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“The DA will review the case, but I have no idea what Craig had or even who his witnesses were. He didn’t talk much about it, and I don’t see the DA pursuing it. Craig had a lot of leeway because of his seniority and record. The DA has his own pet projects.”
“What was the case specifically about?”
“There was a public complaint about a transitional housing project. Craig thought there might have been fraud or at a minimum gross government negligence, but it was one of his side projects. Honestly, the first I heard of him impaneling a grand jury was late last week.”
He handed McPherson a red file folder. “These are all the threats that Craig has received, most recent on top. They’re copies—your office should have all the originals, but I made some notes that might help.”
McPherson took the file. “Anything in here that we should flag?”
“The only one that sticks with me is Lamar Forsyth. He was very angry when Craig declined to prosecute after he was carjacked. There wasn’t enough evidence and the case is still open, but Craig was blunt—without evidence, there’s no prosecution. Forsyth won’t let it go and blamed Craig.”
“We’ll talk to him,” McPherson said. “If anything else comes to mind, please let me know.”
Peter nodded. “If you need anything, please call. I want to help.”
Matt followed McPherson out.
“I don’t think that Forsyth is our guy, not like this, but I’ll check him out,” McPherson said.
“I’d really like to know more about the grand jury investigation,” Matt said. “I thought Sharp would know more.”
“DDAs all work differently. Some keep things to themselves, some talk to everyone. And a grand jury investigation is a whole other ball game. I’ll ask the DA when I talk to him—I have a meeting this afternoon in his office. You’re welcome to join me, but I don’t think he has any details. Like Sharp said, Dyson was a senior prosecutor and had a lot of leeway. This is the third—maybe fourth—DA who’s had the job while Dyson’s been here.”
“Text me the time and place, and if I can, I’ll join you. Otherwise, if you’d pass on anything you learn?”
“Absolutely. You know, you’re not like some of the dicks from LA FBI. No offense.”
“None taken.”
It wasn’t the first—and Matt didn’t think it would be the last—time he heard that comment.
20
Rebecca Chavez called Sloane into an unscheduled meeting at ten that morning. There were several people already in the room, including Bryce Thornton, Tom Schroder, two other agents and Rebecca’s assistant.
“I’ll make this brief. You’re here because you are all working on cases that aren’t priority, and we need to expedite an investigation,” Rebecca began.
“As you have heard, David Chen, a suspected human trafficker, was shot and killed yesterday outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown LA.” Rebecca handed out a timeline printed on LAPD stationery. “Mr. Chen was on his way to a hearing his attorney requested to have evidence suppressed that may have been wrongfully obtained by the LAPD detective who led the investigation. We have our own investigation into Mr. Chen and his businesses, and the LAPD has been less than forthright in sharing information with us, both during their investigation and the prosecution, and now a murder investigation.
“Under normal circumstances, Bryce would be in charge of coordinating our involvement, but because of interoffice politics—which is, honestly, exhausting and rather ridiculous—Bryce has been removed from any investigations involving LAPD Detective Kara Quinn. He’s here in an advisory capacity because he has historical information that would be beneficial for you to understand. I’ll be coordinating our efforts.”
Agent Schroder asked, “Are we now lead on the homicide?”
“I’m working on that. What I would like is a task force between our office and LAPD, but they rarely agree to coordinating efforts. However, we have an ongoing investigation into Mr. Chen and his business associates, and we need information from the homicide investigation to assist us in bringing all involved to justice.”
Rebecca assigned tasks to everyone—background, media reports, reviewing LAPD documents and more. “I’m contacting the lead investigator and his supervisor and hope to expedite a joint task force, but I want to be able to go into this with information and an action plan. Questions?”
Sloane had many, but she asked only one. “What would you like me to do?”
“Agent Wagner, yes—I’ll be calling on you to join me in any meetings today to take notes and follow up on action items. The next few days may go long, so be prepared.”
Rebecca dismissed everyone but Sloane. “We’re going downtown to talk to the AUSA and, hopefully, interview Detective Quinn. Bryce is certain that she is involved in Chen’s death. She has an alibi, but I don’t know how solid it is—I need to verify that myself. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the day she arrives in Los Angeles a suspect she threatened and nearly killed is murdered. She’s on record as having said she wished he’d broken his neck instead of his leg when he fell—or was pushed—from the roof.”
“I’m confused,” Sloane said. “Was Detective Quinn investigated for any of this?”
“Internal LAPD investigation,” Rebecca said dismissively. She motioned for Sloane to follow her to her office, then closed the door behind them and motioned for her to sit. “You’ve done a competent job since you were assigned to my squad. I like that you had experience in the real world before becoming an agent. You don’t act like a rookie.”
Sloane nodded, not knowing if she should thank her boss or not. She was a bit nervous about being called in—especially in light of her meeting this morning with Costa and Granderson.
