The pub, directly opposite the BPD, was one of the cops' favorite meeting places outside the police building.
"If you buy ten burgers, you get the eleventh for the price of one!" the owner suggested to Riley Nikki O'Laighin after she had ordered a burger as usual.
"Only if I get a beer with it," countered the detective, who had seen Riley almost every day for years.
Nikki was an attractive woman, even if she neglected her looks. She usually wore her dark, long hair loose, but on this day, she had it tied back in a ponytail.
"Don't you have something like a female bank robber for me who's in jail and looking for someone to spend her hidden millions on her?" Riley asked.
"Not today, unfortunately. At most, a couple of vice racketeers."
"Oh, you know, at my age, I'll take anything," Riley replied before handing Nikki the food she had ordered.
Nikki laughed and then retreated to a table at the back of the pub. Nick was already waiting for her.
"Thanks for coming so quickly. And you didn't tell anyone about this?" he opened the conversation, biting into a French fry.
"Of course not. What's so secret?"
Nick had called his niece shortly after learning that a crime had been committed that seemed to be connected to Elizabeth's past. He had asked her for a discreet meeting in private. "Just a moment," the lieutenant asked, glancing unobtrusively over to the table where two detectives were about to finish their lunch break. "Have you found out anything yet?"
Nikki realized that Nick wanted to discuss the reason for the meeting when he was alone with Nikki.
"Praetorius studied at the same university as the doctor who was murdered sixteen years ago. Not at the same time, because Praetorius was younger, but at least we have an initial connection," she reported.
"I've just been to see Maggie in the mortuary. So far, she's confirmed what she told you at the crime scene. She had the autopsy reports on her laptop and compared the procedures of the two murders. She says it was the same perpetrator because the details match so closely that a copycat would never have done it that way. There is too much knowledge about the perpetrator, especially the thing with the severed little finger. That was always under lock and key. But what's interesting is that today's murder was carried out much more professionally. Maggie says that the killer took Praetorius apart skillfully and unerringly like a professional. Back then, he cut into the heart when he opened the pericardium. This time, all the cuts were clean and flawless. Almost as if he does this every day."
"If he's a doctor himself. Or a butcher," Nikki agreed with pursed lips. "We've queried all the states. There hasn't been a murder anywhere in the past sixteen years that even remotely resembled ours. We've also asked about other cases with disemboweled victims, but it doesn't happen often. And in the few cases, the perpetrators have since been neutralized."
Nick looked at her closely. "So we're looking for a surgeon?"
Nikki was visibly stumped. "I don't know if there's a word for what we're looking for --" It hadn't escaped her notice that Nick was wearing one of his better suits that day. "You got all dressed up for Mike, didn't you?" she addressed her lieutenant.
Nick and Mike had solved a few convoluted cases together in the past. The very first time they worked together, Nick had almost died. A bullet from a drug dealer's gun had just missed Nick's head. Over the years, Nick had become a father figure to the impetuous Mike. Mike's departure to New York saddened the lieutenant greatly, even though he tried to convince himself otherwise. "Can you imagine him as an office boy?" he asked his niece with a look of disbelief. "What if he finds out what cases we must solve here? He'll get back on a plane in two weeks and come back."
"It's only for a year," Nikki reminded her uncle. "And if everything turns out how you and he want it to, then you'll soon have your Mike here for good."
Nick knew what Nikki was alluding to. He and Elizabeth had officially suggested that Mike should become the liaison between the FBI and BPD after this one year. "How are things going with you and Liz, anyway?"
"How are things going?" Nikki asked, puzzled. She noticed that Nick didn't have a smile on his lips. Her uncle and lieutenant was known in the BPD as a joker, often playing pranks on his colleagues or livening up team meetings with flippant remarks. This made his seemingly unmotivated change of subject and his unusual seriousness all the more suspicious to Nikki.
"The captain and I are colleagues and mother and daughter," she stated thoughtfully. "Is that why you asked me here?"
Nick's body was now tense, his facial expressions uncertain. "Well, I wanted to keep it to myself," he slowly felt his way forward, realizing, to his relief, that the detectives from the following table had left in the meantime. "It was a few months ago, too; maybe it was all a misunderstanding. But now that this murderer from back then has turned up ... and it's obviously about Elizabeth. About her secrets ... You understand?"
"Not a word," Nikki replied curtly, fixing Nick with an uncertain look. "Keep talking."
"How familiar are you with Elizabeth's past?"
"Nick, now tell me what's going on!" she became more insistent and pushed her plate aside.
"Elizabeth is more of a loner when it's not about her family," Nick probed further.
"We talk about that a lot," Nikki admitted. "I always assume that at the bottom of her heart, she doesn't want a relationship outside of work and family. I don't think she admits that to herself. What makes you think that?"
Nick looked around again. Then he said, almost theatrically, "If you want something to stay secret, you can't tell anyone. No matter who you confide in, everyone blabs it. Sooner or later."
"That's true," Nikki conceded. "But at least I won't do anything without consulting you, okay?"
Nick agreed. "Well, my ex-girlfriend Alexandra was in Jamaica Plain a few months ago," he said. "A relative from Serbia was visiting, and she wanted to show her around a bit. Alex is never usually in the area; it was just a coincidence."
Nikki was no longer aware of anything around her. Nick's expression left no doubt that he was keeping a secret that seemed important.
"On the way back, she drove past the new shopping center, that mall that just opened. She remembered that she wanted to pick up a few things for dinner. So she drove up to buy it all at the mall. Like I said, pure coincidence." Now Nick pulled out his cell phone. "Well, she saw this at one of the food stalls in the center."
He showed Nikki a picture of a casually dressed woman with a cap pulled low over her face.
Nikki chewed on her lower lip with a furrowed brow. "So, who's that?"
"Alex almost didn't notice either, but she noticed the voice when she walked past the stand. Take another close look."
Nikki took the cell phone from Nick's hand and zoomed in on the blurred woman's face. She had her head down, was wearing aviator sunglasses, and had her hands buried in her trouser pockets. Nevertheless, her nose and eyes were unmistakable. "Ma?"
"She lived nearby when Maggie and she took some time off, didn't she?"
"Yeah, it's only a few minutes from her old place to the mall. But still, that can't be --"
Nick reached for his cell phone again and called up another picture his ex-girlfriend had also taken. "You can see Liz here, Nikki."
Nikki furrowed her brows profoundly and had to agree. "How can it be that, with her powers of observation, she didn't realize that Alex was recording her?" she wondered.
"That's exactly what I was wondering," Nick agreed, frowning slightly. "Liz was probably thinking a lot about her companion --"
"I've never seen her so unkempt. As if she --" Nikki faltered briefly. "As if she'd dressed up. But why would Ma do that?"
Nick licked his lips and took a deep breath. "Hold on," he told his niece, then called up another picture.
"It can't be!" Nikki exclaimed, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at the smartphone screen. "It must be a mistake! Or maybe an undercover operation?"
"Alex thought so too," Nick replied before finally pulling up a thirty-second video that his ex had secretly filmed. "Watch Liz's body language."
Nikki watched the short video in silence at first. "There's no way this is an on-duty meeting," she admitted, stunned. "All the signs are there: Shoulders hunched over, long looks in the eyes, nervous tugging of clothes, smiles, head tilted. Oh man, Nick, absolutely no one must find out about this!"
The lieutenant scowled. "What if it's to do with Praetorius' murder? Or with Ishmael?"
Nikki clenched her hands into fists. "Damn it," she hissed.
"You know, I've thought Elizabeth was a bit weird for a while now," Nick recalled. "Her sudden condescending demeanor, aloof manner, and all that logic talk. But she's still a damn good cop."
"I'll have to talk to Ma about that," Nikki decided. "If it's what it looks like, it could have something to do with the case. And I don't think she'd bring it up alone."
"But don't tell her how you know. Alex is keeping quiet; I've cleared that up with her. We both know what will happen if this is what it looks like. And if the whole thing has anything to do with the two murders --" Nick didn't dare formulate the apparent thought.
Nikki did it for her uncle. "Then Ma's career is over forever!"