Show of Evil

'It's time to bury the goddamn hatchet,' Firestone interjected.

'Oh? In whose back?' Vail asked quietly, breaking his silence.

Firestone glared at Yancey, who sighed and smiled and leaned back in his chair, making a little steeple of his fingertips and staring at the ceiling.

'That's what we want to avoid, Martin,' he said.

'Uh-huh.'

'What we're suggesting is that you back off a little bit,' Firestone said.

'That's a compromise?'

'I thought it had been agreed that the DA's office would keep out of the chief's hair for seven days after a crime. That's the deal, he gets the week. Am I right? Did we agree to that?' Firestone looked at Yancey when he said it.

'Uh-huh,' Vail answered.

Firestone turned on him and snapped, 'Then why don't you do it?'

'We do,' Vail said flatly.

'Bullshit! You and your people show up every time a felon farts in this town,' Firestone growled.

'Now, now, Raymond,' Yancey said, 'it's not uncommon for the DA to go to the scene of a crime. Usually the police appreciate the help.'

'He ain't the goddamn DA.'

'No, but he is my chief prosecutor. It's well within his jurisdiction.'

'We're talking about cooperation here,' snapped Firestone, his face turning crimson.

'Why don't I go back to my office?' Vail suggested with a smile. 'You guys are talking like I'm not even in the room. I feel like I'm eavesdropping.'

Firestone whirled on him. 'You go out of your way to make Eckling look bad,' he said, his voice beginning to rise.

'I don't have to,' Vail said. 'He does that all by himself.'

'See what I mean!' Firestone said to Yancey. 'How can Eric do his job with this smartass needling him all the time?'

'You'll excuse me,' Vail said calmly, and stood up.

'Take it easy, Marty, take it easy,' Yancey said, waving him back to his seat.

'You got a beef with me, tell me, not him,' Vail said to Firestone, his voice still calm and controlled.

'He's your boss, that's why.'

'Not in this area,' Vail said. He knew the best way to get to Firestone was to stay calm. The hint of a smile toyed with his lips. 'You know, frankly, I don't give a damn whether it pleases you or not, Raymond. You're a city boy. The county runs this office. You don't have any more clout over here than the janitor, so why don't you mind your own business and stay out of ours?'

'Jesus, Marty…' Yancey stammered.

'C'mon, Jack, I'm not going to listen to this windbag yell insults at me.'

'Goddamn it, I told you this was a waste of time, Jack,' Firestone said angrily. 'Vail isn't capable of cooperating with anybody.'

'Did you say that, Jack? Did you say I'd cooperate with them?'

'What I said was, maybe everybody could kind of stand back and cool off. What I mean is, try a little cooperation between your two departments.'

'I'm quite cool,' Vail said. 'And as far as cooperating goes, I wouldn't share my dirty socks with Eckling. He's incompetent, he's on the take, and he wouldn't know a clue if it was sitting on the end of his nose.'

'Listen here - '

'No, you listen, Councilman. I'm an officer of the court. I'm charged with the responsibility of prosecuting the cases that come before me to the best of my ability. I can't do that if I rely on Eric Eckling. Two years ago he was ready to drop the case against your two buddies on the council. We took it away from him and they're both doing hard time in Rock Island for malfeasance.' Vail stopped for a moment,