CHAPTER

33

TOMMY LOOKED UP abruptly when Gino and Magozzi filled his doorway. “Jeez, you two look like you’re late for your own funerals.”

“We have a user name from the bondage site: JamesBondage007.”

“You’re kidding me. Sounds like a bad porn movie.”

“Can you do a little digging, see if you can get his personal information?”

“Not without a warrant, you know that. City Hall is not Harley’s mansion. There are eyes and ears everywhere. But you might not need to go the gray area route. I’ve been poking around in Kelly Ramage’s Signal account. The messages are gone, but I pulled a phone number from her log and I’m checking it out now. It’s the only one that contacted her through Signal, and the contact was regular, including five messages from yesterday, when she was killed. Last one was around eight thirty last night.”

Magozzi looked at Gino. “That was the text she read before she left the gallery. Nothing after that, Tommy?”

“Nope.”

“Is it just a number, or is there a name, too? Please tell me there’s a name,” Gino beseeched the acoustic tile ceiling, which was as close to God as you could get in City Hall.

“No name, just a handle.” Tommy’s affable face went still for a moment, then the corner of his mouth quirked up. “His handle is JB007.”

Gino snapped his fingers. “That’s him. How long until you can match the number with a name?”

“About thirty more seconds.” Tommy’s fingers clacked on his keyboard. Then he started scrolling with his mouse. “Phone numbers are easy and completely legal. No gray area here.”

Gino snuffled indignantly. “We’ve never done anything illegal in our careers.”

“None of us have. Okay, I’ve got it.” He tilted his head and stayed silent for a maddening long second. “Huh. I wasn’t expecting this.”

Gino gestured his impatience.

“This number is registered to Pavel’s Gym. I figured it would belong to a throwaway cell or a Google Talk number with fake personal info, not a legitimate business.”

“Not everybody is as paranoid as you, Tommy,” Magozzi reminded him. “I’m guessing the average person takes anonymous messaging at face value and doesn’t ever think that somebody could track them down. Or care enough to do it.”

“That’s true. Kelly Ramage used her personal phone and associated information for Signal. Most regular people do.”

Magozzi raised a questioning brow at Gino. “Isn’t Pavel’s that hardcore lifting place?”

“The same one that got some heat a few months ago when one of the members got nailed for selling performance-enhancing drugs out of his locker. It’s as good a place as any to find somebody who’s into domination. A little ’roid rage, and suddenly you’re killing women. Makes sense to me.”

Magozzi’s memory bank woke up from a pizza coma. “I remember that. It was Ty Overgaard’s case. When I talked to him about the X this morning, he mentioned a snitch who was into synthetics and steroids.”

“Great. Maybe his snitch knows about Kelly Ramage’s murder, too.”

*   *   *

While Gino negotiated the short but slippery drive to Pavel’s downtown gym, Magozzi put his phone on speaker while Ty talked.

“Pavel isn’t just the gym owner, he’s my informant, and he’s a good family man, straight up. Every snitch I’ve ever dealt with is low-life street meat, but this guy isn’t that. He’s just neck-deep into some bad shit and I’m trying to give him a way out. He got pressured into the role with the steroid thing, but he won’t give me anything more than bottom-tier dealers. A guy like Pavel, he wouldn’t be in this gutter unless somebody with a big hand was pushing his head down. Can’t imagine how or why, but that’s the scoop on him and why he’s a pain in the ass.”

“So Pavel’s not good for murder.”

“Pavel’s not good for anything, but anybody in his gym might be. Look, murder is at the top of the heap, but don’t spook the guy if you can manage it. If I can get him to talk, he’s going to give us a big fish and get a lot of product off the street.”

“No reason for us to bring up drugs with him, we’re just chasing down a homicide and the X is a minor factor at this point.”

“Thanks, Magozzi. So, what you said about the blow-up doll. I was thinking of getting something from Victoria’s Secret to accessorize. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a fantastic idea. I don’t know how big the doll is, but I’d get a plus-size just to be safe.”

Ty let out a scratchy laugh. “Will do. We’ll see you soon, and be safe.”

Gino ran over a curb as he parked. “What the hell was that all about?”