"Tuesday!" Jimbo yells. He leans over her desk, practically in her face. "You honestly just told them 'Tuesday would be fine'?"
"Yes, I did." Karen Esposito says, not looking up. She takes a deep breath and counts to five, then continues calmly. It's taken some practice and control on her part, but she's not giving him the satidfaction of reacting to his intimidating physical presence. "Look, if they did it, and I don't think they did; they've had plenty of time to get their story straight. And who knows if they would even show up? If they didn't do it, well, then…" she takes a sip of her Diet Coke. "I didn't see that one or two days mattered much. If you're so concerned, have the Pensecola police pick them up. Oh, wait, you'd need evidence for that." She smiles up at him.
He ignores the barb. "You don't think either of them did it? You've already made up your mind?" He takes a step back.
Like you haven't, she thinks. But she says; "I'll go where the evidence takes me, but this doesn't feel like a crime-of-passion to me." Esposito shrugs her shoulders.
"What does it feel like, then?" He sneers.
"In my opinion it has some markings of a professional job."
"You really think a hitman shot some two-bit Lexington realtor's face off and threw him in a ditch?"
"He was shot by a small caliber weapon at close range. There are no signs of a struggle, no defensive wounds on his hands. This wasn't an altercation."
"So the Marshal got the drop on Hawkins..." Carroll interrupts.
She plows on without acknowledging him. "In looking at Hawkins' financials, I think we have to consider the possibility that he may have been involved in some shady deals, which could lead to loan sharks and the like so, in a word, yes." Esposito holds her ground. "I did work organized crime for two years in Baltimore." She reminds him.
"This ain't Baltimore." Jimbo snaps. "Crime in Kentucky is more about personal vendettas and blood feuds than mob bosses and hitmen. Did you know that the Marshal's marriage to Mrs. Hawkins broke up because of her affair with the deceased?"
She hadn't known that, and it does give her a flash of doubt, but she doesn't show that to Jimbo. "I seem to recall they've been divorced awhile. If he was going to kill him over that, he could have done it a long time ago."
He stares at her for a moment, obviously rankled that he can't intimidate her, and stomps off, mumbling to himself. Karen Esposito sits down at her desk and sighs. She pushes her glasses up on her nose and runs one hand through her close cropped black hair. She loves her job, loves being a cop; but the promtion to homicide and working with Jimbo Carroll are taking their toll. She has to fight tooth and nail for her opinions to be heard. After six years on the force here, she was used to getting more respect from the guys in vice. This is like being back in the goddamn U. S. Army.
She clicks her computer mouse and stares at Gary Hawkins' bank statements on her screen. She glances at the deposit and withdrawl dates. Something doesn't add up.
"Hey Leo," She calls, turning in her chair to make eye contact. "Can I see that Hawkins' autopsy report again?"
"Sure." The tall black man hands her a folder and she slaps it down on the desk, flipping through the pages with one manicured hand. When she finds what she's looking for she heads for the copy machine. She tacks the paper on top of the bank statements she's printed out and stops at Leo's desk on her way out.
"How long has Doc Wilson been the county coroner?"
"Ever since I been here." Leo leans back in his chair. "Before that, even. He was coroner when they had that mine explosion back in '82…so…gosh…almost thirty years now."
"I'm going to drop by the morgue and see if Stuart Carter is in. He's the tech that signed off on the autopsy. Then I want to get to the bank before they close at noon. See if I can get a look at their security video."
"Don't let Jimbo get you down," Leo advises. "He's mostly bark. Although when he does bite, he hangs on for all he's worth. And he doesn't change his mind easily."
"I just don't like the ex-wife and her boyfriend the Marshal for this."
Leo gives her a nod. "Then prove it."
She nods back. "I'm going to."