“Just a little info, if you need to reach that clerk, he’s working the late shift and should still be in the evidence room. The supervisor is having them all rotate shifts for the next week to prepare for their upcoming inspection.” The retired officer made it a point to be as
knowledgeable of each department’s business as he could. Mark was thankful for the man’s
nosiness in this instance.
“Thanks Jack I appreciate the tip, keep up the good work.”
“The counselor and the evidence clerk are one in the same. He’s in the evidence room
working late. Let’s go,” Mark told Jordan without preamble, and the two men leaped from their desks.
Lieutenant Hernandez came out of his office as they were racing out of the squad room.
“What’s going on?” He yelled, temporarily halting them in their tracks.
“We may have a suspect lieutenant. We’re on our way to question him.”
“Him? ”
“Yeah I’ll explain later. Sir, could you have a chaser sent to Imani House. Maya is
working late and I don’t like it.” Mark requested, anxious to get to the clerk.
“Of course, you two go. I’ll take care of it,” he reassured both men.
Turning, with a pensive look on his face, Lieutenant Hernandez closed his office door
and locked it after Mark and Jordan raced from the room.
When he walked past the night dispatcher, the man looked up and asked if the lieutenant
needed him to have a car sent over to Imani House.
“No thanks Lou, I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of everything,” he said with a broad
grin, and left the squad room.
* * * *
As he’d spoken to the lieutenant, Lou noticed a thin gold chain around his neck, with a
small jagged charm attached. He normally wouldn’t have noticed such a small thing, but it
looked out of place on him, because he had never seen him wear jewelry of any kind.
The lieutenant must have loosened his tie and forgotten about it. His collar had been
partially opened, and the small gold chain had been in clear view. Mentally shrugging his
shoulders, Lou went back to the crossword puzzle that had been giving him hell trying to solve for the better part of the last hour.
* * * *
Mark and Jordan burst into the evidence room without knocking, and startled James who
was standing before a tall, gray metal government-issue file cabinet. The look of surprise on his face was soon followed by apprehension. “What can I do for you, Detectives?”
“We have questions that need to be answered now. I suggest you call someone in to take
over for you, or we can close the evidence room down until someone arrives.” Mark barely held himself in check. He didn’t give a damn if the room was left wide open, but he gave the man the chance to come on his own recognizance.
“What … what is this concerning?” James was clearly taken aback by their presence.
“It’s concerning you and some anonymous gifts you’ve been sending Dr. Richardson.
And let’s not forget to add in a whole slew of murders over the last six months.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t sent any gifts and I definitely haven’t
killed anyone,” James said in a rush, with a distinct quiver in his voice.
Both men noted the clerk’s reaction. “Let’s go Smith,” Jordan told him as he reached
around to take the man by the arm, and lead him out from behind his counter. “‘You have the right to remain silent, anything you say, can, and will be held against you in a court of law…’”
Jordan began reciting the man’s Miranda rights to him as they led him out of the office.
* * * *
Humming lightly, Jaime Hernandez calmly put the key into the ignition and started the
vehicle, before he calmly reversed out of his reserved space. As he drove down along the
highway, he remembered that day over twenty years ago, when his schoolmate followed him as
they left detention together with his tongue swirling outside of his mouth, making his nasty comments.
“Everybody knows all about you Jaime. What--you only give it up for money? I got a
few ends for you to do what you do best.” Eric said, walking backwards, facing Jaime as he
taunted him.
“Eric, why don’t you go away? I don’t know what you’re talking about. And don’t you
have a girlfriend anyway?” he’d asked, trying unsuccessfully to escape Eric’s groping hand.
“Leave my girlfriend out of it you damn freak. I asked you a question. Is the only way
you’ll do it, is if you get paid?” Eric had grabbed him by the arm and pulled him tight against his chest.
“Why would you want to do anything with me anyway-Aren’t you the big man on
campus? Why try and get some from a ‘freak’?” Jaime remembered how his heart thumped
irregularly against his then frail chest, and he’d tried desperately to pull away from Eric, scared after he realized how isolated the two of them were in the corridor.
“What the hell you tryin’ to say? Oh, you paying for that you goddamn queer.” Eric had
pushed him to the floor, and unbuttoned his jeans. “When I’m done with you, you’ll know when, and how, to use that dumb mouth.”
With a grim smile Jaime e turned on the radio, as a hasty revision of his original plan
quickly formed in his mind.
“All good things must eventually end, and unfortunately, now is the time for this good
thing to end,” he spoke out loud, and to no one in particular.
As he hummed along to the music, he turned up the volume and sang in tune with Shania
Twain, with carefree abandon. “Man, I feel like a woman oh oh oh....” he laughed out loud,
tickling himself over his version of the song.
CHAPTER 49
“Why did you start volunteering at Imani House? Was it to get closer to Dr. Richardson?”
Jordan asked, as soon as they shoved the clerk into
