Dee Henderson - The Witness

“It seems a shame to replace the best homicide cop we’ve got, personal skills notwithstanding.”

“I’m still working to get Caroline to reverse the retirement decision, but I doubt she’ll agree to return to homicide even if I can talk her into coming back. The best I can probably hope for is to get her to take major cases.”

“That’s not a bad second, and she always did like a challenge.”

“Does Marsh have any pull with her? I know they’ve been close over the years.”

“He’s tried, Chief, and I’ve even had a run at her in the last month, but the shooting shook her more than she’s saying. I don’t think she’s held, much less fired, her weapon since then.”

“Having cause to put two bullets into a cop does that.” Luke wasn’t going to let himself dwell on the memory. He’d had a beat cop commit suicide by shooting at one of his best officers, then turn to shoot at civilians so that Caroline had had no choice but to return fire and kill him. It rattled a department and it rattled the cop involved, enough to mess with her head and her confidence. The fact it had come just after she’d solved one of the worst murder cases they’d had to deal with since the Bressman’s Jewelry store deaths hadn’t helped matters.

Connor held up the file. “A couple weeks okay on this?”

“Yes. And get out of the office before they tag you for lead on a new case; it’s Thursday and you’ve still got till Monday on that vacation.”

“That order I can take, Boss.” Connor paused in the doorway. “There’s a rumor around that someone in this town is about to become very wealthy.”

“Where did you hear it from?”

“A secretary who knows the secretary for the lawyer drafting the paperwork.”

“I heard it from a courier at the courthouse where the paperwork was filed. I’ll give it half a day before reporters have the name.”

“It’s not you?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Luke answered, smiling.

“As long as it’s someone who owes me a favor or two I’m going to be happy.”

“And just as long as it’s not my secretary or one of my officers, I’m going to be thrilled for the person.” Luke picked up the phone. “Tell Margaret she can quit waving at us both. I’m returning the mayor’s call now.”

He held up a hand to acknowledge Connor’s farewell. The call regarding the budget was going to consume twenty minutes and accomplish nothing, but at least it would keep his secretary happy. There were days he regretted becoming police chief rather than keeping the much more coveted job of deputy chief. Between the politics of this office and the constant budget pressure, the fun of the job was wearing thin. The department had a hundred thirty-two officers and needed a hundred sixty to do the job adequately, and the struggle for resources never ended. After lunch he was getting out of this office and not returning; patrolling with two of his officers would at least shake his headache even if it would leave the officers he chose to ride with nervous.

After the mayor’s call, Luke walked down to talk with his deputy chief, and then he took a long walk back through dispatch and the beat officers’ bull pen to make sure he knew what was happening down in the ranks. But the budget couldn’t be avoided. He was back at his desk by nine-thirty to proof the copy Margaret had pieced together from his notes written the day before.

Alerted by his secretary to the fact his 10 a.m. appointment was on his way up, Luke rose from his desk chair as his guest arrived. “Daniel, come in. Margaret said you were stopping by.”

Luke pulled on his suit jacket, feeling like the meeting warranted the formality if only to show respect for a man in mourning, and walked around the desk to shake hands and take a seat on the same side of the desk as his friend.

Daniel looked tired, that was Luke’s first impression, and as impeccably dressed as ever-the business suit conservative, the tie blue silk, and the white shirt crisp to the open collar and tight cuffs. The town paper still chose Daniel as their most eligible bachelor in Brentwood each year, selecting him for more reasons than just the money and political reach that stretched through his family and up to the governor’s office. The recent death of Daniel’s uncle had been reason enough to bring Daniel’s photo back into the newspaper pages again.

“What can I do for you today?” Luke asked.

“My uncle, God rest his soul, left two daughters that he’s just acknowledging for the first time in his will.”

Luke blinked and then sighed. “I guess I should have seen that coming. I heard someone in town was getting rich, and the only person in the obituaries lately who could cause that kind of stir was your uncle.”

“Henry loved his work, poured all his money into the Benton Group, and rarely mentioned his personal life. As Henry’s nephew I now find myself in the awkward position of inheriting most of his fortune along with management responsibilities for the Benton Group and being joined by two daughters who never knew they had a wealthy father. I would have said he had been faithful to his wife, but the daughters are in their thirties. It’s either going to go down smoothly or be a royal mess.”

The implications of that kind of news into the social circuit of the town would prompt lots of second-guessing about the man they had honored and applauded over the years, hoping to get his contributions to their boards and charities. And the arrival of two new ladies in classic Cinderella fashion to the world of the well-off would cause its own stir. Luke thought of the rumors already flying around, and he didn’t envy the two daughters. “You’re just finding out about their existence?”

“Henry clued me in about a month ago when it became apparent he wasn’t going to be leaving the hospital after his fifth heart attack. He apparently had an agreement with the aunt who was raising the girls that he’d not approach them until after the aunt died, and by the time that happened Henry was dealing with the third of his five heart attacks. So he left it simply a matter for his will and for me to deal with.”

“Nice of him.”

“Thank you. I thought I was the only one who noticed the unpleasantness of that abdication of responsibility.”

Luke could see the strain the last weeks had taken on his friend; honor defined him, and his uncle’s conduct would have been bitter news to swallow. Daniel had always cared deeply about what was right; it was something Luke admired about him. The fact Henry had been a Christian and yet done this-Luke grieved that fact, knowing it would make his future conversations with Daniel about God that much more difficult. “Have you met them, your new cousins?” he asked quietly, not sure how to best help his friend right now.

“Henry had a private investigator keeping track of them. The older sister, Marie, owns a gallery here in town, and the younger one, Tracey, attends college at the next town over, finishing work on a second master’s degree. I’ll admit to having checked them out at a distance shortly after I got the file-curiosity got the better of me-but I haven’t introduced myself as their cousin yet. Henry didn’t want to face them, and part of me understood that; so I let the man die in peace.”

“Where does it leave you now?”

“Hoping for a favor from a friend. I’ve got two ladies to tell today that their lives are forever going to be different, and if you’ve heard the rumor, the press will have the details soon. There will have to be a press conference tomorrow to deal with the announcement if only to try and deflect some of the reporters who will be on their doorsteps. And I’ve reason to believe the younger sister is dating one of your officers.”