me the “okay” sign.
“Any decent places to get a bite around here?” I ask her.
“Chinese place next door isn’t bad. Noah’s Bagels on the corner ispretty good.
We don’t get out very much.” After a brief pause, she asks, “Any moreon the incident at S and G?”
Interesting choice of words. I guess “incident” sounds better than“suicides,” “shootings” or the more generic “tragedy.”
“Not much. I haven’t talked to Roosevelt since Wednesday.”
“I saw your pal Skipper Gates on the tube. He seems to think there’smore to it.”
“He’s trying to keep his name in the papers. He’s called a pressconference at nine-thirty. Want to watch?”
“Sure.”
I find my TV and turn it on. The picture isn’t bad, but the receptionwas better at the top of the Bank of America Building. I can make outthe faces of Skipper and Roosevelt standing in a briefing room.
“This is Rita Roberts of News Center 4 reporting live from SanFrancisco police headquarters. San Francisco District AttorneyPrentice Gates and Homicide Inspector Roosevelt Johnson are about tobegin a press briefing concerning the incident at the Simpson and Gateslaw firm last week, where two attorneys were killed. Mr. Gates willspeak first.”
“Incident” does seem to be the word of choice. Skipper and Rooseveltare standing behind a table on which the obligatory assortment ofevidence is laid out in clear plastic bags: some bullet casings, acomputer keyboard, a telephone answering machine and some computerprintouts. Skipper steps to the microphone. The lights go on and he’sready. He works without notes.
“I want to thank you for coming this morning,” he begins.
“My first day on the job and already I have a major case. As you know,sometime between the hours of eleven-thirty p.m. on Tuesday, Decemberthirtieth, and eight a.m. on Wednesday, December thirty-first, myfriend and former partner, Bob Holmes, and my former associate, DianaKennedy, were killed by gunshots. We are in the process ofinvestigating this tragedy and we will have further details for you asthey become available. I will now call upon Inspector RooseveltJohnson, who is in charge of the investigation.”
Roosevelt steps to the microphone. He plays his cards close to thevest.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he says, “we are continuing our investigation.We are reviewing the evidence. We will have more for you as thesituation develops.”
Skipper returns to the microphone. He doesn’t realize he’s smiling.
“I want to thank you all for coming. We have time for just a fewquestions.”
The first question comes from the silver-haired anchor of Channel 5Eyewitness News.
“Mr. Gates, is it true the gun belonged to Mr. Holmes?”
Skipper glances at Roosevelt.
“Yes,” Skipper says.
“It was registered to Mr.
Holmes.”
“How did the gun get to the S and G office?”
The last thing Skipper wants to do is admit his partner kept a loadedpiece at his desk. He takes the offensive.
“The way any gun gets anywhere. Somebody carried it to the office.”
Not a bad response. I’m convinced.
“One of the lawyers at the firm said Holmes kept a loaded gun at hisdesk. Is it true?”
“You have good sources. I would like to talk to that person.”Laughter.
“The answer, by the way, is I don’t know. But we are looking intoit.”
Roosevelt moves to the front again.
“We are checking everything out.”
Skipper looks annoyed.
“Obviously,” he says, “we wouldn’t want to encourage people to keepconcealed weapons at their desks.”
The serious-looking woman from Channel 7 shouts, “We understand therewas a suicide note.”
Skipper says, “We have no comment.”
“Are you treating this case as a homicide or a suicide?”
Roosevelt steps forward.
“Ms. Kennedy’s death almost certainly appears to be a homicide. Theinvestigation is ongoing.”
The pretty blonde from Channel 2 who used to work at NBC pushes her wayto the front.
“Mr. Gates, what’s your gut feeling? Was it a
“Any decent places to get a bite around here?” I ask her.
“Chinese place next door isn’t bad. Noah’s Bagels on the corner ispretty good.
We don’t get out very much.” After a brief pause, she asks, “Any moreon the incident at S and G?”
Interesting choice of words. I guess “incident” sounds better than“suicides,” “shootings” or the more generic “tragedy.”
“Not much. I haven’t talked to Roosevelt since Wednesday.”
“I saw your pal Skipper Gates on the tube. He seems to think there’smore to it.”
“He’s trying to keep his name in the papers. He’s called a pressconference at nine-thirty. Want to watch?”
“Sure.”
I find my TV and turn it on. The picture isn’t bad, but the receptionwas better at the top of the Bank of America Building. I can make outthe faces of Skipper and Roosevelt standing in a briefing room.
“This is Rita Roberts of News Center 4 reporting live from SanFrancisco police headquarters. San Francisco District AttorneyPrentice Gates and Homicide Inspector Roosevelt Johnson are about tobegin a press briefing concerning the incident at the Simpson and Gateslaw firm last week, where two attorneys were killed. Mr. Gates willspeak first.”
“Incident” does seem to be the word of choice. Skipper and Rooseveltare standing behind a table on which the obligatory assortment ofevidence is laid out in clear plastic bags: some bullet casings, acomputer keyboard, a telephone answering machine and some computerprintouts. Skipper steps to the microphone. The lights go on and he’sready. He works without notes.
“I want to thank you for coming this morning,” he begins.
“My first day on the job and already I have a major case. As you know,sometime between the hours of eleven-thirty p.m. on Tuesday, Decemberthirtieth, and eight a.m. on Wednesday, December thirty-first, myfriend and former partner, Bob Holmes, and my former associate, DianaKennedy, were killed by gunshots. We are in the process ofinvestigating this tragedy and we will have further details for you asthey become available. I will now call upon Inspector RooseveltJohnson, who is in charge of the investigation.”
Roosevelt steps to the microphone. He plays his cards close to thevest.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he says, “we are continuing our investigation.We are reviewing the evidence. We will have more for you as thesituation develops.”
Skipper returns to the microphone. He doesn’t realize he’s smiling.
“I want to thank you all for coming. We have time for just a fewquestions.”
The first question comes from the silver-haired anchor of Channel 5Eyewitness News.
“Mr. Gates, is it true the gun belonged to Mr. Holmes?”
Skipper glances at Roosevelt.
“Yes,” Skipper says.
“It was registered to Mr.
Holmes.”
“How did the gun get to the S and G office?”
The last thing Skipper wants to do is admit his partner kept a loadedpiece at his desk. He takes the offensive.
“The way any gun gets anywhere. Somebody carried it to the office.”
Not a bad response. I’m convinced.
“One of the lawyers at the firm said Holmes kept a loaded gun at hisdesk. Is it true?”
“You have good sources. I would like to talk to that person.”Laughter.
“The answer, by the way, is I don’t know. But we are looking intoit.”
Roosevelt moves to the front again.
“We are checking everything out.”
Skipper looks annoyed.
“Obviously,” he says, “we wouldn’t want to encourage people to keepconcealed weapons at their desks.”
The serious-looking woman from Channel 7 shouts, “We understand therewas a suicide note.”
Skipper says, “We have no comment.”
“Are you treating this case as a homicide or a suicide?”
Roosevelt steps forward.
“Ms. Kennedy’s death almost certainly appears to be a homicide. Theinvestigation is ongoing.”
The pretty blonde from Channel 2 who used to work at NBC pushes her wayto the front.
“Mr. Gates, what’s your gut feeling? Was it a
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