crowd. I want to know if anybody shows up at all four … or three. We still haven’t ID’d the one female, have we?”
We hadn’t.
Lamar came through again. “Right. I know that McGuire is going to be buried here, the Lutheran cemetery in Maitland. Sirken has had a brother request that he be cremated, and the ashes sent to him. He lives in Tacoma, Washington, and won’t be back for the funeral, and asked us to have a ceremony wherever Phyllis is going to be buried.”
Good. Two sets of photos for the price of one.
“Phyllis’s kid wants her to be buried here, because he wants to live here in the house. Cheaper.”
Better.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do with the unknown woman.”
“Thanks, Lamar,” said Hal.
“I do what I can for you guys. Cooperation is what we want.”
Lamar had to run next year. Starting early.
Hester cleared her throat. “I’ve checked with LEIN, General Crim, and Narcotics, plus our intelligence analysts, and we have nothing similar to this anywhere. Also went through MOCIC, and nothing there, either.”
We really hadn’t expected anything. LEIN was the acronym for the Iowa Law Enforcement Intelligence Network, and MOCIC is the Midwest Organized Crime Information Center, a federal group.
“We gotta solve this one,” said Lamar. “The people are getting really upset about this.”
“I’m sure they are,” said Hester.
On that note, the meeting started to break up. I grabbed Hester on the way out.
“I have a suggestion. Meet me in the parking lot.”
She looked at me quizzically, but agreed.
I went to the lot and stood by my car for about ten minutes, when Hester finally came out.
“Look, there are a couple of people on my list that I would like to do the interviews on. Theo can’t handle them.”
“You’d better talk to Hal.”
“Sure, but you’re the case officer, and I wanted you to know about it.”
I went back in, trying to find Hal. I did, but he was talking to Theo. I left, because I was tired, and I had to work at 20:00. And because I was getting sick of the devious ways we had to use to get around Theo and his incompetence. It was always the same, and when we were working with an outside agency, it became doubly hard, because they were understandably reluctant to get involved in our interdepartmental hassles. I’d been through all this before, many times. Lamar was unapproachable on the subject of Theo, and Art just buried his head by saying that Theo was investigator, and that was that. As a direct consequence, our last homicide had been pissed down the sink. I was determined that it wouldn’t happen on this one, but how to avoid it I just didn’t know. But if Lamar thought that “the people” were getting upset now, just wait until Theo blew the case …
I got home, but at the thought of Theo stomping through the case, I was too wound up to sleep. I sataround for a while, listening to some music and trying to think of a way around him. I had said several times that, in an ideal world, I would murder Theo, and he would be resurrected to handle the investigation. I was only half joking.
I had about six hours to shave, shower, eat, and get eight hours’ sleep. I went upstairs to the bedroom, started to undress, and the dog threw up on the carpet. Cleaned it up, booted him out, and shaved. Let him back in and went to bed. Couldn’t sleep. Got up, bathed, went back to bed, and couldn’t sleep because I was hungry. Ate a TV dinner, refusing to share with the dog, and went back upstairs to go to bed when my wife came home from school.
“Are you up?”
“I’m up, Sue, but I don’t want to be … Had a meeting most of the day.” I put on some sweatpants and schlepped downstairs.
“You don’t have to go to work tonight, do you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“That’s silly. You haven’t had any sleep.”
“Yeah, but I have to go to work.”
“Why don’t you call in sick?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Well, I think this
We hadn’t.
Lamar came through again. “Right. I know that McGuire is going to be buried here, the Lutheran cemetery in Maitland. Sirken has had a brother request that he be cremated, and the ashes sent to him. He lives in Tacoma, Washington, and won’t be back for the funeral, and asked us to have a ceremony wherever Phyllis is going to be buried.”
Good. Two sets of photos for the price of one.
“Phyllis’s kid wants her to be buried here, because he wants to live here in the house. Cheaper.”
Better.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do with the unknown woman.”
“Thanks, Lamar,” said Hal.
“I do what I can for you guys. Cooperation is what we want.”
Lamar had to run next year. Starting early.
Hester cleared her throat. “I’ve checked with LEIN, General Crim, and Narcotics, plus our intelligence analysts, and we have nothing similar to this anywhere. Also went through MOCIC, and nothing there, either.”
We really hadn’t expected anything. LEIN was the acronym for the Iowa Law Enforcement Intelligence Network, and MOCIC is the Midwest Organized Crime Information Center, a federal group.
“We gotta solve this one,” said Lamar. “The people are getting really upset about this.”
“I’m sure they are,” said Hester.
On that note, the meeting started to break up. I grabbed Hester on the way out.
“I have a suggestion. Meet me in the parking lot.”
She looked at me quizzically, but agreed.
I went to the lot and stood by my car for about ten minutes, when Hester finally came out.
“Look, there are a couple of people on my list that I would like to do the interviews on. Theo can’t handle them.”
“You’d better talk to Hal.”
“Sure, but you’re the case officer, and I wanted you to know about it.”
I went back in, trying to find Hal. I did, but he was talking to Theo. I left, because I was tired, and I had to work at 20:00. And because I was getting sick of the devious ways we had to use to get around Theo and his incompetence. It was always the same, and when we were working with an outside agency, it became doubly hard, because they were understandably reluctant to get involved in our interdepartmental hassles. I’d been through all this before, many times. Lamar was unapproachable on the subject of Theo, and Art just buried his head by saying that Theo was investigator, and that was that. As a direct consequence, our last homicide had been pissed down the sink. I was determined that it wouldn’t happen on this one, but how to avoid it I just didn’t know. But if Lamar thought that “the people” were getting upset now, just wait until Theo blew the case …
I got home, but at the thought of Theo stomping through the case, I was too wound up to sleep. I sataround for a while, listening to some music and trying to think of a way around him. I had said several times that, in an ideal world, I would murder Theo, and he would be resurrected to handle the investigation. I was only half joking.
I had about six hours to shave, shower, eat, and get eight hours’ sleep. I went upstairs to the bedroom, started to undress, and the dog threw up on the carpet. Cleaned it up, booted him out, and shaved. Let him back in and went to bed. Couldn’t sleep. Got up, bathed, went back to bed, and couldn’t sleep because I was hungry. Ate a TV dinner, refusing to share with the dog, and went back upstairs to go to bed when my wife came home from school.
“Are you up?”
“I’m up, Sue, but I don’t want to be … Had a meeting most of the day.” I put on some sweatpants and schlepped downstairs.
“You don’t have to go to work tonight, do you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“That’s silly. You haven’t had any sleep.”
“Yeah, but I have to go to work.”
“Why don’t you call in sick?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Well, I think this
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