rolls. Viper poured himself a cup of coffee, grabbed a croissant and walked over to the window. The office offered an impressive view, looking out over a large lawn to the lake. It was even more impressive in the summer when the boats were out. Now, everything was buttoned up for the coming winter.
He heard the phone hang up, and Viper turned to see the boss head towards the coffee table and pour himself a cup. “Come sit,” he directed.
They engaged in idle chitchat for a few minutes, and then got down to business.
“So, what does your contact have to say?” Viper asked.
“Well, I have several contacts.”
“Yes, sir, but you know what I mean.” The boss liked it when Viper had to drag information out of him.
“My source confirms that they have zeroed in on the senator. They have Hernandez and a statement with the senator leaving around 1:30 a.m.”
“Anything else?” Viper asked.
“Well, as luck would have it, a neighbor has also given a statement that a couple of nights before the murder he saw the senator leaving Ms. Daniels’ place at a similar time, so that’s a break for us, don’t you think?”
“I do,” said Viper, smiling. “Will the police be bringing in the senator?”
“Yes, but they want to keep it quiet.” the boss replied, taking a long sip of his coffee.
“When?” Viper asked.
The boss nodded. “That’s a good question. My source indicates they’ll be contacting the senator soon to request that he come sit down with the detectives investigating the matter.”
“Do we think he’ll come in voluntarily?”
“I suspect so.”
“Why?” Viper, not sure he agreed.
“He won’t want to draw unnecessary media attention,” the boss replied, buttering another croissant. “After all, he didn’t do it. He’s going to want to say that.” He poured himself another cup of coffee. “He looks better if he comes in on his own. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he contacts them first.”
Viper thought about that for a moment, seeing the boss’s point. “If we assume they’ll keep their interview with him quiet, they won’t bring him downtown.”
The boss agreed, “No, a meeting outside the Department of Public Safety Building would allow him to fly below the radar.”
“The senator definitely doesn’t want the media on this,” Viper agreed.
The boss paused for a moment, “So, it would be rather unfortunate for him if the media were to find out about his involvement now, wouldn’t it?”
Viper looked at the boss, catching his drift, “Yes, it would now, wouldn’t it?”
Mac and Lich met with Linda Morgan. The autopsy determined that Daniels was strangled as they already knew. She’d also had sex prior to death. They had semen, which had been sent out for DNA testing. Then they would have to match it up. Mac and Lich suspected it belonged to the senator. Time of death remained between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m.
Forensics had found no further evidence of forced entry, Morgan reported. The key under the front door mat had two good finger prints, a thumb and index finger. The prints were not Daniels’. Crime Scene had also found two sets of fingerprints in the bedroom. One set was Daniels’ and the other set matched those on the key. The D.A. was still working on getting the senator’s prints. Only Daniels’ prints were found on the backdoor.
Mac was most concerned with the time-of-death issue. He’d seen it picked apart in court on more than one occasion.
“How solid are we on the time of death?” Mac asked.
“It looks good,” Morgan answered. “We got to her fairly quickly after death. The conditions in her condo were good for preserving her body.” Linda considered her answer further, “Is exact time of death important?”
“Maybe,” Mac replied neutrally. They talked for a few more minutes, and then Lich and McRyan headed up for their meeting with the chief.
Chief Flanagan’s secretary saw them coming and said, “Go on in, but he’s on a call.” The chief saw them walk in and waved them towards the couch, the phone still pressed to his ear. The leather chairs from in front of the desk had been moved over to the other side of the coffee table and were across from the couch. There was a pot of coffee and some Styrofoam coffee cups waiting for them. Lich poured himself a cup and one for Mac. Mac took his cup and walked around the table and sat down on the end of the couch. He mixed in some cream and sugar and stirred it with a pink straw. Just then, Helen Anderson and Sally Kennedy came in.
Sally passed on coffee, having brought a bottle of Aquafina with her. She sat down on the other end of the couch and greeted Mac. “Good morning, detective.”
“Mornin’, counselor.”
It was Lich’s turn to stifle a laugh and a grin. He could just hear Lich asking, “Seen her tits yet?” Not that Mac had tried, he barely knew Kennedy, although Lich’s reprimand about getting back in the game had him suddenly thinking about her. Her red hair was up again, and she had the stylish glasses back. She looked good in a form- fitting gray-plaid skirt suit, white silk blouse, and heels.
The chief hung up the phone and sauntered on over to the group, grabbing one of the leather chairs. His coat was already off, sleeves rolled up. He quickly poured himself a cup of coffee. “Peters should be here in a minute. We’ll get started then.”
The group engaged in some brief discussion about the upcoming Vikes game. Packer week would do that. Anderson, a Packer fan, was predicting a tough day for the Purple at Lambeau.
After a couple of minutes, Peters came in and quickly grabbed the last chair and poured a cup of coffee.
The chief looked at Mac, “So what’s the scoop?”
Mac spent the next few minutes giving everyone the run down on the autopsy report and discussions with forensics. The last topic discussed was the lack of any evidence of forced entry. It had everyone focusing on the senator.
“Well that last phone call was with Lyman Hisle,” the chief stated. “Can anyone guess who his client might be?”
Mac smiled. He knew Lyman well, knew he didn’t represent just anybody, “A certain U.S. senator who just might be implicated in the death of a prominent local television reporter?”
“I see that U of M education didn’t go to waste,” Flanagan replied, smiling.
Sally jumped in, “So, what did he have to say?”
“Oh, that his client, the esteemed senior senator from the state of Minnesota is guilty. So, in an effort to avoid inconveniencing anyone and wasting hard-earned tax dollars he was elected to protect, what would be the best time for him to turn himself in and save us all the time and effort of a lengthy drawn out jury trial?” Lich replied wryly, causing everyone to have a good laugh.
“No, Dick, although, Lord knows, we could use it,” said the chief, still chuckling.
Anderson got everyone back on track. “So, what
“He said his client had some information. That, since we might run across him as part of the investigation, he thought it’d be a good idea to get together,” the chief replied.
“When?” asked Mac.
“They’d like to do it tomorrow afternoon, 1:00 p.m., at Lyman’s house in Stillwater.”
“Why out there?” asked Anderson.
“My guess,” replied Sally, “is that he wants to keep a low profile. No media attention. If the senator shows down here at the Public Safety Building, the media’ll see him and wonder why he’s here.”
“Seems to make sense,” Peters piped in.
“Yeah, not to mention, if he’s trying to keep it from his wife, better if it’s not at a hotel, the airport, or even at this condo, where it might look odd if the police showed up to meet with him,” said Mac.
“Exactly,” said Flanagan.
“Will we grant their request?” Sally inquired.
“Yes,” replied the chief. “We play this one close to the vest for now.”
“Agreed,” replied Anderson, surprising everyone. “We keep it quiet. We don’t want to compromise the
