Chapter 2:

As Brenda suspected, they found their witness sitting at her usual table at Tillner's. But this time she didn't appear to be staring at anyone in particular.

"Joan Hillis? I'm Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson of the LAPD and I'm sure that you remember Detective Daniels. May we join you?" Brenda didn't wait for a reply and she and Daniels took their seats opposite Joan.

For a moment Joan riveted her with the same penetrating gaze that Brenda knew so well. Then she coolly replied, "All right. What do you want to know?"

"I'd like to review what you observed when Gary Logan was killed."

"It's all in the statement I gave to this detective," Joan replied indicating Det. Daniels. At this point they were interrupted by the waitress who asked if they'd like to see menus.

"No, thank you," Brenda replied as she showed her badge. When the waitress left she turned back to Joan and said, "Yes, but I'd like to go over your statement again so let's start at the beginnin'. Please tell us again what you saw."

"Certainly," Joan said and then recounted sitting at the same table when Gary Logan entered. She said that he was immediately surrounded by other patrons. Other people then entered the restaurant and clustered around him too. Since she was sitting down she did not have a clear view of the candidate but heard him asking people for their votes. Suddenly she witnessed people recoiling and screaming as several people knelt beside Mr. Logan and shouted for someone to call 911.

"Were the people who came in reporters?"

"I don't think so. I didn't see a press badge or a microphone."

"I see. Did you hear gunshots?"

"No. Just people screaming."

"Was anyone arguin' or threatenin'? Did any voices sound angry or excited?"

"No one was arguing or threatening. And many voices were excited. After all, they were meeting a Congressional candidate. And I know you're going to ask so I'll tell you that many people ran out of the restaurant when Mr. Logan was shot. I can't give you an exact number, but I'd say around twenty or twenty-five, both men and women."

"Were any of the people who left people you knew, or recognized?"

"I didn't know any of them personally but I recognized three who are regulars. A couple who are about my age and a woman in her 40s who comes here every week at about the same time."

"Were any of the people who left part of the group surroundin' Mr. Logan?"

"The ones I recognized were all seated eating. Since I couldn't see everyone who was standing with Mr. Logan, I can't say about the rest."

"Did you notice if anyone in the restaurant was actin' unusual?"

"There was a man wearing a khaki anorak, the kind with one pocket across the front. I thought that was unusual since it was a warm, sunny day."

"Can you describe him?"

He was tall, over six feet, dark hair, in his 30s, I'd say. I didn't get his eye color and I didn't see any marks or scars."

"This is very helpful. Would you be willin' to sit with a sketch artist?" When Joan nodded Brenda continued, "I only have one more question for now. Are any other customers who were here at the time of the shootin' here today?"

"No. No one."

"Well, thank you very much for your help. We'll be in touch to arrange the sketch artist." Brenda then turned to Irene and said, "And now I think we need to talk to the staff again."

They didn't gain much additional information from the employees. One or two said that they remembered a man in a jacket but they were unable to give any more of a description as he was not a customer. They assumed he just came in to meet Mr. Logan and didn't pay much attention to him.

As they drove back to Parker Center, Brenda said, "I think we need to check the security cameras around Tillner's for someone wearin' an anorak. Please check that out. And please arrange for Joan Hillis to meet with a sketch artist."


When they got back to the office Brenda asked David what he'd discovered about Logan's business.

"I've spoken to a few of Mr. Logan's business associates and there doesn't seem to have been problems there. His role was that of investor, not a manager."

"All right. Detective Sanchez, check out the Logan kids' alibis, please. And Lieutenant Tao, when that footage starts comin' in Buzz may need some help sortin' through it all."

"Sure, Chief."

Brenda then picked up the files Captain DiLeoni had sent over and carried them back to her office. After she read through them she picked up the phone. "Hi, Fritzi. Got a minute?"

"That depends. Are you going to talk dirty to me?"

Brenda smiled at his request. "No, sorry. At least not now. I need to ask you some questions about the Gary Logan case."

"I'm not sure I can help you."

"The campaign manager said they reported the threats made against Mr. Logan to the FBI. I want to know what you have on those threats and I need..."

"Wait. Before you go any further, I need to tell you that the Bureau is conducting its own investigation into Logan's death."

"WHAT? You didn't say anythin' to me about that!"

"I just found out about it an hour ago. It wasn't a local decision. Our orders came directly from Homeland Security in DC."

"Are you gonna be workin' on it? Because if you are, couldn't we work together?"

"No, I'm not assigned. Paul Gersich is. I'm sure you'll be hearing from him."

"Oh, God! That insufferable jerk?"

"He's an okay guy. Give him a chance."

"A chance? You mean like he gave me a chance to do all the work and then he just swooped in and stole both of my suspects? That kind of a chance?"

"Brenda, when are you going to accept the fact that the FBI and the LAPD have different agendas and sometimes their mandates are going to be in conflict?"

"Never!" she fumed. "Not if the FBI jerks are gonna keep on stealin' my suspects after I've done all the work catchin' them. But I don't want to talk about that right now."

Fritz slumped back into his chair and rubbed his face. "Well, what then?"

"Can I listen to the phone messages and read the notes, at least?"

"I don't know. Pope will have to request it from Director Walling. He did say he's aware that the LAPD is also working the case so maybe he'll agree to a joint operation. But Pope will have to arrange that. And remember that it will be entirely Director Walling's call." Brenda let out a sigh but said nothing so after a minute he asked, "Brenda, are you still there?"

"I'm here. I'm just tryin' to figure out what to do next. Tell me. Did the Bureau take all the other stores' security footage too?"

"Since it's not my case I don't know for sure, but if we haven't yet, I'm sure we will."

"Well, I'll make sure to tell Will to ask real nice if we can get copies of everythin' you've got."

"Good," Fritz replied, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. I'll probably be gettin' home late tonight so don't count on me for dinner," and she slammed down the phone.

Brenda stood up and started to Will's office but then turned back to the Murder Room. "I just spoke to Agent Howard and the FBI is now investigatin' this case too. He thinks the Bureau is takin' the security camera footage. But just in case they don't have it yet, keep on it. Apparently the Bureau is just now startin' their investigation of the murder so we may be able to get the jump on them. Detective Daniels, let's see if we can beat the FBI to that footage."

"I've called the stores on either side and across the street. They still have their tapes and I told them someone would pick it up."

"Go get it right now, Detective. And hurry up before Agent Gersich gets there. Lieutenant Tao, you and Buzz are gonna have to copy it just as soon as we get our hands on it because once he knows we have it, he'll be right over to grab everythin'."

"Yes, Chief," both Irene and Tao replied.


Brenda knocked on Will's door and opened it when he told her to come in. He was talking to Taylor and looked up from his desk and invited her to take a seat. When she told him of the FBI's involvement, he leaned back in his chair and replied, "Well, I'm not surprised. A Congressional candidate's murder would certainly catch Homeland Security's attention."

"Maybe we should just hand everything over to the Feds," Cmdr. Taylor suggested. "That will save us a lot of overtime expense and media scrutiny, not to mention embarrassment if we can't catch the killer."

Brenda bristled at his suggestion. "But we've already put a lot of work into this case and I know we can solve it faster than Agent Gersich can."

"Paul Gersich is assigned to this case?"

Brenda saw the scowl on Will's face and knew that Gersich's involvement was a big point in her favor. He had also been upset at the way Gersich had muscled his way into the LAPD and removed her suspects after they had confessed, and then openly bragged about how his "success" proved the FBI's superiority.

"That's what I was just told. So I was wonderin' if you could talk to Director Walling and request that we be allowed to see all the evidence they've collected in this case."

"I'm not sure he'll agree to all that, but John Walling is not unreasonable. And he did just make a statement at a press conference about how public safety demands that law enforcement work together. I'll give him a call. In the meantime keep working on the case."

"Thank you, Will. Commander," Brenda nodded to Taylor and left Will's office.


About forty-five minutes later, Irene returned with a box of security camera tapes. When Brenda saw her she went out into the Murder Room.

"I got tapes from all but two of the cameras. One recycles their tape every 24 hours and the manager of one store insisted that he had to hold onto his tape for the FBI."

"Didn't the Bureau ask the other stores for their tapes?" Brenda asked in surprise.

"Probably, but after getting turned down, I just told the others that I was there as agreed to pick up the tapes. They handed them over without asking to see my ID."

"Good job, Irene!" Brenda laughed and turned to Buzz. "We won't have these tapes long. You need to copy them right away."

He looked at the contents of the box. "I can copy the DVDs really fast but these VCR tapes are going to take a lot longer."

"Well, get started on it. Lieutenant Tao, ask SID if they can lend a hand copyin' tapes. And let me know if you think we need Robbery Homicide's help too. We've got a very narrow window here."

"We can copy the tapes, but the quality of the VCR copies won't be as good as the originals," Buzz cautioned.

"In that case, keep the originals and put the copies into the box for the FBI," Brenda replied, eliciting grins from the members of her squad.

Over the next few hours, they copied tapes and DVDs, then began watching them. Brenda had told them all to be looking for a dark haired man wearing a khaki jacket entering the restaurant just before the murder and exiting right after.

She finished checking one DVD and walked into the Electronics Room to bring out some more. "Buzz, how come there are no VCR tapes here?"

"The originals are in a box under my desk and the copies are all in that box over there waiting for the FBI, but I don't think we need to go through them all."

"Why not?"

"I copied them. But even better, I was able to fast forward to the hour before and the hour after the murder and I copied all that material onto DVDs. Two DVDs have the same useable footage as four security tapes."

"Wonderful, Buzz. That will speed thangs up a lot."

"So do you still want to keep the originals?"

"Yes. We'll need them for court."

Irene opened the door. "Agent Gersich is here asking for the tapes and he's not in a good mood."

"Thank you, Detective Daniels. Please tell him I'll be right out." When Irene left, Brenda turned to Buzz and asked, "Have we finished copyin' everythin'?"

"SID just brought the tapes up that they copied and I'm almost finished with the last one. I just need a few more minutes."

"Okay. As soon as you've finished bring me the copy and we'll tell him that we missed one. We wouldn't want him to get the idea that the LAPD was withholdin' vital evidence from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, now would we?"

Buzz just grinned and Brenda walked out carrying the box of tapes. "Hello, Agent Gersich, how nice to see you again."

"Right. I'm here to collect the security camera footage you took." His tone was accusatory.

"The LAPD has an open case on the Logan murder too, and I'm sure you're aware that we've had our case longer than you've had yours."

"The murder of a Congressional candidate is a matter of national security. You should have handed everything you've got over to us immediately."

"All we have is this box of tapes and our ballistics report. You can have the box. Do you want a copy of that report, as well?"

"Yes, and I'd also like the bullet, the casing and your case files on the vandalism of the victim's office."

"Oh, yes, of course. I wonder where those are. I suppose SID has the casin'. I'll have to put through a request for that and look for the bullet," she said as Tao slid two plastic baggies into his desk drawer. "Well, I'll take care of that. Lieutenant Tao, do you have the ballistics report?"

Tao saw that she was stalling for time so he replied, "Not right here but I can look for it."

"Great. Will you make a copy of it for our FBI friend here while I look for those vandalism reports?"

"Certainly." Tao then moved to the Electronics room and sat down at a computer terminal where he could pull up the ballistics and vandalism reports and print them without being seen, while Brenda shuffled through papers on top of filing cabinets. When Buzz finished copying the VCR tape, Tao brought the reports back into the Murder Room. "Here they are, Chief."

Brenda had her back to Agent Gersich so she whispered, "Is Buzz finished yet?"

"Mm hmm," Tao whispered back to her just as Buzz came from Electronics.

"Chief Johnson, here's another tape. I just found it lying on top of my filing cabinet."

"Oh, thank you, Buzz." Then she turned to Gersich who was looking extremely annoyed. She smiled sweetly as she dropped the copy into the box with the others and said, "Here you go. We wouldn't want to miss anythin' you need. What with national security bein' at stake and all."

"Right," he replied, "You wouldn't happen to have the bullet sitting on top of your filing cabinet too, would you?"

"No, but I'd be happy to put that request through right away for you," Brenda smiled innocently.

Agent Gersich's face flushed with anger, and without waiting, he stalked out of the Murder Room looking at his watch and muttering to himself about the incompetent LAPD wasting valuable Bureau time.

After he left, Brenda reminded the squad that they were searching the DVDs for a tall dark haired man wearing a khaki anorak.

About an hour later Lt. Flynn said, "I think I've found him, Chief. Here's a guy in a khaki jacket and he fits the description." The entire squad gathered around Flynn's desk to watch the man walk into the restaurant with his left hand in the front pocket of the anorak. A few minutes later, he was seen running out of the restaurant amid several panicky people.

"Okay, everyone. Now that we've found him we want to check the other cameras to see how he got away. Lieutenant, back the DVD up to just before we see him goin' inside and stop it." Then she turned and called Buzz and asked him to come into the Murder Room. When he appeared she asked, "Buzz can you capture a good face shot and enlarge it from this piece of video?"

"It's not very clear but let me see what I can do."

"Thank you." And Brenda turned back to her squad, "Now that you've all seen him, we need to see how he got away."

"I think I have that," Provenza said. "Here's a man wearing a khaki jacket getting into a red car."

As she moved to see his monitor she asked, "Can we see his face?"

"No. His back is to the camera the whole time."

"What about a license plate?"

"No. All we see is the side of the car."

"Well, check the other cameras, everybody, and let's see if we can see a face and a plate number. And let's figure out the make and model of that car."

"I have traffic camera shots for the hour before the shooting and an hour after the shooting, Chief," Tao said. "If we can get the face or plate number I might be able to find him on one of these cameras."

"Did we give copies of those to the FBI?" she asked.

"He never asked for them and I guess they must have slipped my mind," he replied with a slight smile.

"Lieutenant Tao, you are so devious. I'm proud of you," she said with a broad grin. "Okay, everyone. We've got a lot more film to sort through. Let's keep goin'."


It was late when Brenda finally pulled into the driveway. The lights were still on and she found Fritz on the couch, in his PJs, with his bare feet on the coffee table watching the news with the remote in his hand. Without taking his eyes off the screen he said, "The news is still talking about the Logan murder. And Taylor held a press conference."

"Of course he did. That's his favorite thang to do… gettin' his face in front of the cameras. What did he say?"

"That the LAPD is vigorously investigating the case and hopes for FBI cooperation. Did Pope ask Director Walling for a joint investigation?"

"He said he would."

"Well, I sure hope he did because John Walling isn't going to like it if he feels that the LAPD is trying to use the media to force his hand." When Brenda slumped onto the couch beside him, he put his arm around her and gave her a hug and a kiss. "Did you eat anything today?"

"Just candy. I didn't have time to get a meal."

"Would you like me to scramble some eggs for you?"

"Thank you, honey, but I don't want to eat that much now. Maybe I'll just make some toast."

"You look exhausted. Let me make it for you. Do you want some of your mother's homemade peach preserves?"

When she replied, "Yes, please," he got up from the couch and went into the kitchen.

After he put the bread into the toaster he turned toward her and said, "Speaking of your mother, you got something in the mail from her today."

"What is it?"

"It was addressed to you so I didn't open it. Here, let me get it for you," and he walked into the dining room, picked up a large envelope, and handed it to her.

When Brenda tore into it, several clippings fell onto her lap. She looked through them and when Fritz brought the toast and a glass of milk to her she said, "These are all magazine and newspaper clippin's about weddin's… choosin' an officiant… how to negotiate the price for venues… ideas for weddin' gowns and flowers… Selectin' gifts for the attendants. And this one's about choosin' a weddin' date accordin' to our astrological signs. Ughhh. She isn't gonna stop until she drives me crazy."

"She's just excited because her only daughter is getting married."

"Well, she needs to… Wait a minute. Did you put her up to this? Are the two of you in cahoots against me?"

"Of course not. But I do admit to wanting to take these wedding plans faster than you want to."

"Well, I've got a news flash for both of you. I will not be rushed into this weddin' by either one of you so you both just need to quit pressurin' me until I'm ready to work on it." Then she looked at the toast and milk and said, "I'm not hungry. I'm gonna go to bed." And she got up and stomped out of the room like a petulant child.

Fritz shook his head and sighed, "I'm beginning to wonder if she'll ever set a date." He picked up a piece of toast and took a bite and then picked up one of the magazine clippings and started reading.

To Be Continued.

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