Fixed in Blood by T. E. Woods

Author:T. E. Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2015-06-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

“So somebody tampered with the computer records of our two murder victims. If that ain’t a red arrow pointing us in the right direction, I don’t know what is.” Jimmy DeVilla massaged the back of Bruiser’s neck as Micki added new information to the whiteboard in Mort’s office.

“That’s a bit of a leap,” Lydia said. “What we know is their records at Rite Now were accessed at a time different than the rest of the files. There could be a reasonable explanation.”

“Maybe in your world of theories, Doc,” Jimmy said. “But here in the logical world, we don’t put a lot of stock in two and two adding up to anything but four. Charlie Fellow knew we were investigating Crystal and Francie’s ties to Rite Now from Mort and Micki’s first visit. He told ’em to come back with a warrant. Gives him plenty of time to hop into the computer and make the records say anything he wants. We’re betting Fellow’s got a plan for in-deep customers to work off what they owe with prostitution. Prostitution led to snuff films. If he gets in there and makes their debts look manageable, he shoots holes in our motive.”

“I’m with Jimmy,” Micki said. “Let’s bring Fellow in. See how he holds up away from his home turf.”

Mort shook his head. “Fellow’s rattled. He wasn’t expecting us to ask about Delbe Jensen. Let’s keep a couple of plainclothes on him. See where he runs.” He nodded toward Lydia. “What about your former patient? You think he noticed the entry page dates were changed? He seemed nervous.”

“Could be he was surprised to see me,” Lydia said.

“And he scooted out fast,” Micki added. “If Fellow is running a prostitution ring out of Rite Now, his CFO might know about it.”

Lydia shook her head. “Greg and I worked closely for many weeks. He was eager to find work, yes. But I don’t think he was desperate enough to take a job managing a pimp’s money.”

“A patient ever surprise you?” Jimmy asked. “You tellin’ me you never missed something you shoulda seen?”

Mort watched Lydia consider her answer. As The Fixer, she was sure of every lethal move she made. As an award-winning psychologist, she had confidence in her ability to lead patients to a life worth living. But there had been surprises. He remembered Savannah, the patient she’d been working with when they first met. Lydia had been devastated when Savannah committed suicide by hanging herself from the porch of Lydia’s office.

“Mind if I sit in?” All heads turned to the door of Mort’s office. Schuster had appeared, unexpected and dressed in a gray flannel suit, crisp white shirt, and black silk tie. Mort wondered if the vice cop realized how out of place his style was in a department filled with patrol uniforms and plainclothes dressed in jeans and parkas. He hoped Schuster wasn’t here to announce the discovery of another snuff film, this one starring Delbe Jensen.

Mort waved Schuster in and introduced him to Lydia.

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