The Bone Vault - Linda Fairstein by Linda Fairstein Read Free Book Online Page B

a hint."

    I pushed at Diamond's shoulder and pointed down the stairs. "Go see Ryan Blackmer. He's taking a plea this afternoon on the case with the oral surgeon who sexually abused a patient after he gave her nitrous oxide."

    "Today? I already have my piece written. `D.D.S.-- Dentist Desired Sex.' Would have been a cover story if the triple hadn't happened."

    "Where's Cooper?" McKinney's voice echoed in the stairwell. I heard Laura tell him that I had gone to the ladies' room and would be back in a few minutes. Diamond waved over his shoulder and trotted down to the seventh floor.

    "Tell her I want to know whose side she's on. She's got some witness out here crying and the kid's mother is complaining that Cooper was going to give her a lie detector test and take her away from home. What kind of crap is going on around here? This office hasn't used a lie detector since 1973. I want to see her immediately."

    I waited until I could hear McKinney's footsteps walking away from my office and crossed back to find Vandomir standing beside my desk. "When did you come up with this tactic? You oughtta patent it. Worked like a charm on Angel," he said.

    "Remember those old Dick Tracy cartoons that were called `crime stoppers'? My favorite was the one that said the best lie detector was the threat of a lie detector. I haven't yet met the teenage girl who isn't afraid of a needle. I just designed the most unpleasant-sounding imaginary machine I could think of, wait until I catch them in the first concrete fabrication before I describe it, and then give them an hour to decide which is worse--the big needle or 'fessing up. I've never had to wait more than fifteen minutes."

    "This one took exactly eight. She pleaded with me to let her tell me what really happened. Anything but sticking a needle in that skinny arm of hers, and having to seeyou again."

    "What did she give you?"

    "Felix was telling the truth. She fell in love about two minutes after getting in the cab and he began to pick her up at school every day. It was her friend Jessica they did a threesome with. She's the one who's Ralphie's girl."

    "So why the 911 call?"

    Every false report had a motive, some reason that person decided to pick up the phone and invite the NYPD into his or her otherwise private life. Find that spot, and the need for deception usually became crystal clear to the investigator.

    "'Cause Felix didn't bring a condom with him that night, and when she told him to pull out or she'd never let him have sex with her again, he told her she wasn't that good anyway. Said he got it better from Jessica. She was jealous and angry. Figured she'd get back at him by getting him in trouble with the cops. Never thought anybody would take it too seriously." "The knife?"

    "Didn't exist."

    "Force?"

    "Nope. She invited him in and led him right to the bedroom."

    "And there's her poor mother, working all night to try to give her kids a good life, and this one's going to break her heart. Let's bring this to an end."

    Angel refused to pick up her head when I walked into the conference room. She had a box of tissues in front of her and had gone through a handful before I arrived. Mrs. Alfieri was standing at the window and staring out, with her handkerchief balled up in her hand.

    "Does it feel any better to tell the truth? Isn't it a relief?" I asked Angel. She didn't seem to agree with me.

    "You both lied to me. You told me what I said to you was just gonna stay with us."

    "I had to tell your mother the truth," Vandomir said. "She's got to know she can walk out every night and do her job without having you bringing men into the house. Miss Cooper was right. Family court will take you away from your home if your mother can't control you." Mrs. Alfieri turned to look at her daughter, too pained to raise her voice above a whisper. "You lied to him, Angel. You lied to all of us. Now you know how it feels when someone does that to you."

    I tried to get her to understand