Lisa Gardner - The Survivors Club

“Ah, but then you could've prepared a reply,” Griffin said.

“This is bullshit,” Fitz continued, full steam ahead. “Sierra's client is dead, so now he's carrying out his case on the evening news, where he'll never have to fear being cross-examined. The public will only hear what he wants them to hear.” His voice built again. “ Forget about three raped women. Forget about Trisha Hayes, tied up and asphyxiating in her own apartment. Forget that Eddie Como irreparably damaged four innocent lives. Let's just focus on the poor little rapist, who was probably potty-trained at gunpoint. For heaven's sake, why didn't Sierra just march over to the women's homes and personally slap them across the face!”

“It's not conclusive evidence,” Griffin said, addressing both Waters and Fitz at once. “Saying he could have Eddie's name cleared by afternoon was overstating things a bit. Who's the prosecutor?”

“D'Amato,” Fitz grumbled. He seemed to be working on taking deep breaths.

“Yeah, well, that's why Sierra made his case on TV instead of in the courtroom. D'Amato would've eaten this kid alive. Do Blockbuster Video cards contain photo ID? No. Isn't it true that anyone could've come in with Eddie Como's card to return a movie, not necessarily Eddie Como? But he thought the guy did look like Eddie Como? Well then why didn't he come forward before now? Why did he wait a full year to share this news? That's the real question.”

“He was scared.” Fitz played devil's advocate.

“Why? The College Hill Rapist never attacked a man. And don't you have a girlfriend, mother, sister, Mr. Murphy? Didn't you think about them, worry about them? If you really thought Como wasn't the guy, then that means the rapist is still out there. So why didn't you come forward to help catch the real perpetrator and keep your girlfriend/sister/mother safe?”

“I don't know,” Fitz said.

“Of course you don't know, Mr. Murphy. That's because it's now been over a year since ten May. How sure can you be after a whole year? Do you remember what you ate that morning for breakfast? What were you wearing? What did you do for lunch? Who did you call? Who were your other customers? What video did you watch that night at work? That's what I thought, Mr. Murphy, you don't really remember that much at all about that night, do you ?”

“Uh oh, I think I just wet myself,” Fitz intoned. “You're right, I am nothing but miserable scum. On the other hand, those fine, magnificent detectives at the Providence Police Department are geniuses, men above men. And that Detective Fitzpatrick, he's a stud. If I had a young, nubile sister, I would send her to him.”

“Yeah, but since he's already given his best years to the job, I wouldn't bother.”

“Ain't that the truth,” Fitz murmured. He took a last deep breath and seemed to come to grips with things. “Computerized records of a rental return. Who would've thought?”

“How sure are you of the time of the rape?”

“It's not exact. Carol Rosen went to bed a little after ten. She thought she'd been asleep about a half an hour when she woke up to a sound in her bedroom. She didn't look at the clock, though.”

“So even if Eddie was returning a video in Warwick, that doesn't prove he didn't later head into Providence.”

“It's not concrete. But if you take this kid's statement and you combine it with Eddie's girlfriend, Tawnya, talking about Eddie's favorite pastime being hanging out with her and their unborn child and watching a few movies…”

“Eddie starts looking sympathetic. A quiet family man. Given his fetish, you never checked with Blockbuster?”

“When we asked Eddie what he'd done that night, it was already six weeks later. He thought he might have rented a movie, which was his habit, but when he checked his credit card statement he hadn't. No one thought about a returned movie as an alibi.”

“Live and learn,” Griffin said.

“The DNA evidence is still DNA evidence,” Fitz muttered. “God knows, if cops comprised juries, we would send him to the chair. But of course jury boxes are filled with, well, jurors. If Eddie starts looking good…”

“The outcome of the trial grows doubtful,” Griffin concluded for him. He was quiet for a moment. “You know, if this testimony looked really bad, D'Amato had another option. He could drop the charges pertaining to the second attack. Only try Eddie for Meg Pesaturo, Trisha Hayes and Jillian Hayes. He loses one count of first-degree sexual assault, but life in prison is still life in prison.”

“Carol Rosen wouldn't like that much.”

“No, she wouldn't,” Griffin said meaningfully.

“Even if D'Amato dropped the charges involving Carol so Eddie's lawyer couldn't get Teen Blockbuster in court,” Fitz said, “Sierra could still trot the kid out for the press like he's doing now. That makes Eddie start looking good to the public, the ACLU or anyone else who gets off on pitying rapists. And that would piss all the women off. Hell, it pisses me off.”

“Makes things interesting. Do you think this is what Tawnya meant when she said something was going to come out at trial?”

“I don't know. She's been firm about Eddie's innocence. Seems to me that if she knew about Teen Blockbuster, she would've been shouting this evidence from the rooftop. I had the impression she was talking about something on one of the women.”

“Is there something we should know about the women?” Griffin asked sharply.

“Hey, I spent a year with the women, and if there was something we should know, we would know it. Then again,” Fitz admitted sulkily, “I'm ‘refreshing' my report on them as we speak.”

“It provides motive. Particularly for Mrs. Rosen and/or her family.”

“Assuming they knew about Teen Blockbuster.”

“Which gives us a starting point. How did Eddie Como's lawyer hear about this kid? And how many other people knew about him as well? Assuming, of course, that the kid is telling the truth.”

Fitz sighed. “I knew this day was going to end badly. Okay, let's talk it through. Scenario A is that Eddie's lawyer finally got bright and decided to check Blockbuster just in case. Then…”

“Kid's probably telling the truth, and never came forward on his own because he didn't want to get involved, or was afraid to get involved, or all of the above.”

“All right, so in Scenario A we do have a witness. Which doesn't mean we were wrong about what Eddie did after he dropped off the movie,” Fitz added testily, “but does make the trial more interesting and the victims/family/friends more anxious about the outcome.”

“Agreed.”

“Okay, then we have Scenario B, which is that Teen Blockbuster is coming forward now with his own agenda. What might that be?”

Griffin 's voice was dry. “Maybe he saw Tawnya. In her own words, she's been beating away the boys since she was twelve. Maybe she decided Eddie needed a little insurance at trial and this was the best way of getting it. Of course, that means someone, probably the kid, had to be willing to mess with Blockbuster's computer system to show a false transaction. I don't know how believable that is.”

“Hey, did you see the kid's face? A teenage boy with that many pimples could probably hack into the Pentagon.”

“In your own way, you're a real Sherlock, Fitz.”

“I like to think so.”

“All right,” Griffin said. “If it was just the kid's statement, I'd buy into Scenario B. I don't like the computer record, though. That's getting pretty elaborate to be a ruse.”

“So we're back at Scenario A, where the kid is legit. Of course, we'll have to pay him a visit to be sure.”