Final justice - W.E.B. Griffin [161]
"Certainly, Chief, I understand. But if you don't think it would interfere with your investigation, could you tell me if the window he was peeping through was that of a young woman? And was he just looking, or maybe trying to open the window?"
There was a long pause.
"No, I don't think I'd better get into that," the chief said, finally.
This sonofabitch isn't going to tell me a goddamn thing!
"Chief, I'll probably be in touch with you again," Matt said, politely. "In the meantime, if you'll give me your police teletype address, I'll have the department confirm who I am."
"That sounds like a good idea, Sergeant," the chief said, and gave it to him.
"I'll get that out as soon as I get to the Round . . . police headquarters," Matt said. "And thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Chief. I can imagine how busy you are."
"My pleasure," the chief said, and hung up.
[SIX]
"You don't look so happy, boss," Captain Frank Hollaran said as Deputy Commissioner Dennis V. Coughlin slipped beside him into the front seat of the car.
"Have you seen the Bulletin?" Coughlin asked.
"Yes, sir."
"And Matty's picture on the front page with Stan Colt?" Coughlin asked, and then went on without waiting for a reply. "I don't like it, Frank. I understand why Matty's showing that guy around, and from the perspective of Mariani and the mayor, it may be a great idea, but I don't think it belongs in the newspapers."
"I guess you haven't seen the Ledger?" Hollaran asked.
"Same picture?"
"And worse," Hollaran said, and indicated the newspaper on the seat between them. "The editorial page, Commissioner. "
" 'Commissioner'? The editorial page? That sounds ominous, " Coughlin said, as he flipped through the paper looking for the editorial page.
Ten seconds later, he said, "Oh, shit!"
And ten seconds after that, "Those bastards!"
NO WONDER MURDERERS REMAIN FREE
This newspaper received a publicity photo (below) of movie star Stan Colt and Homicide Sergeant M. M. Payne, getting out of a police car at the Mayor's Reception for Colt at the Bellvue-Stratford last night. The press release went on to say that while Colt is in town raising money for West Catholic High School, his alma mater, Sergeant Payne is showing him how things really are in the Philadelphia police department.
The way things really are in the police department are that there are two open unsolved recent cases of brutal murder, and one can only guess how many "old" unsolved murders on the books.
One of the new open cases is that of a young woman who very probably was raped and murdered in her apartment while police officers chatted with her neighbors.
The second is that of a single mother of three who was murdered in a fast-food restaurant during a robbery. When the police finally responded to that call for help, the murderers killed the responding officer.
At last report the Philadelphia police department doesn't have a clue as to the identity of the murderers.
Perhaps they would if Sergeant Payne were spending his time doing what the taxpayers hired him to do, investigate homicides, rather than spending it showing a movie star how things really are.
And it's not only Sergeant Payne. Earlier yesterday, Payne was seen taking into Colt's hotel an attractive young woman later identified as Detective Olivia Lassiter. Presumably, she was showing Colt how things really are in the Philadelphia police department.
And it's not only the junior officers. At midnight, Inspector Peter Wohl, Commanding Officer of the Special Operations Division, who is supposed to be heading up the Mayor's Task Force to solve the murders at the fast-food restaurant, and Homicide Lieutenant Jason Washington were seen showing how things really are in the Philadelphia police department by feeding Stan Colt beer and cheese steak sandwiches at D'Allesandro's.
But maybe that's the way things really are in the police department.
And maybe it's time for a change in the police department, starting at the top with the commissioner, who permits this sort of