The sergeant continued, “Second photo is from an overdose over at the big apartment complex where the fraternities are housed. This kid’s name was Connor Tate and I think Patty and Stall talked to him about their missing persons case.” Her eyes cut over to Stallings and Patty, who were both nodding. “The last photo is from the young man who fell into the marina last night. His name was Kyle Lee. The folks at the marina and on the fishing boat said that he was a regular in the area and that they saw nothing unusual. But the fact that three young men from the same fraternity at a smaller school like the University of North Florida would end up dead in just a short amount of time makes me curious.”
Stallings said, “How’d we make the connection between the three? Who recognized the tattoos?”
Sergeant said, “We can thank Detective Mazzetti for being sharp. I knew you and Patty had been talking with some of the fraternity members and my real fear is that Zach Halston is dead somewhere and we just don’t know that yet.”
Stallings mumbled, “That’s my fear too.”
“Do you have a rapport with the fraternity brothers?”
Stallings said, “I got rapport up the ass.”
The sergeant let a slight smile creep across her pretty face. “Do you think you and Patty could go over and talk to some of the brothers to see if anything else has happened? I don’t want to start a panic or put any ideas into anyone’s head. I just want us to do our duty and protect the public if there’s something other than clumsiness or drunkenness causing these deaths.”
“We’re on it.”
The sergeant folded her arms and leveled a fierce glare at Stallings. “I don’t want you to scare any of those boys. You understand me? No terror tactics.”
Stallings was already standing when he said, “I understand perfectly.”
Patty Levine considered intervening as John Stallings held Bobby Hollis by the collar of his Izod shirt, so close that Stallings’s spit settled on the boy’s cheek. They had not seen the young fraternity member since the first encounter at the beach that kicked off the whole investigation. Stallings rumbled, “Look, you little shit. I know you guys are hiding something.”
The terrified young man shook his head furiously, saying, “No. No, sir.” Stallings released his grip and the boy stumbled to one side and grasped a garbage can next to his couch and vomited.
Stallings backed off, saying, “Jesus, at least dopers don’t get sick when you throw a little scare into them.” He settled on a recliner and looked across at Bobby Hollis, who was now sitting on the beat-up leather sofa. Stallings said, “Look, son, I’ve talked to a couple boys in this fraternity and both of them ended up dying. I cannot believe that’s a coincidence.”
The young man shook his head again, his eyes cutting over to Patty for some kind of reassurance. She figured now was the time for her to move in as a good cop. Although sometimes Stallings went so far she could slap someone and still be considered the good cop.
“Bobby, all we’re asking is if you heard about any other brothers that had been hurt or killed that we might not know about.”
“You mean from our chapter?”
Patty had to think about that for a minute. “Your chapter or any chapters you guys are associated with in the area. Maybe as far south as UCF and as far north as Atlanta.”
“I heard about a guy who graduated and had been by our chapter house a couple times. He was in some kind of a hit-and-run down in Daytona. I think he’s still in the hospital.”
Patty used an even voice to say, “You know his name?”
“Alan Cole.”
“Anyone else?”
The boy seemed to hesitate, causing Stallings to lean forward and emit a low growl like a pit bull.
That spurred the boy to say quickly, “An upperclassman who graduated from UF before me died in a fire in Atlanta.”
“Do you know his name?”
Bobby shook his head, but said he could get it.
Patty realized they had a lot of work to do.
Tony Mazzetti hadn’t stopped hustling since the impromptu meeting a few hours earlier. He’d managed to send out an inquiry to law enforcement and medical examiners asking if they had seen any homicide or accidental death victims with tattoos similar to those on the dead fraternity brothers in Jacksonville. He’d been careful to list that it was just for information and no action should be taken.
Even as busy as he was, he had noticed Patty Levine stroll in and start working at her desk an hour before. When he needed a break, Mazzetti stood up and stretched and wandered over to her desk. He asked, “Where’s Stall?”
“Still looking for Zach Halston. He’s convinced the young man might hold the key to our investigation.”
“Stall sure does get fixated.”
“You have no idea. He’s even worse on this case. He’s been out at all hours showing photographs of young men to different businesses and witnesses along University Boulevard.” She looked up at Mazzetti and said, “This is a great catch. I’m very impressed you noticed the tattoos and made the connection.”
Mazzetti said, “I can’t take all the credit.” When he realized who he was talking to, he stopped short, but Patty had to ask, “Who else gets the credit?”
Mazzetti said, “Lisa Kurtz at the medical examiner’s office picked up on it too.”
Patty just said, “Oh.” She almost looked disappointed.
Mazzetti said, “Sorry, I didn’t want it to be awkward between us.”
“It’s not.”
“Heard you’ve got a new boyfriend.”
“Sort of.”
“What’s he like?”
“He’s a doctor.”
“Really?”
“Well, not really a doctor. A podiatrist.”
“No shit. My foot has been bothering me lately. Should I go see him?”
Patty smiled and patted Mazzetti on hand. “You can see him, but he’s not going to give you a discount.”
Mazzetti mumbled, “Never mind.” It would have been wrong to infringe on his former girlfriend’s new squeeze anyway. He looked down at Patty’s desk and said, “What’s the chart you’re working on?”
“It’s a time line of the three fraternity brothers. How long they’d been at school. What people knew about them. Maybe we’ll find some common factor.” She looked back up at Mazzetti and said, “Don’t worry, Tony. We’ll figure this out together.”
As Mazzetti walked back to his desk he couldn’t believe how good a few words from the girl made him feel.
Lynn sat at her desk reading another online news story about Kyle Lee’s unfortunate accident. The three stories she had read all said the same thing: he had accidentally fallen off the dock and was caught in the propellers of a large deep-sea fishing boat. The story made it sound so clean and antiseptic. She had been there and knew it was anything but neat and tidy. She didn’t know if a reporter could ever describe the scene she’d caused. She’d dreamed about it vividly overnight but had awakened very refreshed and even relaxed.
It had worked out exactly as she had planned. Now she could figure out who else needed to be dealt with and move on. The whole episode had given her an enormous feeling of satisfaction and power.
She’d been able to focus like a laser this morning and completed balancing the gas receipts and mileage on the entire fleet of Thomas Brothers vehicles. That’s why she had the time to scan the Internet for stories that didn’t relate to either of her jobs.
Just before lunch, Dale, the loading dock manager who’d been pressuring her for a date, poked his head in the door. He said, “Hey, good looking.”
