AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about a serial killer?”
“That theory actually showed some promise because of the signature.”
Jack had read about it in the first newspaper article. “You mean the message on the body, ‘goodbye girl.’”
“Right,” said Cruz. “But that was a dead end, too. The VICAP database turned up nothing even remotely similar.”
VICAP stood for Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, a unit of the FBI responsible for the analysis of serial violent and sexual crimes. The VICAP database allowed a local law enforcement agency to input the details of its investigation and determine whether a seemingly random crime might be connected to a larger pattern of similar criminal behavior in other jurisdictions.
Detective Green chimed in. “If there’s something you can tell us to steer us in the right direction, we’re all ears, Mr. Swyteck.”
Jack hesitated, measuring his response. “I’m in a delicate situation here. As a criminal defense lawyer, I hear things all the time. Of course,I would never run to law enforcement with information that would implicate my own client, so that’s not my concern here. But even when the information relates to someone who is not my client, I’d like to know it’s reliable before I share it. Rumors and wild accusations help no one.”
“You’d be surprised,” said Green. “The cold-case unit will happily take anything you’re willing to give us.”
Jack had still heard nothing to lend any credibility to the anonymous tip about Shaky Nichols and a possible connection to Tyler McCormick.
“Is there anything else you can tell me?” asked Jack. “Any other theories about the case?”
“I did have one that was very short-lived,” said Cruz. “It ties in with the signature I mentioned, ‘goodbye girl.’”
“Tell me about that,” said Jack.
Cruz explained his initial theory that the homicide might be a hate crime based on sexual orientation or gender orientation. “I called in the FBI, since a hate crime triggers federal jurisdiction.”
Jack’s interest was piqued. It fit nicely with his theory that Shaky might have been hiding something about his relationship with the victim.
“Why was that theory ‘short-lived,’ as you say?”
“The FBI ruled it out almost immediately.”
“Why?” asked Jack.
“I assume it was because McCormick wasn’t gay or transgender. We established that fact right away. But I can’t speak for the FBI. You’d have to ask them why they did what they did.”
“Who was your contact over there?”
“Andrea something. Henner, maybe?”
Jack’s pulse quickened. “Andie Henning?”
“Yeah. You know her?”
“She’s my wife.”
The detective smiled. “Well, isn’t that convenient?”
Jack took a breath. “‘Convenient’ isn’t exactly the word that comes to mind.”
Their coffee cups were empty, and Jack had nothing more to say. They exchanged business cards—the title on Cruz’s readCurrently Unsupervised and Loving It—and promised to keep in touch.
Jack took his time pulling out of the parking lot. He did some of his best thinking behind the wheel, but he didn’t necessarily do his best driving while doing his best thinking. The issue at hand, and the trickiest step in the process, was how to communicate the settlement demand to Shaky’s lawyer. Technically, settlement discussions were confidential, not to be repeated to the court or anyone else—unless the lawyer crossed the line and the settlement demands amounted to outright blackmail. Jennifer Ellis struck Jack as someone who wouldn’t hesitate to distort his words, paint him as an extortionist, and seek his immediate disbarment. Jack needed a witness to the conversation.
He used the car’s hands-free system to dial up Theo at Cy’s Place. “Hey, I need you on a conference call,” said Jack.
“Yeah? You threatening somebody, or are they gonna threaten you?”
Theo knew the drill, and Jack explained quickly. Then he dialed Jennifer Ellis into the conference call and laid out the deal for her. Her antagonistic response was what Jack had expected.
