Pied Piper

CHAPTER 17

Daphne selected the task force situation room for impact, its walls littered with photos both of the kidnapped children and of Anderson’s corpse, an arm dangling half in, half out, of the bathtub. Suspects responded to environment, and she intended to treat Weinstein as a suspect.

Kay Kalidja held the door for Flemming, not the other way around. They entered ceremonially, Flemming instinctively reaching for the chair at the head of the large oval table and then reconsidering. “Where do you want me?” he asked Daphne.

“Wherever you’re comfortable,” she replied. “The head is fine. I want the suspect here,” she pointed, “where he’s forced to look at the shots of Anderson.”

Kalidja shook hands with Daphne. “I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Flemming contributed, letting Daphne know that he’d done his homework and knew about her. “‘Motivational Resources in the Criminally Disposed?’”

“I’m impressed,” Daphne said as Flemming came up with the title of one of her papers. She searched her memory and fired back, “‘Human Extortion-Negotiating to Freedom.’”

“Gold star.” Flemming faced Kalidja and demanded of her, “Background?”

“Father of victim number eleven: goes by Sidney. Graduated high school in Ohio. Antioch College. Earns sixty-eight thousand. Jewish. Wife is a gentile, Trish. Donations include Greenpeace and the Democratic National Party-small change-”

Flemming clucked his tongue at mention of Greenpeace.

Kalidja continued, “Has an eighty-thousand-dollar mortgage, twelve thousand left on his car loan. Credit cards pretty run up. No arrests. One moving violation, three years ago. Doesn’t telephone out of state very often; when he does it’s to a cousin and an aunt and uncle. Home phone number found on Anderson’s caller-ID list. Seven calls total. Three in the week prior to the accident.”

“Murder, don’t you mean?” Daphne inquired of Flemming.

“Accident,” Flemming insisted, leaning on the word. “You have two hundred and six hours of court time, Ms. Matthews-” she didn’t even know this number herself “-as an expert witness. I would doubt seriously that even once that testimony involved evidentiary assets of any kind. Your realm is speculation-”

“It’s science,” she countered, feeling her face burn.

“-into motive, environment, a suspect’s mental state. All helpful to the judicial process, but evidence is quite another matter. I have sixteen hundred hours in that same chair. At this point in time, Anderson was an accident. Something comes in to dispute this, we’ll review it. Circumstantial evidence is just that. It may work for Columbo but it doesn’t work in that chair. The Bureau doesn’t arrest suspects, we convict them. Therein lies the difference between me and Ms. Hill.”

She could feel resentment oozing from his every pore; he wanted control of the task force. He was a formidable presence. One didn’t miss Gary Flemming, didn’t pass him over with a casual glance. His black skin appeared iridescent in the room’s artificial light. His voice warmed her chest like a preacher’s.

Flemming held a degree in psychology from Georgetown, a master’s in criminology from USC. He had been a federal marshal with the INS border patrol before joining the Bureau. With each two-year transfer he had received promotion. He served on the Girl Scouts national board and did the speaker circuit during vacation to promote a minor best seller he’d penned about his celebrity kidnapping cases. Single, Daphne recalled. Never married. This struck her as hard to believe. As a woman, she found the self-confidence, the penetrating brown eyes incredibly attractive. Perhaps, she thought, women came to him too easily. Like LaMoia, she thought.

Flemming drank a Diet Coke from the can, his strong black hand gripping the soda. Kalidja drank a Starbucks coffee. The psychologist in Daphne was glad for these few minutes of evaluation-it was important to know one’s teammates. Flemming struck her as all business. His researcher, Kalidja, was all woman, sensual and fluid. She had expressive eyes and the lilting singsong voice of an islander. The ceramic beads ticked percussively behind her self-conscious toying with her hair. Daphne wondered if Flemming and Kalidja were more than colleagues.

Flemming’s toy was a stainless steel pen. He made notations in his leather Day Timer, unable to sit still. When he allowed his face to settle, it carried exhaustion, tension and impatience. He worked to keep those from showing. He checked his watch and grunted disapproval. His life ran according to those two hands.

LaMoia appeared, looking unusually tired. He was followed in lockstep by Sidney Weinstein and a gray suit named Caldwell.

LaMoia made a half-baked gesture of greeting to Flemming, offered Kalidja an annoyingly fawning smile and acquiesced to Daphne’s placement of the participants. Weinstein and his representative, Caldwell, sat across from the crime scene photos. Daphne focused on Weinstein, alert for changes in body language and expression.

Following introductions Caldwell spoke first, expounding his legal rhetoric. LaMoia reminded everyone that the interview was nothing more than an informal inquiry, a fact-finding mission. He said, “Mr. Weinstein, are you familiar with caller-ID, an electronic device that allows-”

“I know about it.”

“Over a two-week period, you or your wife made four calls to one Bernard Chalmers Anderson, known locally as Ricky Anderson, Richey Anderson and most recently, Andy Anderson.” Daphne logged the man’s pained expression. Weinstein was no innocent.

Caldwell, the man’s attorney, said, “Mr. Anderson was a private detective. As such-”

“Correction,” LaMoia said, interrupting. “Anderson installed home security devices. He also provided everything from Polaroids of the wife caught doing the dirty to a dislocated limb or two when the situation called for it.”

“Now wait just a minute!” the attorney protested.

“Easy,” Flemming said in his low, resonant voice, the sound of which melted Daphne. “The sergeant just told you: There are no charges stemming from this. Settle down, Caldwell.” The lawyer now focused on the SAC, knowing he was the one to watch.

LaMoia asked, “When did you last speak with Anderson, Mr. Weinstein?”

“Monday or Tuesday of this week,” came the nervous answer.

“And have you tried since?” He advised, “Think carefully.”

“Tuesday night.”

LaMoia nodded. “At 9:52, to be precise. Lucky for you, that was two hours after Mr. Anderson’s windpipe had been slightly rearranged, leaving him a little blue in the face, I’m afraid.” Looking right at Weinstein he said, “Tongue as black as tire rubber and about the size of a rat. Dead. A nasty fall in the tub. Serves as a keen reminder of the importance of those rubber mats with the suction cups. Know the ones I mean?”

Weinstein went the color of toilet porcelain. Caldwell, off-guard, recovered in time to issue a line of objections as if in a trial.

LaMoia continued calmly, “So, what we’re wondering about,” motioning to the others, “is the nature of your professional arrangement with a.k.a. Andy Anderson. And I should caution you, Mr. Weinstein, that we take no prisoners here at SPD, if you know what I mean. If we all do the dance, it’s a fun party. You sit in the corner like a wallflower with her finger up her nose and Agent Flemming, Lieutenant Matthews and I are gonna rain on your parade until you’re changing your shorts.” He cut off Caldwell with a raised hand. “And this Georgetown law professor can piss all over us as much as he likes and we won’t even feel it because we got nothing to do with him. Our business is with you, just like your business was with Andy Anderson. Know what I mean? So my advice … personally … what I’m trying to say here … is that you talk, you walk. You hold out on us and you’re holding out on little Hayes.”

Flemming viewed LaMoia with an open mouth. Caldwell coughed, got something stuck in his throat and gargled some phlegm to clear it.

Flemming said cautiously, “Now is the time for the truth, Mr. Weinstein. We don’t need any fabrications, embellishments or avoidances. Sergeant LaMoia is conducting a homicide investigation. That’s all you need to know. You are not a suspect at this time. We need a statement is all.”

LaMoia added, “If you needed some knees broken, we’re fine with that. Dirty pictures? Hell, that’s your business. A phone tapped? A house watched? It’s a free country.” He flashed another of those disturbing smiles.

Caldwell whispered into the man’s ear. Weinstein nodded. The attorney asked, “Given that there is no recording taking place and that this is an informal discussion-”

“Where have you been?” LaMoia asked, interrupting. “Why don’t we all just get out of Mr. Weinstein’s way for a minute and let him have some air.”

For Weinstein, there was no one else in the room but LaMoia. Daphne marveled at the detective’s ability to win control in interrogations. Nothing he did was orthodox. He violated every rule of questioning but one: He gained the subject’s attention. “You people wouldn’t help,” Weinstein complained. “I called. Told you someone was watching us.

“So I asked this friend if he knew someone who could help me. Not too expensive. He gives me Anderson’s name, says he caught this guy’s wife with a neighbor. Said Anderson had gotten photos for him. You guys didn’t believe me, so I’d find out for myself.” He stabbed a finger toward LaMoia. “So I hire Anderson to check it out. Am I being watched or not?”

“Had you heard about the kidnapped child at this point?” Flemming asked.

“Shotz?” Weinstein asked. “This was way before that,” he stated firmly. “LA, San Francisco and Portland. That was enough for me.”

Daphne spoke up. “You sensed you were being watched by someone before the Shotz abduction.” It supported her belief that the Pied Piper did his legwork in advance, reducing his profile once the kidnappings began.

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

Flemming said bluntly, “You hired Anderson in case it was the Pied Piper watching you.”

Silence fell. Weinstein whined, “You put it like that … I guess that’s right.” He hung his head. “It wasn’t exactly how I was thinking about it. No,” he corrected. “Anderson said it was probably a thief. That made sense: Burglars stake out houses all the time. So we put some stuff in the safe deposit.” His eyes clouded and Daphne knew he was thinking about his missing son. He cleared his eyes and said, “Hell, you know anyone in Seattle hasn’t had their car stolen, or their house broken into? Anderson said catching these guys isn’t so easy. They make you. They take off, stake out someplace else. I offered two hundred on the back side. That sealed the deal.”

Too much television, Daphne thought. Every John Doe a cop.

Weinstein didn’t strike Daphne as a target for a second-story man. Car theft maybe. She wondered if Anderson had simply strung the man along for the down payment.

“You called Anderson to check in. To see how he was doing,” LaMoia stated.

Flemming glared at LaMoia, unhappy with the leading statements. Unorthodox.

“Protect my investment. Of course I did,” Weinstein answered.

“And what did he tell you?”

“First time said he didn’t have anything. So call back. Next time, a day or two later-”

“Two,” LaMoia refreshed him.

“Said maybe some progress. He renegotiated. Said he could get pictures, but that expenses had gone up. Cleared it with me, I guess you could say. Expenses plus another fifty.”

“And so you continued your arrangement,” Daphne stated.

“Sure I did. He all but confirmed someone was watching the house. Actually all he said was that he was working on it. I didn’t like him stretching me out for more money. That bothered me. Plus, a couple times he tried to sell me a home security system, an alarm system.” He hesitated and asked, “Do you guys use them? At home, I mean?”

“Did you?” Flemming asked. “Buy one?”

“No. I’m not sure why. I just didn’t feel like it, I guess. I will now. Hayes kidnapped. Anderson murdered.”

“Anderson’s death has been ruled an accident,” Flemming corrected.

LaMoia and Daphne exchanged glances but neither challenged Flemming.

The attorney barked, “An accident or a homicide?”

Weinstein interrupted, “Listen, if you people had responded to my calls I wouldn’t have hired him in the first place. Don’t dump this on me. Is that what this is about?” He sounded a little hysterical. His attorney placed his hand on the man’s arm to settle him, but Weinstein shook it off. “You guys got the pictures, didn’t you.” It was a statement. “You just don’t know who’s in them and you want me to tell you. But I didn’t see them either.”

There had been no mention of a camera in Anderson’s property inventory.

“He had pictures for you?” Flemming asked.

LaMoia reminded, “You said he renegotiated to include photographs.”

“That’s right. I agreed to the fifty.”

Flemming said heatedly, “Did he notify you about having these pictures?”

“No, he didn’t,” Weinstein answered. “Never. Listen! Screw the photos! What about my boy?”

Flemming ignored him, arguing to the group, “He would have wanted payment for any such photographs. I think it’s fairly safe to say he did not have any such photographs.”

Daphne said, “Everything we’re doing is in an attempt to get Hayes back as quickly as possible.”

LaMoia made notes. “What do you think about the photos?” he asked Weinstein.

“I think he had shot some and was going back for more.”

“And why is that?” Daphne inquired.

The attorney leaned over and whispered into his client’s ear. Weinstein shook his head. “No,” he answered audibly, and then to the others, “I never saw any photographs. I was never expressly told they existed.”

Daphne pressed, “But you believed they did exist. Why?”

Weinstein turned slightly to face her. He wore a boyish, surprised expression. “He said he had something going for him. I don’t remember the exact words.” Weinstein anticipated her next question and said, “This came after the call about the extra fifty bucks. See?” Then a spark filled his eyes and he said matter-of-factly, “You know what it was? He said that he’d get his money when he delivered Mr. Stranger Danger. That’s what it was.”

Daphne felt a spike of heat from head to toe. To police, “Mr. Stranger Danger” referred to child abductors. The association with the Pied Piper seemed unmistakable. Pencils went to paper. Anderson had identified a suspect he believed a kidnapper of children.

If Weinstein had it right, it was the Pied Piper.

When Weinstein and his attorney had left, LaMoia offered for Flemming’s agents to join in a second search of Anderson’s duplex. In a surprise move, Flemming politely refused, implying he was happy to have SPD run his errands for him so long as any evidence discovered was shared. Flemming and Kalidja left together, leaving LaMoia and Daphne alone.

“So?” LaMoia inquired.

She said confidently, “Weinstein was nervous at first. Intimidated. But he loosened up. He’s bankable. His respiration stayed regular. No noticeable perspiration, squinting, twitching. Not even much chair adjustment. He remained alert, focused-and we were throwing a lot at him.”

“Had Caldwell prepped him?”

“It’s a possibility. That would account for some of it.”

“So we buy his statement?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“What?” LaMoia asked, aware that something was bothering her.

She pursed her lips. “It’s not Weinstein, it’s Flemming. He remained pretty quiet until mention of the photography. At that point he became much more animated.”

She asked, “Why did he pass on your offer to search Anderson’s place for the camera?”

“That stunned me, I gotta admit.”

“And what about his attempt to convince us that the photos didn’t exist?”

LaMoia hung his head in thought. He said, “It makes sense if they’ve already worked the Anderson crime scene.” He mumbled, “Fucking-A!”

Pouring ice into his veins, Daphne asked, “What if they already have Anderson’s photos?”