“Did you arrest her?” asked Jamison.
“No.”
“Why not?” asked Decker. “You’re a cop. She broke the law. Seems pretty simple.”
“Look, I was trying to help her out. She didn’t need a prison sentence. She just needed some positive reinforcement and guidance. Only it looks like I failed on both counts.”
“But when you met with her did she confirm that she was selling sex?” said Decker. “Because earlier you intimated that you weren’t sure what she was up to.”
“She never admitted to being a prostitute, or an escort. She did say she was lonely and that while she admitted to arranging to meet men from the website, she never took any money from them. And they didn’t always have sex. Sometimes they just talked.”
“Right,” said Decker skeptically. “I’m sure they did.”
“And she wasn’t dressed like most hookers I’ve run into. Her outfit was pretty normal.”
Their meals came and they ate fast, with a lot of work ahead of them.
As they prepared to leave Decker said, “You ran her prints through IAFIS, right? To see if she had a record?” He was referring to the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.
“I did, but how’d you know that?”
“It’s the only reason we’re here. When her print came through it obviously dinged some pretty high-up corridors at the Bureau. You said it was a request from the Feds that sent your reports to DC. That had to be how they knew.”
“So she was important?” said Kelly.
“They’re all important,” retorted Decker.
“But we didn’t get any hit on our submission,” said Kelly. “As far as the FBI was concerned, they had no criminal record of Irene Cramer.”
“Well, maybe they didn’t under that name,” replied Decker.
“But if they had another name in that database with those prints, they should have let us know that,” said Kelly a bit angrily. “You sure you’re not withholding anything from me?”
“Scout’s honor,” said Decker.
“Didn’t figure you for a Boy Scout.”
“I wasn’t. Now let’s go. Busy day and I’m not getting any younger. And Irene Cramer’s not getting any older. And somebody has to answer for that.”
Decker headed out.
Kelly looked thoughtfully after the departed Decker before glancing at Jamison. “Anything I need to know about your partner?”
Jamison managed a smile. “Oh, it will become readily apparent all on its own.”
Chapter 8
A few drops of rain hit them as they trudged to their rental SUV. Kelly rode next to Jamison while Decker took up most of the back seat.
“So Cramer had no family in the area?” asked Jamison.
“None that I know of or could find.”
“How’d she end up here?”
“She arrived a little over a year ago. No record of her before, that I can find, other than she went to Amherst. And I only found that out from the Brothers. It’s like she had no past. Now, we do run into that up here from time to time. I mean we have lots of folks who are trying to escape from their pasts and whatnot. But this was the first time I could find absolutely nothing on somebody like that.”
“That is weird,” noted Jamison.
Kelly looked at her. “Well, maybe not all that weird, when it comes to people like you. I thought that might be the connection to you guys.”
“What, you mean WITSEC?” said Jamison, referring to the Witness Protection Program run by the U.S. Marshals Service.
“To tell the truth, it was the only thing I could think of. I mean what else would explain my not being able to find anything on the lady?”
“But if that were the case, the Marshals would be all over this and the Bureau would not be leading the investigation,” said Decker. “And they’re not and we are. So it can’t be WITSEC. We have to keep digging.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed. “So what could it be, then?”
“Tell us what you do know about Cramer.”
“She was pretty. Very pretty. Tall and carried herself well. Almost like a model. And she was educated. I could tell that just by talking to her. She didn’t get that teaching job based on her looks. Amherst is a top-notch school.”
“If she actually went there,” noted Decker. “What about her personality? Give us a take on that.”
“Quiet, but confident. You could tell she believed in her ability to handle any situation. I think that’s why my pitch to her to quit what she was doing fell flat. She thought she could manage it. For some reason, little things she said led me to think she’d traveled around some. She seemed pretty sophisticated.”
“But you also said she denied being a prostitute,” pointed out Jamison. “So she may not have felt there was any reason to stop what she was doing.”
“That’s true,” conceded Kelly.
“Any signs of her being in the money?” asked Jamison. “With the clothes she wore, or other possessions she might have had? Something she said?”
“No. She drove a used Honda. The apartment building we’re going to is no great shakes. I highly doubt we’ll find a Rembrandt on the walls there. I guess her pay as a teacher was enough to cover her expenses. But finding a decent place to stay for an affordable price is tough.”
“Cost of living really that high around here?” asked Jamison.
“Some of the rents here would rival what you would pay in a lot of metro areas. When people first move here they usually sleep in their cars or a friend of a friend’s spare room in a trailer, or someone’s couch for a month or longer. Fracking crews coming in are usually housed initially in old shipping containers set up as tiny studio apartments with a bed, a toilet and a shower, and a fridge and a microwave, with one door in and the same door out. They’re building homes as fast as they can, but they can’t keep up. Everybody’s chasing the dollars this place throws off. The result is we’re growing way too fast and the cracks are showing.”
“Did you believe her when she said she didn’t charge for sex?” asked Decker.
“Thing is, we’ve been all over her place, and we’ve checked her bank records. Other than her teacher salary there is no sign of any other money.”
Decker seemed taken aback by this. “Okay, that is odd. Most hookers have evidence of cash flow somewhere.”
“She show any signs of drug use?” asked Jamison. “The coroner couldn’t find any trace of it in her system.”
“Nothing that I observed, and I know what to look for.”
“So why’d you pick her out of all the escorts out there to have a ‘come to Jesus’ talk?” asked Decker.
“She wasn’t the only one I had that chat with,” replied Kelly.
“Who else?” asked Jamison.
He restlessly tapped his fingers against the window. “Look, in the interest of full disclosure, my sister had some of those same issues. Only she got trapped on drugs, and hooking was the only way out, or so she thought. She overdosed and they couldn’t bring her back. It was a tragedy all around.”
“That’s so awful, Joe. I’m sorry,” said Jamison.
“So that’s why you don’t arrest escorts?” said Decker.
“All I know is, prostitution is not a victimless crime. And if I can do something to help people who need help, then I will. It’s why I signed up to be a cop. I have no problem putting people away who deserve it, but that’s not all I want to do.”
“How’d you find out about her connection with the Brothers?” said Jamison. “Was that widely known?”
“I’m one of the few people here that know the Brothers well. I’ve been out to the Colony — that’s what they call their collective home — many times. Just part of being a local cop, get to know the people in your community. I’d seen her there, in fact. That’s how I recognized her picture from the website. And I highly doubt anyone from the Brothers would be surfing the web for sex services. So I think her secret was safe with me. And I never told anyone.”