“Not yet, but it’s one of our priorities,” he said. “We have quite a few images with him in it. But it could take years,” he cautioned.
“Great,” she said. “Lots of different children?”
“Different children, but it’s like he is keeping them for a while, maybe a month. It depends on how many photos we have of each one, and we can’t really give a time frame. If we don’t get an outside image, then we don’t know what day, what time of the year, that sort of thing,” he said. “We don’t know if these pedophiles have had them for one week or for six months.”
Six monthsrang a bell to her. “We have a deceased little boy who was found,” she said. “He was in pretty rough shape. We’re still waiting on the autopsy, but he’d been missing six months.”
“And in that case,” he said, “he could have been with one pedophile, or he could have been passed around to a dozen.”
“God, that doesn’t bear thinking about,” she cried out.
“Which is why most of us can’t do this job for too long,” he said. “We see terrible things and can’t imagine anything like that happening to our loved ones, but, the fact of the matter is, it does happen. And it happens more than we would like to think.”
“Scumbags,” she said.
“So you do your job,” he said. “Just think that, for every time we find something, we’re getting another piece of the puzzle.”
“I want the noose,” she said harshly. “I want the noose, and I want to tighten it on this asshole’s neck.”
“In your case, this perv is already dead and gone, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” she said, “Ken is, but I’m starting to suspect we have a ring here in Vancouver.”
“Unfortunately I think you’re right.”
*
Saturday, Late Afternoon, through Sunday Dawn
Simon woke upfrom his nap late Saturday afternoon and sat up, swinging his legs over the bed. He got up and walked onto the balcony. He never went on a cruise unless he could get a balconied room. Last night had been fun, getting back into the swing of things, as it always had been. Normal routine, he won a few, lost a few, won a little more, and then finally called it quits. He had several drinks with a friend and several other acquaintances here.
But he’d yet to even figure out who else was here because he hadn’t cared. He’d just been so busy losing himself in his hobby. Tonight would be a whole different deal though. He had a quick shower and headed off to get his first meal of the day, and, with that under his belt, he headed in to prepare for a heavy evening again. Back in his room, he quickly got changed and headed out again. They were on international waters, but he found himself wondering what the detective was up to. He had checked the news, but he found nothing new, and that was good with him.
As he headed toward the casino a couple hours later, he looked up to find Yale sitting there, with Ben and Jerry, two other guys Simon knew well. He sat down and had a drink with them.
“Are we keeping up this lifestyle forever?” Ben asked.
“My wife has given me an ultimatum,” Jerry said. “This is the last weekend, or she is gone.”
“Ouch,” Yale said, “maybe it’s time you got rid of her.”
Jerry nodded. “But I love her,” he said, “so this is my last hurrah.”
“Then we need to make it a good one,” Simon said in a joking manner. With the others in agreement, that started them onto heavy drinking, heavy gambling, and Simon didn’t even worry about winning. By the time it was dawn, Jerry stood ten grand to the good, and he’d had a blast. They walked him to his stateroom.
As he closed the door behind him, he called out, “You guys are the best.”
They split up at that point, and Simon headed back to his room. He dropped on his bed. He was only a couple rooms away from where the others were, but he wanted time alone. He’d made a good fourteen, fifteen thousand tonight, and, considering he hadn’t even worked at it, it was just an easy win. He closed his eyes, and almost immediately his phone rang. He groaned, lifted it, and knew that everything else he did would cost him, but it was the detective. He swore. “What the fuck do you want on a Sunday morning? I haven’t slept yet. You know where I am?”
“I know where you are,” she said calmly. “I want you to come in and see me Monday when you get home.”
“Why?” he said.
“I have some guys I want to see if you know,” she said. “I think that one pedophile was working with a local ring.”
His stomach twisted, churning at the thought. “What’s that got to do with me?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But, just like you sent me those numbers because it had to do with me, I’m calling you because I think it has to do with you.” And, on that note, she hung up.