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“Well, no, Hurd. I can’t say that I do.”
“But I’m left out of the case,” Bruno said.
“If that’s true, Jim, it’s because you haven’t expressed much interest in it.”
“I’m very interested in it,” Bruno said.
“Then I’m sure Jimmy will be glad to brief you on all the details of the investigation,” Hurd said.
“Jimmy has already briefed me,” Bruno replied hotly.
“In that case, I don’t know why you’re here, Jim,” Hurd said. “It’s not as though we’re keeping information from Jimmy. In fact, he’s the one who’s been keeping us abreast of his own investigation. We’re not hiding anything from him.”
“Why won’t you let me attend the meeting?” Bruno demanded.
“Jim, I’ve already explained that we’ll be dealing with other cases in our meeting, cases you have no reason to be privy to.”
“I see,” Bruno said, getting to his feet. “Let’s go, Jimmy; we’re apparently not wanted here.”
“I don’t think it’s like that, Chief,” Jimmy said.
“I said, let’s go!” Bruno retorted.
“I’ll certainly keep you posted if we get anything new, Jim,” Hurd said.
Bruno walked out of the office without another word.
“I’m sorry about this,” Jimmy said.
“Lauren will call you later,” Hurd replied. “Keep that to yourself.”
Jimmy looked puzzled. He shook hands and left.
Hurd watched to see that they were out of his office, then he walked next door to the conference room, where Lauren, the medical examiner and the forensics guy were waiting. Everyone sat down.
“I’m sorry to be late,” Hurd said, “but I had to ask Chief Bruno of Orchid Beach not to attend our meeting.”
“Why?” the ME asked.
“Because he’s our only suspect in the case,” Hurd explained.
The ME looked shocked. “What evidence do we have against him?”
“He has a history of being accused of rape,” Hurd explained. “We have no material evidence at this point, but I think it’s best if we keep him out of the loop until we can exclude him as a suspect.”
The ME shrugged. “If you say so, Hurd.”
“This is confidential, of course.”
“Of course.”
Jimmy and Bruno were driving back to the Orchid station with Jimmy at the wheel.
“What was that about?” Bruno asked.
“Chief, I don’t think it was about anyth
ing,” Jimmy replied. “Hurd explained himself, and I think we have to accept his explanation.”
