Lacy stood and pushed back her chair. “This began with a complaint against Judge Bannick, filed by one Betty Roe, an alias.”
“When do we get her real name?”
“Well, it’s now your case, so I guess anytime you want. But I prefer to keep her out of it as long as possible.”
“Very well. And why is she involved?”
“Her father was murdered in 1992 near Gaffney, South Carolina. The case went cold, almost immediately, and she became determined to find his killer. She’s been obsessed with the case for years.”
“And we’re talking about eight murders, right?”
“Eight that she knows of. There could be more.”
“I think we can assume there are more. And all she has is motive, right?”
“And method.”
Vidovich looked at Suarez, who shook his head and said, “It’s the same guy. Same type of rope and the knot is his trademark. We got the crime scene photos from Schnetzer in Texas, same rope and knot. We’ve studied the autopsies, same type of blow to the head, same instrument. Something like a claw hammer that shatters the skull in one defined point of impact and radiates rupture lines in all directions.”
Vidovich looked at Lieutenant Harris and asked, “And the killer knew him in another life, right?”
Harris said, “That’s right. They were both lawyers here in town many years ago.”
“And you don’t know this judge—right, Ms. Stoltz?”
“No, I’ve not had the pleasure. He’s never had a complaint filed against him. A clean record, and a good reputation.”
“This is remarkable,” Vidovich said to the table and everyone frowned in agreement.
He continued, “Ms. Stoltz, what do you think he would do if we simply asked him to stop by for a few questions? He is a well-known judge, an officer of the court. He doesn’t know about the PTP. Why wouldn’t he want to cooperate?”
“Well, if he’s guilty, why would he cooperate? In my opinion he would either disappear or lawyer up. But he will not make himself available.”
“And he’s a flight risk?”
“Yes, in my opinion. He’s smart and he has assets. He’s done a superb job of avoiding detection for the past twenty years. I think this guy could vanish in a split second.”
“Thank you.”
Lacy sat down and looked at the faces around the table.
Vidovich said, “It’s obvious that we need his prints, his current ones. Agnes, talk to us about a search warrant.”
Still unsmiling, she cleared her throat and looked at her notepad. “I met with Legal yesterday in Washington, and they think we can do it. A prime suspect in a murder, two of them actually, the Biloxi case, and a mysterious partial print there that matches nothing. Legal says we can push hard for a warrant. The U.S. Attorney in Mississippi has been briefed and has a magistrate on standby.”
Lacy said, “May I ask what you plan to search?”
“His home and office,” Vidovich said. “They’re covered with his prints. We get a match, game over. No match, and we apologize and leave town. Betty Roe can go back to her Sherlock Holmes routine.”
“Okay, but he’s a fanatic about security and surveillance. He’ll know the instant someone kicks in a door or somehow gets inside. Then he’s gone.”
“Do we know where he is at this moment?”
A unified shaking of heads. Vidovich glared at Harris who said, “No, we haven’t been watching him. No reason to. There’s no case, no file. He’s not a suspect, yet.”
Lacy said, “He’s also on leave for medical reasons, claims he’s in treatment for cancer, according to a source we have here in Pensacola. His office told one of our contacts that he would not sit on the bench for at least the next two months. The district court’s web page confirms this.”
Vidovich frowned and rubbed his jaw as everyone else waited. He said, “Okay, let’s start with surveillance and find the guy. In the meantime let’s get a search warrant from the magistrate in Mississippi, bring it to the magistrate here, and sit on it until we find him. At that time, he can’t disappear and we’ll execute the warrant.”
They discussed surveillance for an hour: Who, where, how. Lacy and Darren grew bored, their initial excitement dissipated, and they finally asked to be excused.
Vidovich promised to keep them in the loop, but it was obvious their work was over.
Leaving town, Darren asked, “Are you going to report this to Betty?”