Russo's workstation on Tuesday morning and perched on the corner of his desk. “Looks like the father's gonna be locked up for quite awhile. But on another front, we've caught a break. I just got a call from our Feeb friend, Carlyle.”
Russo swiveled around in his seat to face his partner. “It's the assistant, isn't it?”
“No—his alibi checked out. He was at that bar in the South End. Carlyle, got a hit from a kiddie porn site he was monitoring. After following the satellite pings through half of Eastern Europe, it bounced back to DeWitt's address.”
Russo whistled. “The prof's a pedophile?”
“Affirmative. Carlyle's giving us a heads-up because he knows from the press that we're interested in him, too. The porn was of pre-teen girls, sick stuff. They got a warrant to take his computer and passport, but I convinced Carlyle to have the FBI watch and wait instead. We can't spook DeWitt before he leads us to the girl.”
“DeWitt didn't give up anything when the father was wailing on him,” Russo pointed out. “Then again, maybe he had nothing to admit that wouldn't have made things worse.”
“We'll nail him now. But we've got to find the girl—she's priority #1. Judge Taylor is issuing a 'sneak and peek' warrant using the kiddie porn as probable cause. DeWitt was released from the hospital yesterday so he's probably teaching this afternoon. I need you to confirm that he's not at home.”
“I can do that. What exactly will we be looking for?”
“Anything that can tie him to the girl. He claims he doesn't have a car. We need to find out if he has access to one. ”
“If this guy's a predator and he sees us closing in, I doubt he'll keep the girl alive.”
“That's why we're using a 'sneak and peek.' You and I are going to comb through the place, but leave it so he never knows we've been there. Nice and neat.”
“I can't believe Interpol didn't turn up anything on him.”
“This guy knows how to cover his tracks. To a point. After all, the Feebs traced him to the porn site.”
CHAPTER 31
I ris ducked into Budge's tiny Fiat parked in her driveway. “How did your interview go with Professor DeWitt?”
“He never showed. Great tip, Reid.”
“But he swims there every morning. Maybe he got lucky last night and decided to sleep in. Try him at the pool tomorrow. He told me he goes there every day.” Iris took out a pad and pen from her pocket. “Can I get my information on credit? Were you able to find out who the guy was who hit my car?”
“That's the strange thing, Iris. I see two cars here in your driveway—a Jeep and a very cool Porsche. Neither of them shows any sign of damage.”
“I already got the bodywork done.”
Budge's look turned into Oh, come on.
“What do you care why I want it? Maybe the car belongs to a hot guy I saw driving around.”
“As much as I'd like to help you with your love life, Iris, it's worth my job to track down license plates. But my spidey sense tells me this one's connected to an important story.”
Iris swore inwardly. She needed that name. Lara's life might depend on it.
“If I tell you something off the record,” Iris said, “will you keep my source's identity out of this?”
“Journalism 101, Reid—always protect your source.”
“We're not talking Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford here. We're talking you, Budge. Would you go to jail to protect this source?”
“Jeez, Iris. What have you gotten yourself into?”
“We're talking a missing twelve year old girl and how the police have the wrong idea about when and where she was taken.”
Budge let out a low whistle. “The Lara story. My story.” He thought for a minute. “OK, I'll protect the source if I can, but I won't jeopardize the girl's life.”
“Fair enough.” Iris exhaled. “Lara went to a friend's house after her father went out to play cards that night. She was taken from the friend's house closer to ten o'clock, not nine. The friend heard about a blue van with
Russo swiveled around in his seat to face his partner. “It's the assistant, isn't it?”
“No—his alibi checked out. He was at that bar in the South End. Carlyle, got a hit from a kiddie porn site he was monitoring. After following the satellite pings through half of Eastern Europe, it bounced back to DeWitt's address.”
Russo whistled. “The prof's a pedophile?”
“Affirmative. Carlyle's giving us a heads-up because he knows from the press that we're interested in him, too. The porn was of pre-teen girls, sick stuff. They got a warrant to take his computer and passport, but I convinced Carlyle to have the FBI watch and wait instead. We can't spook DeWitt before he leads us to the girl.”
“DeWitt didn't give up anything when the father was wailing on him,” Russo pointed out. “Then again, maybe he had nothing to admit that wouldn't have made things worse.”
“We'll nail him now. But we've got to find the girl—she's priority #1. Judge Taylor is issuing a 'sneak and peek' warrant using the kiddie porn as probable cause. DeWitt was released from the hospital yesterday so he's probably teaching this afternoon. I need you to confirm that he's not at home.”
“I can do that. What exactly will we be looking for?”
“Anything that can tie him to the girl. He claims he doesn't have a car. We need to find out if he has access to one. ”
“If this guy's a predator and he sees us closing in, I doubt he'll keep the girl alive.”
“That's why we're using a 'sneak and peek.' You and I are going to comb through the place, but leave it so he never knows we've been there. Nice and neat.”
“I can't believe Interpol didn't turn up anything on him.”
“This guy knows how to cover his tracks. To a point. After all, the Feebs traced him to the porn site.”
CHAPTER 31
I ris ducked into Budge's tiny Fiat parked in her driveway. “How did your interview go with Professor DeWitt?”
“He never showed. Great tip, Reid.”
“But he swims there every morning. Maybe he got lucky last night and decided to sleep in. Try him at the pool tomorrow. He told me he goes there every day.” Iris took out a pad and pen from her pocket. “Can I get my information on credit? Were you able to find out who the guy was who hit my car?”
“That's the strange thing, Iris. I see two cars here in your driveway—a Jeep and a very cool Porsche. Neither of them shows any sign of damage.”
“I already got the bodywork done.”
Budge's look turned into Oh, come on.
“What do you care why I want it? Maybe the car belongs to a hot guy I saw driving around.”
“As much as I'd like to help you with your love life, Iris, it's worth my job to track down license plates. But my spidey sense tells me this one's connected to an important story.”
Iris swore inwardly. She needed that name. Lara's life might depend on it.
“If I tell you something off the record,” Iris said, “will you keep my source's identity out of this?”
“Journalism 101, Reid—always protect your source.”
“We're not talking Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford here. We're talking you, Budge. Would you go to jail to protect this source?”
“Jeez, Iris. What have you gotten yourself into?”
“We're talking a missing twelve year old girl and how the police have the wrong idea about when and where she was taken.”
Budge let out a low whistle. “The Lara story. My story.” He thought for a minute. “OK, I'll protect the source if I can, but I won't jeopardize the girl's life.”
“Fair enough.” Iris exhaled. “Lara went to a friend's house after her father went out to play cards that night. She was taken from the friend's house closer to ten o'clock, not nine. The friend heard about a blue van with
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