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“Aiden…Lieutenant.” Sade sighs.
Ignoring her, I ask, “Did you trace the person who paid Catherine’s bail the last time she was in?”
“Bail bondsman operating out of K Town: Sook Gwan. He refused to release his records without a warrant, which,” she holds up a hand, stopping me, “we’re working on getting signed.”
“And the warrant for the Mousetrap?”
“The judge wouldn’t sign it. He said that with wiretap turning up nothing so far, we don’t have probable cause.” She clears her throat. “In his words, Catherine could be anywhere.”
For three seconds all I can do is stare. Searching the Mousetrap was our only chance. Even if Catherine’s not there, there might have been something—anything—else that could give us a hint to where she’s been taken.
Sade opens her mouth to say more, but she’s cut off by Mani. “Laptop just came back.”
“Catherine’s?” I ask, sitting up in my chair.
“Yeah.” Hurrying over to my desk, he loads a USB drive onto my computer and opens the folder that forensics have saved. “Catherine was home when Elizabeth was killed.”
“I know.” I struggle to regulate my tone. “She told us that.”
Mani ignores me. “That’s not the most interesting thing they found.”
“What else?” My heart begins an anxious tick in my chest. My pulse becomes erratic as Mani leans over me to point to the computer screen. “Mani, what am I looking at?”
There are six folders, each labeled with a name and a date.
Adam Locke_08-02-2005
David Seymore_03-12-2007
Gary Hobbs_12-07-2004
Lyle Granger_06-09-2006
Matthew Burk_04-22-2008
I’ve only read the first five when Sade asks, “You think she was blackmailing them?”
I whip around to look at her. “The fuck did you say?”
She takes a step back.
Mani puts his hand on my shoulder as if he’s genuinely worried that I’m going to start pounding a woman half my size. “They’re assaults.”
“Come again,” I whisper. But I know. Mani hasn’t opened the folder yet; he’s letting me adjust to the news before he shows me.
“Every folder is pictures of Catherine after…”
“After someone hurt her,” I finish. My voice is completely calm. Cold. “Presumably the man the folder is labeled after.”
Mani nods. “She was collecting evidence. I don’t know what for…”
“How many?”
“This is it.” He does a quick tally. “Six. But that’s not why I’m showing you. Look at the last folder.”
“Previous_06-2004. There’s no day on the date. Just the month and year.”
“Yeah. And it’s not like the others. It’s…” Mani pulls back. “Maybe take a look.”
