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Adler knew tough calls needed to be made during homicide investigations. “Would Kaitlin be the type to fake her own attack?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She’s different now. She’s not the flaky kid I interviewed years ago. She’s on a mission now and hell-bent on getting to the bottom of what happened to Gina.”
“All right.” He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t happy with the older detective’s characterization.
“Any leads on the Jennifer Ralston case?” The old man slowly collected the cards, but his fingers struggled to divide and shuffle the stack.
“Not yet. Remember Randy Hayward?”
“Hard to forget that piece of shit. What’s he saying now?”
“Says he can lead us to Gina. Wants a plea agreement to his pending murder charge.”
North sat back, his face scowling with anger and frustration. “He’s admitting to killing Gina?”
“He hasn’t admitted to any crime. And he expects immunity in the Mason case.”
An arthritic index finger tapped on the stack. “Shit. I knew he did it. I knew it,” he muttered. “He’s a smart son of a bitch. His IQ tested high. He knew I couldn’t make a case without a credible eyewitness or a body. Once I even pretended I had found Gina’s body, but he wasn’t fooled. He’s scum, but don’t underestimate him.”
“He had an alibi for the time of Gina’s attack?”
“Yes. His mother said he was at home with her, and she never wavered from that story. Usually I can crack a lie, but not hers. You’d be wise to talk to her again. I hear she’s not paying his legal bills this time, and his buddy Blackstone doesn’t come cheap.”
“Blackstone is working pro bono.”
“Maybe because Hayward’s unearthing a secret too many people want left undisturbed.”
“You think Blackstone is in on this?” Adler asked.
“Blackstone, Hayward, and Crowley were tight, so it’s very possible.” He rubbed his chin as he dropped his gaze to the cards.
“Did Kaitlin tell you she dated Hayward?”
“Not initially. Kaitlin’s connection to Hayward surfaced after his fencing arrest, and we placed him near Kaitlin and Gina the night of the attack. Hayward let it ‘slip’ he knew Kaitlin well. I confronted her, and she admitted they’d broken up over the summer.”
“Did Kaitlin say he might have been involved in the crime?” Adler asked.
“We conducted a lineup of suspects. She recognized Hayward, but she said she couldn’t be sure if he was our guy. Kaitlin asked each man, including Hayward, to speak a few words. She swore she didn’t recognize any of them.”
“Maybe she was too afraid or loyal.”
“Hayward is charismatic, but he can be mean as a snake. The podcast might just be a ruse to help an old boyfriend whom she still cares about.” North shrugged. “She wouldn’t be the first to help out a felon.”
“Do you think she was really involved?” Adler kept his tone in check.
“I know she was afraid of Hayward. After we hauled him in, she said Hayward started hanging around her aunt’s house. He never threatened her, but he let her know he was watching.”
“My partner is going through your old case files for me. He said there were abductions in the Richmond area similar to Gina’s attack? He said the details in the Mason case files were slim.”
“There were two. Both happened about two years before Gina vanished, several miles downriver. Both girls were raped, but neither could identify her attacker.”
“Was the rapist wearing a mask?” Adler asked.
“Pulled panty hose over his face. This attacker made both the girls shower after the attack, so we didn’t get DNA. Both also had long dark hair like Gina. I couldn’t link the cases, but it might be worth your time to talk to them again.”
“Any girls go missing?”
“Not a girl like Gina,” North said.
White. Affluent. Easily missed. “But there are all kinds of runaways, sex workers, and undocumented all along the I-95 corridor.”
“And when they go missing, few care,” North said.
“If Hayward killed Gina and didn’t leave a trail, it makes me think she wasn’t his first. He’d had practice covering his tracks.”
“The drugs have now taken their toll on him,” North said. “He was sloppy with the convenience store stabbing.”
“Let’s hope that trend continues.”
North leaned forward, holding Adler’s gaze. “Do me a favor and bury him.”
“I’ll do my best.”
The two shook hands, and Quinn’s number flashed on Adler’s display. Out in the hallway he answered, “Quinn.”
“I spoke to Ashley Ralston. She’s willing to see us now.”
“Good. Could you search rapes farther downriver during the two years before Gina vanished? Detective North remembers two.”
“Will do.”
Adler drove to the station and picked up Quinn, and together they traveled across town to a new trendy apartment complex near Rocketts Landing located east of downtown Richmond. Ashley Ralston lived in a third-floor apartment overlooking the James River.
Adler knocked on the door. Seconds later footsteps preceded the click of locks, and the door opened to Ashley Ralston. She wore no makeup, and the stress of her sister’s death was etched in lines around her mouth and red-rimmed eyes.
Adler and Quinn held up their badges. “Ms. Ralston.”
She recognized them both, and her frown deepened. “Come on in.”
She escorted them into a small living room furnished with a matching set of new furniture. A dozen moving boxes had been flattened and stacked in the corner, and several framed posters leaned against the plain antique-white walls. “I was just on the phone with the funeral home and the medical examiner’s office.” She ran a trembling hand over her hair. “I still can’t believe she’s gone. I never pictured myself having to do this.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Adler said. “Have you been able to schedule the funeral?”
“Sunday afternoon.”
He had made dozens of death notices during his ten years with the homicide department. It never got easier, nor did dealing with the grieving family’s desperate need for answers. “Looks like you just moved in.”
She shrugged. “A few weeks ago. It was supposed to be my new life after my divorce. Jennifer and I were supposed to take a trip to Paris this summer to celebrate.”
“You were close to your sister?” Adler asked.
“I haven’t seen her much in the last few years. A failing marriage distracted me, but the plan was to spend more time with her.”
“Did she talk about having issues with anyone?” Quinn asked.
“You mean like a stalker? Not until recently. Last week at our lunch a man kept staring at us. I found him annoying, but she freaked out and insisted we leave. Our food had just arrived, and I was an
noyed to leave hungry. The waitress packed up our food, and we left.”
“Did the man follow?”
“No. In the car, she told me about her stalker. I asked her if she’d spoken to the cops. She said she did.”
“I remember you told me that at her home. I searched for any police reports made by your sister, but there were none,” Adler said softly.
“Really? She told me she reported this guy to the cops.” Tears welled in Ashley’s eyes. “I guess she lied to keep me from bugging her.”
“Why do you think she didn’t report it?” Quinn asked.
“Embarrassed, I guess. I don’t really know.”
“It’s unfortunate,” Quinn said.
“She was wrong to be embarrassed. That’s why we have cops, to take care of the wackos.” Bitterness twisted around the words.
“So she never mentioned a particular individual?” Adler asked.
“No. I offered her my couch, but she insisted on staying at her own place. I should have made her stay with me.”
“What about Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend?” Adler asked.
“Jeremy? He’s not the type. He’s fairly passive. And I hear he has a new girlfriend. If anything, she still had feelings for him.”
“Would there have been any reason for him to visit her a few weeks ago?”
She shrugged. “Sex. That was always great between them.” She sighed. “I wish Jennifer had talked to me more, but she learned at an early age to downplay the negative.”
“How so?” Adler asked.
“After Gina vanished, Jennifer was pretty freaked out. She always blamed herself. Said if she’d not gotten so drunk, she would have stuck around and been there for Gina. That night has haunted her, but my mother grew tired of hearing about it. So did I frankly, so she stopped talking about it.”
“You were at the river when Gina vanished,” Quinn confirmed.
“I came to pick up Jennifer and Erika. They were both too wasted to be on their own.”
“Did you see Gina and Kaitlin before you left?” Adler asked.
“I did. They were waiting with Jennifer and Erika. They were all trashed.”
“Why didn’t you take Gina and Kaitlin home?” Adler asked.
“They said they wanted to walk. It was less than a quarter of a mile away, and I had my hands full with my sister and Erika.”
