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Holly thought him the calmest person she had ever met. He seemed to have no reaction whatever to the news that he had been passed over for promotion, and that a strange woman was now his superior. “I know this comes as something of a surprise to you, and in a way, it is to me, too. I didn’t know that there had been no announcement about my arrival.”
“That was a surprise, yes,” Wallace said.
“The chief hired me more than a month ago. I’ve been arranging my retirement from the army; I arrived in town last night.”
“Anything I can do to help you settle in?”
“Thanks, but I think I’m okay. I’m at Riverview Park, in a trailer. I was already living in it off base.”
“I see.”
“Hurd—may I call you Hurd?”
“Of course.”
“And I’m Holly to you, when we’re alone, but not to the rest of the force. Hurd, I’m aware that you might have expected to get this job, and I’m sorry that things have been complicated even more by the shooting of the chief last night. I hope we’re going to be able to work together smoothly.”
“I’m sure we will,” Wallace said.
“Before I meet the others, I’d like to be brought up to date on the shooting last night. Who’s handling the investigation?”
“Bob Hurst, detective sergeant. He’s our best man on homicides—that’s how we’re treating this.”
“I’d like to talk to him as soon as possible.”
“He was up all night working the crime scene and going over the chief’s car. I told him to get some sleep.”
“Don’t wake him, but I want to talk to him at the earliest opportunity. In the meantime, tell me what you know.”
“In a nutshell, a passerby found the chief lying in front of his car on the shoulder of A1A, just after eleven last night. He’d been shot once in the head, but he was still alive. Bob Hurst got there right after the ambulance arrived; I got there right after the ambulance left. The ground was dry, so there were no footprints; nothing was amiss inside the chief’s car.”
“Were the flashers on the chief’s car running?”
“No, but the headlights were on.”
“Car doors open or closed?”
“Closed and unlocked. The driver’s window was down. The chief usually kept it down—he didn’t like air conditioning much.”
Holly looked at her Rolex, a gift from her platoon leaders on her retirement. “Okay, we’d better get out to the squad room so I can meet the others. I’d appreciate it if you’d introduce me. I’ll do the rest.”
“Sure, glad to.”
They got to their feet and walked into the squad room, where the watch had assembled.
“Let me have your attention,” Hurd said loudly. Everybody got quiet. “I want to introduce a new member of the department—Deputy Chief Holly Barker, who’s starting work today. Chief Barker?”
Holly stepped forward. “Good morning. I know I’m a surprise to all of you, but Chief Marley hired me five weeks ago, and he expected to introduce me to you today, but of course, the events of last night changed that. I expect I’ll get to know you all in due course, and I’m looking forward to that. There’ll be no changes in assignments or duty rosters—there’s a good system in place, and I don’t want to change it. I know you’re all good people, because Chet Marley hired you, so I come into this job with full confidence in every one of you. My first priority is going to be the solving of the chief’s shooting and the apprehension of the perpetrator. I’m not going to take over the case personally, but I’ll be keeping close tabs on it.
“Each of you can help in this investigation by questioning every source, every snitch you have any contact with. From what I’ve heard so far, that’s going to be our best bet. I’m going to see what I can do to get a substantial reward offered, and maybe that will help us.
“I know you’ll have a lot of questions about me. I’m going to post my résumé on the bulletin board, so that you can all read up on my background. I’ll get to know you and the ropes here as fast as I can. I expect to make some mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me, I’ll learn faster that way. Any questions?”
“How’s the chief doing?” an officer asked.
“We’re waiting for information; you’ll know shortly after I do. I’m heading over to the hospital now. Any other questions?” Nobody spoke. “That’s all, then.”
“I’ll assign somebody to ride with you,” Wallace said.
