Murder Inside the Beltway - Margaret Truman [116]
Wally Pulaski’s words stayed with him as he and Hall went upstairs to where Kloss waited outside Carter’s office. They joined him on the wooden bench. A passing detective stopped and asked, “ You seeing the chief?”
“Yeah,” Kloss said.
“What’s up?”
“Just routine,” Kloss replied.
The detective looked at him skeptically but continued on his way.
“Know what you’re going to say?” Kloss asked Jackson in a low voice.
“The same things I told you,” was Jackson’s reply.
“There’s not much to back it up,” Kloss commented.
“I know,” Jackson agreed. “But there should be enough to at least bring Hatcher in for questioning.”
“Carter will probably send your charges about Hatcher shaking down people to IA,” Kloss said.
“What about the murder of Rosalie Curzon?”
Kloss shrugged. “Remember,” he said, “I’m in your corner. But Walt Hatcher has a long career with Metro, and did plenty of good work over those years. But a crooked cop spoils the broth for all of us. If he’s done what you say he’s done, I want him strung up as much as you do.”
“I’m not looking to string anybody up,” Jackson said.
“Carter’s bound to ask about your relationship with Hatcher, whether you’re here carrying a grudge.”
“That’s not the case.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Matt.”
Was it the case? Matt wondered silently. Had he been looking for something to hang on Hatcher in retribution for the abuse and racial slurs he’d suffered? He didn’t think so. At least he’d convinced himself that he would be sitting there no matter who it involved. Kloss was right. One bad cop cast a shadow over every good one. He thought of Manfredi. Nothing more had been said about his having been one of Rosalie Curzon’s johns.
Was Matt being naïve in thinking he could single-handedly clean up a sprawling agency like the Washington MPD, the white knight on horseback riding in to rid the city of its dishonest cops? And was he about to paint the majority of good cops with the broad brush of Hatcher’s misdeeds?
He was deep into these thoughts when the door opened and they were ushered into Carter’s office, where the chief of detectives was joined by the ranking member of Internal Affairs and the deputy chief of police.
Forty-five minutes later, the three detectives emerged. They walked quickly downstairs and outside to the parking lot, where they could talk freely.
“I didn’t think it would happen so fast,” Hall said.
“Frankly, I didn’t either,” said Kloss. “You made a solid presentation, Matt.”
“I was just happy that he listened. He really listened. I expected him to pass it off, call for some internal committee to study it.”
“You’ve been in D.C. too long,” Kloss said, slapping Jackson on the back. “Too many committees and too little action.”
“But not in this case,” Mary said.
Carter and the other brass had shown intense interest in everything Jackson had said during the meeting, particularly the possibility that Hatcher had murdered Rosalie Curzon. The deputy chief referenced the rumors linking Governor Colgate to the slain call girl, some of which went as far as speculating whether her murder had anything to do with the former governor’s paid liaisons with her. At one point, he commented, “If Hatcher killed her and it can be proven, it would go a long way to dispelling those rumors. And let’s face it, Colgate’s likely to end up the next president. I’m sure he’d appreciate our taking that heat off him.”
Clearing Colgate by linking Hatcher to the murder was good politics.
The IA and deputy chief of police were the first to leave the meeting, and it was left for Carter to take whatever action he considered appropriate. He announced to