Chapter Twenty-Two. They sat at their desks--burger wrappers, chip bags and drinks littering each--as they tossed ideas about

They sat at their desks--burger wrappers, chip bags and drinks littering each--as they tossed ideas about.

"Remember how some of the witnesses said the Peeping Tom was a woman," Casey reminded them. "Could have been this Patty."

"You're not seriously thinking that his brother Patrick is really his sister in drag and goes by Patty?" Sikes held up a chip. "I think that's too far-fetched."

"Oh, so you think it's just a coincidence that he calls his sister Patty? Come on, we told you what Mac said about the DNA. A relative. His brother. "

"But he said he didn't have a brother," Sikes said.

"I think we're forgetting something here," Leslie said. "John is simpleminded." She grinned. "And I don't mean you, Sikes."

Tori laughed. "Good one, Tucker."

"Anyway, John sees things in black and white. So if this person in his life wears a dress and goes by Patty, to him, it's his sister. It may very well be his biological brother and most likely is, but he answered the question honestly. He doesn't have a brother, he has a sister."

Casey leaned back and folded her arms behind her head, staring at the ceiling. "But why would Patrick feel the need to dress up like Patty? And does he do it all the time? Obviously not. He must have been Patrick when he killed Rudy Bobby. They didn't say Patty killed him. They said Patrick."

"And who all knows that he dresses up?" Tori asked. "If it's something that he does once in a while, then John wouldn't say he had a sister. John said he had a sister as if he dresses like Patty all the time."

Casey closed her eyes, still thinking. They had more questions than answers. But at least they had questions. At least they had somewhere to go now.

"Oh, I had Sam make some calls. The Homeless Alliance bailed him out. Seems Robert volunteers there," Tori said.

"How would the Homeless Alliance even know he was arrested?"

"Sharon down in booking. She's a volunteer too."

"What? It's like a little network of volunteers? All waiting around for us to arrest one of them so they can send in the troops?" Casey shook her head. "Amazing."

"Everybody's got a cause, O'Connor," Tori said as she wadded up her foil wrapper and tossed it at her. "What do you guys think of canning the surveillance of the apartments? I think it may be a waste of time."

"I don't agree," Leslie said. "If Patrick is our killer, then he has to do some kind of reconnaissance on his victims. They're not random."

"Actually, it makes sense," Casey said. "He's a lot less likely to cause suspicions if he's a she, you know. You see a woman walking around, you don't think anything of it. You see a guy snooping in apartments, you call the cops."

"But there's too much ground to cover. And you guys just lucked into John Doe. If you hadn't, then he'd have been at Cascades doing the dirty and no one would have been the wiser. We were cruising six blocks away."

"And maybe we'll luck into Patrick doing surveillance," Leslie said. "At least we'll be out there. If not, then we're just waiting on his next murder."

"Let's all do it every night," Casey said. "With both of us out, we can cover more ground." Her suggestion was met with a groan from both Hunter and Sikes. "Oh, I forgot. I'm the only one without a life."

"No, no. It's a good idea," Tori said. "Sam will understand." She glanced at Leslie. "Can you swing it? I mean, your fiancé might--"

"I can swing it," she said without hesitation.

"Okay then. John? Will it mess up your new love life?"

"Hell, yeah, it will. But I guess if Sam can handle it, Kristi can."

"Kristi? How sweet," Casey teased.

"But Friday nights, no, waste of time," Tori said. "There's too much activity on the weekends. I can't imagine he'd take a chance at scouting out apartments then. Too many people around." She looked at Leslie. "When you pulled your Peeping Tom reports, what days had the most hits?"

"Wednesdays and Thursdays."

"But I think we should still go out on Monday and Tuesday too," Casey said. "Don't you guys agree?"

"Yeah, yeah. Every damn day, O'Connor. By the way, we're going out on the boat tomorrow, spend the night. Sam wanted me to invite you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She made up a big pan of lasagna last night. Come on. We've got to take advantage of the lingering summer weather while we can."

"Cool. I'm in." Casey glanced at Leslie. "You guys have big plans?"

"We're going to Austin. A college friend of Michael's is getting married. I don't really know them."

Casey looked away. "Well, you can maybe get some pointers for your wedding then."

"Not necessary. Michael's mother already has it all planned, remember?"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, then Sikes cleared his throat. "So, have you set a date yet?"

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