Chapter 31
Pepper had followed Wallace as he'd driven the professor's car to the police station, leaving it with the lab techs after dropping it in the enclosed bay in the underground parking garage. The team of detectives had remained in the squad room for the last few hours, anxiously awaiting the outcome of the search. They'd drunk the office coffee pot dry a number of times as they waited. DiCicco and Harris came up with the idea to order in pizza, and even Caruso took part. Just to keep on their boss's good side, the two young detectives made sure not to order from Pizza Hut.
Wallace had been pacing back and forth for hours, popping sunflower seeds like an addict. He hadn't sent any reply to The Sandman since his last message, waiting on the results of the forensics team's inspection of the car. And now, just before midnight, Janssen and Singleton had come up from the garage to the squad room, and the news wasn't good.
"You've got to be kidding me. Not one thing?" Caruso said to Janssen as he stood in front of the murder board, the team alert and on edge around him.
"That car was absolutely spotless inside," Janssen said, the Flamingo Kid standing next to her, the written report in his hand. "I tell you Inspector, it was as clean as my lab."
"Not a single hair, or a piece of fibre from some clothing?" Caruso asked, almost pleading with Janssen to give him something.
Janssen just shook her head, her blonde ponytail flipping from side to side. "Nothing that was listed on the search warrant. The only thing out of the ordinary was a bag of weed in the glove compartment and some marijuana seeds under one of the rear floor mats."
"Ah geez," Caruso said, his face all pinched up as he leaned his tall frame forward on one of the desks.
"But with that little bit of dope," Harris said, "can't we at least bring the guy in for questioning?"
"No way. If that wasn't listed on the search warrant, we basically have to ignore it-and it wasn't, so we're screwed. If we brought him in or mentioned the pot at all, his lawyer would be all over us. As it is, I wouldn't be surprised if The Screwdriver doesn't file a lawsuit against us for infringement on his client's personal rights, defamation of character, or whatever else he can find in his bag of tricks."
The detectives seemed to slump as a group.
"If there's nothing else, Inspector, we're gonna call it a night," Janssen said as Singleton handed their written report to Caruso.
"No, that's it. Thanks, Tanya, Kyle," the Inspector said, slapping their report against the palm of his hand. As the two techies left, the group looked at him questioningly. He let out a big sigh, looking at each one of them in turn. The only ones missing were Wilson and Johannson, who were still watching Drummond. "Okay, it's late, and we've come up with nothing. I know we were all hoping something would break, but it looks like we're back to square one. Get some sleep and I want everybody back here by seven a.m."
As the other's drifted off, Caruso came up to Pepper and Wallace. "Rupert, you still haven't sent anything back to The Sandman, right?"
"No sir. Like you said, I was hoping for good news from the inspection of Drummond's car."
"Yeah, I know. We were all thinking the same thing. I want you two guys to put your heads together and send something back to him before you leave for the night. Maybe throw something from one of those '80s songs back at him-see how he responds to that."
"Okay," Wallace said as he looked up at Pepper. "I think we can handle that."
The two of them started throwing suggestions back and forth, but nothing sounded right. "I know," Pepper said, "he already calls me Sting, I think we should give him something back from Sting and The Police. How about the first lines of 'Every Breath You Take'?"
Wallace paused as he thought about it, his eyes lifting to the ceiling as he remembered the words. "That'd be perfect." He held up the phone and started composing the message. "Okay, here goes:
EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE
EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE
EVERY BOND YOU BREAK
EVERY STEP YOU TAKE
I'LL BE WATCHING YOU."
"That's good," Pepper said, "but let's switch up one line from one of the other stanzas. Isn't there one about a smile?"
"Yeah: 'Every smile you fake'. That's perfect for that asshole."
"Put that in for the 'Every bond you break' line."
"Got it," said Wallace, making the change. "If Drummond's our guy, this will definitely let him know we're not going away." Reading it over one more time, he hit the send button, nodding to his partner.
Pepper nodded back, wondering what form of hell The Sandman was going to rain down on them next.
Every Breath You Take Page 51