The paramedics wanted to look at her. “I’m fine,” she insisted. But she felt like hell.
“No, you’re not,” said the tall, thick one who’d probably played football or rugby and suffered his own share of concussions. “You need a staple in your scalp, Detective.”
“A staple? Jesus Christ!”
“Maybe two. You’ve got an inch-long gash there.” The thin black paramedic pointed. “Let us take you to the hospital.”
“No,” she said abruptly. “And I’m not getting any staple if it means you have to shave my head. This head never gets shaved again.” She looked at Haggerty. “Tell him.”
He turned to the paramedic. “She means it.”
“How’s Merchant?” she asked the paramedics.
“On his way to New York Presbyterian. He’ll be okay. He kept calling out someone’s name.”
“Who?” asked Codella.
The paramedics looked at each other. “Somebody named Constance,” said the tall thick one.
“Constance? He asked for Constance Hodges?”
The paramedic shrugged. “Constance. That’s all.”
Codella asked Haggerty, “Are they taking Julia Merchant straight to Manhattan North?”
He nodded.
“Good, because I can’t wait to talk to her.” Then she closed her eyes and thought of McGowan. He had shut her down. She had disobeyed his command. She might not be talking to anyone. “Oh, God, Brian. I’m so fucked. He could suspend me over this.”
Haggerty put his arm around her. “He’s outside. And so is the press.”
“That’s great. He can publically humiliate me.” She buried her head in her hands. “Shit, I could use some Advil.”
“You could use a hospital bed and, dare I say it, some oxycodone.”
She laughed, but the laughing hurt. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Muñoz called me. He didn’t like the idea of you coming here alone. He said you sent him to get a warrant and I should come over here. I got here ten minutes after you. They were carrying Merchant out on a stretcher. No one knew where you were. Whatever they gave him revived him, and he was going crazy.”
“We might as well go out there. I have to see McGowan sooner or later.” She took Haggerty’s arm, and he pulled her to her feet. “If I face him while my head’s split open, maybe he’ll cut me a little slack. You think?” But she doubted it.
They got on the elevator along with the paramedics. The lobby was crowded with uniforms. Haggerty stopped her. “I should duck out. This isn’t my scene.”
She nodded. “It’s gonna be a long night for me. See you tomorrow.”
When he was gone, she looked past the officers in the lobby. Outside were flashing lights and cameras. She stepped through the front door and spotted McGowan. He shook his head in disgust when their eyes met. She fished in her pocket and felt for her shield. Would he make her relinquish it right in front of the cameras?
She reached him just as a Channel Two reporter stuck a microphone in her face. “Can you give us a statement, Detective? Is it true you’ve arrested Julia Merchant for the murder of her mother and the Park Manor staffer?”
“That’s correct.”
“How did you solve the case so quickly?”
And then Codella turned to McGowan. He was waiting to see what she said, and in that moment, she knew what she had to do. “The lieutenant should answer that,” she said staring into his eyes. “This was his plan. His strategy. He deserves the credit.” She smiled at him, stepped away from the microphone, and got into her car.