William Bolter chuckled. ‘I told you she can be a right bitch.’
Hunter kept silent. His eyes studied the new captain. She was playing her cards right. Straight away she was making a stand. Showing she wouldn’t take crap from any of her detectives. The right thing to do on her first day in such a powerful and male-dominated job.
‘I’m gonna skip the bullshit speech I gave the other detectives earlier. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before and I’m not here to patronize you,’ she said, taking a seat behind her new desk. ‘Nothing’s gonna change. You’ll carry on doing your job and you’ll report to me as your captain just as you did with William.’ She nodded towards Captain Bolter.
Hunter liked her style. First show you mean business then play your friendly hand. Barbara Blake was no first-timer.
She tossed a neatly folded newspaper towards both detectives. ‘Your new case is already causing a stir.’
Hunter picked it up and checked the headline.
DECAPITATED PRIEST MADE TO LOOK LIKE THE DEVIL. There were no pictures.
Hunter handed the paper to Garcia without reading the rest of the article. ‘That was expected, captain. Reporters were already there by the time we got to the church. We’re just lucky none of them managed to sneak in and snapshot the body.’
Captain Blake leaned back on her chair. ‘I just came off the phone with Mayor Edwards. As you probably know, he’s a Roman Catholic. He’s also very good friends with Bishop Patrick Clark, who’s the Episcopal Vicar of the San Pedro region. The Seven Saints Catholic Church belongs to that region.’ She paused and locked eyes with Hunter. ‘Mayor Edwards called to pressure me. He wants this investigation to be the very definition of swift justice. I reassured him that, as always, we’d be doing our best. He asked who I had on the case, and when I gave him your name he freaked out.’
Carlos frowned.
‘He demanded I handed the investigation to someone else.’
‘What?’ Garcia looked at Hunter.
‘He’s got some issues with you.’ She continued staring. ‘I’d say he hates your guts. What did you do, bed his wife?’
A slight head tilt from Hunter. William Bolter kept his eyes on his coffee cup.
‘Oh hell no,’ she said as her eyes widened. ‘Please tell me you didn’t bed the mayor’s wife.’
Garcia cocked both eyebrows.
‘With all due respect, captain, I don’t see what my personal life has to do with the case.’
The captain’s lips twitched. She stood up and walked around to the front of her desk. ‘I’d have to agree with that statement. William tells me you’re the best he’s ever commanded. I trust his judgment. And I’ll be damned if on my first day as the RHD captain I’ll allow some snob-ass politician to try and intimidate me, much less tell me which of my detectives I should or shouldn’t assign to an investigation.’
William Bolter smiled.
‘I told the mayor the case was being handled by extremely competent and experienced detectives. And never to try and tell me how to run my division again.’
‘You defied the mayor of Los Angeles on your first day?’ Hunter asked calmly. ‘Most people would prefer to have him on their side.’
Captain Blake leaned against her desk directly in front of Hunter. ‘Do you think I made a mistake, Detective Hunter?’
Hunter held her gaze. ‘Do
Captain Blake’s smile was full of confidence. ‘Let’s get one thing straight from the word go, shall we? I’ll always stand by my detectives. So don’t even think about starting with that
Hunter couldn’t fault her. She really knew how to play her cards right.
Nineteen
Barbara Blake didn’t allow the silence to settle.
‘So what have we got on this new case?’
Hunter proceeded to tell her the little they had so far on Father Fabian’s murder.
‘Goddamnit,’ she spat the word. ‘So this killer’s probably killed twice before?’
‘It’s possible, but it isn’t a certainty,’ Hunter replied, pinching his chin.
Captain Blake lifted her eyebrows, inviting him to carry on.
‘The number three could mean Father Fabian’s the third victim or it could mean something else.’
‘Like what?’
‘I’m not sure. Something important to the killer, or Father Fabian, or both. The truth is that we don’t know yet and it’s irresponsible to make assumptions this early.’
‘OK, I can go with that,’ Captain Blake agreed. ‘Do you think the altar boy could be involved? It’s not unheard of.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Hunter replied.
‘Why not?’
‘It takes a certain kind of person to be able to kill someone the way Father Fabian was killed. Hermano isn’t physically or mentally strong enough. He’s only fourteen.’
‘We’d also be missing motive,’ Garcia cut in. ‘And we already deducted the killer is about six-two. Hermano is five-six, five-seven tops.’
‘How did you figure out the killer’s height?’
Garcia started explaining, but after thirty seconds the captain raised her right hand, stopping him. ‘Forget I asked.’ She returned to her seat and faced Hunter. ‘What’re your initial feelings on this?’
‘We have only one victim so far, and that gives us nothing to establish a consistent pattern. Initial analysis of the crime scene indicates the UNSUB is very strong, skilled, intelligent, methodical and brutal. Despite the savagery of what we found in the church, Father Fabian’s murder was well planned.’
‘Methodical and planned?’ She frowned. ‘From what I’ve heard, there was blood everywhere. An extremely messy crime scene. Doesn’t that indicate rage and loss of control?’
‘In most cases, yes.’
She waited for Hunter to go on. He didn’t. ‘Care to develop, detective?’ she pushed.
‘The Seven Saints crime scene might appear messy to an outsider, but not to the killer. The bloodstains and splatters were exactly where he wanted them to be. It was a controlled and planned mess.’
‘Ritual?’
Hunter leaned forward on his seat and ran his hand over his nose and mouth. ‘What we have so far indicates so.’
‘Baptism of fire for you, Barbara,’ William Bolter said, approaching the window behind her desk.
‘I’ll assign an extra officer to you,’ she announced, looking at Hunter. ‘It should help with the legwork. If you need any more, let me know. I’ve also already moved you two to the special operations room upstairs. You’ll need the extra space. I’ve set up an anonymous tip line. I know they usually cause more headaches than anything else, but who knows? We might get lucky.’ Captain Blake paused and flipped through a few pieces of paper on her desk. ‘With the press already all over this case and a pissed-off mayor, there’ll be a lot of pressure on us to come up with answers . . . and fast.’
