Time of Death

35

Ren called Dr Barry Tolman from the Jeep on the drive to work.

‘Hey, Barry,’ she said. ‘It’s Ren Bryce from Safe Streets.’

‘Hi, Ren,’ said Tolman. ‘How are you doing?’

‘I’m good, thank you. I’m just calling to see if I could talk to you about a case you worked on.’

Tolman paused. ‘Sure…what case?’

‘It was a homicide. Trudie Hammond, 1983,’ said Ren.

Tolman was slow to answer. ‘I’m sorry, Ren,’ he said, ‘I can talk to you about any other case — just not that one.’

What? ‘Oh,’ said Ren. ‘OK…can I ask why?’

‘You can, but I’m under strict orders not to say a word.’

‘By whom?’

Tolman sighed. ‘Janine Hooks.’

‘What?’ said Ren.

‘Yes,’ said Tolman. ‘I’d love to help. But for some reason, known only to Janine, I can’t. If it’s any consolation, I was an assistant on that case, so who knows how helpful I could be to you.’

‘Oh, I’m sure you’d be helpful if your hands hadn’t been tied,’ said Ren.

‘You know I’d always be happy to help you,’ said Tolman. ‘I have no idea what’s going on with Janine.’

Ren paused. ‘Are you guys friends?’

‘Janine’s a nice person,’ said Tolman. ‘But we’re not friends. She’s a little intense. Like, goes around with this permanent look of concentration on her face. We pass each other in the hallway every now and then, but that’s it.’

‘How is she work-wise?’

‘Does not miss a trick,’ said Tolman. ‘On a mission. I wouldn’t want to mess with Janine Hooks.’

It may be a little late for that.

The only sounds in the Safe Streets office when Ren arrived were tapping keyboards and papers being shuffled. Ren sat quietly at her desk, wondering what to do about Janine Hooks. What did she know? Was this all a huge coincidence? Should I call her?

Whatever had happened, Janine Hooks was calling the shots and Ren wasn’t about to do anything else until she had more information.

Ren stared at the Fifty Most Wanted list, the place where her attention should have been, instead of on the strange tangle — if there was one — of Helen Wheeler and Douglas and Trudie Hammond. Domenica Val Pando’s face stared back at her from the noticeboard.

What are you to me? Ren felt a strange stabbing in her chest as the answer hit her. The most screwed-up relationship I’ve ever had. Domenica is like the boyfriend I was cheating on who was cheating on me at the same time and we both found out about it. No man had ever gotten under her skin the way Domenica Val Pando had. The thought turned her stomach.

‘Holy shit,’ said Ren, jumping up. ‘Domenica is not the crocodile. She’s the plover bird.’

The tapping of keyboards stopped. The guys all looked at her.

‘There is someone bigger than Domenica out there,’ said Ren. ‘She’s not the big boss any more. She can’t be. Think about it. She lost power — and face — when the FBI got right inside her world. She screwed up big time, people who worked for her were killed. Back then, she had no idea how the FBI ended up storming her compound. She was raped by two men in front of her child, she was beaten down emotionally, physically and where it hurt her the most — financially.

‘After that, there was no way Domenica could pass herself off as this shrewd “business” woman. She wouldn’t be as respected or trusted as much. There’s been a massive power shift. And like any relationship with a power shift, it either falls apart or it takes time to get back on track. Domenica realized she could never be the big boss again after that whole mess, but she could still be very useful to the right kind of people, providing many different kinds of services. But…only if she could put her trust in something and someone more powerful, which, let’s face it, along the border, means something or someone that could be potentially lethal to her — those jaws could snap down on her any time. But what can Domenica do right now, except take the risk?’

The guys nodded.

‘All we need to find out now,’ said Ren, ‘is who is the crocodile?’

‘I guess we have two choices with Domenica,’ said Colin. ‘We find Gavino and work our way up to Domenica, or we find this possible new boss of hers and work our way down.’

‘The boss could be the better route,’ said Ren. ‘I would say he is an angry man now that she’s turned high profile again with our list.’

‘Well,’ said Cliff. ‘Her next high-profile moment will be her arrest.’

‘You bet,’ said Robbie.

‘I’m going to get on to Nogales and see what I can find out about some of the big players,’ said Ren. ‘And while I’m at it, I’ll find out the latest on Erubiel Diaz.’

An hour later, Ren got off the phone and called everyone in for a briefing.

‘OK,’ she said, ‘the authorities in Nogales still have Erubiel Diaz down as collateral damage in the Puente cartel’s bloodbath. The interesting part is that the original arrest of the Puente second-in-command that set the whole thing off happened because of a tip-off, believed to have come from a man known as “El Coyote Panzón”.’

‘El Coyote Panzón,’ said Colin. ‘The fat coyote?’

Ren nodded. ‘I’m presuming the coyote in question is one of the guys who helps people cross the border.’

‘That’s what they’re called — coyotes?’ said Robbie.

‘Yup,’ said Ren. ‘But…it’s a little weird. If I were trying to get across the border as fast as my illegal legs could carry me, I wouldn’t be putting my hand up for the fat coyote’s team.’

‘Is El Coyote Panzón with one of the cartels? Is he a boss?’ said Cliff.

‘No one knows,’ said Ren. ‘All we know is that he has seriously pissed the Puente cartel off. And somehow Erubiel Diaz was part of the mix.’

‘Could Domenica Val Pando be the coyote?’ said Robbie.

Ren laughed. ‘Domenica would be far too vain to allow herself to be called fat anything.’

‘Is there anything more on this coyote?’ said Colin.

‘I’ve put the word out with Border Control,’ said Ren. ‘If there is any more information, they’ll be the ones to find it.’

Everyone went back to their desks and continued to work in silence. It was as if they were all suffering the after-effects of a bad night. There was no small talk, no group lunch. When Ren came back into the office at two, Colin looked up from his computer.

‘Did you hear about this?’ he said. He quoted the headline. ‘Trudie Hammond Murder Inquiry Re-opened’.’

What? ‘Where did you hear that?’

‘The Post.’ Colin scanned down the screen.

‘What are they saying?’

‘A lot of nothing.’

‘But there’s no mention that Hammond’s death was homicide,’ said Ren.

‘No.’

‘It won’t take a genius to work out that someone is suspicious. After all these years, around the same time as the husband dies in an “accident”, his wife’s murder inquiry is being looked at again?’ Shit. Shit. Shit. ‘But, why now?’ Ren’s heart was pounding. ‘And who’s quoted? Where did this come from?’

She got her answer about who the suspicious party was with the ping of her Inbox. As if by magic. It was an email from Janine Hooks: Subject: Ha/Ho.

This is not good.

Ren opened the email:‘H-A…goes before H-O…’Regards,Janine Hooks

Oh, Billy, you didn’t.