The next morning, Mac woke himself up when he snored. He hated it when he woke up like that. He thought he must have been snoring loud. He rolled over on his back. Stella moved closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. Mac put his arm around her. He realized her back was bare. He looked down at her and realized she wasn't wearing anything. Mac looked at the ceiling then out the window. It was dawn already. He must have slept all night. He couldn't believe he didn't even know Stella was in bed with him with no clothes on. He slid his hand down her back just to see if he felt any underwear.
"You keep that up and we might never make it to work," Stella said.
Mac jerked his hand away. "I'm sorry," he said. He got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He had almost forgotten about his sore feet, but they seemed to be better this morning. He looked in the mirror. He would definitely have to start staying in his own apartment. He didn't want to do something he would regret. He unwrapped his feet and took a quick shower. Then he realized he had forgotten to bring clothes in there with him. He wrapped the towel around him and went into the bedroom. Stella was still in bed, and Mac presumed she was asleep. He went to the closet and got his clothes and went back into the bathroom.
Stella wasn't asleep. She wondered why Mac was so shy and cautious with her. She had thought they would just go ahead with their relationship. She watched Mac as he came out of the bathroom, still pulling at his tie. He put his suit jacket on and then looked at her. "Morning," he said.
"Morning," Stella replied.
"I have to get in early this morning. I should have that warrant today."
"I'll be in later."
Mac walked over to the bed and kissed Stella. He looked at her a moment. "I'm sorry if I have been irritable or gave you the wrong impression about anything."
Stella kissed him again. "Don't worry about that. We'll work everything out."
"In the meantime, I think I should stay at my own apartment."
"If that's how you feel."
"Not that I don't want our relationship to go further."
"I'll see you at work."
Mac went into the living room and got his coat off the coatrack. He felt of the pocket for his medication. He realized he didn't hear anything in the bottle. He took it out and looked at it. It was empty. He looked toward the bedroom. Stella must have poured them out. She must have known he was taking them again. Mac frowned. It was none of her business. His feet and side were hurting. There was a refill on the bottle. Mac put his coat on and went out to the Avalanche. He went to the pharmacy and got the bottle filled first. Then he went to the diner to get some breakfast. Just as he was about to sit down, his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.
"Mac, we have that warrant," Don said.
"Great. Get those financial records."
"I'll have them hopefully before you even get here."
"I'm having breakfast right now. I'll be in soon."
"Alright."
Mac put his phone away. He had to hurry and get in to the office. The Commissioner had him under the microscope now. He didn't want to be late getting in to the office. He swallowed his medication with his orange juice, which seemed to make it taste more bitter. He shivered with the taste. As he ate, the food took the taste away, however.
By the time he was done with breakfast, Mac was feeling the medication. He wished it didn't make him dizzy at the start. He supposed his brain had to adjust to the idea of not feeling that pain. He hoped he wouldn't make any new blisters on his feet this evening. He had worn his black sneakers. He hoped they would help, and he hoped no one noticed that he was going a little casual, wearing sneakers with his suit. He wore the tie so maybe they would notice that instead. He hardly wore a tie anymore.
Mac went back to the precinct. There was a crowd of reporters still outside, even this early in the morning. He went into the parking garage to avoid them. He knew they would ask questions that he didn't want to answer. As Mac was coming out of the elevator at the squad room, Don was just receiving the financial records. "Morning, Mac," he said.
"Morning," Mac replied. "Anything?"
"I haven't had time to look yet."
Mac took the records. "I'll let you know if I find anything." He went to the elevator and up to the lab. When he got to his office, he hid his pill bottle in his bottom desk drawer. He didn't want Stella to find them and pour them out again. He sat at his desk and studied the financial records. He was disappointed to find that there were no large withdrawals or deposits in either of their accounts. Mac sighed and dropped the papers on his desk. He didn't know how he was going to prove this case. Then he got another idea…
Mac got his phone and called Don. "Don, I want you to find out if the deputy inspector has done any favors for any lowlifes," Mac said. "There's nothing in the financial records."
"You think he was holding something over someone's head and he cashed in his favor?" Don asked.
"We've got to find something, somewhere."
"I'll get on it, Mac."
"Thanks."
Mac went to the lounge and paced around. He knew there had to be something he was missing. He went to the lab and looked at the evidence again. The spermicide from both victims was the same. Hawks had just gotten that report back last night. Mac considered that. He didn't think that could be a coincidence. There was even the name of the condoms that used that kind of spermicide. He leaned on the lab table. That could mean that both of those women had sex with the same man, although Charlotte Jones was raped. At least, they were pretty sure it was rape. The chief had admitted that he had been with Hillary King. Mac rubbed his face. He had to keep this information under lock and key. He took it to his office and put it in his evidence folder that stayed in his desk drawer. He would have to go and see the chief and let him know about this.
Just then, Mac's desk phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.
"Taylor, did you find anything in those financial records?" the Commissioner asked.
"No, sir."
Commissioner Ross was quiet a moment. "So, you have no proof that the inspector is involved in this."
"He has plenty of motive, Commissioner. His wife had prenuptual agreements and insurance policies. If they had gotten divorced, he would get nothing from her line of income, and she had divorce papers in her desk."
"But you don't have any proof."
"I'm still trying to find proof."
"I'm glad to see that you're at least trying to avoid the press."
"I didn't leak that information."
"You were careless. You and your employee were talking about evidence with an unknown person in the other room with access to an intercom."
Mac sighed. He wasn't going to share what he found this morning. "I didn't think of it." Mac hoped that morphine didn't have anything to do with his carelessness. He didn't feel any pain right now.
"You just watch how you let information get around…and don't forget your other assignment."
Mac rolled his eyes. "How could I forget?"
"You'll get used to it."
Mac hung up the phone as he heard the commissioner do the same. How much more bad luck was he going to have on this case? He had to go and see the chief. He went to the elevator and up to the chief's office. However, when Mac got there, the chief wasn't there. He had thought the chief said he would be staying in his office. He must have changed his mind. "Where is he?" Mac asked the secretary.
"I'm not at liberty to say," she replied.
"Look! He is a suspect in an on-going investigation. He cannot disappear."
The woman looked at Mac. "Don't tell me."
Mac left the office area. He was even madder now. He thought there was a conspiracy going on here now. He couldn't even talk to the chief and he couldn't hide that evidence for long. It would have to be entered in with the rest of the evidence. As he was about to get into the elevator, Shawn King was coming down the hall with a smug grin on his face. "I heard you looked through my financial records," he said. "Did you find anything interesting?"
Mac glared at him. "I know you had something to do with this. I'm going to find what I need to put you behind bars."
King stepped closer to Mac. "You think you're so high and mighty. I could have your badge."
"If I have to work in a department full of murderers and swindlers, I'll give you my badge." Mac walked into the elevator and pressed the 34. He glared at King as the doors closed. He couldn't believe how smug some people were. That guy actually thought he was above the law.
Mac came out of the elevator at the lab. Adam was standing in the hallway. He could tell by Mac's walk that he was irritated to the core. He stepped aside and let Mac go by.
Mac would have slammed his office door if he could. He took the evidence he had discovered this morning and wrote out his report. He didn't care anymore who got into trouble. If they wanted to keep him in the dark and hide out like that, he would just let everything go. He didn't care who knew about it anymore. Maybe he would go out the front door when he left today and just let the press surround him. After all, it wasn't his hide they were wanting to hang on a nail. Then again, the Commissioner and everyone else up there seemed to want his hide.
Mac realized his hand was shaking slightly as he was writing his report. He took a deep breath. This was a tangled mess. He had to relax. He took another deep breath and blew it out slowly. That made him feel a little better. He finished his report and then just sat there. He couldn't do anything unless they could find someone whom the deputy inspector had called a favor on. And now, he didn't know where the chief was.
Stella was on her way to the office now. She had not talked to Mac about the case this morning. She would just wait until she got there.
Mac saw Stella come out of the elevator. There was another situation that was rattling his nerves. He didn't want to hurt Stella, but he wasn't ready to plunge into anything either. Maybe when he got this case out of his way, he would be able to figure out what he wanted with Stella.
Stella came to his office. "What's going on this morning?" She asked. "You don't look too happy."
"I'm not. The financial records were a dead end, the chief has disappeared, and I found out that both women had the same spermicide in their bodies."
Stella stared at him a moment. "You're kidding."
"No, I'm not."
"And the chief has disappeared?"
"Yes, and that makes him look even more suspicious, because he admitted that he had been with Hillary King that night."
Stella sat down on the couch. "So, what do we do?"
"Flack is trying to find someone that the deputy inspector has helped in some way and maybe he called in a favor from some lowlife somewhere."
"Good luck."
"Don't say that because I sure haven't had any in the last few days."
"Maybe our luck will change this time."
"Is Sid certain that Charlotte Jones was raped?"
"I don't guess anything can really be said with absolute certainty."
"Our only hope is to find some shady deal between the inspector and some lowlife."
Stella stood up. "Well, I have some paperwork to work on while we're playing the waiting game. I'll see you later."
Mac watched Stella walk away toward her office. He would just go and try to find some leads of his own. He got his coat and went down to the squad room. Don was at his desk. "I haven't found anything yet," Don said.
"I want to dig up those divorce proceedings," Mac said. "Maybe Inspector King had a lawyer of his own. I'm sure his wife was going to be her own lawyer, but he would have to hire one. I want to go and see that lawyer and see what King's reaction was to all this."
"Maybe he hadn't hired a lawyer yet. Why hire one when you're planning to kill your adversary?"
"Cover up."
"I guess it's worth a shot."
"You got any idea where the chief is?"
"No. Why? Is he missing now?"
"Yeah. I'm about to go to his place and see if he's there."
"You want me to go with you?"
"No, I want you to stay here and work on all this tangled web we have here. Let me know if you find a common thread."
Don shook his head. "I hate spiders."
"Yeah, me too. They're sneaky."
Mac put his coat on and went to the garage. When he was almost to the Avalanche, someone said, "Detective Taylor!"
Mac looked around. There was a news reporter there. He turned and went on to the truck. "How did you get in here?" he asked.
"We got permission. You're avoiding the press."
"I have to avoid the press! You people are trying to broadcast information whether it's true or not."
"Isn't it true that you think the deputy inspector, Shawn King killed his wife and Charlotte Jones and tried to frame the chief for it?"
"No comment."
"When are you going to let the people of this city know if they're going to be electing a new chief?"
Mac got the door of the truck open and got in. He couldn't believe how information got around in this city. "Detective!" the reporter said. "Where is the chief this morning? Hasn't he disappeared?"
Mac stared at her. "Where are you getting all this information?" he asked.
"You can't keep all this from the public."
"I can until I have facts! Now, get out of my way!"
Mac closed the door of the truck and drove away. He hoped none of these vultures followed him over to the chief's apartment. He didn't know that the chief was there. It was still a crime scene. Then again, it was the chief's home and crime scene cleanup could come in and do their work. He had been over every inch of that place anyway. There had been nothing to make anything positive.
Mac drove up to the apartment building and headed inside. Before he could get inside, however, he was surrounded by reporters. They were all wanting to know the same things the other reporter wanted to know. "No comment!" Mac said, as he went on into the apartment building. He went to the chief's apartment and knocked, but there was no answer. He leaned on the wall. Sometimes he wished he could just disappear and no one would know he had ever existed.
Mac shook his head. He thought he had made too big a dent in the world for anyone to forget he ever existed. He walked back outside and waded through the reporters to the Avalanche. Just as he got into the truck, his phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.
"Mac, I found out who Shawn King's lawyer was," Don said. "George Anderson."
Mac wrote that down. Then he realized those reporters were still outside the truck. He hid the notepad quickly to keep them from seeing. "Thanks, Don."
"I don't have anything on that other situation yet."
"Keep looking."
Mac put his phone away. He pulled out blowing the horn at the crowd of reporters, who acted like they would just stand there in his way. He finally got out and headed over to this other lawyer's office, which was in another part of town and not even in a high-rise building. The office looked like a house. Mac went up to the door. He didn't know if he was supposed to knock or not, so he just walked in. He was surprised at the inside. The walls all the way around the front room were lined with bookshelves, which were full of books, and there were files stacked on the floor everywhere that there was not a bookshelf. And besides all that, there were filing cabinets lining the far wall, and the secretary's desk was right in the middle of it all.
Mac closed the door and walked over to the secretary's desk. "Excuse me," he said, and showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor. I need to see Mr. Anderson."
"He's meeting with a client right now," the woman said. "You're welcome to wait with everyone else."
Mac sighed. He thought he might as well be waiting. He had no other leads to follow. He sat down on a sofa against one of the walls, and he sank down into it. He just leaned on his elbow on the arm of the sofa. Could this day get any worse? It was only 9:30, and he had already ran into more than one wall in this case. Now, he was sitting in a couch that was so soft, he might never get out of it, and his knees were almost up to his chest.
"I learned never to sit in that sofa," someone said.
Mac looked to see a man sitting in one of the chairs. He looked like he was a little older than Mac. "I can never get out of that thing," the man said.
"I'm wondering if I'm going to get out of it," Mac said.
"If you have any trouble, I'll pull you out. I know how it is."
Mac frowned. Did he look that old? He supposed he was getting older. He was in his mid-forties. He supposed he better make up his mind about Stella and stop beating around the bush. If he didn't, he would wind up an old, lonely man.
Mac rubbed his eyes. He didn't have time to think about that right now. He had to keep his mind on this case. If the chief had disappeared, everyone would think he was guilty. Why would he suddenly disappear? Mac wondered if the killing spree was over. Maybe whoever killed those women grabbed the chief too. The inspector didn't seem too concerned with where the chief was. Surely, he would not think he could get away with killing someone else.
Soon, the client came from the lawyer's office, and the secretary told him that Mac was there to see him. As Mac walked into the office, he thought it was more cluttered than the waiting room. "Good day," the lawyer said.
"Sir," Mac said, as he shook his hand.
This lawyer had gray hair that looked almost like Einstein, and he wore silver-rimmed round glasses. He was not even as tall as Mac. "Have a seat, Detective," he said.
Mac sat down. "I'm here about…"
"I know why you're here. You know I can't talk to you about my cases."
Mac sighed. "This is important, not only to Chief Sinclair's career, but also to those women who were murdered. Can't you make an exception for that?"
"If I do, I can be sued. Are you going to protect me from that? Why didn't you get a warrant?"
"Can you just tell me how Shawn King reacted when his wife filed for divorce? Did he seem upset?"
"Well, wouldn't you be upset?"
"I'll re-word that. Did he seem less upset than you think he should have?"
"I can't talk to you about all that without a warrant, Detective."
"Do you know of any lowlifes the inspector has done favors for? Like getting you to be their lawyer?"
Anderson stared at Mac a moment. He took a notepad and wrote on it. He folded the paper and laid it on his desk. He stood up and shook Mac's hand. "I can't help you anymore," he said. "I'll let you see yourself out."
Anderson left the room. Mac stared at the paper. He grabbed it and stuck it in his pocket. Then he left the office. He didn't see Anderson as he was leaving the house. He got into the Avalanche and made sure no one was around watching him before he looked at the paper. There was one name on it: Ralph Greenwich. Mac thought a moment. He thought he had heard that name before, but he couldn't be sure. He remembered the fingerprints they found in the apartment where Charlotte Jones had been murdered had not been in the system. Mac wondered if the inspector had erased that information from the system. He didn't know how that could be done, but he would definitely find out about this Ralph Greenwich.
Mac arrived back at the precinct. He didn't see the reporters, so he parked out front so he wouldn't have to go down into the garage if he were in a hurry. He went on into the precinct, puzzled as to where those reporters had gone, although he was glad they weren't there. Don was still at his desk. "Mac, I still haven't been able to find anyone associated with King that he could have bribed into killing these two women," Don said.
"I have a name," Mac said quietly. "I got it from his lawyer." He made sure no one was watching them, and then showed the name to Don. "You find out who this is and we're going to have a conversation with this guy. I don't want this information to get out anywhere."
"Nobody will hear it from me."
"Good." Mac put the paper back in his pocket and went up to his office.
Stella met him in the hall. "Where have you been?" she asked.
"Hunting."
"Did you find any game?"
"Yes. I think I might have found a pretty big fish."
"Great. How big?"
"I think he might break the line. I'll let you know later. Somehow, information is leaking around here, and I don't want to say too much about it."
"I don't think anyone in this lab is leaking information."
"Neither do I, but somebody is getting it somehow."
"Keep me informed."
"I will." Mac caught Stella's hand as she started to walk away. He stroked her cheek with his finger. "I love you."
Stella was surprised. "I love you too."
Mac glanced around to see if anyone was watching. He brushed Stella's lips lightly. "How about dinner this Friday?" he whispered.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Just dress formal."
Stella smiled as she felt her face blush. "What's come over you?"
"Nothing. I just want a date."
"What time?"
"I'll pick you up at seven."
"I'll be ready."
Mac smiled. "I'm sorry if I was irritable with you."
"You were in pain again, weren't you? I know you took some of that morphine."
"I know that you poured them out too. Don't do that again."
"I'm sorry. I just don't want you to get hooked on them."
Mac frowned. "Don't judge me, Stella."
Stella hugged him. "I'm sorry, Mac."
"For a while I wondered about myself, but I can't concentrate on my job with my side aching all day. It makes me feel like I can't breathe and besides that, my feet were aching this morning too."
"Do what you have to."
Mac went to his office feeling a little better. Stella seemed to be able to take some of his stress away. He remembered Claire was very good at that. She always knew when he needed a hug or something more, or when he needed just a kiss or a smile. Mac shook his head. He couldn't dwell on that. He watched Stella walk to her office. He didn't have to dwell in the past anymore. He could have a future now.
Mac's phone rang and startled him. He fished it out of his pocket. "Taylor," he answered.
"Mac, I found out who Ralph Greenwich is," Don said.
"Who?"
"He owns a big manufacturing company. He was caught swindling money and he got this lawyer, George Anderson, who somehow got him off and he doesn't even have a criminal record, never spent a day in jail. All he had to do was pay the money back."
Mac thought about that a moment. "There must be more to it or Anderson wouldn't have given me that name," he said.
"There's more, alright. He's Shawn King's first cousin. I've run all kinds of background checks. His fingerprints and DNA aren't even in the system. He had to have pull for that."
"But would he commit murder?"
"Maybe he's still swindling money and the inspector is helping him cover it up."
Mac blew out a breath. "We'll have to prove it if he is," he said. "That will be like pulling teeth with a pair of wire pliers."
"They pulled teeth that way a long time ago and didn't even use anesthesia."
Mac shook his head. "Maybe we should go and have a talk with this guy."
"Mac, this is going to be a big mess."
"I always liked making messes when I was a kid. I guess I like to open up cans of worms and see what crawls out."
"So are we going to see him now?"
"Yes. No time like the present."
"My car or yours."
"Yours."