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“Damien. How did it go?”
“As expected. Trudy did not mislead you. I took Drake out and he alerted on the spot. No doubt whatsoever that someone put a body in that dirt and then took it back out.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. I guess it must have been your girl.”
“Hard to think it could have been anyone else.”
“You’ll be sending forensics back out?”
“I will.”
“Fair warning that they might not find anything helpful,” Damien said. That ground is pretty churned up. And it’s raining out there right now. You know the dogs can pick up traces that forensics can’t?”
“I know it. Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“Well, not really.” Damien sounded amused. “But if you’d like to imagine that you do, put in a good word with your sister for me.”
Matthew’s sister Lucia was a cop with Burlington PD. She was tough, and smart, and when it came to men she knew what she wanted and what she didn’t want. What she didn’t seem to want was any relationship that lasted more than a couple of months. What she seemed to be very good at was ending things quickly and simply and without leaving any bad feelings in her wake. Unfortunately for Damien, Lucia never went back.
“I can try.”
“Nah, man. I was just kidding around. Tell her hi from me though, okay?”
They ended the call. Matthew picked up the coffees he’d ordered and hurried back to headquarters. When he got there Sarah Jane was not at her desk. Kim Allen eyed the extra coffee cup in his hand.
“Looking for your girl? She’s in an interview room downstairs.”
Matthew was taken aback. Sarah Jane had done a good job interviewing Julie Bradley. A very good job. But that didn’t mean she was ready to take on witness interviews by herself. It sure as hell didn’t mean that she could choose to do so without his knowledge or permission. His displeasure must have shown on his face.
“Calm down, storm cloud,” Kim said. “It’s not a witness. Or at least, not a real one. It’s a crazy lady who gave the boys on the desk a hard time and wouldn’t leave without speaking to someone on your case. They called up. SJ said she’d deal with it. She’s doing them—and you—a favor.”
Matthew left the coffee on his desk and went downstairs. Only interview room 1 was in use. He thought about going in and decided instead to watch the interview from the side room, through the one-way glass. Sarah Jane was sitting opposite a well-dressed woman in her forties. The stranger had dark hair cut into a sharp bob, large brown eyes, and a small, pointed chin. She was agitated. Sarah Jane was not.
“The point I’m trying to make, if you would only listen for one minute, is that this man was alone with my children. Okay? Do. You. Get. That?”
“I do, Mrs. Sugarman.” Sarah Jane had a pen in her hand and her notebook open on the table in front of her.
“So what are you going to do about that?”
“You gave your permission for your girls to stay over at the Frasers’ house. And according to your girls, nothing untoward happened,” Sarah Jane said, in the tone of someone repeating herself.
“That is not the point.”
“We’re talking about a sleepover that happened more than two years ago.”
“I told you about the sleepover only so that you would understand my personal connection to this issue, my concern as a mother, okay? I mean, clearly I overestimated your capacity for empathy. I guess you don’t have any children. But just forget about that. I’m asking you, as a citizen, what you’re going to do about this man.” There was a certain amount of triumph in her voice.
“As I’ve explained to you twice now, Mr. Fraser hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“That’s bullcrap.” Sugarman pointed right in Sarah Jane’s face. “And you know it. He raped a little girl in New Jersey. And now his stepdaughter is missing and you people are doing nothing about it.”
“That’s simply not true—”
“Why are you protecting him? It’s disgusting. It used to be that you could rely on police to go after people like this. The world is going to hell, that’s what it is. You people want to sit around and drink coffee and eat snacks and talk like you’re all so important, and in the meantime the rapists and the child molesters are everywhere. It’s no wonder people are taking things into their own hands. They don’t have a choice. Andrew Fraser better watch his back.”
Sarah Jane closed her notebook carefully. She placed her pen down on the table.
