“What bullshit.”
Detective Test contained her fury better than Rath would have if passed over for a deserved position, especially by a buddy of the chief. A man.
She sat in the chair beside Rath’s, facing Barrons as she absorbed the news, her hands flat on the arms of her chair, but their tendons raised.
“It’s temporary; I don’t even want the position,” Rath said to relieve the tension, realizing too late his apathy was salt in the wound.
“Then don’t take it.” Test trained her glare on Barrons. “And why offer it? You gave me a line about a process that needed to be followed, a national search.”
“This possible reopening of the CRVK case takes precedent,” Barrons said. “Rath is interim. Don’t think I want to see his mug around here more than necessary. And you can be the lead. Or colead. Despite titles.”
“Then why bother with titles?” Test said.
“This is it. For now.” Barrons nodded at Rath. “He fought for you. I need to put the person with the most knowledge of the old case at the lead. Officially. Publicly.”
“Someone who couldn’t solve it the first go-round,” Test said. “You still dig into the old CRVK files. And when I proposed that the recent missing girls who led to Langevine might be the CRVK’s work, it chafed you.”
Rath had expected Test to take umbrage, but not a pointed shot at her chief’s failure. It was a mistake.
“A necktie chafes me,” Barrons said. “The idea that you proposed the CRVK might not be dead hit a nerve because, frankly, that’s a worry Rath and I have shared for sixteen years. That the CRVK had moved to new turf or stopped because something happened. Jail. Illness. Death. Most cops thought the CRVK was Vern Johnson. Rath and I thought Preacher was good for it. He damn well could be. Look. Rath is senior by title alone. On the ground, you two work it out however you want; the sandbox is yours. But if a tough call comes, it is Rath’s to make, in the end.”
“The Dana Clark case only?” Test said.
“Fill him in on the body found yesterday. If they’re not connected, it’s your job to find out. It might be wise to suspect they are. And suspect Preacher.”
“It might,” Test said.