“Eddie?” I showed my badge.
“Yes, sir. You Ethan?” He, too, was clearly shaken.
“I am.” We shook hands. “Eddie, did you touch anything in the house?”
“Only a few doors,” he said.
“Okay, do you remember which ones?” I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, good.” I let my hand fall of his shoulder trying to be comforting. Kay had told me how much Eddie cared for her as if she were one of his own children. “Are the local police inside?”
“Yes.” He nodded towards the street as a marked police car pulled up. The officer took note of the Malibu and walked up on the porch.
“Is the detective here?”
I looked to Eddie.
“Yes.”
“Did you call it in?” The officer asked Eddie while taking out a small notebook and pen.
“No, Ms. Dandridge’s secretary called the police after she had me come over to check on Ms. Dandridge and I found she wasn’t here.”
“And what about you?” The officer directed his attention to me.
I pulled out my badge. “Agent Craddock.”
“What’s your interest in this?” he inquired.
I thought about my response. I had no jurisdiction here and I didn’t want to ruin the chance of being involved if there was something to investigate.
“Ms. Dandridge has information she shares with the FBI.”
“So, she’s a witness for you?”
“No, not exactly.” I hedged.
“And informant, then?” he pursued.
“Something like that.” I didn’t want to outright lie, and I wanted my options open.
The officer looked frustrated. “So how did you find out about Ms. Dandridge this morning?”
“I got a phone call from her secretary as well,” I told him.
The officer nodded and made notes. Before he could ask any more questions and I dug myself into a hole that I couldn’t get out of, the detective stepped out onto the porch.
“Well, it seems like Ms. Dandridge was popular.”
I didn’t like his attitude.
“Ms. Dandridge is important to a lot of people, Detective.”
“Oh, I see. Does that mean the FBI is taking over this investigation? If you are, good luck. I have other things to do today.” He started for the steps.
“Where are you going? Aren’t you going to do something to find Kay?” Eddie demanded.
“You’ve got a hot shot FBI agent here, what do you need me for?” The detective asked.
I pulled my cell phone from my pocket. I didn’t want to make this call, but I was angry. While I punched the speed dial number for Chief Corey, Eddie followed the detective down the steps.
The officer who had been all business before now looked apologetic. I walked down the steps and held out the phone. It was on speaker.
“This is Chief Corey, which of my detectives am I talking to?”
“This is Detective O’Reilly, Chief.” The detective looked decidedly pale.
“I understand you just handed a case over to the FBI because you are too busy?” Chief Corey was fuming. “Did you just tell Agent Craddock if he wanted the case he could have it and good luck.”
“Well, I…” he stammered.
“Be in my office in half an hour and bring Agent Craddock with you,” the Chief ordered.
“Yes, sir. Agent Craddock is in charge of the investigation until further notice.”
“Yes, sir.” O’Reilly gave me a contemptuous look.
“I’ll see you soon Chief.” I said taking the phone off speaker. I clicked off the call and put the phone back in my pocket.
“Officer…?” I searched for his name tag on this uniform.
“Officer Spivey, sir.”
“Office Spivey, can you please secure the scene until I return. No one goes in or out. Got it?” I demanded.
“Yes, sir.” He acknowledged.
I turned back to Eddie. “Go back to the office and stay with Sherry.”
“Okay.” Eddie was reluctant but he walked to his car and left.
I turned back to the Detective, “Shall we?” I glared.
He mumbled something and headed for his car.
I climbed into the SUV and drove to police headquarters.
The chief called us in one at a time. I went first.
“Ethan, you want to explain to me what is going on?” He asked trying to get a handle on the situation.
“I got a call from Ms. Dandridge’s secretary telling me she was missing and that she hadn’t shown up for work and couldn’t be reached by text or phone call.”
“And why would she call you?” This was going to be a problem.
“Maybe she thought the FBI investigated kidnappings?” I hedged.
“It’s possible but that isn’t the reason is it?” He saw right through it.
“Probably not.” I admitted.
“You going to tell me the reason?” he pressed.
I thought about that answer carefully before answering. “Jim, we’ve been friends a long time and that has earned you the right to hear the truth.”
“I would hope so,” he agreed.
“Kay and I are friends,” I began.
“Close friends?”
“Not as close as I’d like to be, but yeah, I guess you could say close friends.” I was honest.
“You know the FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction on this case, at least not yet,” he clarified.
“I know that.”
“Still Detective O’Reilly was out of line and our friendship affords you some latitude.”
“Thank you.” I was feeling a little better, I had hoped Jim wouldn’t toss me off the case outright, which he had every right to do.
“I’ll assign another detective and tell him this is a joint investigation. Please understand that I will recommend that you back off if there is no FBI jurisdiction and you cross the lines of our friendship. Understood?”
“Thank you.” I said and shook his hand.
“Send that idiot O’Reilly in here, would you?”
I nodded on my way out.
I could hear Jim’s voice on my way out into the hallway.
I drove back to Kay’s house. Some of the neighbors were starting to gather on the sidewalk. The garden district was an old historic neighborhood that had once been home to the captains of local industry and companies like the shipyard, Sunray Bank, the Point Herald newspaper. The architecture of the homes reflected the heyday of a bygone era. Some of the homes were still owned by family members like Kay’s. Everyone who lived in the garden district even if they lived in the smaller carriage houses took pride in the
