During the afternoon news meeting, Ozzie called over from the assignment desk that Minneapolis police were holding a news conference in an hour about the headless homicide.
“I’ll go.” Clay and I both spoke up at the same time.
“We’ll send Clay,” Noreen said. “And cover the news conference live. Riley, you toss to him. Clay, you fill until the police start talking.”
I didn’t argue, which seemed to relieve Noreen. I actually had a plan to try to shake out some of the death details early and didn’t want to waste minutes quibbling.
We speculated about the announcement. Normally it can take weeks, months, even years for a DNA test because of backlogs at state crime labs. But Minnesota has one of the major labs in the country and can push to get faster results in high-profile cases.
“The DNA matches, or it doesn’t,” I said. “But in an hour we should know whether the head goes with the body.”
“Either way, it’s a lead story,” Noreen said. “If they don’t match, we have two murders.”
As soon as I got to my desk, I called Della, the medical examiner, who had been handling the case.
“Don’t bother pressing me for the DNA results, Riley. The cops are breaking that news and don’t want it leaked.”
I hid my disappointment but quizzed her on whether she was able to determine the cause of death, now that she had the head. “Remember, I was the first reporter to ask you about that.”
“Nothing is ever simple.”
I waited for her to continue.
“First, let’s get this straight,” she said. “I’m not confirming whether the head and body match. I’m merely commenting on cause of death for the head that was discovered by the river.”
“Understood,” I replied.
Della explained that she was able to rule out traumatic beating or gunshot wounds but couldn’t determine if the victim had been strangled or had her throat slashed. “Bones in the neck were damaged, and while that could have happened from choking, it could also have been caused by a tool when the head was removed from the body.”
I wrote fast to get all the details.
“Best we can do,” she said.
I thanked her for the scoop and rushed back to the newsroom. “Noreen, I just talked to a source and have inside info in the headless homicide.”
I proposed we cut into programming early and I fill until the news conference started, then toss directly to the police. I handed her a script.
((RILEY, CU))
CHANNEL 3 HAS LEARNED
EXCLUSIVE DETAILS ABOUT HOW
THE WOMAN WHOSE HEAD
WAS PULLED FROM THE
RIVER DIED …
AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN
ABLE TO RULE OUT
GUNSHOTS … AND ARE NOW
CONCENTRATING ON
STRANGULATION OR
INCISION WOUNDS.
WE NOW JOIN A POLICE
NEWS CONFERENCE TO LEARN
MORE … PERHAPS WHETHER
THE DNA FOR THE HEAD
MATCHES THE BODY
DISCOVERED IN WIRTH
PARK.
“Clay can recap the highlights after the cops are finished,” I suggested. I could tell by the way his eyes narrowed that he didn’t like my plan, but I figured there wasn’t anything he could do about it. I figured wrong.
“Except I also have an exclusive that I believe trumps yours,” he said. “My source tells me that the head and body match.”
I was furious that the chief had given Clay that gem. He was taking this make-Riley-look-bad thing a little too far.
Noreen was thrilled with his news. She told me to cut into programming with a “Channel 3 has learned” line and toss to Clay Burrel, promoting him as “standing by live with a big exclusive.”
“He’ll fill with the DNA match until the news conference starts,” she added. “Then you and he can discuss your cause-of-death details and he can package it for the newscasts.”
She smiled because she knew we had the competition beat.
Clay smiled because he knew he had me beat.