evening. We are still working to identify two victims, one found on Thursday and the other earlier today. The women are in their late thirties to early forties.
“We encourage cities and towns around Little Rock to bring any missing person’s reports fitting this description to our attention. We believe the women are killed at a another location and then dumped into the river. At this time, we also have reason to believe that these deaths are connected to one another and to the missing person’s cases of Maime LaRue Brewer and Laura Bisceglia.
“Finally, we are diligently tracking down leads to identify these victims, locate the two missing women and find the person responsible for these heinous acts. They will be held accountable. Little Rock Police Department has named Maime LaRue Brewer’s husband George Brewer as a person of interest in the missing women’s cases at this time. We encourage all of our residents to act with safety in mind and to report any information to our tip line. Even the smallest details can be the break needed in these cases. I will now take questions.”
“Are you saying George Brewer is a serial killer?” the local NBC news reporter shouted out first.
“We have not made a determination that these homicides
are the result of a serial killer. The deaths may be connected. George Brewer is simply a person of interest in the missing person’s cases,” Luke said matter of fact. He had to walk a fine line with what he said about George given they had no solid evidence to even make an arrest.
“Shannon McCarty was a known prostitute in New Orleans. Was she meeting clients here?” a reporter shouted from the back.
“We don’t know. Regardless of her profession, Ms. McCarty did not deserve to die,” Luke said. He hoped that subject would drop.
“What about the jewelry found on the victims? We heard it was connected back to George Brewer,” a male reporter shouted.
Luke tried to contain the shock he felt. This hadn’t even been discussed widely around the police department.
“Yes, each woman was found wearing one item of jewelry. However, we are not going to comment on that at this time.”
Another reporter asked, “What can you tell us about the allegation that George Brewer was having an affair that led to Maime’s disappearance?”
“What we know right now is that George Brewer was having an affair with Laura Bisceglia. We cannot release any more information than that at this time.”
Over the next several minutes, Luke handled more general and routine questions. Most he would not confirm the information they wanted. He watched the reporters jockeying for position, each taking a turn and jotting down notes with each answer.
Luke was just about to wrap up when a female reporter who asked the first question stepped up in front of the crowd, holding her microphone toward Luke and asked, “How do you respond to the information that the women were all held for several days after they were taken and drugged with succinylcholine to render them totally helpless?”
Luke immediately turned and looked back to his captain. They made eye contact. Cap made the signal to wrap it up. Turning back to the crowd, lights flashed in Luke’s eyes and the journalists erupted in follow-up questions. Beads of sweat started to form on his brow even though there was a chill in the air. Luke gripped the sides of the podium and responded one last time. “We have no information on that allegation at this time.”
In between flashes of light, Luke looked for Riley and Cooper. He caught Riley’s eye and jerked his head back to let her know she should follow him into the station. She nodded, tugged on Cooper’s sleeve and then whispered in his ear. Luke turned and walked back into the police station followed by the other officers and his captain.
As they rounded the corner into the building out of earshot from the reporters, Luke asked no one in particular, “Who is leaking information?”
CHAPTER 54
“WE GET ANY TOXICOLOGY REPORTS BACK?” Luke asked Purvis over the phone as he rounded the flight of stairs, heading back to his desk. He knew Purvis wasn’t going to be able to make it to the police station. He was still finishing the autopsy on the victim found earlier that day.
Luke wanted to know what that reporter was talking about so he had immediately called Purvis. When his assistant balked at pulling him out of the autopsy suite, Luke insisted.
“Not yet. We’ve got it on rush though,” Purvis explained impatiently.
“Do you routinely test for something called,” Luke paused and looked down at his notes to remember the name of the drug the reporter mention, “succinylcholine?”
“No, it’s an anesthesia adjunct. Why would we test for that?” Purvis asked. Luke detected a note of concern in Purvis’ voice that he hadn’t heard before.
“We had a reporter ask us if the victims were given this to render them helpless before they were killed. We have absolutely no information, evidence or knowledge on this. Obviously, we have to see if it’s true.”
Purvis agreed to run the test for it. He said he’d pull some notes about past cases he was familiar with where this drug was used. He suggested Luke do some research himself. Luke had no idea what this drug was, where it was available, and what it would do to a victim’s body. He also wanted to know how a reporter had received that information.
Luke reached under his desk to an evidence box and pulled out the bagged ring and earrings pulled from the victims. He carefully moved the items around inside their respective bags to get a better look. Sure enough the initials G.B. were on both.
Luke was gathering his files as Riley and Cooper made their way into the row of detective cubicles. Luke motioned for them to go into the conference room. He quickly picked up the phone to buzz his captain to join them.
Once seated around the table, Luke asked Riley to give them the run down on the SUV she found as well as anything related to the drugs. Riley explained her brief interview with the neighbor kid Bobby and drug dealer Orlando Knight.
Luke was impressed. He was honestly surprised she got Knight to talk so easily. At this point, he didn’t really care how she did it, Luke felt they were running out of time and any help they had the better. That’s why he asked Riley and Cooper to join them. He wanted to ask Riley and Cooper to follow up on a few things for him. He’d need his captain to approve it.
Riley continued filling them in on everything she found that day including Bobby’s eyewitness account of the SUV and Knight’s confirmation of Maime’s drug use. Luke wondered who the guy was that was seen purchasing her drugs. Luke knew he’d never get Knight to go on record as he was notorious for not speaking to police, but he trusted the information that Riley was able to gather.
After Riley was done, Cooper updated him on what he found out about Dean. Cooper said he finally had a clear shot of the guy that was seen meeting with Dean and accepting money from him. Cooper said the photo was in his truck. Luke asked him to hold off getting it until he could explain why he called them in.
“I know this is unorthodox.” Luke paused and turned to his captain. “I should have asked for your approval first, but I’m hoping Riley and Cooper will conduct some interviews for us that I think they will get further on than we will.”
Captain Meadows started to protest.
Luke interrupted him. “Just hear me out. They obviously uncovered some things we missed anyway. We are in over our heads with work. Our guys are working around the clock and still can’t keep up. Let’s use the resources we have.”
Captain Meadows sighed but let Luke continue.
“Cooper, I want you to go back to Sam Bloomfield and start digging around about any connection Sara may have had to George. I don’t know how the media already knew, but all of the jewelry pulled from the victims has the initials G.B. I talked to George’s jeweler this morning. He told me George engraved his initials on all the pieces he had designed or purchased there. There’s a connection. We need to find it. Sam might be more forthcoming with you.”
Cooper agreed and said he’d head over there after they finished meeting.
Turning to Riley, Luke said, “The media obviously knows things we don’t. At first I suspected a leak inside this office, but they were asking things today about the jewelry and the drug that I wasn’t even aware of. It’s not in any file, and it certainly hadn’t been discussed. I know the media won’t give up their sources, but you were one of them. Would you be willing to see what you can get from them?”
“What are you thinking?” Riley asked with hesitation in her voice.
Luke was happy she hadn’t said no. He’d been anticipating a fight about how it was impossible, that a reporter never gave up their sources.
“Sometimes you get a killer who wants to communicate with the media. Maybe he’s letting some details slip to show he’s ahead of us. We need to beat him at his own game.”
“Have you asked Ben about the calls to his paper?” Cooper interjected.
“I did the other day. Ben doesn’t ever take the calls. He said his editor does, and then assigns him the work. He’s checking for me to see if there has been anything unusual. Today it seemed it was the television reporters not the newspaper reporters asking the questions about information they shouldn’t have even known about yet.”
“You know they won’t give up their sources,” Riley reminded them. “But, I’ll see what I can do.”
Luke turned to Captain Meadows to see if he had any objections. He didn’t. Right before they were all about the leave, Cooper asked Luke to walk down to his truck with him to take a look at the photo he had taken of the guy meeting with Dean to see if Luke knew the guy.
The three of them walked to Cooper’s truck. Cooper pulled out his camera and handed it to Luke. When Luke saw the photo of Dean and who he was with, he wished he could say he was surprised, but he wasn’t. Norwalk had some serious explaining to do.
CHAPTER 55
WHEN RILEY ASKED COOPER to help her with this case, he jumped at the chance. Now he was barely able to keep his head above water with how fast everything had happened. They still lacked the key details to connect the dots. Sitting around the table at the police station earlier, he saw how tired and frustrated both Riley and Luke looked. He felt the same.
Now that Riley and Luke were getting along better, it made the work so much easier. Cooper had known they had dated but didn’t know until this morning how serious it had been or how badly Riley had ended things. Luke always kept things close to the vest.
Cooper knew back when Riley left something was wrong with Luke, he just wasn’t sure exactly what it was. Luke hadn’t wanted to talk no matter how many times Cooper tried. Cooper remembered that time like it was yesterday. Luke banged around his office, skipped golfing and football games, and all but became a recluse outside of work. At work, Luke threw himself into each case like a man possessed.
Cooper didn’t think Luke had really dated since, but then again what did he know, Luke obviously could keep a secret. The only thing Cooper hoped was that Luke didn’t get hurt again. He hated to see one of his best friends go through such a hard time. Luke already had tragedy in his life. He didn’t need more. Cooper knew he should pull Riley aside and see what her plan was, but he was sure this wasn’t the time. Everything but these cases would have to be put on hold.
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