Monday mornings were rarely good. This week proved to be no exception. Adam started his day at the precinct headquarters with the intention of focusing on the community maps he was developing for the convention prep. His plans, however, were cut short by a call from Captain Farrow’s assistant.
He went to Captain Farrow’s office as soon as he was summoned. He didn’t invite Mark Little this time. He didn’t doubt what the topic would be, and if he was going to convince Farrow he was following orders now, he needed to do it himself, not through his union rep.
“Why are you doing this, Kaminski?” Farrow looked like his Monday was starting out as badly as Adam’s, though his expression held more sadness than anger as he leaned forward over the desk, his arms crossed in front of him.
He didn’t bother with any pleasantries and didn’t even bother explaining what Adam had done wrong. It could only be one thing. Word of Adam’s involvement in the investigation must have come through. Again. Last time he’d gotten a warning; no way he’d get off so easy this time.
Adam wasn’t sure what he could offer in his defense, other than the truth. “I’m trying to help Pete, Captain. That’s all. To help solve this.”
“And you think Lawler needs your help? That’s pretty arrogant.”
“It’s not that he needs my help. That’s not what I’m saying.” Adam searched for the words that would express how his experience could be an asset. How his unique perspective could open new ideas and new possibilities. To explain his physical need to be part of the investigation. He couldn’t find those words. “I’ve been digging, that’s all. Just helping out. But I’m working full-time for Murphy now, you gotta believe me.”
“A little late for that, Kaminski. And all for what — to clear your sister’s good name, is that it?”
Adam saw the understanding in the captain’s eyes, but saw the anger growing there as well, displacing whatever friendlier emotions the captain had been trying to hold onto. Anger he was trying very hard to control.
“Isn’t that enough? Look, I’ve got a good rapport with the neighbors, with the sons, with the park ranger who’s helping on the case. I know the area, I know the people, and I can help.”
“I told you to stay away, Kaminski. For a good reason. Your involvement compromises the investigation. Anything Pete finds that you were involved with is immediately suspect. Why don’t you get that? You’re making it worse, not better.”
He ignored the wisdom in Captain Farrow’s words, ignored the fact that he understood everything the captain was saying. “I’m getting a good picture of the victim. I think I understand the motive here.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
Adam almost winced as he said what was in his mind, knowing how it would sound. “I think it’s his legacy.”
Farrow stared at him for half a minute, shaking his head. “What does that even mean?”
“This guy, this judge. He made a lot of decisions when he was on the bench, some of them he didn’t want to live with anymore. Some he was trying to change. Like the casinos.”
“So you think his fight against the casinos is the key here.”
“Not just that. It’s not only his legacy from his time on the bench. But also who he was as a man. What he left behind for his sons.”
“So, money then? You think this is about the inheritance?”
Adam felt his leg bouncing up and down as he sought for the right words. “He’d become someone else over the course of his life, because of his wife. Because of his relationship with his sons. He was falling back into the person he used to be, before all that. Maybe he saw it as returning to his true self, I don’t know.”
“So you think that this… this change in his personality is what got him killed?”
“I do.”
Farrow shook his head, reached a hand out to straighten his brass pen set. “Getting a good feel for the victim is the right way to approach this. Something you’ve always been good at.” He looked up at Adam, and Adam was disappointed to see no understanding smile, no acceptance of Adam’s position. “That’s why you’re a good cop, but it’s not enough. You haven’t narrowed down the suspects. You haven’t even eliminated your sister.” Farrow shook his head. “You’re not helping. I don’t know what else I can do to convince you of that. You need to go home.”
Adam looked at his captain. He knew what was coming next. He’d known from the minute he’d walked into the office and seen Farrow’s expression. He’d hoped to avoid it, hoped to talk his way out of it, to be able to count on Farrow’s knowledge of him as a person and a cop. He’d hoped wrong.
“This isn’t a suggestion. And it’s not administrative leave this time. I’m sorry.” He held up a hand as Adam started to protest. “This isn’t coming from me, this is straight from the Deputy Commissioner — who has some connection to Grace Evans.”
Adam took a deep breath and let it out with an audible “ahh.”
“Yeah. Ahh.” Captain Farrow drew the word out, just as Adam had done. “You’re on suspension. Indefinite, pending a full investigation of your activities over the past week.”