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“I can’t believe I had him, Mick. I freaking had him! Goddamnit!” Jason yelled as he punched his steering wheel.
“Jason, we all had him, and none of us saw it either. This isn’t on you. Hell, it’s not even on us. If you hadn’t been doing your job like you were we wouldn’t even have a suspect, let alone starting a manhunt for one,” Commander Mick McCarthy insisted.
Earlier, after Vladimir Popov slid the folded piece of paper to Jason in the interrogation room, a chain of events went into action that turned the entire department into a chaotic scene.
First, Jason briefed the team on who their newest suspect was, while Mick immediately got on the phone and started the process of securing warrants for Ernie Page’s house, office, and arrest.
“Apparently, Ernie Page is a helluva lot smarter than he looks,” Jason informed the others, all of whom couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Looks of surprise and exasperation filled the 1st District precinct as Jason continued to brief the others.
“I feel like an idiot, but this guy is smart, people. I bought the whole pathetic, lonely married guy routine. That being said, I’ve received information that yesterday was not Ernie’s first trip to the motel. He’s actually been one of their best clients for quite some time. Apparently, Ernie’s entire story about cameras in each room and the girls being drugged was a farce. Mr. Popov said that his girls are free to come and go as they please and that none of them were there against their will. He said that most of them were prostitutes back in Russia working in deplorable conditions. He claims that he would arrange for their entry into the US and provide them with a safe place to ply their trade and earn more money than they would in Mother Russia. Through some sort of degenerate logic, he views his work as a good deed.”
“What’s the connection to the EPK?” one of the detectives asked.
“Stoya Fedorov…”
Jason’s mention of the EPK killer’s first known victim led to gasps and whispers before Jason continued.
“This morning we actually interrupted Vladimir Popov and his crew’s attempt at vigilante justice. According to Popov, Stoya Fedorov worked for him after coming over from Russia. After she had an emergency appendectomy and was released from Metro, Popov said that he gave her time to recover until she was ready to return to work. He gave her money for food and paid for her to stay at The Roadway Inn.”
“The Roadway Inn? Is that the place over on Lorain?” the same detective asked.
“Sure is… right across the street from the esteemed Rides 4 Less used car lot,” Jason confirmed.
“So, Popov said Ernie killed her?”
“How does he know that?”
“What about the other girls?”
The questions came quickly from the officers who Jason was briefing.
“Popov said that he didn’t know the other two victims, only Stoya Fedorov. He also said that he had no idea Ernie had anything to do with her disappearance until yesterday. Apparently, the girl Ernie visited yesterday was a new employee who looked a lot like Stoya. She mentioned to Popov that Ernie insisted on calling her ‘Stoya’ during their session together. She was also upset over the fact that Ernie had left marks on her neck from where he choked her. Popov decided to find out where Ernie worked, and when he saw that it was right next to the last place he or anyone else had seen Stoya alive, he put a plan in place confirm his suspicions the next time Ernie came by the motel.”
“They were planning on doing a little interrogation of their own on Ernie, Russian style. When Ernie realized what was happening he made a run for it out the doors, knowing that we’d be there to save his ass if he made it outside,” Mick interjected as he entered the room.
“Vlad said that they were so caught off guard that he made a break for it because they had their guns drawn on them. They barely got a shot off before he was out the door. They figured he was insane… until they saw the SWAT team coming,” Jason added.
“Holy shit…what are the odds?” asked one of the detectives.
Jason laughed as he and Mick drove to the Corner Pocket Billiards Club.
“I gotta give it to the guy, he even shit himself during the shootout to look more pathetic. I’m pretty certain he drove straight to Rides 4 Less, grabbed whatever cash he could, and took a different car to flee,” Jason said.
“Figuring the timeframe, he could be anywhere within a five-hour radius of here. I alerted border patrol in case he made a break for Canada, and also notified airport security to be advised,” Mick replied.
“Did we find out from the guys at Rides 4 Less which car he might be in?” Jason asked.
“This might come as a shock to you, but Ray and Ernie don’t keep a lot of paperwork on the vehicles that they buy and sell on that lot. Ray said he is there so rarely as the owner that he wouldn’t even know which car is missing. Ernie was the brains behind the business and Ray was the silent owner. He said Ernie took everything from the safe, including a gun, and probably a few grand in cash.”
“You think we’ll be lucky enough to find Ernie betting it all on a game of 8 Ball?” Jason joked as they pulled into the parking lot of the Corner Pocket Billiard Club.
“Not a chance, but maybe one of the people there will be able to point us in the right direction,” Mick replied.
