Mississauga Hospital
Friday, December 14, 2007
Mike Celluci knocked on the hospital room door before entering. He stood back from Ms. Arnaud and her mother holding out his badge. Although a female officer did the initial questioning and reported no indication of sexual assault, a fear of men was still a possibility. While Lewis' murdered proved there were exceptions, it was still likely that Charlotte's attacker was male.
"I'm Detective Celluci. I need to ask a few questions." He replaced his badge and retrieved a notebook from his inner jacket pocket.
Mrs. Arnaud nodded, gripping her daughter's hand. "She doesn't remember anything."
An unfortunate side-effect of GHB and one of the reasons it was an effective date rape drug. "I need to ask." It could help explain why she was abducted and left to freeze to death.
"It's okay," Charlotte said quietly.
He focused on her. "Is there anyone you can think of that would want to hurt you?"
"No."
"What's the last thing you remember clearly?"
Charlotte looked uncertain. "The coffee shop. I was with Logan."
"Arguing?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "I broke up with him because he wants to get married. Not anything bad."
Mrs. Arnaud's expression said she had an opinion. The officer that took her and Logan's statement when they reported Charlotte missing said her mother didn't approve of the relationship ending. Dodging her mother's calls was considered at the time. Except the number of people convinced something happened didn't support it.
"Has anyone shown interest? Or made you uncomfortable?"
"No." There was something in her expression.
Mike looked at Mrs. Arnaud. "Ma'am, could I speak with your daughter privately? Discussing bad social experiences is sometimes difficult in front of a parent."
She didn't like that idea.
"Mom, I'm okay. Go get something to eat."
Mrs. Arnaud reluctantly moved. She gave Mike a look on the way out.
Expecting she waited outside the door, he approached the bed and lowered his voice. "Is there anything you didn't want to say in front of your mother?"
"I joined a dating site. It has a phone app for meeting people."
That offered possibilities, including a family conflict. "Had you met someone?"
"Josh Thompson."
The name was common and could be coincidental. "You were dating?"
Charlotte hesitated.
"There's no judgment here. I just need to know about personal relationships. Particularly if there were problems. It's part of the investigation process." Crimes against women were often committed by men they knew.
"We had sex." Pause. "He's out of town. Vancouver, I think."
Mike found his cell phone and quickly found a picture of the Thompson connected to Lewis' murder. "Is this him?" Mike held out the picture.
"Yeah." She looked and sounded confused. "Why would Josh do this?"
"I don't think he did." It implicated his involvement in two deaths and disrupt his solid alibi. "Do you know a Sophia Lewis or Kevin Johnson?"
"Josh has a roommate name Kevin."
Mike nodded. "Have you met a nurse recently? A woman." Pause. "Not related to your care."
"Last night. A nurse came in after midnight. Acting weird. She told me a reporter called asking questions about my injuries." Charlotte shook her head. "The media doesn't care when we're attacked."
"The police do."
After a few more questions, Mike left her hospital room. Olivia's behavior stuck in his mind. Sophia Lewis's murder, Charlotte's abduction and what happened with Vicki suggested a solid understanding of forensics or investigative procedure. Olivia's actions didn't. It was possible her need to involve herself in the investigation overrode common sense. But the reported stalking fit the erratic behavior not the perfect crime scenes.
Was more than one woman involved? He wondered, walking down the hall.
His cell phone rang, distracting him. "Celluci."
"Mike." There was something in Kate's voice. "How many rapes do you think Richardson's good for?"
It took him a moment to remember the guy Henry identified at the Goth club. "I don't know. Several."
"He's offering information about the cemetery thefts."
Which somehow connected to Lewis's murder. "He might be involved." Mike remembered the drugs the man had when he was arrested. "Was he carrying GHB?"
"Yeah."
Mike explained his theory that Arnaud was staged to make Thompson look guilty.
"Vancouver PD confirmed he checked into his hotel and has CCTV footage of him."
Mike nodded. "We need to look for connections between Richardson and the witnesses and suspects in the Lewis case."
"Will you tell Crowley I'm helping with the case?"
"Yeah." Not that his word meant much. If Kate was asking, her situation was worse than he thought.

Vicki's New Apartment
Vicki Nelson's cell phone rang on the nightstand and woke her. She reached for it with the wrong hand and grimaced, but picked up anyway. With her nearsightedness, she could at least check the screen. But she didn't recognize the number.
"Nelson."
"Morning." It took a moment to place Nicholas' voice. "I am at the office."
She hadn't expected him to show up again. "I don't know when I'll be there." Yesterday was because Henry didn't like company while he slept. Or essentially died.
"Have you been here this morning?" Something about his tone made her wonder.
"No."
"The door is unlocked."
Vicki groaned. "Does anything looked damaged?" Not that there was much left to break.
Footsteps sounded over the phone. "No." Nicholas sounded like he was looking at something strange. "Did you leave flowers in your office?"
She wondered if Henry had. Then remembered he didn't want her going into the office today. "Don't touch anything." Vicki needed to see it for herself. Breaking into her office and leaving flowers sounded like a stalker. She needed to check her apartment as well.
After the call, she wondered if Nicholas was involved. She saw no problems while they were in the office. Other than he showed up and essentially hired himself. Not that she could pay him. With no cases, she was going to have trouble paying her rent. With the break-ins it wouldn't take much to convince her landlords to break her leases.
The only silver lining in the entire situation.