Chapter 43

One Last Investigation before I go?

Vicky was sound asleep, having been up late the night before helping Candy at Liberty. Disentangling herself from Candy, she reached for the ringing bedside phone and sleepily answered. "Hello?"

"Vicky, this is Erica Christiansen. Can you be in my office this morning? There is something I would like to talk over with you."

"Sure. What time?"

"As soon as you can get here. And drive safely and be careful." Erica said.

Scratching her head as she sat up, she looked at the awake and aware eyes of her domestic partner. "Hey, They want me to come downtown."

Seeing the raised eyebrows of her friend, Vicky continued, "Don't' sweat it. Probably some issue with the paperwork."

"Ok. Do you want company?" Candy asked.

"No. They are probably a little pissed at the stunt we played yesterday. But I doubt it will be too bad. We did tweak the noses a little." Vicky said with a laugh.

"I don't want to get you in trouble. You will let me know if I can do something?" Candy continued.

"Yes, Dear. I will let you know. Go back to sleep. I will call you before lunch." Vicky said.

The ride downtown was uneventful. But the greeting at the side door was not. Two uniformed officers immediately came to Vicky and brought her through the line and into the headquarters building, and to the seventh floor. The escorts were very polite and professional, but no information. Walking to Erica's office, Vicky saw two additional officers on guard at the hallway, who opened the door when Vicky approached.

"I am either in deep dog do, or there is something else going on here." Vicky thought to herself.

Erica answered the door to her office with the knock, and greeted Vicky warmly.

"Vicky, I am very happy you could come in so quickly. Please sit down. This is Melissa Dove, IAD, and Deborah Maxwell, of the United States District Attorney's office, and Carey Jackson from the FBI. Ladies this is Vicky Peterson, soon to be retired and one of my finest investigators in Homicide."

Hands were shaken and cards passed around. Vicky saw coffee on the desk and assumed that this was a working meeting of some sort.

"Detective, have you been following this morning's news?" Deborah asked.

"No. I usually listen to Sat radio these days. Why?"

"Vicky" Melissa began, "were you closely associated with David Findley?"

"I believe that all of the relevant information concerning that relationship is covered in the testimony already given to three department shrinks and a grand jury. If you want to start asking questions, read the transcripts first." Vicky replied coolly.

Looking at the glances that passed between Melissa and Deborah, Vicky then turned to Erica, who was smiling. "Ok. Give. What is going on?"

"Vicky, last night a police officer was murdered. She was a key witness in another murder and we believe that she was killed because of the information that she had developed." Erica said.

"So this is affecting me how?" Vicky asked.

"Did you know officer Casey Merriman?" Carey asked Vicky.

"Merriman. I remember the name. She was in the detail guarding David Findley." Vicky replied, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration.

"Yes. In fact, she was in charge of the transport and guard detail. What was the extent of your contact with her?" Carey asked.

"I talked with her once, when David was admitted. And I never saw her again. I talked with one of the others of the detail on Saturday, the day that David died. But that was the extent of my contact with the detail. Why?"

"Vicky, where were you last night between the hours of eight and one o'clock?" Melissa asked.

"Working. I have a new career at a part time chef at Liberty. Why?" Vicky asked.

"Is there anyone who can testify to that?" Melissa asked.

"A whole bunch of chefs and some customers. What is this about?" Vicky asked.

"Vicky, Casey was shot and killed last night in her apartment. It looks as if it was a silenced rifle that was used." Erica interjected. "This obviously is something that I take seriously. But there appears to be some information as regards to motive that causes us to want to talk with you."

"Was Casey a suspect in a ongoing Internal Affairs Investigation?" Vicky asked.

"Actually, she was a material witness." Melissa answered.

"To what?" Vicky asked.

Silence hung in the air for a few minutes. Living with Candy and her own career as an investigator had taught Vicky the value of patience. "I am waiting, ladies." Vicky said.

"Vicky, you have a department issue suppressed rifle as part of your TOE." Melissa said calmly.

"I also have an armory receipt for it showing that it has been in the armory custody since I was forced to move three months ago. " Vicky said. "And I can produce that."

"We know." Erica said. "Ladies, if we want to quit dancing around and lay the cards on the table, I think that things will go easier. Vicky, If David Findley was murdered, how would you feel about the detail charged with protecting him in custody?"

"If it was due to oversight, I would want the detail lead brought up on negligent homicide. If it was a member of the detail, I would want that person brought up on either homicide or accessory to homicide." Vicky replied.

"You wouldn't want to take things in to your own hands? You have killed by your own admission several hundred women." Melissa said coolly.

"Different times, different circumstances. And I used either a rope, a blade or stuffed a electric prod in them and lit them up. Was that how your victim died?" Vicky said, with a slight edge on her voice.

Erica smiled at the discomfiture of the other women in the room. "Ladies, I did warn you. Vicky, Casey was shot from across the street with a high-powered police rifle. A suppressor equipped rifle, firing six millimeter ammunition." Erica said.

"Was it while I was chopping lettuce and carrots to make salads, or was it while I was working on peppers, garlic and onions along with broth to make rue?" Vicky said. "Need a closer time to be able to tell you which."

"Ladies, Play the recording." Erica said. "Vicky, you can't comment on this to anyone. Especially anyone you know from Findley's."

Ten minutes later, Vicky was furious. "You sent this woman home after you saw this in the context you have shown this to me?" She said.

"In hindsight, that probably was not a good decision" Melissa said.

"You think? We have a DA and an ADA with personal vengeance in their eyes about the victim, we have evidence of a murder committed by our own external affairs director, and you let this sit over night? You sent your primary witness home without security? The only one who can testify to the validity of the film? This is as screwed up as Baltimore." Vicky said with exasperation. "So has anyone bothered to find the good director?"

"She has not come into work today." Erica said.

"What about the officer that was on duty at the time this was taken?" Vicky asked, getting more agitated.

"She has not reported for roll call. And she is not answering her phone." Melissa said.

"Who had access to this little piece of film? Or any information about it?" Vicky asked.

"We have accounted for over thirty people who may have known of the existence of the cam or it's possible contents. Four of them are in this room. One is the victim." Cary Jackson said with a tone of disgust.

"Jesus. Has the news media gotten ahold of this?" Vicky asked.

"Not yet." Deborah said, in her first comment since sitting down. "And we really don't want that. Vicky, we are in the preliminary stages of investigating the DA office about this, as you know." Deborah said.

"No kidding. We served one of your subpoena's yesterday."

"And another one last week. Which is why I wanted to ask you this. Do you think Candy may have had any involvement in this?"

"No. I can say with a lot of confidence that my partner did not know of this piece of film, nor would she have done anything like this if she did." Vicky said with confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" Melissa asked.

"First off, she would not hold Casey responsible for someone else's actions. Second, she would wait until the system worked itself out."

"And then?" Deborah asked." What would she do then?"

"Well, we will have to see that happens first, won't we?" Vicky said with a smile.

"Would you care to conjecture what her actions would be?" Melissa asked.

"No I would not. And I would advise against you doing that either. You would find yourself explaining on the six o'clock news. My partner is pretty good at arranging publicity with wide coverage." Vicky said.

Erica smiled and nodded at that statement. "Obviously we have to ask that this be held confidential. Vicky, I personally would like you to undertake the investigation of Casey Merriman's murder." Erica continued.

"No Way in Hell." Vicky replied. "You already have me on admin leave with pay pending retirement, because of how Springfield is acting about this mess. Getting further into this is like painting a bulls-eye on my back, along with Candy's back. It gets out that foul play was involved, and you guys can't keep a secret for shit, then this will be going sideways in a lot of different directions real fast. I already papered the ADA with a subpoena." Vicky said in a machine gun voice. "This is not good. Hell, I was safer at the slaughterhouse then I will be once this gets going."

It was at this point Deborah broke into the conversation in earnest. "Vicky, Here is the deal. The ADA and DA have pursued this couple for months."

"I know." Vicky interrupted. "I was one of the people initially investigated. Like I said, no need for another bulls eye."

"Besides, I am not stable enough to remain on active duty, isn't that right?" Vicky said looking at Erica. "Not to mention that I will have a whole lot of baggage, that a defense lawyer would love to have a hold of. It would be unfairly prejudicial to the case when it came to court. No. For the good of the case, I can't be involved." Vicky said with finality.

Not for the first time, Erica was totally pissed at the entire situation. First with Vicky being selected a year ago, then being safe harbored at Findley, then the mess with Springfield, and now this with one of her finest investigators sidelined over this mess. "Vicky, I obviously can't order you to have anything to do with this. But we all would appreciate your discretion on this."

"I can promise to not say anything about this. But I damn sure won't promise that I won't hear about it."

"What do you mean?" Melissa asked.

"In this town, gossip flows fast. You already have too many people knowing about this since one of them is already dead."

Which was pretty much the case, as "Chicago at Lunch" presented in it's breaking news story linking the death of a Chicago police officer to the possible murder of David Findley. Candy listened to the news as she was working to prepare for Tuesday dinner.

Afternoon Calls

"So" Deborah said to her boss. "This is a real stink festival, even for this town. The homicide chief wanted to bring in one of the key players to do the investigation. Can you believe that?"

"I can't think of a better way to screw up this investigation. Talk about having an impeachable source. What was she thinking?" Martha asked.

"I don't know. But I have to hand it to Vicky. She has integrity out the ass. Did not want anything to do with this case. Carey liked her from the start and said we should pass on her as any involvement. One thing is for sure. With this on the news we better get ready for a storm."

"I agree. Well, we are starting to convene this week, and I have managed to get denied all manner of moves to delay from Springfield. Other then the Press officer and the officer on duty, who else do we have in this mess?" Martha asked.

"I don't know. But I am sure it will get worse." Deborah said as she broke the connection.

Carol and Sue were absolutely furious at the afternoon news. They followed the story with three different slants that clearly stated that the murder of a Chicago Police officer was a follow-up on a possible murder of David Findley while in custody. The dark rumors of conspiracy were being bandied about as well as the implications of a cover up.

At first incredulous, and then angry, then busy as hell working to file a motion to dismiss all charges, Sue and Carol were busy much of the afternoon. When they Called Mark's house to get to Margaret, they found all calls going to an answering machine.

"Should we go over there?" Sue asked.

"I am not sure." Carol said. "I don't' want anyone following me to Margaret's location."

"Do you think we are in danger?" Sue asked.

"I am not sure. Would probably be a good idea to stay in public though."

The ringing phone added to the paranoia for a moment. Until Sue saw it was Alderman Carmichael.

"Hello Jane." Sue said.

"Hello Sue. Is Carol there with you?"

"Sure. Let me put you on speaker." Sue said.

"Ladies, I am sitting here with Deputy Police Commissioner Paula Myers. We are concerned in light of recent events for your safety."

"We aren't yet, Jane. We didn't watch any police officer kill any suspects in custody." Carol said.

Silence followed for a few moments. "But I appreciate the sentiment. We are going to file for dismissal of all charges due to these events." Carol continued.

"You know I don't have any input to the judicial system here" Jane replied. "But off hand I think that is probably a reasonable idea. There is no evidence to link this with Springfield yet, and anything would be speculation at this point. But I am worried about you guys. And Margaret."

"Jane, Margaret is safe and secure and able to be produced for any appearance in court that is necessary. And beyond that I am not at liberty to tell." Carol said.

"Carol, I understand. Please give her my sympathy and tell her that I will get to the bottom of this." Jane said.

"We all will." Carol said.

Events at Liberty

Vicky was not able to get away from headquarters before late afternoon, and went directly to Liberty from the office. Walking inside, she saw Candy behind the counter talking with three vendors of food stocks and walked over to her partner. "With you in a second lover. Let me just finish up here" Candy said with her usual smile. But knowing her partner, Vicky saw the stress and focus around the eyes and realized that the news had already reached here.

"I'll grab a table." Vicky said walking back to the corner furthest from the door.

Vicky was reading her reading list for next semester when she saw Candy coming up with two glasses of wine. "Are you old enough to drink yet?" Vicky said teasingly.

"I have my guardian's permission. Right Guardian?" Candy teased back.

"No respect. This younger generation has no respect." Vicky said as she picked up her glass. "Thanks. It has been a ugly day."

"Vicky, I have been watching the news. It's probably a good idea that I don't ask any questions because I don't want to get you in trouble. But I think I have a favor I want to ask you. And I don't want you to get upset with me when I do." Candy said.

"Ok. What's that?"

"I want to move into David and Margaret's house. Our place is too small for everyone, and I think I don't want her alone if she wants to go to her house." Candy said.