The Other Path

Chapter 46

"I've been in charge of the Ledger's morgue for 20 years," Nellie Langess declares. "And in the last ten, I've never seen a reporter come down here as much as Sherrie Green, rest her soul."

"Do you know what she was researching?" Kate asks.

"She was into crime, but not the headline stuff. She was looking for clues to what went on behind the scenes. I think that's why she had to spend so much time poring over old stories. What she wanted didn't bleed enough to lead."

"Do you think she found what she was looking for?" Kate queries.

"Nellie fingers a yellow pencil before sticking it in her silvery bun. "I think she might have, part of it anyway. The last time I saw her, she snapped a bunch of pictures with her phone and then ran out of here looking like a kid on Christmas morning."

"When was that?"

"Late yesterday afternoon, around five." Nellie points at a clipboard. "It would be in the log. Sherrie had to sign in, but she rushed out too fast to mark the time she left. I put it in for her. Yes, here it is, five-ten."

"Do you know what she took pictures of?" Kate questions.

"Not the exact issues. Sherrie put them back in the files. But the papers were from the 1970s. Does that help, Detective?"

"It might," Kate allows. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Langess."

"Just catch Sherrie's killer."


Without pulling his eyes from his computer screen, Rick picks up a call from Kate. "Break the case open?"

"I don't know. I found out that Sherrie was looking into what was going on in the '70s. Does that mean anything to you?"

"That the Big Apple had a lot of worms in it. It was the most corrupt era in recent city history, including the misdeeds of the NYPD. The Serpico story came out of that mess. And the city almost went broke. But The World Trade Center went up back then, too, in 1972. Still, the way Sherrie was into crime, she could have written ten books about what was going on in that decade." Have you heard anything from Tech about what was in her vanishing document yet?"

"Nothing good. Sherrie had her computer set up to wipe temp files. There might have been an earlier version, but she encrypted and password protected her documents. They have to break the encryption. Did you find anything on Duncan Fairborough?"

"With his blond locks and almost sincere smile, the press loved Dunc the Hunk. He went to USC, the quintessential California football player. When he graduated, he was drafted by the Raiders. Officially he left because he blew out a knee. But there were rumors that he was bounced because of some questions about his investments – and a sexual adventure involving a coach's daughter. After that, he repped for a sporting goods company but started putting out little sports stories on the web to build his profile. The stories weren't bad. He picked up a respectable online following. However, he apparently wasn't selling much sports equipment. He has some family connections in New York. That could be why he went after work here. I guess his writing skills were good enough for the Ledger to give him a shot."

"What kind of family connections?"

"A couple of uncles and some cousins. I haven't looked deeply into that yet. You think it's significant?"

"I don't know," Kate admits. "But we both thought he was holding out on us. At least until Tech comes through, the more you can find out about Fairborough, the better."

"Continue digging into Dunc, got it. What are you going to do?"

"Go see Lanie. She's finished her prelim on Sherrie and said she found something. See you later?"

"Count on it."


"What have you got?" Kate asks her favorite ME.

"I found specialty metal fibers in the cuts. They're used to make the handles of knives designed for butchering game animals."

"Knives that might come from a sporting goods company?" Kate queries.

"They could."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, our guy's even more twisted than we thought. Sherrie was raped post-mortem before the killer cut her up. I didn't find any sperm from that. The killer wore a condom, but the kind with a spermicide."

"Can you trace it?"

"The condom could have come from any drugstore. But I did a rape kit. CSU may get something out of that. They're working on it now. I can already tell you that I found a blond pubic hair. No follicle for DNA, but definitely blond."

"That had to come from the killer. Sherrie was a brunnette."

"I know that look, Girlfriend. "You've got a suspect."

"Yes, I do. I just need enough evidence to bring him in."


"Babe, I need everything more you've found on Duncan Fairborough," Kate announces, striding into the loft.

"Hello to you too," Rick calls from his office. "As it happens, the New York branch of the Fairborough family is very interesting and not in a good way."

"How so?"

"I think you can use a drink to hear about it. I know I can use one to tell you."

Rick pours two fingers of Scotch for Kate and the same for himself. "The Fairborough family has been in New York City almost since there's been a New York City. I found some speculation that it was partially responsible for ripping off the Native Americans who actually owned the place. Whether those stories are apocryphal or not, the family established itself as a player centuries ago. The Fairboroughs were big into hunting and trapping. They made money off the meat, the skin, and the furs. Hunting, skinning, and butchering are still a family tradition but no longer a source of income.

"As the city grew, the Fairboroughs got into the building trades. In the 20th century, they had their clashes with organized crime, but they kept their piece of the construction pie. The Fairboroughs got some of the contract work on the World Trade Center. Specifically, they provided some of the vertical supports and worked on the fireproofing."

Kate's hand tightens on her glass. "Those materials are what contributed to the collapse after the planes hit."

"But the World Trade Center wasn't the only place where the Fairboroughs seriously cut corners," Rick continues grimly. "And in the '70s, all they had to do to get away with it was cross the right palms with silver."

"When the towers went down on 9/11, the family could have been exposed," Kate realizes.

"They should have been. But the commission analyzing the tragedy concentrated on the intelligence failures. If the planes hadn't hit the way they did, the buildings would have been fine.

"Later," Rick continues, "the FEMA and NIST reports pointed out that the fireproofing and beams couldn't withstand the heat of the jet fuel burning. But the Fairboroughs didn't face any penalties. Still, business declined, and the family has been fighting to maintain its footing."

"And then Sherrie Green comes along researching New York City corruption in the '70s, which would have damaged the Fairborough family business even further," Kate figures. "So, Duncan Fairborough decides to take her out. And he did to her what the family has always done to the game it captured, with the addition of a rape. That was all his."

Rick drains his glass. "Hell of a guy. So how do you get enough to arrest him?"

"Lanie doesn't know yet if she's got DNA. And even if she does, Duncan may not be on CODIS. But Tech is still working on Sherrie's computer. One way or another, the evidence will catch up to him."

"But we interviewed Fairborough," Rick points out. "If he thinks he's a suspect, he could run."

"I already took care of that. I put a surveillance team on him. If he tries to take off, I'll know it."