The Lady Killer (22 page)

“I’m curious, how do you know so much about the stats on these women when you aren’t working that case?”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I hear things around; you know this place is a basic gossip mill.”

“Is that so? Can you explain to me how your soda can wound up in Homicide?”

She was surprised and didn’t remember leaving it there. “It did?”

He watched her getting fidgety. “Yes, it was on one of the desks up there.”

“Oh, I must have been up there visiting Burns. He’s my friend. How did you know it was mine?”

“We had it fingerprinted.”

She got an incredulous look on her face and raised her voice. “Wow, if they have nothing better to do in Homicide than fingerprint soda cans, no wonder they aren’t getting anywhere on this case!”

“How do you know they aren’t getting anywhere?”

He watched as her demeanor changed drastically. She became thoroughly agitated and suddenly jumped up out of her chair. “Oh, are you accusing me of something? What in the hell is going on around here?”

Rutledge was shocked by the change. “Detective Morgan, I want you to calm down right now and sit back down in that chair!”

She remained standing. “Oh yeah, just what are you accusing me of?”

“Someone has been going through the files in Homicide, and I want to know if it was you.”

She took a defiant stance and looked him straight in the eye. “So what if I have? That fucking, skinny bitch stole my case!”

The Captain stood up and glared at her. “Watch your language, Detective! What are you talking about?”

She was turning bright red and clenching her fists. “That first body was given to my unit. I was working this case first. Then you took it away from me and gave it to that skinny bitch, Laura! My partner Della talks about her like she’s some kind of superhero! All I hear about is Laura’s mind, Laura’s investigative techniques and how wonderful Laura is. I wanted that information so I could solve it first and impress Della by showing up that fucking brown-nose! You can all go to hell!”

Captain Rutledge hit the panic button on his phone, and an officer appeared in his doorway immediately. “Detective Stacey Morgan, you are officially on suspension, until further notice.”

Stacey’s face was so contorted, that she looked like an entirely different person to Rutledge. “Yeah, on what grounds?”

“Let’s start with insubordination, and then we’ll go from there. I have a list! I want your gun and badge on my desk right now, and this officer will escort you to the lab for a blood test before you leave.”

She took out her gun and badge and threw them on the Captain’s desk. “You can go to hell, Rutledge! You are a lousy Captain! You must have your head up your ass, if you think that bony bitch is going to solve this case! I’ll show all of you who’s the best detective, and I’m not taking any fucking blood test!”

“Fine, but you are leaving! Officer Butler will escort you out of here, now! Do not plan on coming back for at least two weeks. Even then, you’ll need a serious psych evaluation, a clean drug test and an apology, before you get your badge back from me.”

She gave him the finger. “Take this job, and shove it up your ass!”

At that point, Officer Butler grabbed her by the arm and took her to the front door. She tried to kick him and then left, screaming that she would never be back.

Roy Burns was just pulling into the parking lot, when he saw Stacy run out into the street and grab a cab. As he walked in the front door, he saw everyone standing in the lobby talking about her. He immediately went to Captain Rutledge’s office. He knocked cautiously, and Rutledge waved him in. “Sir, what just happened with Stacey?”

The Captain sat back in his chair, shaking his head. “I honestly wish I knew, Detective Burns. She just went berserk in here! It was like Jekyll and Hyde on Crack. One minute she was the Stacey I’ve known for years, and the next minute she was a cursing maniac. I had to call Officer Butler in to forcefully take her out, and I put her on suspension. But after this display, she would have to crawl back in here on her hands and knees, before I would take her back. I think she must be on some serious drugs, or something. She gave me the bird!”

Roy’s mouth dropped open. “Stacey? She would never do that!”

“Well, she did. I’m sorry, Burns. I know how you feel about her.”

“Do you want me to go talk to her, Sir?”

“No, I think it’s best that you leave her alone right now, until we know what we’re dealing with. She could be dangerous, if she’s still in the same state as when she left here. I think she’s high on something right now. Go back to work, and let me finish all this paperwork on her suspension. We’ll talk later.”

Roy went on up to Homicide. He found Laura and Dan comparing the sketch they had gotten from Liz’s description, with the composite photos of Emily and Nancy. “Hey you guys! Did you hear what just happened to Stacey?”

Laura looked worried. “What happened, is she alright?”

Roy shook his head. “No! She threw a fit in Rutledge’s office, and he put her on suspension. She was outside getting into a cab when I pulled in the parking lot.”

Dan walked over to his partner. “Wow, I’m sorry to hear that, Burns.”

Laura answered her phone. It was the Captain telling her that he didn’t want anyone leaving, until he got up there to meet with them. She was concerned about this turn of events. “Roy, this
is
serious! Rutledge is finishing up the paperwork on Stacy, and then he’s coming up here. He wants to talk to all of us together.”

“Sorry, I just got in. We had a parent-teacher conference at Ryan’s school. Did something happen this morning?”

Dan couldn’t pass up a chance to tease his buddy. “Yeah, those of us who don’t keep banker’s hours were here for the excitement. Stacey tried to break into our locked file cabinet last night. Dr. Foote has it all on video.”

“The only thing that I’m banking on is fact that teenagers are a pain in the ass!”

Laura smiled at him. “I just hope that they aren’t as bad as I was at that age.”

Dan got a curious look on his face. “Well, that will be an interesting story for a later date.”

She gave him a mischievous glance. “I’ll never tell.”

Roy walked over and looked at the pry marks on the cabinet. “She must be on drugs, if she didn’t think we would notice this!”

Just then, Captain Rutledge walked in. “Yes, that’s the main reason I called her into my office this morning. When Detective Peterson got here and saw that, she called Ralph for the DVD. The four of us watched her go after that cabinet with a giant screwdriver. Sorry to keep you all waiting, but we have some important things to discuss.”

“Should we go into the break room, Sir?”

“Thanks, Laura, that would be perfect. Got any coffee made?”

She went in, poured everyone a cup and they all sat together at the table. Rutledge looked upset. “I lost one of my favorite people today, but I think we actually lost her some time ago to drugs. I don’t even know where to begin, other than to say that we have a real problem.”

Laura frowned. “Isn’t she gone, Sir?”

He sighed deeply. “Yes, but she made some extremely threatening comments about you before she left.”

Laura looked surprised. “About me, Sir? I hardly even knew Stacey Morgan.”

“I know that, but remember when we found that first body?”

“Yes, how could I forget it?”

“Well, when uniforms found that first one, they called in SVU because of the apparent sexual nature of the crime. Then I brought in your team and gave the case to you. At the time, other than Stacey, we had mostly new people on the SVU team. I just didn’t feel that they had enough experience as a group. When we got the second victim, I knew I had made the right choice. I couldn’t have inexperienced people trying to solve a serial murder case. At the time, Stacey never said anything about being upset.”

Laura looked puzzled. “So, what does all of this have to do with me?”

Rutledge smacked his lips together and looked at them. “I have something I’m going to play for you, and it isn’t pretty, but I think you really need to hear it first hand.” He reached in his pocket and took out a small recording device, which he placed on the table. They all listened in amazement to Stacey’s rant.

Roy was the most shocked. “Sir, I wouldn’t have believed this, if I hadn’t heard it for myself. That isn’t the Stacey I’ve known for years.”

Dan was worried. “Sir, what I get from this is that Laura is in danger from yet another source. Is that correct?”

“Unfortunately, Murphy, you’re right. That’s why I came up here to talk to all of you. I don’t know Stacey any more either, and I don’t know what to make of her involvement in this case. Laura, do you have an alarm system in your apartment?”

“Yes, I got it after Alan and I broke up. I changed the locks, but he still got in again by climbing up the fire escape and jimmying the window.”

“Is it still activated?”

“No, when he finally accepted the break up and went away, I stopped the service.”

“I’ll call them today and have them set up an emergency activation. They’ll do that for the police department. Just get me their number.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary, Sir?”

Dan looked exasperated. “Laura, now you have two psychos after you, and they might be connected! What are you thinking?”

She gave Dan a dirty look. “Do you happen to be Captain Rutledge today?”

Rutledge laughed. “I couldn’t have said it better myself, Detective Murphy. He’s right, Peterson. I know you are Miss Tough Guy, but I am giving you a direct order. Get me the number of that monitoring service, and I’m calling them today!”

“Yes, Sir, I have it in my wallet. I know you’re just trying to protect me.”

“Good, I’m glad we’re on the same page, because you’re really not going to like this next part. From now on, someone has to follow you home. If one of these two can’t do it, then a patrol car will be assigned.”

Laura sighed. “Do you think these people will be following me, Sir?”

“I have no idea how all of these women got taken, but I want to be sure the next one isn’t you. Stacey just went off the deep end and blames you for losing this case. I don’t think it would be a giant leap, in her warped mind, to blame you for her suspension. I want that alarm set every day when you leave, and if you can, keep it on at night also. I want you to be escorted to your door, and have them wait until you are safely in the building before they leave. In the morning, if you leave before daylight, I want you to call and get an escort, just to make sure you get to your car safely and to the precinct. Are we all clear on this?”

Dan could tell Laura wasn’t happy about these arrangements. “She will do it, Captain, even if she isn’t pleased about the restrictions.”

She looked at Dan with resignation on her face and then turned to Rutledge. “I hate all of this, Sir, but I agree that we don’t know what we’re dealing with. After her outburst, it seems even more possible that Stacey is some kind of accomplice. Maybe he hypnotized her, or she has an evil twin sister.”

“Unfortunately, I think it’s more likely that she has been seduced by the lure of some kind of drug. It isn’t impossible for a serial killer to have a female accomplice. If she was taller, I might even believe that she was posing as these women we’ve been trying to find. None of this makes sense to me, but I have a strange feeling that once we find out, it won’t be what we expected. She could be sleeping with this guy and doesn’t even know that he’s the killer.”

Roy couldn’t decide what to do, but he knew that keeping quiet was wrong. “Sir, normally I wouldn’t betray a confidence, but right now I think it’s necessary to this case. Stacey is a lesbian. She couldn’t be sleeping with this psycho.”

“Thank you for sharing that, Burns. It won’t leave this room, right guys? But regardless of why, she still hangs out with our two suspects. My buddy seemed to think that Stacey and Della might be dating David and Michael.”

“Not unless she had a big change of sexuality, along with her new drug habit. About six months ago, she told me that a lady friend was moving in with her. She didn’t tell me who it was, but she seemed very happy about it.”

Rutledge looked thoughtful. “Actually, knowing how open she is about everything else, I’m surprised that Stacey kept that a secret from most of us. We all would have been happy for her.”

“Well, Sir, from what she told me I don’t think her parents would have approved, and she was afraid of them finding out. She told me that her mom had been planning her wedding for years!”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Burns. In light of all this, we will continue the tail on Vitale. I will let you guys get back to work. I need to go inform Detective Warren of Stacey’s suspension. She and Vitale will be alone in SVU from now on. If anything comes up, let me know right away.”

Laura got the phone number of her alarm provider and gave it to the Captain as he walked to the elevators. The mood in the office was solemn. No one wanted to believe that Stacey had gone so far off base, and they didn’t know what to do to help her. Laura felt bad, because she might be the source of Stacey’s pain. “Gosh, Burns, I feel like I’m to blame for all of this.”