Chapter 72

First thing to do was to start with at least one case that wasn't to old. So that people not have forgotten the details. There would be details in the Dana Summers case file. Since she was the most recent known victim, people might remember her.

"Wilson," I said the next morning. "I want a complete case file on the Daniel Summers episode from last year. Maybe we can get ahead of this year by going back to last year. We need a time line for the night of the rape. I will probably have to go see her, but I want as much information as possible before I do."

"Have you given up on Brian," Wilson asked.

"Hell no, I'm convinced even if he couldn't have done them all, somewhere their paths have crossed. It's too far fetched to think, in a community of this size, there would be more than one source of Ruffies."

"Yeah, I agree, so why not have a go at him?" Wilson asked.

"Because I have no leverage. What I need is something to link him to the rapes. I could have shouted date rape at the time, but I didn't. I suspect that is the case with others as well. So let's see if we can figure out whodunit, then put Brian in touch with that person." I suggested.

"Or couldn't you just pick Brian up, then cut of chunks of his fingers till he spills all" Wilson asked.

"And what if I find out later he wasn't the one? How do I put it right? I'm afraid an 'oops my bad' wouldn't cover it." I replied.

"Yeah, I suppose. In his case it would be more fun," Wilson said.

"No Wilson that would be more satisfying. This will be more fun. Look at how we got to Lamont. You had the chance to play with your new scanner thing. Which I still have locked in the truck." I suggested.

"That is just a probe it is almost worthless. It connects to your smart phone which connects to our computer and server which are all the real stuff." he saw my blank stare. "It's not worth anything to anyone. I doubt anyone would bother with it. It's like stealing a bullet without having a gun."

"So you are saying nobody will bother stealing it?" I asked.

"It won't even turn on unless one of our smart phones is within 20' of it. Then the menu won't work unless one of us has connected to it, so for all intents and purpose it is just a piece of junk."

"An expensive one I'm sure," I said.

"Replacement probably would be under $500," Wilson asked.

"That's a pretty expensive bullet, but with what I saw last night I can imagine it's value." I agreed. Oh course it won't be of any value at all, if I don't have it with me. With that in mind I thought again about having the side tool boxes installed, but not on a ten year old truck.

I called Ev at the boat yard. He owed me, whether he liked it or not. "Ev, it's Sylvia calling from the barge boat," I said.

"Hello, is something wrong with the house boat?" he asked.

"No, I need some work done on my truck," I said.

"We are not auto mechanics," he said distastefully.

"This is something you can do. I'll be by in an hour to explain," I said.

"So Wilson, when I get back from the boatyard, have a time line for Dana Simpson's faithful night. It doesn't have to be complete, but as close as possible."

"Want me to see where Brian was as well?" he asked.

"If you can that would be lovely," I replied. I left for the boat yard. I stopped along the way to have a coffee in the parking lot of MrBJs. He had a WIFI connection. I didn't find anything of interest on the net, but I still sat banging around the net until time to drive to the Boatyard.

After some extremely cold pleasantries I started to explain. "What I want you to do is to fabricate a secure storage box for me. Then I want you to remove the seat from my truck. Then I want you to mount the box underneath the seat, and replace the seat so that it all fits like before. The seat need not be adjustable if you put it back exactly in the same position as before."

"I can have Mike measure it now and have it fabricated in a couple of days then install it in a few hours one day next week. Is that satisfactory?" he asked still not being friendly. He just didn't like to lose, especially to a woman.

"That works fine for me," I said.

Mike the master welder was called to the office. I drove the drunk up to the door of the welding shop where Mike measured the space under my seat. You aren't going to have much storage inside this thing. If I raise the seat two inches I can get you five inches inside the box. Where to you want the opening?"

"Raising the seat is fine but make sure I can still reach the pedals or we will have to rebuild them as well. I want the door to be able to flop down when I unlock it. I want one door on each side of the truck. Two different boxes would be alright as far as that goes." I said.

"Since this thing is front wheel drive one box all the way through would work best for you, and wouldn't be any trouble for me I will have to build a support for the door so I can build it a little stronger, no problem." Mike said with his mind already working on the details.

"Mike in addition to the two padlocks on the doors. I want a trick lock. One with a trick or lever or something hidden under the seat. Just so if they take bolt cutters to the padlock there is something to hold the door closed," I suggested.

"Oh my a hidden second latch. I love it. I can put it in the space that would be behind the seat so it can't be seen you would have to feel for it and a thief wouldn't know that. I just love it because it is so 13th century thinking. It's fucking eloquent in design." he said.