said. “Any good news?”
They’d brought the case to Harris first thing Monday morning. Explained the situation—Andrea Stevens’s classmate, the suicide forums, Ashley Frey, R. J. Ramirez, Shelley Clark. Frey’s other accounts, at least two, maybe more. The Special Agent in Charge had been a little miffed at first, at his violent crimes task force’s use of Bureau resources on an unauthorized investigation, but Windermere watched him perk up as she outlined the details of the case, until he was nodding along with her, eyes alert, jotting little notes on his blotter as she talked.
“The good news?” Windermere shrugged. “I mean, at this stage, there really isn’t much good news. We have a handle on Frey’s MO, for starters, and she doesn’t know we’re on to her. Or
him
. Or whoever the hell this freak turns out to be.”
“Regardless,” Harris said. “You can essentially camp out on the forum and wait for the process to repeat itself.”
“While we comb through the rest of the subject’s online personas for clues as to her real-world location,” Stevens added. “She’s cultivated relationships with these victims lasting months, in some cases, so she’s bound to have left some kind of lead behind.” He paused. “I suggest we operate under the assumption that our subject is female until proven otherwise. But Carla’s right. We can’t even be sure Ashley Frey is a woman at this point. She’s been that careful about hiding her true identity.”
Windermere nodded along as her partner briefed the SAC. Tried to project the cool, rational Carla Windermere, the kickass special agent. Inside, she was all nerves and turbulence.
These leads are weak sauce,
she thought.
There are how many other forums out there, and Ashley Frey could be lurking on any of them. We need to track her down fast.
Harris said nothing for a beat. He leaned back in his chair. “You know,” he said, “the legal side of this is kind of murky. According to the Supreme Court, people are within their First Amendment rights to encourage other people to commit suicide. There are state laws that say otherwise, but it’s anyone’s guess whether they’ll hold up in court as constitutional.”
“This is an online predator advising teenagers to kill themselves, sir,” Windermere said. “The subject is giving them the methods and the means, down to the proper diameter of rope they’re best using. Are you saying Ashley Frey isn’t worth our resources?”
“I’m saying it’s a gray area in the eyes of the law, Agent Windermere,” Harris replied. “You track this person down, bring her up on charges,you might watch your whole case disintegrate on a free-speech argument. You really want to build a whole investigation just to see the courts let her off?”
“You’re goddamn right we do.” The words came out louder than Windermere had planned. Harris raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“This is
kids
,” Windermere said. “This is some pervert on the Internet taking advantage of vulnerable children. You’re saying you want us to sit back and let her keep doing this?”
“You don’t have a legal reason to pursue this subject, Agent Windermere,” Harris said. “She’s not breaking any federal laws.” He gestured to Stevens. “The state of Minnesota may want to look into whether any of their laws have been broken, but this isn’t a federal matter.”
“Bullshit.”
She was standing now, leaning over Harris’s desk. Knew Stevens was watching her, making eyes at her, telepathically screaming at her to calm down. She didn’t. She wouldn’t. “That’s bullshit, Harris, and you know it,” she said. “We shunt this off to the BCA, they’re going to tell us they can’t do shit because Frey’s operating out of state, and they don’t have a clue how to find her. They’ll kick it back to us in a month, anyway, after they’re through spinning their freaking wheels, and by that time Frey’s got herself
They’d brought the case to Harris first thing Monday morning. Explained the situation—Andrea Stevens’s classmate, the suicide forums, Ashley Frey, R. J. Ramirez, Shelley Clark. Frey’s other accounts, at least two, maybe more. The Special Agent in Charge had been a little miffed at first, at his violent crimes task force’s use of Bureau resources on an unauthorized investigation, but Windermere watched him perk up as she outlined the details of the case, until he was nodding along with her, eyes alert, jotting little notes on his blotter as she talked.
“The good news?” Windermere shrugged. “I mean, at this stage, there really isn’t much good news. We have a handle on Frey’s MO, for starters, and she doesn’t know we’re on to her. Or
him
. Or whoever the hell this freak turns out to be.”
“Regardless,” Harris said. “You can essentially camp out on the forum and wait for the process to repeat itself.”
“While we comb through the rest of the subject’s online personas for clues as to her real-world location,” Stevens added. “She’s cultivated relationships with these victims lasting months, in some cases, so she’s bound to have left some kind of lead behind.” He paused. “I suggest we operate under the assumption that our subject is female until proven otherwise. But Carla’s right. We can’t even be sure Ashley Frey is a woman at this point. She’s been that careful about hiding her true identity.”
Windermere nodded along as her partner briefed the SAC. Tried to project the cool, rational Carla Windermere, the kickass special agent. Inside, she was all nerves and turbulence.
These leads are weak sauce,
she thought.
There are how many other forums out there, and Ashley Frey could be lurking on any of them. We need to track her down fast.
Harris said nothing for a beat. He leaned back in his chair. “You know,” he said, “the legal side of this is kind of murky. According to the Supreme Court, people are within their First Amendment rights to encourage other people to commit suicide. There are state laws that say otherwise, but it’s anyone’s guess whether they’ll hold up in court as constitutional.”
“This is an online predator advising teenagers to kill themselves, sir,” Windermere said. “The subject is giving them the methods and the means, down to the proper diameter of rope they’re best using. Are you saying Ashley Frey isn’t worth our resources?”
“I’m saying it’s a gray area in the eyes of the law, Agent Windermere,” Harris replied. “You track this person down, bring her up on charges,you might watch your whole case disintegrate on a free-speech argument. You really want to build a whole investigation just to see the courts let her off?”
“You’re goddamn right we do.” The words came out louder than Windermere had planned. Harris raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“This is
kids
,” Windermere said. “This is some pervert on the Internet taking advantage of vulnerable children. You’re saying you want us to sit back and let her keep doing this?”
“You don’t have a legal reason to pursue this subject, Agent Windermere,” Harris said. “She’s not breaking any federal laws.” He gestured to Stevens. “The state of Minnesota may want to look into whether any of their laws have been broken, but this isn’t a federal matter.”
“Bullshit.”
She was standing now, leaning over Harris’s desk. Knew Stevens was watching her, making eyes at her, telepathically screaming at her to calm down. She didn’t. She wouldn’t. “That’s bullshit, Harris, and you know it,” she said. “We shunt this off to the BCA, they’re going to tell us they can’t do shit because Frey’s operating out of state, and they don’t have a clue how to find her. They’ll kick it back to us in a month, anyway, after they’re through spinning their freaking wheels, and by that time Frey’s got herself
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