If he's alive, Cardoni may have had plastic surgery.
If he's alive, I'll find him. It doesn't matter what he looks like.
Vasquez's determination pushed Amanda toward a decision. Frank might not trust Vasquez, but she did. He had a burning desire to get Vincent Cardoni, and you could not buy that kind of drive.
Mr. Vasquez, I think you can help Dr. Castle. I want you to work for me.
You won't regret this. What do you want me to do?
Serial killers refine their techniques. Our murderer has used a unique MO twice. I want you to see if he's used it before. Start searching for unsolved murders involving mass graves. Maybe you'll find another property purchased in a similar way. Maybe we'll get lucky and Cardoni has made a mistake that will let us nail him.
Chapter 46
Mike Greene had asked Fred Scofield to send him a copy of the Milton County file in the Cardoni prosecution shortly after Justine Castle's arrest. It arrived on Monday afternoon. Greene was reading the file when Sean McCarthy walked into his office a little after five. The homicide detective looked depressed. He dropped a sheaf of police reports on Greene's desk and lowered himself into a chair.
Jesus, you look terrible, Greene said. You want some coffee?
McCarthy dismissed the offer with a despondent wave.
We have a real problem, Mike. Everything we've got so far makes me believe that the person who committed the murders in Milton County also committed the murders at the farm. Both properties were purchased at the behest of an anonymous buyer through dummy corporations set up by a lawyer who's been in deep trouble with the bar. The crime scenes are so similar that it can't be a coincidence.
Greene looked confused. Why is that a problem?
If Dr. Castle murdered the victims at the farm, we screwed everything up four years ago.
Then we'll make everything right.
That might not be so easy. If we can't prove Cardoni's dead, the Jaffes will argue that he's returned to frame Castle. They can call Fred Scofield and Sheriff Mills as witnesses to testify that they were convinced that Cardoni murdered the victims in Milton County. Hell, Mike, they can call me and I' d have to swear that I was certain that Cardoni did it.
Greene thought about that. He pointed at the papers that were strewn across his desk.
The evidence against Cardoni was pretty convincing.
And there was none implicating Dr. Castle.
Greene was lost in thought for a moment. When he turned his attention back to McCarthy he looked concerned.
Have you been able to identify the victims at the farm? Are any of them connected to Castle?
The poor bastard who died in the basement was a male prostitute named Zach Petrie. He showed up at the emergency room at St. Francis a week before he died, but there's no record of Castle being involved with the case.
What about the others?
Diane Vickers was a prostitute who was treated for a sexually transmitted disease at St. Francis, but as far as we can tell, Castle didn't treat her. David Capp was a runaway, and we can't find any link between him and St. Francis or Justine Castle.
Now, no one reported Petrie, Vickers or Capp missing, but we' d been treating the disappearance of Kimberly Lyons, the other female victim, as a possible homicide since she went missing a few months ago. Lyons was a student at Portland State. From what we can tell, she was abducted at the Lloyd Center mall. Her car was found there, and she told her friends that she was going to shop for a birthday present for her boyfriend.
Do you think the others were also random kidnappings?
McCarthy shrugged.
How about taking a new look at the old victims to see if we can link them to Castle?
I' m already doing that.
Greene smiled. Sorry, I should have assumed you would be. Anything else new?
The DNA test identified the hair in the surgical cap as Castle' s. I also talked to the lawyer who was representing Cardoni in his divorce. Castle went through with the divorce after Cardoni disappeared and made out like a bandit.
How well?
She cleared around two million dollars.
Greene whistled. Two million dollars is a good motive for murdering Cardoni.
The lawyer also told me Castle was certain that Cardoni had set up secret bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, but she never found them. When I asked when she started looking for them, he said it was well before she filed.
Why is that important?
Four years ago Castle testified at her husband's bail hearing. She said she left him when he raped her, but it looks like she may have been checking into his finances way before that.
So what do we have, a black widow?
It's beginning to look that way, Mike. If she killed Cardoni, it won't be the first time she's offed a husband.
Oh?
It might not even be the second time.
Chapter 47
The matron closed the door to the visiting room behind Justine Castle, and Amanda motioned to the chair across from her. Justine had lost weight, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
We've got a problem, Justine, Amanda said.
Justine watched Amanda warily.
The DNA tests of the hair found in the surgical cap came back positive for you.
Justine seemed to relax a bit, as if she' d expected Amanda to say something else.
I assumed it would, Justine told Amanda. Whoever planted the coffee mug and the scalpel obviously took a cap I used during surgery.
There's more. Mike Greene's developing a theory that you married Vincent Cardoni for his money and killed him to get it.
Justine smiled wearily. That's utterly ridiculous.
Greene thinks he can prove it, and he's not simply going to describe you to the jury as a gold digger. He's going to characterize you as one of the most depraved serial killers in history.
Justine leaned back in her chair. Her smile widened.
Isn't that what they said about Vincent? Aren't they going to have a hard time explaining how I murdered the victims in Milton County when all of the evidence points to him?
Amanda was surprised that her news had not upset Justine more. She studied her client for a moment. Justine did not blink under the scrutiny.
You've been thinking about this, haven't you?
Why does that surprise you, Amanda? My life is at stake, and I have nothing but time on my hands.
Well, you're right. The Milton County case hurts Mike, but he can overcome it if he has evidence that you've killed before for money.
Justine's smile faded. What are you talking about?
I reread the autobiography you wrote for me. You left out some things. Like the fact that you shot your first husband to death.
Amanda watched the color drain from Justine's face.
And I didn't see anything in your bio about the one hundred thousand you cleared on his insurance or the several hundred thousand dollars you inherited when your second husband died a violent death within a year of marrying you. Didn't you think I would be interested in these little tidbits?
I shot Gil in self-defense, Justine said, her voice barely above a whisper, and David's death was an accident. They have nothing to do with this.
That isn't what Mike Greene thinks. Damn it, Justine, you can't hide something like this. I've got to be
