“Good morning, Chief. Nice to see you as well.” The chief’s appearance told Mac what kind of day it had already been. The suit coat had been jettisoned, the tie and collar loosened, and his shirt-sleeves rolled up. There were three coffee cups on his desk, all half empty. If Mac didn’t know better, he got a faint whiff of cigarette smoke, although a quick scan failed to reveal an ashtray.
“Lich, how are you?”
“I’m fine, sir. Thank you for asking.”
“Well, boys, the shit’s hittin’ the fan. We’ll be speaking with the media soon,” Flanagan said, wincing. “I know you probably don’t have much, but Peters, Sylvia, and I need an update. So,” the chief said, pointing to Mac, “give us what you’ve got.”
Mac pulled out his notebook to give the basic run down. He finished with, “Forensics preliminarily puts time of death between midnight and 2:00 a.m.”
“How’d the killer get in? Were there any signs of forced entry?” asked the chief.
“Not so far.” Mac replied, explaining about the new door locks and key they found.
“Anything missing?”
“Doesn’t seem to be,” Mac answered. “The house isn’t ransacked in any way. She had jewelry in her bedroom, some fairly expensive pieces, which appear to be undisturbed. So, at this point, it looks like whoever got in was let in, or had a key. Maybe a boyfriend.”
“Do we know anything about who she was seeing?”
“Not yet. We’ll need to get down to the station and talk to the people she worked with. Maybe we’ll learn something there.”
Sylvia Miller, the department spokeswoman, piped in. “The media knows that it’s Claire Daniels. I’ve already been getting calls, and they, being the media, want to know when we’ll have something to say. What can we offer at this point?”
Mac was about to speak, but first looked to Flanagan, who nodded. “I know the heat’s on, but I don’t think we should release much. She was found dead this morning in her condo. I’d give them the usual bullshit that an autopsy will be performed. Indicate that we’ll be questioning people in the neighborhood, people she worked with, that sort of thing. Beyond that…” Mac shook his head.
“We’re getting hammered here, with the serial killer and then this,” Miller pleaded. “Can’t we go with more, the strangling, time of death, the sex information… any of that?”
“Not yet,” Flanagan answered. “It’s way too early. I don’t want us to get hung based on speculative information we’ll have to retract later. I don’t wanna compromise the investigation.”
“I understand that, but information’ll get out on a case like this,” Miller pushed. “The media pressure’ll be immense. One of their own is dead here. We need to throw them a bone, or we’re gonna get skewered.”
“Damn it, I fuckin’ know that!” yelled Flanagan, who then caught himself, obviously regretting the outburst. After a quiet moment and an exhale, he said more calmly, “I’m sorry. I do appreciate your situation, Sylvia. But we must let the detectives do their work. If we catch the guy, we’ll be fine. If not, I’ll take the heat.” Flanagan then turned to Mac. “This is your case to run. But be smart. You need help, boyo, ask, and keep Peters in the loop. And, son, all media requests go to Sylvia for now.”
“Avoiding the media is fine by me,” Mac replied.
“That goes for you too, Lich,” added Peters, his tone just a bit accusatory.
Mac smiled inside. Lich liked to talk.
“What’d I do?” pleaded Lich with his arms held open.
“Dick,” said Flanagan, “you have a rep for leaking. Not here. Keep your mouth shut.” It was not a request.
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, boys, go to it.”
Mac and Lich left the room.
Once they were gone, Miller, always evaluating the public perception of things asked, “Chief, isn’t McRyan kind of young to be handling this?”
The chief gave Miller a long, severe look before answering. “You know his background. He’s got four good years as a detective. He’ll be fine. From your perspective, he should be someone we want in front of the camera. People will recognize the name.”
“That’s all true, but this isn’t a public service announcement. This is a murder case of a well-known reporter on top of a serial killer. This is very high-profile. McRyan doesn’t look very senior. People might wonder, is all I’m saying.”
“Your concerns are noted,” was Flanagan’s terse reply.
With that, Miller and Peters got up to leave. The chief asked Peters to stay.
With the door closing behind Miller, the chief asked, “She have a point on Mac?”
“No,” Peters responded without hesitation. “Mac’s fine. He’s young, sure, but smart. Lich’s fine too if he’s with it, and I made sure he was properly motivated this morning. Mac doesn’t concern me.”
The chief considered it for a minute “Real police. It’s in his blood.”
“Yes, sir.” Peters replied. “He’s a natural at this. He’s level headed, a natural leader, he wants the responsibility. Plus, he’s smarter than hell.”
Chief Flanagan thought it over. “You know, he reminds me of his old man.”
Peters smiled. “Me too, Chief.”
“Well, screw them all then,” Flanagan said, “We let the real police do their job.”
Chapter Four
Mac and Lich got back in the Explorer and drove to Daniels’ place. Mac was jacked. It was not often he got a case like this. Lich, catching the mood of the moment, put it right, “This type of case-bring it home, and you’re set, Mac. Screw it up, and you might get night watch down in the jail.”
As they pulled onto Grand and were a few blocks away from Daniels’ place, Lich chirped, “Media’s in heaven. They’ll have a field day with us today.”
Mac couldn’t argue with him, it was going to be rough, especially for the chief and Sylvia Miller.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Lich said with just a touch of wry sarcasm.
Mac caught the tone. “You gonna be okay following my lead on this?”
Lich chuckled. “There’ll be no problem, Mac. I haven’t exactly been busting my hump lately, but I’m with you on this. No fucking around.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what’s on our agenda?”
“Check out the condo. Then we’ll head down to Channel 6 and talk with her colleagues. Her mother’s been notified. We’ll have to talk with her as well, although word is they weren’t close.”
As they approached Daniels’ condo, the media horde became evident, with television trucks and microphones everywhere, people running back and forth. To avoid it, Mac dumped the Explorer in an open spot along Grand, half a block away. He and Lich got out and made their way towards the condo, casually winding through the news vans, and ducking under the crime scene tape.
Mac saw a uniform cop and said, “Go get me Clark and Green,” and to Lich, “Let’s take a closer look around the condo.”
As Mac entered the bedroom, forensics was getting ready to transport the body. Morgan had nothing additional to give them; they would have to wait for the autopsy. On his first time through, Mac had gotten the feeling that very little was amiss, but he wanted to look around and get a feel for Daniels.
The bedroom was really two rooms. There was the area where her bed, dresser and closet were located. Claire must have slept on the right side normally, as there was a phone and an alarm clock on that side of the bed.
