Sins of the mother (Chapter-26)

Lukas and Brooke arrived at police headquarters at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Captain Hunter briefed them on the previous night’s progress. A plain clothes detail was set up on Dolan’s apartment, but there had been no sign of him, which wasn’t surprising. Search warrants had been completed for Dolan’s home, vehicle, phone, and financial records.

Lukas drove downtown and was lucky enough to find a judge, one with whom he was familiar. Judge Gaston Walker always made himself available when emergency search warrants were needed. Lukas admired and respected Judge Walker, and he was always the first choice when Lukas needed a signature.

The judge signed off quickly as usual, and Lukas headed back to the station. He stopped off at a local coffee shop that served a great caramel latte and picked one up for both Brooke and himself.

Back at the station, he entered the now sparsely populated squad room and sat down at the table where Brooke was looking through the paperwork the other suits had worked on the night before.

“I’ve been thinking about our next move,” he said, handing Brooke her coffee. “I think the secret is going to be his associates, be they here or somewhere else. Any idea where he lived before he showed up here?”

“No, we didn’t talk much during the Citizen’s Academy. He asked a few questions, but nothing really out of the ordinary. I can’t wait to slap a pair of cuffs on him.”

“He probably used Gabriele. Pumped her for information, followed the investigation. Planning his next move the whole time. I think he probably used Odell to place the bodies after he killed them. That’s why we got the leads on the red car and black male as the suspect initially.”

“And he planted the evidence in Odell’s house. But what about the DNA taken from Razzy?”

“Not sure about that one. Maybe had sex with her.”

“I don’t think so. She was tortured. There was real anger behind her killing.”

“Searching Dolan’s place should turn up some answers.”

“Let’s hope.”

Captain Hunter appeared in the doorway and summoned Lukas and Brooke into his office. They spent the next thirty minutes going over theories. Hunter seemed to think Dolan had left town. Lukas wasn’t sold on the idea. Either way, they all agreed that Dolan wouldn’t show up at his apartment. They knew he’d need money, transportation and a place to stay. It had taken all morning, but Hunter’s ad hoc task force had located Dolan’s bank. They were watching his accounts for any activity, but none had been detected. Lukas had Hunter contact the ICAP people and pull records for stolen vehicles, which were subsequently put out to state and local agencies. The best chance of finding anything significant was most likely going to be his apartment. But they weren’t ready to move on it just yet. An online search had been completed with Dolan’s identifiers which had provided a few additional addresses that were currently being searched. But so far, they looked to be former addresses or different Paul Dolans. As Lukas and Brooke stood to leave, Hunter stopped them.

“You guys did good last night. There’s no doubt in my mind what would have happened to that nurse if you hadn’t stopped him. We’ve got him on the run. Let’s finish this thing.”

Lukas said, “We will, Captain.”

“I have one question before you go. Did you know there was someone else behind this the night we found Odell?”

“We didn’t lie to you, Captain. We had doubts, sure. And there were loose ends just like I told you. When we pulled on those ends, they came unraveled.”

Hunter sat back and looked at Lukas, then at Brooke over his reading glasses. After what seemed like an eternal silence, Hunter took off his readers and tossed them on his cluttered desk. “Next time fill me in. And I mean totally. Dismissed.”

Lukas led Brooke back to the squad room. Dolan’s name had been run through all the department’s databases, including his NCIC record. The guy was squeaky clean. All Lukas could find was a traffic ticket and a shoplifting charge as a juvenile. He also noticed that Dolan was a part-time nurse for the county detention center. He called and spoke to a supervisor over the medical department, but they didn’t have any additional information on possible associates for Dolan.

“Nothing,” Lukas said to Brooke. “He’s vanished into thin air.”

Brooke squeezed Lukas’s arm. “Lukas, I just thought of something. When cadets come into the Citizen’s Police Academy, they fill out an application and there’s a mandatory section that requires them to list a next of kin. He might have written something bogus, but it’s worth a shot.”

She put a call in to the community relations office at the Kingsport Police Department. She was put on hold for a few minutes while the person on the other end found the records. She ended the call and looked over at Lukas. “He listed a Pam Wilcox. She lives on H Street here in Johnson City. I have a phone number, too. Right now, it’s all we have.”

“I say we take a shot.”

“Don’t you think we should tell Captain Hunter?”

“We’ll tell him if something pans out. Let’s go. I’m driving.”

“Makes sense, since I don’t have a car.”

They headed out. Lukas felt his pulse quicken as he brought his Crown Victoria up to speed. Dolan being at Wilcox’s house was probably too much to hope for, but it was possible. Regardless, it felt good to finally be on the guy’s scent.