Richard Montanari - The Echo Man

After finishing her initial report, Jessica would head back to the scene. People working early shifts would be getting home soon and just might have something to tell her.

She made a note to ask Kevin to reach out to a friend of his, a detective who worked out of South Detectives. The more eyes and ears on a homicide, especially at this stage, the better. Divisional detectives knew their turf and their criminals better than anyone.

Before she could do that she sensed someone nearby. She turned. Dennis Stansfield stood behind her. He was like a virus that she couldn't seem to shake.

'Can I help you with something, detective?' Jessica asked.

Stansfield pointed to the notepad on the desk. 'I didn't mean to look over your shoulder.'

'And yet?'

'Well, lately I've heard some things about him.'

'Him?'

'Yeah. Detective Byrne.'

Jessica closed the folder on her desk, closed her notebook. She spun her chair around, stood up. She was not going to talk to this guy while she was sitting down. 'Like what sort of things?'

Stansfield glanced around the duty room, looked back, lowered his voice. 'Well, like maybe his heart's not in it anymore.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, and like maybe he's looking for the door. Like maybe he's not quite the cop he used to be.'

Jessica nodded. 'Interesting.'

'I'm just saying, you know? This is what I've heard. And from more than one person.'

'Well, Dennis,' Jessica said. 'Maybe you're right.'

Stansfield looked surprised. 'I am?'

'Yeah. Can I tell him you said this? I'm sure he'd like to hear it, seeing as it's going around.'

'Well, I'd really prefer you didn't,' Stansfield said. 'See, I was just saying that-'

'Then again, why don't you tell him yourself?'

'What do you mean?'

'He's right behind you.'

Stansfield spun around to find Kevin Byrne, who loomed over him by about five inches, standing there. It looked for a moment as though Stansfield was going to extend his hand in greeting. It looked for a moment as though Byrne was going to throw Stansfield out a window. Both men then thought better of it.

'Detective,' was all that Stansfield managed.

Byrne stared at him until Stansfield got really interested in the time of day. He glanced at his watch, then back at Jessica.

'I'm going to follow up on the owner of the building,' Stansfield said. 'I'm mobile if you need me.'

'Yeah,' Jessica said when Stansfield was out of earshot. 'That'll happen.' She turned to Byrne. 'Done with the grand jury already?'

Byrne shook his head. 'Postponed. They're hearing the Fontana case today.'

'Did Drummond tell you when you're back on?'

'Maybe next week.'

'Sucks.' The longer it went on, the more likely that people were going to catch amnesia.

Byrne pointed across the room, at the departing Stansfield. 'When did he go on day work?'

'Today,' Jessica said. 'The boss put him with me this morning. I caught a case.'

Jessica filled Byrne in on what they had found. They did not have crime-scene photographs yet, but Jessica had taken a few still pictures on her cellphone. She made it a practice never to print off any crime- scene photographs that she took with her own camera, even though there were no rules against it. It just made it a little too likely that personal photographs would get mixed in with official photographs, and things like that were what defense attorneys lived for. PhotoShop had changed everything.

Byrne stared at the images for a full minute, scrolling through them one by one.

'No ID yet?' he asked.

'Not yet,' Jessica said. 'Body's still on scene.'

Byrne handed back the phone. 'Any witnesses?'

'Nothing. I'm heading back there in a few minutes.'

Byrne looked across the room. David Albrecht sat at one of the desks, playing back footage on his camera's viewfinder.

'Who's the kid with the camera?'

Jessica explained David Albrecht's presence.

'Great,' Byrne said. 'Just what we need.'

Byrne checked the body chart, taking in the general details of the wounds to the victim, the placement of the body. 'Want some company?'

'I'll drive,' Jessica said.

'Let me get my stuff out of my car.'

In the rear parking lot they stopped at Byrne's car. It was a Kia Sedona minivan. Jessica had never seen it before.

'When did you get this?'

'It's a loaner from my cousin Patrick. Colleen is going to be moving soon and we're trying to keep the costs down. I'm bringing some of her stuff to a storage locker this week.'

'Do you like it?'

'Oh yeah,' Byrne said. 'Kias are true babe magnets. Had a few college cheerleaders flash me the other day.'

Byrne unlocked the passenger door, reached in, grabbed some things from the back seat. When he closed the door and turned around, Jessica did a double take.

Kevin Byrne had a stylish leather messenger bag over his shoulder.

'Oh my God,' Jessica said.

'What?'

'Hang on.' Jessica took out her cellphone, opened it, pantomimed dialing a long phone number. A really long phone number. She held up a finger. 'Hi, is this Hell?'

Byrne shook his head.

'Yes,' Jessica continued. 'I was calling to get the current temperature. What's that you say? Five below? Snow squalls expected?'

'Funny stuff,' Byrne said. 'Let me get a table so I can catch the whole act.'

Jessica smiled, closed her phone. She leaned against the car, crossed her arms. 'I can't believe it. Kevin Byrne carrying a purse. I am so blogging about this.'

'It's a man bag.'

'Ah.'

'And it's a Tumi. Tumi makes good stuff.'

'There's no question about that,' Jessica said. 'I have a Tumi purse myself.'

'This isn't a purse, okay? It's a-'

'Man bag,' Jessica said.

'And, just for the record, I never want to hear the words metro and sexual in the same sentence. Okay?'

'Promise,' Jessica said. Her fingers were secretly crossed behind her back. 'So, what made you decide to do this?'

Byrne leaned closer. 'It's just getting harder and harder to leave the house, you know? You have to have your keys, your cellphone, your pager, your sunglasses, your regular glasses, your iPod-'

'Wait. You have an iPod?'

'Yes, I have an iPod. What's so odd about that?'

'Well, for one thing, you still buy vinyl records. I just figured in a few years you'd make the giant leap to audiocassettes. Maybe even CDs one day.'

'I buy vinyl because it's collectible. Especially the old blues.'

'Okay.'

'Remember your uniform days when everything went on your belt? Ami what didn't go on your belt fitted in your shirt pocket?'

'I remember, but keep in mind there's even less room up there for female cops.'

'I'm a detective,' Byrne said. 'I've noticed that.'

I le took a few steps back, gestured to the cut of his new suit, which Jessica had to admit looked pretty good on him. It was a charcoal gray two-button.

'Think about it,' he said. 'If I put all that stuff in my pockets it would ruin the line.'

'The line?' Jessica put her hand on the butt of her weapon. 'Okay, who are you and what have you done with my partner?'

Byrne laughed.

'Well, now that you carry a bag,' Jessica continued, 'you should keep in mind one of the first things they taught us at the academy.'

'I may be older than slate, but I seem to recall going to that academy myself. Over on State Road, right?'

'That's the one,' Jessica said. 'But what I meant by "us" was, well, women.''

Byrne braced himself, said nothing.

'They taught us to never, ever, carry your weapon in a purse.'

There was that word again. Byrne looked at the sky, back at Jessica. 'This is going to go on for a while, isn't it?'

'Oh yeah.'

The CSU team was still processing the scene on Federal Street, which now had crime-scene tape crossing both ends of the alley. As always, a crowd had gathered to watch the proceedings. It always amazed Jessica how no one ever saw anything, heard anything, witnessed anything, but as soon as the investigation got underway, as soon as there was some sort of urban circus to attend, everyone was suddenly available to gawk and rubberneck, conveniently off work and out of school.