Supreme Justice

Chapter Forty

Jack Stamm stood up as soon as Monte Pike, the heads of units in the DA’s office, Arnie Lasswell, and the three in-house investigators were seated around the conference table.

“We have a problem,” he said. “Max Dietz has disappeared.”

Everyone looked surprised. Then they looked at each other and began to ask questions. Stamm held up his hand and the room quieted.

“Max has been depressed ever since I took him out of the Homicide Unit after the Woodruff case fell apart. Another problem arose recently, and don’t ask me what happened. I’m not going to discuss it. But it made Max’s situation worse.

“The last time anyone in this office saw Max was Thursday afternoon. His secretary says that he seemed excited. He asked her for some subpoenas, and then he shut himself in his office. Around three, Max left the office, and no one has seen him since. No alarms went off on Friday. Then there was the weekend. He missed two court appearances Monday and another one Tuesday. His secretary called his house, but she got the answering machine both days. After the Tuesday call, she came to see me.”

Stamm nodded toward one of the investigators. “Bob went to Max’s house Tuesday afternoon. There was no car in the driveway, and he didn’t answer the door. I authorized him to go inside in case there was a medical emergency. The house was neat, and there were no signs of a struggle, and no signs of Max. So, my first question is, does anyone know where he is?”

Dead silence.

“OK, I want each unit head to ask your people if they have any information that can help us find Max. Most of you know Arnie Lasswell.” The detective held up his hand. “He’s heading up the investigation. Contact him if you get anything. Any questions?”

A few people raised their hands. When Stamm finished answering them, he ended the meeting. Monte Pike held back until everyone else had filed out of the room.

“You don’t think Max…?”

The word suicide hung in the air between them.

“Monte, I have no clue about why Max disappeared or where he is.”

“He was really upset when you wouldn’t let him try the case, and this Brady thing only made it worse.”

“I know. I’ve been worried about Max, but I never thought he’d do anything stupid.”

“I sort of feel responsible. I’m the one who told you about my meeting with Garrett.”

“You had to tell me,” Stamm said. “Max sat on Oswald’s information because he wanted to win. That was wrong. It was his choice to break the rules, and you had nothing to do with it. Don’t beat yourself up because you did the right thing in coming to see me.”

“Intellectually I get what you just said, but I’ll still feel like shit if something bad has happened to Max because of something I did.”