As soon as he got within a block of the station, Stan knew. The knot of people in front, the vans with satellite dishes pointed towards the invisible eye in the sky-the secret was out. He knew it was inevitable that a story this juicy would leak; he had hoped for a bit more time so that he could hint at some progress, but obviously that wasn’t to be. His head was throbbing.
“Three more years to full pension,” he thought as he drove slowly up to the station and waited for the crowd to part so that he could enter the parking area. “Shit, there’s that blond from Channel 7 and that guy Morton somebody-or-other from The Daily News.” He had tangled with them on a couple of recent cases and their sources were good, so he knew they knew he was point man on this one.
As the crowd parted he could hear them shouting, “Detective Goldman? What can you tell us about the crucifixion?” He felt like shouting, “I don’t know any more than you do!” but thought the better of it. Jones would chew him out if he did that. That would be Reginald Jones, his boss, Chief of the Major Crime Unit, who, he was told by the young woman who manned the entry desk, wanted to see him right now.
“Big surprise,” Stan muttered to himself. Not that he didn’t like Reggie-in fact, he did. The man was smart as hell at playing the political games you had to play with the brass downtown. It was just he wished he had a bit more to tell him.
Reggie was standing behind his desk as Stan entered his office, a tall, well-built, dark complexioned man who looked like the basketball player he had been back in college. When a career-ending knee injury had ended his dreams of an NBA career he had joined the force and done well for himself, as one might surmise from the expensive Italian suits he favored. “Well, Stan, as you’ve seen, the circus has come to town.”
“No kidding, Reggie,” Stan replied.
“Oh, it’s only just begun, Stan. In the last two hours, the Department has had calls from every national network, every major wire service and at least a dozen foreign countries. Downtown has already assigned two press officers to work only on this case. So what do you have for me?”
“Unfortunately, Reggie, I got squat so far.” He summarized what Yang had told him.
“And we have no idea who the victim is?”
“None. No match for her fingerprints. She was taken at least three days ago, since Yang is pretty sure she was on the cross for at least two days before we found her, and there hasn’t been a missing persons report that matches so far. They’re running her DNA-maybe a parent or sibling committed a felony and they can get a lead there-but that’s a long-shot.”
“Well, let’s feed the circus some photos and see if they can do something useful for a change. Someone her age has to have parents who are alive, a boyfriend, classmates, somebody who recognizes her.”
“Yep. That was next on the agenda, Reggie. Now that it’s public anyway.”
“Good, Stan. Listen, I know Dick is off on vacation and this case is too big to leave you short-handed. So, I’m assigning Moore to help you.”
“Moore? Barbara Moore? The new girl?”
“You mean woman, right Stan?”
Stan nodded. “Yes, Reggie, woman. She’s only been a detective for a few months. Can’t we have someone more experienced like Chiaparelli or McLain?”
“They’re in the middle of some big cases. As important as this one is, we can’t let other things slide. Besides, I think having a woman working on the case will appeal to the media.”
“OK, Reggie, I see your point,” Stan acknowledged.
“Good, Stan. And she’s a smart cookie. I think you two will work well together.”
“I trust your judgement on that, Reggie,” Stan replied, almost convincing himself.
“Alright, Stan, enough talking. Get to work and catch these creeps. I want updates morning and evening and any time there’s news. I don’t want to learn anything from the media before I have it from you. You got that?” Stan nodded. “Good,” Reggie replied. “You’re the man, Stan.”
“Yeah, I’m the man, Reggie,” Stan replied. It was hard to be the man with a pounding headache and no sleep, but he’d give it his best.
. And the Belgians are the butt of jokes in France.
