Page 13 of Dead O’Clock

“I hate when fuckers won’t take no for an answer,” Jude said, angrily.

“What about you, Ten? Aside from news about the upcoming baby boom, did you get anything about the warden or the letter?”

“For me, it’s still blurry. I could feel the anger and need for revenge coming from the police reports and Steve’s file of notes, but the warden himself is still a bit out of focus. Most likely because of how upset he was this morning.”

For all his experience in law enforcement, Ronan hadn’t seen a smear campaign this sinister in a while. With Fitzgibbon on vacation, he was going to get with Cisco and let him make the final determination of what to do about Warden Jones and the letter. The last thing he needed was to end up with the warden’s blood on his hands.

6

Tennyson

After a quick lunch at Greek Life, Ten, Jude, and Ronan sat outside of Cisco Jackson’s office waiting for the chief of police to call them in.

“Tell me again what happened when you called Cisco. How the hell did we end up here with him pissed at us?” Jude shook his head.

“When I told him about Jones and the letter, he demanded we get our asses into the station immediately. That’s all he said, Jude. I swear. I don’t understand what he’s angry at any more than you do.” Ronan’s eyes were on Tennyson. “Are you getting anything?”

Ten shook his head. “Just that he’s really pissed, which let’s face it, the entire restaurant knew from the way Cisco was shouting at you through the phone.”

Cisco’s door flew open. “In my office. Now!”

Ronan and Jude exchanged a silent look. Ten knew both detectives were expecting to have their asses handed to them.

“What the actual fuck were you thinking?” Cisco shouted as soon as Tennyson shut the door behind them.

Ronan, looking confused, opened his mouth to respond when Cisco shut him off.

“This isn’t a cold case. Why the hell would you get involved with it? Why the fuck didn’t you call the lead detective?” Cisco demanded.

Ronan held his hands up in an innocent gesture. “What are you talking about? A stark, raving man came into West Side Magick this morning screaming that he was going to die at midnight. He was waving this letter around like a fucking white flag. Jude and I brought him into the conference room and that’s when we found out the man was former warden, Paul Jones. How the hell were we supposed to know Jones had been harassing his ex-wife and her new husband to the tune of ten police reports in the last twelve weeks?”

“Wait! What?” Cisco shouted back. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Let’s go back to the beginning, Cisco,” Ten said, feeling exhausted. “What case are you talking about?”

“You don’t know?” Cisco asked, his voice much softer this time. He looked back and forth between Ronan and Jude, as if he were waiting for them to tell the truth.

“Haven’t got a clue,” Jude said.

“Me either,” Ronan agreed.

Ten shook his head.

“Roderick Cruise was murdered last night. He was found dead on his front door step by an overnight Amazon delivery driver.” Cisco sat back in his seat, as if what he said explained everything.

“I heard something about a man being found on his stoop, but who the hell is Roderick Cruise?” Ronan turned to Jude who shrugged. Ten had never heard of the man either.

“He’s the head of the Massachusetts Parole Board. Cruise is a hardliner on crime. During his first year on the job, he voted to deny parole to every inmate who came before him. The parole board is manned by a committee of three who decide an inmate’s fate. There were some people who were granted parole based on the votes of the other two, but Cruise was steadfast about not letting inmates go free. He believed an inmate should serve every last second of their original sentences.”

“It sounds like there are a whole lot of people who might be gunning for Cruise, family of denied prisoners or even former cons themselves, but at the risk of you giving yourself another heart attack, I have to ask, what the hell does this have to do with Warden Jones and his whack-a-doodle letter?” Ronan asked.

“Cruise got one too,” Cisco said. He shuffled papers on his desk and handed one to Ronan.

“Your time on this earth is near its end. Make amends, pray for forgiveness, for you die when the midnight bell tolls.” Ronan frowned as he read the words. “This is the same exact letter Warden Jones showed us this morning. I bagged the letter, and dropped it off at the crime lab, but Jones had already handled it. I didn’t expect much would come from it.”

“The second the lab entered the letter into the system, it flagged, letting the tech know a similar letter had been received earlier in the day.”

“Okay, so that’s why you think we hijacked this case,” Ronan said.