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She’s going off on how the MPD was sitting on info that could’ve solved her sister’s case years ago, that the murderer was among their ranks while her family lived with unbearable heartbreak.
That text was quickly followed by one from Helen, the chief’s admin.All-hands commander meeting at fifteen hundred. All commanders are urged to attend.
She glanced at the clock on the mantel. The meeting was in fifteen minutes. “Commander meeting at three,” she told Nick. “I know we’re supposed to be on vacation, but I need to attend that meeting.”
“I understand. I just spent half the day dealing with my job.”
“We suck at vacation.”
Turn on the news, Freddie texted.
Sam reluctantly reached for the remote and turned on the TV to find the woman she’d met the other day standing in front of a podium.
“For all this time,” Cristen said, “the person who took my sister from us might’ve been working as a police officer in Washington, DC. He once headed the division that investigates murders. How ironic. I want to know what the MPD knew and when they knew it. This man has been convicted of twice trying to kill the woman who’s now our first lady. She came to my house the other day in her capacity as the lieutenant in charge of the Homicide division to inform me that new information has come to light that could tie Leonard Stahl to my sister’s disappearance and presumed murder. Has she known all along that she isn’t the only one he targeted? I know I speak for all the other families who had loved ones go missing in the District around the same time as my sister did. We want answers, and we want themnow.”
“Holy shit,” Sam whispered.
Reporters shouted questions at her, many of them involving Sam, her visit to the woman and what she’d said about Stahl.
“I don’t blame her, per se,” Cristen said. “She was doing her job by coming to inform me of the development, and I appreciate the update. But since she was there, I have nothing but questions, and I know I’m not alone in that. Like other families, we’ve waited years for news of our missing loved one. Parents and grandparents have died without ever knowing what became of their daughters and granddaughters. If the MPD has suspected Stahl of these murders and is only now telling us, it’s a travesty.”
“Whoa,” Sam said. “We just found this out, and I told her that. Son of a bitch.”
Nick’s hand covered hers. “I’m sure the department will come out with a statement in response to her allegations.”
“We should’ve said something before now,” she said. “But they were waiting until they knew more about what was at the house. Now we’ve lost control of the story.”
Her phone rang with a call from Malone.
“Hey.”
“Have you heard?”
“I’m watching it now.”
“Can you do the three o’clock meeting?”
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Thanks.”
He was gone before she could say anything else.
Sam usedher laptop to log on to the meeting with a link that Malone emailed to her.
“Thanks for joining us, Lieutenant,” Chief Farnsworth said.
“No problem.”
“We’ve got everyone here except Lieutenant Haggerty, who’s been excused. Thank you all for joining us for an update on where we stand with the Stahl investigation. As you know, forensic teams are on-site at his home and have uncovered human remains. After taking down a wall that appeared new, Haggerty and his detectives have found two rooms that appeared to be holding cells. Today, the sister of one of the missing women went public with our suspicions that Stahl is responsible for the deaths of numerous women.
“We’ve put together a statement that describes what we’ve found thus far and what we’re doing to expedite the investigation. There’s a quote from me included in the statement that says we understand and acknowledge that the families involved have already waited too long for justice for their missing and presumed murdered loved ones, but that this is painstaking work that’ll take time to complete. I said we’ve only recently learned of Stahl’s potential involvement in these cold cases, that we’re sickened by these crimes and committed to a full accounting of every violation committed by Leonard Stahl while he was pretending to be an upstanding police officer.
“I expect pressure from city hall to resign. I won’t do that. I intend to clean up every aspect of Stahl’s mess before I even consider leaving. If they want me out, they’ll have to fire me. His crimes occurred partially on my watch, and I’ll see it through to the bitter end. I’ve been in consultation with former Chief Williams, who’s as shocked and outraged as the rest of us.”
Sam was relieved to hear the chief say he intended to stay in the fight. The mention of Don Williams brought back many childhood memories tied to her father, who’d been close friends with the former chief. As far as she knew, Williams was living in Phoenix, where he’d moved after retirement to be closer to his children and grandchildren.
Williams hadn’t attended her dad’s funeral because he’d been ill at the time. He’d sent a card expressing his profound sorrow over the loss of his close friend and colleague.
