It was noted that the dog had ripped up the carpet in front of the door trying to get out of the back room. The report didn’t include anything else about Coco or what had happened to him, but I knew it had been traumatic. No wonder Coco had been so despondent at the shelter.
I read through the remaining information and discovered that Detective Williams, along with Clue Ventanilla, a new detective I didn’t know, had been assigned to the case. That it wasn’t Detective Bates was a small miracle, since he didn’t like me much.
So far, they’d interviewed the neighbors and most of the search-and-rescue people Mack worked with, along with his son and a few friends. But they didn’t have a suspect. They’d also checked the neighborhood for security cameras that might have picked up something, but found nothing from them either.
I shook my head. It didn’t look like the investigation was going well. But maybe I’d know more after I spoke to Detective Williams. I jotted down the names of the neighbors, and a few from the search-and-rescue team, so I could talk to them myself, hoping I could pick up something that Williams had missed.
“What are you doing?”
I jerked in surprise, quickly glancing over my shoulder to find Bates looking down at my computer. He was thinking that I’d been gone for days, and he wondered why I was looking at Williams’s case.
“Did he ask you for help with that?” Moving to perch on the side of my desk, he continued, “I didn’t think you were cleared to come back to work.”
He knew all about my visit to the Big Apple, and the help I’d given the NYPD, mostly because the chief wouldn’t stop talking about it. Now here I was… back to work already and sticking my nose into a case. What was up with that?
Willow’s wildly gesturing arms caught his attention, and we both watched as she nearly hit Dimples in the head. Bates narrowed his eyes, thinking that maybe having me around wasn’t so bad if that meant the new psychic would leave.
There was something about her that he didn’t like, and it bothered him that the chief had called her in while I’d been gone. Between her and me, he’d go with me any day. Hell, I had more mojo than ten of the other gal, and I was a lot nicer to look at.
Wow. Would wonders never cease? Bates… on my side? “Hey Bates. To answer your question, yes… I’m cleared to work, but the chief said to take it easy, so I’m just looking through a few cases to see if anything pops out at me.”
“Oh… so… Harris didn’t want you to help him?” He glanced at Dimples, feeling a little sorry for the guy, but grateful it was Dimples and not him.
“Well… he did ask me, but I guess the chief can only have one psychic on a case at a time.” A chuckle bubbled out of me. “Who would have thought that would ever happen… right?”
“Hell yeah. One psychic is bad enough.”
“Damn straight,” I agreed. It caught him off-guard, and we both laughed.
“Well, if you’re looking for a case to help with, I caught one this morning that might be right up your alley. It looks like a drug deal gone wrong, so it’s probably gang related.”
Since that was the last thing I wanted to do, I did my best to appear indifferent. “Maybe, but I like this case better.” I pointed to my computer screen. “I mean… I’m sure both cases are important but… finding a gang member’s killer wouldn’t be as rewarding as helping out on this case. Just look at this guy. He was a good person who didn’t deserve to die. There’s a real mystery here.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Bates was wishing he’d gotten the call for that case, but he’d already had a full load when that one happened. “So that’s a no?”
Not wanting him on my bad side, I shrugged. “I can take a look at it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll pick up something.”
His brows rose in surprise. “That’s real nice of you. Come on over to my desk and I’ll show you what I’ve got so far.”
I followed him to his desk, a little dazed that we were working together for a change. He sat down at his computer and explained that the victim had been shot several times, but there wasn’t a weapon at the scene.
“Like I said, it looks like a gang shooting in an old building on the south side. We didn’t find any money or drugs, but it’s practically a given that it was a drug deal gone wrong. So far, no one’s talking, but you might be able to help us out with that.”
He pulled up a crime scene photo, along with an arrest photo of the same person. “We just identified the victim. His name is Tommy Demarco, and he has a rap sheet a mile long. He’s been in and out of the system since he was a teen, mostly dealing drugs. None of the recent arrests have stuck though. He always seemed to get off on a technicality.” Bates thought it pointed to organized crime, and he’d give his right arm to tie it to the Manettos. Maybe, with my help, he could.
Yikes! I didn’t want Uncle Joey tied to this, so maybe it was a good thing Bates had asked for my help. “Oh… yeah… I bet that’s frustrating. Maybe when you’re interviewing some of the gang members, I could listen in and pick something up? I mean… I can’t guarantee anything, but I’d be happy to try.”
“Yeah? That
