Page 85 of Den of Iniquity

“Then I’ll go, too,” Scott declared. “Let’s get back to the department and figure out a game plan.”

As we walked out of the restaurant, the other diners may not have noticed, but I was doing a close approximation of a happy dance. Not very dignified for a guy my age with two fake knees, but who cares? We were about to nail a serial killer!

Chapter 39

Seattle, Washington

Monday, March 9, 2020

As expected, reopening closed cases inside Seattle PD isn’t a simple process. Bureaucracies are like that, and the larger they are, the slower they move. The Kent case had been reopened, but it had only circumstantial evidence. That meant that out of our batch of cases, the only open one and our single avenue forward was the Jake Spaulding homicide in Liberty Lake.

By the time Scott and I caught up with Detective Sechrest, she had already swallowed her disappointment and pivoted to another plan of action. Without questioning Scott’s presence, she directed us to the conference room.

“I’ve set up a Zoom call for half an hour from now. Detective Byrd is working on getting a judge to sign off on her search warrant requests. We may not have ours, but once she faxes hers over, we’ll be able to execute those. But she warned me in advance. The judgeover there has agreed to issue search warrants, but he doesn’t feel we have enough to justify an arrest warrant at this time.”

That was disappointing, but search warrants were a big improvement over no warrants at all.

Prior to that moment I’d never heard of a Zoom call, but live and learn. It wasn’t actually a phone call at all since it was done via computers. Even so, it took the better part of half an hour to get everyone online and talking to one another. Once that finally happened, Detective Sechrest took charge.

“Since Mr. Beaumont here is the only one of us who has actually visited the suspect’s residence...” she began.

“Call me Beau, please.”

“Beau then,” she agreed. “With that in mind, I think it’s only fair to ask him how he suggests we go about approaching this.”

Luckily I had already given some thought to the search process, and I took it from there.

“The house itself looks as though it’s abandoned, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be searched. Constance Herzog may have concealed evidence there. The ADU out back is where she actually resides. It’s a quilting studio that doubles as a living space. That needs to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. There’s a framed picture on one wall of the ADU. It’s of Constance Herzog’s father. Be sure to take that into evidence because his involvement in a long-ago armored car robbery is likely the source of the hundred-dollar bills found at our various crime scenes.

“This afternoon I went to see her and purchased one of her quilts, which is what the crime lab used to develop her DNA profile. To gain access, I had to enter through a gate that comes equipped with an up-to-date security system. If we search her residence first, she’ll no doubt be notified of our activity via one of her devices. Ratherthan give her time to start destroying evidence, I think we should execute the device warrant first, and we should do so at her workplace. Since that location happens to be Seattle’s 911 communications center, it’s bound to cause quite a stir, but that can’t be helped.”

“What next then?” Detective Byrd asked. “Her vehicles?”

“Correct,” Sandy answered. “According to the Department of Licensing, she has two—a 2018 Prius and a 2007 Dodge Caravan. Here are the plate numbers.” She read them off. “This afternoon when Beau went to the residence, the Prius was there but the minivan was not. That must be kept at an off-site location.

“Nine-one-one dispatchers work twelve-hour shifts, with the night shift going on duty at sixp.m.According to my sources, she reported to duty on time and is still there. While Beau was at dinner, I took the liberty of having a patrol officer drive by the residence to see if the Prius was still parked outside. It wasn’t, so presumably she drove that to work. I currently have uniforms checking all parking facilities close to the West Precinct. When the Prius is located, they have directions to place an AirTag on it. With search warrants only, we won’t be able to take her into custody, but if she attempts to flee in that, or if she heads for wherever she keeps the minivan, we’ll be able to follow her movements on my phone.”

I’m old school. Back in the day the only way to follow a bad guy in a fleeing vehicle was to keep him in view. Using an AirTag wouldn’t have occurred to me in a million years, and I gave Sandy Sechrest high marks on that score.

“What about weapons?” Detective Miller asked. During the Zoom call those were the first words out of his mouth.

“That’s a big question mark,” Sandy answered. “Constance Herzog isn’t a registered firearms owner as far as the State of Washingtonis concerned, and she’s never used a handgun in the course of her crimes, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have one. We must consider her to be armed and dangerous.”

“What all are we looking for in the searches?” Scott asked, directing his question at me.

“Fentanyl and vape pens for starters,” I said. “Some money, of course, specifically old hundred-dollar bills that predate the Treasury Department’s inclusion of security strips.”

After that a short silence fell over the room. Sandy glanced around. “Any other questions?” she asked.

“I’d be happy to join in on the search warrant team,” Detective Miller offered. “Say the word, and I’ll be there with bells on.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Sandy answered. “I asked the captain about that. He said that due to insurance liability constraints, only sworn Seattle PD officers can participate.”

“Wait a minute,” I objected. “I thought you said—”

She cut me off in midstream. “I know what I said. I promised you a ride-along, and I was wrong. The captain was adamant about that. Sorry.”

Scott raised his hand. “What about me?” he asked. “Can I come?”

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