First to Die

Chapter 35

THE NEXT MORNING, I arrived at the office straight from an eight o'clock transfusion, feeling lightheaded, slightly woozy. First thing I did was scan the morning Chronicle. To my relief, there was nothing on the front page about anything relating to the disappearance in Napa. Cindy had kept her word. I noticed Raleigh coming out of Roth's office. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing his thick forearms. He gave me a guarded smile- one that told me of his discomfort at my cutting a deal yesterday with Cindy. With a flick of his blue eyes, he motioned me outside to the corridor. "We have to talk," he said, as we huddled near the staircase. "Listen, Raleigh," I said. "I'm really sorry about yesterday. I thought it would buy us some time." His dark eyes smoldered. "Maybe you should tell me why she was worth compromising control of this case." 1st to Die I shrugged. "You see anything about Napa in the papers this morning?" "You contramanded a direct order from the chief of police. If that doesn't leave you in a hole, it sure digs one for me." "So you'd rather be digging out of a story in the Chronicle about a serial killer?" He backed against the wall. "That's Mercer's call." A policeman I knew skipped up the stairs past us, grunting hello. I barely nodded back. "Okay," I said, "so how do you want to play it? You want me to go in and spill my guts to Sam Roth? I will." He hesitated. I could see he was torn, clicking through the consequences. After what seemed like a minute, he shook his head. "What's the point? Now." I felt a wave of relief. I touched his arm and smiled at him for a couple of long beats. "Thanks." "Lindsay" he added, "I checked with the state highway patrol. No record of any limos reported stolen in the past week." That news, the dead end that it represented, discouraged me. A voice shouted out from the squad room. "Boxer out there?" "I'm here," I hollered back. It was Paul Chin, one of the bright, efficient junior grades assigned to our team. "There's a Lieutenant Frank Hartwig on the line. Says you know him." I ran back in, grabbed the phone on our civilian clerk's desk. "This is Lindsay Boxer." "We found them, Inspector," Hartwig said.