Brenda hurried through her interview with the cleaning lady and didn't press too hard to hear the truth when she denied any knowledge of the attack or having passed information on to anyone. She had plenty of time to get her confession later. She knew the moment she saw them on the screens in the electronics room that the young man was the one she was looking for, he was trying too hard to look calm, and was in a hurry. Stroh's next move worried her and she didn't want to give him time to think, or worse – execute his strategy. While headed for her second interview Lt. Tao caught up with her, "Chief, this is his rap sheet, he was involved in a few thefts in the past. According to the records, he was never represented by Stroh but he was represented by another lawyer from the firm he works with."

"Is that so, thank you lieutenant."

"Chief, there's another thing… Stroh is here. He's waiting outside your office and wants to talk to you." Tao delivered the unsettling news and she felt a surge of fear and excitement, adrenalin and information rushing through her brain. She now needed to move fast and get what she needed from the gardener, so she can go into the third and final interview with the upper hand.

"Stall him, Lt. But keep him very busy, I don't want him thinking too long and realizing what we're doing right now. You're certain neither of them called a lawyer?"

"Yes, chief. They both waved their rights." Tao responded with a shrug and hurried off. Brenda wandered why Stroh hadn't instructed the young man to contact a lawyer if arrested. She hated not knowing everything before questioning people, it made her feel uneasy, but time was pressing and Stroh was already here, ready, and so must she be.

Entering the second interview she was faced with a young man in his early 20s, sitting quietly, arms crossed on his chest, visibly attempting to look calm, and failing miserably. Brenda adopted a stern, cold approach and decided to cut to the chase. "Me Ruiz, I'm deputy chief Johnson and I am here to inform you that you are being officially charged with 2 counts of rape and one count of attempted rape. We have clear evidence…"

"What? No, you can't do this, it's a lie! I didn't do anything!" His calm façade cracked easily as he banged on the table and seemed too upset to think straight of his actions. Brenda knew the door was open for her now and charged straight ahead to her goal.

"Is that so? Than how do you explain finding your fingerprints in the victims' homes or that a neighbor saw YOU leaving the house after the attempted assault last night? You work there as a gardener, didn't you think you were going to be recognized, fleeing a crime scene?" She stormed at him, an accusing finger waving in his face.

"No way! That's a total lie! I wasn't there, ask my friends, I was with them last night! I swear!" Ruiz was sweating, just like she wanted him to.

"Oh, I'm sure your friends will vouch for you, but what good is their word against such compelling evidence? That's for a jury to decide. Now, unless you have anything else to tell me of these attacks - how you broke in unnoticed, why you chose these women, why now, then I am perfectly content sending you to jail right now, I already all have the evidence I need." Brenda began collecting the cases she had opened when Ruiz broke. She thought to herself it was almost too easy…

"Okay okay, listen. I do know something, but you gotta promise me I'm not going back to jail. Okay? I mean, it's not like I did it or anything like that, it's just… I may know something about it it's all, but you've gotta promise not to send me back!"

"At the moment you are on your way to jail, so if you have something to say I suggest you make it fast and tell me the whole truth, or I will be out of here in a second. Speak."

Ruiz seemed to find little assurance in her words but for lack of better alternative, he cooperated. "After the last time I got in trouble, my lawyer got me off the hook. He was a good lawyer my parents paid a lot for, so I didn't have any intention of going back to that life. But a short while after I got a letter from someone saying he's a lawyer, and he knew the details of my cases! The letter had instructions and some money. It said if I do as he asked, he will give me more money and promise legal assistance if I ever needed, for free. My parents paid a lot of money to get me to that lawyer. Thinking about free quality lawyer and the chance to make some really good money, for such small deeds – I went for it."

"What exactly were those small deeds? I'm warning you, I want the whole truth." Brenda was anxious for him to get to the point, her mind already running through her third interview of the day.

"At first it was small things, leaving him information on the neighborhood I work in, the homes, what I see they have in them, what cars etc… I didn't know why someone like a lawyer would be into stealing, but I guess everyone has their business to take care of. Anyway, I delivered the information, in writing, to this place, where more money and instructions would wait for me."

"Where exactly was 'this place'?"

"It's this junkyard by my neighborhood. I would leave the information there, pick up the money and further instructions, and that's it! I never saw the guy, nor knew what he was planning."

"And when you realized what he was doing, you wanted to stop working for him, yes?" She lured him in, trying to wrap it up.

"Yeah! Sure! But he said I couldn't back out and that if I did he would make sure I was thrown back in jail. I couldn't take that risk, I had to keep working for him!" Ruiz seemed both nervous and relieved.

"And all this you did in writing, yes?"

"Yes, I never saw the man, I tell you!"

"So can you tell me how exactly the information you gave him helped him enter the homes of your employers unnoticed?" Ruiz seemed embarrassed for a second, "Remember, complete honesty or I'm gone." That did the trick; fear of imprisonment was a powerful thing.

"I replicated the keys for him. I would get my hands on them during the hours I was working there, replicate them immediately and put them back before they noticed it was gone. It was tricky, but he threatened me, I had to do it." Ruiz seemed so afraid Brenda had a tang of compassion for him before loath set in with the reminder of the broken women she interviewed the previous day. "This one house he needed the key for my cousin worked there, so I made her help me out, but she doesn't know anything, really, leave her alone."

"Alright, write it down, and a detective will escort you to retrieve those letters you had better kept, and maybe, if this information helps us, than I will see what can be done. Let me assure you, if you have been anything but one hundred percent honest with me, you are going back to jail, and I will personally make sure it won't be a short stay. Do you understand?" She wanted to make sure nothing was left out; even though she had a feeling it was pretty much it.

"Yes, I promise. I'll get you the letters, anything you want, just, don't send me back."

Brenda left the interview room without another word. She didn't really expect to hear anything else from him, assuming that if Stroh hadn't instructed him to call him if anything happens, then it very well may be due to the fact that he didn't want him to know his true identity. Pausing for a brief second in the hallway she tried to wrap her mind around everything ever since the previous streak of attacks, till the last interview. At least she knew why he was acting again, but it was a troubling thought she may be better off not thinking about. To think that he was searching for an opportunity to set up another act close to her was disturbing, but it must be true. In order to locate such an accomplice he would have needed to be patient and constantly search for a way to get to her. Brenda found it bitterly ironic. All this while she was searching for him, the feeling was apparently mutual. She lifted her head, put her game face on, and went to find her last interview for the day, Mr. Stroh.