The Crucifix Killer - Chris Carter [93]
He had another sip of his strong coffee and wondered how many cups he’d need to get through the day. He checked his watch – 6:00 a.m., time to get ready.
He slowly opened the door to Isabella’s room to check on her. She looked peaceful. She was still asleep when he left.
Forty-One
Getting to the RHD before eight in the morning was something Hunter rarely did, but the developments of the past two days had injected new life into him and the investigation. Today he felt as eager as he did on his first day as a detective.
‘Do you ever go home or have you moved into the office?’ he asked, surprised to find Garcia already sitting at his desk.
‘The captain wants to see you straight away,’ Garcia replied, paying no attention to his partner’s comment.
Hunter glanced at his watch. ‘It’s seven-thirty in the morning, are you serious?’
‘I know. He called up here around seven. I’d just got in.’
‘You got here at seven? Do you guys ever sleep?’ Hunter asked, taking his jacket off. ‘Did he say what it was about?’
‘Not to me.’
‘Did we not hand in a report yesterday?’
‘I did. A little later than ten in the morning as he’d requested, but he got it.’
Hunter could smell freshly made Brazilian coffee and that was exactly what he needed before facing the captain.
The detectives’ floor was almost deserted except for Detective Maurice who was standing by a window. Pieces of paper were scattered all over his desk and on the floor. He looked like he hadn’t gone home in days. Hunter said hi with a simple nod but Maurice didn’t even seem to notice his presence. Hunter reached the captain’s office and knocked twice.
‘Come in!’ the captain shouted from inside.
Even though it was still early, the room felt hot. There was no air conditioning, none of the windows were open and the two pedestal fans in the room were switched off. The captain was sitting behind his desk reading a copy of the morning paper.
‘You’re in early,’ Hunter commented.
‘I’m always in early,’ the captain said, lifting his eyes to greet Hunter.
‘So you wanted to see me?’
‘Yep.’ Captain Bolter opened his top drawer and retrieved a copy of the facial sketch Patricia had drawn. ‘Come take a look at these.’ He pointed to his computer screen. Hunter maneuvered past the two large armchairs and positioned himself to the captain’s right. On the screen he could see several permutations of the sketch – long hair, cropped hair, beard, mustache, glasses – twenty different drawings in all.
‘We’ve tried every combination we could think of and these have been sent to every station in LA. If this guy is still around, we’ll pick him up sooner or later.’
‘Oh he’s still around, I’m very sure of it,’ Hunter said with undeniable conviction. ‘We’ll be checking the bars and clubs as well, starting tonight with the ones in Santa Monica. If we’re lucky maybe someone has seen him recently.’
‘That’s good . . .’
Hunter noticed the captain’s uneasiness. ‘That’s good but there’s something bothering you.’
Captain Bolter walked over to his coffee machine. ‘Coffee?’
Hunter shook his head. Only once he’d been naive enough to taste the captain’s coffee and he swore never to do it again. He watched as the captain poured himself a cup and dropped four sugars in it.
‘The woman that gave you this . . . are you involved with her? Are you involved with a potential witness?’
‘Wait a second, Captain. Don’t even go there,’ Hunter replied, immediately going into defensive mode. ‘We got together a couple of times, but I met