A knock sounded on Sergeant Taylor’s door only a minute later. He called out for them to come in. Detectives Bobby Freeman and Luke St. James walked in and appeared surprised to see Rue and me.
“Grab a couple of chairs, guys. Detectives Cannon and Rue need your opinion on a case they’re working.”
“Sure thing. Good to see you two. It’s been a month or so, right?” Bobby asked as he and Luke opened two folding chairs and sat down.
“Yep, and it seems that we’re all too busy to cross paths even though we’re in the same building,” Devon said.
Luke looked at Taylor. “So, why are we here?”
Taylor jerked his chin my way. “Go ahead, Mitch, and tell them what you told me.”
I repeated what Rue and I had just discussed with Sergeant Taylor. “We need help, guys. Have you ever dealt with people who do weird shit like that, possibly contacts who may know those kind of people?”
“Like CIs?”
“Yeah, that’s what we were thinking,” Devon said. “As Royce put it, he doesn’t want us to go off half-cocked and involve the FBI unless we’re relatively sure this is an organ-trafficking situation.”
“Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. You can’t backpedal from that,” Bobby said.
Taylor took his turn. “In the seventeen years I’ve been the sergeant in this department, I can’t recall a situation like this. How about you guys? Maybe my old age is causing me to be forgetful.”
Bobby swatted the air. “You’ve got a memory like a steel trap, Boss, and you’re only fifty-two. Honestly, we’ve dealt with animal ritual stuff, and those people were arrested for animal cruelty and abuse. They were fined, but human organ cases? Never since I’ve been on the force.”
“So, maybe we can start with those people who have participated in animal sacrifices. They may know someone who is a little more off the rails than they are.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Luke said as he looked at Taylor. “Want us to pull those files?”
The sergeant nodded. “Go ahead. Whatever we can do to help Homicide.”
Rue and I stood, thanked them, then walked to the door. “Appreciate it, guys. Just call my office when you have the files, and I’ll come down and pick them up.”
“Hope that’ll help, Mitch.”
Rue and I headed upstairs. Royce had already gone to the scene where Valerie was found, so I would update him over the phone. If he wanted us to remain at the precinct until the detectives returned, we could spend that time reviewing police jackets of the people arrested for animal cruelty and abuse of a corpse. I decided to give him a quick call and find out. I was sure it wouldn’t take long for Vice to compile those police files for us.
Back in our office and eating the food that still lay on my desk, I called Royce and told him that Vice only had files on people who’d abused animals. I added that we would be happy to review those files until the detectives and Riley returned to the precinct. He told us to go ahead and said he’d let Riley know. Mason and Morrow would likely be heading back soon since they hadn’t found any evidence at the scene and the nearest neighbors were a mile away.
A half hour later, my desk phone rang. It was Bobby letting me know they had nine police jackets of people who had been arrested for animal cruelty in the past. I told him I would be right down to pick them up. I hung up and pushed back my chair. After a good stretch, I stood up.
“I’ll be right back. That was Bobby saying the police jackets are ready.”
“Good,” Rue said. “Reviewing them gives us a legitimate reason to be here on a Sunday afternoon.”
With a slap to the doorframe, I walked out but returned with the folders in less than ten minutes.
“Guess we can dig in,” Rue said. “I took the liberty of grabbing each of us a cup of coffee while you were gone.”
“Thanks, partner. That’s exactly what I need.” I settled in at my desk, took five of the folders, and gave Rue the other four. I chuckled when he caught sight of one that looked to be a half inch thick. “That’s why I gave you less.”
“Damn, this person must have kept Vice busy.”
Over the next two hours, we read each file, discussed the charges, checked to see if any names of criminals crossed over as known associates, then picked out the four worst offenders. We assumed the less-violent ones were actually trying to fit in with the others and could very well have been at the same sacrificial rituals.
Morrow and Mason had returned to the station an hour earlier, so they sat down with us and listened to us recount what Tapper had said. They were going to look into organ trafficking to see if anything like that had happened lately and where.
It wasn’t long before Royce and Riley were back. As a team, we gathered in the conference room and reviewed what we had and what our next move would be.
Royce addressed me. “First thing tomorrow, I want you and Devon to check camera footage on Whitaker Street. If you’re lucky, you might actually catch the abduction.”
I had to be honest with Royce so he wouldn’t get his hopes up too high. “We didn’t see cameras outside any stores in that exact spot. Actually, the closest camera to where Valerie’s heel was found was a block away.”
He raised his hands. “Whatever. See what you can find. We need to eliminate what the cameras did or didn’t catch before we can move on to anything else.”
“Yes, sir.”
Riley took his turn. “Tomorrow starts a new workweek. How are we going to handle this? Everyone on OT or see what happens?”
Royce rubbed his chin. “By the end of our shift tomorrow, we’ll have a better idea of where we stand. Either the cameras will catch something, or my crew will learn more from these idiots with the police jackets. No matter what, I’ll update you.”
“Sounds good. Why don’t you three get out of here and enjoy what’s left of your Sunday? I hear there’s a few baseball games on TV later. You’ve put in more than enough time for today. We’ll finish up and I’ll touch base with the night crew.”
Royce slapped his hands together then nodded at Rue and me. “You heard the sergeant. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
I was happy to go home and have supper with my family instead of heating up leftovers in the microwave. It was a beautiful June day, almost evening, and a beer on the deck was calling my name. I would have loved to invite Devon over for a couple of cold ones and supper, but I knew our conversation would turn to shop talk, and once in a while I wanted to enjoy time at home without the precinct being mentioned. I was sure my family would appreciate it.
Devon and I parted ways at our vehicles, and I climbed into my rented Malibu.
Rue gestured for me to roll down my window. “When is that Vette showing up?”
“Not soon enough, and it’s pure torture to wait every day.”
He laughed and waved me off.
I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face every time I thought about turning over the engine and hearing that low growl. One of these days, and as soon as the car was broken in, I planned to take Rue out for the ride of his life. We would hit some back road that went on forever and didn’t have a single stop sign or crossroad to worry about.