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“It won’t come to that,” Chief Turnham said, voice sharp and firm. My respect for my chief soared.
I gave him a polite nod. “And I appreciate that. Am I to assume that my leave is effective immediately?”
He sighed, deep regret in his eyes. “I think that would be for the best.”
I stood and gave him a grateful smile, then gave the mayor a slight, mocking bow. “Y’all have a Merry Christmas!” I turned and left, and even resisted the desire to slam the door behind me.
But once I was out, the smile slid off my face as I strode quickly down the hall to my office. True, it could have been worse. Administrative leave was a shitload better than a suspension. Basically I’d just been given a paid vacation. But I still felt as if I’d been hamstrung.
No one else was around, which was a relief. I didn’t feel like going into an explanation of the whole thing for anyone right now. I ducked into my office and quickly gathered up the few personal items I gave a damn about, just in case this whole situation turned to even more shit, and I couldn’t get back here for a while.
On my way home I called Jill. “Guess who’s a murder suspect!”
She groaned. “Please tell me you’re not in jail.”
I laughed. “Not yet. But I am on administrative leave. Paid!”
“Woohoo! Vay-cay!”
“Yeah, under any other circumstance it would rock. Anyway, I’m headed to the house. The mayor was in there with the chief when I was given the lovely news, and he’s seriously gunning for me. Wanted me to sign a consent-to-search form to let them rummage through my house.”
I heard her suck her breath in. “Yikes. I’m assuming you told them to get stuffed?”
“Pretty much. But I have a bad feeling that the mayor’s gonna be pressuring Chief Turnham to scrape up enough probable cause to get a warrant.”
She made an unpleasant sound. We both knew that there were ways to get around the strict legalities of search and seizure. All they had to do was come up with a “confidential informant” to attest that I was hiding evidence of my dark deeds in my house. “You’re still planning to summon tonight?”
“Hell, no,” I said. “I’m summoning as soon as I get home.”
“Good plan. You need something to cart your demon around in once you get him here?”
“Crap. I might, depending on which demon I summon. I’ll need to go rent an SUV—”
“No, you won’t,” she interrupted. “We can put him in the back of the van.”
It took me a couple of seconds to process what she meant. “Wait. Your crime scene van?”
“That’s the one!”
I burst out laughing. “This is yet another reason why you’re my best friend.”
After I hung up with her I called Roman, spun him a fiction about needing his signature on a witness statement so that I could close out the Barry Landrieu case, and could he possibly meet me at Grounds For Arrest in say, two hours?
He agreed without hesitation. I breathed a sigh of relief. I still figured it was a long shot, but even eliminating him as a suspect would be progress. And since my progress thus far had been zilch, I’d take what I could get.
Eilahn was waiting for me on the porch with the cat on her lap when I pulled up. I had absolutely no idea how the demon managed to be everywhere I was, but I wasn’t going to complain.
Fuzzykins eyed me balefully as I climbed the steps. I reached to give her ears a scratch, and she gave me a dubious sniff. Well, at least it was an improvement over the usual hiss/snarl/claw reaction.
“I’m on administrative leave,” I told Eilahn.
“I know,” she said. “I listened in on your meeting.”
Again—no idea how she managed that. Did she hide in the air ducts or something?
“Any suggestions for demons to summon who can do a discreet assessment of Roman?” I glanced at the sky and scowled. “In broad daylight?”
She thought for a moment. “A nyssor would be the most prudent choice.”
