Michael Connelly - Chasing the Dime

"Oh, well, phone sex is a whole other ballgame."

"Never mind, Cody. I have to go."

"Hey, wait a minute. How'd your thing go with the big money man today?"

"It went fine. Charlie's ringing him up right now."

"Cool."

"I have to go, Cody. Thanks for trying on that."

"Don't worry. I'll be billing you."

Pierce clicked off and picked up one of the messages from Langwiser. He punched in the number on the phone. A secretary answered and his call was put right through.

"Where have you been?" she began. "I told your assistant to get the message to you right away."

"She did what she's supposed to do. I don't like to be interrupted in the lab. What's going on?"

"Well, suffice it to say your attorney is pretty well plugged in. I still have my sources in the police department."

"And?"

"What I am telling you is highly confidential. It's information I shouldn't have. If it got out, there would be an investigation just on this alone."

"Okay. What is it?"

"A source told me that Renner spent a good part of his morning at his desk today working on a search warrant application. He then took it to a judge."

After the urgency of her messages and her warning, Pierce was underwhelmed.

"Okay. And what does that mean?"

"It means he wants to search your property. Your apartment, your car, probably the home where you lived before moving because that was likely your domicile when the crime occurred."

"You mean the disappearance and supposed murder of Lilly Quinlan."

"Exactly. But -and this is a big but -the application was rejected. The judge told him there wasn't enough. He hadn't presented enough evidence to justify the warrant."

"So that's good then, right? Does that mean it's over?"

"No, he can go back in anytime he wants. Anytime he gets more. My guess is that he was relying on the tape recording -what he called your admission. So it is good to know that a judge saw through that and said it wasn't enough."

Pierce contemplated all of this. He was out of his league, unsure what all of the legal maneuverings meant.

"He might now choose to do a little judge shopping," Langwiser said.

"You mean like taking the application to a different judge?"

"Yes, somebody more accommodating. The thing is, he probably went to the softest sell he knew in the first place. Going somewhere else could cause problems. If a judge finds out a search app has already been rejected by a colleague, it could get testy."

Trying to follow the legal nuances seemed like a waste of time. Pierce wasn't as unnerved about the news as Langwiser seemed to be. He understood that this was because she could never be completely sure he was innocent of the crime. That margin of doubt raised concerns about what the police would find if they searched his property.

"What if we let him search without a warrant?" he asked.

"No."

"He wouldn't find anything. I did not do this, Janis. I never even met Lilly Quinlan."

"It doesn't matter. We don't cooperate. You start cooperating, you start walking into traps."

"I don't understand. If I'm innocent, what trap could there be?"

"Henry, you want me to advise you, right?"

"Yes."

"Then listen and take my advice. We make no overtures to the other side. We have put Renner on notice and that is where we keep it."

"Whatever."

"Thank you."

"Will you know if he goes judge shopping or re-applies to the original judge?"

"I have an ear out. We might get a heads up. Either way, you act surprised if he ever shows up with a warrant. I have to protect my source."

"I will."

Pierce suddenly thought of something and it put a dagger of fear in his chest.

"What about my office? And the lab? Will he want to search here?"

If that happened, it would be too hard to contain. The story would leak out and into the circles where emerging technologies are discussed. It would certainly get back to Goddard and Bechy.

"I don't know for sure but it would seem unlikely. He will be going for locations likely used in the commission of the crime. It would seem like he might have an even more difficult time if he goes in and tries to convince a judge to let him search a place of business where it was highly unlikely for the crime to have occurred."

Pierce thought about the phone book he had hidden in the cabinet in the copy room. A direct connection to Lilly Quinlan he had not already acknowledged having. He had to get rid of it somehow.

He then thought of something else.

"You know," he said, "they already searched my car. I could tell when I got into it that night outside Lilly's place."

There was a moment of silence before Langwiser spoke.

"If they did, then it was illegal. We'll never be able to prove it without a witness, though."

"I didn't see anybody other than cops out there."

"I'm sure it was just a flashlight search. Quick and dirty. If he gets a warrant approved, they'll do it legally and they'll do more than a once-over. They'll go for hair and fiber evidence, things like that. Things too small to have been seen with a flashlight."

Pierce thought of the toast he had given less than a half hour before. He realized that a speck of dust might hold his future either way.

"Well, like I said, let them do it," he said, a note of defiance in his voice. "Maybe they'll start looking for the real killer once I come up clean."

"Any ideas on that?"

"Nope."

"Well, for now, you should worry about yourself. You don't seem to understand the gravity of this situation. With the search warrant, I mean. You think that just because they won't find anything that you're free and clear."

"Look, Janis, I'm a chemist, not a lawyer. And all I know is that I'm in the middle of this thing but I didn't do it. If I don't understand the gravity of the situation, then tell me exactly what it is you want me to understand."

It was the first time he had vented his frustration in her direction and he immediately regretted it.

"The reality is that a cop is on your tail and it is unlikely that he is going to be put off by this setback. To Renner, this is only temporary. He is a patient man and he will continue to work this thing until he finds or gets what he needs to get a search warrant signed. You understand?"

"Yes."

"And then that's only the beginning. Renner is good at what he does. Most of the cops I know that are good are good because they are relentless."

Pierce felt his body heat rising again. He didn't know what else to say, so he didn't say anything. A long moment of silence went by before Langwiser broke it.

"There's something else. On Saturday night you told them about Lilly Quinlan's home and gave them the address. Well, they went over there and checked it out but they did not formally search the place until Sunday afternoon after Renner got a search warrant. It wasn't clear whether she was dead or alive and it was obvious she was or had been engaged in a profession that likely involved prostitution and other illegalities."

Pierce nodded. He was beginning to understand how Renner thought.

"So to protect himself, he went and got a warrant," he said. "In case they came across something in regard to these other illegal activities. Or if she turned up alive and said, What the hell are you doing in my place?"

"Exactly. But there was another reason as well."

"To gather evidence against me."

"Right again."

"But how can it be evidence against me? I told him I went in there. My fingerprints are all over the place because I was looking for her and for what might have happened."

"That's your story and I believe you. He doesn't. He believes it is a story you made up to cover the fact that you had been in her home."

"I can't believe this."