Page 37 of Stay Awake
The IAFIS was the FBI’s national fingerprint database. A fourteen-point match was good enough to be presented as evidence in court.
“The fingerprint on the wine bottle matched the prints of a perp in the database?” Halliday asked, with barely contained excitement.
“The prints on the wine bottle don’t match a perp,” said Grace.
“Then who do they match?”
“They match the prints of a crime victim.”
The FBI database contained every print ever put into the system. Many of them were those of criminals, or suspected criminals. But there were other prints, too, belonging to upstanding citizens. Among them were prints of victims whose fingerprints and DNA were takenas part of an investigation. It was always necessary to take prints of everyone who’d been at the crime scene, from first responders to cops and even the victims, so their prints could be ruled out from the evidence. The prints were almost always kept on file.
Halliday took out a notepad and a pen as she climbed into Lavelle’s car. “What’s the name?”
“Her name is Liv Reese. That’s R-E-E-S-E,” Grace spelled out. “I have a social security number and her last known address on file from two years ago.”
Halliday wrote down the details. Liv Reese’s last known address was in Brooklyn. “Grace, do you have any information about the crime in which this woman, Liv Reese, was a victim? I assume her prints were taken to eliminate them from the forensics at the crime scene?”
“There’s no additional information in the system,” the lab technician said. “Jerry Krause handled the case. Talk to him. He’ll know more.”
Halliday updated Lavelle after she’d hung up. “Do you know Jerry Krause?”
“Oh yeah. Jerry and I go way back.” Lavelle’s lackluster tone suggested he was no fan of the other detective. “I’ll call him when we get to the precinct.”
When they arrived, Lavelle gave Rosco and Tran the USB drives with CCTV footage to add to their growing pile of security camera footage to review.
“We haven’t found any more visuals of the woman with long hair. It’s like she disappeared into thin air,” said Rosco.
“Nobody disappears into thin air,” said Lavelle. “Take a closer look at people coming and going. Look for people wearing baseball hats, beanies, or hoodies. Even high-collared jackets. Anything that covers their hair. We estimate her height at around five foot six, so pay special attention to people of a similar stature.”
Halliday opened her laptop to find out more about Liv Reese, butbefore she could run a search, Lavelle signaled to her to join him in an interview room. He wanted her with him when he called Jerry Krause in case Halliday had any questions for the detective.
The interview room was bland and windowless. It was used to talk to potential witnesses and informants. The table in the room was round rather than rectangular, to encourage collaboration.
In the middle of the table was a telephone. Lavelle pulled it over to the edge so they could both be near the speaker while they spoke with Krause.
There was no love lost between the two detectives. Lavelle had partnered with Krause when he first became a detective. Their partnership had been mercifully brief, and they hadn’t had much to do with each other since. Over the years they’d drifted to different units at different precincts.
“Don’t expect too much,” Lavelle warned Halliday. “When I worked with Krause, he had lousy instincts and he always looked for shortcuts. I doubt he’d pass if he did the detective exam today.”
He punched in Krause’s number.
“Krause.” The detective’s crusty voice was tinged with a mixture of irritation and apathy.
“This is Jack Lavelle. I have my partner with me here, Darcy Halliday.”
“I feel like I’ve won the sweepstakes. Two homicide detectives for the price of one!” What’s up?”
“Does the name Liv Reese ring any bells for you?” Lavelle asked.
Krause paused. Halliday could sense him trying to figure out the lay of the land before he answered. “What about her?” he asked cautiously.
“Her name came up in connection with a case you were investigating. We wanted to get the lowdown from you.”
“I’m strapped for time here, folks. The case is an old unsolved. I can’t recall all the specifics. Call my old precinct and they’ll get youthe file. It’ll all be in there. Now if you’ll both excuse me, I really need to…”
“Detective, we’re not quite done yet. I have a few questions,” Halliday interrupted. “The records say Liv Reese was a crime victim. They don’t give details but…”
“She was never a crime victim,” Krause thundered. Halliday had hit a nerve.
