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By the time Lili and Gil got back to the Greenfield Police Station, Mark Breen had been taken into custody by the State Police in Northampton. He’d been found up in a tree watching his mother’s house. Chief Reyes convened a meeting with ADA Chen, Detective Tindall, State Police Detective Devane, Sergeant Phillips, Agent D’Amico, and Gil Novak. Karen showed a slideshow on the monitor to summarize the investigation. Lili’s phone buzzed, and she left the room.
“So as far as prosecutions go,” said Karen, “we have Mark Breen on attempted murder and kidnapping, but the arsons are still waiting to be confirmed. The courts will have to work out what to do with the family’s false identities. The many crimes committed by Remi Foy went with him to his grave. There isn’t any proof of a crime that caused the death of Julian Foy. That’s it.”
ADA Chen said, “Mark Breen will be prosecuted, but because he is mentally challenged, his sentencing will probably be some kind of supervised release program since he’s not inherently violent. We should go overboard and make sure he meets with competent counsel and is represented at any interrogations.”
“Excuse me,” said Gil. “Something still doesn’t add up here. Mark Breen is an inherently nonviolent person with low intelligence. I’m amazed that he even has a driver’s license. How did he know when I would be on my motorcycle headed to New Hampshire, and how did he come up with the idea to rig a rope across Route 2? How did he know how to drug Karen and kidnap her, much less move her while avoiding detection? And if he’s involved in the arsons, how did he know to dodge the cameras? I think someone else is pulling his strings.”
Lili came back into the room, and all eyes turned to her. “Well, I’ve got some interesting news. First of all, we have Mark Breen’s DNA from two of the arson scenes, and he had a burn that was professionally treated on his right arm. On the other hand, we also have DNA from a pair of work gloves from an unidentified female at the Montague warehouse scene. There aren’t any women involved with their operation, according to the owner. The DNA didn’t have a match in CODIS, so we’re having it checked by our forensic genealogist.”
Chief Reyes said, “Well, that confirms him at the arsons, but Gil makes a good point. It looks like we definitely have more work to do. By the way, Kenny Tran has arranged for Helene Faucher to reunite with her daughters the day after tomorrow. I’m going to put him in touch with Detective Tindall and Gil Novak to get the whole story.”