FRIDAY MORNING the station buzzed with excitement over the —what was now plural —granny murders case and the impending visit by the governor. Abby received kudos from several coworkers as she walked in, and it served to lift her spirits.
“When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous.”
Bill was at his desk when she stepped into the office. He’d called her the night before, as she was climbing into bed after Megan and Jessica left, and gushed about the successful search warrant, giving her the high points.
“We found loss from the first burglary and black gloves like the type Luke thought he saw on the suspect. There are other items here that I wonder about; maybe they came from the second victim. This guy is toast!”
His excitement had actually made her smile. He’d reminded her of her first partner after she was off probation on graveyard patrol. A good-natured guy, Ty Wagner took a lot of ribbing because he had one of those forever-youthful faces; his nickname was Doogie. But he was a good partner and he made coming to work interesting.
Abby realized she’d been so stressed struggling with Asa at the end of their partnership, she’d forgotten what it was like to have a partner who pulled his weight.
“Good morning,” she said as she set her bag down and headed for coffee.
He smiled and pointed to her desk. “I put a copy of the search warrant findings there for you.”
“Thanks. I look forward to reading it.”
Once she settled in with her coffee and read the entire report, she acknowledged Roper was right —the findings were great news. There were some expensive-looking items that couldn’t be placed, but they could be from the Murray household.
She said to Roper, “I’d like to be able to show the governor these pictures and ask if he recognizes anything.” The case didn’t hinge on his identification of loss, but it would strengthen it and give her a chance for some face time.
“Ditto,” Roper agreed.
The phone rang and Abby frowned; it was a reporter from channel two. “They’re starting early,” she muttered.
Roper laughed. “It’s been ringing since I got here. I answered one and they told me about a video of you making the rounds.”
That got Abby’s attention. “What? They’re calling about that?”
“Yep, they’re wanting to know about the guy you saved.” He grinned.
“It wasn’t that big a deal.” She wished she’d brought out her laptop and viewed the thing last night.
“It was close, though.”
She wondered if this was going to be more trouble for her than she’d thought.
“Heads up.” Lieutenant Jacoby strode into the office. “Press conference is set for 1 p.m. Rollins arrived last night and will give a statement.”
“Can I be at lunch for the conference but still have a request for the governor?” Abby said it jokingly, but the LT didn’t crack a smile.
“Nope, and from what I’ve seen, you like the cameras.”
It was worse than she thought. Abby groaned. “Am I in trouble for that?”
“You could have been killed.”
“I could be killed on the 405 freeway any day.” She held her hands out, palms up.
Jacoby glared. “You’re lucky the video is being shown with the caption ‘Hero cop.’ But Cox has seen it and I don’t think she’s happy you took such a risk.”
“I couldn’t have stopped short and watched him get smashed. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.”
The lieutenant scowled. “I know. That’s why you’re so good at what you do. You stuck to him like superglue. But please be careful. I have no idea if Cox will weigh in on it or not.” His phone beeped, and as he took it off his belt to read the text, he left the office.
I’m not going to worry about Cox, Abby thought. There’s too much to do. She pulled out the contact list for the relatives of the previous victim. They all deserved to know the status of the investigation and not to hear it at a press conference.