Page 28 of Protecting Silver
“Shit,” Atwater said as he leaned back and scrubbed his face. “What else?”
Tamara reached over and tapped the clear evidence envelope she’d given him earlier, and said, “I believe this started it all. While in Anita’s home, we found a thick journal with several newspapers in them.” She opened a different file and showed him the rest of the pictures they’d taken. “We found a tablet on the kitchen table that had yet another article on it.”
“Do you have the actual articles?”
“Yes, we went online for the edition of the papers in the photos, and after the second one, we saw a pattern begin to develop.”
“Which is?”
“We believe that Officer Freedman is responsible for it all.”
“What’s “it”?”
Jackie took the other six folders that they had brought and spread them out. “Each one of these files represents a different woman that had been beaten severely and left for dead. We read the articles about a woman being beaten and left, one was left by the side of the road, one in her apartment, or two, if you include Anita. One was tossed in a dumpster, while another one was left in an alley. The locals sent us copies of everything they had, because their cases have gone cold. All these occurred during the last four years. In each of them, the victims all named the same person as their attacker.”
“Let me guess, this guy?” Atwater held up the picture of Eddie Freedman.
“Correct. We got word earlier that Anita Green is now awake, and willing to talk.”
“She’s been unconscious all this time?”
“Until last week when we went to see her, and she sighed this permission ticket and told us her side of the story. It’s been over eight weeks since her attack.”
“So, she didn’t tell anyone to come in and remove the bloody carpet, and replace it with hardwood?”
“No. I have to say that while we were in her apartment that first day, there was a man’s white dress shirt with a bloody sleeve, that too is down in our crime lab.”
“Did you get any results from it?”
“No, we didn’t have it run, because well, we really didn’t have permission to go into Anita’s home and look around.”
“But, with this you do. I’m assuming by the date on this it’s the date it happened.”
“Yes.”
“What else do you need?”
“Anita is getting released from the hospital later this week, so we’d like to know of our chances of getting her into a safe house, until we can close this case. We’ve already begun discreetly investigating Officer Freedman, and believe we’ll have a solid case against him.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“According to Anita’s statement, she and Freedman were in Elk Junction, Montana the night a Miss...” Tamara paused to look at a folder. “...Silver Roundtree was beaten, tossed in a dumpster, and left for dead. They happened to be at the same nightclub that the attacked occurred.”
“And you think that this Freedman is what, going away on vacation, finding a random woman, beating them, then leaving them for dead?”
“No, each of these women—” Jackie said as she patted her hand on the files in front of them. “—all dated Freedman over the past ten years.” To back up her statement, she concluded with, “It’s all in the reports from the locals. And there are two women here in Chicago, Anita, and a woman by the name of Peggy Moore, the others, Jennifer Swift, Felicia Anderson, Jenna Cox, Karen Willis, and Silver Roundtree all live in different states. And so far, our research indicates that Freedman has visited those states, and cities where the attacks occurred.”
“Shit!” Atwater jumped to his feet and began to pace. After several minutes, he whipped back around, and stared at his two agents. “Do you trust me?”
“You’re our boss, we have to trust you.” Tamara frowned at him.
“Thanks for that, but what I meant was, you said this Anita Green will be released by the end of the week?”
“Yes, if she continues to follow doctor’s orders, then they’ll release her on Friday.”
“Today’s only Monday, leave your files with me, let me read them to catch up, and I’ll get them, and my answer back to you on Wednesday, no later than noon on Thursday.”
Tamara and Jackie looked at each other and could read the other’s facial expression. They stood and nodded. “Okay.”
