Vigilante Investigator Series Box Set

by Eden Sharp

  The screen on Powell's machine flickered with a continual rush of images. Kerpen made a note that when his buddy got back from vacation he would tell him to change his password to something harder to guess. He had run his wife's name and then the 49ers and that was all it had taken. There really wasn't anything else Powell was interested in.

  He was documenting his first citation when he noticed Ortiz heading his way.

  Kerpen glanced across at Powell's machine. If he went over to turn it off, it would look suspicious as he was the only one there but if he was found to have logged on under another officer's name who wasn't even currently on the rota he could be suspended. On top of that, he was running a picture for an outside job and he wondered whether Ortiz may have picked up on the fact that he had been asking around about him. His mind raced trying to anticipate a cover story for every possible eventuality in the time it took Ortiz to walk the five remaining steps to his desk.

  Ortiz perched himself on the desk opposite. As long as Powell's machine didn't ping from registering a hit, the screen itself was out of Ortiz's view. He looked up and smiled, trying to retain his composure.

  'I think we might be able to help each other out,' Ortiz said.

  Kerpen hoped the smile frozen on his face appeared natural. 'Sure.'

  'I was wondering if you wanted to spend a few days up in the department with us, see how things run, maybe get some pointers for when you sit the inspector's exam. I know you're more interested in Homicide but a good word from me to the captain would go a long way.' Ortiz leaned forward.

  Kerpen felt his face relax momentarily into something that probably came across as more genuine but the tension reset as he realized Ortiz might now be able to see Powell's screen in his peripheral vision.

  'That would be awesome. Thank you.'

  Ortiz leaned in a little further. 'Also, I have a favor to ask.'

  Kerpen nodded. Who didn't?

  'I was chatting with a PI the other day, Angela McGlynn. I'm meant to be giving her a call but I lost her card and then I realized you might know her from the dojo she works out of in Haight because you told me you train there?'

  'Yeah, I see her around.'

  'She has some information for me relating to a case. The name and address of a carder. Maybe you could get the details for me and then we can talk about when will be a good time to get you in. Sort out some shift changes with your watch commander.'

  Kerpen swallowed. Any time now, the chances were the machine would notify a hit.

  'Actually she already did. She texted them to me because she couldn't remember who to send them in to. I thought I'd need to pass them up to Fraud.'

  Ortiz looked satisfied. 'I'll take a look then pass them on myself.'

  'I can forward them to your cell.'

  Ortiz stood up and extracted a cell phone from his pants pocket. He stepped up to Kerpen's desk and read out the number but paid no attention to the activity on the screen at the adjacent desk. Kerpen took out his own cell and flicked through his messages as quickly as he could and then copied and pasted the name and address into a new message minus the attached photo. He added the number he had just been given and hit send.

  Moments later a tinny sound signaled the message as incoming on Ortiz's cell.

  'I've got your number now so I'll be in touch.' Ortiz smiled then turned away.

  Kerpen watched him walk back out of the room, breathed out long and slow and stretched back in his seat.

  Powell's machine pinged as it registered a hit.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Angela McGlynn

  Fresh and rested, I did a kettle bell work out, a punching and kicking routine, then a few yoga poses before taking a shower. By the time I was pouring my third cup of coffee of the morning I was running through what I was going to ask Lisa. When my cell beeped I prayed it was Kerpen. Having a name may help even if Lisa didn't recognize the face in the picture. I was relieved when I saw the caller ID.

  'Hey Angela, it's Stuart.'

  'Hi. You okay?'

  'Yeah. Matt called, thanks.'

  'You sound a little more upbeat.'

  'Yeah. Listen I asked around about Ortiz at roll call. He's considered to be some kind of hot shot within the division. Good at what he does, gets big results. He's tight with the higher ups, gets a lot of leeway.'

  Great.

  'Any luck with the picture?'

  'Yeah. The guy's name is Lorentz Pulido. Thirty-four years of age. He's got previous for dealing coke and pimping girls out going back to his teens but he was small time not exactly a player. His last stretch was three years ago. A couple of months in county for domestic battery.'

  'I know he's a little old but any gang affiliations?'

  'Nothing showing.'

  'How about known associates?'

  'A wife called Carla and two kids living in Silver Terrace. He bailed after the battery charge but visits every now and then. I'll send you the address.'

  'I owe you.'

  'No you've already done me a big favor.'

  'I'm glad you're working things out with Matt.'

  'No I meant the carder's details. I gave them to Ortiz. He invited me to spend some time in the Investigations Bureau, see how things run, make some contacts.'

  'You haven't had time to work the angles and now you've given them to a narc and not Fraud?'

  'He asked me for them.'

  Interesting.

  'Could you get me Ortiz's cell number?'

  'I already have it. I'll text it over with Carla Pulido's address.'

  'Thanks Stuart. You're the one who's been a big help.'

  With the amount of patrol cops there must be out there who were dreaming of earning an inspector's badge, the odds of being invited by a hot shot inspector into the Investigations Bureau, especially without showcasing any detective skills, would mean you had got real lucky. Ortiz may have been doing his duty intent on passing Neiger’s details to the appropriate team but what would he get out of the deal by inviting Kerpen into the fold?

  My money was on keeping close the patrol cop who had tried to access the Secora file that he had worked out was connected to me.

  Shotwell was a bitch for parking so I called Knox for the second time that morning and told him to come down while I took a tour around the block. Traffic was slow so by the time I headed back round he was waiting on the curb outside his apartment building.

  I turned down my music when he got in.

  'What even is that?'

  'French hip-hop.'

  'Okay.'

  'The language lends itself to rhythm.'

  I bet he liked rock.

  'My cop friend got a hit. The guy in the photo's name is Lorentz Pulido,' I said.

  'Sounds like a Latino name.'

  'It is. Plus he's got previous for dealing coke and pimping girls out. Amber was a user who met Hayley through a dealer and Lisa's definitely got a coke problem.'

  'I need to apologize for last night. About what happened with me.'

  'I think for a minute the situation took you back to being someplace else,' I said.

  'I blacked out. I'm sorry.'

  'Immediately afterward you disarmed a guy with a gun to both our heads so I don't have any complaints.'

  'It must have been instinct. I don't really remember anything until Kelly showed up. '

  'Then you have great instincts.'

  'So we're going to ask Lisa if she recognizes Pulido?'

  'And try and ascertain if she's involved.'

  Knox nodded. 'Maybe he thought Amber was Jaime and he wanted to rip Secora off or take over some of his business.'

  'His record shows him to be kind of low rent but you never know.'

  'Lisa seemed genuinely upset when I took her home but you should always look at every possibility no matter how unlikely right?'

  'Right. It always comes down to means, motive and opportunity. Lisa possibly had all three.'

  'She had the keys to Hayley's place for on
e.'

  'Exactly. I'll ask some difficult questions and then decide if she's telling the truth.'

  'And you tell if someone's lying how?' Knox asked.

  'Because I lie professionally,' I said.

  'But you don't think Hayley knew whoever killed her?'

  'I'm just considering every possibility. Maybe she was attacked for another reason then killed later by someone else or maybe she did off herself. I'll get Lisa to talk about Hayley and her state of mind and watch how she reacts.'

  'Do you think Neiger was involved?'

  'It's possible, but somehow I don't buy it.'

  'Why would Pulido have gone to Hayley's place? Presuming she didn't know him.'

  'Tying up loose ends about Amber maybe? Whatever they might be. We need to find him.'

  I decided to try a little pop quiz.

  'So tell me. What do we know for sure?'

  'Amber Grigson was mistaken for Jaime Secora then she disappeared.'

  'We're working on that assumption but it's not a definite. Nothing's sure without evidence. There's a possibility she was mistaken for Jaime Secora. If something bad has happened to her we need to establish who would have gained from doing her any harm.'

  'Right. Lisa couldn't have known that Amber would have the Secora girl's card.'

  I shook my head. 'Amber could have called her from her new high-end cell and bragged about it.'

  'We could check Lisa's cell records.'

  'Good. That's also a question to put to her and see how she reacts. And if it did happen, how come she didn't tell us about it? We get a feel for her truthfulness in answering and then we can prove or disprove it later with the records. We get the evidence. Evidence is all.'

  'Lisa lives in Potrero right? We're heading the wrong way.'

  'First things first. I have a friend in Ashbury Heights who'll provide us with a vehicle. We need a tan-colored, four-door sedan,' I said.

  'Why's that?'

  'After we talk to Lisa we go after Pulido. There's no known address for him on file but Stuart gave me a known associate so we start there with surveillance. Both of our cars are too distinctive. There are plenty of tan sedans on the road already. Not exactly stylish but practically invisible.'

  John Knox

  McGlynn pulled on to the forecourt of the red brick garage and grabbed a black nylon holdall she'd brought with her. Inside, it was three-deep in vehicles.

  They maneuvered their way to the back where Knox saw a slight, Asian-looking kid in blue overalls peering under the hood. As they got up close he realized the kid was female. No make-up, short black hair spiked round a pretty, boyish face.

  McGlynn made the introductions.

  'Meet Ollie, one hot mechanic.'

  She looked up, fixed him with a stare, shot a loaded smile at McGlynn.

  'The keys are on the desk.'

  McGlynn turned to face him, pointed over in the direction of an old Honda.

  'You wanna go fire it up? I'll be there in a minute.'

  Knox slid into the driver's seat and turned over the engine. Sounded smooth enough. He glanced over at McGlynn still talking to the Asian girl. He looked up Kelly's number on his cell and waited for him to answer.

  'How's it going down?'

  'Boring as hell.'

  'I'm at a garage on Stanyan Street picking up a car from a friend of McGlynn's. A mechanic. You know her?

  'Yeah, Ollie. She's real good. Takes care of my car, does a good deal. You should take yours there too.'

  'You think she's McGlynn's girlfriend?' Knox said.

  'No. She lives with this amazing-looking Chinese chick, Lucy. Hair down to her waist. Petite. You saw her out, you'd never figure it. McGlynn hangs out with them a lot though.'

  Knox shook his head. 'That's it?'

  'I'm telling you.'

  'McGlynn doesn't wanna sleep with you so you think she's a lesbian?'

  'I've never seen her with a guy. Just chicks and those kinda chicks. She don't wanna get married or have kids neither.'

  'Neither do I. Or you.'

  'Man if I was a dyke, I'd go round with a mattress strapped to my back.'

  'That's the only way I could see you getting in touch with your feminine side.'

  He heard a grunt.

  'Out of interest, when McGlynn owned you on the mat, what did you say to upset her?'

  'That women don't know a thing about combat and that they're not as capable as men.'

  'Wow. I bet she loved that.'

  'She told me the default setting for human beings is female and some crap about the X chromosome carrying hundreds of genes compared to the Y's couple a dozen, or something.'

  'So you arranged a sparring session and…'

  'She turned up in these tiny little shorts and this tight cut-off top. Breasts real prominent. Not like under a gi. She leaned in so we was bumping chests, whispered in my ear. Told me to go easy, that she just wanted to showcase she knew a few moves. Reminded me I had about a hundred pounds on her. She hit me with what felt like a thousand pounds of striking force.'

  Knox couldn’t help but laugh out loud. 'Physically stronger but mentally weaker. You focused on your strength and her rack,' he said.

  'Who the hell knows how their minds work?' Kelly said.

  Knox saw McGlynn heading over.

  'Gotta go.' He cut the call.

  She opened the driver's door.

  'I'll drive,' she said.

  THIRTY-SIX

  Angela McGlynn

  I cut back through The Castro, north of Knox's place back toward the Franklin Square playground and Sureño territory. I crossed the 101 into Potrero Hill and made a right onto Arkansas Street. Lisa lived close to the park in a tired looking block of condos east of Southern Heights.

  Even though it was lunchtime I didn't expect her to be up when I pressed the buzzer. When I had rung earlier, she had sounded hazy and out of it like in the meantime she may well have rolled over and gone back to sleep.

  A timid voice came over the intercom.

  'Hello?'

  'Angela McGlynn.'

  The outer door buzzed open and inside a chain and latch released and a small girl with dark eyes stood peering out from a narrow gap. She was dressed but the clothes were a loose fit like she'd lost weight. As I walked past her into the apartment I realized she had no make-up on. She looked different. Diminished.

  Lisa invited us both to sit on a small turquoise couch. The Scandinavian designer had given preference to clean lines and taste rather than any semblance of comfort.

  I declined the drinks offer, keen to cut to the chase. The idea was to set the stage with a few simple uncontroversial questions which I knew would give honest answers and watch where Lisa looked. Establish what amounted to a regular eye pattern before following up with something trickier.

  'Nice furniture. Got a European feel to it,' I said.

  'Yeah it's Swedish, I'm making a few changes,' Lisa said.

  'You look like you've lost weight. You doing okay?'

  'Better I guess. It's not, I'm in a program now. I'm not using at least.'

  'That's awesome. Really good.'

  'You know when I got into all this, I just wanted to buy a house and then quit. I probably could have with the amount of money I've spent on blow. I just, I want out. I'm not doing this anymore, it's not worth it, you know? There's not even any real money to be made with amateurs in chat rooms giving it away.'

  'Why did you have a key to Hayley's apartment?'

  If Lisa needed to search for an answer, her eyes would go looking for it.

  'It was just something we did. We were close. Probably in case one of us got so wasted we lost our own copy or we got robbed.'

  The usual eye-movement pattern Lisa had established hadn't changed.

  I pulled out the picture of Pulido.

  'You know him?'

  Lisa studied the picture for a normal amount of time. Not too dismissive. Not over-compensating.

  She shook her
head.

  'His name is Lorentz Pulido.'

  'He the guy that did it?'

  'We don't know yet.'

  I decided to ask a question I'd asked before. See if I got the same answer.

  'What made you think Hayley had gone to Atlantic City with a regular client?'

  'She sent me a text.'

  Lisa had made regular eye contact. If they can't look you in the eye then suddenly can't connect with you enough, something suspicious is happening.

  'Did you notice any changes in Hayley's personality before she died?'

  'Not really no. She was the same as before. She was funny and kind. She was my best friend.'

  'We need to know if Amber called you from Jaime Secora's cell. It was high-end. Maybe she wanted to brag about it, you know, tell you about what she was going to buy for herself with the card. We'll be checking the phone records later.'

  'No. I only spoke to her once when I met her at Hayley's before she got the casher job.'

  Lisa had made no attempt to self-comfort. Her face was relaxed. There was no visible tension attempting to mask emotion. And she hadn't touched her nose. Chemicals called catecholamines, released when someone lies, cause the nasal tissues to swell. Dubbed the Pinocchio Response, liars will rub their noses to relieve the slight tingling sensation which develops as a result.

  'You worried for your own safety Lisa?'

  'I was. It was only a matter of time before I got attacked or worse right? I'm out of all of it now. I don't see what any of this has got to do with me anymore so I feel better, yeah.'

  No real hesitation in replying. No big pauses or speech errors.

  'Can you think of any reason someone might have had to want Hayley dead?'

  'Not really. Apart from the obvious psycho customer.'

  'What about the client who was skimming? The carder?'

  'Jeez, that guy? I've done him. He's just a kid. He even said his name was John. We used to call him Fourth Grade. I could have kicked his ass.'