"Please, please, please?"

Gillian scowled down at her coffee mug. "It's empty."

Fred was already filling it. "Please, Reg," he begged, and Gillian nodded, smiling.

The rest of the team looked up, surprised at Fred's loud, "Hell yeah!"

"He's interviewing the principal," Gillian explained, and everybody chuckled.

Aldana hung up and turned to them. "They're waiting for us," she said.

Tanya handed them a pile of folders. "Records from the hospitals, both originals and tampered ones. School records, phone records."

Gillian turned to Fred. "The principal's coming thirty minutes later than the parents. Stall him if we still don't have any actual facts by then. We're gonna send you everything to your tablet."

"With pleasure."

"Hank, you handle the doctor. What time is Mr. Johnson coming?"

"At ten," replied Aldana.

"I'll try to be there, Ron. If I don't, he's all yours."

"And what about Tindermann? They're bringing him from Connelly in a while."

"He can wait. Bet an interrogation room will feel cozy for him now."

"I've got the school and the principal's phone records right here," said Kurt.

"Print them, please," said Fred.

"Tanya, expect Russell's call," said Gillian. "Get a secure communication channel with his analyst."

"Okay."

Kurt elbowed the girl with a wink. "Going fed, huh?" he said, earning glares from everybody as usual.

In the conference room at the third floor, Gillian and Aldana met with the Youth Court and Social Services officers who would work with them on the parents of Roger Johnson's victims. Gillian made sure they were up to date with the case and they headed all together to the fourth floor.

There they found Cook in the conference room, sitting with the twenty parents that had willingly come forth for that meeting. They were sitting around the long table, and Cook had seen that they were all offered coffee and a sweet bite.

He listened to them with grave nods, and as soon as he saw Gillian and the others coming in, he excused himself and stood up to leave. He and Gillian traded a look. They could loathe each other, but she knew he hadn't made it to captain because of his short temper, and he knew she was his best asset. So he introduced her, assuring the parents they were with the best team to handle their situation, and left.

As soon as the door closed, and Gillian introduced the women with her, the parents started talking all at the same time, eager to tell their stories. So Gillian asked them to listen to her and explained in a calm, firm way, "First of all, I need to ask you one single question, so we can pass on the information to our colleagues. Then we're having a private interview with every one of you."

They all calmed down and nodded.

"Thanks. Now, did anyone here meet with Principal Jackson about what happened to your children?"

Their outraged exclamations filled the room—they all had. So Gillian and Aldana asked each one for dates and a quick review of what was said. Then Aldana and the Social Services worker invited the parents of Johnson's first victim to go with them to another room, where they could talk apart from the rest of the parents.

Gillian sent the dates to Kurt and stayed with the group, answering their questions and taking notes on their stories. She had to fight hard to keep her anger from showing: Mr. Johnson had a very efficient net, ready twenty-four/seven to clean up after his boy's mess.