Chapter 29: The Coffee Meeting - Part 2
January 10, 2009 - 2:30 PM - Inside The Daily Grind
"Can you describe him?" Lorelei asked. "The man Miranda saw?"
Wagner leaned back, fingers wrapped around his coffee cup. Through the wire, I heard him take a measured breath—someone accessing difficult memories.
"Mid-forties at the time. Well-dressed, expensive clothes but not flashy. He visited the shelter several times over two months, posing as a potential donor. Very charming, made staff feel comfortable." Wagner's voice carried frustration. "I noticed he focused on specific women. Asked pointed questions about their situations, whether they had family looking for them."
The System tracked every word, building profile data.
[ **ANALYZING: SUBJECT DESCRIPTION** ]
[ **AGE IN 2003: MID-40S (CURRENT AGE: 46-47)** ]
[ **BEHAVIORAL PATTERN: MATCHES DOCUMENTED PREDATOR METHODOLOGY** ]
[ **VICTIM SELECTION: ISOLATED WOMEN, NO SUPPORT NETWORKS** ]
[ **INTELLIGENCE LEVEL: HIGH** ]
[ **ENERGY: 54/100** ]
"Miranda noticed too," Wagner continued. "She came to me one evening after he'd been there. Said something felt wrong. 'He's hunting, not helping,' those were her exact words. She was scared."
"Miranda knew. She recognized the danger and tried to get help."
"What did you tell her?" Lorelei's voice was tight, controlled.
"To trust her instincts. To avoid being alone with him if he returned. And I filed an official statement with Sacramento PD the next day." Wagner set down his cup. "Detective Marcus Harris took my report. I gave him full description, dates of visits, everything Miranda had observed. Harris assured me they'd investigate thoroughly."
"And then?"
"Two days later, Miranda was murdered. I called Harris immediately, demanded updates. He said they were 'pursuing all leads,' that my statement was part of the investigation." Wagner's voice hardened. "When I followed up a month later, Harris said the lead went nowhere. No evidence connecting the man to Miranda's death. Case went cold."
The pieces assembled with sickening clarity. Miranda identified a predator. Wagner reported him. Two days later, she was dead. And the witness statement disappeared into a system designed to find killers, not protect them.
"Thank you," Lorelei said quietly. "For trying to help her. For remembering."
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more." Wagner stood, extending his hand. "If there's anything else I can provide—records, memories, testimony—please ask. Your sister deserved better than she got from the system."
They shook hands. Wagner left cash on the table for both coffees and departed, shoulders carrying the weight of six-year-old guilt.
Lorelei waited two minutes, then walked out. I started the engine as she approached.
January 10, 2009 - 3:00 PM - Tedd's Car
She climbed in silently, wire still active. I disabled the recording, pulled into traffic.
"We had the wrong person," she said finally.
"We had the right instincts, wrong target."
"Wagner tried to save her. All this time we thought he was selecting victims, and he was trying to prevent exactly what happened."
I drove toward my apartment, mind already moving ahead. "I need to pull Miranda's official case file. See if Wagner's statement is documented."
"It won't be."
"I know. But I need to confirm it."
January 10, 2009 - 4:30 PM - Tedd's Apartment
The official case file arrived via email from Sacramento PD records—professional courtesy between law enforcement agencies. I opened it on my laptop while Lorelei paced behind me.
Miranda Martins. Case #2003-4782. Homicide investigation, opened May 14, 2003. Forty-seven pages of reports, witness statements, forensic analysis. I scrolled through systematically, searching for Wagner's name.
Nothing.
No statement from Dr. Linus Wagner. No mention of a suspicious man at Safe Harbor. No record of Detective Harris pursuing that lead.
The System analyzed the documentation gaps.
[ **ANALYZING: CASE FILE COMPLETENESS** ]
[ **WITNESS STATEMENTS: 14 DOCUMENTED** ]
[ **DR. WAGNER STATEMENT: ABSENT** ]
[ **SHELTER STAFF INTERVIEWS: MINIMAL** ]
[ **DOCUMENTATION DELIBERATELY REMOVED OR NEVER ENTERED** ]
[ **PROBABILITY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRUPTION: 68%** ]
[ **ENERGY: 51/100** ]
"It's not there," I said.
Lorelei stopped pacing. "Wagner filed that report. He met with Harris personally. It should be in the file."
"Should be. Isn't." I pulled up Detective Marcus Harris's personnel record. "Harris was primary investigator on Miranda's case. If he buried the statement, he did it deliberately."
"Why would a detective bury a lead?"
"Corruption. Bribes. Threats. Or someone higher up ordered him to." I stared at Harris's photo—middle-aged, tired eyes, the kind of cop who'd seen too much. "We need to talk to him. Find out what happened."
Lorelei leaned over my shoulder, reading the screen. "Where does he work now?"
I clicked through to current status. The record ended in 2006.
Deceased. August 14, 2006.
"He's dead," I said.
January 10, 2009 - Evening
We spent the next three hours building a new investigation framework.
Wagner's description gave us a profile: mid-forties in 2003, charming, well-dressed, focused on isolated women. Posed as shelter donor while selecting victims. Miranda recognized his predatory behavior and reported it. Wagner filed statement with Harris. Two days later, Miranda was murdered. Harris buried the statement. Three years later, Harris died.
The pattern was clear. The killer was protected—by corruption, by fear, by something deep enough that evidence disappeared and witnesses died.
"This is bigger than we thought," Lorelei said, curled on my couch, wine glass in hand. "If someone in law enforcement protected Red John in 2003, they might still be protecting him now."
"Or Harris acted alone. Took a bribe, buried evidence, then got killed when he became a liability."
"Either way, we're investigating police corruption from six years ago. How do we even approach that?"
The System provided clinical analysis.
[ **INVESTIGATION COMPLEXITY: SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED** ]
[ **THREAT LEVEL: HIGH** ]
[ **POLICE CORRUPTION CONFIRMED: 68% PROBABILITY** ]
[ **RECOMMENDED ACTION: INVOLVE CBI RESOURCES** ]
[ **ALTERNATIVE: CONTINUE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION (HIGHER RISK)** ]
[ **ENERGY: 49/100** ]
I could involve CBI officially—bring the case to Lisbon, access resources, make it legitimate investigation. But if corruption ran deeper than one detective, if Sacramento PD had systemic issues, going official could alert exactly the wrong people.
"We keep going," I said. "Carefully. Wagner gave us a description. We have proof his statement existed, even if it's been removed. And we know Harris died suspiciously. That's more than we had yesterday."
"But where do we go from here?"
"We find out why Harris buried the report. Who paid him, or threatened him, or convinced him to betray his badge." I pulled her closer. "And we do it without making ourselves targets."
She nestled against me, and we sat in silence. The investigation had pivoted completely—from hunting a predatory consultant to uncovering police corruption and a killer protected by systematic cover-up.
Bigger. More dangerous. And impossible to walk away from.
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