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Kronish ... Not to me. No copyright infringement intended. I'm not making any money with it. It's just for the fun !


Part 8 : Brainstorming


It was past seven when Sam and Bailey arrived at the Chicago police department headquarters. They had dropped senator Walsh at his house after leaving Carlson Creek. Considering the circumstances, Walsh was holding on better than expected. They had left two officers in case the kidnapper would call, but neither Sam nor Bailey thought that could happen. They both had kept silent in the car.

Bailey stopped the car in front of the police station. They both stepped out and joined Grace and John into detective Baldwin's office.

" Anything new ?" Bailey asked around.
" Not really." Baldwin answered first. "Except that you were right. Sandy actually returned home yesterday. After you discovered the cake, I had my guys check again the finger prints. They found Sandy's prints on a magazine her mother bought yesterday morning. We did not spot Carlyle yet. But honestly, I don't think he's got anything to do with all this. He's just a drug dealer; doesn't have the brain to organize something like this.

- I agree with you." Sam said. "Grace, did the autopsy reveal anything ?
- You mean outside the fact that this guy is a sadist ? Not really. She has been hit 13 times, but none of the hits was lethal. She died of the throat cut. The weapon used is most likely a kitchen knife. Probably did not take more than ten minutes. I would say she died between 23:00 and 23:30.
- John, could you see Miss Sommerset ?" Bailey asked.

" Yes. She was pretty much upset. I did not learn much. But she gave me a list of places Tony went to in the last six months.
- And you have an exhaustive list of the competitions Carlson Creek college basket ball team attended to this year." Baldwin added. "I gave it to Grant.
- I already faxed it to George" John added
" Thanks Jerry." Bailey said. "I think we all need a rest now. We'll start to cross-check the two lists tomorrow morning and try to visit the places.
- Don't hesitate to call if you need help."

They parted and the VCTF team left the building. "The hotel is two blocks away." John said. "We can make it by foot.". It took them five minutes to get there and none of them said a word on the way. Once they had all checked in, Bailey gave the schedule for the night.

" OK. I give you half an hour to relax. Then everybody in my room, 209. We'll have dinner served upstairs." They all nodded and disappeared. Bailey did not go straight up. He made a stop at the bar first and ordered a scotch. When he arrived in his room, he removed his jacket and lighted a cigar. The phone was on the bedside table. He dialed the number of the Dickens boarding school. He was still on the phone with Frances when Sam knocked at the door and came in.

" How is she doing ?" she asked.
" Seems to be OK. It's not that easy of course. It's quite different from anything she has lived so far. She doesn't want me to worry anyway. I can't help thinking she wouldn't tell me if anything went wrong. You know, even when she was only a kid she would never have admitted she could not solve her problems herself.
- She's your daughter !"

Bailey smiled at her. "It's not that I refuse your help honey. It's just that we do not have much time to start a therapy right now" he said. "I sure do believe you, Malone." He looked more relaxed now, but she could see he was exhausted. She did not mention it though. He wouldn't have listened anyway.

Grace and John arrived a few minutes later. They ordered sandwiches and settled around the table. John plugged in the portable computer he had borrowed from the Chicago police and plugged in the modem. He dialed one of the VCTF phone numbers and a few seconds later, the face of George appeared on the screen.

" All right," Bailey started "we're all here. We can start now. George, can you give us a summary of what you gathered so far. Only the facts first.
- OK." George answered. "First case. Anthony Edward Walsh, 5 years old, son of senator John Walsh, was kidnapped on Monday evening, at around 11:30 pm. His baby-sitter, Mary Jenkins, 18, was killed the same night in the Walsh's bathroom, throat cut with a kitchen knife. She was also hit thirteen times with the same knife. Tony and Mary were alone in the property. No finger prints were found. No ransom was asked so far. I've studied carefully the life and time of the whole household and did not find anything interesting. No gambler, no drug addicts, no criminal records; except for one of the maids ex-boy friend, Robert Carlyle, convinced of drug dealing a few years ago.
- I think we all agree Carlyle doesn't fit in the picture." Bailey interrupted.

George completed his summary. Then they all went into the details again. It took them about two hours. At the end of the process, the morale was not very high. They couldn't find any connection between the two cases, except the resemblance between Christine Walsh and Sandy Wellow of course.

" George, " Bailey asked "Did you start with the beginning of profile Sam gave you this morning ?
- Yes. 'start' is really the word. The most difficult is to obtain information from medical centers about their patients. So, I try to force chance a little bit. I hope you'll cover me if the cops get me, Bailey. But even if I could access all their secret files, I'm afraid that would not lead us anywhere. You have no idea of how many lunatics live free in a city like Chicago."

John smiled. He had been in the police long enough to know what George was talking about.

" We are not looking for a lunatic, George." Sam said. "You can focus on male suffering from a neurosis linked to the loss or the lack of a child. That should reduce the scope a little bit.
- I know, Sam. Believe me, I'm focussing. I haven't started with the private psychiatrist yet, and I've already found around two thousand possible suspects.
- You can also try the parents associations, the support groups for parents having lost a child" Bailey added.
" Thanks Bailey. I actually did not know what to do this night.
- I know it's not much, but that's all we've got, and ...
- And we have to do something for these kids, I know, Bailey. I just want you to be aware that the chances we get something serious are less than poor."

Grace had remained silent most of the evening. "I know I'm not a specialist," she started, "but do we have any clue whatsoever that we are in the good direction ? I mean, we have no proofs the two cases are even linked to each other. We say 'HE', but they could be a gang, or it could even be a woman. We start from the hypothesis we're dealing with one psychopath who wants to raise a family, but we could have to face with a pedophiliac network, right ? We are focussing on one possibility, excluding all others.

- Grace please ! Don't give them other ideas !" George pleaded.
- That's true Grace." Sam answered. "We have no evidence, and we could be wrong. Let's say we are following the most likely hypothesis. I don't think it's a group. A network would not take two kids in the same area in less than 24 hours. Also, even if we can't prove yet the two cases are linked, we must admit the resemblance between the two little girls is amazing. The probability for it to be just a coincidence is very low.
- You mean it's one of your intuitions, ain't it ?"

Sam kept silent for a few seconds. Bailey was looking at her, suddenly very pale. Last think he wanted was the team to know that it was HIS 'intuition' this time, not Sam's.

" Come on, Sam." Grace continued. "You know I trust you instinct. I just want to be sure we don't rush on one possibility and miss something. That's all.
- Yes." Sam answered. "You can say it's one of my intuitions."

Grace had noticed the change in Bailey. But he had recovered very fast.

" George," he started, "did you try to cross-check the two lists of places where the kids went to lately ?
- Yes. I still have to give a few phone calls tomorrow morning, but it did not give any result so far."

It was almost 2:00 am when they parted. Grace and John went back to their respective rooms. Sam did not even fake to go back to hers. She was tired of hiding her feelings for Bailey. And she knew their two colleagues were not fool anyway.

Bailey was already in bed when she went out of the bathroom, but he was not sleeping yet. He was staring at the ceiling. "Thanks to have covered me up, Sam" he said. "We'll get him, Bailey. I promise" were the last words Sam said that day. They did not make love that night. They just hold each other tight until they both fell into a heavy sleep.



To be continued ... R&R, Thanks.
Absolut.