Lisa Gardner - The Survivors Club

“That would be another problem.”

“The mayor is getting calls, and the colonel is getting calls and the media is having an absolute field day at our expense?”

“Very good, Sergeant. For someone who's never around, at least you're keeping up-to-date. Detective Waters taking pity on you?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Griffin acknowledged.

“Well, that speaks highly of Detective Waters. Whom, I understand, you have running around Cranston looking for associates of Eddie Como. That sounds an awful lot like you're poaching on Providence's rape case. Are you poaching on Providence's rape case?”

“I'm being thorough,” Griffin said carefully.

“Sergeant, don't make me kill you.”

Griffin smiled. He'd always liked Lieutenant Morelli. He took a deep breath. “Here's the problem. We started out with a basic theory. Eddie Como is an alleged rapist, ergo the most likely suspects in his murder are the rape victims.”

“I remember that conversation.”

“Pursuant to that angle, the financial crimes detectives did a full workup on the three women and their families. That yielded two good leads: Jillian Hayes and Dan Rosen have both made substantial cash withdrawals with no identifiable recipient.”

“They could've hired the gunman.”

“They could've. Unfortunately they didn't. Jillian Hayes donated her money to a Cranston parish, as confirmed by the parish priest. And Dan Rosen blew his money at Foxwoods, as corroborated by Vincent Pesaturo. It appears Mr. Rosen has a gambling problem.”

“Which means you now have a problem.”

“Yeah. At least as it stands now, none of the known victims and their families make good suspects, not even Vinnie Pesaturo.”

“Where are you going with this, Sergeant?”

Griffin laughed. It was the hollow, stressed-out laugh of a detective watching his case go down the tubes. “Well, we have two angles left. First, we hold with the vengeance theory, and pursue the possibility that there were other victims of the College Hill Rapist. Ones that have never come forward to the police.”

The lieutenant was silent for a moment. “That's an interesting theory.”

“Isn't it? Jillian Hayes and her mother came up with it. Remember, rape is a drastically underreported crime. I checked with Fitz, and they did some initial legwork. Ran the rape profile through VICAP, etc. No hits, but that doesn't mean much. If there are other victims, they may never have gone to the police at all.”

“Did they try the rape hotline or a rape-crisis organization?”

“Uh, no…”

“Well, maybe you'd like to send out some detectives, Sergeant. A rape-crisis organization won't give you names, but they can tell you if they received calls from someone who suffered a similar attack. Then at least you'll know if you're on the right track.”

“Ummm, good point.”

“That's why my name starts with the initials LT. Now what's your second theory?”

“It involves the Sylvia Blaire case. Fitz is hoping it's a copycat, praying really, that it's a copycat, but there are some problems with that theory.”

“The douche.”

Griffin scowled. “For a neglected lieutenant, you're keeping well informed.”

Morelli said, “I'll have you know, I do look very good today. Plus, it just so happens that Lieutenant Kennedy from Providence has the hots for my sister. Which is, by the way, the only thing that is keeping Detective Fitzpatrick from wringing your neck. Well, that and the fact that Detective Fitzpatrick has his own problems at the moment.”

“I appreciate that,” Griffin said seriously. “Well, okay. So Fitz and I had an interesting discussion on the Sylvia Blaire case this morning. One possibility is that Eddie Como led two lives, one as the loving fiancé, and the other as a sexual deviant. And maybe Sexual Deviant Eddie had some friends to whom he liked to brag.”

“Drinking buddies?”

“Maybe.”

“Who knew all the details of what he did, including the douche?”

“That's the thought.”

“Another interesting thought,” Morelli concurred. “But why just a drinking buddy? Why not an actual accomplice? We've seen rape duos before.”

Griffin shrugged. “Only one semen type was ever recovered from the vics. Plus, Carol and Jillian only reported seeing one man.”

Morelli was silent for a moment. “What if the second person was more of a passive partner? Maybe a lookout?”

Griffin pursed his lips. “Oh,” he said. “Ooooooh.”

“I'm good, aren't I, Sergeant?” she said knowingly.

“You're good,” he agreed. “The times! That would explain the times. See, it would appear that the first vic, Meg Pesaturo, was a quick in and out. Like the rapist was afraid of being discovered. But he spent a lot of time with Carol, who was always considered a last-minute substitute. Why wasn't he worried about someone coming home? And it would appear that the rapist had been in Trisha Hayes's apartment for a while, too. He'd already completed the rape before Jillian arrived, but he hadn't left yet. And even though in theory Jillian walked in on him, he was aware she was coming. He hid and jumped her from behind. Now, part of his lingering at the Rosen and Hayes crime scenes probably had to do with his escalating appetite for violence. He needed more and more to get the same thrill. But maybe he also had a lookout, or gained one as he went along. Someone whose job was to give him the security to stay as long as he liked. Except in Trisha Hayes's case, when someone did unexpectedly appear, it was a basement apartment with only one point of entry/exit. So he couldn't bolt without being spotted. His better move was to ambush her instead, which he then prepared to do.”

“And now this accomplice is no longer just a lookout?” Morelli said.

“That could be. Huh, that might explain the incident last night at the Hayes residence. Someone spray-painted ‘Eddie Como lives' across a bank of windows. Maybe that's what this guy thinks he's doing. Carrying on the tradition of Eddie Como.”

“But this person would also have reason to kill Como, correct? Both to protect what he'd done in the past and what he was thinking of doing in the future.”

“Yeah, maybe. When Fitz brought it up this morning, I thought he was pushing the limits. But then again…”

“It assumes a shift in behavior.” Morelli was thinking out loud. “Perpetrator number two was willing to be just a lookout, and now has graduated to actually committing sexual assault-and murder.”

“A graduating level of involvement is not uncommon in sex crimes, though,” Griffin added. “Most rapists start with bondage fantasies, then commit lower-level acts of violence against women-battery, assault-before moving to rape. In this case, we have a perpetrator who's definitely interested in rape. He's hanging out with a rapist, taking some role in the crimes. To have his first solo incident involve a high level of violence, homicide…” Griffin scowled. “That doesn't fit the pattern as well, but there could be mitigating circumstances. If Sylvia Blaire was attacked by Como's partner, the guy had gone a whole year without doing anything. Maybe the tension had built too high. He saw a potential victim. He went nuts.”

Lieutenant Morelli was silent. He could tell she had to think about it, too. “It's worth pursuing,” she said at last. “So I can tell Lieutenant Johnson that you're searching for associates of Eddie Como as possible suspects in our murder case?”

“You can say that.”

“I think I will say that. Providence has enough problems without feeling as if they're at war with us, too.”

“Providence has problems,” Griffin agreed.

“Speaking of which…”

He knew what was coming next. His grip tightened on the phone, but at least he kept his breathing steady.