Luke Murphy - Dead Man's Hand

“I understand,” the mayor said. “I’ll call the chief of police and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

“Thank you, mayor.”

Ace felt calmer. But what if a gung-ho cop didn’t know when to quit the investigation?

Chapter 24

The detectives hadn’t sat down before the sergeant hollered at them.

“Dayton! Get in here now!”

Dale hustled in.

“Shut the door and sit down.”

The sergeant sat on the edge of his desk. Dale could smell his coffee and cigarette breath from two feet away. His eyes were red, as though he’d gotten no sleep.

Dale opened his mouth but the sergeant put out his arm. “Don’t speak! Just sit there and listen.”

Dale sat still. He hadn’t grabbed a spit cup and had to swallow the tobacco juice, which was not going to sit well with his stomach.

“Guess who I just got off the phone with?” The boss asked with a sarcastic sneer. “I just had a one-on-one with the lieutenant. He just got off the phone with our dear mayor, not a personal call either. It seems that some members of our department, your team, Dayton, were harassing Ace Sanders’ employees yesterday.”

“Sir—”

“I’m not finished. You know how much money Sanders contributes to the mayor’s campaign? Does that take detective work?”

“No, sir, it doesn’t. I told you yesterday that we’d be investigating all the casino owners and what we had on Sanders. I told my team to be particularly courteous when questioning Sanders’ employees at the Golden Horseshoe and the Midas and I’m confident they were. I hope you have that same confidence in them because you assigned them to me.”

The sergeant opened and closed his mouth, then picked up his already-lit cigarette and smoked in silence for a few moments.

“Dayton.” The sergeant sat back. He pressed his hands together in a triangular position and brought them close to his face. “I’m going to say this one time. You are to leave Sanders alone. Do you understand the phrase ‘leave alone’? If I hear about surveillance, indirect questioning, or a whisper in the squad room, you are done. Get that?”

“Yes, sir. But I found something under warrant.”

“What? Where?”

“Jimmy has them.” Dale opened the sergeant’s door, yelled for Jimmy and signaled him to bring the photos.

Dale and Jimmy watched in silence as the sergeant went through the photos one by one, his face reddening by the second. “Jesus H. Christ. What a fuckin’ mess,” he finally said. “This case is going to kill me. Does anyone else know about these photos?”

“Not yet, sir,” Dale said.

“Well, keep it that way for now until I figure out what to do. And Dayton, if this case blows up, I am not the one who will get caught. You’re on a very short leash.”

Dale and Jimmy weren’t surprised that Sanders had used the mayor to take the heat off nor that he had moved so quickly. But he was bound to have made a mistake somewhere.

Dale took some small comfort in knowing that at least all of Sanders’ employees had been questioned without direct interference from Sanders himself. Ace was smart enough to know that Dale and his team would still be watching him, even from a distance.

“What do we do now?” Jimmy asked.

“Now,” Dale said, leaning back in his chair. “We have to get around Sanders and get around our bosses too.”

He went down the team list.

“Has anyone heard from Craig?”

He got a head shake from everyone in the room, even though Craig was late in reporting in. Even Jimmy shrugged.

Dale dialed Craig and got his voicemail. He shot out the door with Jimmy.

They reached Watters’ apartment and saw no signs of forced entry.

Dale picked the door lock, careful not to make any noise or alert anyone who might be inside. He unholstered his weapon and popped his head inside. He searched the room and saw nothing.

“Kid?” He called out.

The detectives went in and started a room-by-room check. They found the officer stuffed into the closet.

“Fuck! Man down.” Dale whispered to Jimmy.

He knelt next to the body, trembling, as Jimmy confirmed that the rest of the apartment was empty. Tears blurred his vision. Craig’s skull had been half blown away.

This was the fourth time he’d had to kneel beside a dead body in a little over twenty-four hours. Four murders in a day and a half, and now there was either a new killer, or the same killer had completely changed his M.O.

Oh, goddamnit!

Jimmy came back and knelt beside Dale. “Rooms are cleared. No sign of anyone.”

“Okay. Call it in, Jimmy.” The bitterness and anger in Dale’s voice was obvious.

Jimmy grabbed his phone and made his man-down report. He looked at the bloody corpse.

Dale knew every murder investigation was given top priority, but a cop-killer made a police force go crazy.

“Good God, Calvin Watters, what have you done?” Jimmy said.

“We don’t know Watters did this,” Dale said quietly. “Sure, it’s his apartment, but it’s the last place I’d expect him to return to. We don’t even know if he’s still in Vegas. Do you think he would kill a cop here? That’s the only reason I sent Craig. I thought there’d be no risk at all and he would feel important, but not get into any trouble.” He stopped and closed his eyes. “I was wrong. I fucked up.”

“Bullshit! It’s not your fault, Dale.” Jimmy put his hand on Dale’s shoulder.

Dale stood up and angrily shook Jimmy’s hand away. “Of course it is! It was too dangerous. I should have known that.”

“Dale, you gave Craig direct orders to use extreme caution and not make a move without backup. I heard you say it.”

“I know I did, Jimmy, but come on, we both know Craig. He was looking for advancement and making his own bust would be the move to put him over the edge. That kid had never even drawn his gun in the line of duty before. He wasn’t prepared.”

“That’s not your call. We need to refocus while the trail is still hot. So, if Calvin Watters didn’t do this, then who did?”

Dale nodded. “You’re right, sorry. All I know is that we have four murders and no forensics or leads.”

Jimmy continued. “We know the killer’s strong enough to control victims with one arm and slash their throats with the other.”

“Watters could do that and he’s got the IQ. But that means he wouldn’t be stupid enough to kill a cop and stuff him in his own closet. He knows the police code of honor. His brother’s a cop.” Dale shook his head. “If he did the first three, this one is not his.”

“Sanders and Shawn Grant are strong enough, but too smart for it too. And I never liked Watters for the others: he’s an intimidator and maybe a bit of a sadist, but not a killer.”

Dale continued in the same breath. “Also, Craig was shot in the back of the head. Anyone who can hold a gun could have done that, including Linda Grant.”

“I think someone came here to take out Watters and stumbled on Craig. Maybe Watters knows too much. And except for the gun blast, the scene’s clean. Where’s the God damn blood and chunks of tissue? Gotta be the work of a pro. That means the investigation has just widened.”

Jimmy put his hand on Dale’s shoulder again and this time squeezed.

Dale walked outside. He stood at the railing, popped some chew in his mouth and looked out over the city.

He felt guilty about Craig, but something else too. Watters was now a target, a fugitive and maybe innocent.

That someone wanted Watters dead made it even less likely that he’d killed Grant or the others. Dale thought again about how much he wished he could talk to Watters, get his alibis, confirm them, clear his name and now perhaps even try to protect him…if he ever found the man.