Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

in a teary voice. Joseph decided to keep that detail to himself. ‘And we need to take a moment to remember the officers we lost today – BPD’s Officer Winn and MPD’s Sergeant Zacharias.’
    The room went quiet as they observed a moment of silence. ‘All right,’ Joseph said soberly. ‘Let’s begin. Dr Brodie, you’re first. Please report on the crime scene.’
    Brodie detailed the layout of the scene, including Joseph’s analysis of the most likely scenario. ‘I’ve traced the serial numbers of the taser AFID tags,’ she said. ‘Two tasers and ten cartridges were reported stolen by a Pennsylvania state trooper a year ago. They’d been assigned by his department and he kept them in his gun safe which was in his home. The thieves also got his service weapon, several antiques, and two semi-automatic pistols.’ Her eyes gleamed. ‘And guess where those pistols were found?’
    JD leaned forward. ‘In Bill Millhouse’s trunk with his ten assault rifles.’
    Brodie’s smile was sharp. ‘Very good, Detective. We’re running ballistics on the other weapons found in Bill and Marina’s possession. So far nothing’s popped.’
    ‘But now we can connect Bill Millhouse to the murder of Officer Zacharias and the abduction of Ford Elkhart,’ Joseph said. ‘Even if we can’t prove Bill was in the alley, we’ve got a connection through whoever supplied the pistols and taser cartridges. What about the knife that Reggie used in the courtroom? Has anyone had time to look at it?’
    ‘I did,’ Drew Peterson said. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite like it.’ He passed photos of the knife down the table. ‘It’s curved, like a sickle. When it’s taken apart, the halves align, one on top of the other. Hector and Grayson, I’ll email you the pictures.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Grayson said. ‘I want to know how they smuggled it into the courtroom.’
    Joseph studied the photo. Daphne had said that the plastic strip they’d found in the backpack was the same color as the knife. It was also the same shape as both halves, when stacked on each other. He saw that Deacon had also noted the connection. ‘Show them what you found,’ he said to Deacon.
    Deacon put the plastic plate on the table, tagged in an evidence bag. ‘Ford’s cell LUDs led us to an alley where we found this in a backpack. It smells like a gym shoe.’
    ‘Let me see that,’ Peterson said. ‘There are prints on the surface.’
    ‘I was going to send it to Latent when we were done,’ Deacon said.
    Peterson typed a text into his phone. ‘I’m requesting a tech to come up here and get it. We’ll put a priority on running the prints.’
    ‘You say Ford’s cell phone record led you to this alley?’ Grayson asked.
    ‘Yes. Daphne Montgomery received a text from Ford’s phone today at about ten A.M. ,’ Joseph said. ‘She thought it was real, that Ford had texted her and he was safe. She was devastated to find that wasn’t true.’
    There was a rumble around the table followed by a moment of intense silence.
    Deacon spoke up. ‘Why take SA Montgomery’s son now? I mean, I get the notion of payback, but they took him before the guilty verdict was in. There was still a chance the jury would acquit. If they’d failed or if Ford had been discovered missing before the trial reconvened this morning, it would have made things even worse for Reggie. If it’d been me, I’d have taken one of the juror’s kids. Just sayin’,’ he added when everyone stared at him. ‘Kidnapping Ford when they did it served no purpose.’
    ‘Neither did shooting innocent people,’ Hyatt said coolly. ‘I don’t think we’re dealing with great intellect in the Millhouses.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Joseph said. ‘Zacharias’s killer came with a plan. He was surprised by Zacharias, but he adapted. I don’t think he’s stupid. Marina? Stupid or maybe suicidal. Bill Millhouse showed up with a trunk full of weapons this morning. He had a plan, too – to break Reggie out. And in the absence of that, kill as many as he could.’
    Hyatt’s face flashed fury. ‘Millhouse family Plan B. Scorch the earth.’
    ‘Having said all that,’ Joseph said, ‘Deacon has a point. We can see purpose to Millhouse’s actions at the courthouse today. But why they took Ford when they did? It’s a damn good question. We have to keep an open mind.’
    ‘Fine,’ Hyatt muttered. ‘Just don’t go looking for any grand design to all this.’
    Joseph nodded. ‘So