Police Chief Dennis Murphy was contemplating a late lunch when he heard a familiar loud voice outside his office door. He opened a file folder and positioned it in front of him. Next he placed a stack of opened mail on the corner of his desk as an attempt to clutter his otherwise pristine desk. He had read Robinson’s memo three times to make sure he had his facts down and wouldn’t have to refer to the details on the suicides and how they might relate to the body found at the Lake Bluff Country Club. Knowing Mayor Schuler, Murphy assumed there wouldn’t be a knock on the door. Schuler would barge in not bothering to be announced.
The door pounded open and a red-faced Schuler charged in. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear.” He remained standing so as to establish his authority.
Murphy pulled off his glasses and leaned back in his chair. “This must be about the homicide at the golf course. It’s still an open case.”
“I thought I said to close it. Don’t your detectives have someone in custody?”
“Had to release him. Not enough proof.”
“But now your detectives are hounding Revere’s son, trying to tie three closed cases to the Oberweiss murder.”
Murphy showed him his palms. “Any good cop would have followed the leads.”
Schuler’s face turned crimson as he pointed his finger toward the window like some imaginary directional signal. “That pit bull the department uses as a consultant. I thought I told you to fire her.”
“She’s under contract. Only the Council has that authority.” Murphy kept his voice calm and even. The hard part was trying to hide the glee from his face. He furrowed his brows in an attempt to look worried. “According to my captain at the Sixth, Sam Casey is working for the family of one of the victims.” He lifted the report from the desk and waved it like a surrender flag. “Is there any truth to this? Three patients of the Morning Glory Clinic committed suicide. It’s hard to sweep those under the rug.”
“What loony bin hasn’t had a slate of suicides? She’s making more out of this than needed and I bet you put her up to this to discredit me.”
“Hey, there’s no love lost between us. You forget how she tried to paint me as a killer in that Embers Hotel case.”
“If I remember correctly, she’s the only reason you were exonerated.”
“Only because I was innocent. Sam is more into finding the truth. She’s just like her father. He didn’t care who he skewered as long as the truth won out.”
As though thoughts of the loss of Revere campaign money made him weak in the knees, Schuler grabbed the back of one of the arm chairs. “Well, there’s more than one way to discredit the bitch. She spent some time in a loony bin herself, as I recall.” He straightened as if his spine were refortified. “Perhaps a well-placed article on her history might take the focus away from Revere and his son.”
“I’d tread lightly, if I were you.” Murphy tossed his glasses on the desk. “Someone assaulted her last night, knocked her around a bit.”
“Who can I send my thank you card to?”
“My detectives are looking at everyone Sam spoke to concerning this case. That includes the two Reveres and Matt Bordeau. She didn’t talk to you or your chief of staff, did she?”
Schuler’s beady eyes slitted. “Are you implying…?”
“She’s not only pregnant but also a former cop. We protect our own and stop at nothing to find the perpetrator.” Murphy imagined Schuler’s pea brain was already drafting memos for damage control should the newspapers catch wind of the attack. “Tom Lukavich was real good at verbally assaulting people during the campaign. Do you really know what he’s capable of when acting without your authority?” He thought it better to throw the suspicion on the mayor’s chief of staff.
“I’m going to forget we had this conversation.” Schuler turned and stomped out of the office. Murphy watched Schuler storm toward the elevator. As though on command, the doors opened. If he were wearing a cape, Schuler could have just as well whipped it around and disappeared in an explosion of smoke. Once the elevator doors closed, Murphy leaned back with a smile.