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She went to her cubicle and, after glancing around to make sure no one paid her any attention, sent the information about the log and IP address to Granderson.
There had to be a reason. Her son worked for the city, was involved in housing grants that were the subject of Dyson’s investigation. Was there another connection? How deep did they go? Sloane had already looked into her husband and immediate family. But what about extended family? Friends?
She might tip her hand. Now, however, was the time.
Sloane dug deep into everyone who touched Rebecca Chavez’s life.
As Matt drove back to police headquarters, he didn’t push Kara to talk. She was sullen after leaving First Contact.
Michael called when they were halfway to LAPD headquarters.
“Michael, you’re on speaker with me and Kara.”
“Kara’s Colt is missing. There are signs that the lockbox was picked—it’s a standard metal box with a keyhole. Nothing else appears disturbed.”
“How did they get in?” Kara asked.
“I don’t know. No sign that the condo’s locks were tampered with, but I could be missing something. He could have had a key. Your neighbor said he hasn’t seen anyone suspicious. Someone should print the place.”
“I’ll call Popovich,” Matt said. “But whoever took it likely wore gloves. Secure the place and meet us at LAPD.”
“Copy that. Sorry, Kara,” Michael said.
“I’ll live,” she muttered. “You know what this means. That my gun was used to kill Chen, and probably to kill Thornton.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Matt said. “We don’t have ballistics back yet.”
“We’ll know by the end of today,” Kara said. “Clearly someone lured Thornton out to kill him, using my name and gun. That was a big fucking bread crumb for the FBI to follow right to me.”
Michael said, “Traffic was miserable coming out here, so it’ll be at least an hour before I’m back.”
Matt hit End and glanced at Kara. “We’ll find the gun and the killer.”
“None of this helps us solve Craig’s murder. Different killer, different method. All because he was going to expose corruption?”
“They aren’t thinking,” Matt said. “A public corruption case like this can take months—even years—to prosecute. It’s extremely difficult to prove. But murder is a major crime.”
“Politicians don’t like their dirty secrets being exposed. It could cost them an election, right?”
Matt paused. “There is an election in five weeks.”
“See? Something like this comes out now as people are sending back their ballots? People might pull their heads out of the sand and look around.”
“You don’t have a lot of faith in the system.”
“I vote in every election. I do a little research and end up skipping half the races because I think they’re all bad.”
“Some people vote because of issues, so the person might not be the best, but voters agree with the issues they represent.”
“When has a politician not flipped on an important issue? The last time I voted because of an issue was a guy for mayor because he was supported by the police union and he talked a good game about making sure cops had the tools to do our job. I was a new cop, I thought yeah, I want tools, I want a good partner, I want more training, better guns, the whole nine yards. He wins, great! Not six months later he fucks us all over jumping on the media bandwagon about a video taken out of context where two cops tasered a suspect. First zap, the guy keeps coming, so second cop gets in on it, guy goes down hard. The prick turns against us, apologizes, gives the guy money for his injuries and rehabilitation and pain and suffering. When the truth came out—full body cam footage, witness statements, drug screening to show the guy was wired on meth, and proof he’d hit a cop with his car—did he apologize? No. Then he screwed us over in the next budget.”
“You hold grudges.”
She shrugged. “About some things, I guess I do. So I skip most of the races—does that make me a bad citizen? Maybe it’s the people who vote for these idiots who are bad citizens, because if no one put up with the bullshit, maybe better people would want to get involved.”
“I see your point.”
“You probably vote in every election for every race.”
