Liar Liar - James Patterson Page 0,31
south of Sydney. The highways between Sydney and Nowra would be littered with roadblocks now, looking for the tall, broad-shouldered killer. Would he risk doubling back to the city, or would Regan continue south? Was Melina his next victim?
I started jogging down the shadowy grass strip along the side of the highway, ducking into the dark every time a car rushed by, trying to convince myself I was on the right path. For all I knew, there were dozens of my old victims in the area, and I had no guarantee that after all this time, Melina still lived in Narooma.
I had no firm idea of where Regan would strike next. But I had to try to find him before he killed again.
Chapter 40
POPS STOOD AT the side of the briefing room, barely listening to Deputy Commissioner Woods’s pep talk to the command-center team about the Bonnie Risdale murder. Detective Nigel Spader sat in the front row of the briefing, nodding thoughtfully at Woods’s points. While Woods entertained the gathered officers, Pops was discreetly sending a text on a mobile he had borrowed from the communications office. He directed his one and only text to Edward Whittacker.
Chief Morris here. Old number is now operational under DC Woods. Give this one to Harry if she calls.
Whitt came back almost instantly.
She called last night. Will give it to her if I hear again.
Woods had pictures of the Risdale house on the projector in front of a captivated crew, walking them through the scene like he’d been there himself.
“So now we’ll get protection on all Harry’s past Sex Crimes victims,” Pops broke in, just as Woods was wrapping up. “We’ll send out a call to every woman on her case list and warn them.”
Woods dropped the hand that had been gesturing to the screen and looked at the chief.
“No, we won’t,” Woods said with an icy smile. “We’ll instead direct the substantial manpower that rather naive course of action would take toward bringing in Harriet Blue. If Blue is indeed Regan’s target, then having her in custody will draw the killer to us.”
“Wherever we direct our physical resources, we will at least warn the people on the list,” Pops said. “A phone call. Anything.”
The officers in the room were looking worriedly from one superior to another. Nigel Spader looked incensed.
Woods sighed. “No, we won’t,” he said again. “Warning past victims of crime that they might be in danger will only cause mass panic. Harriet Blue’s connection to Bonnie Risdale will come out in the media in time. It’ll leak. It always does. Harry’s past case victims can get the information from there. I will not be held responsible for traumatizing possibly hundreds of—”
“An excellent initiative.” Pops gave an exaggerated nod. “Let the media keep everyone calm. They’re good at that.”
The Deputy Commissioner’s neck was turning purple.
A couple of the officers nearby sniggered. The big man turned his burning gaze on them, then stormed through the door beside Pops. The chief followed as expected, letting the glass door swing shut behind him.
“I’ve allowed you to remain as second-in-charge on the Banks case,” Woods began through clenched teeth. “I’ve even resisted reporting you on clear breaches of protocol that I’ve observed in your past handling of this investigation. Don’t make me put you on a suspension.”
“You couldn’t put me on suspension if you tried,” Pops said. “You’d send the paperwork over to admin and they’d think it was a joke and bin it.”
“If you don’t agree with my approach to this case, the professional thing to do would be to stand aside, Morris, not to put up roadblocks. But you’re not going to do that, are you? Because you know I’ll have Banks in custody by the end of the week.”
“What, with your ingenious honeypot scheme?” Pops snorted. He’d glanced over Woods’s notes while he stood waiting for the briefing to begin. Woods planned to have Harriet’s mother, Julia, give a public appeal for her daughter to make contact with police. During the televised appeal, carefully scripted by the police, Julia would “accidentally” make it clear exactly where she was staying. Woods obviously hoped that if Regan was going after the people Harriet loved, he wouldn’t be able to resist the bait of her only remaining family member.
“This is why you won’t solve this case, Joe,” Pops said. “If you knew Harriet at all, you’d know using her mother as bait isn’t going to work. You’re not interested in the people involved here. You’re only