TWO

"Looks like it's just as Collins said," said Nick as they looked through the 5 boxes of the unsolved prostitute murders. "Five girls each murdered in the same way between May 9 and July 11, 1997. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. And each had the word 'GUILTY' written across their foreheads in some kind of felt tip maker."

"Constance 'Candy' Sullivan, age 19, murdered on May 9," said Lilly reading from the files. "Then there was Mildred 'Savannah' Bradford, also 19, murdered on May 20. The third one was Caroline 'Sammy' Lewis, age 21, murdered on June 17."

"The fourth one was a Margaret 'Red' Jennings, age 23, on June 27," Nick continued. "It says here she went by 'Red' because of her long flowing red hair. The last one was Jennifer 'Cookie' Bryant, age 17, murdered on July 11. All were regular working girls working the same area. All were murdered between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a. m."

"And all with blunt force trauma to the back of the head," said Lilly. "No murder weapon was ever found. The coroner theorized it was something like a ball bat. Slivers of wood consistent with the manufacture of ball bats were found in each of the wounds."

"None of the bodies had apparently been moved," read Nick. "He apparently beat them to death and left their bodies where they fell. And no witnesses in any of the cases."

"It says here," said Lilly, "that the last victim, Bryant, was seen getting into a car at about 10:00 the night she was murdered. Another girl got worried when she didn't come back and went to look for her. Found her body at 10:32."

"No trace evidence found at any of the scenes," said Nick. "No hair, fibers, blood, other than the victims. And there were no apparent defensive wounds on the victims. Which means they didn't put up a struggle."

"Maybe they didn't have a chance," said Lilly. "They were killed from behind. Maybe they never saw the attack coming."

"And each of them with the word 'GUILTY' written across their forehead," said Nick. "Guilty of what?"

"I don't know, Nick. Maybe if we find that out we'll find out killer. But there's no indication in any of these who the killer might be. I think we should start by talking to some of the girls that work the district. Maybe someone is still around from that time. Maybe someone saw something they didn't tell the police back them."

"That's possible. Most hookers don't have a lot of incentive to talk to a cop."

"We'll just have to give them some incentive," said Lilly. "I'll check with vice. See if they can tell us of anyone who's still around who was around back then."

"I'll run the names of the other suspects," said Nick. "Collins did say he was looking at more than just Pettigrew initially. And I'm pretty sure all of our boys will be in the system."

"Good idea," said Lilly. "When you're done we'll take a ride and see if we can locate anyone who was around back then."

* * *

"You the one they call Pepper?" Lilly asked as she and Nick approached a woman standing near a building. The woman appeared to be in her mid-30s and was dressed as most prostitutes were in that part of town. A look of annoyance crossed her face as the two detectives approached her.

"I'm not doing nothing," Pepper protested. "You ain't got no right to harass me like this."

"Relax, sweetheart, we're homicide, not vice," said Nick.

"I ain't you're sweetheart," said Pepper. "You here about that girl that got killed last night, ain't you?"

"Yeah," said Lilly. "We understand you're the one who called the police about it."

"That's right. Found her lying in the alley this morning. Blood everywhere."

"What can you tell us about her?" Nick asked.

"What do you care? She's just a dead whore. Not worth your time."

"That's not true," said Lilly, glancing at Nick. "We want to find who did this to her. And we could use your help."

"Like I told those other cops this morning, I didn't really know her. She was strictly amateur. Only been on the streets a few weeks. Was still going by her real name."

"She didn't have a street name?" Nick questioned.

"Didn't I just say that? Look, you learn real quick out here not to give out your real name. You don't think my real name is Pepper, do you? There are a lot of little tricks you learn to protect yourself. She didn't know any of them. My guess: she was new."

"Did you see her out here last night?" Lilly asked.

"No. Wasn't out last night. Had a cold. That's another trick. Don't go out when you're sick. Even something as simple as a cold can be misinterpreted by your customers. Came out this morning and found her in the alley."

"What about back in '97?" Lilly asked. "We understand you were around then."

"Yeah, I been here since '95. You asking about when those girls got killed back then?"

"Yeah," said Nick. "Remember anything from back then?"

"One of my friends was killed then," said Pepper. "Cookie got picked up and I never saw her alive again. She was dead half hour later."

"You're the one who found her," said Lilly.

"That's right. Saw her get into a car. Cookie, she never took more than 10 minutes or so to take care of business. When she didn't come back I got worried. Went looking for her. Found her a little while later. Cops didn't do nothing about that one, either."

"Did you see what kind of car she got into?" Lilly asked.

"Couldn't really tell. It was too dark. And it had tinted windows. Couldn't tell who was driving it. The car pulled to the curb and the passenger door opened. Cookie got in and then it drove off. I never saw her again. Not alive, anyway."

"You can't remember anything distinguishing about the car?" Nick asked. "License plate number, decals, bumper stickers, anything at all?"

"Naw, didn't think to check the license. And it didn't have any decals or bumper stickers. But you know there was something odd."

"What was that?" Lilly asked.

"Well, I couldn't really hear what was being said. But I could tell that Cookie was surprised. Not scared surprised, just surprised. Then she said something about it not mattering to her. Everyone's money was the same. Then the door closed and the car drove off."

"What would she have been surprised about?" Nick asked Lilly.

"Who knows?" Pepper responded. "Maybe she knew the guy or something. Maybe it was an old friend she hadn't seen in a while. All I know is she didn't seem scared or upset. Like I said, the car drove off and the next thing I know, she's dead."

"Thanks, Pepper," said Lilly. He handed Pepper her card. "If you think of anything else give me a call."

"So what now?" Pepper asked. "You write up your little report and file it away? Cops didn't do nothing back then. What makes me think you're going to do something now?"

"Because I'm not those cops," said Lilly. "A person was killed last night. And five others were killed in '97. It's not my job to judge how they lived their lives. It's my job to catch the guy who's doing it. And I plan to do everything I can to see that happens."

"Why should I believe you? Ain't no cop ever give us girls a break. Like the cop that busted me last week. I wasn't even working that day. And he hauls me in. Gotta go to court next week about it."

"What was his name?" Lilly asked.

"Cooper. Vice cop."

"I'll have a talk with him," said Lilly. "You've helped us on our case, I'll see if I can help you."

"Yeah? Okay then."

"One last question," said Lilly. "Did you know any of Cookie's friends? Maybe some guy who she might have found it surprising he'd be out here?"

"Not really. She never talked much about herself. Only guy I know that she knew for sure was Hildy."

"Hildly?" Nick questioned.

"Dan Hildebrandt," Pepper replied. "She worked for him. Only he never touched the girls. Only had them out making money for him."

"Know where we can find this Hildy?" Lilly asked.

"Naw. He got hurt back in 2002. Left the streets after that. Ain't heard from him since."

"Thanks, Pepper," said Lilly. "And I'll be sure and talk to Detective Cooper."

"You really going to talk to this Cooper?" Nick asked as they walked back to their car.

"Sure," said Lilly. "Can't hurt to talk to him. Pepper said that Cookie was surprised at the guy in the car. She also said that Hildy didn't date the girls. Might have been a surprise for Cookie if he decided to date her that night."

"So why pick her up on the street?" Nick questioned. "Why not just wait until she brings him her money for the night?"

"Let's find Mr. Hildebrandt and ask him. She said he got hurt in '02. Should be able to find a hospital report on him. Might tell us where he is now."

"No need. After I ran his name through the computer I found out he was involved in a shooting in '02. Got paralyzed from the waist down. Couldn't conduct business after that."

"Then he couldn't be who killed the girl last night. Anyone in a wheelchair would have stuck out down here at night. Which also means he's probably not the killer from '97."

"Unless he's got someone else doing his dirty work for him. The report said he got into an argument with a John over one of his girls. The guy pulled out a piece and capped him twice. Could be he blames the girl for being in the wheelchair and has one of his buddies taking his revenge out on them."

"Which means he'd know about the word 'guilty' written on the girl's foreheads. And it means he could also be the doer from six years ago."

"Assuming Pettigrew isn't the doer," said Nick. "Collins seemed pretty sure he was the right guy."

"Let's go have a talk with Mr. Pettigrew," said Lilly.

Nick put the car in gear and headed off for the office where Pettigrew was currently working.