Page 57 of Little Ballerina
“How do you know that?” Matthew asked. “Clara kind of identified him as the man who attacked her.”
“It’s definitely not him,” she replied.
“How can you be so sure?” Rylla asked.
“Because he’s dead. Tracey just called me and said she identified a John Doe who had been in her morgue for almost a month. It’s Harry Caucchi. He’s not the one who killed Nicole Carmichael, Oscar Yla, Anthony Zeeke, or who attacked Clara earlier today.”
“How did he die?” Heidi asked.
“He was found on a park bench dead from hypothermia, blood alcohol content was 1.13%. It was assumed he was a homeless man who had just succumbed to the weather. Harry’s mother had reported him missing which is how he eventually got identified. Tracey called to tell me as soon as she found out,” she explained.
“So, Harry is not our guy.” Rylla looked disappointed. Allina understood that Rylla was Naomi’s best friend and if they couldn’t identify and apprehend her stalker, they were all concerned that Naomi would wind up dead.
“Before Harry Caucchi we had no other suspects,” Heidi pointed out. Their boss seemed flat today, not her usual ball of energy self. This case was taking a toll on all of them.
“So, we’re back to square one,” Rylla stated irritably. “This is a nightmare. He went after Clara, he’s circling closer, his next step has to be Naomi, and we have no way to stop him because we have no leads.”
“He might try going for Sam next,” Matthew said.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Rylla snapped at her partner.
“No, I was just thinking aloud,” Matthew replied mildly, unfazed by his partner’s outburst. “If he’s been watching her for months, he has to know that she and Sam like each other. And if he’s still keeping close tabs on her, he has to know that they crossed the line into becoming an official couple. If he wants to really maximize the pain he inflicts on her, killing Sam and then taking her would accomplish that.”
Heidi nodded vigorously. “I’ll put someone on Naomi as a backup.”
“Just don’t tell Sam,” Allina warned. He would take that as an insult, implying that he wasn't capable of protecting Naomi himself.
“I don’t doubt that he’ll do whatever it takes to protect Naomi, that’s the problem, but I agree, let’s not tell him right now. Let’s go back to the beginning, to the first fire twenty-two years ago, work through every single person who had any contact with the Sullivan family, and I meaneverysingle person. Focus specifically on anyone who had contact with Naomi, and I don’t care how minute the contact, right now everything counts. We go through her life with a fine-tooth comb,” Heidi ordered.
Before Allina could comment that she and Jonathon had already worked pretty thoroughly through Naomi’s life from back then and all they’d come up with was Harry Caucchi who turned out to have nothing to do with this, the door slammed open, and Kane Curtis breezed into the room.
“Good afternoon, everyone.” He beamed.
“I don’t really see anything good about it,” Rylla muttered.
“Why are we all so glum?” Kane asked as he plopped into a chair and set a stack of papers down on the table in front of him.
“Because Harry Caucchi isn’t the stalker, and we have no other leads at this time,” Heidi informed him.
“Cheer up.” His dark eyes were twinkling. “I'm the answer to your prayers.”
“You have something for us?” Allina asked hopefully.
“Indeed I do.” Kane’s smile deepened.
“Well hurry up and spit it out. Are you trying to age me prematurely?” Heidi growled.
“I have a DNA sample,” Kane announced.
Relief filled all the faces in the room. DNA. Maybe they could find this guy before he got his main prize after all.
“Now, it’s not a magic wand to solve this case,” Kane cautioned. “I’m running the sample through every available database, but it’s going to take time, and even then, there are no guarantees that I’ll get a hit. You should proceed as though you don’t even have the DNA sample, but if you get a suspect then I’ll be able to confirm for you if it’s the right guy.”
Allina could feel her spirits dip as did everyone else’s. They didn’t have time. That was the problem. Rylla was right, Clara was the person closest to Naomi, so if the killer had already made an attempt on her then he was going after Naomi next. He had been moving quickly, a kill a day, which meant that there was a good chance he was going to make his move to get Naomi tomorrow.
“Did you get anything else useful from Clara’s house?” Matthew asked.
“No. And I was lucky to get the DNA. Clara said she kicked him, and she must have connected with his face, I found a couple of drops of blood and saliva on the floor and on her clothes. She probably got him in the nose and mouth, might have had enough force to break his nose. But from the amount of blood, it’s unlikely she injured him enough that he would have needed to seek out medical assistance.”