“Yeah, well… Wait a sec. You went through my file?” Trey demanded.
“I needed to know with whom I was working. You were an unknown quantity to me. I rectified that.”
“Okay, we’ll leave that one alone for a second. But why are you up in my grill all of a sudden?” Trey stopped for a moment and he seemed to see the look of blank incomprehension in Darc’s face, then rephrased. “Sorry. Too much slang. Why are you asking me all of these questions?”
“Does this not fall within the parameters of pretending to be interested?”
“Oh. Oh! Right.” Trey frowned up at Darc. “Man, we need to work on your people skills. Okay. The detective thing.” Trey sighed, then spread his hands. “I just like to help people, you know? Catch bad guys, keep the streets safe.”
“And as a detective, the power to do that increases.” Darc did not understand Trey’s issue. There was an essential piece of the vice cop’s thought process that did not seem to be connecting.
“Yeah, and so does the responsibility. The consequences if you screw up.” Trey heaved a large sigh. “I screw up as an officer in vice and maybe a drug dealer goes free. Working a homicide? People die, dude. I can’t take that kind of pressure.”
“Good.”
“Good?” Trey’s face scrunched up. The look could indicate confusion. Or that he was looking into a bright light. “Why the hell would that be good?”
“Because I do not want you to take any responsibility. Any and all pressure falls on me. Not only am I willing to take it, but I will not have it any other way. This was something none of my previous partners could grasp.”
“Hold the phone,” Keane responded, as he held up his hands in apparent disbelief. “I don’t have to be accountable? For anything?”
“Not as far as I am concerned,” Darc responded.
One of the C.S.I. team members who had been on site at the Laundromat turned the corner from the bullpen and skidded to a halt in front of Keane and Darc. He looked up at the two of them and did a double-take.
“Hey, Darc, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Do you ever answer your phone? We got that list of car owners from the license plates captured on the traffic cams around the crime scene.” He held out a sheet of paper for Darc and then disappeared back around the corner once Darc took it.
The images on the page lifted up off the paper and glimmered, winking at Darc, promising information that could lead to the capture of a killer. Darc welcomed them into the lightless recesses of his mind, basking in their glow.
* * *
Trey floated through the hallway after Darc, moving toward the tall detective’s desk to go over some list, or whatever. That was all fine, but right this second, Trey wanted to just bask in the glory of not having to shoulder any responsibility. None.
It was fantastic.
Ever since Captain Merle had put him on this case, Trey’s stomach had been doing not just somersaults, but full-on gymnastic routines. Olympic gymnastic routines. Gold-medal-winning ones.
Ever since he’d been a little kid, Trey had wanted to be in law enforcement. While other classmates were talking about becoming pilots or astronauts, Trey’s childhood answer to the age-old question had always been, I want to be a cop. And then, as he got older, I want to be a detective.
Then reality hit, in the form of his grades. Trey wasn’t dumb, by any stretch of the imagination. Understanding concepts in school wasn’t that big of an issue, at least not when he was paying attention. He just got distracted. By people and their problems. And occasionally, shiny objects. But mostly, people and their problems.
So when the time came to figure out what he was going to do with his life, Trey still picked law enforcement, but he picked the area where he felt like he would be working with people. And where his tendency to get preoccupied wouldn’t cost lives.
But to have the opportunity to be working in homicide, as a detective? Without any of the stress of screwing up? Right now, Trey was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Unfortunately, Trey knew shoes all too well, and this one was no exception. He even knew its size and shape. This particular shoe was tall, had a shaved head, and was prone to cryptic utterances.
Because as much as Darc seemed willing to go along with Trey as a temporary partner, there was no way he was going to be on board with a more permanent arrangement. Trey knew the score here. His contribution to the case so far was fetching the dude a bagel. Oh, and a call to Trey’s C.I.
Darc didn’t need him. Darc probably didn’t need anyone. Well, not anyone who would be something more than a glorified assistant, making sure that Darc’s nose hairs were properly trimmed. Speaking of which… Trey caught up to the tall detective and looked over at his nose in profile. Nope. All good.
The two of them arrived at Darc’s desk, which was pretty much as Trey had imagined it to be. Utilitarian to the point of being Spartan, well organized, and about as cold as ice. No personal pictures, no unfinished paperwork, no “notes to self” reminding him to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home.
Who was this guy? Did he even have a life outside the office?
Darc took a seat, leaving Trey to fend for himself. Not shocking. Honestly, Trey didn’t much care, but this was something he could maybe work on with the big guy. Help him out with his people skills. That might be an area where Trey could be of some benefit. The problem would be getting Darc to recognize it as a real issue needing attention.
As Darc scanned down the document, Trey read it idly over his shoulder. Terrible etiquette, but Trey was pretty confident that Darc wouldn’t even notice.
Almost halfway down the list, Trey stumbled across a name that sounded familiar. William Packer. William. Will. Bill. Billy?
Wait. Wasn’t that the name of the M.E.’s assistant?
“Hey, Darc. Isn’t that guy the one who was helping out the examiner at the crime scene?” Trey pointed to the name on the list.
Darc glanced at the name, then looked up at the far wall, his face devoid of any expression whatsoever. He blinked once, twice, three times. Then he swiveled around in his chair and came to his feet. Moving with a speed and precision that was almost frightening, Darc stalked toward the entrance to the bullpen.
It all happened so fast, Trey was caught off-guard and had to sprint to gain Darc’s side before the door swung shut behind the bald man. “Dude. Where are you going?”
“You do not know? It was you who pointed out the name of the young assistant. We are going to his place of residence. There are some questions that he will need to answer.” Darc rotated his head to look at Trey for a moment. The detective’s eyes were hard and sharp, like diamond blades poised to cut through metal.
Maybe Trey was overreacting, but he was really glad he wasn’t Billy right about now.
CHAPTER 5
Watching Trey navigate traffic while simultaneously talking and gesticulating was troubling, Darc had decided. While it was true that Darc himself was able to multitask on a mental level, often working on as many as five different problems at once while still doing a physical task, he was an exception to many rules. Also, flexing one’s mental muscles was a different thing than using one’s hands to gesture when they should be firmly placed on the steering wheel at ten and two o’clock. Much different.
Darc watched the cars around them, each one tracing a separate color track in the back of his mind. Their own ribbon of light approached but never collided with the others around them. Darc discovered himself hoping that would remain true.
Fascinating.
“So,” Trey continued, “that’s how I ended up with scar tissue on the back of my earlobe. True story.” He glanced over at Darc and raised his eyebrows, which typically indicated surprise… or a question. “Why is it that we’re going over to Billy’s place? How do we know he’s not at work right now?”
“William is not scheduled to work right now.”
Trey did a double take. “Did you check? I didn’t see that happen.”
Darc shrugged his shoulders, a calculated gesture intended to demonstrate nonchalance. “I have the departmental rosters memorized. William is only scheduled to work Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, with an alternating rotation on Saturday and Sunday mornings.”
“You…” Trey swallowed, then tried again. “You have everybody’s schedules… memorized?”
“Yes. It is often necessary to know precisely where a particular law enforcement employee might be. Looking up schedules or calling multiple departments is inefficient.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Trey looked back at the road, his hands for once tightly gripping the steering wheel. “I can see how that might be tough.”
Darc pointed at the next right, which was the street on which William Packer lived. Pulling up alongside the curb, Trey put the car into park and the two of them exited the vehicle. Trey started toward the front door, but Darc moved around to the side.
“Um, doorbell’s over here.” Trey indicated up the steps to the front porch.
“William lives in a basement apartment. If we were to try the front door, his mother would answer. That could give William a chance to escape undetected.”
“Billy lives with his mom? That sucks. Wait. How did you know that?” Trey lifted up an index finger. “Let me guess. Memorized the personnel files?”
Darc did not bother to respond as he moved toward the entrance to the basement apartment. The lines snaked and narrowed in on the door, the colors mostly green with some yellow and a touch of blue. A solid lead.
Trey held up his hand as he adjusted his gun in his holster. “You know… can’t be too careful, dude.” He waved at Darc to knock as he took a wider stance.
The door opened up a small crack and the tousled head of William Parker, assistant to the medical examiner, appeared framed within the narrow space. “Wha…? Hey. Detective Darcmel? Is that you? What’re you doing here?” The young man glanced around, suddenly nervous. “Shit. Did I get the day wrong again? They didn’t need to send you guys out…” His voice trailed off as he pulled out his phone and looked at the display. From what Darc could tell, the assistant was not wearing any pants.
“You are a suspect in the—” Darc began.
“Hey, Billy!” Trey stepped in. “Officer Keane here. I was at the crime scene this morning.” William nodded at Keane, distracted. “We just wanted to talk to you for a sec.”
“Oh, yeah. Cool.” The young man looked behind him, then back at Trey and Darc. “This isn’t a great time, though. Any chance we can do this later? Or you could call me. Totally. Yeah, that’d be better. Gimme a call, ‘kay?” He started to shut the door.
Darc placed his shoulder against the door and pushed back, knocking William off balance. “Our need to speak with you is urgent,” Darc uttered.
“Totally. Yeah. I get that,” William responded, his motions more and more abrupt. “It’s just that I… well… I’ve got a girl here, you know?”
“Do not be concerned. We do not need to speak with her,” Darc replied, moving into the apartment. Trey followed in on his heels.
As they both cleared the doorframe, Trey inhaled, the sound sharp in the sudden stillness. On every spare scrap of wall, there were newspaper clippings, crime scene photographs, and notes. Every one of them related to the Hairless Harry killings.
“Oh, man,” Trey murmured to the young assistant. “I think it’s time for you to get dressed and come with us.”
Darc pressed the point further. “Why were you down in the area of the crime scene last night at around two o’clock in the morning?”
“Wait. You think… No! No! Listen. It’s not that,” William cried out. “I was out with my girlfriend last night.”
“The traffic camera picture showed only you in the car.”
“What? Oh… right.” The young man ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. “She was passed out in the back seat. That’s why she’s been crashed here since then. Sleeping it off, you know?”
“Dude.” Trey entered the conversation once more. “That doesn’t even come close to explaining all of this.” He swept his hand around the room.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that. It’s just really interesting, you know? My first major serial killer.” William looked back and forth from Trey to Darc. “You must know what that’s like, right?”
“More than you have any idea, there, Billy. That still doesn’t cover your little perv palace here.”
“What’s going on? Babe, who are these guys?” A young woman, her face puffy and her hair looking like several rodents had nested within its tresses, stood in the doorway of the bedroom. Observing the underlying bone structure, Darc assessed that the girl had an attractive face under normal circumstances. Now was clearly not one of those normal circumstances.
“Hey, ‘Nessa,” William responded, moving to her side and urging her back into the bedroom. “These are just some guys from work. Had to talk to me about a case and stuff. No biggie. Go back to sleep.”
“You will need to come with us back to the station,” Darc told the young man. Whatever he was telling his female companion, they were not here to simply talk.
At that moment, the theme song to Mission Impossible played through the small apartment space. Trey fumbled in his pocket for his phone before getting it out and opening it up.
“Officer Keane here.” There was a pause as Keane shrugged what looked like an apology to the room. “Yeah, okay, but why are you calling me?” Trey glanced at Darc, then away. “He wasn’t answering his phone? Fine, fine. I’m on it. I’ll get us over there ASAP.” He flipped the phone shut with a snap. “There’s another murder. Dispatch is texting me the address as we speak.”
William stood in the middle of the apartment, looking like he was excited, but trying to hide it. For the first time, Darc noticed that he was wearing red and blue underwear which had a large star framed by a circle on them.
Trey turned to look at William. “Dude. You better get on some pants. We’re going for a ride. And those Captain America briefs just aren’t cutting it.”
“Cool!” The young man yelped, then took a breath and spoke in a more quiet voice. “I mean… yeah, I can do that. Oh,” he added, tilting his head toward the girl who was shambling back to the bedroom. “And could we maybe not tell my mom about this?”
* * *
“This address has to be right next to where we were this morning,” Trey said to Darc as he weaved his way through the traffic. “Call from dispatch said the units are reporting it as a possible Hairless Harry.”
“Yes! Man, I was hoping…” came a voice from the back of the car. William lifted up his hands in an apology as Trey glared at him in the rearview mirror. “Sorry. Sorry. I’ll shut up.”
“You, my young friend, are not smart,” Trey muttered to the assistant. Stepping on the gas, Trey took another corner at a much faster speed than was probably a good idea. Darc held on to the handle above the passenger side door. William, on the other hand, careened into the far side of the car, cursing as he hit his head on the window.
It was nice to know where the hell he was going. The last two times he’d been in the car with Darc, it had been like pulling teeth to figure out where they were headed.
As the car pulled up to the address Trey had gotten on his cell, he felt his heart sink into his stomach. The address was the deli where he’d gotten the bagel for Darc this morning. He’d also gotten one for himself, and had been craving another one ever since. Nothing would ever replace his love of breakfast meats, but that lox was coming in a very close second.
“Okay,” Trey called over the seat to the kid in the back. “Gimme your hand.”
William stretched his arm over the seat and Trey clapped one end of his handcuffs around the young man’s wrist. He then attached the other end to the door.
“Stay here.”
“Aw, man! Can’t I come in and take a look? I know this guy’s M.O. like nobody.”
Trey sighed and shook his head. �
�You’re a suspect. I’m not taking you into a crime scene that we think might be yours. Grab a clue.”
“Right. Right.” William sat back in his seat. “I’ll just stay here, then. No prob.”
As Trey walked into the restaurant behind Darc, it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the low light in the tiny space they had entered. It was nothing more than a small standing area for the customers, separated off by a counter and deli cases.
When his eyes had cleared, Trey groaned. There, behind the counter, was the deli owner who had helped Trey that very morning.
“Seriously? Where am I gonna get that amazing lox now? This guy cured it special himself. It was awesome.”
While Trey was speaking, Darc had opened up the door that led to the back area and was kneeling down close to the body. He reached out his hands to…
“Hey!” Trey yelled. “Darc! What are you doing over there?”
Darc looked back at Trey, his face expressionless. “I am moving the body.”
“You can’t move the body. Remember what the captain said this morning?”
Nodding his head, Darc grabbed the corpse by its shoulders and slid the body up a couple of feet. “The captain said I needed permission from the M.E. I obtained that permission. I can now move bodies.”
“Um, I’m pretty sure that doesn’t sound right,” Trey pressed, as he moved through the swinging door to get to the victim.
Darc was scanning the clothes and exposed skin of the victim. Trey noticed in passing that the man’s head and beard had been shaved. There were a few tiny nicks that had bled, the trail of red leading down the head and face to the floor. Pre-mortem. Looked like their guy, all right.
“Darc.” Trey pointed to the shaving wounds. “This couldn’t have been Billy. Check out the blood on this guy’s cheek. It’s still wet. There’s no way he could’ve gotten home and been asleep by the time we got to his place.”
“He might have been faking his tiredness,” Darc responded, his tone flat.
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