Allison Brennan - Stalked

“Did you read the book she wrote about your case?”

“No. It came out five years after Rachel McMahon was murdered, and I didn’t want to relive that tragedy. Public Relations reviewed it and said there were no factual errors.”

“You looked at the reports, you knew the victim, are you thinking any differently than DeLucca and me?”

Tony took a moment to ponder, and Suzanne both appreciated his concentration and worried that she had missed something.

“The killer wanted the police to think robbery, but because we know that Weber had a meeting scheduled with ‘RB’ I think it’s clear it wasn’t a random robbery. But I don’t think this ‘RB’ knew anything about it. It was a trap.”

“There were no defensive wounds on the victim. Nothing to indicate a struggle or that she fought.”

“Because either she knew her attacker, or he acted quickly. No discussion, no hesitation.”

“Which holds with the preliminary coroner’s report.”

“I saw that.” Tony flipped through his notes and read, “‘One six-inch thrust into the lungs and heart.’”

“Some knowledge of anatomy.”

“Perhaps. Or self-educated. The lack of hesitation tells me he planned on killing her, there was no other purpose of the meeting.”

“He.”

“Most likely a male. During my flight I went through the Cinderella Strangler case and Weber’s previous books and numerous newspaper articles. There are many potential suspects, but I can narrow it somewhat.”

“I wasn’t a fan of psychology in investigations until I worked with Lucy six months ago.”

Tony smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, which looked sad and reflective. “You use psychology all the time. Most good cops do. Interviewing suspects, using what they say, what they don’t say, their body language, all as cues in how you question them. How hard you need to push. Assessing how reliable a witness might be. Knowing whether someone is lying. Most cops will say it’s experience, or their gut. It’s really psychology they learned simply by doing their job.”

“So you can narrow it down?”

“It is definitely someone who feels they or a loved one was damaged by what Rosemary Weber wrote.”

“Wrote. Past tense.”

“Yes. I don’t think her killer has anything to do with the Cinderella Strangler book she was writing.”

Suzanne wasn’t certain she believed that. “You’re going to have to do better.”

“When we spoke yesterday, you said she’d just started researching the case. She was gathering files, hadn’t interviewed anyone, hadn’t spoken to the victim’s families. No one knew what angle she was taking, or how she planned on writing the book.”

“I can guess. Others may have, too, and not liked it.”

“But there’s nothing tangible.” Tony paused again, looked at his papers, but Suzanne didn’t think he was seeing anything. “I did a cursory assessment of the victims’ families and nothing popped up to indicate that any would resort to violence, especially before the book was written. If anything, they’d want to use Weber to immortalize their daughters, to show the world their girls are loved and greatly missed. But,” he continued, “after the fact, it could be a survivor or a family member who was upset with what was said, and wants to take it back. Or perhaps upset with how they were portrayed. Lucy is reading Weber’s three published books now to assess exactly that-anyone who was portrayed in an embarrassing manner.”

“But not just her books. It could be an article or something else she wrote.”

Tony nodded. “The problem with this theory is that I’d expect to see some sort of verbal or written threat to Weber before she was killed.”

“Except that the killer was extremely careful-so far, we have no physical evidence linking the killer to the crime. No hair or fibers, no blood, no security footage.”

“Well planned and premeditated. The killer doesn’t want to be caught.”

“Most don’t.”

“I wonder.…” His voice trailed off.

“What?” she prompted.

“Was Weber his first victim, or were there more?”

“But if it’s personal, would there be more?”

“Possibly. I keep going back to the manner of death. The killer did not hesitate with the stiletto. Even the choice of weapon is interesting-why a stiletto knife and not a gun? A wider blade? It’s not as intimate as strangulation, but it’s far more intimate than a gun.”

Suzanne’s phone vibrated. “It’s Detective DeLucca.” She answered. “What do you have?”

“Just met with the faculty advisor for Weber’s research assistant. Up to interviewing the kid and grabbing all her research?”

“When and where?”

“Butler Library, twenty minutes.”

“Thirty.” She hung up and turned to Tony. “Why don’t you join me?”

It was just past noon when Suzanne and Tony met up with DeLucca outside of Butler Library at Columbia University. Suzanne introduced the two men.

DeLucca said, “Weber brings on a research assistant for each project through the university’s grad program. Prof Duncan Cleveland is the faculty advisor for the program. It’s a win-win for the student-they get a stipend and college credit. Weber’s current assistant is Kip Todd, and Cleveland says he’ll be here. He has a small office on the sixth floor.”

“What do we know about him?” she asked as they walked up the wide steps to the main entrance.

“Grad student, got his undergrad in Buffalo in English Lit with a minor in communications. The victim picked him from nineteen applicants to be her assistant-according to Cleveland, she was demanding but fair, and liked to mentor.”

“We should talk to her former assistants,” Tony said.

DeLucca opened the heavy door and Suzanne stepped into the air-conditioned foyer. The cool air raised bumps on her skin. “I have the list. One is in the city; one has relocated. Kip Todd is her third.”

“I thought she was working on her fourth book?” Suzanne asked.

“She wrote the first book while she was working as a reporter in Newark. Sex, Lies, and Family Secrets.” DeLucca rolled his eyes.

Tony said, “Unfortunately, I’m very familiar with that case.”

“Suzi said you were one of the investigators.”

Suzanne punched DeLucca in the arm. She hated when he called her Suzi in public.

Tony stopped them and said quietly, “Have you identified the ‘RB’ Weber wrote she was meeting the night she was killed?”

“I have uniforms checking them out right now.”

Suzanne said, “Tony thinks it was a setup, that the killer used the meeting to get her alone.”

“Seems too dumb,” DeLucca said. “Too easy to trace.”

“Meaning,” Tony said, “that the killer isn’t the RB she was supposed to meet.”

DeLucca considered his theory. “I can see that. But how would the meet be set up? Wouldn’t she recognize the voice? There were no e-mails on her hard drive, though I have techs going through deleted messages now.”

“Any of the RBs on your list affiliated with the Cinderella Strangler investigation?”

“Yes,” DeLucca said, pulling out his notepad. “Rob Banker. He was the lead reporter covering the investigation for the Times and according to Detective Panetta, he seemed to have inside information.”

“A leak from NYPD,” Suzanne said.

DeLucca shot her a nasty glance, but she didn’t care. He had called her “Suzi.”

“Wherever the information came from, he had it,” DeLucca said. “The other three don’t appear to have any direct involvement with that case.”

“A fellow reporter-I can see Weber meeting him in a parking lot,” Tony said.