Page 167 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Jury-rigged

“How did you handle the press? This must have been big news.”
“I gave them the whole thing again, to let the Simulians know we
were well aware of their modus operandi. Photos, interviews—the
works. Captain Nimeau okayed it.”
Labelle’s regard for her superior officer was not high. She never
said a thing against him, but he had blocked her initiatives several
times in the past. Her methods of investigating crime had slowly but
steadily become more intense and less in accord with departmental
guidelines for handling evidence and people. No lawsuits had yet
ensued, and her rate of success was the highest among detectives in
the field. It was unspoken, but I knew she felt Captain Nimeau was
obstructing her for selfish or irrational reasons. Some day she would
forget the rules, confront him and get knocked off her high horse. I
hoped.
“Ms. Rainger’s neighbor noticed the side door hanging off its
hinges when he went out early the next morning. You arrived about
nine-thirty: what caused the delay?”
I was ready.
“When the call came in, I arranged as much as possible from here
before going out in the field. First I made sure the house was secured
and got the forensics squad out of their lab and into their van. Then I
called all the undercover officers assigned to observing the Simulians
and instructed them to detain their men immediately and prevent any
conceivable evidence from being destroyed, no matter how seemingly
trivial. It did not take me long at the murder scene to substantiate
that it was another revenge killing—and yes, I did establish that the
victim had no known enemies, gambling debts, jealous lovers or
rumored stashes of currency under her mattress.”
Lt. Gramercy merely nodded, at least half her mind engaged in
transferring my notes to her computer. Was it beyond her to claim
credit for legwork done while she was thousands of miles away and
unaware of the case? That would be a big mistake: I had good
documentation of my work. Digital technology made it very easy and
tempting to plagiarize. This was not a trap I had intended to set, but
if her need to ride roughshod over everything and everybody was that
great, then this was not the time to object.
“Pershing. You had to pound on his door to wake him at a quarter
to eleven. He told you he had taken a sleeping pill twelve hours

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