"Dave Roth," Matt said the following evening, tossing a fairly thick file on Elisa's desk. As Elisa picked up the file , Matt took his seat at the desk next to her. "Thirty years old. He has a list of prior charges, mostly some kind of misconduct against women, but somehow he just seems to keep out of jail."
"It says here that he did some time a while ago," Elisa said.
"Attempted robbery," Matt nodded. "Tried to rob someone on the subway with a plastic toy gun that looked just real enough to scare people who didn't look closely. Unfortunately," Matt said with a smirk, "the man he chose to rob was a black belt and enough of a gun nut to know that it was fake."
Elisa turned a page and winced at the mug shot.
"Witness said that he tripped and fell," Matt said. "Personally, I think the black belted almost-victim had something to do with it, but Davey boy didn't argue, and did two years."
"He did the full two, was on probation another two, and currently listed as a bouncer at a club…" Elisa drifted off, then set the open file down. "Matt, he's not a big guy. I'd believe he was a bartender, waiter or DJ for a club, but not a bouncer."
"Think he's lying?" Matt asked, perking up at the idea.
"Oh, yeah," Elisa said. "The way he ran when he saw my badge? He's hiding something."
"Think we should go pay him a visit?" Matt asked, already getting to his feet.
"I'll let the Captain know we're following up on a lead," Elisa said.
{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}
Elisa and Matt walked to the front door of the "club" where their suspect was supposedly working as a bouncer.
It wasn't a club, or at least it didn't look like one from the outside. In comparison, it was a small basement bar with outdoor access via a set of short cement stairs. Above the door was an old neon sign, the kind that flashed to look like it was in motion, with a pair of martini glasses tapping against each other.
"Bargain Booze Basement" announced a small, peeling and faded sign just under it all.
"If this is a club," Matt muttered, "I'll eat my notebook."
"If this is a club," Elisa whispered back, "I hesitate to see the clientele."
"I guess we'll see," Matt muttered and reached for the door handle.
If the outside of the club looked unkempt, the inside was almost worse. Cracked and peeling ancient linoleum covered the floor and looked to be in desperate need of a mop.
Elisa took in the small tables scattered throughout the bar area, the battered pool tables and the honest-to-goodness jukebox in the corner with half the lights burnt out.
This was a place that hadn't seen a repairman since the fifties.
Judging by the few people inside, Elisa judged that to be about right, as a few of the people sitting at the bar looked to be in their eighties. There were a few younger guys in the rear, playing pool and loudly speaking in Spanish.
Elisa understood enough that they had been spouting insults at each other until they noticed Elisa and Matt walk in.
They had pegged the two as police on sight. Hopefully, they weren't going to cause any problems.
The two detectives approached the bar, and since Matt also knew enough Spanish to know that there was no point in pretending to be someone else, the two of them took out their badges and flashed them at the large man behind the bar.
The bartender, a large man with a full beard, full sleeve tattoos, and an angry scowl, threw his bar towel over one shoulder and took his time approaching them.
"Detectives Maza and Bluestone," Elisa said in the way of introductions, though she'd be willing to bet this man didn't care what their names were. He just wanted them gone. "We just want to ask you a question or two, then we'll be on our way."
The man grunted, but took the time to inspect their identification. He was no fool.
"Have you heard of a guy named Dave Roth?" Elisa asked.
He gave her a narrow eyed look, "Maybe," he said, glaring at the two of them. He leaned forward and crossed his arms on the bar, "What's this about?"
"Mr. Roth," Matt took out the mugshot printout he'd made before leaving the station and passed it to the bartender, "Used your establishment as his place of employment with his probation officer. Claims he's a bouncer here."
The man gave a gruff and humorless laugh. "Ain't got a bouncer here," he said, gesturing to the few customers he had there. "We ain't exactly busy here, and not fancy enough to need a bouncer." He reached under his counter and brought out a large and very solid looking bat. "This is my 'Bouncer'."
Well now, Elisa thought, this guy was downright chatty with Matt. It happened like that sometimes, when people preferred to talk to a male officer and be contemptuous towards Elisa as a female.
Sometimes, it worked in her favor. Like now, she realized as she idly looked around the bar. Through a small rectangular passthrough window to a kitchen area behind the bar, she spotted a nervous looking waitress peek out.
Elisa caught the woman's eyes and motioned her out with a crook of her finger.
The female came out, her face a study in nerves and fear.
Elisa took a step away from the men who were still discussing the suspect and approached the Hispanic woman who looked younger closer up.
"Hello," Elisa said quietly, trying not to draw attention. "My name's Elisa. Detective Maza, actually. NYPD." She pushed her jacket aside to show her badge that was attached to her belt loop. From her inner jacket pocket, she withdrew the folded paper there that held the same mug shot that Matt had. "Do you recognize this man?"
The young woman glanced at the paper and looked at Elisa with wide eyes. She nodded in quick, jerky motions.
"What can you tell me about him?" Elisa asked quietly.
"Hey," the bartender growled, stepping roughly between the female and Elisa. "You can talk to me all you want, but you have no business with my daughter."
Elisa met the man's eyes and pointed to the picture. "This man approached a friend of mine at a bar and tried to lure her to a photography studio while she was under the influence of alcohol. I was there as the designated driver, and he took off when he found out I was a cop after giving her this." She took out another paper with a copy of the man's business card. "The address here is a real address, but the business is fake. Now," Elisa said, putting steel in her voice, "I don't know about you, but as a parent myself, that set off alarm bells. We started looking, and it seems that this man has been brought in for questioning for possible assault charges by other women. Your daughter," Elisa motioned behind the man, "saw the picture, heard the name, and looked terrified. If there is any chance that she has met this man or he has approached her in any way, wouldn't you want to know?"
The man stood stone still, a burning fury in his eyes. "Mija," he said, turning to motion her forward. "You know this man?"
"I am so sorry," she blurted out. "Papa, I'm sorry…"
The man swept her into his arms, his voice soft even if his eyes promised something darker. "What happened?"
"I was out with Yasmine and Sofia," she cried. "That man came up and told us that he would take pictures. That we should be models. We all went," she sobbed. "I don't remember being there, neither do the other girls. I think he did something to our drinks."
"Mija…" the man said. "Did he take pictures?"
The woman nodded. "I am so sorry, papa. I know better, but he seemed so nice, and I was with the others. I thought we were safe…"
"What's your name?" Elisa asked softly.
"Ava. Ava De Leon," she said tearfully.
"Ava," Elisa said softly, noticing how close the men from the back began to move, "What can you tell me about this man?"
"He said he would give me the pictures," she blurted out, "If I signed a paper saying that he worked here. He gave them to me, and I haven't seen him again."
"Do you still have the pictures?" Elisa asked.
She shook her head. "I burned them," she said. "I did not want anyone else to see them."
"Why did you not tell me?" Her father asked roughly.
"I didn't want you to be ashamed of me," Ava said, looking at the ground.
"Did he take it with a regular camera?" Elisa asked, trying to remain soft voiced, but she had a bad feeling, "or did he use a digital camera?"
"A regular one, I think," Ava said. "But I don't really remember."
"Did you get the negatives?" Elisa hated to ask, but she wanted to know.
Ava's eyes widened, and it was then that Elisa realized that she probably hadn't thought to demand those as well. Even if it was a digital camera, there was no guarantee that this Roth guy didn't still have copies of the pictures somewhere.
"What happened, Uncle?" one of the men from the corner demanded as they gathered near the father and daughter.
Mr. De Leon let loose a rapid stream of Spanish that was so fast that the two detectives were struggling to keep up with it.
Elisa cautiously took back the photocopies and put them back in her pocket before the young men could snatch them out of her possession. If it had been her or Beth, she knew what her family would do, and these men looked ready to go hunting for this scuzzball.
Even the oldest man at the bar joined in.
Elisa and Matt shared a look, knowing that this situation could get explosive any moment.
"Ava," Elisa had to raise her voice to be heard. "Would you be willing to fill out a report and testify to what happened?"
Ava began to shake her head, but her father rounded on the detectives. "You better find him before we do," he snarled.
The growing group of men all but shouted their agreements.
"There have been previous charges against him," Elisa said plainly. "In every case, at the last moment, the victims withdrew the charges, or there was no evidence to make it stick. We," Elisa said, including Matt, "are very good at our jobs. We're going to hunt this man down and gather enough evidence to make it stick this time so it doesn't happen again. What we need," Elisa looked at Ava, "is a witness statement, a victim's statement, and the knowledge that you will see this through."
Ava's eyes swept the room from her father to the men who had called her father "uncle", though Elisa wasn't sure if that was in reference to an actual blood connection or an honorific term.
"Do it," her father growled. "I will see this man behind bars for hurting my daughter and my nieces."
Elisa almost groaned. Three females in the same family, and obviously none of them had told their families what had happened. And these men were ready to go to war.
Not that she could blame them.
If this had happened to one of her children, may the gods be with the people who had wronged them. Between herself and Goliath, not to mention the clan and her family, the person responsible would pay.
Elisa nodded her understanding. "If there is a quiet place, I can take Ava's statement," she looked at the woman, "or you can talk to my partner if you'd be more comfortable."
Ava looked from Elisa to Matt and shook her head. "I think… I would rather talk to you," she said, and Elisa nodded.
"Alright. I can just talk to you a bit and get some information to begin with. You will still need to go to the station to make an official report, but," she hurried to explain, "I know of some very nice female officers there if you would like to talk to a female. I can call ahead and let them know to expect you."
Ava nodded.
"There is a break room," the bartender said, jerking his thumb towards the kitchen area. "In the back. No one will bother you."
Ava moved slowly, but she began leading Elisa to the back.
"Detective Bluestone," Elisa began, making the request formally for the family's sake, "Call the station. Make sure that there are female officers there and be prepared to take a statement. Lopez, if she's available. Then call and talk to Maria and see if she can wake a judge up. We're going to need a warrant for both Roth's home and the location on the card." She looked at Ava's father then. "Lopez is a good officer and has done a lot of work with female victims. She's thorough, but she'll be gentle about it. We're going to request the warrants for search and seizure because we want to do this by the book. Give him less chance to wiggle out this time. We want him off the streets, too."
The large man nodded his head, and Elisa moved to follow Ava to the back room.
Despite the questionable appearance of the front bar area, the kitchen was spotless. This is where the money had been spent, Elisa mused. Not quite brand new, she thought, but well taken care of.
There were two doors at the back, one open to a screened door that Elisa could see led to stairs up to the alley. Ava led her into a small closet of a room, barely big enough to hold the square table and pair of chairs.
"My cousin, Sofia," Ava said softly, "She cooks here most nights."
"Sofia," Elisa said, taking out the small notebook that she habitually carried with her. Flipping to a clean page, she looked at Ava, "You mentioned that name earlier. She was with you that night?"
Ava nodded. "Papa is probably already calling her father, too." She looked at Elisa, a faint glint of hope in her eyes that seemed to be warring with the fear. "We wanted to tell, but promised we wouldn't because we were afraid no one would believe us. You will catch him?"
"I am going to do my best," Elisa said. She was careful to make promises she could keep. "I can promise you that."
Ava took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then began her story.