'Yes. Lily Rothenburg. Lieutenant.'
'Gary Kieffer.' They shook hands, he with an exaggerated gentleness. Kieffer wore thick glasses and his large red nose was pitted with old acne scars. He crossed his hands over his stomach.
'What's the problem with you and Davenport?' Lily asked. 'There's a certain chill…'
Kieffer's blue eyes were distorted by the heavy glasses and looked almost liquid, like ice cubes in a glass of gin and tonic. He was in his early fifties, his face lined by weather and stress. He was silent for a moment, then asked, 'Are you friends?'
'No. We're not friends. I just met him a couple of days ago,' she said.
'I don't like to talk out of turn,' Kieffer said.
'Look, I've got to work with him,' Lily prompted.
'He's a cowboy,' Kieffer continued. His voice dropped a notch and he looked around the office, as though checking for recording devices. 'That's my estimation. He's gunned down six people. Killed them. I don't believe there's another officer in Minnesota, including SWAT guys, who has killed more than two. No FBI man has. Maybe nobody in the country has. And you know why? Because in most places, if a guy kills two people, he goes on a desk. They won't let him out anymore. They worry about what they've got on their hands. But not with Davenport. He does what he pleases. Sometimes that's killing people.'
'Well, I understand that in his area…'
'Yeah, yeah, that's what everybody says. That's what the news people say. He's got the media people in his pocket, the reporters. They say he does dope, he does vice, he does intelligence work on violent criminals. I say he's a gunman, and I don't hold with that. Except for Davenport, we don't have the death penalty in Minnesota. He's a gunman, plain and simple.'
Lily thought it over. A gunman. She could see it in him. She'd have to be careful. But gunmen had their uses… Kieffer was staring straight ahead, at the photos on Daniel's wall, caught in his own thoughts of Davenport.
Lucas came back a moment later, Daniel trailing behind him with a cup of coffee. Sloan and another cop, the second one unshaven and dressed like a parking-lot attendant, were a step behind Daniel. Everybody called the second cop Del, but nobody introduced him to Lily. She assumed he was undercover Narcotics or Intelligence.
'So what do we got?' Daniel asked as he settled behind his desk. He looked into his humidor, then snapped it shut.
'We've got a map. Let me explain the situation,' Sloan said. He moved up to Daniel's desk and unrolled a copy of a plat map from the City Planner's Office.
Billy Hood had apparently left Bemidji a year before, drifted down to the Twin Cities and moved into an apartment with two friends. The apartment was on the first-floor corner of the building, just to the right of the entrance. A careful, secretive questioning of the elderly couple who worked as building superintendents suggested that Hood's roommates were in residence. Hood had been gone for more than a week, perhaps ten days, but his clothes were still in the apartment.
'What are the chances of getting a search warrant?' Lucas asked.
'If Lily will swear that she has probable cause to think Hood's the man who killed Andretti, there'd be no problem,' Daniel said.
'The problem is, we've got those two guys who live with him,' said Sloan. 'We've got nothing against them, so we can't kick the door and bust them. But if we go talk nice to them, what happens if they're part of the whole deal? Maybe Hood's calling them every night to find out what's happening. They could have a voice code to warn him off…'
'So what are you suggesting?' Daniel asked.
The cop named Del pointed at the map. 'See this building across the street? We can get a ground-floor apartment and set up there. There's only two ways out of Hood's building-the other way's on the side-and we can see both of them from the apartment across the street. We think the ideal thing would be to set up a surveillance. Then, depending on how he arrives, grab him just before he goes in, or when he comes back out.'
'What do you mean, 'how he arrives'?' Daniel asked, looking up from the map.
'There're not many cars on the street. He could pull up right to the front door, hop out and go inside. If he's nuts, we want to be in a position where we can tackle him. You know, a couple guys walk down the street, talking, and when they get to him, wham! Take him down, put on the cuffs.'
'We could put somebody inside…' Daniel suggested, but Del was already shaking his head.
'We've got those goddamned roommates to worry about. Or, as far as we know, somebody else in the building. If he's warned off somehow, we'd never know it. We could be there watching the building and he's laying on a beach in San Juan.'
They talked for another five minutes before Daniel nodded.
'All right,' he conceded, standing up. 'It looks like you've got it figured. When do you think he'll get back?'
'No sooner than tonight, even if he drove like crazy,' Sloan said. 'He'd have to do six, seven hundred miles a day to get here tonight. New York says he's driving an old car.'
'That's what we got from his motel,' Lily said.
Lucas looked at Daniel. 'If there was some way to make sure the other two guys were out of there, it might not be a bad idea to go in and take a look,' he said. 'We could check for weapons and anything that might tell us where he is right now.'
'Are we talking about an illegal entry?' Kieffer blurted suddenly. They were the first words he had spoken since the meeting began, and everybody turned to look at him.
'No. We're not, Gary,' Daniel said promptly. 'Everything will be on the up-and-up. But instead of kicking in the door, Lieutenant Davenport, I take it, is proposing to go in without disturbing the place.'
'That is very close, very close to an illegal search. You know that searches are supposed to be announced…'
'Hey, take it easy, everything will be okayed by a judge, all right?' Daniel said, staring Kieffer down. 'And if it wasn't, it's still better'n getting one of my people shot.'
Kieffer grunted in disgust. 'I've got nothing to do with this. In my judgment, it's a bad move. And I think we ought to grab him the minute we see him. Put some guys in cars, take him. Or if he gets in that apartment, kick the door. We could put an entry team in there, take the door off, and we're inside before they can move…'
'But what if he's willing to die? Like Bluebird?' Lucas asked. 'You can get the drop on somebody, but if he's willing to die, and if he goes for a gun, what're you gonna do?
You're gonna shoot him. I don't give a shit if you kill him, but I'd like to talk to him first.'
Kieffer shook his head. 'It's a bad plan,' he said. 'He'll slip away. I'm telling you that on the record.'
'Lemme know when the record's released,' Lucas said.
Lily grinned without thinking, but killed the smile when Lucas looked at her. She was still mad.
Daniel turned to Del. 'These two guys, the roommates. What do we know about them?'
'One of them works at a bakery. One of them's unemployed. He spends most of his time at a health club, lifting. He supposedly does some modeling for art classes, big scandal in the building. You know, nude stuif. Anyway, that's what we get from the super.'
'Can you locate them, put a guy on each one of them?'
'I think so.'
'Do it. Lily, we're going to need you for the warrant.' Daniel looked at Lucas. 'And you better figure out how you'll get in. We'll want you to do the search.'
Kieffer got up and walked to the door. 'I don't know anything about this,' he said, and left.
Lucas stopped Del in the hallway.
'How are we going to do this?' he asked.
'I could get a key…'
'That'd be quicker'n a power pick. The fuckin' pick sounds like you dropped a tray full of silverware.'
'I'll talk to the super…'
'You got a little weight on them?' Lucas asked.
'A little,' Del said. 'They push some toot out the back door, supplement the old man's Social Security.'
'Okay. As long as they're fixed. Are you going down there now?'
