The Third Victim Part 15

Children were simply too hard for adults to understand or predict in the best of circ.u.mstances. Their coping skills were limited, they were a bundle of hormones, and they generally believed everything must happen now, today, immediately, with no thought of long-term consequences. Finally, juveniles were highly motivated by peer pressure, a rare factor in adult homicide. Children were also proving more susceptible to media images and outside influences such as cults and hate groups.

In short, the more Quincy learned, the more he realized how much he had left to learn. This would be a long a.s.signment. Years, he was beginning to think, of spending quality time with kids who killed kids.

He was both intrigued by the task and repelled by it in other words, his general state of mind.

The fasten-seat-belt light came on. The plane was preparing for descent. Quincy gathered up Danny O'Grady's interview tape and notes.

His brow furrowed. He did not have much information on the case yet, but already there were a number of elements that bothered him. The shooting of the teacher seemed so exact, for one thing. He wanted to know more about her and Danny's relations.h.i.+p. Then there was the timing of the shooting. Why when all the students had gone back into cla.s.s? That struck him as an attack strategy devised to limit the amount of damage, as if the shooter didn't want many people hurt.

Finally, there was the interview. Judging by the tone of the child's voice, Quincy would bet he'd been in a state of shock, not the best time for a thorough interrogation. Plus, while the investigating officer had done a nice job of trying to open the boy up by resorting to simpler questions, she had used too many leading questions. That was always dangerous with children, as they were p.r.o.ne to giving the answer they thought the adult desired, instead of the right answer.

Danny's repeated reference to being smart bothered Quincy as well.

Something else needed to be asked.

He wondered what the chances were of the boy's lawyer agreeing to an interview. Then he wondered what the chances were of the local police welcoming his a.s.sistance with the case.

Supervisory Special Agent Pierce Quincy smiled.

A local police officer welcome a fed with open arms? Hardly. He was already placing bets on which expletive Officer Lorraine Conner would use first. Wednesday, May 16, 11:08 a.m.

"You little s.h.i.+t. Go behind my back to the DA one more time, and I'll tie you up, take you out into a field, and personally introduce you to Bakersville's home-grown cow pies. Got it?"

"I simply needed some information ' "You tried to yank my case!"

"Only when it became clear that you weren't qualified to handle it."

Rainie's eyes bugged open and she nearly foamed at the mouth. She was having a b.i.t.c.h of a morning, which had already included one very terse conversation with Abe Sanders at seven a.m. Apparently that had not gotten the job done, however, because here it was just after eleven and she was going to have to take her scissors and cut him down to size.

How dare he ask the DA to remove her as primary officer on the case!

How dare he try to claim state jurisdiction of her homicide!

Didn't he know better than to mess with a woman who'd gotten only four hours of sleep?

Rainie moved out from behind the hastily erected desk -actually a piece of plywood laid atop two sawhorses that had just been placed in the brand-new 'op center' for the Bakersville case team. Sure, the command post was really the attic of the Town Hall, stifling and dusty and hot, but she'd managed to commandeer a coffeepot and a water cooler from the mayor's office. Already, that made these quarters luxurious compared to the twenty-by-twenty headquarters of the sheriff's department.

Rainie had been working her d.a.m.nedest this morning. Up at four-thirty to burn the knots out of her muscles with a good, hard run, she then typed up the police reports from the night before, met with the mayor about getting more s.p.a.ce for her case team, and prepared for her first meeting with Abe. She'd thought they'd made the ground rules perfectly clear at that time. The case would require state and local cooperation. Abe would serve as point man for the state's resources, handling the physical evidence, managing the CSU, and adding his own considerable experience to the investigative efforts. Rainie's department would provide the ground troops herself, Luke, and three volunteer officers to conduct interviews and pull records. They knew the people in their town the best and would get more cooperation from the school and parents than state officers would.

Abe was welcome to process the crime scene and commandeer the school computers in search of further evidence. Rainie knew she needed help.

But she would not, could not, should not, give up jurisdiction of the case. End of story.

Or so she'd thought at seven this morning.

"You messed up," Sanders said now, obviously worried she hadn't gotten the message the first time.

"You're inexperienced and it showed."

"I secured the scene and arrested a murderer. Shame on me."

"You trampled the scene," he corrected with a grimace.

"My G.o.d, you let in the EMTs. Haven't you ever seen what they do to a place? Why not just invite the fire department and throw a party?"

"I ordered Walt docked. He chose to violate those orders. Something Bradley Brown is still very grateful for."

"He might have lived anyway."

"Might have lived? Are you guys paid by the body or what?"

Sanders remained unswayed.

"EMTs ruin scenes, simple fact of life. So do concerned parents running after their children and school bureaucrats trying to do head

counts ' "We got there as fast as we could. Geography is another simple fact of life, and geography places that school in the middle of a residential area and us fifteen minutes away. Can't stop what we aren't there to manage."

"Fine, what about once you were there? Discharging your weapon? In the middle of the scene?" He raised a brow.

"An armed murder suspect drew down on me!" Rainie snapped.

"Value a crime scene. Don't plan on dying for it."

"Oh, now I get it. You were afraid for your life, so you shot up the ceiling. I stand corrected, Officer. That makes perfect sense."

"You insufferable' Rainie fisted her hands at her side. She counted to ten a second time and noticed that another man had just appeared in the doorway, also wearing a sharply pressed suit. G.o.d help her, the state men were multiplying.

She forced her fists open and managed in a more reasonable tone of voice, "As I wrote in my report, Detective which you have no doubt read, edited, and found fault with the font size at the last minute the suspect's father threw himself in front of me, forcing me to alter my fire."

"So you're trigger-happy? That's how you want to go on record?"

"Hey, have you ever pulled your weapon on the job? Have you ever been in the line of fire? What the h.e.l.l do you know about being trigger-happy?"

Sanders scowled. Apparently, Mr. Perfect never had been at the front lines. Look who was the inexperienced one now? Rainie's triumph, however, was short-lived.

"Well," the state detective said briskly, 'that brings us to all the problems with the arrest."

"What?"

"First off, the confession. Have you talked to the DA yet about the confession?"

"h.e.l.l, I called Rodriguez in to listen to the confession. Everything was by the book."

"Apparently not everything. O'Grady's lawyer is already seeking to have the confession tossed ' "You thought he'd ask to have it entered into evidence instead?"

Sanders ignored her sarcasm.

"He claims the boy was in shock at the time and in no state of mind to waive his rights. He also points out that your questions were leading, which is inappropriate when interrogating a minor. He has a score of experts lined up to contend that you put words in Danny's mouth, getting him to say exactly what you wanted to hear."

"Like I wanted to hear that my boss's son killed three people," Rainie grumbled, then waved her hand in a dismissive motion.

"Fine. It doesn't matter. We still have the positive GSR results and the two handguns. We can build one h.e.l.luva case off that."

Sanders smiled thinly. For the first time, Rainie understood that they really were in trouble.

"Yes. The gunpowder residue found on Danny O'Grady's hands and clothing." Sanders adopted the demeanor of a thin-lipped defense attorney.