‘Which is?’ Nash asked.
She grimaced. ‘Fifteen minutes ago, it was to spin this as a cop suffering from PTSD after too many years on Personal Crimes and ICAC. The mention of cops working Internet crimes against children always makes good press.’
‘Except that’s not true,’ Adam said quietly. ‘Especially since he may have been responsible for Paula’s murder.’
Isenberg’s eyes flashed angrily. ‘I told them that. They . . . scoffed.’ She drew a breath and regained her composure. ‘Initially, anyway. I was able to convince them otherwise. But this is exactly why you do not want to be lead on this case anymore, Adam. That a cop’s involved in something this huge? It’s going to be a political nightmare. I won’t let you get dragged into it.’
He was unconvinced. ‘And I appreciate that. But I want to bring him down.’
Her expression softened. ‘I know,’ she said as if they were the only two in the room. ‘But you can’t. Not anymore. You’re personally involved. If you don’t get him, people will say you protected him because of your friendship and that cops all stick together. If you do get him, it’ll be portrayed as a vendetta, bad blood between you, bad history because your fathers were complicit in hiding a felony. Either way, it will kill your career.’
Adam knew she was right. He knew it. But goddamn it. He needed to see the look in Wyatt’s eyes when he realized he was totally screwed with no options left.
She hadn’t said another word, just watching him. Waiting for his reply.
Say something. Say anything. Tell her to go to hell. But he couldn’t do that. She was trying to save him. Risking herself in the process. Because that was what good bosses did.
Trip spoke into the silence. ‘You said that was the spin fifteen minutes ago. What’s it now?’
‘Right now the department’s official position is the truth,’ Isenberg said, but she was still watching Adam. ‘Thanks to Meredith Fallon.’
Adam’s eyes popped wide, then narrowed. ‘Meredith? What’s she done? If she’s left that hospital, I’ll—’
‘Be sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future if you continue to speak,’ Isenberg said, lips twitching. ‘Relax. She’s fine. She’s exactly where she’s supposed to be.’
‘Then how?’ Adam asked.
Isenberg shrugged. ‘Your shrink’s been busy. She just got us the missing piece of the puzzle – how Wyatt connects to Andy, Linnie, and Shane.’
‘Go, Merry,’ Scarlett said with a grin. ‘And?’
‘She knew the killer had to cross paths with Linnie at some point because he’d hired her for the college prostitution ring.’
Trip nodded. ‘Because Penny Voss saw her at one of her father’s parties. But we’re pretty sure Linnie was coerced. How did Wyatt manage that? What did he have on Linnie?’
Adam could suddenly see the path Meredith’s mind must have taken. Linnie had loved Andy, enough to escape with him when he ran from Indianapolis and changed his name. ‘The cover-up of the foster father’s murder,’ he said quietly. ‘Resurrecting the case could have sent Andy to prison and he’d killed for her. Linnie wasn’t going to let him suffer for saving her.’
Isenberg nodded sadly. ‘That seems to be the right answer. Meredith found out that Linnie’s caseworker – the one who was about to move her to a different home because Linnie had reported her rape – has recently been fired because she did the same thing to another girl who ended up committing suicide. The caseworker is under investigation for taking bribes and involuntary manslaughter. Meredith called the detective leading the investigation. He didn’t answer her at first, not until I called his CO and requested their cooperation.’
‘And?’ Scarlett asked. ‘What did she find out?’
‘Well, she found out that the detective had been quite busy all morning working with the prosecutor who handled Sandra Walton’s case. She’s the foster mother currently in jail for her husband’s murder.’
‘The murder Andy Gold actually committed,’ Trip said.
Isenberg nodded. ‘Mrs Walton’s defense attorney requested a new trial. She’d seen the photo of Andy Gold on the news yesterday, and argued it showed he was violent. And if that didn’t fly, the defense attorney also offered that Mrs Walton would provide evidence against Ms Row, the caseworker, in exchange for a reduced sentence. The detectives spent the morning pulling together everything they had on the foster mother, the caseworker, and Linnie Holmes. Turns out one of the detectives fielded a request from a Cincinnati Narcotics detective six months ago.’
Adam closed his eyes. ‘Wyatt Hanson.’
‘Yes. Six months ago, Linnie was caught shoplifting with two other people. Apparently, she’d fallen in with them when they’d shoplifted before and they’d watch out for each other and watch for cops or store security. The other two were known small-time dealers, but with connections to bigger fish that Narcotics had been hoping to bring down.’
‘Narcotics thought Linnie also had connections,’ Scarlett said. ‘But she didn’t.’
Isenberg shrugged. ‘We don’t know if she did or didn’t have connections. Hanson was called in to question them because he’d been trying to catch the bigger fish. I don’t know if he believed she was connected or not, but he knew Linnie was hiding something.’
‘Something he could exploit,’ Adam murmured and Isenberg nodded.
‘Hanson ran her prints and came up with a match to those lifted from stolen items pawned outside of Indianapolis. That’s when Hanson called Indianapolis PD, asking about Linnie’s past. The Indy detective sent Hanson his file on Linnie, which contained the report on the stolen items and the complaint she filed against Mrs Walton, the foster mother who beat her with a frying pan. It also had the card of her caseworker, the one under investigation.’
‘Did Hanson contact her too?’ Nash asked.
Isenberg frowned at him. ‘Be patient, Detective Currie. The Indy detective sent me his file and a copy of the caseworker’s cell phone log.’ She slid a piece of paper, covered in phone numbers, to the middle of the table. Three entries, all the same phone number, were circled.
Adam sucked in a breath. ‘The same number that called the hostess at Buon Cibo.’
‘And,’ Trip added, ‘the number that called the bomb’s cell phone trigger.’
Isenberg’s grin was wolfish. ‘And after the second call, Ms Row received an automated email from her bank account stating ten thousand dollars had been deposited. It’s circumstantial now, but Indy PD is sending us her bank statements so that we can include them with Broderick Voss’s, whenever we receive them.’
‘Wyatt paid her for the dirt on Linnie, Andy, and Shane.’ Adam was torn between fury at the caseworker and awe at Meredith for putting this together in the few hours since he’d left her that morning. ‘He found out that Andy had been arrested for murder.’
Isenberg sighed. ‘And probably threatened to tell the Cincinnati cops so that Andy would be extradited. Linnie couldn’t let Andy pay for committing murder for her. So she did what Wyatt demanded.’
Trip was shaking his head. ‘But why? Why go to all the trouble of setting Linnie up this way? There are, unfortunately, plenty of young women on the street who would’ve willingly worked for him. Why Linnie?’
‘Why Mallory?’ Adam asked rigidly. ‘Why Paula?’
‘Because he can,’ Nash murmured. ‘He gets off on the power. The thrill of manipulation. Who knows how many other victims he’s manipulated?’
‘It’s all but killed Linnie,’ Deacon said, jaw tight. ‘Dani was so upset that everything went south at the shelter yesterday. She said she ran tests on the blood samples she took from Linnie and her viral loads are frighteningly high. Her condition has gone untreated. She said that Linnie hadn’t eaten in a few days when she saw her at the clinic. She’ll never bring her loads down if she’s malnourished.’