“We have him on attempting to drug and abduct two federal agents,” Catherine said.
“Do we?” Anson countered. “We have him onpossibleattempted kidnapping, but we can’t prove he drugged the food.”
Bianca said, “It’s a tight window, and he is the only person other than the chef who could have done it.”
“But we can’t prove it,” Anson snapped. “He could say he turned his back on the cart for two minutes and there’s two minutes where anyone could have walked up and dropped ketamine into the coffee and juice.”
Bianca scowled, and Catherine realized they were both exhausted.
She said, “You went through his calls, correct? He must have reached out to someone after he was arrested.”
“I don’t know what happened to your agents,” Anson said, “but Reid hasn’t made any calls other than to his lawyer on Friday. Did we get the wrong guy? Because from where I’m sitting, we have nothing on Reid other thanmaybeattempted kidnapping. And the judge may just buy his lame-ass excuse.”
“The food he served our agents had been drugged with the same drug found in the systems of the other victims,” Catherine said. “He was apprehended with zip ties and duct tape on his person.”
“There were no drugs found in his apartment, his locker at work, his vehicle, or the kitchen,” Anson said. “We can’t provehedrugged the food. And Costa and Quinn aren’t here to testify. His lawyer will say Reid is innocent because someoneelseabducted them. He, after all, was sitting in jail all weekend. The judge is going to buy it unless we have solidphysicalevidence that Reid has a partner. And nothing in your profile even hinted that he was working with anyone. In fact, it specifically states that he worked alone.”
Catherine was well aware of what her profile said, and she was beating herself up over her mistake. Historically, if there was a killing pair, the dominant personality was almost always motivated by sexual violence. Because there was no sexual assault, she determined that there was a lone killer who targeted newly married women not for sexual gratification, but as punishment for wrongs done to him by a similar type of woman.
“My team here, and the LA FBI, are working around the clock to learn everything about Garrett Reid. The answer is there, but since we only identified him Friday morning, we’re playing catch-up.”
Bianca said, “Now that he has a lawyer, we can interview him again. I was going to do it alone, but since you’re here, Dr. Jones, maybe you’d like to sit in.”
“Yes, thank you,” Catherine said.
“We jumped the gun,” Anson said.
Catherine was glad he saidweand didn’t fully blame the FBI. Michael was already beating himself up on going in too early because he perceived a threat.
Anson rubbed his temples. “Thank you for coming back,” he muttered. “We’re all to blame for this fiasco, maybe I should have weighed in more on the plan. Maybe we should have allowed Reid to take your agents off the premises. Then we would have foundwherehe killed six people.”
“It was a risk that we didn’t feel was worth taking—to Costa and Quinn, and to your deputies,” Sloane said. “Everyone agreed.”
“Quinn didn’t,” Anson said. “She argued against it, I should have listened to her.”
“It was nearly unanimous,” Bianca said. “We have to stop the what-ifs and should-have-beens. We talk to Reid again, get him to slip up. If we can’t, then we lay it out for the judge.”
“I know this judge,” Anson said. “He’s good, very law and order, but he really hates when he thinks we’re overcharging.”
“You’re not overcharging,” Bianca said.
“We can’t prove much of anything,” he said. “But I’ll work through it. I’ll find something—a felony—and make it clear that we intend to charge more.”
Bianca said, “Let’s see what his lawyer’s game plan is. If he gets out this afternoon, we’ll follow him. The resort isn’t going to take him back. He’s going to have to make a move at some point. Meet up with his partner, or maybe lead us to wherever Quinn and Costa are.”
Anson walked away without comment. He was angry and worried about their case, and Catherine didn’t blame him. She didn’t have much confidence at this point, and she was worried about Matt and Kara.
“How do you think we should handle this?” Bianca asked.
“I read the transcript of your interview on Friday, and spoke with Michael,” Catherine said. “We ask the same questions. Force him to recount everything, and any discrepancy, we push. Try to trip him up, get him to contradict himself. He may slip up or, if we’re really lucky, give us a path to follow.”
“The lawyer will be a buffer,” Sloane said.
Bianca nodded. “He’ll slow things down, prevent him from saying anything incriminating.”
“Do you know anything about the lawyer?” Catherine glanced down at the notes she’d taken on the plane. “Franklin Graves?”
“Nothing. He’s out of Jacksonville. I don’t know how Reid knows him, but he’s never handled a case in our county.”
