Jason, who had been nodding steadily for some time, said only, ‘Gotcha.’
‘Good. Ollie, here’s the keys to Angela Lacey’s car. Use her license and registration to find every record that exists, state, county and city, for her since the day she was born. Family, schools, work history, medical records, what she owned and what she drove, if there’s anything left who gets it? Any questions?’
‘What was her last name before she was married?’
‘No idea. Look it up. OK, that’s it. Let’s get at it. Sarah, you stay where you are, please.’ He got up and ushered them all out, closed his door and came back to his desk. Sarah, marooned among empty chairs, watched him carefully. If I only hadn’t said, ‘Angela told us.’
‘You’re the best detective I’ve got, in some ways,’ Delaney said without preamble. Sarah swallowed, waiting for the but. ‘You don’t gag at autopsies, or fold in a fight; you listen well at interviews and you’ve got good instincts about what people don’t want to talk about. I’ve known for some time you want my job and I like that too – it means you’ll work your tail off to keep your place in line.’ He sat back and gave her the pop-eyed stare he usually saved for suspects. ‘So what the holy shit were you thinking when you helped Oscar two-step his way around the job I gave him to do?’
‘It was just a fair trade to save time, boss.’ It sounded pretty credible when you said it that way, she thought, forgetting how she had ridiculed Oscar when he first offered the swap. ‘He knew some of Ed Lacey’s family members and he offered to help me find them if I helped him with Angela.’ Watching his implacable stare she ventured, ‘What’s so bad about detectives helping each other sometimes?’
‘Nothing, when I know about it. Why did he need help with Angela?’
‘Well … I don’t know, exactly …’
‘Uh-huh, you don’t want to talk about that, do you? I can do it too, Sarah, that’s just shit-sniffing 101, we all learn that. You knew when I gave him the order – I saw you all looking at each other – that it was some kind of a test.’
‘What kind, though? I mean … isn’t he entitled to a personal life?’
‘Oh, bullshit!’ He hit the desk and she flinched. ‘Oscar Cifuentes has a crotch problem – he’s sniffing around one all the time. Maybe it was just a colorful hobby while he stayed in Auto Theft, but if he can’t stop being an alley cat he’s got no future in Homicide. Think about the decisions you have to make all day about people. Homicide is serious business, you can’t have your brains between your legs on this job. Oscar has to grow up if he wants to work here.’
He leaned back and scrutinized his ceiling for a few seconds, then put his elbows on his desk and said, ‘And so do you. You still want to sit over here on this side of the desk?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘You know I do.’ Her face said, Not enough to beg for it.
‘Well, if you keep your nose clean you’re not the only candidate, but you’re definitely in the running. The way to wrap it up tight is not to help other members of the crew find a way around my orders so you can all snicker at the boss.’
‘I never meant to—’
‘Maybe not, but that’s the way it came out. Getting along with colleagues is very nice, Sarah, but following orders is also a proven road to success. So now …’ He sat back again. ‘That’s enough of that. Except to tell you I don’t ever want to have this conversation with you again, understand?’
‘Yes.’
‘OK. How much digging up of old stuff do you think we need to do? Ed Lacey’s family on both sides for three generations?’
‘Well, no, but … I’d like to talk to Angela’s present employer, and everybody in Ed’s mother’s family. His father took off early, never played any part.’
‘OK, mother’s family … big family?’
‘Huge, but some are dead … I’ve got a list of the ones who live here. I can find them.’
‘What’s your take on them so far?’
‘All different, but … Cecelia, the younger sister? She says they’re warm, but … they all seem a bit secretive to me, as if they’re hiding something. Or guilty of something? Or afraid of someone? I can’t figure it out.’
‘Oh? Big warm family but the kid’s raised by his uncle – how come?’
‘Why don’t I find them all and then tell you?’
‘Yes,’ Sergeant Delaney said, turning away as his phone rang, ‘why don’t you do that?’