Fear

7-Connenticut

Mira Miller looked at the clock behind her desk. This evening she was told, but it was almost 9pm. She shook her head and went back to completing her follow up paperwork on the gang shooting she attended three weeks prior. Typical they send us the celebrity cop, who probably thinks they're superwoman and can do what they like.

Taylor pulled into the parking lot. She sighed, she knew she'd be late but didn't think she'd be this late RTA on the highway and the lane was held for over an hour while they cleared the wreckage

She got out and lifted her suit jacket, ran her hands through her short blonde hair and yawned. She strode towards the police office. The investigative services department which housed major crimes was on Church Street. It looked like it was all brick from the front. Proudly wearing the NHPD badge. It was lit in the evening light. She wasn't expecting a front desk and there wasn't. Taylor phoned through to the department. It was the officer she spoke to earlier, and her tone seemed more than a little pissed.

Mira shook her head as she set down the phone. She headed down the stairs to meet the great Taylor Andersson.

Taylor waited at the front reception. There was no one else around. She looked at the out of date notice board.

"Special Agent Andersson."

She turned and offered her hand. Mira was not what she was expecting at all. The woman standing in front of her was about 5'9 in flats. She wore a grey suit with a white blouse, her face was pretty but her eyes were tough. Her hair tied back tight from her face made her look a little stern.

"Hi I guess your Mira, sorry I'm late there was a jackknifed lorry in the I95. They held us for while." Anderson's smile wasn't reciprocated as the detective motioned her to follow.

"So I'll show you to a desk; have you had the chance to read the case files?"

"I've read through what I have been sent, yes. But assume there is more information here. One of my colleagues has headed to the city morgue. He's going to carry out the autopsy on Sharon Edwards tonight, bring us preliminaries in the morning. So you and a detective Mullens have working this case?"

"Yeah Eric is away home for the night. We've been pretty much nonstop since Saturday night."

"Lutentiant Stobbs about?"

Andersson read contempt from the detective's facial expressions.

"No sorry, she's also away for the night." Mira responded dryly.

"So tell me, because I like getting thing straight right off the bat. That contempt you have is it for the FBI, me or your boss"

The detective looked shocked.

"Or perhaps all three."

"You like it straight. Yeah I don't see why the FBI are here, if Stobbs actually did her job we could handle this in house, it's not as if we're too stupid or ineffective that we need outside help, and they sent us you, the celebrity cop riding it out on the success of a lucky break."

"Thanks for your honesty." Taylor nodded. "I'm unable to comment on your relationship with your manager but I can tell you that the FBI are here to assist not because we're any better than you, but we have more resources, the autopsy taking place this evening instead of next week is an example of that. The Behavioural Analysis Unit also have a system which allows us to cross check for similarities, and profilers which will help us create a better understanding of what type of person might be committing these crimes. When it comes to me I could tell you that I'm good at what I do, but why don't I let you be the judge of that. Now if you don't also want to head home it would be helpful if you could fill me in on the details I wouldn't have read about in a case file."

Mira nodded in agreement and motioned for Andersson to join her at her desk. She opened her computer.

"Chronologically, okay so I think things probably started around the summer just as students were moving back to town. We got a few calls about a peeping tom and this one where the woman said that the person exposed himself and was mastrubating. We got about six calls of that nature before we got the report of the first rape. It seemed to me like escalating behavior. I flagged it after the first sexual assault but we were directed to treat them separate."

"What made you think that they were connected?" Andersson looked Mira in the eyes.

"The areas were all common places for student accommodation. It was like he was targeting coeds. Then the just watching to watching and touching themselves, then the break ins and rapes it seemed like a logical hypothesis."

Andersson nodded, "any reports of other break ins or missing laundry from the line or anything like that?"

"What before or after the peeping tom stuff, sure we get a lot of robberies."

"I mean specifically in the areas of the city you were talking about a moment ago. Maybe a break in where things seemed off like, nothing was taken or, something was moved?"

"I don't know, I can check the computer."

"The women that reported the peeping tom, or sexual assaults did any of them report anything else that was strange?"

"Yeah actually at the time they weren't sure. Because it was a shared apartment and they thought maybe their flatmate might have just been drunk and forgotten they'd done it. The second rape case. It was not in the apartment but close to the victims home, anyway they said in the week prior they thought someone had been in the house, that it looked like they'd taken food from the fridge and made a sandwich. There were dirty dishes left in the sink and things were out of place in the kitchen."

"Anybody follow that up?"

"No. Because she was attacked in an alleyway leading to the house and not actually the house."

"Okay. So tell me about the victims, any connections?

"Only thing that connects some of them is Yale."

"But not them all?"

"No two were professional women a little older."

Andersson nodded. "Okay so tell me what you know about the Sharon Edwards murder and what you think."

"Sorry?" Mira looked confused.

"I guess I'm asking for your appraisal of the facts and what your feelings are on this."

"She was discovered about 530am on Saturday, she was alive when she was found. I didn't see her in situ. The person who found her was returning from a party he was under the influence. We haven't been back out to see him yet."

"Got his details?"

"Yeah"

"Well let's go do that and you can carry on telling me the details in the car."

"It's almost twenty to ten?"

"You got somewhere else to be?"

"No ma'am" yeah my bed Mira thought to herself.

"Well he won't be expecting a call at this time of night and he certainly won't be expecting the FBI so that might just shock him into some kind of honesty."

"I don't think he was being dishonest, ma'am just too wired to be useful."

"Well we'll see and it's just Andersson. Not ma'am, I'm not your boss."