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“Don’t know. I stepped into the secure investigations office and shut the door. I ignored the receptionist when she kept calling.”
I laughed loudly. “You’re better than me. I tried to get rid of him and instead just made things worse. And I never did get the pizza I sent him out to pick up.”
“We’ll see who did a better job brushing off this jack-off after I have my meeting at One Police Plaza. How come you don’t have to go?”
I smiled. “Because I have a secret weapon most detectives don’t.”
“What’s that?”
“Harry Grissom. He’s much better at these kinds of meetings than I’ll ever be. Unlike me, he’s smart enough to know which battles to fight. I’ll just wait till he calls me after his talk with the chief of detectives.”
Rayesh said, “I should’ve recognized the ‘Bennett effect’ on Macy when he came to talk to me. He was already annoyed and flustered. A sure sign someone has spoken to you first.”
We both laughed.
Rayesh said, “Remember Captain Ramirez, when he was a lieutenant in the Bronx? He was quizzing us about an arrest we made and said, ‘That guy was dangerous as shit. Why didn’t you call SWAT?’ And you said it was because we didn’t have their number.”
I didn’t remember the exact, smart-ass comment, but I remembered Ramirez, an officious prick who used to run our shift.
Rayesh said, “He wanted to transfer you. Instead, we both got medals. I gotta tell you, Mike, you’re tough on the dull and lazy.”
I said, “What did Mr. Macy have to say when you spoke for that very brief time?”
Rayesh shrugged her shoulders. “Usual. Asked about the homicide. Said the mayor needed the newest information. The usual BS.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“Active investigation. Yada, yada, yada.” She paused for a moment, then added, “I did tell him it was too early to connect my homicide to the others. And he said he heard the killer stabbed the victim’s eye. I had to tell him I didn’t know why the killer did that, beyond a thirst for control.”
I mumbled, “The world is full of crazy, scary people, Raina. The public usually doesn’t see it. Maybe an occasional story about someone who went wild. Never the day-to-day nasty things that go on around us everywhere.”
Rayesh said, “Macy’s just looking to tell the mayor we’ve caught someone. He wants something to quiet the news media. An arrest would be just what they need. It’s like in the movie Jaws. The administrators at City Hall just want the problem to go away before tourist season gets screwed up.” She sighed, then perked up. “In all this confusion, I forgot that you’re getting married really soon,” she said.
“A week from Saturday. If Mary Catherine doesn’t leave me before then.”
“That’s a possibility, because she’s really smart. But I’ve seen the way she looks at you. You tricked her into believing all the press clippings. She’s in for the long haul.” Then she shook her head. “I don’t know, Mike. Maybe we’ve been on the job too long.”
“How do you figure that, Raina?”
She said, “Because all I want to do is move to Boca Raton and tell people how brave I was for the last twenty years in New York City.”
“Good plan.”
We both started laughing, knowing neither of us actually had any intention of leaving the job any time soon.
Chapter 32
I’d told Raina Rayesh the truth—that while I’d avoided an invitation to One Police Plaza for my rude behavior to the mayor’s aide, my boss, Harry Grissom, had been issued his own invitation. That’s why I was in the lobby outside the chief of detectives’ office, waiting for Harry at about ten o’clock in the morning, a few hours after I’d compared notes with Rayesh.
When he came through the double glass doors that led from the conference room and other administrative offices, Harry shook his head at the sight of me. “I thought you understood it would be better if you were nowhere near here this morning.”
“I came to support you.”
Harry said, “Mr. Macy will be visiting our office this afternoon.”
“What for?”
“To see how Task Force Halo is operating.”
