Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [reading in the dark TXT] 📗

“You got your deal.”

She gave a single nod. “It’s not my deal, Stone. I couldn’t get anything out of Teddy, except a promise he would get me the details today. Who did Wayne name?”

I went and opened the back of the car and put the laptop on the seat. “Jimmy Fillmore.”

“Did he say where we could find him?”

“Of course, Eva Maria’s Café on Lafayette and Longfellow.”

“You still don’t believe him.”

I smiled at her. “Keys?” She tossed them to me. I caught them and said, “What I believe is irrelevant, Dehan.”

I called the inspector. He answered on the first ring. “Stone. What news?”

“I have his testimony, sir. I think you and the DA should watch it.”

“I have the assistant DA here with me now. Come right over, we’ll watch it together. Did he give you a name?”

“Yes, sir. If what he says holds up, and I am pretty sure it will, we should have enough to arrest and convict Jimmy Fillmore. According to Harris, Fillmore’s prints should be all over Angela Fernandez’s purse, and, if he was responsible for the woman we found today, his prints and DNA should be on that body too. If the lab runs them, we’ll know if he’s in the system.”

“I’ll call Frank. You get here right away.”

“Yes, sir.”

We climbed in the car and as I started her up, Dehan said, “I’m sorry I got mad.”

“I’m sorry I was a pain in the ass.”

“You still are. Why did you send me to Teddy’s bar?”

“To get Jimmy’s details.”

We pulled onto the bridge and started across the dark water. “Stone, enough already! Will you stop now, please?”

I glanced at her. After a moment I said, “I wanted to test a theory.”

“And?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Why won’t you share your thoughts with me, Stone?”

“I already have, you don’t agree. When you see the interview, you tell me what you think.” I looked at her. “He is very convincing and he answered my doubts.”

She made a face like ‘what the hell?’ and spread her hands. “So you agree with me?”

I laughed. “Let’s talk to Jimmy. For me, Dehan, there are still a few unanswered questions.”

She sounded exasperated. “Like what? I’m your partner, Stone! Talk to me, for…”

She clenched her fists and made a couple of guttural noises, so I never got to know for whose sake. I sighed. “OK!”

We crossed onto Randalls Island and I pretended to think. Finally I said, “For one thing, if Jimmy took the trouble to wear gloves and not leave prints with the latest girl this morning, how come he left his DNA in the form of semen?”

She frowned at me. “What?”

I looked at her like I was surprised. “How come…?”

“No, I heard you. Frank has spoken to you? So soon?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know he didn’t leave prints and how do you know he left semen? For crying out loud, Stone!”

I smiled and raised my eyebrows high on my forehead. “You know my methods, Watson. You know the facts. Apply them, dear fellow.”

What she answered was unrepeatable.

She watched me fixedly, with her arms crossed and her shades on top of her head, all the way back to the station. When I had parked and killed the engine, she said, “I know what you’ve done.”

“You do?”

“You’ve cracked it. You’ve worked it out all on your own. I should hate you. I don’t know why I don’t.”

“Because I am so lovable, Dehan. But.” I raised a finger of caution. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions. We are not home and dry yet, and I did not say that Jimmy was not involved. This is not a simple case.”

She became serious. “Why’d you cut me out?”

“I didn’t. I told you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Her eyes went wide with exasperation again. “You told me about the stones and the prickly bushes, and about knowing where the stuff was. But you said he explained that!”

I nodded. “Exactly. Come on, Little Grasshopper, let’s go see the movie.”

Assistant DA Jason Malkovich was tall, lanky and friendly. He had the word ‘seasoned’ written into the lines on his face. He had prosecuted several of my arrests in the past and I knew he was a good man with a working brain in his head. I set up my laptop, the inspector closed the blind and we settled to watch the interview. We watched it in silence until the end, and when it had finished we sat in silence a little longer. Finally the inspector got up and opened the blind.

He stood with his back to the window a moment, staring at the floor. Then he said, “John, I think some of your doubts were resolved here, in this interview.”

Dehan looked at me, waiting to see what I said. I didn’t say anything. The inspector looked at Malkovich. “Jason?”

He didn’t look like he’d just won the lottery, but he nodded. “Obviously Harris’ testimony on its own won’t carry a lot of weight with a jury, but if the forensic evidence is there to corroborate it, we have a case. We need to pull in Fillmore and see what the lab can tell us about Angela’s purse and the woman they found this morning.”

I said, “I know Frank is pulling out all the stops…”

Malkovich smiled. “Pressure from on high is being brought to bear to prioritize this, John. We don’t need the press running wild with a serial killer story.”

Dehan raised an eyebrow. “Not to mention the fact that other girls might get killed.”

He smiled at her without resentment. “We are all grown-ups here, Detective Dehan. We know what it means to the girls.”

Her cheeks colored but before she could answer I said, “I