Final justice - W.E.B. Griffin [176]
The enormous sergeant looked at the image, then at Matt, and then back at the computer screen. Then he handed the laptop back to Matt.
"Wait," he said.
In two minutes, he was back with the chief.
Matt wordlessly raised the almost closed laptop screen and extended it to the chief.
"Where'd you get this?" the chief asked.
"Our doer forgot his camera when he left the scene," Matt said. "Possibly because by then he knew he'd killed Miss Williamson and was a little frightened."
"Sonofabitch!" the chief said, instantly adding, "Excuse me, ma'am."
Olivia made a gesture indicating she understood.
The chief, taking care that Olivia could not see the screen, returned the laptop to Matt.
"You're the sergeant who talked to me and Sergeant Kenny this morning, right?"
"Yes, sir. I'm Sergeant Payne, and this is Detective Lassiter."
"Let me tell you how it is, Sergeant. Sometime tonight, in there, a man is going to appear before the judge to have both the suspension of his DUI sentence and the suspension of the revocation of his driver's license challenged by me. I personally got him again for DUI two nights ago, and one of my not-too-smart officers let him go on his own recognizance after he'd had time to sober up. He's a lawyer, and he's got a damned good lawyer, and nothing would make either of them happier than for them to show up only to hear that I'm not there. I think they're sitting in a car someplace waiting for some other lawyer to call, telling them I've gone. You follow me?"
"Yes, sir. Another continuance. And you don't want that to happen."
"No, I don't."
"I understand, sir. I was a little concerned that your peeper would get out on bail."
"That's not going to happen, not tonight," the chief said. "Kenny, you bring these officers up to date on what happened last night. We can do that much. And later tonight, if you'd like, or in the morning--which would be better for me--we can talk about what we're going to do about this Peeping Tom Jabberwocky caught."
"Yes, sir, Chief," Sergeant Kenny said.
"And tell the people in the lockup that the only person who can let Mr. Homer C. Daniels out of his cell is me."
"Yes, sir, Chief."
Sergeant Kenny led them through a corridor, then a locked door into what was obviously the administrative department of the Daphne police department. It was a fairly large room with several rows of desks. Offices opened off it, and Matt saw signs identifying those of the chief, the deputy chief, and then--just as they reached it-- one reading "Sgt. Kenny."
He waved them inside, closed the door, and gestured for them to sit down.
"Okay. I don't know how much you know--"
"Not much," Matt said.
"I don't know how many details you have, so if I start telling you something you already know, stop me."
"Sure."
"I don't think the chief dislikes Colonel Richards," Sergeant Kenny said, "but the chief doesn't know what a fine officer the colonel was when he was in Special Forces. I do."
"And does the chief know that you know--"
"I don't think that's ever come up in conversation, come to think of it."
"I understand."
"Good," Sergeant Kenny said.
He met Matt's eyes for a long minute.
"Okay. I wasn't there at the Yacht Club, but the dispatcher called me at the house and told me what had gone down. So I came here. And while they were booking him, a concerned citizen who didn't identify himself called me and said he smelled that this peeper was more than a peeper."
"Interesting."
"Well, after they booked him . . ."
"On what?"
"Peeping. It's a misdemeanor."
Matt nodded.
"Our detective sergeant and the chief interviewed him. I got to listen."
" 'Your' detective sergeant?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, ma'am, we have two. A detective and a detective sergeant. "
"I see."
"This was three o'clock in the morning. And this guy said he wasn't going to say anything, even give us his name, without a lawyer."
"He'd been Mirandized?"
"Sure. Well, hell, I thought that was a little strange. This wasn't even serious. Not even like DUI. This was peeping. We catch peepers