Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“So, Wolfe’s not making any hasty conclusions, huh?” Kane moved to her side. “Looking at the damage, someone smashed his head into the side of the pool.” He shook his head. “Unless this guy was drunk or taking drugs, why would he slip? He’s hanging on to the railing with both hands. If he slipped, he might have grazed his shins on the ladder but I doubt he’d let go. If he slipped and let go, I’d say he’d fall backward into the water, not drop like a stone with enough force to break his nose. The water would have slowed him down some, enough for him to grab the railing.”

Jenna indicated to Rowley, who was heading toward them from the locker room.

“I found his locker.” Rowley smiled at Kane. “I bet you could open it in a second.”

“Probably.” Kane glanced at Jenna. “Do you want me to take a look?”

“We’ll take a look.” Jenna made her way to the locker room. “I’ve asked for his parents’ permission to search his belongings and vehicle. I can’t see a reason why they’d refuse.”

“Well then, in case they refuse, we’ll lock it again.” Kane shrugged. “No harm, no foul.” He glanced at her. “If we find damning evidence, we’ll post a guard or add another lock until we obtain a search warrant. There’s always a way.”

Jenna snorted. “I’m padlocking the gate to the pool. No one is getting in here until Wolfe makes his decision. Right now, as far as I’m concerned, this is a crime scene.”

As Rowley had suggested, Kane had opened the combination lock in a few seconds. She looked at him and raised both eyebrows. “How did you do that?”

“Once Bent told you his name, I looked him up online. Found his date of birth and a few images of him with the football team. I tried his date of birth first, then doubled up his team number and it opened. People are creatures of habit; they use familiar numbers so they don’t forget. It’s a locker, so he wasn’t too worried about security.”

Jenna peered inside. She could see a gym bag, clothes hung on pegs, and a pair of worn sneakers with socks balled up inside. She found a set of keys in his pants pocket, and a pair of sunglasses lay on top of his bag. “See if he left his phone inside the bag.”

“Interesting.” Kane had placed the bag on the bench and was searching every crevice. He held up a cellphone then pulled another from a zipped compartment. “Why would he need a second phone?”

Jenna moved closer. “Can you get into it?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kane scanned the calls and frowned. “No calls made but he uploaded image files from the same number, this number. It’s a burner. I figured as much. You can buy these at any 7-Eleven.” He opened the image gallery and dropped his hand to his side, obscuring the view. His gaze lifted to Jenna. “This only proves he likes rough sex but it’s not Chrissie Lowe. The woman looks of age as well.”

“Let me see.” Jenna narrowed her eyes at him. “I know you believe seeing images like this will bring on my PTSD but I’m over it, Dave. I’ve dealt with many rape cases in my career and I can’t lead an investigation from the sidelines.” She held out her gloved hand. “Show me.”

She flicked through the shots, sickened by the content, and then lifted her gaze. “Oh, they’re smart. I can’t make out one face in these shots apart from the girl. We can’t even prove Devon was involved. Anyone could’ve given him this phone. For all we know, this might be a fetish.”

“It could also be his girlfriend.” Rowley peered at the screen. “They’re adults and there’s no law against group sex.”

Jenna looked at Kane. “It’s too much of a coincidence, finding these images when we have a rape case on campus. We’d need the cooperation of the woman involved, but finding her might be a problem. What do you think?”

“If we plan to use this as evidence, we need to pack it up neatly and obtain a search warrant.” Kane pointed to the screen. “Look around the room in the images. I figure it belongs to Lyons. I checked his room at the house, and this one has the same drapes and nightstand. We blow these up and we’ll get the location.” Kane rubbed his chin. “Although, if we find this girl, I doubt she’d admit to any wrongdoing.”

Jenna stared at him in disbelief. “Why? If someone raped me, I’d sure want them locked up for a long time, and this is proof.”

“Proof she was raped but no evidence to point to the men who raped her. Unless we can find some distinguishing marks on the men involved.” Kane shook his head. “It takes a twisted bunch of guys to rape a woman. This isn’t sex, it’s violence, and I figure they’re using these shots as blackmail to keep their victims quiet.”

Twenty-Three

A crisp morning breeze brushed Colt Webber’s face and tousled his hair as he ran through the tunnel and out to join the football team. The memories of the roar of the crowd, the scents and smells of a stadium packed with people at high school, filled his head. He could still see the cheerleaders clear in his mind. Heck, it seemed like a moment ago.

He had to admit the idea of being undercover both thrilled and unsettled him. He’d heard rumors about Lyons: his arrogance and temper had gotten him into trouble many a time. The fact the man had backup in the form of a number of heavyweights made his threat real and disconcerting. Up to now, his life at college had been enjoyable and he’d taken to his subject with enthusiasm, made new friends, and enjoyed working beside Shane Wolfe in the ME’s office. He’d become a sponge soaking up the wealth of information that poured from his mentor. His career change from deputy to ME’s assistant might not have eventuated. On arriving in Black Rock Falls, his immediate attraction to Wolfe’s eldest daughter Emily had been a mistake. At seventeen, Emily was too young to be seeing a man in his twenties, and Wolfe had made it clear he didn’t want his daughter involved with him. Emily, a sensible, smart woman, hadn’t taken much convincing and they’d walked away as friends.

To get his foot in the door with Lyons and his buddies, he’d dropped by a training session to speak to the coach. He’d told him that he’d played football in high school and wanted to try out for the team. Coach had made him drop and do thirty pushups. He’d smiled to himself. Since arriving in Black Rock Falls, he’d trained daily with Jake Rowley and was fitter now than he’d ever been in his life. He’d completed his pushups on his knuckles. He’d impressed Coach and noticed Seth Lyons watching him like a hawk. He wondered now if the quarterback’s attention was a good thing or a potential threat. Time will tell.

He swung his helmet as he walked and joined the other players making their way to the coaching team for morning practice. They went through a fitness training session and then Coach concentrated on plays. After watching from the bench for some time, Coach called him over. He wanted him to try out for the position of wide receiver and had him running and catching balls. One thing he could do well was catch a football.

After countless resets, Colt pulled off his helmet to wipe the sweat from his eyes and Coach strolled over to him with Seth Lyons.

“As Devon hasn’t graced us with his presence this morning, without offering a reason, I’m benching him.” Coach gave Lyons a look that prevented any arguments. “Lyons, this is Colt Webber.”

A pang of regret gripped Colt. Wolfe had called him earlier about the death of Pete Devon. Obviously, the news hadn’t spread yet. He took the hand Lyons offered and smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“Where’ve you been playing?” Lyons gave him a confused look. “And why the hell haven’t you tried out before now? I’ve seen you around, you were here last semester.”

Colt shrugged. “I’m out of Boston. Last semester I was way too busy to commit to joining a team.”